Happy (slightly belated) New Year! As usual, I took the opportunity to cover some highlights of 2024 and discuss my favorite stories from the last year. Blog Highlights in 2024 One of the biggest highlights of 2024 on this blog was the thirteenth annual Women in SF&F Month, which contained wonderful essays by speculative fiction authors discussing their thoughts, experiences, influences, and work. It featured the following guest posts (which are eligible for nonfiction/related work awards): Gabriella Buba — “Fantasy […] The post Favorite Books/Media of 2024 & Year in Review first appea ..read more

As an Amazon Associate and Bookshop affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Book Description: In this sweeping epic fantasy comes a story of magic, betrayal, love, and loyalty, where two sisters will clash on opposite sides of a war against the gods.  A divine war shattered the world leaving humanity in ruins. Desperate for hope, they struck a deal with the devious god Kluehnn: He would restore the world to its former glory, but at a price so steep it […] The post Review of The Gods Below by Andrea Stewart first appeared on Fantasy Cafe ..read more

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along […] The post The Leaning Pile of Books first appeared on Fantasy Cafe ..read more

As an Amazon Associate and Bookshop affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong’s debut novel, is a standalone cozy fantasy book following a traveling seer who tells of small events that will come to pass rather than dramatic, life-changing ones. It’s a warm, feel-good story about creating found family and doing as much good as one possibly can, and it may be a great book for readers looking for hope and happiness right now. […] The post Review of The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong first appeared on Fantasy Cafe ..read more

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along […] The post The Leaning Pile of Books first appeared on Fantasy Cafe ..read more

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along […] The post The Leaning Pile of Books first appeared on Fantasy Cafe ..read more

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along […] The post The Leaning Pile of Books first appeared on Fantasy Cafe ..read more

As an Amazon Associate and Bookshop affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Book Description: Set in a magical zoo teeming with mythical beasts from dragons and unicorns to kelpies and krakens, The Phoenix Keeper is a fierce joy of a cozy fantasy novel with a soul-restoring queer romance at its heart, for fans of The House in the Cerulean Sea and Legends and Lattes. As head phoenix keeper at a world-renowned zoo for magical creatures, Aila’s childhood dream of conserving critically endangered firebirds seems closer […] The post Review of The Phoenix Keeper by S. A ..read more

As an Amazon Associate and Bookshop affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Goddess of the River is Vaishnavi Patel’s second novel, following her beautifully written reimagining of the story of the vilified titular queen from the Ramayana, Kaikeyi. Like her first novel, this gives a voice to a female character who had an important role but is often overlooked in texts and studies focusing on the original work: this time, by reimagining the story of the river goddess Ganga from […] The post Review of Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel first appeared on Fantasy Cafe ..read more

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along […] The post The Leaning Pile of Books first appeared on Fantasy Cafe ..read more