Smorgasbord Fantasia

I think I found my favorite novel of the year already. Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton, released in 2019 Aug is a beautiful, breakneck romp through a zombie apocalypse as seen through the eyes of pet crow named S.T (Shit Turd. Yeah Beat that for originality!) with a confounding identity crisis and an unnatural love for Cheetos.   Yes, it is as wildly unexpected as it sounds and this sense of zany originality is the soul of the whole implausible story. As grim and terrible as the premise sounds - where the humanity is now extinct, turned into mindless zombies through a virus that spreads through iphone/ipad screens - Kira's assured writing gives us exacting visuals of a world gone crazy but also subtly and cleverly touches upon the subtext that is beneath all this drama. That the world or rather Mother Nature needs balance. About how all the animals or the species need each other in this world.  So ST, a domesticated crow is living in blissful ignorance with his maste...

The Red Threads of Fortune is the companion novel to The   Black Tides of Heaven, that introduces us to the world of Tensorate - and the lives of Mokoya and Akheya, the twins born to the Supreme Protector of this world.  A different story set four years ago after the events of Red Threads, this one has Mokoya as the chief protagonist and is a book that focuses on how she deals with grief. While Black tides happens over a course of several years and is a coming-of-age story mainly focused on Akheya, the twin and his tight bond with his sister - this story is shorter, more direct and is fairly propulsive in its pacing.  The Mokoya's deal with grief is a story that's tightly wound around a Naga hunt. Mokoya, unable to deal with the loss of her daughter, has fled from the protection of the Monastery into the deserts on the fringes of the Protectorate. Here, she has taken up a suicidal mission - to help hunt down dangerous animals, like the Nagas. And the latest one that is ...

 We are the Dead is Mike Shackle 's genre-busting debut that straddles a thin line between grim-dark and heroic fantasy, that came out in 2019. I am late to this party, but with the Fool's Hope , the sequel to this Last War trilogy coming out soon, I thought I had to jump onto this one.  This is a book on post-war trauma, about unlikely ordinary people stepping up to start a bloody revolution against the oppressive new tyrants. It's a grim book that details the depressing state of affairs, in a country ravaged by war, famine and poverty being the only tokens allowed for the occupied, to eke out a sorry excuse for living. And as the title states categorically, there are no "heroes" left to come sweeping in and save the day. It is left to a coward who failed her military vows, a young boy gone crazy with grief and who doesn't see the difference between a friend or a foe, a maimed one-armed army general and a fierce protective selfish mother to mount the beginni...

Titanshade by Dan Stout has to be the most enjoyable urban fantasy book that I have read in the recent past. It is gritty noir, a police-procedural set in a masterfully created world. An absolute blast of fresh air - doesn't read like a debut at all. Dan Stout's writing is a great balance of assured masterful storytelling gorgeous world building and some compelling characters. The narrative is relentlessly paced, starting off as a murder mystery investigation set in this dark gritty town fraught with suspense and perils before heading down the lanes of twisty political intrigue - all of this headlined by a brooding cop hero named Carter, who's been dogged by misfortunes all his life and now has a penchant for the bottle but also built up a reputation for solving crimes. An excellent nose for detective work and perhaps trouble. If you think you've read this before, then think again. Be prepared, for Titanshade will blow your mind wide open and then some. Titanshad...

This book, Gideon the Ninth (part of a proposed trilogy called the Locked Tombs ) from TOR about necromancers crossed with weird lesbians and stuffed to the gills with tons of swashbuckling sword-fights was a readers’ favorite world over. In fact looking at the glowing references and the reviews, this one’s a writers’ favorite too. As well as a blogger universe’s darling. It took me a good long year to land my hands on this one. Perhaps in good time , because Harrow the Ninth is all set for a bumper release in the first half of this year. So Gideon the Ninth, I can safely claim, is nothing like anything I have ever read before. Is that a good thing? Where your writing cares nought for a rat’s ass about established guard rails and thwarts preconceived notions about a mixed-genre narrative, skewering them repeatedly and by a good long measure. I say, fuck yeah! Take the snark levels of Shrek the Ogre and dial it up to a level thousand and one. Mix parts of Harry Potter,...

The Monster of Elendhaven hit the bookshelves right around Halloween and this seemed like the perfect excuse to burrow deeper into your night sheets, dim the lights a bit and snuggle down to devour this perfectly wicked, deviously plotted horror novella from Jennifer Geisbrecht . It's a fascinating piece of work, in all its perfect allure - balancing character, plot and masterful world building on a razor thin platter, building up into a bleak crescendo of horror and violence. It's the kind of rare book that comes along once in a while and the writing is so sharp and lucid that the wounds linger far beyond that last page turned, forcing you think about the subtle contexts hinted to, around social injustices, homophobia, the power-play and even capitalism to some extent. So Johann is the 'monster' of Elendhaven, a foul dying city birthed out of magical violence, which never was able to sustain the industrial revolution that swamped over and is now, just in its ...

Jason Arnopp was one of my favorite authors when I read " Last Days of Jack Sparks " last year ( as with most of you, I am sure who have read that splendid addition to the genre of horror!) - So it was with a bit of a trepidation that I came in to read Ghoster ( was one of my most-awaited titles of the year!) The premise holds a lot of promise - and creepy intrigue. Kate Collins, a paramedic is about to move in with her boyfriend Scott Palmer in the next two days but her lover has stopped answering his calls. Has he "ghosted" her? Kate, who suffers from a "smart-phone" addiction problem, first "super-liked" Scott on one of the popular dating apps on her phone, only to bump into him in person at this de-addiction camp. The initial 'like' soon turns into a roaring long-distance relationship with frequent to-and-for between Leeds and London until we come to that fateful day, when Kate discovers to her mounting horror that Scott has ...

