Synopsis:

An outlaw lost at the edge of the galaxy and an honorable commander who will have to risk everything to save her, Parallax is a heart-pounding, slow burn space opera romance packed with action, adventure, banter, and found family.

The tenuous alliances of the United Tribal Axis have fractured, breaking humanity into warring factions. Hinata finds himself fighting a losing war against an opponent that doesn’t play by the rules. While Freyja focuses all of her efforts on uncovering the origin of the signal that she is convinced is the key to revealing the source of the chaos ripping their society apart. Upon returning from an outer rim mission, Freyja realizes that Skyla hasn’t received a single communication they’ve sent in months and must convince Hinata to abandon his post to mount a rescue mission in search of the missing captain. But there are forces at play larger than any of them realize.

Review:

With Umbra last year and now Parallax, which released just last month, Amber Toro has created a fascinating sci-fi universe with deep and layered protagonists who I will be following as long as she decides to keep writing books. 

I read the first book in the Sentient Stars series a couple of months back and then dove into Parallax once the summer hit. Both share a slow-burn romance quality that permeates throughout, but there is more than just love stories here. Toro has set up multiple sci-fi storylines that keep the plot moving forward along with compelling and blood-pounding action. 

When I saw the “Romance” angle was a selling feature and that there were three main point-of-view characters, I was initially worried it would be a love triangle. I’m happy to see that Toro didn’t go the easy route, instead crafting interesting backstories to set the three leads up with separate motivations and desires. 

Umbra set everything up with Freyja, Skyla, and Hinata sharing the spotlight. Throughout these books, Toro weaves their stories together — literally — with each of them as POV characters, bouncing from one to the other with each chapter. Even then, the narrative keeps pushing forward, almost willing the characters to stay involved in each other’s lives in the process. 

With just a few books under her belt, Toro is already establishing herself as a writer to pay attention to. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next in the Sentient Stars books and what mysteries our characters solve in their futuristic look at humanity. In fact, the title of the series gives us even more. Some of the vessels in Toro’s universe have advanced artificial intelligences, imprinting on a few of our characters basically at birth. So that means the ships themselves are their own characters with their own unique motivations, providing a little more sauce to the wonderfully plated meal put before us. 

Now, she does a lot right, but Parallax isn’t perfect. I dinged the final score just a little based on supporting characters and the greater storyline. Our main three characters are expertly crafted, but unfortunately that means that some of the side characters are left a little one-dimensional. The strength of our leads definitely covers it up, but a little more backstory on a few of them would be helpful, I think. Also, since the entirety of the book is from three characters’ perspective, we sometimes don’t see what’s happening in the rest of the universe until our characters get there. That isn’t always a bad thing, but with an expansive space empire, it seems a little smallish at times. 

But those are very small nitpicks. I had a great time with Parallax, especially seeing our characters separate at the end of Umbra and how that affects them and ultimately brings them back together in this sequel. Toro expertly leaves us wanting more at the end, and I will be waiting for book 3, whenever it shows up on my Kindle. 

Synopsis:

Set in a world where magic is forgotten, monsters lurk in the dark woods, and honorable soldiers are few, this utterly gripping epic fantasy tells the story of two flawed humans, an out-of-practice wizard and a hot-headed sargent, who are thrust into the heart of a mystery that threatens to unravel their kingdom’s fragile peace. 

Shunned by the soldiers he commands, haunted by past tragedies, Sargent Holt Hawley is a broken man. But the child of a powerful ally has gone missing, and war between once peaceful nations is on the horizon. So, he and his squad have been sent to find a Vigilant. They are a rumored last survivor of an ancient and powerful order capable of performing acts of magic and finding the lost. But the Vigilants disappeared decades ago. No one truly expects Hawley to succeed.

When he is forced to abandon his men, he stumbles upon a woman who claims to be the Last Vigilant. Enelda Drake is wizened and out of practice, and she seems a far cry from the heroes of legend. But they will need her powers, and each other, to survive. For nothing in the town of Scarfell is as it seems. Corrupt soldiers and calculating politicians thwart their efforts at every turn.

And there are dark whispers on the wind threatening the arrival of an ancient and powerful enemy. The Last Vigilant is not the only myth returning from the dead.

Review:

Putting together a well-crafted mystery within an expansive fantasy world is no easy feat, but Mark A. Latham managed to combine both with his latest book The Last Vigilant, the first in a new series. 

