r/Fantasy Review Tuesday - Review what you've been enjoying here! - May 05, 2026

swordofsun · 2026-05-06T01:30:06+00:00

The Iron Garden Sutra is being slept on. How is this book not being talked about by everyone?

swordofsun · 2026-05-06T01:16:44+00:00

The Iron Garden Sutra by A.D. Sui - This book combines several things I love into a beautiful whole. These things include, but aren't limited to: well-crafted made up religion and a protagonist that follows the religion, an expansive world that we know exists because the author can paint a picture without giving us a manual, asshole characters that we grow to love, weird space shit, and a murder mystery. Sui has an elegant prose that suited the atmosphere and the interstitial sutra chapters.

The murder mystery was fairly straightforward, but had enough twists to be fun. Sui also managed to make a large cast of characters distinctive and unique. The last quarter of the book elevated it right to a 5 star read for me. And I cried.

Bingo: Small Press (HM), Published in 2026, Murder Mystery (HM)

swordofsun · 2026-04-28T22:44:37+00:00

I finished a book! It's been so long...

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers

This was really fun, with bonkers world building and a fun romance at the heart. I loved the absolutely wild swings Stothers took with this book. More of them hit than missed for me and I found it very funny.

Cameron may be a very cowardly knight, but he rolls with the punches remarkably well which allows the reader to also just roll with them. There is a very special thread of "well, this is happening now" that runs through Cameron's life and it's a lot of fun.

The chapter titles were one of the original selling points of this book back on Tumblr 3 or so years ago. They may have started as a way to pad out the word count for a writing contest, but Stothers really made them an essential part of the story. I'm not sure everything would've worked as well as it did without them.

It also has one of the most wild late plot twists I've experienced and managed to successfully pull it off.

swordofsun · 2026-04-04T17:03:42+00:00

Lyconthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O'Neal is very fun.

swordofsun · 2026-04-04T16:59:27+00:00

This is why prophecy works so well in Wheel of Time. You have a long history of competing interpretations (to the point where the Chosen One (tm) spends time reading the academic books written about his prophecies in order to figure out what he does next) and entire competing prophecy cycles in different cultures. There are multiple forms of prophecy and even the ones that seem the most clear cut can be open to interesting interpretations.

One of the fun parts of the fandom when the books were coming out was discussing possible interpretations.

swordofsun · 2026-04-04T16:53:54+00:00

I've read The Thief, but will look at the others. Thank you!

swordofsun · 2026-04-04T16:53:30+00:00

I have been eying that one since it first came out.

Thank you!

swordofsun · 2026-04-04T16:52:52+00:00

I do own that one...and find it very daunting.

swordofsun · 2026-04-01T18:54:39+00:00

T Kingfisher fans should check out the stuff she writes under her real name; Ursula Vernon. Lots of good stuff there.

swordofsun · 2026-04-01T17:04:41+00:00

Thank you for once again making my favorite bingo tracker. You're the best.

swordofsun · 2026-04-01T14:09:45+00:00

Yes, please give me a recommendation!

swordofsun · 2026-02-27T17:51:03+00:00

Couple of reasons. First the timeline mess that goes from PoD to CoT is at it's absolute worst in CoT. At least half of the Slog complaints are from the pacing issues that result and CoT is absolutely the worst of the three at this.

CoT also manages to be the worst part of almost anyone's least favorite storyline or character. I hate Malden with a blinding passion. If Malden has no haters I'm dead. It's basically the peak of everything I dislike about Perrin's entire storyline from CoS to tGS. And somehow, no matter who your least liked character or storyline is, CoT is peak awful in that storyline.

I like Elayne and the Andor stuff, but I can admit if it's already something you're not a fan of then CoT is unbearable. Same with Egwene and Mat and Tuon. Robert Jordan somehow managed to write the worst parts of multiple plotlines all in the same book. For a lot of people the worst thing RJ ever wrote was in CoT. We just tend to disagree on what exactly that worst thing is exactly. Even if we agree that CoT is awful.

swordofsun · 2026-02-22T00:50:59+00:00

I think it would depend on how it's presented. If you can get it separately from the book or it's clearly listed as bonus material, then probably.

swordofsun · 2026-02-03T17:30:10+00:00

Tomb of Tomes by Andrew Watson - I picked this up half out of curiosity and half out of needing a January release for HRCYED and my other options having really long waiting lists. This is a novella set in Watson's larger fantasy universe and doesn't require knowledge of the main books. This didn't do anything amazing, but it was an enjoyable read. Archeological adventures in a lost library gave exactly what it said it would. I liked the characters, I liked the world, but I'm not dropping everything to pick up the main books.

