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One of the trends I have noticed in recent years is the mainstreaming of science-fictional or fantasy tropes in mainstream fiction, crime novels, police procedurals, urban fantasy and the like. David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and yes, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, amongst others. At the same…

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Chapter 5

 

Corvis cranked the handle the required thirty times and then clicked the microphone three times. After a moment, he tried again. After a moment, the speaker clicked back. He felt relief when it repeated so he hadn't imagined it.

The AM radio worked best at night; he wasn't certain as to why. Each time he cranked the handle, it gave the generator a few seconds of power as the flywheel spun. He began to crank at a steady pace with one hand as he tapped out the message with his transmitter.

Recently his handler had complained that his last four messages had been badly garbled. He was to report in at night at the required hour. His message frequency had stepped up to twice a hafta even though he didn't have much to report.

They wanted information that the Imperium spy wasn't able to gather. He wasn't about to stick his neck out further to get it too. Stuff like the status of the royal family, movement patterns, information about their armies, technology, and so on.

He had confirmed that the spy that had been flushed out and captured had died in an accident. They had passed orders for him to cooperate and not resist if he was ever caught. He hoped it never came to that sort of a scenario though.

He confirmed the previous report he'd made that more spies had headed south some time ago. He also confirmed that other spies were reporting in with things that were making their way across the border. Where he wasn't certain.

It took a few patient minutes to tap the order out. Once he was done, he stopped.

Once his message was complete, he waited for the acknowledgement. It came in with a series of beeps. He hastily used the side of his hand to wipe the slate clean and jot out the response.

He grunted and then tapped out a quick okay and then shut down for the night.

The radio was disguised. He broke it down and hid the pieces under the floorboard and behind a hidden cubbard. The one thing he couldn't hide was the very long antenna. That was tacked to the underside of the eaves and up to the point on the roof. He'd painted the copper wire though so it matched the honey color stone and the wood on the building. He had covered parts of it with trim to hide it further.

Just as an extra precaution, he had tied the end he plugged into to a stake in the ground. If anyone asked about it, he had a ready cover story; it was a lightning rod. It was to ward off lightning strikes.

He hoped he never had to use that cover story however.

He sat back and checked the slate. There were two more spies coming in. Both would need temporary lodging. He was fine with that, though it was hoped that they never came to him and instead went to an inn. There was a lot of safety in not knowing each other and not congregating.

He had a cover story in case they did come to his door; they were cousins looking for work after their farm had burned down. They were going to need a place though … he frowned.

They would hopefully bring that to him, he thought. He grimaced and then went to make dinner.

One of the things that sucked about being a bachelor was being on his own to cook and clean. He didn't like it. He could go to the tavern, but that got expensive quickly. If he was there too often, people started to wonder about his finances. He had to limit his visits to when he had just finished a job or once a mens.

Since he was alone, he took out a block of cheese, carefully unwrapped it, cut off a slice, rewrapped it tightly, and then did the same for some dried sausage. A bit of butter and a couple slices of bread toasted and he had a nice sandwich to eat by the fire as he planned his next day activities.

Of course it all hinged on the weather, he thought with a weather eye to the small window nearby. He couldn't tell. The sky wasn't red so he would only be able to tell in the morning.

---+--+-{0}-+--+---

Khalia finished reading the pamphlet from the Imperium University again and sighed. It was a copy and already a bit dog-eared from its wear. She got up, stretched and then went to find her father.

He was watching the grandchildren at play and she smiled. Her possible wedding was on hold; Torinus had fallen ill. She was avoiding his home because she didn't want to catch whatever he had. There had been requests by the medicus for some of the gaijin medicines and knowledge. The duke had not provided any.

She had to wonder sometimes if the alliance was off. Possibly.

Her first marriage had been something of a farce. Her father or someone else, no one had voluntarily come forward to say that they were the guilty party, had arranged her first mate's death. Her lips twitched. His holdings had been looted, and the lands and rusticus returned to the duke's personal holdings since she hadn't born any heirs to the family.

Pity about that, she thought in amusement.

"We need to find a proper tutor soon. One who knows the ins and outs of the new gaijin knowledge," her father rumbled thoughtfully. He nodded once.

She realized that his comment was what she needed. It was the opening to a topic that needed to be broached. She decided to take the plunge.

"Father, we need to do that with the whole kingdom," Khalia said as she sat down next to him.

He blinked in surprise and then one eyebrow lifted in inquiry.

"You know that the Imperium has their universities."

He nodded.

"We need to find ways to catch up. We cannot hoard knowledge; it must be spread about," she said. "Like seeds, we need to cultivate the knowledge or it will be lost. And we need to get it into the right hands so we can make some of the machina that the Imperium is making."

He frowned.

Khalia saw his intransigence begin to build. "We have to match them. We can't do that with some things being in secret."

Her father's frown deeped.

"We have started to make up ground with the medicus and hygiene, but you and I both know it isn't enough," she warned.

He nodded. She had been the one to do a lot there. She had also gotten him to pass laws to ban the pests that were known to cause diseases. Cats and sprays were being used to keep the pests down to a minimum. It was making people healtheir.

"They will find out we have some of this eventually, right? If they have not already? Why not put it out there? Learn from it, figure out what we can, and then sell it to the rusticus?"

"Them?" he asked in distaste.

"Yes! And we can sell it to merchants who will sell it too. Right now they are buying it from traders who cross the border into the Imperium or into Duluth. Why not learn to make it here?" She implored.

He frowned again. He had heard of some things being bought and brought over or traded for the products of his kingdom. The guilds wouldn't like it though.

His duchy's wool exports were not worth as much as it had been. Their textiles too. Metal was highly prized but heavy, and the carters therefore didn't like to haul it long distances. That economic downturn bothered many of his merchants. They wanted improvements.

"Why shouldn't we employ our own people to do the work and profit from it?" she asked as she sened another opening.

Her father grunted. She had a point. After a moment, he nodded.

She saw the opening and smiled.

"You yourself were looking for things to trade with the pirates, right? Things to offset the costs of paying them tribute? Things to get them to give up the secrets of the guns?"

He nodded again.

"They don't need engines or steam engines; they have those from the reports Dominic has passed on," she reminded him. "They have aircraft. They have better ships …"

"You aren't telling me things I don't know."

"I'm listing what they have while trying to look for something that they don't have. Such as the metals we have in the mines around here," she said patiently.

He cocked his head and then made a slight go-on gesture.

"Well, what if our people develop something that they crave? Something important enough to get them to trade the secrets of the weapons for?" she said slyly.

He sat back and stared at the ceiling as he gamed that out. It was a long shot but she had a point. He had been trying to trade them sabotaged copies of material from the Imperium. But what if his people developed the ideas further and applied them here and sold copies of working machina to the pirates? Would they trade the secrets of gunpowder to him? He finally looked at her and nodded once.

"Besides, introducing change isn't a bad thing. If it makes our industry better, that is good. We have better mines, more timber. We have artisans who are the best."

"Were," Harbard stated gloomily from the nearby door.

She glanced at her brother and then back to their father. "Then as a bid for our pride, I say we push to make them the best again. What say you, father?"

He nodded.

Harbard cocked his head slightly.

"The Imperium and Duluth both have these universities, these higher places of learning. Caliope had something similiar. We need to match them," he said slowly. He studied his granddaughter with interest. She gave a bright sunny smile and then went back to playing with the puzzle in front of her.

"Passing on the information to the next generation is imperative if we want to adapt and survive, father," Khalia said quietly.

"She is right," Harbard stated as he turned to see Avery, their steward, arrive with the treasurer, Clive Deluise, in tow. Both men took in the conversation and took on artful thoughtful expressions.

The duke nodded after a moment.

"It will be expensive," Clive warned after a long moment of thought. He knew that it was time to get on board with the plan.

