Geetha Krishnan's Blog

Okay, so first of all, I read Dogged first and that made me want to read the main series. The final book was released a couple of months ago, and that’s one reason why the reviews are so late.

Imma review each book separately here.

DoggedBlurb

WARDOGS ARE BORN TO DIE.

In the final days of the Demon Empire a lone wardog goes in search of the answer to the only question she cares about: Who murdered her mate?

Utterly unqualified to solve a mystery, Dogged Determination has but one advantage: She never, ever gives up.

From the heart of a massive empire to the deepest foreboding jungles, Dogged is an unstoppable force of will.

My Review

I read this as part of the SPFBO Book Club. I wasn’t even sure I would read it because I was judging SPSFC and had 10 books of my own to read. But I was like, if I can get them done by the third week Dogged during the weekend.

Ngl, I hate buying books from the zon, so when I saw this was a KU book, I was even more reluctant. But it was short and I had nothing to do during weekends but read for pleasure, so I picked it up,

And found myself grabbing the rest of the series in the world Dogged is set in.

Dogged Determination is a war dog who is part of the Demon Emperor’s armies, going to other worlds through portals to defeat the emperor’s enemies and to bring his peace to those worlds. But when their mate was killed by a portal failing just as they were stepping in, Dogged wants answers.

Joined on their quest by two humans they met on the way, Dogged’s search for answers lead them to a corner of the empire where they uncover a conspiracy that strikes at the very root of the empire.

This book had me spellbound from the start, and fuck, I loved Dogged’s PoV. It feels like a dog’s pov, with how they’re distracted by smells, by how they react to people, and gods, do I love a non-human pov that reads non-human!

The characters and the world made such a deep impression on me that I wanted to read more, and when I saw I already had book 1 of The Obsidian Path, I read it, grabbed the Omnibus of the series, and binged the whole.

Just go read it. This is an incredible book, and you need to read it yesterday. 

Links

Goodreads

Bookbub

Pagebound

Black Stone HeartBlurb

A broken man, Khraen awakens alone and lost. His stone heart has been shattered, littered across the world. With each piece, he regains some small shard of the man he once was.

He follows the trail, fragment by fragment, remembering his terrible past.

There was a woman.

There was a sword.

There was an end to sorrow.

Khraen walks the obsidian path.

My Review

After reading Dogged, I wanted more and started the series. But be warned that there are BIG spoilers for the series in Dogged, so it’s better to read the series first and Dogged later.

This one starts centuries after the fall of the Demon Emperor and the destruction of his empire. Khraen wakes up in a forest surrounded by skeletons of small animals, insects, and the corpse of a man. The first thing he does on finding another person is to kill them to take their hut and clothes for himself. They live in the trapper’s hut for a while, not knowing who they are or even their name till they feel something one day, something that’s coming towards them.

What appears is someone who looks exactly like them and Khraen kills them digs out their heart and finds a shard of obsidian inside the heart which worms into their body and rushes to their heart. It also gives them knowledge of their name.

A series of incidents later, Khraen finds himself on the way to the capital city of Taramlae, working as a mercenary guard for a merchant caravan. The only one to treat him as a human is another mercenary called Shalayn. Khraen feels the pull of another shard from a wizard’s tower inside Taramlae and recruits Shalayn to help. But they need a wizard to get inside the tower, and Tien, who Shalayn recruits to help, asks something in return.

Something that seems designed to get rid of Khraen for good.

I loved this book, and Khraen as well. I liked Shalayn and I loved who Khraen was when with her. I really didn’t like Henka from the start, maybe because I read Dogged first so I already knew who she was.

Don’t do it. Let the twist catch you by surprise.

I don’t trust Henka at all.

Khraen is not a good person, but he’s an extremely good character. He justifies his actions, and Henka’s even when he knows they’re wrong, but he’s pretty helpless most of the time that I’m surprised he once was an all-powerful ruler.

I’m eager to know more and luckily I already grabbed the Omnibus.

Links

Goodreads

Bookbub

Pagebound

She Dreams in BloodBlurb

Drawn by the shards of his obsidian heart, Khraen follows the path south. The islands, largely ignored by the Wizard’s Guild, have become a refuge for the unwanted of the world. Necromancers and sorcerers rule warring tribes haunted by the ghosts of savage and primal gods.

