Libromancer's Apprentice

  Midnight, Water City  / Chris Mckinney The world we live in has been changing alarmingly, with record breaking temperatures, forest fires, storms, flooding, and landslides, while billionaires play compete with each other in a space race.  Midnight, Water City  gives us a future that's not so far fetched, imagining how the world may be future reshaped and going from there.  The apocalypse has happened, the land poisoned, the seas rose, and humanity endured and adapted, building down into the depths of the sea. The story follows a man who for years protected the woman who saved the world from an extinction level meteor event.  The years have not been kind, years lengthened through advances in medicine and science, more years to make mistakes. Year 2142: Earth is forty years past a near-collision with the asteroid Sessho-seki. Akira Kimura, the scientist responsible for eliminating the threat, has reached heights of celebrity approaching deification. Bu...

You Sexy Thing  / Cat Rambo The teaser hooked me with "Great British Bake Off meets Farscape" The story took a little bit longer, meandering in it's comfortable little setting. Then, as things are wont to do, everything went utterly wrong.  And that  my friends is when things started getting really interesting.  Rambo lulls you into complacency even as our intrepid heroes gear up for the biggest challenge of their culinary careers, and then pulls the rug out from under everything and sends the plot careening sideways into adventure and strife from most unexpected corners.  Amidst all of this, the characters unfold, giving the reader emotional stakes in the outcome. A delightful journey, all and all. Advance Reader Copy courtesy of  Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review; changes may exist between galley and the final edition.

A Terrible Fall of Angels (Zaniel Havelock #1) / Laurell K. Hamilton Confession - as much as I read large amounts of urban fantasy, particularly those with some sort of Investigator main character, I haven't really gotten into Hamilton's earlier works.  I gave Anita  the college try, working through a handful of books, but while I respected her work I never grew invested in the series.   But, Guilty Pleasures  came out in 1993.  Thirty years is a long time for someone to hone and refine their craft, and Hamilton's body of work and impact on the genre speaks volumes to her skill.  So a brand new series made me sit up and pay attention.  I wanted to see where this went, and I was not let down in the slightest.  Laurell K. Hamilton also took some time to answer some questions about the series, themes, setting, and horror! A Terrible Fall of Angels gives us a new setting, one where faith and belief can shape your magic, one where children can be...

The Last Graduate (Lesson Two of the Scholomance) / Naomi Novik Previously Reviewed: Deadly Education If you're a fan of magical schools, portal fantasy, and Naomi Novik, this series is a no brainer.  Really, you don't need to read a review, this book is well paced, engaging, with an evolving threat that the protagonist and her fellow students must continually adapt and overcome. It's senior year, one last year to build reserves, refine your craft, and survive for the final push and to escape the school. Only, the rules have changed this year in ways the students don't quite yet realize.  There's prophesy and destiny hanging in the air, and Novik constantly teases us with potential that leaves us guessing until the end. Advanced Reader Copy copy courtesy of Penguin RandomHouse via Netgalley; differences may exist between uncorrected galley text and the final edition.

Escape from Puroland (The Laundry Files 7.5)  / Charles Stross Previously Reviewed: The Annihilation Score The Nightmare Stacks Dead Lies Dreaming This novella is fantastic .  Coming it at under 150 pages it's a fast read, with just enough filling in of background & setting that an unsuspecting reader can dive in and follow without getting bogged down.  Bob is, after all, generally conscientious in journaling his missions.  Also, like a new reader, he is always being thrown into situations without a thorough briefing, so beyond establishing details such as his marriage, the organization he works for, and his role as the Eater of Souls, Jr, and the concept of Computational Demonology (all of which are integrated seamlessly), we are all discovering things together. Most of the series takes place in England, with a few visits to the US and International Waters.  Escape from Puroland  brings us somewhere new both in location for the series and the mythology...

Bottle Demon (Eric Carter #6) / Stephen Blackmoore Previously Reviewed: Fire Season (Eric Carter #4) Confession time first.  I didn't realize I had missed a book between Fire Season  and this one.  Which left me a tad bit confused about The Whole "Being Dead" Thing. For those new to the series, I very much recommend starting at the beginning with Dead Things.  Eric fits in well among a line up of literary contemporaries such as Sandman Slim or Harry Dresden, there's even something for fans of Preacher but pulling on Mexican mythologies (I'm going general here rather than accidently indicate the wrong pre-colonial culture) rather than Christian.  It's a dark urban fantasy featuring a necromancer who has a penchant for falling into problems above his weight class, a tendency to mouth off rather than play politics, and has a dry sense of humor. One thing that Blackmoore does well with this series is in effect keep it "small."  The cast does grow and cha...

Angel of the Overpass (The Ghost Roads #3) / Seanan McGuire Previously Reviewed Sparrow Hill Road The Girl in the Green Silk Gown Angel of the Overpass is a novel I didn't expect to come across.  I thought Rose's background arc was wrapped up with The Girl in the Green Silk Gown .  This story picks up after the events of That Ain't Witchcraft , with the Crossroads dead, realities readjusting, and Bobby Cross has lost his lifeline. Just as the world setting of this story has changed, Rose is also inevitably changing. Parts of this book felt like I had read it before, and others seemed completely new.  It tackles the results of people making choices for themselves without considering others, and the unrealized choices that shape oneself. Advance Reader Copy courtesy of DAW (Penguin RandomHouse) in exchange for an honest review; changes may exist between galley and the final edition.