"All endeavors worthy of change are. But they pay off many times the initial start-up costs later," Khalia stated firmly.

"Start small. We will find those who can learn and adapt and others to train them. A … think tank I believe they call it?" Harbard asked. He looked to his sister who nodded.

The grand duke grunted but then nodded. "See to it," he ordered with a look to Avery. The steward placed his bad arm over his abdomen and bowed slightly.

"There are spies coming back with more things from the festival, correct?" Clive asked. "Should we wait until they return?"

"That is a long time away." Harbard stated with a dismissive wave of a hand. "We need to lay the groundwork now for the university. We can start with what we have and identify what needs to be a focus."

"Such as the gaijin weapons," Avery stated with a look to the grand duke. "And ways to stop them. The old armor versus offense battle," he said.

The grand duke grunted.

That had ever been the way with warfare; offense would look for a new weapon to kill and get through or around armor. Then the armorers would see the weakness and find a way to cover it over. Then the whole system would start anew like an ever-rotating wheel.

There had to be ways to defend against the gaijin weapons. They just needed to find them.

"Put an emphasis in looking through the old archives. There are some gaijin who came and settled here in the past. They spoke of such things; there are a few examples. Find them."

"We have looked," Avery stated.

The grand duke frowned thoughtfully and then noted the clock. It was ticking away on the mantle. He indicated it. It was made out of slate and was beautiful. "Perhaps them?"

Heads turned to the clock.

"Find the clockmaker. Ask them what they know. Perhaps the ancestor kept records? Or passed down stories?" Khalia suggested with a nod to her father.

"Exactly," the grand duke said with an answering nod.

"The artisans can be recruited to the university as well," she said.

"Yes, that too," the duke murmured.

"Younger minds are the best. Fresh ideas demand fertile ground and fresh energy," Khalia stated. Her father and Avery both nodded.

---+--+-{0}-+--+---

On Monday, June 1st, at 7 pm, Ilona will be joining Caitlin Rozakis at Barnes & Noble Arboretum in Austin to chat shop, ask questions, and help celebrate Caitlin’s new release, STARTUP HELL.

Tickets are free and available at TicketLeap.

Purchasing the book from B&N Arboretum on event day will grant you access to the signing line. If you have any other questions or arrangements you need to make in advance, you can contact the venue at this link. More details about Caitlin’s signing tour dates in both the US and UK can be found on her website.

About STARTUP HELL

STARTUP HELL by Caitlin Rozakis is a contemporary fantasy office comedy about a junior sales witch stuck in (corporate) hell, who has to juggle devilish pacts, her kickass demon-slaying mother, and one inconveniently hot demon, all while trying to hit her quarterly target.

It was released on May 19th from Titan Books, in ebook, audio and paperback format.

Morgan Blackwater-McKey is a junior salesperson for a tech startup that can’t even decide what its product is. Sure, her mom might be a kickass, world-saving, demon-slaying Shadow Council wizard. But with magic dyslexia and a disinclination to kick ass, Morgan’s life is more about sales leads than case leads.

That is, until her boss summons a demon to try to trade his soul to make his quarterly target. And dies without sending the demon home.

Now Morgan is stuck with an inconveniently attractive junior salesdemon sleeping on her couch. Other than that whole souls thing, turns out the infernal realm is not so different from startup culture. If all corporations are hell and their bosses are ruthless monsters anyway, why not team up?

Morgan just has to stay ahead of her demon-hunting mother, her amoral tech bro CEO, and her growing attraction to a certain demon. And a quarterly target that threatens to damn them both...

Corporate life: somehow barely worse when you add actual demons, amirite?

I have only managed to read the sample so far, because moving house stress and back pain (always lift with your legs, Horde!), but Morgan’s reaction to the classic Faust-style “deal with a summoned demon” situation gave me a chuckle. We stan a woman with boundaries, professional burnout, and absolutely no time for infernal nonsense. Goethe could have saved himself a lot of time with that one.

If that sounds like your kind of chaos, this is your chance to hear Caitlin and Ilona talk all things fantasy, writing, demons, and corporate despair.

Come for the author chat, stay for the infernal office comedy, and bring your best fluffy Horde energy!

The post Austin event with Caitlin Rozakis first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

Rog Phillips

Roger Phillip Graham was born in Spokane, Washington on February 20, 1909 to John Alfred Graham and Abbie Susan (née McCalmont). His family moved often, spending time in Oklahoma, among other places. He returned to Spokane to attend Gonzaga College, from which he graduated in 1931 and did some graduate work at the University of Washington. Most of his sf work appeared under the name Rog Phillips.

During the pre-war years, Phillips held a variety of jobs, including working as a farm worker,  plumber, construction worker, and carpenter. During World War II, he worked as a power plant engineer and a shipyard welder.

Graham married Eleanor Cora Smith on October 8, 1938 in Spokane, although they were divorced by 1950, when he married sf fan and author Mari Wolf. They divorced in 1955 and the following year, he married another fan, Honey Wood, to whom he remained married until his death. Wood and Phillip were members of the Outlanders, a subset of LASFS fans who lived just outside Los Angeles.

Mystery Stories #20

Phillips published his first short stories in Mystery Stories in 1939 under the name Roger Graham. His next story, “Let Freedom Ring,” appeared after the war in the December 1945 issue of Amazing Stories, a magazine which would be his main place of publication, along with its sister magazine Fantastic Adventures.

His first novel, Time Trap, was published in 1949. His other novels appeared in 1950 and 1951. Later novels appeared in magazines, with one of them, These Are My Children, which first appeared as a serialization in Other Worlds Science Stories in 1952 seeing its first stand-alone publication in 2018. Other small presses have published collections of his work in the twenty-first century, most recently Rog Phillips, Ace of Science Fiction Digests in 2023.

During the 1950s, he lived in Chicago and wrote “The Club House” a column covering science fiction fan gatherings and short reviews of fanzines, first for Amazing Stories from 1948-1953 and later in Universe Science Fiction from 1954-1955, and finally in Other Worlds Science Stories from 1955-1956. “The Club House” introduced fannish culture to people, including a young Robert Silverberg.

Phillips wrote under a variety of house names, including Craig Browning, Franklin Bahl, Peter Worth and Melva Rogers, in addition to his own name. He also used the pseudonym John Wiley for mystery and detective stories. He used other pseudonyms as well.

In 1956, Phillips was a Hugo finalist in the “Best Feature Writer” category in the only year it was awarded. He lost to Willy Ley. Other nominees included L. Sprague de Camp, Robert A. Madle, and R.S. Richardson. Three years later, his story “Rat in the Skull” was nominated for Best Novelette, losing to Clifford D. Simak’s “The Big Front Yard.”

Phillips served as best man at SF author Chad Oliver’s wedding. He also served as godfather to Earl Terry Kemp, the son of Earl Kemp, who chaired the 1962 Chicon. The younger Kemp has revived “The Club House” and has also edited collections of Phillips’ work.

He died on March 2, 1966 in San Francisco.

Steven H Silver is a twenty-two-time Hugo Award nominee and was the publisher of the Hugo-nominated fanzine Argentus as well as the editor and publisher of ISFiC Press for eight years. He has also edited books for DAW, NESFA Press, and ZNB. His most recent anthology is Alternate Peace and his novel After Hastings was published in 2020. Steven has chaired the first Midwest Construction, Windycon three times, and the SFWA Nebula Conference numerous times. He was programming chair for Chicon 2000 and Vice Chair of Chicon 7.

