The Gate of the Feral Gods

Dark, bizarre, humorous, insanely imaginative; that was my description of Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl in a nutshell. I was hoping that Carl and Princess Donut's journey through the lower levels of the dungeon would be as entertaining as the first volume turned out to be. Carl's Doomsday Scenario was still a fun read in its own right, but it failed to recapture the magic that made its predecessor such a special read. I was hoping that this was a case of the second book syndrome and that the author would up his game in the rest of the series. It made me wonder if Matt Dinniman was just a one-trick pony for, when you rely on absurdity the way he does, things will almost always be hit or miss.

With The Dungeon's Anarchist Cookbook, Dinniman stepped up to the plate and proved that the first installment was no fluke. True, some elements are becoming rather repetitive and the humor is not for everyone. And yet, I felt that the third volume steered the story in new directions that provided glimpses of better and more ambitious things to come. And if the latter is still true for this one, unfortunately The Gate of the Feral Gods is more akin to the second installment in terms of quality. If not for the epilogue, which opens the door for so many possibilities, this book would have been the weakest of the bunch so far.

Here's the blurb:

New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.

You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.

Here's the thing. It's never easy. Carl and his team can't go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.

As mentioned in previous reviews, LitRPG is a literary genre blending science-fiction and fantasy with video game and computer RPGs mechanics and conventions. Think character stats, experience points gained by battling creatures and completing quests, numerical rules, and a structure focusing on progression and character advancement. Expect character sheets, levels, and loot earned by killing enemies and bosses. It's all progression-oriented, with the plotlines heavily emphasizing on leveling up in order for the story to move forward. To be honest, everything about this annoyed me. I feel that it's an inordinate amount of gimmicks getting in the way of the storytelling. Though it featured all of these gimmicks, somehow Dungeon Crawler Carl, through its humor and originality, managed to sidestep numerous pitfalls and keep everything fresh and entertaining. And even if I found the first installment to be an often laugh-out-loud wild ride that made me go through the whole thing in just a few sittings, those RPGs elements were already getting vexing and I could see this becoming a problem down the line. Oddly enough, four books into the series, I guess that I've somehow gotten used to the RPG mechanics and they no longer irritate me as much as before.

The worldbuilding continues to be totally absurd. Once again, forget about conventional SFF worldbuilding. In order to enjoy this series to the fullest, you must be willing to embrace the ridiculous. It's the absurdity of it all that made the first volume so compelling. You never knew what to expect and that's what made Dungeon Crawler Carl such a fun read. Dinniman struggled to keep things as interesting in Carl's Doomsday Scenario, yet the level-spanning network of train/métro lines known as the Iron Tangle worked much better in The Dungeon's Anarchist Cookbook. I was hoping that the lower dungeon levels would be as imaginative and captivating. Alas, the bubble with its four quadrants that was the backdrop of The Gate of the Feral Gods didn't really work for me. I've come to realize that whatever universe serves as a level's environment plays a big role on my level of enjoyment for any particular novel. Hence the reason why this fourth installment failed to wow me.

As mentioned before, chances are that your sense of humor might be what will make you love or hate this series. Then again, what with this being the fourth volume, if you're still around it probably means that you can live with that. Like its predecessors, as a self-published work The Gate of the Feral Gods didn't go through any sensitivity reading before being released. It is thus filled to the brim with quirky, dark, and often juvenile humor that won't appeal to everyone. Once more, there is an amount of snark throughout that I really loved and found refreshing. The dungeon AI remains one of my favorite aspects of these books.

I always say that first-person narratives can be tricky, but I maintain that Carl remains the perfect point of view for such a batshit crazy series. Though he can be crass, once more in this book he shows a level of compassion that can makes him quite endearing. Princess Donut has become a bit of a liability, I feel, and she gets on my nerves more often than not. Which doesn't bode well for the rest of the series, for I'm sure that she's in for the long haul. The supporting cast continues to play bigger role in The Gate of the Feral Gods. Once more, Mordecai provides a lot of insight on everything and Katia continues to shine. It's nice to see Carl and Princess Donut interact with other crawlers. As was the case with the third volume, having various crawlers share information and work together was one of the highlights of this novel. Once again, there seems to be a lot of foreshadowing that hints at a lot more to come for the protagonists, things that go beyond the game and have to do with the politics of the various factions that comprise the universe. How this will affect the game and the crawlers remains to be seen, but the epilogue shows that things are moving in unanticipated directions outside of the dungeon. In many ways, that was the very best part of The Gate of the Feral Gods and it sets the stage for an escalation that may shake the dungeon to its core.

