Space Station Halcyon – “Now Under New Management!” by Matthew C. Lucas


Space Station Halcyon – “Now Under New Management!” by Matthew C. Lucas
Publisher: Sky Dog House
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Welcome to Space Station Halcyon!
(Management is not responsible for anything that happens to you)

Joey Mumbai’s down on his luck and over his head. To pay off his gambling debts, he’s forced to run an old space station at the end of the galaxy as a “legitimate business” for the mob. All Joey has to do is make money—and not attract any attention. But Space Station Halcyon is like a floating death trap, with a rage-filled manatee, a psychotically cheerful computer, and a sports bar that may or may not be possessed.

When a government code inspector and her enforcerbot drop by the station, Joey must bluff, bribe, and connive his way through interstellar bureaucracy, laser gun fights, and the worst beer in the galaxy. Can Joey turn his derelict station and degenerate crew into something resembling legality? Or is the whole place going to explode in a cloud of code violations? Or maybe both?

Sometimes bureaucracy is the best place to begin.

I adored Mr. Lucas’ tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, especially when it came to the ridiculous aspects of a workplace whose rules sometimes didn’t make any sense at all. Joey would have had nothing to do with Space Station Halcyon if he could have helped it, so the fact that he was stuck dealing with a neglected space station filled with a motley crew of loyal workers, human and otherwise, made all of the hoops he needed to jump through even funnier.

There were hints that this may be the beginning of a new series. While I don’t know for certain if or when the second book may be en route, I enjoyed the way the characters were introduced, especially when it came the first few employees that Joey met when he arrived at his space station. The descriptions of them were vivid, engaging, and often hilarious, but also left plenty of opportunities for further development. This isn’t always an easy balance to strike, so I must tip my cap to the author for making me care about Sherrod, Auntie, Daryl, and Natalie so much already as I learned what roles they played onboard and why each of them was vital to the future of the station as a whole. At no point was this more true than when things began going terribly wrong and they had to band together to try to figure out a solution.

The logic of this tale reminded me of Douglas Adam’s work. It had a dreamlike quality that made it impossible for me to stop reading, but it also made sense within the context of Joey’s zany adventures as a character who, to be honest, had not always made the most honorable choices in the past and who had a lot of growing up to do even thought he was technically already an adult. I loved seeing how he responded to things that generally wouldn’t be expected to occur and how he maybe even started to mature a little as a result of him stepping up to improve how this station was run.

Space Station Halcyon – “Now Under New Management!” was thrilling.

Imago Nine – The Popstar Apocalypse by A.D. Shaddox


Imago Nine – The Popstar Apocalypse by A.D. Shaddox
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Amaya Reed never asked to become an Active.

One day, she’s a normal high school junior. The next, she’s cycling through eight unpredictable powers—mind-reading, gravity control, phasing, speed—each one replacing the last, each one harder to control than the one before.

There’s just one problem: once she uses a power, she can’t use it again until she’s burned through all eight.

When a disastrous rescue attempt goes viral, Amaya is branded a danger instead of a hero. But before she can even figure out how to live with her abilities, the mysterious Agency comes calling with an offer she can’t ignore:

Go undercover on the biggest show in America—The Next American Popstar—and stop a killer who plans to strike during the live finale.

Now, Amaya has to survive high school, master a volatile cycle of powers, and compete on a national stage where one mistake could cost her everything.

Because this time, failure won’t just go viral.

It’ll be deadly.

Being a teenager is complicated enough even before magical abilities start developing.

The descriptions of Amaya’s eight powers and how she learned to use them were detailed and memorable. I liked the fact that each ability was not only associated with a color but also had a special name. Once the characters explained them all, it was easy for me as a reader to know what to expect next based on what she’d done recently and which power was next on her rotating list. I should note that it did take a little while for this to be fully explored, but I didn’t mind the wait and thought it felt very natural to learn the last few bits of information when I did. Sometimes life does get in the way of lengthy conversations about important matters, after all!

It would have been helpful to have stronger character development, especially for Amaya. As much as I enjoyed learning about the incredible things she could do, I found myself wishing that I knew more about her personality and the interests she had that were unrelated to her role as an Active. Her relationship with her younger brother, for example, could have been explored more deeply in order to round out her character and give the audience a glimpse of what she was like when she was doing typical teenage things.

Many of the young adult books I read tend to shy away from including social media or reality television in their storylines, so I found it refreshing to see how the characters used and were affected by both the Internet and this style of programming. There are some key differences between teens who grew up in previous generations where these things either didn’t exist at all or were much more niche and people in that age group today who know that anything they say or do could be immediately shared and dissected online.

