Synopsis

Warring clans. Burning hearts. Deadly fate.

The clans of the fens enjoy a tenuous peace, and it is all thanks to Agnir, ward and hostage. For as long as she can remember she has lived among the enemy, learning their ways, growing strong alongside their children. When a burgeoning love for the chieftain’s daughter lures them both to a hidden spring, a magic awakens in them that could bind the clans under one banner at last–or destroy any hope of peace. By working their intentions into leather, they can weave misfortune for their enemies… just like the Fate’s Bane that haunts the legends of the clans.

Ambitions grow in their fathers’ hearts, grudges threaten a return to violence, and greedy enemies wait outside the borders, seeking a foothold to claim the fens for themselves. And though their Makings may save their families, the legend that gave them this power always exacts its price.

Review

“They called it trickster, they called it the luck-hound, they called it fates-bane.” 

Thank you to Netgalley and @tordotcompub for the eARC.

I loved this book. It’s such a beautiful, beautiful tale. I have to talk about the ending first. I have read some amazing endings before but I was not ready for this one. C. L. Clark makes no consideration for their readers’ poor, poor hearts. It’s an explosive triple threat that leaves the reader going through the whole gamut of human emotion. Truly masterful work. It is perfect, more than satisfying, and absolutely elevates the whole story. 

I went in blind and I suggest everyone try that too. It has an awesome cover (take a bow- Mary Metzgr and Christine Foltzer) and is written by C. L. Clark. Those were enough for me. Since I just said it is best to go in blind, I will not talk about the plot. I will simply say that if you liked things in Spear by Nicola Griffith, The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi, This is how you lose the time war by Max Gladstone & Amal El-Mohtar, The river has roots by Amal El-Mohtar – You will certainly like this book too. It stands alone as an extremely unique tale but it shares elements from those other books. 

The writing in particular is very similar for me to Moses Ose Utomi’s Forever Desert series. It is a kind of a fairy tale or a fable with themes of mythology, segregation, truth, and culture. The actual prose is gorgeous too and complements the setting so well. Add in the narrative closeness to the fable nature of the story, lush swampland atmosphere and the reader can see how well all of it plays service to transporting the reader out of the room they’re in and into the book itself. This is one of those books where the land itself becomes a character in the story. Agnir is an excellent character to follow and the readers will be invested in her really quickly. The supporting cast also feels very, very authentic and real. 

Romance is a very important part of this story and it is executed superbly. Despite being a short novella -I am certain it will satisfy the most ardent fans of yearning. I’m ending the review with a direct quote from C. L. Clark that sums up my review as well – you will certainly not regret adding two sad swamp lesbians to your TBR.  

Synopsis

While San Francisco rebuilds from the chaos of war, a group of food service bots in an abandoned ghost kitchen take over their own delivery app account. They rebrand as a neighborhood lunch spot and start producing some of the tastiest hand-pulled noodles in the city. But there’s just one problem. Someone―or something―is review bombing the restaurant’s feedback page with fake “bad service” reports. Can the bots find the culprit before their ratings plummet and destroy everything they created?

Review

“Ta da! This smells like victory, my friend. Humans will definitely spend coin to taste this.”

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan.audio for an arc of the book and @thirdplacebooks for a physical arc. 

The second disclaimer is that – any book that makes me cry is 5 stars and this one definitely did and earned its 5 I sincerely hope Tor follows the route they took with Martha Wells, and Becky Chambers and commissions more books following these characters from Annalee Newitz. The characters are too cute and warm to just leave at one installment. Also the audiobook narrator Em Grosland was excellent.

Nowadays cozy sff is introducing new subgenres unto itself- we have everything from low stakes cozy fantasy to cozy romance to cozy spooky to cozy mystery to even cozy grief. This is simultaneously all of that and not any one of that individually. Ideally, I want my cozy reads to have low stakes and a focus on food or have food play a major part, have a lot of different character interactions, and make the reader feel safe and peaceful. This book has all of that and also adds kindness, community, and a lot of character growth.    

Right from the first chapter, I was sold on the characters. For a novella, the amount of depth, realism to the setting, and the balance with which the backstories of each character was covered was perfect. I enjoyed each character’s arc. The robots trying to make jokes was so heartful and endearing. The description of noodles also instantly made me hungry. 