With each fragment Khraen discovers more of the man he was.

There was an Empire.

There was a god.

And she dreamed in blood.

My Review

This continues Khraen’s journey to find the pieces of his past, accompanied by Henka and the cabin boy he rescues.

He is captured by another Khraen, one who has a necromancer working for him and has made various animal hybrids with incredible strength and agility. Henka is torn apart by them and Khraen is helpless to do anything but watch.

But Henka is never helpless and Khraen realises it when she reveals her hand in the form of Tien who now controls the other Khraen’s necromancers.

Getting more memories of his past self, Khraen is determined to learn more, to know more of demonology and despite Nhil’s warnings about Henka, he’s determined to ignore them.

Till he’s captured by the wizards, guided by Shalayn who wants revenge on him for killing Tien, and who now has twice the hatred since he was instrumental in making her sister into an undead.

In desperation, Khraen calls on his god, She Dreams in Blood, but all that gets him is more cryptic clues to his past.

I was shaking my head at Khraen for most of this book, like man, how are you this all powerful being that’s feared even now when you can’t do shit?

I was glad to see Henka’s body destroyed, but I fear she’ll be back, and man, I hate that woman! I love Bren and I hate Henka with every fibre of my being for doing what she did, and Khraen for just rolling over and doing what she wanted even when he knew the consequences. Honestly, he is the only person who doesn’t seem to understand how Henka is manipulating him, which is sad.

I hope she stays dead as I move on to the next book because man, this shit is good. 

Links

Goodreads

Bookbub

Pagebound

An End to SorrowBlurb

THE OBSIDIAN PATH IS IN RUINS

Abandoned by his god and chained in the bilge of Iremaire’s war galley, Khraen has lost everything.
His only friend is dead, his wife beheaded and thrown into the ocean.
In an act of true self-destruction, a shard of Khraen’s heart stalks the islands destroying the others.
His sword calls him home to PalTaq, where it all began.
Only there can Khraen find an end to sorrow.

My Review

SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE BOOK BECAUSE I NEED TO GET IT OUT

Okay, Khraen finally does something right. Pity it comes at the very end of the book, and someone has to sacrifice themself to make him realise how Henka has been playing him all along.

I’m not happy he’s ready to forgive her or whatever, but at least he doesn’t trust her blindly anymore, so progress?

Anyway, now that’s out of the way, Khraen finally makes it to the island where Nagron is, and what he discovers is way more than he expected. What’s even more surprising is Nagron doesn’t want to kill him. But Khraen sadly, is a shitty person, and he’s not interested in talking, and kills Nagron instead.

He keeps from taking on more shards, keeping them locked in the box Shalayn has, because he’s afraid of remembering Henka and why he shouldn’t free her.

Man, I love you, but I hate your Henka obsession, like she’s the be all and end all of your existence and that’s painful to see.

At least, now you know she’s been manipulating you throughout, and I hope you learn something from it, though I doubt it.

Let’s go fight for the world or something now because the wizards are shit and needs to go yesterday, and who put them in charge anyway? They don’t have a clue how anything works.

I pre-ordered the next book in the series, but what am I supposed to do till that releases? I really need something to take my mind off this.

Do I re-read this series? I probably will.

It has some very dark shit, so be warned. personally, I was okay with it.

Links

Goodreads

Bookbub

Pagebound

The Lord of the Empty MirrorBlurb

THE FINAL STEP ON THE OBSIDIAN PATH.

Disgusted by Khraen’s weakness, She Dreams in Blood has gone in search of the fragment that understands power, the shard that drove the Demon Emperor to master his world.

She found it.

My Review

This is a book I have been looking forward to since I binged the first three books of the series after reading Dogged, the standalone prequel to this series. (Dogged is now an SPFBO finalist too!)

This one is centred around the shard of Khraen’s heart that drove the demon emperor to master the world. In the meantime, Khraen and his allies are taking a stand against the wizards.

While the book was fast paced and I enjoyed the reveals, the ending let me down. Like seriously, I felt disappointed.

I get it’s the only possible ending unless the author were to write another four books to tie up all the threads left, but all the same, there were so many reveals and twists and in the end, it was like they all went nowhere.

