Late September Reviews (2023)

Greetings

Welcome to the Books That Burn Fortnightly Roundup! Releasing every two weeks (one week early for Patrons).

On BlueSky I've been making Book Review feeds, including a feed which includes the other feeds I've made, plus any made by other people which capture some specific category of book review in the genres I like reviewing. You can find the thread listing all those feeds at this link.

News and Events

Notable October Releases:

• THE DEAD TAKE THE A TRAIN by Richard Kadrey and Cassandra Khaw (October 3rd)

• LAST TO LEAVE THE ROOM by Caitlin Starling (October 10th) ARC Review

• SOUL JAR by Annie Carl (October 17th)

• UNDER THE SMOKESTREWN SKY by A. Deborah Baker (October 10th)

• THE INNOCENT SLEEP by Seanan McGuire (October 24th) ARC Review

Recent Reviews

WITCH KING by Martha Wells is Fantasy, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Kai was betrayed and left for dead, now he must figure out what's changed and who was responsible. Told in Third Person with Single POV.

SYSTEM COLLAPSE by Martha Wells, book 7 of The Murderbot Diaries is Sci-Fi, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Murderbot is working with ART and its crew to help keep colonists out of the hands of the Barish-Estranza corporation. Told in First Person with Single POV.

THE WINTER KNIGHT by Jes Battis is Fantasy/Mystery/Thriller, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Hildie is a Valkyrie trying to solve a murder in the modern Round Table. Told in Third Person with Ensemble POVs.

A DREAM OF A WOMAN by Casey Plett is Literary, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Trans women seeking stable lives in a variety of ways. Told in an Anthology with multiple POV styles.

Reviews forthcoming for SALT MAGIC, SKIN MAGIC by Lee Welch and AN UNNATURAL VICE by K.J. Charles.

DNFs

• THE WITCHES OF BONE HILL (ARC)

No Review (Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, etc.)

THE ELEMENT OF FIRE by Martha Wells - One of the ways I get to read without having to review everything is to read books which are old enough that I'm less worried about whether anyone needs my input to find them. I enjoyed THE ELEMENT OF FIRE by Martha Wells, and I wish I could pull together words about it. It's a solid fantasy story from the 1990's and I had a great time reading it. Martha Wells has an extensive back catalog and since this went so well I'm gradually working my way through it.

Current Reads

At one point I was in the middle of ten books, but I have it trimmed to seven at the moment. Dracula Daily is nearing its end, but there's still a bit over a month to go. I'm reading DRAGON WING by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, but it's from the 1990's so there won't be a full review when I'm done. In that same category is THE DEATH OF THE NECROMANCER by Martha Wells, which takes place several decades after THE ELEMENT OF FIRE and (thus far) doesn't have any overlap in characters.

I'm still working my way through FEVERED STAR by Rebecca Roanhorse and IMMORTAL LONGINGS by Chloe Gong.

NEVER A HERO by Vanessa Len is fantastic so far, but I'm a bit stressed by how the plot is going.

I'm re-reading OCEAN'S ECHO by Everina Maxwell, not with any urgency.

In Case You Missed It

This time last year I read THE SCRATCH DAUGHTERS by H.A. Clarke, the second book in the Scapegracers trilogy. It explores friendship, found family, queer identity, and the corrosive nature of hate as Sideways and her coven try to track down Madeline and get Sideways' specter back.

Pluggables and Podcast News

If you're looking for a place to buy any of the books I've reviewed, please consider our Bookshop page (if you use our links to purchase any books we get a small commission). Let us know if there's a category you'd like to see curated and we'll see if we can get some titles together.

As for the podcast, hopefully you're enjoying our most recent episode. If you'd like to receive episodes early, as well as bonus content, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Patrons receive this newsletter one week early, as well as a list of upcoming podcast episodes.

Patrons pledging $20 or more each month receive a bonus episode. Patrons pledging $50 or more can vote once per month on what we'll cover in the podcast. You can find all of those polls here. Patrons at any level receive the booklist with our planned episodes for up to three months at a time.

Thanks for reading, the next roundup will be in two weeks!

-Robin

Co-host of Books That Burn

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