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Book Review: Wheel of the Infinite, by Martha Wells

Cover of Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells, featuring a sand painting in a temple.

I urge readers who only know Wells for her wonderful Murderbot science fiction novels to give Wheel of the Infinite a try. It features Maskelle, a middle-aged, self-exiled priestess returning to the capital of the Celestial Empire for her Koshan religion’s most important rite.

Book Review: Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory, by Yaroslav Barsukov

Cover of Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory, featuring a tower against a stormy background, with a few birds wheeling around it, and a silhouette of a person in the lower foreground.

What seems like fairly standard science fantasy, combining feudal lives in cities where people walk around open markets with tech like airships and massive building projects, turns into something akin to a trip to a dangerous, mysterious part of the Dreamlands. Back in the this world, things keep getting weirder and more wondrous…

Book Review: Someone You Can Build a Nest In, by John Wiswell

Cover of Someone You Can Build a Nest In, by John Wiswell, featuring a plump woman holding a lantern next to a fire, against the silhouette of a tall cloaked figure wearing a witch's hat, with tentacles, chains, and other things against a red background.

You see, the protagonist/narrator is a shapeshifting monster who keeps rebuilding her body from the remnants of defeated enemies, but a lot of the people she deals with are monstrous in their own ways. … and when she meets a uniquely likeable and caring woman, Homily, and tries to help her and communicate with her instead of just eating her, readers like me end up cheering for both of them.

Book Review: The Improvisers, by Nicole Glover

Cover of The Improvisers by Nicole Glover; description in review.

Glover’s prose doesn’t often soar to poetic heights, but it’s direct and practical and a breeze to read. There’s a lot going on in this 443-page book, but it doesn’t feel nearly that long; Glover keeps it all racing along together and lands the ending with a very satisfying touchdown.