THE MIDDLE SHELF - A SCIFI AND FANTASY REVIEWS BLOG
  • HOME
  • REVIEWS
    • THE LATEST REVIEWS
    • REVIEWS BY AUTHOR
    • REVIEWS BY TITLE
    • MOOD INDEX
  • WHILE WE WERE READING
  • BOOK REVIEW POLICY
  • ABOUT

In which C. reviews the best scifi and fantasy books read recently.

Rhiannon A. Grist, The Queen of the High Fields

19/3/2023

 
Picture
Rhiannon A. Grist, The Queen of the High Fields, Luna Press, 2022.

The Queen of the High Fields is a contemporary fantasy novella that'll take you deep into Welsh myths.

Read More

Okwiri Oduor, Things They Lost

7/3/2023

 
Picture
Okwiri Oduor, Things They Lost, Oneworld Publications, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Things They Lost is a mesmerising magical realism tale about mothers and daughters, with a fascinating and rich world, and a very endearing main character.

Read More

Ray Nayler, The Mountain in the Sea

23/2/2023

 
Picture
Ray Nayler, The Mountain in the Sea, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2022.
Audiobook available.

The Mountain in the Sea is a fascinating short scifi novel that'll particularly enchant those of you who like first encounters and semiotics.

Read More

Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Memory

28/1/2023

 
Picture
Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Memory, Tor, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Children of Memory is the third instalment in the scifi series by Adrian Tchaikovsky which started with the Clarke Award winner, Children of Time. Like its predecessors, it offers a thoughtful and inventive take on progress, humanity and communication.

The review is spoiler free and is followed by a Q&A with the author about his series. The Q&A includes spoilers for all three volumes in the series, but a large red banner will warn you that you enter spoiler territory.

Read More

Darcie Little Badger, Elatsoe

24/1/2023

 
Picture
Darcie Little Badger, Elatsoe, Levine Querido, 2020.

Elatsoe is a YA fantasy novel I enjoyed tremendously thanks to great characters, a wonderful worldbuilding and magic system, and meaty themes.

Read More

Eloghosa Osunde, Vagabonds!

21/1/2023

 
Picture
Eloghosa Osunde, Vagabonds!, Fourth Estate, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Vagabonds! is a remarkable magical realism story - or rather multiple stories of life in Lagos, and particularly stories of LGBTQIA+ persons and women.

Read More

Adrian Tchaikovsky, City of Last Chances

15/1/2023

 
Picture
Adrian Tchaikovsky, City of Last Chances, Head of Zeus, 2022.
Audiobook available.

City of Last Chances is the love child of Night Watch by Terry Pratchett and Hav by Jan Morris while being entirely its own thing with a polyphonic narrative. I loved it, ok? Go buy it. Don't even read the review. Just go get it.

Read More

Eugen Bacon, Broken Paradise

2/1/2023

 
Picture
Eugen Bacon, Broken Paradise, Luna Press, 2023.

Broken Paradise is, like many Eugen Bacon's stories, difficult to categorise. And this intriguing fantasy novella is also as usual with Bacon's stories, beautifully written.

Read More

Glenda Larke, The Tangled Lands

20/12/2022

 
Picture
Glenda Larke, The Tangled Lands, Wizard's Tower Press, 2023.

The Tangled Lands is a very entertaining portal fantasy novel in two secondary worlds with endearing characters, lively prose and mysteries at its heart.

Read More

Andrew Knighton, Ashes of the Ancestors

15/12/2022

 
Picture
Andrew Knighton, Ashes of the Ancestors, Luna Press Publishing, 2023.

Ashes of the Ancestors is a novella that begins as a deceptive cosy fantasy with a great world building and turns into a very topical story that makes it a must-read.

Read More

Samit Basu, The City Inside

4/12/2022

 
Picture
Samit Basu, The City Inside, tordotcom, 2022.