 

Book links: Amazon, Goodreads
GENRE: Adventure Epic Fantasy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: S. A. Chakraborty is the author of the critically acclaimed and internationally best-selling The Daevabad Trilogy. Her work has been nominated for the Locus, World Fantasy, Crawford, and Astounding awards. When not buried in books about thirteen-century con artists and Abbasid political intrigue, she enjoys hiking, knitting, and re-creating unnecessarily complicated medieval meals. You can find her online at www.sachakraborty.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @SAChakrabooks, where she likes to talk about history, politics, and Islamic art. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, daughter, and an ever-increasing number of cats.
Publisher: Harper Voyager (May 12, 2026) Page count: 494 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback

The Tapestry of Fate was easily one of my most anticipated books of 2026. I loved The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, but sequels are difficult. Especially sequels to books built almost entirely on charm, chemistry, and an awesome adventure featuring people addicted to making terrible decisions. Sometimes the magic disappears the second everyone comes back for round two.

Not here.

This is, imo, a masterclass in writing a sequel. The stakes are higher, the story gets darker, the world expands naturally, and yet it still feels like its own complete adventure. Also, the ending caught me off guard. Shannon Chakraborty clearly looked at readers peacefully enjoying closure and decided that was unacceptable.

The story sends Amina after another magical artifact, this time a spindle capable of rewriting fate itself. You know, the sort of thing nobody should touch under any circumstances, but, naturally, everyone immediately sails toward it. The island at the center of the story is eerie, dangerous, full of strange magic and shifting loyalties. The deeper Amina gets into the mission, the clearer it becomes that the peris are hiding far more than they admitted.

This book is noticeably darker than the first one too. There are some genuinely brutal scenes here, more violence, more heartbreak, and more tension between the characters. Amina’s relationship with her daughter gets more complicated - Marjana is older now, smarter, and increasingly tired of being lied to about her mother’s life and her own heritage. Fair enough. If your mother keeps disappearing on magical pirate missions while refusing to explain anything, eventually you start asking questions.

Amina and Dalila's friendship is the main focus of the story. It's crazy how deeply these two women care about each other while also being stubborn enough to make everything infinitely harder than necessary. So, we get lots of emotional scenes between them, but also demons, sorceresses, sea monsters, and people getting stabbed at alarming speed.

It's worth noting that even when things get darker, it never becomes emotionally miserable. There’s heartbreak, yes, but this is still fundamentally a story about adventure, friendship, found family, and larger-than-life characters doing wildly reckless things for reasons that usually make emotional sense at the time. 

And the characters really are the magic here. Amina remains one of the most entertaining protagonists in fantasy right now. Brave, stubborn, overprotective, occasionally very wrong, but always compelling. Raksh continues to cause chaos like an immortal being who genuinely wakes up every morning asking himself how to make today everyone else’s problem.

Shannon Chakraborty somehow managed to make the world feel bigger while keeping the story personal, which isn’t easy in epic fantasy sequels. The Tapestry of Fate feels richer, darker, and more confident than the first novel without losing the warmth and sense of adventure that made me love the series in the first place.

Now I just need book three immediately. Which, judging by that ending, is probably exactly what Chakraborty wanted.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Romance/Humor
Length: 378 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 23, 2024
ASIN: B0CLN6XSD7
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Love’s Academic series
Source: Borrowed ebook from library
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

“Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, stealing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that’s beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon.

For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She’s so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they’re professional rivals.

When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can’t trust anyone else—for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 1st book in the Love’s Academic series. I borrowed this on ebook from the library.

Thoughts: This started a bit slow but picked up the pace about 25% of the way in. This is a Victorian alternate history sort of fantasy romance. It is set in England (mostly) but an England where the birds are deadly and magical, and ornithologists play a major role in the safety of people in general.

Beth is a rare female ornithologist professor and, when a contest to capture the rare caladrius bird is announced (with tenure as the prize) she must participate. Unfortunately, all the ornithologists dive right into this challenge, including the incredibly smart and handsome Professor Devon Lockley. As Devon and Beth are forced to team up, they are incredibly attracted to each other, and both are forced to admit there are more important things in life than winning Birder of the Year (of course, nothing is more important than the birds). As the chase for this rare bird continues, they both realize that there is more behind this contest than they initially thought.

This is a very fun and cute read. The beginning missed the mark for me a bit. Beth was just too timid and the characters felt a bit too stereotypical, however that was quickly remedied as we got further into the story. There is a lot of action here, and a lot of the story is a bit tongue-in-cheek. I mean the ornithologists are so famous and so important, at times it all feels a bit over characterized and silly, but in a fun way.

The story does jump between a few different POVs. However, the majority of the story is told from Beth’s and Devon’s points of view. I enjoyed both Beth and Devon as characters. At first, they seem a bit stereotypical to this type of alternate history Victorian story, but I think that is part of the point. As they get to know each other better, we also get to know them better. They are both exceptional characters with deep intelligence and interests.

This was a fun romp, was effortless to read, and was well written. I enjoyed it immensely.

My Summary (4.5/5): Overall, though the start of this was a bit rough for me, I thought the story really hit it’s stride about 25% of the way in and I really started to love it. I loved this alternate history Victorian London setting with deadly magical birds, the quirky characters, the fast pace, the romance, and the mystery that is unraveled. I would recommend to those who enjoy alternate history Victorian romance with some magic, adventure, and mystery in it. I will definitely be picking up the second book in the series, “The Geographer’s Map to Romance.”

Marrying Mr. Darcy, designed by Erika Svanoe, art by Erik Evensen (Erika Svanoe Games, 2013)

One of my local gaming friends told me about Marrying Mr. Darcy, and brought his copy to a recent session, where we played it. I thought it was a lot of fun and have acquired a copy.

This is a game based on Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice. I think it could be played without having read that book, by anyone who has some familiarity with the courtship customs of the past. On the other hand, such players will miss some of the jokes that add to the pleasure of the game.

[Click the images to engage with larger versions.]

Some of the cards in Marrying Mr. Darcy

Up to six people can play Marrying Mr. Darcy. At the outset, players roll a die for first choice, and each chooses a young woman to play, from a set of eight, who are more or less all the named marriageable women in the novel: its heroine, Lizzie Bennet, and her four sisters, plus three others with disparate backgrounds. These women start out with certain personal traits; a dowry, which doesn’t count as a “personal trait,” but which many suitors are looking for; and a set of base scores to be earned by marrying different suitors.

Darcy, the hero of the novel, for whom the game is named, is usually worth a fair number of points, but is only the top ranked choice for Lizzie, for example. Cards are put out for suitors, showing what traits each requires before he would consider proposing to a woman. Note that some of the women are sisters of some of the men, who won’t propose to them — though there’s an optional rule where the women turn out to have been adopted (a plot twist H.G. Wells actually used in Joan and Peter, written about a century later).

Back cover of Marrying Mr. Darcy

The first phase of play, courtship, involves drawing event cards, which represent something that could happen in the characters’ social milieu, such as a party, a family scandal, or simply learning to play a new piece at the pianoforte. I could think of an incident in the novel for nearly every “event.” Many event cards grant the ability to draw and/or play one or more character cards; they may also produce direct benefits or problems.

Character cards, in turn, often add to a characteristic. There are five of these. Four can be played face up: Beauty, Friendliness, Reputation, and Wit. These accumulate as played, giving each young woman the ability to appeal to various suitors; the strategy of the game involves knowing that Mr. Darcy, for example, favors young women with Wit, while Mr. Collins cares about Beauty and Reputation.

The Annotated Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen and David M. Shapard (Vintage, March 13, 2007)

Cunning is played face down, and can be used to undercut another young woman’s advantages by removing a card she has played face up, making her less able to compete for a suitor you want.

Character cards can also add to Dowry, which is not a characteristic but is important to some suitors. Reputation and Dowry, in particular, are important in ways that no longer apply in our era; players may need to have read some Austen or Heyer to be seized of the point that men usually expect a young woman to bring some of her family’s wealth into a marriage, and that they avoid a woman who might be feared to be unchaste or unfaithful — perhaps because her sister has eloped with a man she wasn’t married to (how did their family bring them up?).