There also was careful critique and commentary centered around the immigrant experience and other social issues. The way it was layered in is masterful. It was never overbearing and the whole tone of the book continued to retain its cozy flavor throughout. And a surprisingly good amount of philosophy is mixed in too. It is impossible to not be moved by Staybehind’s journey in this story.  

In conclusion, I loved this novella and everyone should pick it up when it comes out. It is less than 200 pages and only 4 hours on audio. It’s a bunch of adorable robots starting a hand pulled noodle shop – how can you not?  Do it. I’m extremely serious.You will get this and be greatly rewarded. And soon Tor and Newitz will announce a sequel and I will be greatly rewarded too.

Synopsis

A baby dreadnought is terrorizing two star systems.

A new wormhole has been opened, a new planetary system revealed, populated by a strange and impossible race.

A mad god is on the loose.

The il’Drach have destroyed an entire planet.

They are on their way to Wistful.

Rohan just wants a peaceful day of work and a decent cup of coffee.

But if he doesn’t handle the dangers facing his friends, his system, and his sector of the galaxy, who will?

Review

“Who builds a warship and says, ‘Hey, let’s make sure she can whine, in case, I don’t know, her captain misses being around teenagers’?”

2025 is turning out to be the year of J.C.M. Berne for me and for good reason. Rohan is just such an outstanding main character to follow and his journey keeps getting more epic. Book 5: Eyes of Empire has actually dethroned Wistful Ascending to be my #1 ranked book in the series. It is the conclusion to the platinum arc of the series and what a conclusion it is. After 4 books of amazing character, and plot development, Joe finally strikes black gold here.  It is always amazing when the world expands or the plot turns to a new direction but when a character changes their perspective and understanding of themselves and others, especially after a long journey filled with conflicts (book 1-4,) that truly transforms the story into a new level. Joe does this electrifyingly in Eyes of Empire. It is truly an extraordinary book. 

The first thing I want to mention is how the writing and pacing keeps getting better with each book. This series is incredibly readable- that’s the best word I could come up with. Everytime you pick up the book, the pages fly enormously fast. And Joe keeps leveling this up masterfully with every new book. The second thing is the dialogue and humor. Rohan is why I read the book- such an amazing main character that I cannot stop loving even when he does some really bad things, but Wei Li is the showstopper. She steals every scene she is in. 

“That’s why they pay you the big bucks, Wei Li. Or credits. Or gold. Meat? I have no idea what currency you’re paid in.” 

“Today I wish my salary was in painkillers to take care of the headache I am developing.” 

Since this is book 5 of the series, I cannot talk much about the plot as it would veer into spoiler territory but we go to a new planet in this book and discover a new race. The il’Zkin are definitely my favorite race in the Hybrid Helix world. It is also truly skillful that the author can introduce a character in book 5 and make me love them as much as the ones I have traveled with for four other books previously. This is currently my favorite found family in all of SFF. 

Overall, I loved this book. This series just keeps ascending in terms of fun and depth. Especially from book 3, this series has veered off towards something really epic and I am pumped to see where it would go ultimately. On to book 6 soon. 

Synopsis

When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization.” Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on.

What Tom doesn’t tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm, human-free world. They’re the universe’s largest and most dangerous panda and they’re in trouble.

It’s not just the Kaiju Preservation Society who have found their way to the alternate world. Others have, too. And their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die.

Review

“For you Americans, that’s about one thousand six hundred fifty miles, and also, this is the last time you will hear imperial measures used because like the rest of the civilized universe, Kaiju Earth uses measurements that make logical sense.”

Scalzi is just too much fun. I’ve read three books from him so far and each one has been 6 out of 5 stars. The man can’t stop writing banger after banger.And this one ranks supreme for me over Starter Villain and When the moon hits your eye. I mean it has Godzillas, as in plural. Every time a book with a Godzilla goes up against a book without a Godzilla for me, the book with the Godzilla wins. 

It grabbed me from the first page and I finished it in 2 days. It only took 2 days because I was disturbed by having to sleep, and work. It was written during the pandemic and the timeline in the story is around then as well. It is a portal sci-fi where a character who is delivering food in NYC gets the chance to travel to a different Earth that is also present within our Earth but this one has Kaiju. It doesn’t have a deep meaning but it is very enjoyable and is filled with pop culture references. As with Starter Villain, this is a comedic sci-fi thriller at heart but there’s also carefully constructed satire against society. It is all integrated so organically and executed extremely well. 