Even more than the mystery or the world, Latham’s two protagonists are the best part of the book — a great foundation he can build a multi-book series off of. First up, we’ve got Sargent Holt Hawley — a career soldier who has seen things and done things he can’t undo. His past haunts him even as he tries to fulfill his duties, which takes him to a remote woods at the beginning of the novel to find a Vigilant. 

Understanding what a Vigilant is will go a long way to understanding the book. Years before the events of this book, there was an entire order of VIgilants — people capable of magic and almost like agents of the FBI of Latham’s fantasy world. Hawley’s quest to find a Vigilant brings him to the doorstep of Enelda Drake — the title character. She was once a powerful Vigilant and as the book progresses we see that wisdom and power slowly reveal itself as the mystery at the core of the book becomes apparent as well. 

Of course, if we have a mystery, it’s only natural to put a character in the “Sherlock” role and that is Drake. And just like Sherlock had his own eccentricities, Drake has her own, including social anxiety and other quirks that present themself from time to time. If Drake is our Sherlock, then Hawley is the “Watson,” the eyes and ears for the audience. In that role, I’m not sure if he succeeds quite as well since Hawley has some major trauma from his past he must deal with, putting his career and his life in jeopardy just as the case is ready to reach its apex. 

It’s only natural that there will be comparisons to Robert Jackson Bennett’s Ana and Din books (A Tainted Cup and its sequel A Drop of Corruption). Bennett’s books are truly some of the best books I’ve read the past two years, so the comparison is a little unfair, but both are mysteries and both are fantasy novels, so the comparisons will come. 

The book’s pacing is a little lethargic at times and characters do a lot of talking in rooms, but when the action comes, it really hits you over the head. The mystery at the heart of the novel appears bad but a tad benign early on, but the brutality of the truth is horrific when it’s all revealed. Overall, the ending is fantastic and Latham really sets up the characters for future sequels and has them in roles that are both at the same time new and old for them. 

I enjoyed The Last Vigilant and look forward to what Latham has up his sleeve for the second Kingdom of Oak and Steel novel. 

Thank you to Orbit for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

Digital Extremities –

A collection of eight stories, Digital Extremities shines a spotlight on ordinary people in a callous yet hopeful future. Set across small towns and remote islands, where neon flickers against old buildings and oaks, this collection paints a unique view of a traditionally cyberpunk setting.

In 2089, a woman miscarries and seeks a way to find peace amidst overwhelming grief. Years later, a young man must find a way to pay rent outside of his job at the glassblowing studio. A pair of students, excited to go to college, install new hardware that promises to improve their cognitive functions. A private investigator searches for a missing child who has a reputation for embarking on risky adventures. Each tale is shaped by love, loss, and perseverance, weaving a vision of life outside of the megacities.

Animus Paradox –

There’s a thief on the loose. The Tigres excel at tipping the scales in their favor, be it through bribes, politics, or blood. They unofficially run Viterbo, Italy—and somebody stole from them.

Private investigators David and Mafalda De Campo have been hired to help find the thief. They’re in it for the money, but the Tigres just want to make a statement.

Meanwhile, the Heredes have returned: ruthless idealists and revolutionaries. It’s not clear what they’re up to, but they keep getting in the way.

The De Campos will need to decide how far they’re willing to go for this job and the Tigres. Viterbo may soon become a battlefield, and one wrong move could set it aflame.

Review:

With both Digital Extremities and Animus Paradox, Adam Bassett has put out some fascinating and intriguing futuristic and mostly dystopian cyberpunk works. I found myself really enjoying both of them and was glad I read Digital Extremities before I started on Animus Paradox. 

Recently I was offered a few audiobook codes for Adam Bassett’s two works by the author himself. In exchange for an honest review, I took him up on it. In the process, I got to try out the Spotify audiobook player, so I’ll drop a few thoughts about that as well later on. 

Let’s start with his short story collection, Digital Extremities. 

In D.E., we’re treated to eight tales of the future where the distinctions between human and computer are blurred, if not eliminated completely. Short stories can be a great playground for authors — letting them play around with an interesting idea or two without committing to an entire novel. Bassett really got creative with these eight stories, and they have incredible range. I’ll highlight a few…

Alone / Together is the first story Bassett showcases and for good reason. It’s a gut punch, especially if you’ve ever loved someone so much you’d do anything for them. It’s a whole lot of melancholy wrapped up in a little over a half-hour of reading time. There was almost a Gift of the Magi quality to it, but with sadness and regret acting in place of love and sacrifice. 