I’m kinda beginning to feel Shen Yuan’s frustration with PIDW, but seriously, this book is not bad or anything. I finished it in one go, and I enjoyed every moment. As for the ending, it’s most likely a personal thing for me.

In the end, this series has been amazing all around, and I even backed the kickstarter for the special edition of the 3rd book.

I have far too many books on my TBR, but I’ll definitely be checking out some of this author’s books.

Links

Goodreads

Bookbub

Pagebound

Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/280010-the-obsidian-path

Goodreads Link to the Omnibus: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62116740-the-obsidian-path

Bookbub Link to the Omnibus: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-obsidian-path-the-complete-omnibus-by-michael-r-fletcher

Blurb

Raza Mugabi, a biologist turned software engineer, is not sure why this particular tech startup hired him. His track record is far from stellar. In fact, he’s not certain what the company ultimately even does. Sometimes it’s better to keep your head down and your mouth shut, he figures. At least, until his curiosity gets the better of him.

Eight years later, Raza finds himself as a defendant and key technical witness in a high-profile court case. A world-class prosecutor and a woefully inexperienced defense attorney go head-to-head against each other, their clients, and their consciences in an effort to answer the question on everyone’s
Is the startup’s invention, legally speaking, human?

The arguments leap between the technical, political, ethical, and philosophical consequences of the decision, and as the trial progresses, the many, many secrets of the startup are laid bare in this hilarious cross-genre thrill-ride.

My Review

I read this as part of the SPSFC and the views are my own, and not my team’s.

Ngl, I went into this with some trepidation. I love myself a courtroom scene, and since most of this book is the legal battle, I was eager and at the same time a bit anxious because if not done well, it can be very bad.

There are twin timelines in the book. One is the present where the trial is happening. Jivanta, the lawyer for the prosecution represents an unknown but powerful entity that has hired her.

The defendants are a company called jinhwa (with a lowercase j). They claim to have created a sentient being artificially and had demanded the same full legal protections and rights for this creation as is available for humans.

Apparently, someone didn’t like it and has filed a suit to dispute it.

The other timeline revolves around Raza Mugabi, one of the employees and defendants and starts eight years ago when he first started work for jinwha to some months before the trial. Though initially, Raza’s PoV seems extraneous despite its engaging voice, soon it becomes evident it is intrinsic to the plot and develops the characters nicely.

The present timeline is from the PoV of the two opposing attorneys, Jivanta, a tried and tested veteran for the prosecution, and Sohvi, who’s fairly new, and is here because her mentor and father-figure, Vilho, is the defence attorney. But Vilho is struggling with the first signs of Alzheimer’s and hence almost the entire defence falls on Sohvi.

This is my favouritest among all four semifinalists I had to read for this round. This was that book that I was reading on train, waiting at bank, at the cafe, and got annoyed every time I was interrupted.

The courtroom scenes were the highlight for me, though I did enjoy the backstory. It added more depth to the characters, their dilemma and also put in perspective the lawsuit and the reasons behind it.

It’s perhaps a bit too idealistic a resolution in the end, but I think any other would have been too heart wrenching and while I do enjoy some darker themes, I do gravitate towards books with happy (ish) endings. And any courtroom drama where the bad guys win is one I actively avoid.

Raza felt very AuDHD coded, like it was very relatable regarding the intrusive thoughts, distractions, forgetting names, etc.

Also, one of my uncles was diagnosed with dementia recently, so Vilho and Sohvi’s struggles also felt very relatable.

I don’t want to comment on the technical aspects, especially the way of simulating an artificial sentience through evolution, but the book was so enjoyable and Raza’s PoV so personal that I willingly suspended my disbelief to immerse myself, and I was happier for it.

Characterisation is the biggest strength of this book because we feel like we know each and every person as real characters, not just the PoV characters, but also the people that surrounds them.

Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys hard sci fi with excellent character work and a thrilling courtroom drama.

Just go read it.

Blurb

A mind-bending quantum thriller about simulated realities, brainscanners, a digital apocalypse, trans awakenings, and tabletop gaming at a cozy queer café.

Jeanne said she wouldn’t date Ren if he were the last man on Earth.
Unfortunately, he had the technology to test her claim.