Let's hope that Matt Dinniman can get back on track and that the rest of the series will maintain this level of originality and silly inventiveness.

The final verdict: 7/10

For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Kim Stanley Robinson's New York 2140 for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

New York Times bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson returns with a bold and brilliant vision of New York City in the next century.

As the sea levels rose, every street became a canal. Every skyscraper an island. For the residents of one apartment building in Madison Square, however, New York in the year 2140 is far from a drowned city.

There is the market trader, who finds opportunities where others find trouble. There is the detective, whose work will never disappear - along with the lawyers, of course.

There is the internet star, beloved by millions for her airship adventures, and the building's manager, quietly respected for his attention to detail. Then there are two boys who don't live there, but have no other home - and who are more important to its future than anyone might imagine.

Lastly there are the coders, temporary residents on the roof, whose disappearance triggers a sequence of events that threatens the existence of all - and even the long-hidden foundations on which the city rests.

New York 2140 is an extraordinary and unforgettable novel, from a writer uniquely qualified to the story of its future.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Ken Liu's All That We See or Seem for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

From Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award–winning author Ken Liu, the first in a high-stakes sci-fi thriller series following an infamous hacker as she attempts to unravel a virtual reality mystery in the near future.

Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at 14 as the “orphan hacker,” is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb.

But when a lawyer named Piers barges into her life after his famous artist wife, Elli, was kidnapped by dangerous criminals, Julia decides she must help Piers and Elli. Nor step away from the challenge of this digital puzzle. Elli is an onierofex, a dream artist, who can weave the dreams of an audience together through a shared virtual landscape, live, in a concert-like experience by tapping into each attendee’s waking dream and providing an emotionally resonant and narrative experience. While attendees’ dreams are anonymous, Julia discovers that Elli was also providing a one-on-one dream experience for the head of an international criminal enterprise, and he’s demanding his dreams in return for Elli.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Dan Simmons' Drood for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens -- at the height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world -- hurtled into a disaster that changed his life forever.

Did Dickens begin living a dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a hidden subterranean London mere research . . . or something more terrifying?

Just as he did in The Terror, Dan Simmons draws impeccably from history to create a gloriously engaging and terrifying narrative. Based on the historical details of Charles Dickens's life and narrated by Wilkie Collins (Dickens's friend, frequent collaborator, and Salieri-style secret rival), Drood explores the still-unsolved mysteries of the famous author's last years and may provide the key to Dickens's final, unfinished work: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Chilling, haunting, and utterly original, Drood is Dan Simmons at his powerful best.

You can also download M. R. Carey's The Boy on the Bridge, prequel to The Girl With All the Gifts, for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

From the author of USA Today bestseller The Girl With All the Gifts, a terrifying new novel set in the same post-apocalyptic world.

Once upon a time, in a land blighted by terror, there was a very clever boy.

The people thought the boy could save them, so they opened their gates and sent him out into the world.

To where the monsters lived.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (August 23rd)

In hardcover:

Carissa Broadbent's The Lion and the Deathless Dark debuts at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook is up two positions, ending the week at number 8. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Robert Jackson Bennett's A Trade of Blood debuts at number 10. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl maintains its position at number 11. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's The Gate of the Feral Gods is up one spot, finishing the week at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's Carl's Doomsday Scenario is down five positions, ending the week at number 13. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's The Butcher's Masquerade is down one spot, finishing the week at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Hannah Nicole Maehrer's Adversary to the Villain debuts at number 1. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary is down one position, ending the week at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl maintains its position at number 4. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's Carl's Doomsday Scenario debuts at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Pierce Brown's Red Rising is down one position, ending the week at number 12. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Seth Grahame-Smith's The Last American Vampire for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

Vampire Henry Sturges returns in the sequel to the New York Times bestseller Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter—an alternate history of 20th-century America.

