Smorgasbord Fantasia

I still haven’t come to terms with this question, do I love Russian literature? I tried Tolstoy’s epic, War and Peace. Not once but twice. And I failed both times to complete it. Dostoevsky’s short stories made me a fan but his longer books had just too much going on to invest me in as a serious reader, all this at a younger tender impressionable age. As an adult my tastes veered away from the contemporary into speculative and I was yet to find anyone who brought in the flavors or Russia – the strong smells of vodka, the white snow and the bleak grey hopelessness - into Fantasy or Science Fiction. And then came Bradley P. Beaulieu – who has written a deep, well researched fantasy novel set in an alternate world of mountainous archipelago completely inspired by the Russian and East European settings. Then more recently, Peter Higgins brought the love and intrigue back to that Soviet-Russian hitting us squarely between the eyes with his excellent oddball genre-bending Wol...

Edit: I stand corrected - Control Point is published by Ace Roc (Penguin) books and NOT Night Shade. Thanks, Myke for putting me back on track :) Another excellent debut by Ace Roc that has been garnering praise for all the right reasons and getting nominated for the biggies for the past one year now. This comes on the heels of two super awesome debuts I have read (technically should have been in 2012 though!!). There was Kameron Hurley who ran away with all the praise and the awards the year her debut, Book One of Bel Dame Apocrypha hit the stands. Then I chanced upon the excellent russo-setting epic fantasy by Bradley Beaulieu, Winds of Kalakhovo. Now this. Shadow Point by Myke Cole. Excellent stuff really – doesn’t read like a debut. Polished prose, jet-setting pacing, fantastic premise that doesn’t disappoint when executed novel-length, authentic and accurately detailed world-building. Check against all of this, this book pretty much scored on all fronts for me. Pe...