The middle stories of the collection are absolutely worthy as well, ranging from sacrificing the past to move on with your future and the effect that integrating technology more into our lives and bodies will have. I also appreciated Bassett setting stories all over the world from America to Norway to Italy, where the last story is set — Fireworks Above the Badlands. 

When I was finished with Digital Extremities, I found myself really invested in the final story in the collection — and more so with the characters. And Bassett must’ve felt the same way, because the second book I’m reviewing — Animus Paradox — takes off immediately following the events in Fireworks Above the Badlands. 

The main character is David De Campo, who along with his wife Mafalda, run a private investigation firm in Italy over 100 years into the future. I found myself vibing with David in the first story as he works to track down a lost child, risking his life in the process. The way Bassett sets up the character as former U.S. Army with all the mods and implants they might need for battle, but with most of them disabled after he left the service, left me wanting more and Bassett sure delivered in Animus Paradox. This story is more of an Italian mob war that David and Mafalda find themselves drawn into with more than a few cyberpunk twists. 

I enjoyed A.P. and its continuation of the cyberpunk themes and tropes, but I struggle to vibe with the futuristic noir detective stories sometimes. But the characters are solid – A+. I think he could keep taking David and Mafalda to America and beyond in future cyberpunk books and I would be in. At the end of the day, I think I liked Digital Extremities a little more than Animus Paradox, but I would definitely recommend both. 

As for the audiobook experience, Adam Bassett got a couple of great narrators — Joe James and Aven Shore for D.E. and just Joe James for the A.P. production. Both have great voice and inflection, especially for the type of stories Bassett is telling. 

And for the Spotify experience? Well, it wasn’t perfect. I know they are trying to carve a little space for themselves in the audiobook space, but they still have a little room to grow. First, I like to bump up my listening speed, but Spotify doesn’t offer more than the tenths place — what I mean is you can listen at 1.2x speed and 1.3x speed, but you can’t listen at 1.25. There were also a few times where the player just stopped. Right in the middle of a chapter. Stopped. And in the end, I had to restart my app to get the audio to keep playing. Some audio glitch. Overall, it went fine, but there were a few small issues that Spotify needs to address. 

But, back to Adam Bassett’s first two works — check them out, especially if you like a few different looks at a future that looks a lot different than our present. 

Thank you to Adam Bassett for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

Xavier Oaks doesn’t particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad’s pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it’s only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only… one morning he wakes up and the house isn’t where it was before. It’s like it’s been lifted and placed… somewhere else.

When Xavier, his dad, and Nia go explore, they find they are inside a dome, trapped. And there’s no one else around…

Until, three years later, another family arrives.

Is there any escape? Is there a reason they are stuck where they are? Different people have different answers — and those different answers inexorably lead to tension, strife, and sacrifice.

Review:

Remember March 2020? I know you don’t want to, but bear with me for a bit. 

Seemingly overnight, the world changed. We went from an interconnected society, where we could go anywhere, do anything, see whoever we’d like, to…just not. 

It was weird. Disorienting. Out of nowhere we had no bearing…no foundation. Some of those we were in lockdown with were not those we would have liked to be stuck with for months at a time. Our entire way of life was upended and changed. What was real? What was the truth? If you left your house, how far could you go? Was it safe? 

In the last few years I’ve read a few books that referenced COVID-19 and the pandemic. Of all those books, Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel is the MOST Pandemic book. That’s not to say that it happens in the “Pandemic,” but virtually the entire plot of the book acts as a giant metaphor or allegory for events that transpired in the first couple months to years of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

The Young Adult book is told exclusively through the eyes of Xavier Oaks, a teenager who was along for forced family fun time at a cabin by the lake. The next morning, the lake is gone and in its place is a farm ready to be worked. The more that he and his family explore, they find themselves the only inhabitants in a dome — caged by some unknown entity. The book sets up the Oaks family in the first quarter, then brings in the conflict: after three years of being the only four people in the dome, a new family appears. 

This is where I can imagine that people are going to have WILDLY different takes on this book, because the Oaks are a family from Canada and are framed as the rational, responsible family that does what they are told in the Lock Down. The new family — the Jacksons — are from Tennessee — and are conspiracy-minded Americans who trust nothing. Because we spent the first part of the book with the Oaks, we know what they know, but to a family that is plopped down in the middle of an impenetrable dome and a family is already there, there are some reasonable doubts to be had. 