In Reconstruction-era America, vampire Henry Sturges is searching for renewed purpose in the wake of his friend Abraham Lincoln's shocking death. Henry's will be an expansive journey that first sends him to England for an unexpected encounter with Jack the Ripper, then to New York City for the birth of a new American century, the dawn of the electric era of Tesla and Edison, and the blazing disaster of the 1937 Hindenburg crash.

Along the way, Henry goes on the road in a Kerouac-influenced trip as Seth Grahame-Smith ingeniously waves vampire history through Russia's October Revolution, the First and Second World Wars, and the JFK assassination.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Katharine Kerr's Daggerspell for only 3.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

Even as a young girl, Jill was a favorite of the magical, mysterious Wildfolk, who appeared to her from their invisible realm. Little did she know her extraordinary friends represented but a glimpse of a forgotten past and a fateful future. Four hundred years—and many lifetimes—ago, one selfish young lord caused the death of two innocent lovers. Then and there he vowed never to rest until he'd rightened that wrong-and laid the foundation for the lives of Jill and all those whom she would hold dear: her father, the mercenary soldier Cullyn; the exiled berserker Rhodry Maelwaedd; and the ancient and powerful herbman Nevyn, all bound in a struggle against darkness. . . and a quest to fulfill the destinies determined centuries ago.

Here in this newly revised edition comes the incredible novel that began one of the best-loved fantasy seers in recent years—a tale of bold adventure and timeless love, perilous battle and pure magic. For long-standing fans of Deverry and those who have yet to experience this exciting series, Daggerspell is a rare and special treat.

Extract from Steven Erikson's forthcoming LEGACIES OF BETRAYAL

If you click on the "Look Inside" bubble, you can read the prologue from Steven Erikson's upcoming Legacies of Betrayal here.

EDIT: You can also read a good chunk of the first chapter through the Amazon link below. =)

Here's the blurb:

Endless training, gruelling marches, and the frenzy of battle against more enemies than can be counted - such is the life of a marine in the Malazan Empire.

Year by year, month by month, week by week, day by day, moment by moment. Skills are honed to deadly precision, the secret language of the soldier in a world drowning in perpetual discontent, the eternal conflict against the fates. And we should forget the seemingly inevitable interference of mischievous gods and more often than not, the resurrected remains of ancient and once believed long-dead entities.

As a new holy war starts sparked in the fire-blackened cauldron of Seven Cities, the Fifth and Sixth squads are about to embark a mission they don't want for a cause they don't care about. Not that anybody asked their opinion. They can only hope that their objective isn't as hopeless as it seems, and that they aren't simply being used as pawns - a strategic sacrifice, if you will, in the machinations of their betters.

So what's life like as a marine in the Malazan Army?

Well, let's see, shall we . . .

For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can download Brandon Sanderson's Elsecaller and King Lopen the First of Alethkar for 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

From Brandon Sanderson—author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive—and his cowriters Dan Wells and Isaac Stewart come two Stormlight tales, Elsecaller and King Lopen the First of Alethkar.

In Elsecaller, Jasnah Kholin faces threats beyond the physical realm as she navigates the dangerous intersection of Radiant powers and raw emotion. In King Lopen the First of Alethkar, survival is just the beginning when the impossible happens to one of Roshar's most unexpected rulers.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download James Islington's The Shadow of What Was Lost, first volume in the Licanius trilogy, for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale. It's supposed to be a must for fans of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time.

Here's the blurb:

It has been twenty years since the god-like Augurs were overthrown and killed. Now, those who once served them - the Gifted - are spared only because they have accepted the rebellion's Four Tenets, vastly limiting their powers.

As a Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war lost before he was even born. He and others like him are despised. But when Davian discovers he wields the forbidden power of the Augurs, he sets into motion a chain of events that will change everything.

To the west, a young man whose fate is intertwined with Davian's wakes up in the forest, covered in blood and with no memory of who he is...

And in the far north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir.

You can also download Michael Moorcock's Stormbringer: The Elric Saga Part 2 for only 2.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

From World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Michael Moorcock comes the second installment in his famous Elric of Melnibone series, brought to vivid new life with stunning illustrations.

