John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

Full of razor-sharp wit and driven by a hyper-contemporary voice, Junk Sale by Patrick Lombardi is a wickedly smart and hilarious collection of short stories and essays. From a casual thief who gets the tables turned on him to a scathing hot take of modern job interviews, these brief tales capture a collective disdain for modern life, a dissatisfaction with normality, and the essential role that humor plays in our survival. The dialogue feels ripped from real life, despite their clever articulation, and each story is tightly edited and polished. Highlighting the painful isolation of our internal monologues, and what […]

A dazzling opening salvo in The Queen of the Witches Trilogy, The Witch’s Song by J. Lyndon Hickman is a magical work of fantasy, resonating with contemporary lessons and classic adventure. Stirring the waters of gender dynamics and calling into question humanity’s destructive fascination with technological advancement, the prose is impactful, but just as easily lighthearted. This broad emotional range, buttressed by a pair of unique protagonists, makes this a gripping read from start to finish. The revelatory progress from normal life to a magic-infused existence is exhilarating and immersive; Hickman has crafted a gem of a read with […]

A sprawling and majestic epic start to a fantasy new series, Rand by Silvia Shaw is an empowering and timely piece of fantasy fiction, bridging two worlds with grace and a whip-smart pen. Readers are drawn into a brilliant world with a detailed history that is unlike so many other carbon-copy realms in the genre. Driven by an intrepid protagonist imbued with the mind of an academic and the courage of a warrior queen, this read populates these pages with a pantheon of unique female characters, and cleverly ties off loose ends. From backstabbing court drama and savage magical battles […]