The Nonesuch by by Georgette Heyer (Sourcebooks Casablanca, April 1, 2009)

In the second phase of play, proposal and marriage, players’ turns are decided by Cunning scores: The most cunning young woman goes first. (If two young women are tied, the one with the higher Dowry goes first.)

All the suitors whose standards a young woman meets are identified, and the dice are rolled for each one to see if he proposes. The player can either accept or reject each proposal; acceptance removes that suitor from the pool available to other young women.

A young woman who turns down all her suitors, or receives no proposals, acquires the Old Maid card — a social disaster, but one some young women might prefer to a really bad marriage!

The final score is the sum of a character’s scores on Beauty, Friendliness, Reputation, and Wit and the point value of her suitor for her. The highest score determines the winner; ties are broken by Dowry or by Cunning — so that these two traits can still matter, in a less obvious way than the characteristics.

Marrying Mr. Darcy can be played in an hour or a bit less. It can be quite an entertaining game, as characters raise their standing in the marital competition or suffer dramatic reversals; each game is effectively a new drama about the Bennets and their social milieu.

The cards are also attractively designed: Erik Evensen did a good job of suggesting that milieu. And between quickness and lightness, this was a perfect palate cleanser to be played after a complex, tactically challenging game, like having a salad after a main course. I look forward to playing it again.

William H. Stoddard is a professional copy editor specializing in scholarly and scientific publications. As a secondary career, he has written more than two dozen books for Steve Jackson Games, starting in 2000 with GURPS Steampunk. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife, their cat (a ginger tabby), and a hundred shelf feet of books, including large amounts of science fiction, fantasy, and graphic novels.

LitStack Spots Here are a few other thrilling titles that we are absolutely adding to…

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The Faraway Innby Sarah Beth Durst
What is it about:After a devastating heartbreak, a teen girl decides to spend her summer helping her eccentric great aunt manage her quaint Vermont inn--but this fixer-upper is hiding a magical secret--in this cozy and irresistable new fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop.
Sixteen-year-old Calisa is desperate for a change of scenery after her lying ex ruins her perfect Brooklyn summer. When her parents suggest she head to rural Vermont to help her great-aunt run her cozy bed and breakfast for a few months, she jumps at the chance.
But when Calisa arrives at the B&B, she's shocked to find a rundown inn with only a handful of guests. And to make matters worse, upon meeting with her great-aunt it quickly becomes clear that Calisa was not invited. Auntie Zee is determined to keep anyone from messing with her beloved inn…even if it is clear she needs the help.
To earn her keep, Calisa sets to work fixing up the inn, enlisting extra help from the groundskeeper's (handsome) son. But the longer she stays, the more it becomes evident that there is something strange about the B&B—and its residents. Something almost…otherworldly.
The inn is keeping a magical secret—but to protect the place she's come to love, Calisa must unravel the truth of it, and her aunt, before it's too late.
What did I think of it:After the fluffy happy coziness of The Spellshop series I totally had to get this YA Cozy Fantasy.
And it doesn't disappoint!
I loved every minute I spent with this book. Together with Calisa I got to explore the Faraway Inn and discover its many wonders. Having read my fair share of Magical Realism and Fantasy books I picked up on the hints dropped throughout the story, which made sure I kept ahead of Calisa in discovering what was going on. It was fun to see where things started to click into place with Calisa.
Overall this is a wonderful and cozy read. You bet I'm keeping an eye out for more books by Sarah Beth Durst.
Why should you read it:This book is like a cup of hot chocolate on a chilly day.

 Buy The Unicorn Hunters

FORMAT/INFO: The Unicorn Hunters will be published on June 2nd, 2026 by Del Rey. It is 368 pages and available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Duchess Anne of Brittany knows that she will never marry for love. As the ruler of a small duchy, she understands that any marriage she enters will be purely for political reasons. So when faced with marriage to the king of France, her resistance is purely political: marrying the king will end the independence of Brittany. Anne needs to find another marriage option without the king knowing, a task made all the harder due to the fact that the king's diviners can spy on a person at any time. But Anne knows of a nearby forest where the magics interfere with a diviner's gifts. In a desperate gambit, Anne announces a grand unicorn hunt in the forest, an event that will hide her real intent: to secretly marry a different king, one who won't require her to give up her duchy's independence. But the forest in question borders a fantastical realm known as the Lost Lands, and it isn't long before Anne realizes her actions have caused the Lost Lands to bleed into the mortal realms, threatening everyone she loves.

The Unicorn Hunters is a historical fantasy that has a wonderful blend of court politics and fairytale adventure. Loosely based on the real Anne of Brittany, much of the story has to deal with real world intrigue. Anne must deftly navigate advisors in her own court as well as envoys from two different royal courts as she tries to stall one marriage long enough to secretly arrange for the second. Through multiple POVs, we see the political chess moves of different characters, each trying to trap the other with clever words and polite decorum.

But woven throughout all the mortal intrigue is a fairytale adventure. Anne accidentally unleashes entities from what is essentially a fae realm known as the Lost Lands. It is a realm that operates by its own rules and logic. As the borders of the Lost Lands expand, the more fantastical things start to occur in the mortal world. The result is a story where Anne has to survive a political dinner in one scene, and figure out how to navigate a hall of endless doors in another. The two sides of the story blend together well and kept me thoroughly engaged in the story.

The one thing I bumped against in this story is that it often felt like problems were resolved too easily. A character could be kidnapped and rescued in a mere few pages, while a seemingly brutal political loss was turned into a victory in a mere blink. I'm all for competent characters, but I felt like some of these dangers needed to last longer to have their weight fully felt. Instead, we race from one problem to the next, which keeps the story moving, but also makes the dangers feel somewhat less threatening.

But overall, I loved the tone and writing of The Unicorn Hunters. It leans into the medieval, fairytale feeling of the story, feeling both real and surreal in equal measure. It was a wonderful adventure and another excellent release from Katherine Arden.

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Series: Book 8 of Dungeon Crawler Carl

Publisher: Ace (May 12, 2026)

Length: 704 pages

Author Information: Website

Saying that I was excited for A Parade of Horribles feels like gigantic understatement. Dungeon Crawler Carl has become one of my favorite ongoing obsessions, and thanks to the rapid-fire releases of the earlier books, I was able to tear through the first seven installments. This was the first time I actually had to wait, but I have to say, the anticipation was half the fun. Gotta love seeing this series explode in popularity over the last couple years because Dinniman really has built something special here, an action-packed sci-fi fantasy litRPG that’s equal parts ridiculous, heartfelt, and chaotic.

A Parade of Horribles brings us to the tenth floor, giving Carl, Donut, and the remaining crawlers barely a moment to breathe after the absolute carnage and fallout of the Faction Wars on the previous level. They thought the worst was behind them, but true to form, the dungeon has prepared yet another brutal setup, this time built around a deadly racing game that feels a bit like Mario Kart meets Mad Max. While the scale of the dungeon remains enormous, the field has narrowed considerably. Only several thousand crawlers remain, but their numbers are about to be whittled down further in this cutthroat, no holds barred competition designed to kill them all.

However, Carl has never been particularly good at sitting back and accepting impossible odds when the lives of the people he cares about are on the line. He wants to get as many of them out of the dungeon alive as he can but also knows he can’t guarantee the survival of every crawler during their individual heats on the racetrack. But perhaps there may be other ways to protect them? Meanwhile, the dungeon itself is evolving into something far more unpredictable and dangerous as the AI grows increasingly more unhinged. Out in the wider universe beyond the crawl, the fragile balance between alien factions and their galactic governments is also beginning to break down under the weight of everything that’s happened. Before long, the cracks in the system will become impossible to contain, threatening to bring entire civilizations crashing down along with them.