I’ve liked the Oppel books I’ve read before and this is an easy one to get into and follow the mysteries (not all are answered by the end, which I actually appreciate for a book like this) all the way until the end. The big question the Jackson family brings up is the identity of their captors — are they aliens like the Oaks think, or is it advanced technology harnessed by the government elites on Earth? The metaphors do get a little heavy-handed at times, but the science fiction of this book doesn’t relate to anything that the humans do or believe. I’ve met people who believe many of the things that Riley Jackson does and no matter how much you talk to them, they are obstinate and stuck in their own heads. I can understand some people thinking his character is too far out in the weeds, but for some people, it really is a scary reality. 

So, this book is definitely political and I imagine that Kenneth Oppel had some of these ideas bouncing around in his head in the early days of COVID-19 racing across the globe. He really captured the feelings of those early quarantines and the doubts and fears of institutional trust as well. 

So by the time we get to about two-thirds through Best of All Worlds, Oppel introduces some religious elements of the plagues of Egypt, but I almost couldn’t help but think of the Tower of Babel and the hubris of humanity and trying to reach the heights of God. The ending is satisfying for me, but like I said, not all your questions get answered by the last page. Xavier and his family still don’t understand every part of their imprisonment by the end, but I don’t know many people who understood every fact behind the Global Pandemic as well.  

I would recommend Best of All Worlds, especially to a YA reader, but I also totally would understand why this book would not be for you (I know people who are still triggered by certain aspects of the past 5 years for sure). I teach junior high and we are already getting to the point with some of these kids where they don’t remember much about those early days of the Pandemic, so this book might be a great entry point to talking about it with a younger, middle grade crowd. 

Synopsis:

From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life—
how it ends, and how it starts.

Review:

A few years back I discovered V.E. Schwab by reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I, like many others, fell in love with Schwab’s beautiful prose. She wove an intricate story told over hundreds of years, pulling in elements of romance, historical novels, supernatural fare, and fantasy. While I read it, I certainly enjoyed it, but there was…maybe a little subdued…a little depressed  — which makes sense given the nature of Addie’s story. A woman who became invisible for generations, cursed to travel through life, but never fully participate in it. 

Here though, in Schwab’s latest, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, the gloves are truly off. Reading it felt visceral. Primal. Almost like Schwab was tapping into something deep within herself to tell this story. 

In some ways there are a lot of similarities with Addie LaRue. In both books, we have female lead characters who traverse centuries. Time is a central character in this book, as the reader sees the ways that women have been allowed to navigate society from the 16th century to modern-day. The hurt that happens in the 1500s is central to the plot of the book, but also comes from a key part of the women’s experience at a time when they weren’t considered citizens, had little in terms of individual rights and were better known for their relationship to the men in their lives. 

OK…we’re far enough into the review, that I’ll mention what this book is all about. In fact…I went in virtually blind. I hadn’t read any reviews and as you can see above, the synopsis is pretty bare bones as well. As I was reading, I found myself wondering a bit when the fantasy elements would come into play, but then they show up and stick around for good about twenty percent into the novel. I do hesitate to say what the core of the book is, because Schwab herself only uses the word 4 TIMES in the course of the book. What’s the word?

(SPOILERS — TURN BACK IF YOU WANT TO GO IN BLIND…)

….

…

..

.

Vampires. 

Or, more specifically, lesbian vampires. 

Or, more more specifically, traumatized lesbian vampires. 

Fine — Toxic Lesbian Vampires. 

There are definitely comparisons to be made here between this and Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, in particular Lestat (played by Tom Cruise in the movie of the same name). Lestat carries with him the trauma of his past and inflicts that on those he chooses to harm and those that he tries not to. In Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, the Lestat comparison goes to the character of Sabine. She is our throughline in the book from early 16th century Spain to Victorian England and modern day America. 

And Schwab really paints a picture of how the trauma just keeps compiling from one century to the next and the terror that comes at the end of the book is really more due to unresolved issues than the actual fangs in her mouth. 

I really enjoyed Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. As always I’ll be thrilled to pick up her next book, whether she’s writing for adults or teens. Her voice is a needed one even more than ever in this world and I’m glad girls like my daughter have an author like her writing necessary and needed books.

