#angry robots

Chasm by Stacey McEwan (The Glacian Trilogy #2)

Dawsyn’s miraculous escape from the Ledge was just the beginning. In the queens’ dungeon, Dawsyn awaits her execution while reliving the death of her lover, Ryon. There is no chance of mercy.

But hope finds her in the form of rescue by her village friends. Now on the run and struggling to tame her newly-gained and greatly unstable powers, Dawsyn's journey continues. Facing betrayal anew, she must learn patience and trust as she builds strength on all fronts, while she and her comrades recover and ready themselves for what's to come. As they ascend the perilous mountain slopes to the Glacian kingdom once again in a desperate attempt to save those remaining on the Ledge, Dawsyn must battle wills as well as weapons, before discovering an entirely new evil awaiting her…

Content Warning: gallows scene; sexual content, foul language, death, graphic violence, THEMES: found family; enemies to lovers; exes to lovers; spicy romance; self-discovery; trust

Book Page: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/chasm/

My Review: I was left with an ordeal in the Hero’s Quest of Dawsyn. This is the moment when the hero is tested and I badly wanted to read this book because I was left wondering. There’s a lot to love in this book: the storytelling and the style of writing that kept me hooked and reading, the well plotted story with a number of twists, the evolution of the characters. And we are back on the Glacial Kingdom that I loved so much as it’s a very original and intriguing piece of world building. This book is the one in the middle of the trilogy. There are some solutions, there’s evolution but there’s more to come. I had fun and enjoyed it, can’t wait to read the next one Highly recommended. Many thanks to Angry Robots for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Author: Stacey McEwan is a school teacher by day and fantasy writer by night. A book influencer on multiple platforms, she began writing the bestselling Ledge after book lovers of the internet begged her to share her story ideas. Stacey lives on the Gold Coast, Australia with her husband, two children and one questionable dog. When Stacey isn’t writing, teaching, or making ridiculous tiktoks, you’ll find her playing with her children, reading, annoying her husband, or possibly all three at once. Find Stacey on TikTok and Instagram: @stacebookspace Twitter: @mcewan_stacey

Herald of the Black Moon by Stephen Deas (Dominion #3)

The aftermath of House of Cats and Gulls sees Myla, Seth and Fings all split up…

The Wraiths have raised an army of the dead, and an army of the living is marching on the throne. Caught in the middle, Myla is tasked with spying on a sorceress who has the power to read minds. It’s safe to say things are not going well for her. Far away, Seth and Fings are laying low and staying out of it. And for once, it’s working: Seth hasn’t meddled with any Forbidden Magics and Fings is keeping his hands to himself. Things are going swimmingly… Until, that is, Fings sees a face that he thought they’d left behind in the ashes of Deephaven. As Seth’s past catches up with him and Myla unravels the true nature of the Empire’s new Princess-Regent, the trio converge on the dead city of Valladrune. Armed with a sinister secret behind an old war, once again, they hold the fate of the Empire in their reluctant hands.

If only they knew what to do with it

Book page: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/herald-of-the-black-moon/

My Review: I fell in love with Myla, Seth and Fings when I read the Moonsteel Crown and followed their adventure in The House of Cats and Gulls. It was hard to say goodbye because I liked these characters, I liked how they faced past and future and played their role even if they were not always willing player or wanted to accept the responsibility of their actions. It was a long travel that made me laugh, root for the trio, and travel to magical places and meet horrors and wonderful beings. This is the last story and it’s the satisfying, epic, and gripping end to this epic fantasy series. There’s not a moment of bore, there’s a satisfying conclusion, and it’s an action packed and fast paced story. Even if it’s the longest book in this serie I read very fast as the plot kept me turning pages and wondering what was coming next. I hope I will meet again Myla, Seth and Fings. In any case I will re-read this excellent series and I’m sure I will notice some new details and tricks and it will be like reading it a-new. I strongly  recommend it if you love epic fantasy and well written fantasy. Many thanks to Angry Robots for this digital copy, all opinions are mine.