“I did a background check on you. No arrests, no FBI or CIA or Interpol flags, no problematic social media posts. Even your credit score is good. Well, as good as it can be for anyone who has student loans.”

“Thanks. I love forever paying off a master’s I will never, ever use.” 

The biggest highlights for me are the dialogue and the characters. It has banter for days and the flavor of humor is absolutely up my alley. And I love all the characters in the book. There is not a single one I wouldn’t not want a whole book of. The main character is extremely easy to like and I loved following him throughout the story. Another highlight is the ingenuity on display every time I pick up a Scalzi book, I would have never predicted the MC having to take a helicopter up to a nuclear dinosaur to spray pheromones to get it in the mood to mate with another nuclear dinosaur and it being such a central event in the story. I don’t know how it works but it just does. I’m in awe really. 

“I tried being a vegan for a while, but I couldn’t live without cheese.”

“They have vegan cheese.”

“No, they don’t. They have shredded orange and white sadness that mocks cheese and everything it stands for.”

In conclusion, this was a 10/10 book for me and I’m very excited to pick up another Scalzi book soon. If I have to complain, my complaint is that the book is too small and they have not announced a sequel for it yet. If the bookish gods appear before me and grant me a boon, I know which book I will want a sequel done soon and it won’t be the kingkiller chronicles or a song of ice and fire. It will be The Kaiju Preservation Society 2. This is the easiest recommendation for anyone wanting fun. You might observe different things than I have from this book in terms of plot, dialogue, characters, world, etc. – but you will not be able to say you didn’t have fun. This I guarantee.   

Synopsis

The Hinterlands are a lawless place of broken dreams and broken people.

Roth is a bodyguard trying to leave his dark past behind, but history has a way of turning back up. Cynthia is a bandit who’s trying to make a future by wading through blood. They travel separately, trying to live by their own codes. All while a man in a red cloak tracks their blood-soaked footprints.

Review

“Cynthia the Bloody stood up, her name earned once again as she looked like a crimson ghost amongst the snow.” 

I loved this book but ZB definitely needs to pay me for therapy. It is not because he killed my favorite character, it is because he made me like the character that killed my favorite character. I have to go to a therapist and find out what is wrong with me. 

The first scene has a character decapitating someone with a bladed whip and it only gets more dark from there. I was not ready. From there, I loved everything about the writing. The setting, the characters, the tone, the plot, the dialogue, the action, short chapters – everything is a win. The best way for me to describe it would be Red Dead Redemption 2- a game where every aspect of it is perfect-  but with the darkness dialed all the way up. I don’t want to pick apart individual plot beads and expand because I firmly believe it is best enjoyed going in blind. If you have triggers, it is definitely advisable to check the trigger warnings before going in but if you’re a heathen that cannot get enough grimdark in your life, stop and rejoice because you have arrived. 

“You’re not very forthcoming.”
“You didn’t pay for the drink.”
“I’m the one who knifed the bartender.” “I’m sure he appreciated that.” 
“Probably not,” Cynthia said as she topped off her own drink, “but paid in blood is paid indeed.”  

The rising star of grimdark fantasy title is well warranted and this book becomes the easiest recommendation for dark fantasy and grimdark fans. It is short but  ̶s̶w̶e̶e̶t̶ sinful book and you will love it. Or you will start questioning yourself. Either way, you WILL be engaged. 

Side note, I didn’t even have to wait to finish the book to judge it as a 5 – star read; the first Vonnegut reference I came across I knew I wouldn’t be able to give it any less than 5 stars. I won’t talk about the person Z.B. but the author Z.B. – I am just genuinely scared of how much I’m falling in love with his writing.   

Synopsis

Isla Blackwood has never accepted the shackles of her family’s nobility. Instead, she sails the open waters, searching for belonging on the waves.

But when tragedy forces Isla home, she realises she can no longer escape the duty she’s been running from. Selkie raiders plague the island’s coasts, and when they strike at Blackwood Estate, Isla has no choice but to flee with her hot-headed brother and their brooding swordmaster.