Dejected programmer Ren “Zero” takes notes after uploading his brain into a supercomputer, using his memory to recreate his past. He sets the world in motion and watches his simulated self go through many steps he has taken in his reality,

– Buying a stolen brainscanner from punkish technologist Jeanne in exchange for getting her hired;
– Getting dragged to a queer café to play tabletop RPGs with Jeanne’s trans friends;
– Having the best time of his life playing a female character there, for unknown and mysterious reasons;
– Asking Jeanne out in a storm of confused signals and emotions.

That’s when Zero deletes everyone from the simulation except Ren and Jeanne.

Now wandering together through the empty city, Ren and Jeanne must work together to find the truths behind their baffling reality, while Zero subtly manipulates their world to achieve his desired ends. In order to defy the controller’s plans, Ren must outsmart his real-world counterpart by finally confronting the fundamental truths that even the all-powerful Controller could not compute…

Nikki Null is a trans writer based in Southern California. She took inspiration from lots of sci-fi she loved, including The Matrix, Black Mirror, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, added massive, *massive* quantities of estrogen to the mixture, then cooked for over a decade.

My Review

I read this as part of the SPSFC and the views are my own, and not my team’s.

Ngl, I heard so many good things about this book that I saved it for the last. I had just finished four sci fi books back to back including the three other semifinalists, one of which  really loved, so my brain was kind of tired of sci fi when I picked it up.

19% in, I was annoyed and upset because everyone said it was good, and I was not making head or tails out of it. So I set it aside and then picked it up again on the 29th, to finish it in one go.

There’s no good way to condense the plot. When the story opens, we have Jeanne telling Ren she’s not his dream girl and that she wouldn’t date him if he were the last man on earth.

At that point, something strange happens, and everything around them is chaos, with cars crashing into each others, planes falling from the sky, pandemonium all around.

We learn this is because it was a simulation run by Zero, who’s Ren in the real world. Having scanned his brain with the help of a quantum supercomputer, he’s using it to recreate a scenario to test if Jeanne would indeed not date him if he were the last man on earth. But his effort to delete all other men had led to the previous situation.

So this time, he decides to delete everyone except Jeanne and Ren.

The book is told mostly from the PoV of Ren in the simulation, who acts in ways not expected by Zero. Ren is introspective and comes to self realisation about his trans identity, which Zero can’t accept.

Zero is what Ren would have become if he never realised he’s been suffering from dysphoria, if he never realised he’s trans, and that she’s been a girl all along.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the premise of it, and especially, Ren’s awakening of his identity and sexuality, both of which seem to solve most of his mental health issues. There were some twists and turns that were foreshadowed early on, which I caught, and that only made the book even more enjoyable.

I loved the supercomputer TASA who’s quite sassy when needed, and who’s a character in her own right. The multiple simulated Rens and how Ren 2 (the Pov character) tries to save herself from Zero makes for a thrilling read.

This is a deeply personal book about the courage to accept your true self and then to live it. I cheered for Ren as she came to herself and named herself Marina.

Well done, Marina.

There’s a lot of technical things in this, most of which went over my head, but it’s telling that none of it actually took away from my enjoyment of this book.

If you love hard sci fi with personal themes, and high stakes, you will love this book. Go read it, I beg you!

And if you’re a transphobe, for fuck’s sake, stay away.

Blurb

HIGH TECH, HIGH WATER, AND THE HEAD OF AWKWARD QUESTIONS

A cozy sci-fi mystery from the winner of the Green Stories Prize!

The year is 2101, and half of England is underwater.

But society is recovering from the Melt, thanks to ArkTech, whose eco-friendly headquarters sit serenely above the newly formed Fenland Sea.

As ArkTech’s Head of Awkward Questions, Charlotte Vance is dedicated to helping Ben, the company’s quirky AI. Ben has a fondness for dad jokes, a knack for spotting anomalies, and happens to be Charlotte’s best friend.

Naturally, when Ben notices a geneticist vandalising pre-Melt books and a librarian looking the other way, he sends Charlotte to investigate.

What starts as a curious case of stolen blank pages and clandestine book clubs soon leaves Charlotte caught between the black-market operation she thought she’d left behind and the company she’s always trusted.

