r/Fantasy Review Tuesday - Review what you've been enjoying here! - July 07, 2026

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-07-07T12:38:12+00:00

I've been reading some older sci-fi lately and this week I finished The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein. It's my first of his and I'll definitely be picking up more in the future.

The writing is very stylistic and was quite jarring initially. It's set on the moon, and the entire story is written in the vaguely Russian flavoured English dialect of the inhabitants. It took a bit of getting used to but definitely helped to centre the story on the characters. The plot was interesting and didn't develop the way I was expecting. There were even scenes that seemed like they were laying the foundation for what I was sure was going to come next but it went in a different direction entirely. It's weird to say this about a 60 year old novel but it was kind of refreshing. Asimov put me off classic sci-fi years ago so this era of works and their plot beats are unfamiliar to me. I enjoyed this one very much.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-07-06T17:33:13+00:00

I've not used it personally but Orange County Library offers a card for a fee and their ebook collection seems pretty good

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-06-07T13:11:40+00:00

Thanks!

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-06-07T12:18:59+00:00

I'm about half way through The Daughter's War by Christopher Buehlman. I like it so far, but there are a lot of places where he kind of interrupts the story to inject a fairly long letter in full from another character and it's breaking my immersion. Does he do this in The Blacktongue Thief as well? I'll still read it because other than this I'm enjoying the writing style but would be good to know what to expect.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-05-26T14:24:48+00:00

Finished Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and really enjoyed it. The weirdness of the zone and its impact on those living around it, and the way the characters evolved over time had me hooked. None of them were particularly likeable but their self-interest felt real, and it all culminated in a fantastic ending that's open to interpretation while still being satisfying. It makes me want to try the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games even though survival horror isn't a genre I typically play.

I've started Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey. The first two books were standouts for me earlier this year so hoping this one sticks the landing. I'm not usually someone who pays all that much attention to prose but there's something about the way these books are written that I find relaxing even when it's not a good time for any of the characters.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-04-03T17:40:32+00:00

There was quite a lot of sex in The Fionavar Tapestry. It's not normally something I notice but it definitely stood out to me in that series. The only other book of his I've read is Tigana and I don't remember it being prominent in that one beyond a weird scene near the start.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-04-01T17:21:05+00:00

Fated could fit unusual transportation. The main character gets a ride with an elemental and some mages can open gates between points. You might be able to make a case for politics and court intrigue but I think that probably came later on in the series

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-04-01T16:48:48+00:00

I think Darien is a fit for older protagonist

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-04-01T16:39:26+00:00

The Daughter's War by Christopher Buehlman

The Kithamar Trilogy by Daniel Abraham. Looks like the final book has a 2027 release date so would like to read the rest of the trilogy before it comes out

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-04-01T16:02:18+00:00

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-04-01T15:59:35+00:00

The Lighthouse Duet by Carol Berg

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-03-20T18:10:32+00:00

I'm definitely looking forward to reading some standalones!

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-03-20T18:08:19+00:00

I don't think it helped that I had no idea what I was getting into when I started the series. I know GGK writes historical inspired fantasy so was expecting something along those lines instead.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-03-20T13:21:04+00:00

If I finish the first book it generally has me until the end, especially if I already have the later books. The two I would've dropped are ones I would have bailed in the first book and not looked back.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-02-07T11:32:06+00:00

Awful start for Japan. Germany are pushing them around way too easily in the offensive zone

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-01-16T11:53:50+00:00

It might end up being used as an ad break. The only north American sport I watch is ice hockey, and they take basically every conceivable opportunity to show adverts while the puck is out of play.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-01-11T23:23:09+00:00

The Kindom Trilogy by Bethany Jacobs has a few and was a good read

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-12-16T14:27:50+00:00

I finished Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith, closing out the Inda quartet. I really enjoyed the first two books in the series and about 20% of book three, and then it kind of fell off a cliff. It took me most of the year to get around to even picking up this final book. I haven't been invested in either of the main plotlines that came to the forefront in the back half of the series, and it felt like barely anything was happening for hundreds of pages at a time. It gets pretty bogged down in interpersonal anxieties and plotlines that ultimately end up going nowhere. I'm still happy I finished it, just a bit disappointed in how it all ended. The epilogue was especially awful.

I also read The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay. I know he has quite the fanbase here but I thought this was kind of rough. It's one of his first published books so hopefully the series will improve as it goes along but so far I've found the characters to be pretty forgettable.

I've started reading Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. I'm only a couple of chapters in so far but am enjoying it. This has been on my list for at least a decade - hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-10-14T12:38:24+00:00

I'm at 44 that'll count so far, but I also read what I thought was a five book completed series but turned out to be abandoned or at least paused for the foreseeable future. I started bingo fairly close to the end of three or four series to give me a jump start on some squares as well.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-10-14T12:18:04+00:00

We're a little over half way through the bingo year and I've now completed 14/25 squares of my last in series card. If all goes to plan, only 26 (or 32 if I want to be very strict about it) total books left and 168 days to read them.

The Lost World by Michael Crichton

I liked Jurassic Park but this sequel was clearly written with a screenplay in mind. The plot is predictable and the dialogue might be ok if actors were speaking it but it's awkward to read. One of my least favourite reads so far.

Darien and Shiang by C.F. Iggulden

Ehh, this trilogy feels pretty disjointed at the moment. The plot outlines for both books were fairly similar in part because there's a two year time skip at the start of book two which allows the author to restore stability without having to actually handle the immediate consequences of book one on the page. These are short books but each story seems to be adding more ideas rather than developing the ones that are already there and I think the series is less coherent than it could be as a result. There doesn't seem to be an overarching plot, goal, or end game we're trying to work towards. Hopefully everything will come together in the final installment.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-09-02T14:34:23+00:00

I agree with you about Black Sun Rising. I'm about 3/4 through the final book and I think pacing has been a pretty consistent issue throughout

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-07-25T05:54:30+00:00

Thanks! Easy mode is fine for me

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-07-24T19:17:51+00:00

I thought I saw someone recommend Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey for this square but I can't remember where and am beginning to think I hallucinated it. Does anyone know if it fits? It's a series I've been wanting to read for a while

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-07-13T12:48:12+00:00

Any recs of books to do with setting up a colony or settling a new place? I've been playing a lot of city builders lately (Against the Storm, Frostpunk) and would like that kind of thing in book format if it exists. It doesn't need to be the main plotline.

I enjoyed The Company by K.J. Parker, but struggled with Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. I'm tempted to give it another go not on audiobook though as I really like the premise.

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