So. I took a small break from longer-form write ups to focus on fiction writing and getting two manuscripts going at once. I've got beta readers going for my passion project Into the Dark and will be working in their feedback later this month. I'm also locked into the first book in a duology I'm hoping to really lean on called Labyrinth, the first entry in The Book of Icarus.

I actually have the first 10 chapters scheduled through September for Icarus for anyone subscribed as an Inner Circle member if anyone's interested in reading that chaos! I'm really loving it so far, though. It's a fever dream and very wild.

I promised reviews, right? I have quite a few so instead of a long-form version I'll give some rapid fire thoughts that were NOT included in my video reviews on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube.

Behooved by M. Stevenson

This premise was insane, but she pulled it off. Horse puns and all. I really enjoyed this, it was a fun little break from all of the doom and gloom I normally read and was just whimsical and fun. I love that it wasn't trying to be anything other than what it is. It's a silly romantasy about a man who turns into a horse during the day, it's not trying to change your life.

She wrote this like a fairytale and captured that essence really well in my opinion. Though the romantic arc felt very rushed for a 27 year old protagonist, I suspended my disbelief when I remembered he turns into a horse at night. It's fine. It had tiny spice in it which was inoffensive and fun to me, but I would've liked a slower evolution of them falling in love. I am, however, a romantic miser and I do tot personally fall in love easily which affects how I view romantic arcs in books. Protect your hearts more, y'all.

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

I put this alongside Blood Over Bright Haven as a book everyone needs to read. The prison system is brutal and Nana depicted the horror in a digestible way without losing the reality of how awful it really is. We have such a Hammurabian take on justice in America that we don't talk about how people are conditioned not to want justice, but to want revenge.

Do we truly believe dehumanizing people and breaking them apart is the best way to reform them? The answer is, frankly, no. We do not. We don't want to reform them. We are trained by our political propaganda systems and the investment of the private prison industry to be bloodthirsty spectators hungry for the suffering of those we feel moral superiority to. Nana shoves that right in our faces and makes you as yourself when someone deserves to be stripped of their humanity.

Of all the losses in this book, I felt Randy Mac's the hardest, though. It woke me up and even typing about it makes me teary eyed again.

Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty

Mohanty took on something very ambitious for a debut - retelling a fundamental story in Hinduism and Indian culture that most westerners don't have any knowledge of. The main criticism I saw was "infodump" which I'm beginning to suspect is a substitute for "I didn't pay attention when I read". We are losing sight of what an infodump actually is, which I don't think Mohanty is guilty of at all. He parsed out this story that's unfamiliar to most Americans and drip-fed it well in a way that wasn't overwhelming in my mind.

My criticism is that it was a bit messy with genre and POVs. I expected more fantasy than I got, it was more of a war novel than a fantasy novel. It also added elements of science fiction, but didn't explore them in this one so they felt out of place. I won't speak for the second book, I'll let him tell me his story and I recognize this first book was about grounding the audience unfamiliar with the Mahabharata in its core.

There were some perspectives that felt open-ended and never received closure that I walked away finding unnecessary, but ultimately the story was a ride and very fun. I love Karna and his obsession with righteousness. I love a righteous man. I do, however, strongly dislike Krishna. Which... I think is the point.

The Hike by Drew Magary

Magary is an underrated writer. Period. He got me out of a slump with Postmortal and I've been an evangelist for him ever since. He is sharp, biting, thoughtful, and much deeper than he gets credit for. The Hike is a crazy Odyssey-style tale of a man lost in the woods who will die if he strays from the path, but it's also bigger than that. It's about not getting so complacent you lose sight of your own good fortune. It's about a man who allows routine to smother his identity and forgets to indulge in who he is as a person. It's about him and his wife discovering each other's innermost needs, how to see each other, and finally understanding what's at their cores.

I think The Hike looks ridiculous on the surface - because it is - but when you dig into what it does and what it achieves, you realize this is a story full of layers and thoughtful metaphors that can be dissected for hours. Magary makes it that deep because people are that deep.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Maia is my half goblin son and I will die for him. Seriously, though, this is a cozy political court intrigue book that packs so much heart into such a small space. It starts and immediately dives into the plot, giving you a main character whose greatest strength is hope and a belief in goodness. I loved watching him turn his trauma into his greatest tool. He knew people and could read moods, he wasn't afraid to lean on his new authority, but he always did so when it was right. He gave people a chance to save themselves and believed in redemption for everyone.