To reclaim her home, Isla will have to set aside her grief and join forces with an exiled selkie searching for a lost pelt. The heirloom might be the key to stopping the raids—but only if they can steal it from the island’s most notorious selkie hunter, the Grand Admiral himself.

Caught between a promise to the brother she abandoned and a friendship with the selkie who should have been her enemy, Isla soon realises the open seas aren’t the only treacherous waters she’ll need to navigate.

As enemies close in, she must decide where her loyalties lie if she wants to save what’s left of her family—and find the belonging she’s been searching for.

Review

Isla felt the change in the ship the moment they hit Beira’s Passage. There was something different about the roll of the deck, the way the hull bucked and swayed. These were more than choppy waters; the waves were hungry for timber and said, throwing themselves high into the wind like rising walls. 

This was a buddy read for me in João F. Silva’s discord and I had a great time with this one. I had the hardcover and it contains a bonus prequel short story that introduces the character and world. I really enjoyed that too. It immediately made me realize I should read more nautical fantasies. This one has selkies and giant sea serpents and you might guess wrong which one is the scarier one. I also don’t think I’ve read a fantasy book featuring selkies before so that was a nice twist. 

“It was not in a selkie’s nature to show mercy.”

Speaking of ships, I love the way Scrimgeour writes about the ships and the seas. I was caught in a storm in the pacific ocean off the coast of Alaska last year and I was terrified but I never had the words to describe it. Scrimgeour describes how a ship behaves and feels in a storm perfectly. Her writing of atmosphere also deserves special mention. It complements the horror vibes and ominous tones of this book very well. When Isla is running in the dark for her life at Blackwood estate, I’m there and when she is struggling to stand on a rocking ship caught in a storm, I’m there and when she is held at gunpoint in an underground cave, I’m there. The writing was so strong and so vivid that I was transported to the scene every time. And I am properly spooked about selkies now too. 

Her character work is very strong too. Coming into the story after having read the prequel, I was already sold on Isla but even if I hadn’t read the prequel before, it wouldn’t have taken long for me to be invested in her journey. All the characters are written very well, everyone has their own backstory and motivations for the way they behave. The relationship between the siblings was also written super realistically that me and João were joking it doesn’t look like the author is writing fiction there. I think it is the mark of great writing when the author is able to elicit strong emotions, especially when it is hate. I guarantee that there is a certain character that will leave all readers seething with their behavior. One other thing that warrants mention is how well handled the internal conflict within Isla is with the external conflict driving her journey. Similar to The Last Ranger by J.D.L Rossell, the destruction of the ingrained bias theme is realized superbly and realistically.  

“Dark be the water, and darker still the creatures that lurk within.” 

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and it has a very different flavor to it compared to the usual epic fantasies. It does fall into some tiny pitfalls of the first book syndrome and I feel it could have focused on the plot a bit more but it’s still a very strong outing. I’ve already bought a physical copy of book 2 and can’t wait to start it.   

Synopsis

Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.

Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters, and the mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.

Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it’s a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.

Review

“You spend years illuminating manuscripts,” said Baptiste, working off one boot, “and singing hymns, and tending the monastery gardens, but all anyone wants to talk about is the one time you fucked a werewolf.” 

The absolute easiest way to torture me is to lock me in a room and say “Choose which of the character’s in Abercrombie’s devils is your most favorite and you’re free to leave.” I will go certifiably insane. I can literally visualize the people reading this and going – Oh Joe Abercrombie’s characters are great, what else is new? I can predict all variations from the oldie but goodies of grass is green, sky appears blue to the benign stuff like is the pope catholic, does a bear shit in the woods, to newer refreshing stuff like is a frog’s arse water tight, does a one legged duck swim in a circle to the ones that are unrepeatable here that the bawdy minded ones of you are thinking of. But what am I to do? Joe Abercrombie is phenomenal at character work and profoundly without parallels. The reality of grimdark fantasy has rearranged itself when Lord Grimdark started writing in the genre. 

