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Book Review: Perplexity (The Sceptre and the Stylus, #2) by Chawna Schroeder

Book Review: Perplexity (The Sceptre and the Stylus, #2) by Chawna Schroeder


Perplexity by Chawna Schroeder
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I was charmed by Illuminary, the first installment in Chawna’s A Little Princess-inspired fantasy trilogy. The world she has created is rich in color and culture and variety. The characters populating the story might faintly echo their Hodgson Burnett counterparts, but they are even more wonderfully themselves, full of charm and personality and nuance. The inclusion of faith is vital, prevalent, and beautifully portrayed. But, as much as I loved that first installment, the aforementioned inspiration from one of my favorite children’s classics felt minimal. That was no longer the case in this followup. Perplexity delivers on the promises of Illuminary, reimagining A Little Princess in a brilliant fantastical setting while also being very much its own powerful story.

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The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer


The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“All stories are love stories if you love stories.”

The Book Witch is one of my very favorite things: a book about books that actually remains a book about books all the way through. There’s also great banter, housed in a wonderful but star-crossed romance where the romantic interest is also a charming friend, one who makes an excellent partner in crime. And there’s a multilayered mystery to be solved. But at its very heart, The Book Witch is a love letter to all stories, but especially to the ones that make us brave.

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Book Review: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

Book Review: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

ARC provided by the publisher—Tor Books and Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art by Kelly Chong

The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 398 pages (Hardcover Edition)

Word Count: 139,000 words

Published:  20 January 2026 by Tor Bramble (US) and Gollancz (UK)


I am in awe. The Poet Empress is absolute greatness manifested. This is a must-read epic fantasy standalone masterpiece for fans of The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang, The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu, and Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurts.

“You were born second, so you never learned the meaning of duty. You never learned that there is no glory without sacrifice. There is no greatness without suffering.”

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Book Review: The Splintered Sun (The Splintered Sun, #1) by Tad Williams

Book Review: The Splintered Sun (The Splintered Sun, #1) by Tad Williams

ARC provided by the publisher—Hodder—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art by Jeff Brown

The Splintered Sun by Tad Williams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Splintered Sun (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 528 pages (Hardcover Edition)

Word Count: 258,000 words

Published:  6 October 2026 by DAW Books (US) and Hodder (UK)


The Splintered Sun is the start of a new incredible tale in The Osten Ard Saga accompanied with a relatively faster-paced narrative .

“When you are my age, you will be less dismayed and even less surprised by the path that life leads you. I am alive and among friends. That counts for much.”

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Book Review: Once There Were Heroes (A Time of Dragons, #1) by Philip C. Quaintrell

Book Review: Once There Were Heroes (A Time of Dragons, #1) by Philip C. Quaintrell

Cover art by Chris McGrath

Once There Were Heroes by Philip C. Quaintrell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: A Time of Dragons (Book #1 of 5)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 750 pages (Hardcover Edition)

Published:  4 September 2023 by Quaintrell Publishings


Once There Were Heroes ignites the epic and slow-burning genesis of an unexplored saga in the world of Verda.

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Book Review: Daughter of Crows (The Academy of Kindness, #1) by Mark Lawrence

Book Review: Daughter of Crows (The Academy of Kindness, #1) by Mark Lawrence

ARC provided by the publisher—Harper Voyager—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by Tom Roberts

Daughter of Crows by Mark Lawrence

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Academy of Kindness (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic fantasy

Pages: 450 pages (Ebook Edition)

Published:  24th March 2026 by Ace Books (US) and Harper Voyager (UK)


Daughter of Crows marks Lawrence’s marvelous return to the grim and dark storytelling of his, and it will be one tale to remember.

The Academy’s official motto was, πίστη πάνω από τη συνείδηση, ‘Creed Above Conscience.’ Unofficially it was ‘Leave the bodies’.

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Book Review: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1) by Matt Dinniman

Book Review: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1) by Matt Dinniman

Cover art by Luciano Fleitas

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Book #1)

Genre: Fantasy, LitRPG

Pages:450 pages (Hardcover Edition)

Published:  2 October, 2020 (Self-Published)


Fun, bonkers, and filled with personality. It took me years, but I finally started reading Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, arguably the most popular LitRPG series at the moment.

“Mana Toast. This is toast. It refills your mana. That’s it. Nothing more. Fuck you.”

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Book Review: Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1) by Joe Abercrombie

Book Review: Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1) by Joe Abercrombie

Cover art designed by Micaela Alcaino

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Shattered Sea (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Post-Apocalypse

Pages: 416 pages (Paperback Edition)

Word Count: 81,000 words

Published:  3rd July 2014 by Del Rey and Harper Voyager


I shouldn’t have worried. Half a King is a fine example of Young Adult epic fantasy done right.

“… Never worry about what has been done. Only about what will be.”

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Book Review: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Book Review: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

ARC provided by the publisher—Harper Voyager—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by Patrick Arrasmith

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, Dark Academia

Pages: 540 pages (Hardcover Edition)

Word Count: 160,000 Words

Published:  26th August 2025 by Harper Voyager


At this point, it is safe to say Katabasis by R.F. Kuang has an assured path to take the bestseller spot in many outlets around the world. That being said, can this relatively bizarre novel win the reader’s heart?

“How wonderful, truly, to have a friend whose silence you adored.”

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Book Review: Isles of the Emberdark (Secret Project, #5) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Isles of the Emberdark (Secret Project, #5) by Brandon Sanderson


Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Sometimes the only path forward is costly. We must travel it regardless.”

Isles of the Emberdark is a story I’ve been both excited and nervous to experience. Getting a new novel in Sanderson’s Cosmere is always an amazing feeling, but I always have this small sense of trepidation when approaching a new world, a fear that I might not love it as much as I’ve loved those onto which he’s already invited me. He’s never let me down so far, and Emberdark didn’t break that trend. I loved this new world, and I loved seeing how the technological development of these fantastical worlds is making the Cosmere smaller in a sense. The opening, in which a young Dragon is finally getting her draconian form, delighted me. It was a sweet, lovely, joyful way to start a story. From there, we shift to a place and people wholly different. It was interesting to see how the two disparate parts of the story interact. Starling, the young Dragon, and Sixth of the Dusk, an Eelakin trapper on the isle of Patji, on the world First of the Sun.

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