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The Salt-Black Tree By Lilith Saintcrow
The Salt-Black Tree came out in 2023, three months after Book One of THE DEAD GOD’S HEART duology. Three things are obvious. One: This was written as one longer book. Two: it would have worked better if it had been published that way. Three: Magical cars are cool.
Book Two opens with a repeat of the final chapter of Spring’s Arcana. After finding another part of her arcana as the emerging goddess of spring,
March 25th, 2025. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Lilith Saintcrow | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Spring’s Arcana by Lilith Saintcrow
2023’s Spring’s Arcana by Lilith Saintcrow has atmospheric language and lovely descriptions. This is Book One of a duology, THE DEAD GOD’S HEART. The book is a road trip, taking us through exquisitely described scenes of fantasy, magic and mundanity. The language is gorgeous, but the story feels derivative, and the protagonist faces very little direct danger. The book ends abruptly midway through the main character’s quest, with the words “To be Continued.” Read it for the beautiful language,
March 20th, 2025. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Lilith Saintcrow | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Calling (2022), the final installment in Molly Harper‘s SORCERY AND SOCIETY trilogy, brings Sarah Smith’s journey to a close. You’ll want to read Changeling and Fledgling first (expect spoilers for those installments in this review).
This story continues with Sarah, Alicia, and Ivy hiding out in the English countryside with the changeling children they’ve rescued. They’re trying to protect them from the looming threat of Miss Morton’s zombie army.
February 14th, 2025. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Molly Harper | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Elfhome (2012) is the third book in Wen Spencer’s ELFHOME series, and it’s definitely not where you want to start if you’re new to the series. You’ll need to have read Tinker and Wolf Who Rules first to fully grasp what’s going on and why the stakes are so high.
The story kicks off with Tinker recovering from a broken arm and being cornered by a persistent reporter who,
January 24th, 2025. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Wen Spencer | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
An Instruction in Shadow by Benedict Jacka
An Instruction in Shadow is Benedict Jacka’s follow up to An Inheritance of Magic, his tale of modern-day magic and family intrigue set in London. The main character remains likably engaging, the magic intriguing, the family history labyrinthine, and if the story doesn’t perhaps progress quite as much as one would prefer, it all results in a smoothly enjoyable read.
Stephen Oakwood is continuing to hone his “drucraft” while working at locating magical wells for a big drucraft company,
January 10th, 2025. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Benedict Jacka | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Wen Spencer’s Wolf Who Rules (2006) is the second book in her ELFHOME series, blending urban fantasy and science fiction in an alternate Pittsburgh. In my review of the first book, Tinker, I explained that while I loved the premise and setting, I didn’t think Spencer fully capitalized on its potential. I wanted more weird Pittsburgh—the cultural oddities of a city stuck in an elven dimension were intriguing but underexplored. I found Tinker‘s plot overburdened with infodumps and the protagonist’s characterization leaning heavily into Mary Sue territory,
January 9th, 2025. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Wen Spencer | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
In the aftermath of the pandemic, fantasy caught the midtown bus and moved into the suburbs of women’s fiction. There, it’s set up shop and seems to be doing quite well, if paperbacks like The Lost Bookshop, by Evie Woods, are any indication. This pleasant story, following three characters and an elusive, magical bookshop, is enjoyable even if it didn’t fully satisfy this fantasy reader.
Set in modern day Dublin, the story follows Martha, a woman fleeing an abusive relationship,
December 16th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Evie Woods | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Wen Spencer’s Tinker (2003), the first book in her ELFHOME series, presents a unique mix of urban fantasy and science fiction. The premise, which is the series’ best feature, is imaginative — due to a glitch with an interdimensional gate, the city of Pittsburgh (but not the rest of the United States) exists in Elfhome, an alternate dimension inhabited by elves. Once a month the gate is powered down and Pittsburgh returns to Earth for one day to get resupplied. Pittsburgh is so weird that it doesn’t really interact with the rest of the U.S.
December 12th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Wen Spencer | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-il Kim
Blood of the Old Kings (2024), by Sung-il Kim and translated by Anton Hur, is the first in a Korean fantasy trilogy well known in South Korea. While it has its strong points, I have to confess to being overall disappointed with Blood of the Old Kings, though I’ll probably give book two a shot when it comes out in English in hopes that the series improves (the last book won an award so there’s a fair chance that’s the case).
October 8th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Sung-il Kim | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The first book in a series by Sophie Burnham entitled EX ROMANA, Sargassa is, not surprisingly given that series name, set in a world where the Roman Empire seemingly never fell, at last not permanently, though there was a mysterious “Great Quiet” in which most of the prior knowledge and technology was lost before the Empire was reestablished. More specifically, the novel is set in Sargassa, long ago colonized by the Roman Imperium and now home to the Imperial Archives, the repository of all the Empire’s knowledge and lore.
October 7th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Sophie Burnham | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Wow, 20 dollars? That seems a lot for a 100-or-so-page book, but most of my novellas have come via ARCs…
I might say "formulaic" actually.
Your review made me curious, so I looked this book up. Sure enough: Tor. Tor seems to specialize in these…
It's a tightrope act for sure.
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