I speak so highly of his character work because in the hundreds of (I googled to check, anything more than 200 can be classified as hundreds of ) books I have read, I have not seen a writer with as much strength in introducing a character after a 100 pages and within two and odd pages makes me love that character more than all the others who I have traveled with through the 100 pages before. To be clear, there are definitely other writers who do this exceptionally well, but the might with which Joe does this is singular. A vampire, a werewolf, a cynical necromancer, and an invisible elf is not the beginning of a bad joke… but characters in the book that I cannot choose my most preferred of. There are 8 different main characters and each of them are unique, memorable, and hilarious. Any writer can be proud of crafting just one of these characters but to have 8 of them is just Joe Abercrombie showing off. In my ‘The Blade Itself’ review I said I hadn’t enjoyed a character’s inner monologue and voice as much as Glokta since Murderbot; now I say I haven’t enjoyed a character’s inner monologue and voice as much as Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi. 

“Wasn’t much more she could do. Nothing needed stealing, and no one needed lying to, and it was hard to see how loing at cards would help, so that was her whole skillset exhausted.”

It is obvious that Joe has had enormous fun writing this book and it translated into me guffawing and scaring my roommates through the night (because I was reading the arc every night after work.) I seriously think I haven’t laughed this much with any other book in the last couple of years. It is very different from First Law humor but it works just as well even better. The Blade Itself was nothing short of excellence for me and that was a debut book. This is Abercrombie at the peak of his powers and it reflects in the writing. Every other page, I was being reminded of how good the characters, the dialogue, and writing is. I have statistical proof. I actually did the math and counted my highlights – I had 51 of them in the first 100 pages. For more than fifteen years, we’ve seen First Law, and Glokta dominate the answers every time a question about a book or character is asked in r/fantasy. From May 2025, I think we should be prepared to see the Devils, and one of the Devils characters be added to the answers.          

“The Dogeressa’s been excommunicated! Twice” 

“Some very fine people have been excommunicated,” said Balthazar.

“It’s very well known she poisoned her husband!” 

“Some very fine people have poisoned their husbands,”murmured Baptiste. 

Coming to the plot, this has everything from catching lightning in a jar to necromancy to crab men to lesbian yearning. Slimy, grimy, and humorous, this is the story of a bunch of people escorting a thief for a quest across a very treacherous land. Yes, this is grimdark Hobbit. A dragon with treasures in his basement is Tolkien. A pope with a bunch of monsters in the basement is Abercrombie. We go through the same adventure of friendship, self-discovery, and character growth albeit with a grimdark twist and naval battles. I cannot talk about it without spoilers but the whole extended climax and the reveals are glorious. There are some twists pulled off in a way that can only be called masterful and only be done by Abercrombie. 

All in all, I loved this book and cannot wait for the next installment. There were a few hurdles but I was just having too much fun to offer them more than a passing glance. The Devils has easily become not just one of my top reads of 2025, but of all time. It is that good and everyone should pick up a copy for their shelves, a special edition because you will love it, and the audiobook because you know, Steven Pacey. 

Synopsis

For centuries, the Yaseki have fought the corrupted souls who seek to plunge Japan into darkness. But the fragile balance is now shifting toward the forces of evil.

Ren Fudō, a young Soul Hunter blessed with the blood of the kami, receives a mission from Amaterasu Ōmikami. This simple errand is a spirit-given chance to pay off his debt to the Yaseki.

But as he and his new companion, a shrine maiden possessed by a violent land kami, take to the road, Ren remembers that spirits never give for nothing. The mission turns more dangerous and crucial with every step.

The future of Japan now rests on their shoulders, and an army of Yōkai stands on their path.

Review

“If only they knew, Ren thought with a sigh. If only they knew the truth about Ise. If only they knew that without him and a few others, Japan was doomed to slowly fall into darkness, they would forgive his blood-smeared sleeves, his shredded shirt, and the stench.” 

I loved this book. I was talking about it with someone and then went to Kindle Unlimited to take a peek and within a few hours, I had slipped into more than a 100 pages in the book. I stopped all my other current reads and relished this one. It has the best map, and bestiary ever. Add to it the gorgeous full cover art, and one can see how much love has been poured on to the book from everyone who worked on it. (Click here for a look) I will never be able to fully capture it in words, so I’m just going to steal from the author’s words. The best way for me to describe the book is to liken it to a kami – inexplicable in nature, yet easy to feel when you are in the presence of it. It is going straight to the top of my book recommendations list and I implore everyone to give this a chance so that they can experience what I felt and what I am incompetent to explain here. I’m not taking the easy route here by any means, it truly is that much mightier than my proficiency with English, and the written word. 