The Author: Stephen Deas, born in 1968 in Southeast England, is an English fantasy author. He is most famous for his fantasy opus, the Memory of Flames sequence, set in a fantasy world inhabited by dragons.

The Cleaving by Juliet E McKenna

The Cleaving is an Arthurian retelling that follows the tangled stories of four women: Nimue, Ygraine, Morgana, and Guinevere, as they fight to control their own destinies amid the wars and rivalries that will determine the destiny of Britain.

The legendary epics of King Arthur and Camelot don’t tell the whole story. Chroniclers say Arthur’s mother Ygraine married the man that killed her husband. They say that Arthur's half-sister Morgana turned to dark magic to defy him and Merlin. They say that the enchantress Nimue challenged Merlin and used her magic to outwit him. And that Arthur’s marriage to Guinevere ended in adultery, rebellion and bloodshed. So why did these women chose such dangerous paths? As warfare and rivalries constantly challenge the king, Arthur and Merlin believe these women are destined to serve Camelot by doing as they are told. But men forget that women talk. Ygraine, Nimue, Morgana and Guinevere become friends and allies while the decisions that shape their lives are taken out of their hands. This is their untold story. Now these women have a voice.

Book page: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/the-cleaving-juliet-mckenna-arthurian-retelling/

My Review: I’m a sucker for everything related to the Arthurian cycle or Matter of Britain: from Geoffrey of Monmouth to Wolfram von Eschenbach, from Thomas Malory to Chrétien de Troyes. A love that was born after reading The Once and Future King by T.H. White and The Merlin Chronicles by Mary Stewart. Like many of my generation I read the first feminist retelling and love it: The Mists of Avalon. It was so successful that also became a sort of sacred text for some people. My last love was By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar Even if the Matter of Britain is often seen as knights-battles-magic the women plays a relevant role: from Guinevere to Nimue, from Ygraine to Morgause, from Viviane the Dame of the Lake to Iseult. These women play a relevant role in the saga but they’re often the seductress or the villain. The Cleaving was the right book for me and I was very curious about it as the story was told by the POV of these women. I enjoyed the story and I found it quite riveting as I was immersed in a realistic world where some people can use magic and the women are subject to power plays but they’re also strong and clever and they can play their own power games. I loved these women and I was happy to read a different version of Nimue: not the treacherous pupil who seduced and imprisoned Merlin but a woman with magical power who plays in a fair way. Merlin is a sort of villain, a magical being who will not stop to achieve what he saw in the future. I would have liked to know more about Nimue and Merlin and the lore of their people. I have different theories but it would be great to know if they’re sort of fey or druids or what else. The author did a good job in delivering a compelling and fascinating story, it kept me hooked and turning pages. I suffered from book hangover as it usually happens when I read a good book and have to be back in the XXI century. Many thanks to Angry Robots for this digital copy, all opinions are mine.

The Author: Juliet E. McKenna is the author of 15 epic fantasy novels set in the world of Einarinn,  as well as several novellas and countless short stories ranging from SF to steampunk and alternate history. Her contemporary fantasy Green Man novels, published by indie Wizard’s Tower Press, have sold over 28,000 copies since 2018. She has been a judge for the World Fantasy Awards, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the James White Award and the Aeon Award, and has, herself, been shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award and the BSFA Award for Best Novel. In 2015 she was awarded the Karl Edward Wagner Award for special achievement by the British Fantasy Society.  She is a regular at science fiction conventions, and is a 3rd Dan Aikido black belt.

World Running Down by Al Hess

Valentine Weis is a salvager in the future wastelands of Utah. Wrestling with body dysphoria, he dreams of earning enough money to afford citizenship in Salt Lake City – a utopia where the testosterone and surgery he needs to transition is free, the food is plentiful, and folk are much less likely to be shot full of arrows by salt pirates. But earning that kind of money is a pipe dream, until he meets the exceptionally handsome Osric.