I was intrigued by Imago Nine – The Popstar Apocalypse.

Two Lives With You by Lauren Ho


Two Lives With You by Lauren Ho
Publisher: Mindy’s Book Studio
Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

What if they never married? For an overwhelmed husband and wife, that what-if wish comes true in an emotional and bittersweet novel about choices, sacrifice, and the love that they might lose forever.

When Dana and Nigel got married, they had such promise. After sixteen years, the cracks are showing.

Dana is a burned-out ER nurse, and Nigel is a recently unemployed stay-at-home dad whose professional identity is disappearing. Questioning the directions their lives have taken, Dana and Nigel are each granted a wish from a mysterious stranger. For one week they can escape the pressure of their lives in favor of ones in which they never married.

Waking up in an alternate reality where their youthful, individual dreams have come true is, at first, a marvel. When they meet by chance in Bali, Dana recognizes Nigel instantly, but he feels only an inexplicable connection to this stranger. And they discover there’s a catch to their wishes.

Returning to normal—and to the long-haul love they vowed would be forever—won’t be as easy as they thought. As the clock ticks down, Dana and Nigel face an impossible choice that will test the very foundation of their relationship and alter their lives forever.

Perfection is a myth.

Romantic relationships evolve over time, especially when a couple decides to have kids, encounters health problems, or struggles to find work among many other potential stressors in life. There simply aren’t enough romance novels about characters in these busy and sometimes difficult stages of life for my tastes, so I was thrilled to read something about a relationship that has weathered multiple storms and no longer feels quite the same as it used to. While I don’t want to give away any spoilers, I can say that this realistic approach to romance for people who are no longer college aged was refreshing and I loved seeing how Nigel and Dana explored their past together as they contemplated their possible futures as well.

I would have preferred to see more attention paid to character development. While I could easily describe Dana and Nigel’s professions and what they thought of their work on their best days as well as their worst ones, explaining what their personalities were like or how they grew and changed as a result of their magical experiences would be trickier. There were moments that briefly focused on this topics, but not to the extent I’d hope to find in a full-length novel. As much as I enjoyed the storyline itself, I needed a deeper understanding of who these two characters were as individuals in order to select a higher rating.

With that being said, I loved the fantasy and paranormal subplots of this tale. They were well developed and blended beautifully into the main romantic storyline due to how reliant the two protagonists were on figuring out the spell that bound them in order to repair their marriage and hopefully return to their original reality. This was a great example of how to blend these genres together in ways that honor all of them equally.

Two Lives with You was romantic and heartwarming.

Montana El Diablo – The Infinite Adventures by Peter Martin


Montana El Diablo – The Infinite Adventures by Peter Martin
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Humor, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Horror, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Montana El Diablo, the manliest man to ever man and the greatest Private Detective to ever detect privately, sits at his desk. It’s all very noir and cool.

The phone rings, but at the same time there is a knock on the door.
Which will he answer? It’s up to you. If you answer the phone, turn to page 30. If you answer the door, turn to page 58, but buy the book first.

Montana El Diablo, The Infinite Adventures is a unique user driven narrative experience where you, the reader, will determine the fate of Montana El Diablo. Cults, zombies, an alien invasion all await Montana El Diablo and, more importantly, you. Will you find the Leprechaun or will the Leprechaun find you?

Together you can forge forward and determine the fate of Montana El Diablo. Will you find success or fall into complete ruination in what has been called “a book” and “pretty neat”. That was from some pretty reserved people, so it was a party popping off for them.

Will the party pop off for you? Only one way to find out, that being to purchase the book and read it. With 60+ possible outcomes, 500 insightful footnotes by the author, the adventure is truly infinite*.

*Except for the fact that 60 is a very finite number**

**This is an example of an insightful footnote.

Any move could be Montana’s last one.

Mr. Martin had a wry sense of humor that worked perfectly for, as he put it, a “non-linear user-driven narrative experience.” I especially enjoyed the many off-topic sections he included in which he rambled on about subjects ranging from cat facts to how echolocation works to the etiquette of Korean bath houses. They were an amusing detour from the zombies, cults, and mysterious beautiful women that Montana El Diablo generally concerned himself with.

It would have been helpful to see more character development for the protagonist, especially since this was over three hundred pages long. As much as I laughed along the way and enjoyed the plot it self, I didn’t feel as though I got to know Montana particularly well as a individual. Yes, he loved flirting with pretty women, seemed to be extroverted, and was full of zany antics, but I’d find a bit harder to describe other parts of his personality. For example, what did he like to do during his time off from work? Was he close to his family and friends? What were his biggest hopes and fears? If I knew more about him, I would have happily given this a full five-star rating.

