Today’s guest is CW, owner of The Quiet Pond, a fantasy-themed book blog with an ongoing narrative centered on your time spent at the Pond with its magical animal caretakers running through it. It’s a unique, welcoming site inspired in part by a love of role-playing games, and I think it’s one of the best book blogs there is—not just because of the premise but also because of the friendly atmosphere, thoughtful reviews, diverse book coverage, and support of marginalized authors. […]

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Stephanie Burgis’ The Harwood Spellbook series thus far follows women scandalously refusing to conform to the traditions of Angland, an alternate version of nineteenth-century England with magic and mythical beings like elves and fey. In this world, the Celtic queen Boudicca successfully defeated the Romans, leading to the establishment of a group of ruling women known as the Boudiccate—and a strict gender divide between political and magical careers. After all, it’s known […]

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, a standalone Popol Vuh–inspired historical fantasy novel set during the 1920s, tells the story of a quest to reunite a formerly entrapped Mayan god of death with his missing eye, ear, and index finger—as the brother who separated him from his body parts and imprisoned him in the first place tries to thwart him in order to remain upon his throne. The journey begins […]

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The Secret Chapter is the sixth book in Genevieve Cogman’s delightful Invisible Library series, which follows the adventures of Librarian Irene Winters. Irene is an agent of the Library—the one that exists outside of time and space, where its vast collection of books from alternate worlds maintains balance throughout the multiverse. Although this organization is known for its neutrality (at least, to the few aware of its existence), its Librarians also […]

This looks like another amazing year of speculative fiction! As usual, this is by no means a comprehensive list of books coming out this year, but it is a comprehensive list of 2020 releases I know about that sound most compelling to me personally—in some cases, these are new installments in series I love or books by authors whose work I’ve enjoyed, but there are also some books by new-to-me authors that sounded intriguing too. My personal taste tends to […]

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Empire of Sand, Tasha Suri’s fantasy debut novel inspired by Mughal India, is a gorgeous novel and one that I found deeply affecting—I loved it so much that it was my choice for Book of the Year in 2018 with its rich storytelling, fascinating world, and beautiful writing. Most of all, I was enchanted by the main characters and the vividly drawn relationships, especially the slow burn romance that grew from […]