Thank you to Tor for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

From the Arthur C. Clarke award winner, Adrian Tchaikovsky, comes the third instalment of the DOGS OF WAR science fiction series, a future where genetically engineered “Bioforms” have inherited not the Earth, but the Solar System.

The end of the world has been and gone.

There was no one great natural disaster, no all-consuming world war, no catastrophic pandemic. Rather scores of storms, droughts and floods; dozens of vicious, selfish regional conflicts that only destroyed what could no longer be rebuilt. No single finishing stroke for Earth’s great global human society, but you can still bleed to death from a thousand cuts.

The Red Planet fared better. Where Earth fell apart, Mars pulled together. Engineered men and beasts, aided by Bees, an outlawed distributed intelligence, survived through co-operation, because there was simply no alternative.

Fast forward to the present day. A signal – “For the sake of what once was. We beg you. Help.” – reaches Mars.

How could they not help? A consortium of Martian work crews gather the resources for a triumphal return to the blue-green world of their ancestors.

And now here they are – three hundred million kilometres from home.

And it has all already gone horribly wrong.

Review:

I hate bees, but man do I love Bees. 

For the third installment in his Dogs of War series, Adrian Tchaikovsky focuses on the distributed intelligence known as Bees, which is about time for me. In a lot of ways, Bees was perhaps the most interesting part of the original work in the series.

The first book, Dogs of War, was released in 2017 and featured the main storyline with Rex, a dog bioform who is the leader of a motley crew of animal bioforms — himself, Honey (a bear bioform), Dragon (a reptile), and Bees (literally just bees). The first novel was set near-future and explored what it means to be human and if the consciousness’ of bioforms entitles them to the same rights as “mankind.” 

In 2021, Tchaikovsky released Bear Head, featuring Honey. The Mars setting for a lot of it gives it a bit of a Total Recall vibe and the story features a lot into media personalities and free will. Honey plays a key part in the book, but is by no means the main character. Bees plays a key role as well…on Mars as one of the early colonizers and also back on Earth as they have split their intelligence. 

I liked, but didn’t really love the first two books. Rex is and forever will be a Good Boy, and I really like Honey the Bear, but in both books it was just hard for me to put myself in their shoes (maybe cuz dogs and bears don’t wear shoes?) but in the end, it actually was easier at times to empathize with the bioforms (the animals) than with the humans (especially Thompson from Bear Head). There is a lot to like and I’m glad I read them, but I just didn’t resonate with those books. Not like I did with Bee Speaker. 

No one can accuse Adrian Tchaikovsky of not being imaginative. Each book in this series is so wildly different from the others in terms of tone and setting and he makes even the hardest of sci-fi concepts so digestible. It would have been so easy for him to set this book on Mars after the events of Bear Head and invent some reason why Bees has to be the hero of the day. 

Instead, in Bee Speaker we return to Earth…a planet which has lost control of itself and its technology. All that happened in the days of Rex, Honey, Dragon, and Bees is the Old time. The people of Earth have devolved into a neo-feudalistic society of sorts. Bees is revered as a type of God among some — an invisible deity capable of great works, but before their time. Other people form up in abandoned bunkers, quasi-manors with a medieval hierarchy at play. And lastly, the remnants of the Old time, the Dog Factory where bioforms are still produced and some of the last vestiges of technology is still utilized. 

Dropped into the middle of all of that are four Martians, returning to Earth after getting a signal from the Earth Bees. Of course, it’s a Tchaikovsky book and things do not go swimmingly for our intrepid adventurers on their return to their ancestral planet. 

One of the things I loved about this book was two opposing views of what the future may bring. On Earth, disinformation and politics killed society as they knew it and the little technology humans had in Bee Speaker was often beyond their comprehension. Mars, on the other hand, almost collapsed from some of the same factors in Bear Head, but was saved by Bees and Honey and went on to be more of a communal civilization where everyone worked together and pushed technology onward and forward. Those two sides of the knife’s edge were on full display throughout this Bee Speaker. In the end, just like in Bear Head, the subject of the book — Bees — isn’t our main character, but instead acts as more of the MacGuffin towards the final quarter of the novel. 

In the end, it may be a fairly simple novel in its story, but Bee Speaker is a great addition to the Dogs of War series, introducing some memorable characters and pushing the bounds of what it actually means to be “human.” 

Thank you to Head of Zeus for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

On a planet shrouded in darkness, a stranded crew must fight for survival. But, the darkness may have plans of its own in this wildly original story from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning author of Children of Time.

