There’s a gleeful, chaotic elegance to Kill All Wizards by Jedidiah Berry that makes it feel like a fairy tale rewritten after too much tea and too little mercy. The barbarian protagonist is both absurd and terrifying in his commitment, navigating high society with the same intensity he brings to vengeance. What stands out is the tonal balance—sharp humor layered over genuine rage at exploitation and power. Berry leans into the surreal contrast between silk-draped wizard politics and raw, unstoppable fury. It’s fantasy with a grin and a blade behind its back, never quite letting you relax.
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Reading The Franchise by Thomas Elrod feels like stepping onto a film set where the fantasy genre has forgotten it’s being watched. The Malicarn isn’t just a world of dragons and wizards—it’s a manufactured illusion sustained by corporate storytelling and collective belief. Elrod builds a layered critique of ownership and narrative control, especially as one actor begins to question the system he’s part of. The tension here isn’t just magical rebellion, but existential unraveling. What happens when a world realizes it’s scripted? That question hums beneath every scene, making the spectacle feel unsettlingly real.
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It starts with a border. It ends with identity splitting in two.
In Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim, immigration becomes speculative horror, where every person is duplicated and divided across nations. Rose and Soyoung’s fractured existence creates a haunting emotional and philosophical tension that never lets up. Kim writes with surgical precision, exploring what it means to live parallel lives that may or may not want to reunite. The corporate intrigue and family dynamics only deepen the unease. It’s a story about selfhood as something unstable, negotiable, and dangerously transferable. By the end, you’re left questioning what “original” even means.
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The Bone Dagger by Clara Rhodes reads like a storm held in a human body—beautiful, volatile, and always on the verge of breaking. Helaina Ironblood’s cursed lineage anchors a world full of collapsing kingdoms and ancient relics, but it’s her relationship with Theodon Wrenn that gives the story its volatile charge. Their dynamic is sharp-edged: control versus resistance, destiny versus desire. Rhodes leans into dark romantic fantasy tropes but gives them weight through emotional stakes and mythic consequences. Every choice feels like it costs something irreversible, making the romance as dangerous as the magic itself.
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There’s something quietly luminous about The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang, as if the ocean itself is thinking through its own mysteries. Dr. Jo Ness is an unusual fantasy heroine—rooted in science, grief, and emotional restraint—but her journey toward a glowing sea creature on a remote island becomes something far stranger and more intimate. The jellyfish, Clementine, is less monster than question mark, refracting meaning depending on who observes it. Yang balances ecological wonder with human fragility, crafting a story where grief and discovery move in the same tide. It lingers like salt on skin after a long swim.
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Moon Over Brendle by Jeff Noon, Angry Robot,$ 19.99, 256 pages
Jeff Noon’s Moon over Brendle is a beautifully strange and deeply reflective novel about storytelling, imagination, and the worlds that exist just beyond ordinary sight. Set against the backdrop of 1960s Lancashire, the book captures the wonder and uncertainty of childhood through Joe Sutter’s fascination with Greot, the mysterious dust that seems to hold the secrets of existence itself. Noon blends nostalgic coming-of-age fiction with dreamlike speculative elements, creating something that feels both intimate and cosmic. The relationship between Joe and the aging pulp writer at the heart of the story is especially moving, turning Moon over Brendle into a heartfelt love letter to creativity, science fiction, and the power of stories to shape a life.
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