In this book, only a relatively small number of crawlers remain, and even our group of core characters has become reduced. For example, a certain someone who was a member of Carl and Donut’s party is no longer in the dungeon, for reasons I will not spoil, and I felt their absence keenly. This does give the story a very different feeling compared to the earlier books. Also, this isn’t the only area growing more streamlined, as I can feel Dinniman trying to simplify things in other ways. And honestly, I can understand why. In addition to the character roster, over the course of the series we have seen the world-building, game mechanics, dungeon lore, alien factions and politics all balloon into something massive. At some point, trimming is required to keep things manageable, and A Parade of Horribles definitely feels like part of that process.

I also noticed how the world outside the dungeon feels less present this time around. Earlier books constantly reminded us of the audience tuning in, watching Carl’s journey and showering his feed with septillion follower counts and likes. Presumably, everyone in the universe is watching by default, which makes sense narratively, but I did miss the broader sense of scale and spectacle. On the flip side, it did help keep the focus tighter on the immediate danger and the increasingly desperate attempts to survive what’s coming next.

Speaking of which, what I continue to love about this series is how every floor delivers something different. The vehicle race mechanics on the tenth offer new ways to play, and despite the high stakes, they are genuinely fun and full of the over-the-top scenarios that this series thrives on. Characters are dodging traps, engaging in sabotage, and pulling off increasingly ruthless strategies even as the story’s darker themes continue building in the background. The humor is still there, of course, but the mood has gotten noticeably heavier as Carl and Donut begin approaching problems with the cold pragmatism of hardened, seasoned crawlers.

Finally, even though I had a great time, I confess A Parade of Horribles comes in slightly lower for me compared to the previous books, but that honestly says more about how absurdly high the bar for this series has become than anything else. The pacing did feel a little off towards the end as certain plot points were rushed, and these were developments that probably could have benefited from more breathing room considering the importance of this final stretch. Sometimes the solutions to conflicts also feel like they materialize a little too conveniently and not as organically as before, but the author’s incredible creativity along with his sheer confidence are usually enough to push through any plot hiccups before things get too bogged down.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed A Parade of Horribles. Even when it gets messy, it remains wildly entertaining. The emotional investment is there. The humor is laugh-out-loud funny. The tension still works. And Carl and Donut are still the best duo ever. More than ever, this book feels like the calm before something huge, with all the buildup pointing towards a momentous endgame looming just over the horizon. I can’t wait to see how Matt Dinniman will bring this insane, hilarious, awesome ride home.

More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of Dungeon Crawler Carl (Book 1)
Review of Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Book 2)
Review of The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (Book 3)
Review of The Gate of the Feral Gods (Book 4)
Review of The Butcher’s Masquerade (Book 5)
Review of The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Book 6)
Review of This Inevitable Ruin (Book 7)

The Eternal City, edited by David Drake, Martin Greenberg, and Charles
G. Waugh (Baen Books, January 1990). Cover by John Rheaume

The main reason I bought this collection was for the Howard story, “Kings of the Night.” This was back when I was striving to be a Howard completist. All in all, an entertaining collection.

It was published by Baen in 1990, and Drake did a pretty good job of selecting the stories. Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

We have:

1. Introduction: The Creation of Rome, by David Drake.
2. “Delenda Est, a Time Patrol tale,” by Poul Anderson (F&SF, December 1955)
3. “Nightfall on the Dead Sea,” by Ray Faraday Nelson (F&SF, September 1978)
4. “The Prince, Heroes in Hell tale,” by C. J. Cherryh (Far Frontiers Vol. IV, 1986)
5. “The Bottom of the Gulf,” by Barry Pain (Stories in the Dark, 1901)
6. “An Elixir for the Emperor,” by John Brunner (Fantastic, Nov. 1964)
7. “Some Very Odd Happenings at Kibblesham Manor House,” by Michael Harrison (F&SF, April 1969)
8. “Time Grabber,” by Gordon R. Dickson (Imagination, December 1952)
9. “Survey of the Third Planet,” by Keith Roberts (F&SF, January 1966)
10. “Don’t Be a Goose,” by Robert Arthur (Argosy, May 3, 1941)
11. “Domitia,” by Mrs. Richard S. Greenough (Arabesques: Monarè, Apollyona, Domitia, Ombra, 1872)
12. “Survival Technique,” by Poul Anderson & Kenneth Gray (F&SF, March 1957)
13. “Ranks of Bronze,” by David Drake (Galaxy, August 1975)
14. “Kings of the Night,” by Robert E. Howard (Weird Tales, November 1930)

Inside cover for The Eternal City

All the stories have some tie in with Rome, although sometimes fairly tenuous. A lot of them are very good.

“Delenda Est” is a classic. I also much enjoyed “Nightfall on the Dead Sea,” “An Elixir for the Emperor,” and “Survey of the Third Planet.” I thought “The Prince” was weak.

The “Some Very Odd Happenings” was definitely the strangest of the bunch, and grotesque enough to make itself a horror story.

Table of Contents for The Eternal City

There were also two very hilarious tales, “Don’t be a Goose,” and “Survival Technique.” I enjoyed them both, and I like the short story “Ranks of Bronze” better than the full-length novel of that name.

Of course, Howard’s “Kings of the Night” is a great story, when Bran Mak Morn and Kull meet.

Charles Gramlich administers The Swords & Planet League group on Facebook, where this post first appeared. His last article for us was a look at Lin Carter’s Year’s Best Fantasy Stories. See all of his recent posts for Black Gate here.

I’ve received a concerned email asking if Something Bad happened due to my prolonged blog absence.

This is the actual wordcount. 7 scenes left.

This is a massive epic story. This sounds terrible, but neither one of us want to take anything out. We could tighten some scenes, but taking things out breaks either characterization or the flow of the manuscript. It’s not just about delivering plot and character moments. It’s about making sure that tense scenes are followed by lighter ones.

Three things are the hardest to write: battles, making love, and horrible tragedies. The latest 5 scenes in this draft include all three. These are the ones you write, and then rewrite, and finetune, and then finetune again. And then your husband frowns at the narrative and says, “This is okay, but it’s not punching. It needs to be punching.”

And then he punches his hand with his fist to demonstrate, and we go into greater detail on the gore.

I hate being late. Hate it. Due to this self-imposed pressure, I tend to default to writing bare-bone scenes, and I am incredibly fortunate because Gordon will not let me sketch it. He forces us to slow down and make sure we wring as much impact out of every scene as we can. This is the finale, and we need to stick this landing.

We only have a few scenes left, and this is the point where you make sure that all the threads are there to be tied into a knot. Meaning, if a character A is important, he must be highlighted 75,000 words ago, so people would remember who he is. So a lot of this is going back and tweaking.

Inevitably, this is the point most writers realize they have done something stupid, and it has to be fixed now, or there is no finish. For example, we had one-noted a character. His parts had to be rewritten. Sometimes it feels like you need to adjust seven things, so one sentence you have to have would make sense.

The one absolutely wonderful and amazing thing in all of this is Tor. They are basically letting us just write.

I estimate we will finish in 2 weeks. I am so ready for my summer, I can’t even tell you.

So I owe you updates on some things.

Vellum

The first trial order has been shipped out and UPS promptly sorted it into the wrong container, causing a delay. It should be arriving by Friday to most places. One person who received it said it was bent despite the cardboard, because the mail person folded it.

All new orders are going to get the Do Not Bend stickers. I’m told they are usually ignored, but we will try. If your order has arrived bent, please let us know. If everything arrives bent, we will adjust our packaging. Also, I will replace bent orders at no charge. I bought insurance, and I intend to file all the claims.

Vellum US – ready to go pending packages arriving.