They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back . . .

New planets are fair game to asset strippers and interplanetary opportunists – and a commercial mission to a distant star system discovers a moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is anathema to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud.

Under no circumstances should a human end up on Shroud’s inhospitable surface. Except a catastrophic accident sees Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne doing just that. Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, they are unable to contact their ship and are running out of time. What follows is a gruelling journey across land, sea and air. During this time, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s dominant species. It also begins to understand them . . .

Review:

For about 60 percent of Shroud, I couldn’t get enough. Action and drama on a completely alien moon with our human protagonists hampered by dark and the unknown hidden beneath the blackness. You might think I hated the other 40 percent…but that’s what really clinched how exceptional this novel truly is. With each new thing I read the more I’m convinced that Adrian Tchaikovsky is the new Master of Fantasy and Sci-Fi. 

That other 40 percent? That’s what a lot of authors would ditch on the cutting room floor, and perhaps with good reason in their cases. He takes the mundane of politics, economics, and culture — potentially hundreds or thousands of years in the future — and sculpts a bonkers first contact story around it. In the opening of Shroud, we’re introduced to a small team of scientists poised in orbit above a far-off moon. Science is happening, but it’s all under the direction of profit — how can the government exploit the resources of the planet and moon to their advantage? That’s all there, lurking in the background, but the early scenes are all definitely framed around science from a first-person POV, so the crass capitalism isn’t front and center…yet. 

When I saw that Tchaikovsky had another First Contact book, a year after putting out Alien Clay, I was a little concerned that it would be a similar story with similar beats. And…yes and no. When I read Alien Clay, I remember thinking that it felt like three different books inside of one volume and Shroud does this as well to a certain degree. But, the internal structure is vastly different and is very much its own unique novel that deserves to be read. In fact, I think Alien Clay and Shroud might work really well as a kind of duology in the differences of first contact between humans and an intelligent alien species.

Don’t get me wrong – this is not just a philosophical novel about what it means to be an alien or how we impose our own humanity upon the otherness of space. This novel rocks with horror-tinged action throughout the core of the book. After the team find what they believe to be life on the moon they’ve called Shroud, an accident on their station strands some of them on the moon that seems to be actively trying to kill them at every turn. It turns into a journey home with no guarantee of success. And the joy is that along the way we discover the life on Shroud is way more intelligent than any of them suspected. 

I don’t want to say any of these are similar, but as I read I thought of a few other books and movies. There are tastes of Project Hail Mary as our hapless humans try to communicate with the well-intentioned aliens with mixed results. The Vin Diesel movie Pitch Black definitely came to mind in how they handled the darkness and the dangers that lie within the shadows. I even had thoughts of MacGyver as our pair of protagonists worked their way out of one situation or another.  

OK, let’s finish up my thoughts on Shroud and that final 20 percent of the book. So the action-packed narrative of the middle portion wraps up… and again, I think many books end right there. Our characters are heroes for their achievements and we’re left with a happy ending for all. But that’s not what Tchaikovsky does and that’s really what puts Shroud above so many other books I’ve read this year. All the political and economic shadows that were lurking in the background of the first act of the book are back and are challenging the science that seems like it should be more important. The word “exploit” is even used in the final few chapters as a virtue for what they want to do to Shroud. The payoff of the novel is unique and unexpected and Tchaikovsky challenges his readers with their own values and interests. 

Ultimately, I couldn’t have been happier reading Shroud. Tchaikovsky is at the top of his game and I look forward to each and every time his name is on the cover. 

Thank you to Orbit for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

Dark Lord Davi rules the kingdom, but she must now break the time loop that binds her in this hilariously bloody conclusion to the Dark Lord Davi duology.

Davi has left the horde behind her, hoping to find a peaceful solution to keep the Kingdom from being destroyed this time. But her plan to guide the Kingdom to peaceful prosperity is thwarted when she finds her usual love interest, Prince Johann, already married and the bloodthirsty Duke Aster running the government. Johann’s new husband is everything Davi is not, but he holds a key to the one mystery she can’t solve – the origins of the time loop that has entrapped her.

With restless armies at her doorstep, Duke Aster reaching for power, and an ancient magician hounding her every turn, Davi must scheme her way to peace and uncover the truth behind her curse if she is to break the spell that binds her once and for all.