I wish I'd had more on his romantic arcs with his potential Empress, though. I liked watching their interactions and it would've been nice to see more of their personal connection, but also Maia was just a baby. I appreciated that when it called for it, Addison didn't let up and allowed the difficult scenes to stay difficult. When an execution was required, she didn't deus ex machina for the sake of a reader's sensibilities and used violence when it was appropriate.

The only other critique I have is I hoped we would get more of Maia and his grandfather interacting! I wish we could see him lean into his goblin heritage and learn more about his mother's people. Overall, though, I loved how he refused to be ashamed of his half goblin heritage and honored the mother who loved him over the father he didn't even know.

The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

I was an insurance injury and claims adjuster for six years and finally feel represented in fantasy. Seriously, though, I had no idea Swan was a barrister but it absolutely makes sense in this book. What a trip. I finished it in two days. Necromancy, maritime insurance, political conspiracy... this book has something for everyone. I really don't have much in the way of criticism, which is rare for me! Helena was well written, Konrad is very crushable, and the magic is so eerie and done well. He creeped me out with necromancy in a book and I'm a glutton for horror!

I've been advised Book 2 is where it really takes off and I'm not sure how much more it could "take off", but I do know the Great Silence sequel series has oracular mermaids. So.

Wild Magic by Jude Fisher

I need more people to read classic fantasy. Fisher is a mesmerizing writer. I don't know how she does it, but her writing is enchanting. She is a bit long-winded and we are slow moving in a lot of ways, but I also don't mind it or really notice while I'm reading because she draws me in so effectively. I love her diverse cast of characters, the way she frustrates me with the men in her world, and how she shows the restrictions women face while men delude themselves about how progressive they really are.

In this second installment, I actually enjoyed her focus on women's sexuality, our social constraints because of men, the deprioritization of women over the ambitions of men, and how women are the beating heart of societies. The Istrians make me furious because they have their misguided belief they're "saving" women when they're really cruel captors and the Eyrans believe they're better, but they just imprison them differently.

Katla continues to be spritely and delightful, I love her and her weird earth magic. I also LOVED her with Tam Fox, don't come for my neck. I am a Tam Fox girl and you can't stop me. Saro is so sweet and charming, I know he loves her, but Tam understands her. He's the representation of true male feminism. He loves her as she is and never expects anything from her, he doesn't want to take her wildness. I'm devastated by the boat scene, but Fisher wouldn't just let Tam vanish. She's got a plan for him and if I've learned anything it's if there's no body, they're not dead.

A Dragon of Black Glass by James Rollins

If you scroll back, you'll see I read Cradle of Ice and I didn't love it. It's true. It was very exposition heavy and I felt like he didn't trust me as a reader. The characters' voices felt melded together and flat, like we lost their individual personalities to overexplain things I thought were apparent.

Whatever happened in Book 2 was totally reversed in Book 3. I loved it. This one was fast-paced, brutal, it trusted me, and we were right back on track with our beloved characters. I thought James crushed it, this is my favorite one in the series so far. It moves the world forward and gives us our real Big Bad in a way that makes me wonder how the heck are we getting out of this.

I love the continued question of "Is Nyx actually the hero?" and Kanthe wrestling with his identity and his potential for power. Micean is the best worst character in the book, I loathe him. Shiya and Rafe continue to be complex and never all-knowing, but present and important. His mechanics for the world are exploratory and consistent, his commitment to unique fauna is one of my favorite things, and I felt like the heart that we lost in Book 2 has been revived and beats anew.

In conclusion...

I've made my way through a lot of books this August, but my emphasis has been on writing and so I've gotten a little lost in that for a bit. I'm back, though, and committed to at least a weekly update on books and thoughts because reading is fun and important.

If you're interested to see anything more about the writing I'm doing, all chapters get posted multiple times a week as I refine them for Inner Circle members who are also invited to suggest changes and provide input I will gladly take!