Vellum UK. We found a printer. We now need fulfillment center, someone to pack out order and ship it to UK people.

Vellum EU – printer needed. If you know of someone based in EU who can print vellum, please let us know.

Vellum AUS – looking for printer and fulfillment center.

Merch

Working on it. We want to give you mugs and goodness. Some samples below/

What’s the hold up?

I am. I am the hold up, because the book must be finished. This is kind of that primary thing where if there is no book, there is no merch or anything else. I need to get together with our long suffering designer and get things approved.

I have been falling down on the job. I have missed an invoice from an artist and did not pay it for 2 weeks, which happens never. If I get an invoice, it is paid within 48 hours. I sent the payment, an apology, and a prepayment, just in case.

Crafting update.

Kid 2: My fiancé took my blanket. He will not give it back. He says it’s cozy. I am blanketless.

Behold, a candid shot of me working on her new blanket.

Gordon has a special power of taking the worst possible pictures of me, so this is a huge win. The pattern is my own. There is pretty much no pattern. I just did some sunflowers, post double crochets and stripes. Almost done. A couple of days and it goes to her.

Surprisingly, it’s not too hot, but it is a little heavy just because of the size. I was going to add some bees I would sew on, but I think the weight is probably too much as it is.

I also ordered yarn for that one shawl I want to make, but it is being dyed to order and I am waiting. I have been waiting for a while. Grrr.

Appearances

Monday, June 1st, we will be in Austin, at BN Arboretum, in conversation with Caitlin Rozakis about her new book, Startup Hell. I will do a bigger post on this before Monday. But if you missed us and need something sign, we will do it.

Hopefully we will be coherent. Because let me tell you, there is no brain left. This is an actual conversation I had with Grace Draven.

Hopefully we can be good hosts.

And now you are all caught up. I have to go and work now, because we have a can’t miss it errand this afternoon. Love you, BDH! You guys are honestly the best.

The post Hello, Hello first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

Here are 7 Author Shoutouts for this week. Find your favorite author or discover an…

The post 7 Author Shoutouts | Authors We Love To Recommend appeared first on LitStack.

 

Slaying the Vampire Conqueror (Crowns of Nyaxia #2.5)by Carissa Broadbent
What is it about:She was commanded to kill him with a single strike to the heart. She didn’t expect her own to betray her.
Sylina has sacrificed everything for her goddess–her soul, her freedom, her eyes. Life in service to the Arachessen, a cult of the Goddess of Fate, has turned Sylina from orphaned street-rat to disciplined killer, determined to overthrow Glaea’s tyrannical king. But when a brutal vampire conqueror arrives on their shores, Sylina faces an even deadlier adversary. She’s tasked with a crucial mission: infiltrate his army, earn his trust… and kill him.
Atrius is a terrifying warrior carving an unstoppable path through Glaea. Yet when Sylina becomes his seer, she glimpses a dark and shocking past–and a side of him that reminds her far too much of parts of herself she’d rather forget. Sylina’s orders are clear. The conqueror cannot live. But as the blood spilled by Glaea’s tyrant king runs thicker, her connection with Atrius only grows stronger. A connection forbidden by her vows. A connection that could cost her everything.
Slaying the Vampire Conqueror is a standalone fantasy romance set in the Crowns of Nyaxia world, full of heart-wrenching forbidden romance, dark curses, and epic battles – perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom and the From Blood and Ash series.
What did I think of it:I devoured this book, it's so good!
Turns out I absolutely love Broadbent's writing and worldbuilding, I just really did not like the main characters in The Serpent and the Wings of Night.
Sylina is an intriguing character. I liked getting to know her and learn more about her order and how it shaped her. Atrius is a cool character as well, so it was easy to root for the both of them to connect and learn to trust each other.
There's action and suspense, betrayal, and more, but the growing bond between the two and Sylina's growth as a person away from her order were the heart of this story. 
All in all this is a really enjoyable and engaging read. I'll investigate if there are more books in this world that have this vibe.
Why should you read it:Cool worldbuilding and a very enjoyable romance.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Length: 344 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Release Date: February 17, 2026
ASIN: B0F5PDG8NF
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in the Haven’s Rock series
Source: Borrowed ebook from library
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, are entering a new chapter of life as parents to their six-month-old baby. Their family is hidden away in the sanctuary town of Haven’s Rock where they can live safe and private lives. But when they encounter hikers too close to the borders of Haven’s Rock, they realize they’re in danger of being exposed.

When they find one of the hikers dead the next day, they realize that their paranoia was justified, but they’re no closer to finding out who these people were and what they were doing in the vicinity of Haven’s Rock. Only by tracing the hikers’ movements, as well as examining the recent behavior of their closest neighbors, the workers of a secretive mining camp, will they be able to figure out where the threat is coming from and shut it down. Otherwise, the lives of everyone in Haven’s Rock–and their safe, secure new existence–are at risk.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 4th book in the Haven’s Rock series. I borrowed this on ebook from the library.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this continuation of the Haven’s Rock series. The mystery is well done, and it was great to see how the new sanctuary town of Haven’t Rock is progressing. I am a big fan of Armstrong and have read the majority of her other series and enjoyed them. I would recommend reading the Rockton series before reading this one because there is quite a bit of background there that ties in with this story. However, this whole series does stand alone fine on its own.

In this book, Casey and Eric are juggling being new parents while ensuring that Haven’s Rock runs smoothly. The autumn is in full swing and they are surprised when they stumble upon a couple of lost hikers. This makes them both a bit paranoid about why the hikers were really out in the middle of the Yukon forest this late in the year. When one of the hikers is found dead the next day, their worry deepens. Exposure is always a danger, and Haven’s Rock has already been dealing with a group of nearby miners, not to mention rumors about possible spies from Rockton.

This story is another wonderful blend of survival elements, combined with a good mysterious police procedural. We get some closure around the mystery of the nearby mining company and also get some insight into what has been happening at Rockton since Casey and Eric left there.

I really enjoyed watching Casey and Eric move onto a new stage of life with their young daughter. Many people seem to want their new baby to be a liability, but instead, they are approaching this new stage of life in a way that brings the people of Haven’s Rock closer together.

This was a quick and easy read that was fast paced, kept you guessing, and well written. I can’t wait to see what the fifth, and final, book of the series holds.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I really enjoyed this book and thought it did a wonderful job of progressing the story. I really enjoyed the police procedural and survival elements to this story. I also enjoyed seeing Casey and Eric enter a new stage of their lives together. I am eager to see what happens in the final book in the series. I would recommend to Rockton fans, or to those who think survival combined with a good murder mystery sounds intriguing.

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

Now that I’ve finished my play-thorugh of Far Cry 6, I have started playing a new game on my Friday night live streams. It is a survival exploration game that I am assured also has a story element (my livestreams are narrative games, largely). It is both fascinating and absolutely horrifying. I am, of course, talking about Subnautica. With the third game in the series out now in early access (oddly called Subnautica 2, even though the second game in the series was Subnautica: Below Zero), I figured I should take a stab at the original game. I knew precious little about it, save that it was a science fiction survival and exploration game, and that there was a thing in it called a reaper levaithan.

Now, I’m not very far into the game, so I haven’t experienced any of the promised story, save for the introduction, but I am already obsessed. Let’s talk about it!

This thing. This thing is a reaper. I have seen it at a distance, heard it roar… and that’s quite enough for me.

I have only streamed this game three times (it’s a recent start), so I’m not very far into it. The story so far is this: your spaceship, the Aurora, owned by intergalactic corporation Alterra, crash lands on an alien planet (4546). A planet that’s entirely ocean. You, a person on the ship, escape into a life pod/escape module and land in a relatively shallow region in the ocean, not far from your downed spaceship. You are the only person in the life pod. And you might be the only person who survived the crash. I’m not sure yet. Every other life pod I’ve come across has been sunken, ripped open and empty of anything but personal PDAs (personal digital assistants). A couple of times, your PDA notes that some of the animals in the area have bellies full of human remains.