Review:

Django Wexler’s first book in the Dark Lord Davi series, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying (abbreviated HTBTDLADT from here on) was a phenomenally fun time loop fantasy. I read it right at the tailend of 2024 and put it on my Top Ten list for the year. The follow-up, Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me (EWTRTW ) is still loads of fun, but misses the mark at times for me. The ending works really well and the humor definitely puts the two books on a “Re-read in the Future” list for me. 

In my previous review of HTBTDLADT, (found here), I noted my love of time loop stories from Star Trek to Groundhog Day. Here, the “Time Loopiness” of the story is a key part, but kinda disappears for a while. In the first part of the book, it’s definitely hanging over Davi and her closest friends, but Wexler subverts Chekhov’s Gun a bit with how it plays out. In the final third of the book, Davi’s unique gifts come roaring back to the forefront of the story as the circumstances of her place in this world become clear. Sometimes in time loop stories, such as Groundhog Day, we don’t ever find out the nature of the loop and what forces are in control of it, but Wexler crafts the origins of the loop and its creator into the overall story. 

Overall, a good amount of what worked for me in the first book was either absent or positioned differently in the sequel, so for the first two-thirds of the book I found it a little harder to buy-in and engage with the story. In HTBTDLADT, the concept of found family sprung up organically as the book progressed. Soon after EWTRTW starts, Davi and Tsav leave their Wilder Army and infiltrate the human kingdom. It’s necessary for the story and where it eventually goes, but something just felt missing. Throughout the books we’re reminded that Davi has lived hundreds of years and countless lives among these people. She tells the audience over and over about her relationship with Prince Johann in previous iterations, but there’s still a little bit of “show, not tell” that hampers the story at times. 

For a little over the first half of the book, I was definitely enjoying it, but had some troubling vibing with it. But I’ll give Wexler a lot of credit — about two-thirds of the way through, EWTRTW turned it on. I could not put the book down, anxiously going from one page to the next to see what was happening and where Davi’s fate was taking her and her friends next. In the end, the final arc of the book paid off big time. I really enjoyed Davi’s humor, but also totally understood why the villain was annoyed to death (literally) by her throughout it all. 

If you enjoy humor with your fantasy and a little bit of time loop shenanigans, I recommend reading both books in Django Wexler’s Dark Lord Davi Duology. 

Thank you to Orbit for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

When hometown horrors come back to haunt, friendship is salvation in a novel about childhood fears and buried secrets by #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz.

As kids, outcasts Rebecca, Bobby, Spencer, and Ernie were inseparable friends in the idyllic town of Maple Grove. Three left to pursue lofty dreams―and achieved them. Only Ernie never left. When he falls into a coma, his three amigos feel an urgent need to return home. Don’t they remember people lapsing into comas back then? And those people always awoke…didn’t they?

After two decades, not a lot has changed in Maple Grove, especially Ernie’s obnoxious, scary mother. But Rebecca, Bobby, and Spencer begin to remember a hulking, murderous figure and weirdness piled on mystery that they were made to forget. As Ernie sinks deeper into darkness, something strange awaits any friend who tries to save him.

For Rebecca, Bobby, and Spencer, time is running out to remember the terrors of the past in a perfect town where nothing is what it seems. For Maple Grove, it’s a chance to have the “four amigos,” as they once called themselves, back in its grasp.

Review:

Thinking back about all the Dean Koontz books I’ve read over the years, I feel like I’ve enjoyed about 85% of them. Many have been a cracking-good time, but a handful I’ve struggled to figure out how I felt about them. I’d say in general, that’s about how I felt about Going Home in the Dark, Koontz’ latest novel. I liked the three main protagonists and I did enjoy the narrative structure of the book (I’m sure this easily turned some people off), but overall, there were a few things that I didn’t quite love, but I’m really glad I read it. 

I still remember my first Koontz book. I was in high school and found Dragon Tears on the bookshelf at my local library. My mom tried to steer me away from those black, dark Stephen King covers, but this one was silvery and didn’t at all give away that it would be one of the scariest books I’d read up until that point. 

Koontz has published a lot of books since that 1993 thriller, but he still has the chops to craft a well-told story. I think some people would point to his 2019 book deal with Amazon (Thomas & Mercer imprint), as the point where Koontz could just turn out lazy writing for an easy paycheck and guaranteed readers through Amazon’s Kindle Marketplace. The guaranteed readers might be true — I borrowed the book through Kindle Unlimited and the audiobook automatically downloaded to Audible simultaneously — but I really enjoyed Going Home in the Dark. Is it as good as what he was publishing 20-30 years ago? Perhaps not, but I still had a great time with it. 