Coming to the story, the most apt way to describe this book is Japanese witcher but not as dark. If you’re looking for action, mythology, and grotesque monsters – those are available in plenty. The writing style is also notably different, this one is a lot more accessible, well-composed, and enjoyable. Baptiste has struck the perfect balance- his prose achieves all of the clarity but sacrifices none of the vividness. It is certainly not an embellishment to say that anyone who picks up this book will be transported to a fantastical, historical Japan. His writing comes alive and I want to visit Ise Jingu right now. I daresay this is the perfect drug for readers with aphantasia. It creates that immense of a visual and sensory experience. 

One other highlight for me is how much I was able to learn about Japanese mythology. I have consumed a lot of content from books, anime, and tv shows that are inspired from Japanese myth, culture, and folktales and this book helped put so much of it into context. And none of this was done via info dumps, everything was revealed little by little as we go through the story. It is handled with such skill that absolutely no disruptions are ever felt in the story – a fun, fast paced adventure that simply cannot be put down. I recently learnt from a podcast how fast paced books do not mean simply more action per page but is actually how much the action goes up and down per page and how it changes. This was done so very well in this book. 

It is the story of a monster hunter and his guardian spirit – a lion dog, in a race across time in a land full of dangerous spirits. It definitely gets bloody and violent but there’s also a lot of heart and a lot of humor. I loved all the main characters and side characters we came across. No way a reader is coming out of the book without loving some of them, and Pon-Pon especially. I also think it is underrated how good of a combat writer Baptiste is. All the conflicts from the introductory one to the climax were excellent and the climactic one certainly is the pièce de résistance.

Overall, it was a beautiful reading experience for me. I loved, learnt, and cried with this book. That’s the second time I’ve cried after reading a Baptiste Pinson Wu book and I cannot wait to read more from him. With Undead Samurai and now Blood of the Kami, Baptiste has written two epic fantasy love letters to Japan and this book will be such a rich treat to fantasy readers everywhere. 

Synopsis

People are dying, their corpses left savaged and drained of blood. The obvious culprit: vampires. But vampires shouldn’t be able to sneak around Wistful undetected or shadowstep freely inside her body. Soon the station herself becomes oddly uncooperative, leaving Rohan and Wei Li bewildered and all her inhabitants in danger.

Finding and defeating the killer will require a deep dive into the ancient history of Wistful and of the il’Drach people. Into the connections between the Ursans, the wormholes, and the races that preceded them. Into the dark past of a tormented space station that yearns only for death.

Rohan will be forced to fight, and maybe even to kill. He’ll have to face those who bear grudges from his past, the Empire he once served, and his own reluctance to again become the warrior he sometimes needs to be.

Review

“You’ve mentioned this before. I have to tell you, it’s refreshing to meet someone so liberated.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean ‘liberated’?”

His smile broadened. “So many of the people I meet are slaves to things like civility and manners. You’re just so… unencumbered.” 

I ended book 2’s review saying I will certainly start book 3 soon and look at me, sticking to my word for once. I am so glad I immediately jumped into Blood Reunion and at the time of writing this review, I am actually 32% into Book 4. Now, Wistful Ascending still holds my heart but objectively (if there is such a thing in book reviews) this is the best book I’ve read by JCM Berne yet. 

Everything in this book is balanced so well. The character development, the action scenes, the banter, the story arc, the tension, the world building, the mystery, the reveals, the stakes, the family drama. I feel like this is the first book where we are getting glimpses of the actual wider arc Joe is trying to build to. There are some things alluded to in this book that I cannot wait to see in the future books. I cannot talk about it because of spoilers but this is the book where you get the feeling “Oh, this series is going to go somewhere I didn’t expect at all but also somewhere much, much grander than I expected.” 

When I say this, it is not just about how the world of hybrid helix is expanding, how the history is getting deeper, how the action scenes are getting bigger, but it is also about how Rohan’s character is constantly being explored. Fonda Lee has said ‘The term epic fantasy conjures an expectation of vast continents, kingdoms and armies, the rise and fall of nations. But there is also an epic scale to be found in a single life.’ And when I stop and think more deeply about this series, this is what JCM Berne is doing. Rohan is such an epic protagonist to follow. In every book, he has significant character exploration going on even if it might not really show on the surface.