In one of the most well-known and well-loved fantasy epics of the 20th century, Elric is the brooding, albino emperor of the dying Kingdom of Melniboné. After defeating his nefarious cousin and gaining control over the epic sword, Stormbringer, Elric, prince of ruins, must decide what he’s willing to sacrifice in a fight against Armageddon.

Stormbringer is the second in Michael Moorcock’s incredible series, which has transformed the fantasy genre for generations. Perfect for fans new and old, this book is brought to life once more with stunning illustrations from the most lauded artists in fantasy.

King of Kings

The level of incompetence, idiocy, naivety, and wishful thinking that characterized the Carter administration in what led to the overthrow of the Shah and then the Iranian revolution defies comprehension.

Scott Anderson's King of Kings is a fascinating, if often frustrating and bewildering read that will appeal to anyone who wishes to understand how and why the relationship between Iran and the USA became what it is today.

Here's the blurb:

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR NONFICTION • KIRKUS PRIZE WINNER • From the author of the landmark bestseller Lawrence in Arabia comes a stunningly revelatory narrative history of the Iranian Revolution, one of the most momentous events in modern times. This groundbreaking work exposes the jaw-dropping stupidity of the American government and traces the rise of religious nationalism, offering essential insights into today's global unrest.

On New Year’s Eve, 1977, on a state visit to Iran, President Jimmy Carter toasted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, King of Kings, Light of the Aryans, Shadow of God on Earth, praising Iran as “an island of stability “ due to “your leadership and the respect and admiration and love which your people give to you.” Iran had the world’s fifth largest army and was awash in billions of dollars in oil revenues. Construction cranes dotted the skyline of its booming capital, Tehran. The regime’s feared secret police force SAVAK had crushed communist opposition, and the Shah had bought off the conservative Muslim clergy inside the country. He seemed invulnerable, and invaluable to the United States as an ally in the Cold War. Fourteen months later the Shah fled Iran into exile, forced from the throne by a volcanic religious revolution led by a fiery cleric named Ayatollah Khomeini. The ensuing hostage crisis forever damaged America’s standing in the world. How could the United States, which had one of the largest CIA stations in the world and thousands of military personnel in Iran, have been so blind?

The spellbinding story Scott Anderson weaves is one of a dictator blind to the disdain of his subjects and a superpower blundering into disaster. Scott Anderson tells this astonishing tale with the narrative brio, mordant wit, and keen analysis that made his bestselling Lawrence of Arabia one of the key texts in understanding the modern Middle East. The Iranian Revolution, Anderson convincingly argues, was as world-shattering an event as the French and Russian revolutions. In the Middle East, in India, in Southeast Asia, in Europe, and now in the United States, the hatred of economically-marginalized, religiously-fervent masses for a wealthy secular elite has led to violence and upheaval – and Iran was the template. King of Kings is a bravura work of history, and a warning.

For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Scott Lynch's Kaiju Agonistes: Author's Enhanced Edition for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

It rises from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, awakened by the fallout of our atomic weapons! It terrorizes ships, islands, cities, and continents, but its actual motives might not be what we expect. As for what we do in response, we're the human race! We're not always the sharpest instruments in the drawer. The race against planetary destruction is on, and the skyscraper-sized monster from the stars might be the least of our real problems...

"Kaiju Agonistes" is a wry, cynical, darkly satiric sci-fi novelette from the pen of Scott Lynch, internationally best-selling author of The Lies of Locke Lamora, bringing the sharp dialogue and sarcastic wit he's famous for. In this alternate history of the Cold War, a kaiju has a job to do- cities will be flattened, bridges will be knocked down, people will make bad decisions, and Richard Nixon will be subjected to vast amounts of undignified abuse. What more could one ask?

"Kaiju Agonistes," originally published in the January 2025 issue of Uncanny Magazine, is a nominee for the 2026 Hugo Awards in the Best Novelette category. This Author's Enhanced Edition includes not just an expanded text but an essay titled "Stealing Our Most Precious Hallucination," in which Lynch discusses his writing process and the story's relationship to the work of the late Clifford D. Simak.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Shannon Chakraborty's The Tapestry of Fate for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

New York Times bestselling author Shannon Chakraborty sets sail into the second adventure of pirate Amina al-Sirafi as her quest to track down magical artifacts brings her to the island lair of a sorceress whose woven enchantments are impossible to flee.

