Isaiah Roby's Blog: MI Book Reviews, page 23

Buffalo Dreamer

“An illuminating novel about the importance of reclaiming the past, based on the author’s family historySummer and her family always spend relaxed summers in Alberta, Canada, on the reservation where her mom’s family lives. But this year is turning out to be an eye-opening one. First, Summer has begun to have vivid dreams in which she’s running away from one of the many real-life residential schools that tore Native children from their families and tried to erase their Native identities. Not lon...

Raven: Part I

Book 8 in the Forbidden Desires series threw me for a loop as I started. Because it’s much, MUCH darker than any of the other books, and throws you right into the suffering.

Bertram Drake, the most mysterious Drake brother, leads a life shrouded in secrecy. Taken from his brothers at a young age and shaped into a weapon to be used by the dragon council, he has one sole obey the orders given to him, no matter what they might be.

Once a perfect jewel of the Pedigree, Sorin’s sparkle has been du...

Peregrine

Peregrine is the seventh book in the Forbidden Desires series and as such offers a lot of answers that previous books brought up, but also brings up a few more questions.

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Sebastian Drake, stoic protector of the Drake family, always gets what he wants—and there is nothing he wants more than the half-starved Pedigree omega named Peregrine he comes across on his travels. It doesn’t matter that Peregrine is a Disgrace. Sebastian will do whatever it takes to keep him… and somehow, as impossib...

The Wraith Assassin

“Will Ludo survive the ultimate killer?

Ludo Carstairs and Michael Garris are taking an important package to their HQ in London. A defector. An enemy agent who has promised to tell them a thousand secrets.

But they are waylaid. A white-faced creature made of shadows burst from the sky and tears apart the train carriage in which they’re travelling. It snatches the defector from their grasp, but not before it’s twisted and shifted its face so the features perfectly mimic Ludo’s.

A day lat...

Interview with Kemi Ashing-Giwa

Y’all I don’t think you are ready for this. Ashing-Giwa (digitally) sat down with iam and me to talk about her debut novel, This World is Not Yours. LOOK AT THAT COVER. The second I read the description, I knew I needed this book. The world needs more queer sci-fi horror.

Kemi: What themes, tropes, and/or topics in SFF make a story irresistible to you?Isaiah: I am all about the character development. I want a character that I either love or that I love to hate. Space operas t...

Yoke of Stars

“In this newest novella from the queer, mystical Birdverse, an apprentice assassin and an inquisitive linguist share their tales in order to make a fateful decision. Lush and lyrical, this cross-cultural tale of the beauty of language is a gift to anyone who appreciates the transformative power of storytelling.”

I got an ARC of this book.

Lemberg and the Birdverse have me in a hold that I don’t understand. The novellas get weirder and I can’t look away. This one was two people sitting i...

Finch

Fast to read romance (and #6 in the Forbidden Desires series) that made time fly by easily.

Hugh Drake, the most whimsical member of the Drake family, wants a clutch badly… and despite his sanctioned period to reproduce nearing its end, he just might get his wish. New information has emerged that suggests Disgraces are dragons and able to bear eggs. All that’s left to do is find one Hugh can tolerate, and who better to help him find his perfect match than his steadfast and faithful secretary...

Fault

This started out sort of slow, then got really promising, and I enjoyed about 50% of it… but then it losts its steam. Or rather, it never really gained it in the first place.

A grieving mother.
A monster.
A ship crewed by the damned.

The Thing swam out of the magma in the Earth’s core and clawed its way up through the San Andreas Fault on the night that a chunk of the California coast sank into the Pacific. Millions died, including the two children of Lucille ‘Ceely’ Bennett, an accomplished en...

Runes of Engagment

“The Lord of the Rings meets Slaughterhouse-Five by way of World of Warcraft in this delirious mashup pitting the U. S. military against legendary monsters from fantasy novels and roleplaying games. From science fiction award-winner and an author, ex-Marine, and extreme amateur-landscaper, comes a riotous fantasy/military science fiction adventure that will delight fans of Terry Pratchett, J. R. R. Tolkien, and John Scalzi.

Of course, no one was prepared for the day when orcs, trolls, and dra...

Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream

“A small-town bartender juggles motherhood and a sexual awakening in this heartwarming queer friends-to-lovers romance from the author of Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review.

Cash Delgado has a good life in the quaint town of Ridley Falls. She has Joyce’s Bar, where she manages a familiar group of regulars and emcees the ever-popular Karaoke Thursday. She has her six-year-old daughter, Parker, whose spunky attitude always keeps life interesting. And she has her best friend, Inez O’Conner, who improv...