Oh, great.

You have nothing, but some food and some water, and your life pod. So… good luck?

It is up to you to gather resources and, using what’s on your life pod, create the things you need to survive – a scanner, so you can scan parts of other tech that you need in order to have your PDA patch together blueprints that you can use, or, if you’re me, the fascinating biological life everywhere around you (seriously, my inner nerd is going wild!). The further you explore, the more you discover and can use in order to help you survive this alien world. For instance, there is a type of fish that can yield fresh water… which is your most essential resource. Other fish you can cook or salt and eat. Other fish are poisonous and will kill you, which you won’t know unless you scan the thing. Also, there are broken pieces of tech strewn all over the place. If you scan enough of the pieces of one kind, you can create all kinds of tools – a knife, a repair tool, a seamoth (a kind of personal submarine – I just got the blueprints for that), even habitat pieces you can use in order to build your own base. I have a very rudimentary base at present.

That’s her. That’s the remains of the Aurora (and your wee life pod).

There is also something about a virus which, the game having prompted the player to scan themselves for, I feel will play a much larger role eventually. I suspect that’s where the story will come in, but I haven’t much of a clue as to what that might be just yet.

I stream only once a week, being stupidly busy, but I am obsessed. I can’t stop thinking about this game. I want to catalogue all the species I find. I want to explore every biome. I run (swim?) screaming from that exploration because of horrific sounds in the dark…

Look, I don’t do horror. I am a cowardly, knock-kneed, scaredy-cat. I don’t read horror novels. I don’t watch horror films. And I do not play horror games. Except for this one, apparently. In my defence, I didn’t know this was horror until I was looking into the murky waters around the Aurora and heard a roar right behind me. THE SCREAM I SCRUMPT. As they say in internet parlance. Beyond the horrifying unknown, though, is an incredible game. The world is insanely thought through; from the various biomes to the creatures that inhabit them, and the technology that will help you survive this water world. It’s all so detailed and thorough. This game is a masterclass in worldbuilding.

*Best Steve Irwin Voice* This beauty is a Reefback; the gentle giants of the oceans of planet 4546B. They might be the size of a house, but these puppies are passive as. They carry entire ecosystems on their backs…

While I cannot yet make any claims as to the story (I’m way too early in game time for much of that to have happened), if the story is anywhere near the level of worldbuilding, this game might become my absolute favourite.

It is also scratching that itch that I believe lives in nearly everyone. The itch that is curiosity – the urge to learn, to go to new places, to discover, and explore. The urge that compelled our ancestors into the frozen lands north of their home, the urge that compels us now to stretch out into the heavens. It is a powerful thing that I think the makers of this game tapped into expertly.

It is also absolutely horrifying. The number of times I have muttered the word “nope” (and much less savory words) while playing is not insignificant. And yet, despite that horror, despite the threat of dehydration, starvation, and drowning, I am drawn again and again beneath the waves of 4546B. I don’t know what magic this dev. team poured into the making of this game, but just nine hours in, it is certainly working. I can’t wait to return.

Alas, I must go to the office instead.

*grumble*

When S.M. Carrière isn’t brutally killing your favorite characters, she spends her time teaching martial arts, live streaming video games, and sometimes painting. In other words, she spends her time teaching others to kill, streaming her digital kills, and sometimes relaxing. Her most recent titles include Daughters of Britain, Skylark and Human. The Timbercreek Incident is free to read on Wattpad.

Mystery / Thriller

Logan comes into Emma’s life after a suicide attempt, at a time when she just wanted someone to tell her what to do, where to be, how to live. He is a control freak and at her most vulnerable it seemed to be what she needed, but as the years go by his gaslighting and controlling lead into domestic violence.

When Emma meets Taylor, Logan’s former girlfriend she immediately knows what is happening and she comes up with a plan to get Logan out of both their lives. But everyone has secrets, everyone has a plan.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

How to Survive in the Woods reminded me of a lot of different things. Gaslight, the old Ingrid Bergman move, Sleeping With the Enemy and maybe just a little Double Indemnity. It is a dark mystery thriller which holds its secrets close and only releases them begrudgingly. If I’m honest, the first half of the book was a struggle, it’s a painfully slow build but the second half more than makes up for it.

Trigger Warning: suicide, domestic violence

By now everyone probably knows that Jeaniene Frost is my BFF, so I am very biased, but I loved this book.

A CURSE OF BEASTS AND MAGIC

Jeaniene Frost returns with a brand-new series! It’s Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher, except Beauty IS the Beast, and he’s the Warden keeping mythical beings in check in our world and beyond.

Raine Stone is living a nightmare. Ever since she survived the attack that killed her family, she’s been hiding a terrible secret–and a Beast inside her.

It feeds on violence and chaos, but she restrains its urges by playing vigilante on the city streets. Until one night, Raine uses the Beast’s energy to heal an elderly gentleman from a seemingly random attack and discovers a new world of danger—literally.

Remington “Remy” Byrne knows the wall between a realm of deadly mythic creatures and our own world is very fragile. After all, he’s the Warden who guards the gateways between them. Raine’s Beast contains power that could tip the scales in a sinister plot against Remy’s rule—if she allies with him.

Will they be friends or foes…or will their dangerous attraction turn into something else? And can our world be saved by their explosive alliance?

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

“Jeaniene Frost is Romantasy royalty!” J. R. Ward, #1 NY Times bestselling author

“A thrilling, sexy world.” Geneva Lee, NY Times bestselling author

“Unputdownable…A truly spectacular read!” Laura Thalassa, USA Today Bestselling author

Buy Links: Barnes&Noble, BooksAMillion, IndieBound, Bookshop, Walmart, Apple Books, Kobo, Target, Amazon, or your favorite book store.

Also available on Kindle Unlimited.

Art by Elliza Art

• Enemies to Lovers
• Forced Proximity
• Fake Dating
• Morally Grey MMC
• Touch Her and D!e
• Portal Romantasy
• Spicy Scenes

This book is a modern fairytale.

The setting is lush and filled with magics, both large and small, from something like a model of a city where rivers flow upward to seeing that city in real life.

The hero is mysterious and inscrutable and is very clearly morally grey, although I’m not sure morally grey standard would even apply. Remington exists on the crossroads of magical realms. His interactions with regular people are limited. His primary concern is keeping everybody else from killing each other. Somewhere between the dragons and the fae, he forgot how to human a little bit.

But what I really liked the best is Raine. All of us harbor a part of ourselves that we don’t particularly like. Occasionally it rears us and jams a random thought into you head that makes you pause and think, “This was mean and petty. This is not me.” No matter how hard we work on it, we can never get rid of it. We can only suppress it.

Raine carries literal monster inside of herself and so much of her has been devoted to containing it. This is a woman who turned her body into a prison and thought for years that this is a burden she had to shoulder alone. Then along comes Remington and opens the world of possibilities she couldn’t have even imagined. She is so out of her depth, but she is a survivor, and she’s learning to swim in those dangerous magic currents. I have a feeling (more than a feeling, as I have read the second one) that Raine will soon come into her own.

So, pick it up for the scorching romance and magic realms, and stay for a woman who will not be anyone’s pushover.

As with all Jeaniene Frost’s books, romance is strong with this one. The spice is there and it is open door. She is also going on tour. If you are so inclined, you can see us together in Columbus this summer.

May 26th,  6:30pm   
Barnes and Noble Arboretum
Charlotte, NC
In conversation with author Alyssa Dar for the launch event of A CURSE OF BEASTS AND MAGIC
Event details here.  