Amina al-Sirafi thinks she’s struck gold. Tasked with hunting down arcane artifacts for the council of immortal peris, she can savor the occasional rollicking adventure on the high seas with her cherished criminal companions while still returning home to raise her beloved daughter, Marjana. But when Raksh, the spirit of discord with whom she is reluctantly wed, provokes the council’s wrath, Amina is charged with a seemingly impossible quest: steal a spindle capable of rewriting fate from a mysterious sorceress on an island no one can escape.

Forced to leave Marjana—who is increasingly frustrated at being peddled what are clearly lies about her mother’s life and her own past—Amina finds her mission almost immediately thrown into peril. But deadly storms, an erratic poison mistress, and old enemies are the least of her worries. For the peris’ story is unraveling, hinting at a far deadlier game whose rules Amina must swiftly puzzle out. A game that sets her against an adversary more cunning and powerful than she has ever faced.

A game that not everyone on her crew wants her to win.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now get your hands on the digital edition of Mark Lawrence's Daughter of Crows for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

The survivor of a brutal academy must exhume her own past in the first book in a new series from the international bestselling author of the Library Trilogy and the Broken Empire series.

Set a thief to catch a thief. Set a monster to punish monsters.

The Academy of Kindness exists to create agents of retribution, cast in the image of the Furies—known as the kindly ones—against whom even the gods hesitate to stand. Each year a hundred girls are sold to the Academy. Ten years later only three will emerge.

The Academy’s halls run with blood. The few that survive its decade-long nightmare have been forged on the sands of the Wound Garden. They have learned ancient secrets amid the necrotic fumes of the Bone Garden. They leave its gates as avatars of vengeance, bound to uphold the oldest of laws.

Only the most desperate would sell their child to the Kindnesses. But Rue … she sold herself. And now, a lifetime later, a long and bloody lifetime later, just as she has discovered peace, war has been brought to an old woman’s doorstep.

That was a mistake.

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (August 16th)

In hardcover:

Sarah Beth Durst's Sea of Charms debuts at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's Carl's Doomsday Scenario is down one position, ending the week at number 8. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook is down position, ending the week at number 10. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl maintains its position at number 11. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's The Gate of the Feral Gods is up one spot, finishing the week at number 13. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's The Butcher's Masquerade is up one spot, finishing the week at number 14. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary maintains its position at number 2. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl is down one position, ending the week at number 4. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Pierce Brown's Red Rising is up three positions, ending the week at number 11. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

More inexpensive ebook goodies!

You can now download Robert Jackson Bennett's The Tainted Cup for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.

Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

By an “endlessly inventive” (Vulture) author with a “wicked sense of humor” (NPR), The Tainted Cup mixes the charms of detective fiction with brilliant world-building to deliver a fiendishly clever mystery that’s at once instantly recognizable and thrillingly new.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Stephen Graham Jones' The Buffalo Hunter Hunter has been on my radar for quite some time. So when the digital edition went on sale recently, I decided to bite the bullet and buy it. I'm glad I did because it's a compelling, if not always pleasant, read.

Indeed, Jones is part of the Blackfeet Indian tribe and he doesn't pull any punches with the historical details that are at the heart of this novel. To say that Native Americans were mistreated as the USA expanded westward would be a gross understatement. What came to be known as the Marias Massacre and the fact that the buffalo were hunted down to the brink of extinction are two elements that impact this tale in a myriad of ways. American readers may well feel a great amount of shame in light of what took place all those years ago. Though The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a work of fiction, the events and themes found throughout the book are facts that lend additional gravitas to a work that is much more than a vampire story.

Here's the blurb:

This chilling historical novel is set in the nascent days of the state of Montana, following a Blackfeet Indian named Good Stab as he haunts the fields of the Blackfeet Nation looking for justice.

It begins when a diary written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall in 2012. What is unveiled is a slow massacre, a nearly forgotten chain of events that goes back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow, told in the transcribed interviews with Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar and unnaturally long life over a series of confessional visits.

This is an American Indian revenge story, captured in the vivid voices of the time, by one of the new masters of literary horror, Stephen Graham Jones.

