Category Archives: Small Press Book Reviews

Bad Bishop by Irene Soldatos (Hadley Rille Books) A secret history and epic tale of intrigue and aguls in Europe, this is set in the early 1100’s. I’m not a fan of any sort of vampire fiction or of period … Continue reading →

The Seer’s Choice by  J Kathleen Cheney The 1800s Portugal setting of Cheney’s novella “Of Ambergris, Blood and Brandy” in Abyss & Apex was expanded by J. Kathleen Cheney into three novels  set in that magical world: her Tales of … Continue reading →

Serpent of the Shangrove by  C.N. Lesley Have you read Darkspire Reaches, a book that so captivated me that I missed meals and was unaware the sun had gone down? Read that first, as Serpent of the Shangrove is not … Continue reading →

Lex Talionis by R. S. A. Garcia This is a fast-paced, science fiction action-thriller. It’s meaty in more ways than one: 324 pages of skiffy goodness with excellent characters, intrigue, aliens, and a whirlwind plot. In summary, a young woman … Continue reading →

Iron Shoes: Three Tales from Hawk’s Folly Farm by J Kathleen Cheney This book contains three complete fantasy novellas set in 1800s Saratoga Springs, NY, home of the historic  Saratoga Race Track. In the first novella, “Iron Shoes,” the young … Continue reading →

Election 2100: Game of Scorpions by Larry Hodges In this amusing satire, the American two-party electoral system is now used to elect a World President. The father-daughter team of Toby and Lara Platt might seem caricatures of cutthroat campaign directors … Continue reading →

The Worker Prince (WordFire Press) by Brian Thomas Schmidt It’s a rare treat to find a book I unabashedly recommend to any parent, elementary school library or middle school librarian. This book has everything a young person could want in … Continue reading →

A Single Light (Odyssey Books) by Patricia Leslie Okay, I’m a sucker for  detective stories, plucky journalists who doggedly pursue a story, medical thrillers, or something new in the paranormal field. A Single Light is all of these, and the … Continue reading →

Ice Magic, Fire Magic (Hadley Rille) by Shauna Roberts  Ice Magic, Fire Magic sucked me right in with a unique magical system, and kept surprising me with reversals and twists. Some of it was predictable, but even then the manner … Continue reading →

Decision Points(WordFire Press) Edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt I’m always a fan of stories that ask, “How would people handle having this new technology, this magical power, this situation? Decision Points asks all of those questions. And it has characters … Continue reading →