Black Hawks by David Wragg caught my attention last month as this impressive debut seemed to have drawn the impossible comparisons to two of the genre's greatest, Joe Abercrombie and Scott Lynch. And then that gorgeous gorgeous artwork on the cover resembled the cover of one of the most buzzy ( and rightly so!) debuts in the previous couple of years - Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames . Tall order to live up, sure but hey - you got my eyeballs! Finally got down to it over the last one week - when rains in Langkawi and airport transits gave me ample time on my week off to gobble this one up. And say this for David Wragg - this guy's writing chops are absolutely A-class and he writes a fine debut to give us an impressive epic fantasy about a band of scrappy mercenaries getting caught in a twisted game of power in a kingdom reeling in the middle of civil unrest and faith gone ugly. In a year of spectacular books, this one's going to be standout and hells, that says a...

I haven't read a book by Paul Krueger before this but if this book, which he claims is something that he wrote truly only for himself, is anything to go by - I will definitely be picking up more of his works before long. Steel Crow Saga was a pleasant surprise really - a breath of fresh air, inventive originality at play spinning together a tour-de-force of magic and wonder in a world, influenced by the oriental cultures. It's an epic tale of different cultures clashing, of identities forged and reforged, political intrigue mired in action and subterfuge all fronted by four vivid and really memorable characters, each a force to reckon with. I totally loved it and definitely would recommend this one to readers, looking for something new and wholly enjoyable. The story is set in the warring world of four different cultures - With our story starting at the end of a disastrous war between these cultures leaving their world burnt, men reeling and levels of tension very high...

A new Joe Abercrombie novel is always a phenomenon to be celebrated. This time even more so. A Little Hatred , the first part of a new trilogy aptly named the Age of Madness , is Joe’s new book that has come out after a long interval. Two years, I think. A Little Hatred is set in the same Circle of World, that was introduced way back in 2006 with his debut, A Blade Itself that introduced the world to a new form of fantasy – veering away from heroic quests and destiny’s child or even multi-layered political intrigue, to give us real flawed grey characters, whose frustrations, angst and pain was etched in unerring detail and presented in a shining evocative prose, unapologetic, grim and dark. Can a new reader jump into this world, starting with this book? Err. Technically yes, but I would strongly advise anybody worth their salt to get their hands dirty with at least his First Law trilogy : Namely, the Blade Itself. Before they are Hanged and The Last Argument of Kings. Jo...

I admit I do not read much of YA novels these days as much of the stories usually fall into the trap of being a rehash of ideas, done to death. And so it stands that Kingdom of Souls, by Rena Barron is a debut that pleasantly surprised me with its stock of original ideas, extensive and lush worldbuilding mixing in West African folklores and rich imagination. Having finished the book though, I am in two minds about giving a higher rating for the book. Simply because despite the stunning originality and some solid ideas, I found myself drifting off course due to its slowburn of a pace right till the late second half of the book. But the last quarter of the book, especially after the introduction of a new character, the story really takes off on wings; literally a freight train steamrolling you as the action, intrigue and mysteries pile on to become a tour-de-force of an ending. This is where the mythology and the plot fully comes into its own. Even Rena's writing took on a bri...

Bloodchild is the third and final book in the debut series by Anna Stephens . Back in 2017 when Anna's debut came out, I actually gave it the skip. I was inundated with other "good" books - in particular, two other debut authors ( Anna Smith Spark (Empires of Dust) and Ed McDonald's Ravencry caught my attention. I was late to this series, starting on Godblind only last year but that was a boon in disguise. I read Godblind and DarkSoul back to back. While Godblind was good, Darksoul wasn't just great, it was brilliant. A heart-rending emotional upheaval of a journey. A long fuckin' siege that went on and on, presenting drama of the darkest kinds - desperate, terrified humans fighting ugly for their very lives against forces much larger than life. And after finishing both books, I couldn't wait for Bloodchild! Bloodchild released in the UK yesterday (Sept 5) and trust me, this year-long wait has been more than worth it. To jump back once again t...

This was an unassuming little thriller that crept up on me, completely unannounced. and what a compulsive addictive thrill-ride it was - Passengers by John Marrs is my first book by the author and it certainly won't be the last. [ Indeed, another of his titles  The One apparently is being made into a ten-part Netflix series, I certainly want to check it out before it hits the screen!] Anyways - being closely linked to the whole AI phenomenon at work, the premise (And the delicious promise!) of this book got me hooked straight away. A world where driverless cars are norm on UK roads - and what can happen, if a Hacker gets access to the artificial intelligence servers to control the lives of the passengers within? All too plausible. With the whole debate around ethical AI gaining traction around the world, this was a very topical book, extremely cleverly executed as well.  John Marrs draws us in, reel by reel with the unexpected plot twists and cliffhanger chapter ...

"Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at  Breaking the Spine  but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at  Wishful Endings  now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on! RJ Baker's Wounded Kingdom trilogy pits him as one of the finest talents in fantasy to have emerged in the recent years. [Note to myself: Finish that damn trilogy! I read the first book, Age of Assassins and was very impressed!] Now, from the dependable stables of Orbit comes his next series, Bone Ship - that seems every bit as interesting as his previous series or even better! Battleships, Dragons and a hundred-years war!! Shiver me timbers, lads.  A crew of condemned criminals embark on a suicide mission to hunt the first sea dragon seen in centuries in the first book of this adventure fantasy trilogy. Violent raids...