Once a powerful AI in Salt Lake City, Osric has been forced into an android body against his will and sent into the wasteland to offer Valentine a job on behalf of his new employer – an escort service seeking to retrieve their stolen androids. The reward is a visa into the city, and a chance at the life Valentine’s always dreamed of. But as they attempt to recover the “merchandise”, they encounter a problem: the android ladies are becoming self-aware, and have no interest in returning to their old lives. The prize is tempting, but carrying out the job would go against everything Valentine stands for, and would threaten the fragile found family that’s kept him alive so far. He’ll need to decide whether to risk his own dream in order to give the AI a chance to live theirs.

Book page: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/world-running-down/

My Review: When I read the plot I thought it should have been a sort of dystopia with hard characters and a androids/AI rebellion. I was wrong: it’s a story set in a world that is not very different from the one we live in with a cast of sweet and intriguing characters. It’s poignant, sweet, moving and gripping. It made me smile and cry, I rooted for Valentine and Oscric and hope in a HEA like I was reading a romantic novel. Valentine is well rounded and lovely character: he’s fighting to read his goal but he’s never bitter or harsh. There’s a lot of sufferance, there’s moving representation of dysphoria but this character has no chip on his shoulder. Oscric is the Stewart AI that was forced into an android body. A funny and complex character I loved since I met him. The author is a very talented storyteller and deliver a cast of well-developed characters, a tightly knitted plot and a complex world building. I would happy to meet again these characters, I will surely read other books by this author. Strongly recommended. Many thanks to Angry Robots and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Author: Al Hess is the author of the self-published post-apocalyptic Travelers series and the 1930s flavoured dystopian series, Hep Cats of Boise.  When not hunched before a computer screen, Al can be found at his art desk. He does portraits in both pencil and oil paint, and loves drawing fellow authors’ characters nearly as much as his own. He writes cozy and uplifting stories with queer, trans, and neurodiverse representation.

Speculative fiction/fantasy/sci-fi: some random titles – pt 1

This year, 2022, has been a book featuring a lot of very interesting new authors and the closure of some series I loved. For every title the link to Goodreads

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) is a heart-wrenching, thought provoking and well written book about a world suffering by a deadly pandemia. Something worse than COVID and more ancient. There’s a lot of story of different people and at least one made me cried bucked. A mix of literary and speculative fiction

One Foot in the Fade by Luke Arnold (Orbit) This series never disappointed and I love the atmosphere that mixes noir and fantasy. I always hope there’s going to be more. It was a great series.

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings (Orbit) I think this was the best debut in 2022: an exciting story set in New Orleans that I couldn’t put down. Can’t wait to read other books by this author

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah (Orbit) A great story based on Middle East lore. Love it since the beginning and can’t wait for the next one

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett (Jo Fletcher Books) The last of the Foundryside saga. An epic ending to a great series

Babel by R.F. Kuang (HarperVoyager) Rebecca Kuang can develop complex plot that are both entertaining and thought provoking. Babel is historical fiction, fantasy and a critic view of colonialism.

Stringers by Panatier, Chris (Angry Robot) Silver Queendom by Dan Koboldt (Angry Robot) Demon Hunting with a Southern Sheriff by Lexi George (Kensington Books) I had a lot of fun in reading them. Highly recommended

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater (Orbit) A lovely series that mixes Regency romance, fairy world, and fantasy. Loved it, highly entertaining

Ledge by  Stacey McEwan (The Glacian Trilogy #1)

In a place known as the Ledge, a civilization is trapped by a vast chasm and sheer mountain face. There is no way for anyone to escape the frozen wasteland without befalling a deathly drop. They know nothing of the outside world except that it is where the Glacians reside – mystical and vicious winged creatures who bring meagre rations in exchange for a periodic human sacrifice. Dawsyn, ax wielder and only remaining member of her family, has so far avoided the annual culling, but her luck has run out. She is chosen and ripped from her icy home, the only world she knows. No one knows what will happen to her on the other side, least of all Dawsyn. Murdered? Enslaved? Worse? Fortunately, a half-Glacian called Ryon offers to help them both escape, but how can she trust one of the very creatures that plagued her life? Dawsyn is a survivor, and she is not afraid to cut anyone down to live.

