• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    IN THE WATCHFUL CITY by S. Qiouyi Lu | ARC Review

    31st August 2021
    Cover of In the Watchful City (S. Qiouyi Lu)

    IN THE WATCHFUL CITY by S. Qiouyi Lu

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    In the Watchful City is an Asian-centric adult queer fantasy novella about living (and death) with a heart-racing ending.

    The main character Anima (æ/ær/ær) is part of the city’s surveillance system the Gleaming (think The Matrix), one of the eight nodes in the inner sanctum. When æ meets Vessel (se/ser/ser), who carries a qíjìtáng full of knickknacks and memories from different people, ær curiosity brings ær to realize that there is more to life than guarding the city of Ora.

    Read More
  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers | ARC Review

    13th July 2021

    A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot #1) by Becky Chambers

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    This is so cute and it makes me so happy! Sibling Dex (29, agender, they/them) and Splendid Speckled Mosscap (agender, it/its) are the only travel duo I need, aka the burnt-out cleric and the impossibly inquisitive robot.

    This novella reads like a prequel as we are introduced to the world Panga, a moon of planet Motan, as well as the human religion Sacred Six (Parent Gods: Bosh, God of the Cycle, Grylon, God of the Inanimate, Trikilli, God of the Threads; Child Gods: Samafar, Chal, Allalae). Chambers’ writing is very descriptive, and the world comes to life as Sibling Dex starts out as a garden monk, switches vocation to a tea monk, and decides to take a break altogether and embark on a journey to Hart’s Brow Mountain outside of human settlement.

    Read More