We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson This was my annual “spooky Halloween read.” I have a hard time judging it, having spoiled myself on the twist long ago. I find it hard to believe that this twist wouldn’t have been obvious even if I hadn’t known, ... more >
Trigger warning: READERS PLEASE NOTE: The following review contains MASSIVE spoilers for the earlier five books in Megan Whalen Turner’s Thief series and this is one series where spoilers should be avoided at all costs. Seriously, don’t even read the blurbs for the later books. If you’d like to try ... more >
Trigger warning (for the book, not the review) Dear Mr. Aaronovitch, I’m a longtime reader of Rivers of London, your Urban Fantasy series featuring detective constable Peter Grant of the London Metropolitan police. When I heard you were working on a new, Rivers-of-London-adjacent short (216 pages) book set in Germany ... more >
This is a short list because I decided to confine myself to A category books only. Usually I’ll include at least B+s, but looking at my log this past year I really do think these five represent the best of what I read in 2018. Bed of Flowers ... more >
Dear Mr. Aaronovitch, The last book in your urban fantasy Rivers of London series saw some big developments, including the unmasking of police constable Peter Grant’s nemesis, the wizard known as the Faceless Man. Lies Sleeping, book seven in the series, finds the hunt for the Faceless Man and his ... more >
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett Foundryside is the first novel in a new series by Robert Jackson Bennett. Set in a world in which physical objects can be “scrived,” etched with commands that give them magical properties, in a Venice-like city run by four Houses (massive family-owned scriving businesses), the ... more >