I adored the creativity of this book. It’s difficult to discuss specific plot lines as every reader will have his or her own unique experience with that based on which options they choose as they read, but I thought the author did a great job of exploring many different options that ranged from logical to absurd depending on the scene. Some of my favorite moments were the ones that described the multitude of ways in which Montana El Diablo could die if he made the wrong choice. Given how common that type of ending is in the choose-your-own-adventure writing style, I don’t believe that should count as a spoiler so long as I avoid mentioning the specific circumstances of any of his deaths. All other potential readers need to know is that there were some unexpected twists along the way that made me think a lot of work went into developing them.

Montana El Diablo – The Infinite Adventures was a wild ride that I’d recommend to teens and adults alike.

Heritage Mountain by Karen Black


Heritage Mountain by Karen Black
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Romance, Cozy Mystery, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In a world where the mystical and the actual coexist, adventure, romance, and a touch of mystery unfold. Set in the majestic Adirondack mountains, when Marco Cason leads an expedition to explore the history of the mountain wilderness, he doesn’t know his colleagues are guardians of the fae.

Searching for clues about ancient societies that inhabited the Adirondacks centuries before, the team delves into legends, navigates ancient maps, and learns that folklore about magical clans is based on facts. When a pixie introduces herself to Maria, the expedition takes a different path. The guardians realize the mountain is filled with mystical clans whose homes are under attack. Negligent use of dynamite, illegal mining, and disregard for nature and the environment has destroyed much of their habitat. It has also cost lives.

Faced with the truth about the existence of magical beings, Marco is forced to reevaluate everything he believed. Still, he becomes a central force when he battles beside the fae to save Heritage Mountain as elves, stargazers, and goliaths fill the pages and the explorers unite with the supernatural creatures to save the mountain from invaders whose greed is destroying their territory.

Themes of friendship, conservation, love, and acceptance flourish, as well as a heavy dose of karma.

The mountains are full of possibilities.

Romance and fantasy are often combined into the same plot, so I wasn’t too surprised to see that happen here. While the latter definitely took up more space, the occasional romantic moments scattered here and there provided additional depth to the characters and gave them some tender experiences interspersed among more serious and sometimes even dangerous ones. I think using this form of love sparingly but purposefully was a great decision for this universe.

The slow pacing and repetition made it difficult for my interest level to remain high even though I was quite curious about this book when I requested it. While I did feel as though I had a good understanding of who everyone was in the large cast of characters, introducing so many of them meant that the protagonists needed to repeat their reasons for being on Heritage mountain and, in some cases, their abilities to see or communicate with mystical beings over and over again. Unfortunately, this only slowed down the storyline even more and made it harder for me to remain highly invested in what was happening.

There was plenty of attention paid to the world building which made this a satisfying read in that regard. I wasn’t aware this was part of a series when I began the first chapter, but it worked pretty well as a standalone piece given the explanations of what seemed to be the most important events of past books. It was especially interesting to me to find out what the various types of magical beings thought of each other and how they organized their societies in order to remain hidden in a world filled with nosy and sometimes destructive humans.

Heritage Mountain was filled with wonder.

Rübezahl by M. Laszlo


Rübezahl by M. Laszlo
Publisher: Alkira Publishing
Genre: Fantasy
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Rose

In a mythical, late-nineteenth-century city in Bohemia, Waltraud hears a voice no one else can hear.

It belongs to Rübezahl — a winged old man imprisoned for decades, a penitent monster who once abducted her as a child and now calls to her for release. When Waltraud refuses to help him escape, her defiance unleashes tragedy, and the creature is freed by other means.

Rübezahl’s revenge is subtle and devastating. A ghost rain begins to fall, flooding the city with hallucinations, stupefaction, and false hopes. As the population drifts into confusion and chaos, class war erupts and the authorities prove helpless.

Immune to the rain’s spell, Waltraud becomes the city’s last clear mind. Armed with a dangerous prototype weapon and hunted as much by public opinion as by monsters, she must confront Rübezahl — not only in the streets of the drowning city, but in the mountains where myth, media, and violence collide.

A dark, philosophical fantasy about power, belief, and the cost of independent thought.

Once again, M. Laszlo offers a book that is multilayered and keeps the reader guessing what is true and what is not (see our review of his previous books Anastasia’s Midnight Song and The Nameless Land. Unlike these, however, the main character, although locked in her life due to previous things that happened to her, turns out to be the most insightful character of all.