The story begins when an old manuscript written by a Lutheran pastor named Arthur Beaucarne who disappeared in 1912 is discovered inside a wall during the renovation of a historical building in 2012. When the Special Collections librarian of Montana State University tracks down Etsy Beaucarne, last known descendant of the author of the manuscript, and sends her digitized pages of the document, reading her great-great-great-grandfather's manuscript will change her life in a profound way. What turns out to be the pastor's diary not only contains the story of his last days on this Earth, but also the tale of a Blackfeet man named Good Stab who visits the preacher because he needs to make a confession and whose words take us back to the 1870s.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter features three different perspectives. First, that of Etsy, who at the beginning only reacts to reading her ancestor's diary, but who will become part of the action in the last portion of the novel. The second is that of Arthur Beaucarne, whose diary records the events that characterized the last days before his disappearance in 1912. The preacher is a verbose pedant who will likely grate on your nerves more often than not, but his narrative hides a darker side of him that dates back to before he became a pastor. The third, and by far the most fascinating, is that of Good Stab, whose words are recorded by the preacher and whose story takes us back to a time of buffalo hunting and American never-ending expansion westward and the grave repercussions it had on Native American tribes across the land.

Stephen Graham Jones' The Buffalo Hunter Hunter reads more like a historical novel than a horror novel. The author's prose is atmospheric and creates an arresting imagery that leaps off the page. I loved the fact that the book is filled with Native American lore and culture, especially those of the Pikuni tribe, even if at times it can make things a bit confusing. Good Stab uses a lot of Pikuni words for which there is no glossary at the end of the book. It never really takes anything away from the overall reading experience, mind you, and it does lend an extra layer of authenticity to the plot. But some readers may find that a little off-putting, especially at first until you get used to it.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a bit of a slow burn. The plot moves forward ponderously in the Arthur Beaucarne sections of the diary, yet the rhythm is more fluid in the Good Stab portions. The story progresses slowly throughout the novel, but things are never dull. When the story reverts to Etsy's perspective towards the end, it does feel a little discordant at first. Still, the plot picks up steam and gathers its own momentum as Stephen Graham Jones takes us through the book's endgame and a finale that brings the whole thing full circle.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is not always an easy read. As mentioned, Stephen Graham Jones doesn't shy away from unveiling heinous historical details that confront readers at every turn. This is probably what I liked the most about this novel. Yes, it is an original vampire story, but the events that provide the backdrop of this tale have all occurred for real in a not-so-distant past.

Recommended.

The final verdict: 8/10

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An eccentric detective turns to the fantastical to solve a cold case in a short story by the Hugo Award–winning author of The Tainted Cup.

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The Summer Tree is the first novel of Guy Gavriel Kay’s critically acclaimed fantasy trilogy, The Fionavar Tapestry. Five university students embark on a journey of self-discovery when they enter a realm of wizards and warriors, gods and mythical creatures--and good and evil…

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Young Prince Gaborn Val Orden of Mystarria is traveling in disguise on a journey to ask for the hand of the lovely Princess Iome of Sylvarresta. Armed with his gifts of strength and perception, Prince Gaborn and his warrior bodyguard stop in a local tavern along the way. Immediately, they spot a pair of assassins who have their sights set on Princess Iome's father. As the prince and his bodyguard race to warn the king of this impending danger, they realize that more than the royal family is at risk, the very fate of the Earth is in jeopardy.

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The highly-acclaimed first novel in the Revelation Space universe.

When human colonists settled the Amarantin homeworld, few of them bothered to question the disappearance of its native population almost a million years before. But in the year 2551, one man, Dan Sylveste, is convinced that solving the riddle of the Amarantin is vital to human survival. As he nears the truth, he learns that someone wants him dead. Because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason. And if that reason is made public, the universe—and reality itself—could be forever altered. This sprawling operatic novel ranges across vast gulfs of time and space to arrive at a terrifying conclusion.

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The incredible return to the New York Times bestselling world of the Night Angel, where master assassin Kylar Stern embarks on a new adventure as the High King Logan Gyre calls on him to save his kingdom and the hope of peace.

After the war that cost him so much, Kylar Stern is broken and alone. He's determined not to kill again, but an impending amnesty will pardon the one murderer he can't let walk free. He promises himself this is the last time. One last hit to tie up the loose ends of his old, lost life.

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In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one man it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.

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