The City Inside is a near-future dystopia set in Delhi, very much inspired by Indian politics and with a thoughtful take on action when faced by fascism.

Read More

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Mexican Gothic

23/11/2022

 
Picture
Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Mexican Gothic, Jo Fletcher Books, 2020.
Audiobook available.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a modern masterpiece of supernal gothic, full of tension and deliciously creepy.

Read More

Simon Jimenez, The Spear Cuts Through Water

13/11/2022

 
Picture
Simon Jimenez, The Spear Cuts Through Water, Random House, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Let's be honest: I enjoyed The Spear Cuts Through Water less than I enjoyed Jimenez previous novel, The Vanished Birds. Nonetheless, it's a remarkable and ambitious fantasy novel, erring on the literary side, in which I found much to admire.

Read More

Stark Holborn, Ten Low

1/11/2022

 
Picture
Stark Holborn, Ten Low, Titan, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Ten Low borrows from the western genre but this very entertaining scifi novel also has a twist of its own that sets it apart.

Read More

E. J. Swift, The Coral Bones

23/10/2022

 
Picture
E. J. Swift, The Coral Bones, Unsung Stories, 2022.

In this scifi novel, three strands mingle to tell the story of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, in the past, in the present, and in the future.

Read More

Lavanya Lakshminarayan, The Ten Percent Thief

9/10/2022

 
Picture
Lavanya Lakshminarayan, The Ten Percent Thief, Rebellion Publishing, 2023

The Ten Percent Thief is a fascinating polyphonic scifi novel presenting a sharp social and political satire through slices of life.

Read More

R.B. Lemberg, The Unbalancing

21/9/2022

 
Picture
R.B. Lemberg, The Unbalancing, Tachyon Publications, 2022.

With sublime prose, The Unbalancing is a fantasy novel telling magnificently a story of love, exile, and persistance.

Read More

Naseem Jamnia, The Bruising of Qilwa

14/9/2022

 
Picture
Naseem Jamnia, The Bruising of Qilwa, Tachyon Publications, 2022.

The Bruising of Qilwa is an intricate secondary-world Persian-inspired fantasy novella.

Read More

Juliet McKenna, The Green Man's Gift

11/9/2022

 
Picture
Juliet McKenna, The Green Man's Gift, Wizard's Tower Press, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Dan Mackmain is back for the fifth adventure in this contemporary rural fantasy series.

Read More

Adrian Tchaikovsky, Ogres

8/9/2022

 
Picture
Adrian Tchaikovsky, Ogres, Rebellion Publishing, 2022.
Audiobook available.

It is no mystery that I often enjoy Tchaikovsky's stories and this very topical scifi novella is another one I was very happy to read.

Read More
<<Previous
    All reviews are spoiler free unless explicitly stated otherwise.

    I only review stories I have liked even if my opinion may be nuanced. It doesn't apply for the "Novels published before 1978" series of blog posts.

    Comments are closed, having neither time nor the inclination to moderate them.
    Latest reviews
    REVIEWS BY AUTHOR
    REVIEWS BY TITLE

    SUBSCRIBE

    RSS Feed

WHAT IS THE MIDDLE SHELF?

The middle shelf is a science-fiction and fantasy books reviewS blog, bringing you diverse and great stories .

Licence Creative Commons

PLEASE SUPPORT AUTHORS.
IF YOU LIKE IT, BUY IT.

ON THE MIDDLE SHELF

THE LATEST SCIFI & FANTASY BOOKS REVIEWS
WHILE WE WERE READING
BOOK REVIEW POLICY

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE MIDDLE SHELF

Mastodon: @THEMIDDLESHELF@WANDERING.SHOP
  • HOME
  • REVIEWS
    • THE LATEST REVIEWS
    • REVIEWS BY AUTHOR
    • REVIEWS BY TITLE
    • MOOD INDEX
  • WHILE WE WERE READING
  • BOOK REVIEW POLICY
  • ABOUT