*Content warnings* gratuitous violence & death; death of a minor; suicide; attempted sexual assault

Book page: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/ledge/

My Review: I'm always a bit wary when I read about a book "written by TikTok sensation" or somethin similar as I think that video and written words are two different means of expressing ideas and stories. I can say I enjoyed this book as it's fast paced and the plot is well thought and kept me turning pages. I read in one sitting and appreciated the plot and how the author deals with a lot of tropes making them work and creating something original. There's a lot of potential in this story and I'm curious to know what will be next as the last pages surprised me and left me wishing I could read the next book soon. The first chapters are an excellent mix of dystopia and fantasy, there's a growing tension and a sort of cosmic horror in some parts as the world out of the Ledge is unknown and unreachable. I loved that part because it's chilly and thrilling at the same time. The plot becomes more standard fantasy: the chosen one, romance, discovery of secrets and this made me rated it down as it was entertaining but less thrilling. As this is the first book by this author I think they will hone their skills and deliver new and exciting stories. This one is recommended. Many thanks to Angry Robots for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Author: Stacey McEwan is the author of Ledge, the heart-stopping beginning to the Glacian Trilogy. Stacey is a school teacher by day and fantasy writer by night. She is a book influencer on multiple platforms and began writing Ledge after book lovers of the internet begged her to share her story ideas. Stacey lives on the Gold Coast, Australia with her husband, two children and one questionable dog. When Stacey isn’t writing, teaching, or making ridiculous tiktoks, you’ll find her playing with her children, reading, annoying her husband, or possibly all three at once.

The Last Blade Priest by W.P. Wiles

Inar is Master Builder for the Kingdom of Mishig-Tenh. Life is hard after the Kingdom lost the war against the League of Free Cities. Doubly so since his father betrayed the King and paid the ultimate price. And now the King's terrifying chancellor and torturer in chief has arrived and instructed Inar to go and work for the League. And to spy for him. And any builder knows you don't put yourself between a rock and a hard place.

Far away Anton, Blade Priest for Craithe, the God Mountain, is about to be caught up in a vicious internal war that will tear his religion apart. Chosen from infancy to conduct human sacrifice, he is secretly relieved that the practice has been abruptly stopped. But an ancient enemy has returned, an occult conspiracy is unfolding, and he will struggle to keep his hands clean in a world engulfed by bloodshed.

In a series of constantly surprising twists and turns that take the reader through a vividly imagined and original world full of familiar tensions and surprising perspectives on old tropes, Inar and Anton find that others in their story may have more influence on their lives, on the future of the League and on their whole world than they, or the reader imagined.

Book page: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/the-last-blade-priest/

