A quick thought on the Dungeon Crawler Carl series

While I’m surprised Dungeon Crawler Carl has made it to the shortlist for the generally non-populist Clarke Award, the series is still so much better than any other LitRPG fiction I’ve come across. Not everything works, especially early on, and Dinneman’s humour is often too broad and bawdy for my taste. But there is so… Continue reading A quick thought on the Dungeon Crawler Carl series

Necromancers and Navy Grog: Melissa Jacobson

An enjoyable historic urban fantasy in the Weird West, this is the second in Melissa Jacobson’s Bad Magic series following the adventures of Mick Kelly, but works well enough as a standalone. Mick (Sunday name: Mary Catherine McClellan) is a special agent for the Anti-Death Magic Division of the US Bureau Of Magical Investigation, working… Continue reading Necromancers and Navy Grog: Melissa Jacobson

Asperfell: Jamie Thomas

This is the enjoyable first part of Jamie Thomas’s new fantasy trilogy, set in a kingdom where magic is the object of fear, suspicion and fiercely controlled by the throne. Asperfell itself is a prison colony for wizards and witches, a fortress accessed through a one-way portal to another dimension. In years gone by this… Continue reading Asperfell: Jamie Thomas

The Patron Saint of White Menageries: Lauren T Davila

This is a fine debut collection of short stories in the Californian Gothic style, tales of the strangest state in the Union, operating in the grey zone between occult horror, weird fiction and urban fantasy. Davila shows us young women – generally young Latino women – experiencing the mysteries of the Pacific Ocean, confronting the… Continue reading The Patron Saint of White Menageries: Lauren T Davila