In book two, the plot happens on Earth and for me, it took a bit long to warm up to the new characters. In Blood Reunion, we are back in the Wistful space station and I didn’t need any time to be invested. I loved everything about being back in Wistful and it was like meeting old friends – effortless really. The story flowed so smoothly and the main characters were basically confined to a small space because of an impossible ancient vampire threat. So it was dialogue heavy and I was reminded once again why JCM is one of the best dialogue writers in the business. Every scene with Wei Li’s dialogue is my favorite scene in the book. And the fight scenes and badassery of Rohan keeps getting more and more delicious with each book. 

I need to get back to book 4, so I’m ending the review here. I also don’t know what more I can say more about the book without going into specifics of the plot. So far, it is the best entry in the series for me and JCM is definitely one of the best writers in super hero fantasy/ space operas.    

Synopsis

Turn Two of the Hybrid Helix.

Humanity faces extinction. Ten-kiloton monsters are rising from the depths of the Pacific, levelling entire cities in frenzies of destruction. Earth’s heroes have been decimated. The survivors put their hope in one last, desperate plan: find Hyperion, Earth’s most powerful hero, and ask him to return from exile to save them.

What they don’t know is that Hyperion is dead. The Griffin spent ten years fighting wars across the sector as a weapon of mass destruction for the il’Drach Empire. His victories made his name a curse on a dozen worlds and a nightmare on scores more. He retired to the peaceful station Wistful and discovered that leaving his name behind didn’t clear his sins, his debts, or his conscience.

Earth’s peril may give him a chance for redemption, if he can only find a way to stop the monsters without turning into one. Without becoming The Griffin again.

Review

‘“Rohan, if you get yourself killed, I will be sad. If you get Lyst killed, I will find a team of Shayjh to resurrect you so I can kill you again, with my own hands.”

He sighed. “I’ll prioritize her safety over my own. Good enough?”

“It is a start.”’

I’m back with turn two of the hybrid helix and am determined to get through the series this year. It is definitely one of the fun books I get to read. Superhero fantasy usually gets little of the limelight while discussing the different subgenres under the fantasy umbrella but this series is one of the best realizations of it. There is no way simply that readers do not love Rohan a.ka. The Griffin. 

Book 1 (Wistful Ascending) is one of the best books I have ever read and it was in my top 10 reads of the year 2023. I shouldn’t have taken such a long break after that but I’m determined to correct that this year especially with one or two books coming out every year. As I said in book 1’s review, even with a lot of action and some pretty dark stuff, I associate a cozy, comforting feel with this series and it doesn’t change. 

Sentient spaceships are always a nice touch. A new one was introduced in the beginning of this book and immediately skyrocketed to the top of my favorites list. While the first book happens entirely in space, this one takes Rohan back to Earth. He was an angry superhero who left Earth a decade ago but is now back because Earth is facing an extinction-level threat. The way this threat is written is so effective. I truly felt that humanity was in an impossible situation and the battle, and the losses suffered as the threat grew felt so convincing. The stakes were set up so well and I was invested. While he faces a very obvious threat, he also has to go back and talk to his mother and his ex – after being in no contact for more than a decade.

‘Ben raised his donut in a salute. “Two angry women. Not something the Empire trained you to handle.”’ 

Great action scenes, witty banter, and great emotional character arcs are all  ̶f̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶o̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ already trademarks of JCM Berne. Rohan is such a captivating character to follow, I simply don’t see how anyone can not enjoy and be captivated by his journey. He is such an OP character in this universe and yet is also flawed, relatable, complex – leaving the readers with such a lasting impression and an emotional connection. I want Rohan to win and I want him to be happy. We also get a lot of references to our Earth’s pop culture and that adds to a lot of fun. 

Two minor quibbles I have are that – I am personally more partial to the side characters and relationships developed in book 1 and I miss them. This book being set in a totally new area, offers a new cast of side characters but it is like starting a tv series on its fourth season and while they do win me over, it takes a very long time. The other is that while the ending is certainly explosive and has a proper resolution to the plot threads, I wanted the orchestrators of the enormous thread explored a bit more. This one definitely seems to be more about Rohan’s character growth and redemption. 

So while this falls slightly short of the highs Wistful Ascending (Book 1) reached for me, it was still an enjoyable time and I’m certainly going to start Book 3 very soon.