My Review (5*): I tried to classify this book according to usual fantasy subgenres but I wasn’t able to match to any and decided that it belonged to the “Kept me hooked on a very hot summer afternoon”. This means I loved this book because I kept on reading even if my body was sending me messages like “Stop and go nearer to the fan” and I did it even if I kept on reading. So this unclassified fantasy book is a page turner that starts slowly and introduce you to a complex world on the brink of a catastrophe and epochal changes. The religion of the God Mountain is split between reformist and conservative, they were told to stop performing human sacrifice and they are divided. Anton is one of the Blade Priest in charge of the sacrifice and he’s very happy because he didn’t want to become the one who performed the sacrifices and gives the Gift. But he would prefer not to be involved in politics even if those playing political games are happy to involve him. Inari is a builder, he’s enrolled by the League, a nation that just conquered his country. And there’s the Elves, some very strange elves who are considered the villains. There’s a lot of players, a lot of world building, and this is one of the few fantasy book I read where a religion is playing a relevant part not only as something part of the background. The author is an excellent storyteller who delivers a fascinating and complex world building and well-developed characters. Even if the story is told by Inari and Anton POVs there’s two female characters who plays a relevant role: Anzola and Duna. Anzola is a strong willed and powerful member of the League elite and I liked her since the beginning, Duna is a sort of mystery and we get to know her as the story evolves. I wish there were some maps because sometimes my mind wasn’t able to  imagine the distances and the terrain, trust me it plays a role. I appreciated how the author took some classic fantasy tropes and made them new and how he was able to develop a story where there’s violence but the gore is never in eccess. I think this is the first in a series and I hope there will be a follow up soon as I’m still suffering from book hangover and want to travel back to this world. I had fun, enjoyed it as it’s gripping and highly entertaining. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Angry Robots and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Author: W P Wiles was born in India in 1978. He is the author of three novels: the Betty Trask Award-winning Care of Wooden Floors (2012), The Way Inn (2014), and Plume (2019). When not writing novels, he writes about architecture, and he is a regular columnist for RIBA Journal. He lives in east London.

Mercury Rising by R.W.W. Greene

Even in a technologically-advanced, Kennedy-Didn’t-Die alternate-history, Brooklyn Lamontagne is going nowhere fast. The year is 1975, thirty years after Robert Oppenheimer invented the Oppenheimer Atomic Engine, twenty-five years after the first human walked on the moon, and eighteen years after Jet Carson and the Eagle Seven sacrificed their lives to stop the alien invaders. Brooklyn just wants to keep his mother’s rent paid, earn a little scratch of his own, steer clear of the cops, and maybe get laid sometime in the near future. Simple pleasures, right? But a killer with a baseball bat and a mysterious box of 8-track tapes is about to make his life real complicated.

So, rot away in prison or sign up to defend the planet from the assholes who dropped a meteorite on Cleveland?  Brooklyn crosses his fingers and picks  the Earth Orbital Forces. A few years in the trenches and then -- assuming he survives -- he'll get his life back, right? Unfortunately, the universe has other plans, and Brooklyn is launched into a story about saving humanity, finding family, and growing as a person -- while coping with high-stakes space battles, mystery science experiments and finding out the real enemies aren’t the tentacled monsters on the recruitment poster.

Unless they are.

Book page: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/mercury-rising/

My review (5*) I loved this book. I loved the retrò atmosphere, the pop references, the mix of classic and contemporary sci-fi with alternate history. I love these things and I loved the well-developed and interesting characters. It was great to read about the changes in Brooklyn and how he evolves from being someone who's involved in a crime to a person who is facing something bigger than him. The first chapter in this story could have been written by Heinlein: the hero and the fight could be in some of his book. And I think the author pays homage to Heinlein in other parts of the story or maybe it's just my impression. It's one of the most original sci-fi book I read in these years. I knew that the author is a talented storyteller but I think this is his best work so far. I was fascinated by this parallel universe where humans settled on the Moon and other planets but the computer are those of the 70s. Where there's a collaboration between the most powerful countries and Kennedy never dies. And i liked the references to music and pop culture. I think this is something new and classic in the sci-fi world and hope a lot of people will love it. I can't wait to read the next book by this author, this one is strongly recommended. Many thanks to Angry Robots and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Author: R.W.W. Greene is a New Hampshire USA writer with an MA in Fine Arts, which he exorcises in dive bars and coffee shops. He is a frequent panelist at the Boskone Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention in Boston, and his work has been in Stupefying Stories, Daily Science Fiction, New Myths, and Jersey Devil Press, among others. Greene is a past board member of the New Hampshire Writers’ Project. He keeps bees, collects typewriters, and lives with writer/artist spouse Brenda and two cats.