June 7th, 2026
The American Writers Festival
Chicago, IL
Sunday 11:00am Panel and signing at Chicago Public Library
Panelists: Naima Simone, Alexis Saarela, Jeaniene Frost. Moderator: Sara Benincasa
Event details here.

June 13th, 12pm
Barnes and Noble Magnolia Mall
Florence, SC 
Signing with Jeaniene Frost, Melissa Marr, and Alyssa Day
Event details here.

June 20th, 2pm
San Marco Books and More
Jacksonville, FL
Signing with Alyssa Day, Jade Presley, and Jeaniene Frost
Event details here.

July 11th thru 12th
Columbus Book Festival 
Columbus, OH
Saturday: 10am, SPEED MATCHING, followed by a signing.
Saturday: 1pm, SPIRITS, SPELLS, & SWOONS panel, followed by a signing.
Sunday: 12pm: THE BEAST INSIDE panel, followed by a signing. 
Event details here.

The post Happy Book Birthday to A Curse of Beasts and Magic first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

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Chapter 4

 

Grand Duchy de Medicini

 

Grand Duke Lucas De Medicini swirled his drink as he considered his scheming and its latest implications. Things had not gone at all as planned.

He fought a grimace. He knew better; he honestly did. Too many annus of success had made him forget that there was the occasional setback and that not every scheme worked. These two had backfired rather spectacularly in fact.

For many annus, his spies had stolen technology, kidnapped artisans, assasinated people to destabilize a region, or formented war between two dominus to keep them fighting each other rather than look in his direction.

He had paid off the pirates with tribute so they would naturally look to his enemies to prey on for a time. He had no regrets over any of those actions. None at all.

This time though … he downed the drink. This time was a bit different he reflected. This one had the potential to bring thousands of annus of rule by his family crashing down around his ears. And he had only his own schemes to blame.

Well, to be fair he had to work through secondary parties, and he had to rely on the pieces moving in the directions he wanted. That didn't always work out. This time it had and had backfired anyway.

Duluth attacking the Imperium a decade or more ago had been anticipated and even encouraged. He had sat back and thought that the war would run for at least a generation, thus protecting him and his people. Instead, it had gotten the newly-arrived gaijin involved.

Duluth had settled into trying to lay siege to duchy Emory while also looting the countryside. He would have loved to have been a witness to the clash of titans on the battlefield.

He had anticipated the old king to have to rally the other dominus, and his spies had been set to have them bicker and stall while sending forces to the north. Duluth would have dug in, and it would have been a gloriously long campaign.

No one, not even he, could have anticipated a group of well-armed gaijin with technology beyond his people's to come from Patria. Nor could he have anticipated the massive changes that were shaking the Imperium and their world to the core.

The gaijin's influences had allowed the Ianna Imperium to smash the Duluth army. Their infernal contraptions had allowed them to smash the dominus as well. Rather than capture them and ransom them many of those dominus had been killed with their sons.

The Imperium had then taken control of Duluth, sending the young princess there. His spies had a few minor machinations to help prod the surviving Duluthians into rebellion. Rather than smash them again and then spend many annus and fortune guarding the north east the Imperium's gaijin had led a raid and rescued the princess as well as broken the rebellion.

Now instead of looting the fallen country, they were rebuilding it. That had killed a lot of resentment in the rusticus. The peons had taken the food and the aide that the gaijin had offered and were well on their way to converting into loyal subjects.

He shook his head. He'd thought the Duluthians were more prideful than that. Apparently, the giajin's allure had driven a wedge between them and their dominus. Most likely because they had been starving and the war that would have given them food had ended badly. Instead, their so-called enemy had helped them and wanted to teach them … he shook his head. Even he could hardly believe that.

It definitely inspired loyalty, though his spies he had recently sent to Duluth would put that to the test soon.

His latest schemes to destabilize the Imperium had failed. He was still struggling to understand how. Of course the gaijin had a hand in the failure of one. The other, well, that may yet succeed in diverting the gaijin from his borders for another few annus.

He reached over to the decanter and poured himself another drink.

Ever since the war in Duluth had ended, his spies had been reporting that the gaijin had convinced the queen to hold a Harvest Festival in her capital. It was just before the beginning of Autumus, when the largest harvest was finished and the winter crops were put in. Each festival was more impressive than the last. At the festival, they taught new things and showed the rusticus how to make things and of course sold many things as well.

They even had a university, a school of learning to teach such things. He had yet to get a spy in there for long. He didn't have such things; the guilds were jealous over their territory and did not like to share their secrets easily.

His spies had of course come back with many things from the festivals. However, the Imperium's spymaster had gotten wise to their antics. Also, no matter how much gold they offered no one could bribe or steal the recipe for the blasted thunderstick ammunition.

His right fist clenched and then unclenched around his glass. After a moment, he stopped it and gently touched the rim with a fingertip and traced it for a full minute.

The thundersticks and machima had started a race in all of the remaining kingdoms. He had taken advantage of their fear of the Imperium to try to forge an alliance with them. He hadn't anticipated that some would be more able than his own people at implementing the new technology.

One such group were the pirates and slavers off the west coast. He had an ambassador with them paying them tribute to keep them off his shipping. Dominic Cassius was his Legatus, ambassador to the pirates. He was also a spy. Through his reports, the duke had become aware that they were more advanced than he had assumed. But they were wary of him for his machinations and refused to share or sell their new technology.

He grimaced and shook his head. He would do the same if he was in their shoes. In fact, he was doing that very thing. His people had a treasure trove of material from the Imperium. He naturally wanted to keep what his spies had delivered under wraps for as long as possible. But he needed to use it too. It put him on the horns of a dilema.

He was still pushing to have his artisans look at the various things and do their best to recreate them. The weapons were top of the list.

Of course that research and development cost a lot of money. He wasn't happy at the expenses involved. He had been selling the secrets to the guilds but they hadn't been putting them into use much.

Oh sure, they'd made some strides with printing presses but not a lot. He had recently found out that the duchy ones were crude in comparison to the Imperium's. The guilds used wood carvings that were pressed onto paper. The costs had come down a lot for posters and such things but they still take time to produce.

His eyes went to the slate clock on the mantle and then to the map nearby. It studied it with practice ease, eventually shifting to the bottom of their known world.

He was very nervous about Caliope. Word had gotten back to him by ship; Caliope had fallen to the Imperials some time ago. He hadn't anticipated their fall happening so quickly. He'd thought the pass had been impregnable or at least would have turned into a slogging match that would have attritioned each side badly.

He hadn't anticipated the ability to bypass the pass with flying craft. Nor had he anticipated that the Imperials could take it so readily. The details were sketchy; however, his spies in the Imperium had confirmed that there were plenty of news reports stating that Caliope had fallen.

Had the grand duchess' court survivors told the Imperium about the mutual defense deal? How much had she let on to her court? He cursed himself for putting anything in writing. That had been foolish.

He still thought that playing her as a patsy had been a good move. Had he waited until the armies of the Imperium had been committed to attacking Caliope, even during the invasion, he might have been able to get in and take some of the northern reaches away from them.

Maybe. But they and their infernal gaijin would have taken it all back and then come for him next.

The new weapons gave a single man the power of many. It was amazing as to how small their army was and how easily it could break larger more conventionally armed ones. It was also a bit terrifying given that his army was still armed with those now antique and useless implements.

The one bit of good news was that the pirates had played into his hands in a way. The news from the Imperium had reported that they had somehow forced one of the Imperium planes to land in the water near their land. They had taken the people on board hostage.

He had to get a look at the thing. There were no doubt many wonders on board.

More importantly, the downing of the craft and the pirate raid on Nuevo Imperium's coast had fixated both Imperiums on them for the foreseable future. Which meant he might have time to get his people to finally crack the secrets of the thunder sticks and other mechanical marvels.

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