I could see this played out in my mind as I read the book. The author created a world that was wonderfully portrayed and easy to slip into. In his descriptions I could feel everything Waltraud was going through – physically and mentally.

The world-building was exceptional. I really enjoyed how people and creatures from all over were drawn to the city during this time. And Waltraud really stood out as a brave woman who held forth to protect not only the city, but also the weak like Konstantin.

I’m looking forward to reading this again to delve into the layers that comprise Rübezahl.

Let’s Fast Forward to the Good Stuff by GetChrissy


Let’s Fast Forward to the Good Stuff by GetChrissy
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

No more waiting around. It’s time to fast forward to the good stuff!

Ross is the most impatient person you’ll ever meet. You don’t want to keep him waiting in line too long because things will get ugly, fast! He wants to zoom through life, and tired of all the waiting that comes along with it. He wants to speed things up a bit. One day, a weird woman leaves a mysterious package for him that will change his life forever. Ross is in for a magical journey which is powered by his thoughts, but soon things begin to take a bad turn. Ross is in for the craziest ride of his life that you don’t’ want to miss!

Excitement comes in many forms.

Ross was a fascinating main character whose flaws made me want to learn more about him even though I found his quick temper and impatience irritating. He had such a short-sighted view of the world that he was often blindsided by things a more rational and thoughtful person would probably be able to predict in advance at least occasionally. While I don’t know that I’d want to hang out with him in person until he’s matured a bit, he sure did make this tale a memorable one.

There were some plot holes involving the mysterious woman and the package she left for the protagonist that made it hard for me to follow the storyline at times. I had several questions about how her present worked and how she became aware of Ross’ existence that were never satisfactorily answered, especially given that the warning about what would happen if he overused it seemed to be brushed over in later chapters. As much as I enjoyed the playfulness of this story, these issues prevented me from choosing a higher rating.

I enjoyed discovering the wild scenarios Ms. GetChrissy came up with for her characters as they continued to play around with their newfound power and figure out what it could and couldn’t do for them. She had some imaginative and sometimes wonderfully frightening ideas about what this device could do and how someone who was impulsive might push the boundaries of how to use it while attempting to skip over all of the boring parts of his own life.

Let’s Fast Forward to the Good Stuff was creative.

Bear Country by Mary Hallberg


Bear Country by Mary Hallberg
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Woman versus nature

Casey doesn’t want to go on the camping trip. She’s not a big outdoors person, and would rather stay inside with her paintings — and her air conditioning. But it’s her high school graduation trip, and her mom is making her go.

When one of Casey’s classmates disappears during the night, the teachers and park rangers assume she’s at the library and aren’t concerned. But Casey’s crush, Trevor, isn’t so sure and wants to go looking for her. A handful of others agree to join him — including Casey, despite her disdain for the woods.

But the trek turns deadly when the group encounters the reason their classmate went missing — an enormous, predatory grizzly bear, hellbent on destroying everything in its path. Now Casey and her classmates must find their way back to civilization without becoming bear food.

Never turn your back on nature.

There were some entertaining plot twists along the way as Casey and her classmates attempted to outrun and outwit their pursuer. Readers who are already familiar with this genre may be able to predict some of them ahead of time, but this wasn’t something that relied on the element of surprise in order to shock and frighten its audience. Instead, it was the journey from beginning to end that mattered with the plot twists providing the characters extra opportunities to learn from their most recent attempts at escape and try something different the next time they were attacked. I thought that was a good way to prolong what could have otherwise been a much shorter work.

The explanation for why the bear was so strong and aggressive was what held me back from giving this book a higher rating. While there were a few hints shared about its possible origins, they were not developed enough for its behavior to make sense to me. Knowing this information was critical in order to understand why a bear would suddenly begin attacking so many humans in a busy national park, especially given that none of the attacks were provoked or included usual reasons for an animal to behave this way such as a mother protecting her cubs.

With that being said, I loved the man (and woman) versus nature themes. Most of the characters knew little to nothing about camping, hiking, or coexisting with apex predators in the wild, and they did make a few mistakes early on that more seasoned campers would have avoided. The plot explored both the fear of the unknown and the anxiety some people feel when surrounded by nothing but trees and wildlife. These are themes that aren’t included in the horror genre as much as I’d prefer to see, so I was thrilled to find them here.

I should note that this was a pretty gory read, just as it should have been given the subject matter. Fans of that type of horror, take note!

