Review: Fateless

Fateless by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Julie Kagawa returns with an action-packed start to her latest original YA fantasy series, set in a desert world perpetually baking under two suns, where a young thief must team up with a mysterious elfin assassin (iylvahn, his race is called) to stop a zealot or two from raising the very evil that doomed the world in centuries past. In that respect, this book is syncretic of the likes of Six of Crows, Nevernight, Dune, and Gideon the Ninth, with the typical propulsive pace of Kagawa’s work. While I’m a little less sold on the romance aspect on this one, I’m hoping to see the next two books very soon (and yes, this one better be at least a trilogy. I mean it.)

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Review: The Lion Women of Tehran

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’d been meaning to read this one for a while, but it somehow slipped my notice until I happened to find it on a library shelf in Portland. If I’d read it in 2024 when it was first published, it would’ve absolutely topped my list of best books of the year. This beautiful and powerful historical novel spans decades in Iran and America, first in the time of the Shah, then the Ayatollah. I’ve long been fascinated with the cultural riches of Iran (the artwork! The architecture! The religions! [Yes, plural.] and the food!!), and it’s beyond shameful that the country has been in the grips of authoritarian evil for as long as it has. Elaheh (aka Ellie) and Homa start as such inseparable friends, until family and political forces drive them apart (dear God is Ellie’s mom an insufferable witch, although she definitely becomes more sympathetic over time.)

Review: Terror at the Gates

Terror at the Gates by Scarlett St. Clair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another damn fine entry in the romantasy canon, this one heavily bastardizes the Old Testament with its setting in a modern neon Nineveh. It’s kind of a mashup of Crescent City and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with a touch of Guardians of the Galaxy and also Dungeons & Dragons in its DNA, the latter stemming from the consistent presence of a strange gelatinous substance which becomes associated with the sites of demonic killings. Also, St. Clair is well versed in the lore of Lilith and how she connects to similar legends in cultures both current and historical, so this book taught me more about her than any other to date. Naturally, this one is already in the ranks of books where, in my own books, my characters get to see them as proper bloody movies yet.

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Review: JanIus: Pawns

JanIus: Pawns by D L Hannah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

D.L. Hannah returns to her interplanetary saga with the long awaited third arc that picks up roughly where the original trilogy left off. Dr. Justin Ascensio leaves an increasingly fascist-polluted America (where analogues of Trump and Musk try to force their gaudy and technocratic brands of evil on the country, and the world) to take a position on the world of JanIus. Here, he proves a very popular new doctor, in part because he makes it a point of rejecting the corruption, violence, and misogyny of current physician Dr. Azini. (I’m not a doctor, but I’ve worked in clinics for several years, and let me tell you, some of Justin’s methods of tearing down abusers and wrongdoers are serious wish fulfillment for me.) When we’re not following Justin, we’re following Fawn Azini, the not-so-good doctor’s daughter, who aims to be a doctor herself despite her father’s hateful insistence otherwise…if she can survive Platirian-style training first. (Yes, lots of fave characters from Platirius and Coldarius make welcome returns.) While I may have some of my future reading delayed while I make preparations to move, I’ve already got my preorder in place for Book 2, Enter the King…from Hannah’s own website, now that she’s got her own sales portal up and running!

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Review: Tusk Love

Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don’t really know jack about D&D. As much of a geek as I am, I never played it, so there goes a lot of my nerd cred I guess. lol. I also don’t know jack about Critical Role, but I guess this book is part of that universe? But what’s most important to me is that it proves once again why, of all the romantasy writers in the biz, Thea Guanzon is the one I keep returning to with every new book. She’s the true queen. Not Sarah J. Mass. Certainly not Rebecca Yarros. It’s Thea Guanzon, and while we wait for the long planned conclusion to The Hurricane Wars, Guanzon now gives us a more lighthearted medieval fantasy love story, playing like a milder Beauty and the Beast with a well done Grumpy x Sunshine pairing, spot on class commentary, and some of the most tasteful spice you’ll ever have the pleasure of reading.

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Review: Among Ghosts

Among Ghosts by Rachel Hartman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rachel Hartman returns to the world of Seraphina with a new and very unusual kind of story in this universe: a ghost story. It’s very different from Hartman’s previous books in that it features a male protagonist, one who’s younger than either Seraphina or Tess - which might help explain why the cover looks a little more MG than YA, but it’s still a pretty dark tale at its core. Perhaps it bites off more than it can chew story-wise, but it’s still a worthwhile addition to Hartman’s canon. Especially for the opening scene of an idiotic rich boy, his equally dumb muscle, and young Charl sneaking into a very haunted old dwelling. Some horror movie tropes deserve the coffin, but this ain’t one of them.

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