Enough about background — the story is about four friends who have a shared childhood trauma that none of them can remember. When Ernie falls into a coma, the other three — Bobby, Spencer, and Rebecca — all return to their hometown to deal with the aftermath. What happens next is a bit of a madcap combination of IT, Weekend at Bernie’s, The Stepford Wives, and Little Shop of Horrors. There is more than a little humor to the action as the three friends try to figure out what happened to their “Fourth Amigo” without letting him die. 

There are a few nitpicks. The omnipresent narrator breaks the fourth wall (maybe the fifth and sixth at times as well), and while I liked the different tone than you would find in most books, I know some people don’t like as much humor in their “serious” horror or sci-fi. Also, due to the narrator, there are a lot of explanations and info dumps. Now, the narrator points that out and fully acknowledges it when it happens, but it happens nonetheless. If you can put up with that, I think you may have a really good time with a book by a master in the genre. 

Dean Koontz will be turning 80 years old this year, but he still understands horror and pop culture. No matter his age or who his publisher is, I still really enjoy picking up a book from him like I did this week with Going Home in the Dark.  

Synopsis:

Titanic meets Aliens in this tense YA science fiction horror series by #1 New York Times bestselling author E.K. Johnston.

Celeste knows every inch of this ship. She’s proud of her work as apprentice engineer. And as the maiden voyage of the Titan launches, she’s optimistic for the promises of this new journey from Earth to Mars — this new life.

Dominic arrives at his suite where his valet is busy unpacking his things. His chest is tight, already feeling anxious inside his dad’s precious new ship. Once it launches, he’s trapped, inside the ship and inside the life his father has chosen for him — a life that will leave his dreams of art school behind. 
Discovered under melted ice caps, ancient aliens have been brought onto the Titan as well, and stored in display cases for the entertainment of the passengers . . . until an act of sabotage releases them into the ship, with zero discrimination for class, decks or human life . . .

Review:

You might think I would be more knowledgeable about Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise than I would James Cameron’s Titanic — but you’d be wrong. The tragic love story between Jack and Rose was released in theaters my freshman year in college. I was blown away by the movie and ended up seeing it four times at the theater with three different girls (Reader: the last two times I went, I took the girl who I ended up marrying.). 

Now, I do love a good chest-bursting alien as well, but I’ll confess my first experience with one of those was as a kid watching Spaceballs, seeing the parody at the tail-end of the movie. I’ve since enjoyed my fair share of the Alien movies, and had a great time with E.K. Johnston’s Titan of the Stars as a YA space horror book. 

I did have some slight deja vu while reading this and you probably will as well if you’ve seen the David Tennant 2007 Doctor Who Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned. A recreation of the Titanic in space and disaster strikes…there are some similar beats to the story, but all-in-all, Johnston manages to create a new story with some fun moments, a book that can work really well with a middle grade and young adult audience. 

Our Jack and Rose are Dominic and Celeste. Dominic is part of the upper crust and Celeste is part of the crew of the Titan. But both have backstories that bring them closer together and bridge the gap that the wealth inequality might normally bring. Dominic’s father, however, has a secret project that could threaten every life on board (it’s aliens — not really a spoiler, it’s basically in the book description). A lot of the plot is right there in the synopsis, but there are plenty of surprises and twists to be had before the last page. 

While I enjoyed a lot of the book, the pacing is a little stilted at times. There is a lot of set-up before any alien action and the book seems a little truncated. However, this is the first in a duology, so I’m hoping that the action is dialed in from the get-go on Book 2 when that releases. I think it also helps that the audience is occasionally treated to an alien POV and we slowly find out that they are more complex than a simple, violent, evil force. 

Just like how the iceberg and freezing water of the North Atlantic didn’t care for class or status when it wrecked the Titanic, the aliens here also act as an equalizer between the haves and the have-nots. Titan of the Stars has a great ending with a legitimately well-done cliffhanger, so Johnston is well-positioned to finish the duology strong. 

E.K. Johnston has made a name for herself in recent years with Star Wars novels about Ahsoka and Padme and I think she did a great job with some fun alien horror action in this YA novel. 

Titan of the Stars by E.K. Johnston releases on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.