Bear Country kept me perched on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

The Artificial Elephant by Eric J. Hull


The Artificial Elephant – stories of loss, magic, and hope by Eric J. Hull
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ, Horror, Paranormal, Romance, Holiday, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Character-driven literary speculative fiction for readers who crave haunting emotional payoffs.

A boy grieves the impossible beast that healed him. A house searching for its lost family. A vampire steals back her lovers’ tears. A scavenger hunt gone hilariously awry. Two lovers dancing at the end of the world.

Ghosts. Love. Winter. Hope. These 22 stories of fantasy, science fiction, and horror cast flickering light against the crowding darkness. They embrace the transformations between grief and love, kindness and bitter fate.

Sometimes the line between facts and feelings is paper thin.

In “Christmas Lights,” a smart house searched for its missing family for many years. I loved the fact that this was written from the perspective of a building instead of a human one. It was a unique way to frame the storyline and made me wonder if the house would ever find out what happened to the parents and two children who had once lived there. The twist ending was as poignant as it was logical for this universe as well.

Katie was a three-year-old girl whose body grew so impossibly cold she couldn’t eat anymore in “Katie Dreams” because any food or liquid she tried to consume froze solid when it was moved too close to her. I was nearly as fascinated by the scientific attempts to understand and reverse her condition as I was by her mother’s response. The strong emotional bond between them made this something I couldn’t possibly stop reading until I knew how it ended. In my opinion, memorable science fiction begins with the relationships characters have with each other before anything unusual occurs, and I would have happily read a full-length novel about Katie’s family and how they coped.

A teenager’s grief for his dead sister took on a new form in “Charcoal.” As he recalled a few of their shared childhood memories during his last few days at home, strange things began happening that were as bittersweet as they were inexplicable. This was a beautiful metaphor for how gut-wrenching it is to say goodbye to someone who died far too young in life, and the plot worked just as well on that level as it did when read from a paranormal perspective.

What ultimately convinced me to give this collection a five-star rating was the breadth of characters and experiences that were included here. I wish I had the space to mention all of them in my review as there were so many other gems to discover that included genres ranging from romance to horror. It takes talent to imagine such a wide variety of characters, all of whom remained distinct in my mind.

The Artificial Elephant – stories of loss, magic, and hope was exactly the sort of diverse speculative fiction I enjoy reading, and I can’t wait to see what Mr. Hull comes up with next.

The Clinic by Jay Andrade-Hunt


The Clinic by Jay Andrade-Hunt
Grimhold Vol. 1
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

After the Collapse, the world wasn’t rebuilt. It was scavenged.
Grimhold is a vertical city of rust, failing magic, and borrowed time. In its lowest districts, survival is negotiated through scraps, favours, and quiet threats.

Henry runs a back-alley clinic there. He treats anyone who makes it through the door, no questions asked. In a city carved up by gangs and syndicates, the Clinic survives by staying neutral.

That neutrality is beginning to crack. As tensions rise and the systems holding Grimhold together strain under pressure, the Clinic becomes a fault line where power, loyalty, and obligation collide.

A slow-burn, character-driven post-apocalyptic fantasy about endurance, moral compromise, and the quiet work of keeping people alive when stability is already gone.

Cooperation is underrated.

The world building in this novel was utterly fantastic and quite possibly the best example of how to do this I’ve read so far this year. Grimhold was a gritty, dangerous place where one wrong move could mean the difference between life and death. It was also a community filled with people working themselves to the bone on shoestring budgets to help others, often accomplishing things no one believed was possible along the way. These juxtapositions of kindness and unrelenting workloads not only helped to explain the sometimes rough demeanors of certain characters but also expressed the many different faces of this city.

There were times when I struggled with the slow pacing, especially in the beginning when more attention was paid to describing how Grimhold worked than the people who lived there or the conflicts they dealt with. Some patience is required for those chapters while everything is getting set up, but the payoff in the end was more than worth the wait. While I can’t go into much detail about how everything ended up fitting together later on for spoiler reasons, what I can say is that getting to know this world so well meant that later scenes became incredibly meaningful as the pacing picked up.

Some of the most memorable scenes in my opinion were the ones that explored the many ways someone can express platonic love for another person without the use of words. This may not sound like a theme one would necessarily expect in an urban fantasy novel, but it was woven into the plot seamlessly from beginning to end and added yet another layer of emotion and meaning to both the story as well as to the main characters’ lives. I adored these moments and hope there will more of them to come in the sequels.

Grimhold Vol. 1 – The Clinic was overflowing with both adventure and heartfelt emotions.