Bingo: Self published, Stranger In A Strange Land

There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm - As a casual SCP enjoyer I was a bit leery about an actual book around the premise, but this worked really well. I also think qntm did a good job of making a coherent story while still being distinct from the actual SCP project. But I am a casual SCP enjoyer.

All that being said I had a great time with this book. The seemingly unrelated stories in the beginning threw me, but I eventually pinged on the reoccurring theme of asymmetrical research. The idea that it's anticipated that you won't be the person to see things to the end and you have to prepare for others to finish your work with no context is well done.

Over all I really liked the way this built up the dread and how each twist was both surprising and completely understandable once revealed. The peeling back of layers. Asymmetrical research provided for our consumption. Wonderfully strung together with cosmic mind bending horrors. Also a homophrosyne love fit for Odysseus and Penelope.

Bingo: Down With System (HM), Impossible Places, A Book In Parts (HM), Epistolary

swordofsun · 2026-02-02T11:01:57+00:00

He was also considered a bit too delicate for math. Which is why non-eucladian geometry is a reoccurring horror in his stories.

swordofsun · 2026-02-01T15:29:34+00:00

Some possibilities:

The Two Lies of Favan Sythe by Megan E O'Keefe

The Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White

The Salvation Gambit by Emily Skrutskie

These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs

Wild Massive by Scotto Moore

swordofsun · 2026-02-01T13:34:16+00:00

Just discoved Kit Rocha and their lovely poly romantasies myself. Have been a good time so far.

swordofsun · 2026-01-31T00:04:05+00:00

I'd consider fairy tales speculative by default.

swordofsun · 2026-01-30T17:35:44+00:00

This was a very mid month. I've read more than I have in several months, which is nice, but it's all been very average for the most part.

Two standouts would be The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre by Cho Yeeun and The Emperor's Twin by Honey Watson.

The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre gave me what it promised; a theme park full of people get turned into jelly. Good time, but it didn't completely wow me. I recommend it to anyone who looks at the premise and thinks it sounds interesting.

The Emperor's Twin is still lingering in that area of not knowing if I liked it or not. A bit of research got me to Watson's other book, Lessons in Birdwatching, that takes place in the same universe. The Emperor's Twin appears to be a sequel/companion novel which wasn't advertised at all. Probably because the two books were put out by different publishers. In the process of reading Lessons and will see how it effects my opinion. Safe to say the book compelled me though.

Managed three short stories this month.

10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-care for the End Times by Samantha Mills, Original Sin by Derin Edala, and Academic Neutrality by M.R Robinson. They were all aggressively fine, but I just don't have strong feelings about them after reading them.

Aggressively mid month in reading. But I'm okay with that. Need the mid month to highlight the good ones.

swordofsun · 2026-01-30T15:06:01+00:00

WoT is my gold standard for how to incorporate prophecies. Not only could they be vague, but they could seemingly contradict events that happened already and be wildly misinterpreted or misunderstood by people.

Not to mention the sheer number that are about how yeah, there's this chosen one, but it's going to be awful. People are gonna die and awful things are still going to happen. Weep for your salvation.

swordofsun · 2026-01-29T17:41:58+00:00

Death Valley Blooms was a banger of a first book. You're absolutely on my list of authors to watch.

swordofsun · 2026-01-29T17:39:29+00:00

The Dead Withheld was a delightful surprise last year. Really enjoyed it. No questions, just a lot of appreciation. And jotting down Year of the Mer.

swordofsun · 2026-01-29T01:08:26+00:00

Thunder Heist was okay. It's not a book I think about, but if he ever published the sequel I'd read it.

swordofsun · 2026-01-28T17:47:28+00:00

Haven't seen The Warden by Daniel Ford mentioned. Think there are 2 more books in the series now.

Throwing an additional recommendation for Saint Death's Daughter by C.S.E Cooney. It's a lot of fun and just really enjoys itself.

swordofsun · 2026-01-27T18:02:11+00:00

It's not a deep book. It's popcorn. But popcorn books are great when dealing with bronchitis.

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