Set in a near future that is neither utopia nor wasteland, Artificial Selection is ideal for readers who enjoy character-driven whydunnits, or charming sci-fi with humour and heart – perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett, Martha Wells, and Becky Chambers.

My Review

This was an SPSFC read and the review reflects my personal views and not my team’s.

The book has been described as A Near-Future Science Fiction Mystery Novel, but to me, it was more akin to thriller than mystery.

The story starts out with Charlotte Vance, the Head of Awkward Questions at ArkTech, the company that has dedicated itself to preserving humanity and its standard of living in a futuristic dystopia. Their AI, Ben, is the one who makes most of everything possible, but Ben is insanely curious about humans, and Charlotte’s job is to answer Ben’s questions so that his curiosity and inability to comprehend doesn’t endanger everyone.

From the beginning, it’s evident Charlotte and Ben are the only ones taking her job seriously. Everyone else seems to think of it as a harmless side job that keeps Charlotte out of their way and keeps Ben happy.

When Ben discovers someone vandalising old editions of physical books and a librarian who doesn’t seem to care, he wants to know why. Ngl, I was a bit curious too. So, Charlotte goes to the library to investigate.

But though simple on the surface, Ben has more questions and Charlotte needs to investigate more, which draws her deeper into the rabbit hole of organised crime, her own past, and secrets about ArkTech that seems contrary to everything she knows.

The book remains light hearted despite how serious Charlotte is about her job. There are some serious ethical questions raised, but despite it the overall tone remains light. It was a fun read.

Can’t say I agree with Charlotte’s attitude of rules don’t apply to her, but in the end it was okay, I guess. She breaks laws, breaks into places she shouldn’t, breaches others’ privacy and is firmly convinced she’s in the right because otherwise Ben’s unanswered questions could endanger everyone.

Gotta say, I hate self righteous people a lot, so I was rolling my eyes pretty hard.

I did like Ben as a character, and there were enough nuggets of backstory that made me invested. I’m also fairly eager to know how the Citrine accident happened. Overall it was entertaining and fun.

If you’re looking for a fast paced book that peppers in action, ethics, sci fi, and mystery, you will love this one. Ben is definitely worth the read.

Blurb

Jurassic Park meets Romancing the Stone

Dr. Grace Carson is one of the lucky few scientists cleared for time travel. Years ago, her husband nearly destroyed her career by poaching dinosaurs. Grace turned him in, divorced the deadbeat, and two years later she’s ready to return to the work she loves: studying dinosaurs in their natural habitat. She has no interest in the new time agent, Ben Nakamura, assigned to her research station. No matter how charming or clever he is.

Unfortunately, her team isn’t alone. Poachers are trapping dinosaurs for the black market again. Another scandal like this could kill her research if it comes out, and Grace’s boss wants her to look the other way until the thieves are gone. But Grace can’t bring herself to let the criminals get away.

When the poachers discover Grace’s plans to blow the whistle, they attack her research station. Nakamura and Grace flee into the forest with her time machine, but it’s broken in the process. Nakamura knows a secret cache where they can hopefully fix the time machine, but it means a perilous trek through the wilderness.

Braving prehistoric dangers together shows Grace she can trust Nakamura with her life, but she’s still not sure she can ever trust him with her heart.

My Review

I read this as part of the SPSFC 5. It’s a semifinalist, which means, the quality is high, so I started out with expectations. The views here are my own and not my team’s.

The book revolves around time travel which is regulated and there are agents and everything. Dr. Grace Carson is a researcher who’s nuts about dinosaurs and wants to learn more about them at their natural habitat. Which means time travel.

Trouble is Grace already had permission once and set up a research base and everything, but it turned out her husband, now ex-husband, was in league with poachers and they were poaching dinos.

Grace turns him in (what else), but she’s also held accountable, and while her name is cleared, no one trusts her, and hence she can go back in time, but accompanied not just by her head of department, but also a time agent.

However, the poachers aren’t giving up, and they have roped in Grace’s former mother-in-law, Julia as an accomplice, promising they would help break her son out of jail. So, both teams are out there in the wild, in the same time period, but while the poachers know of the research team’s presence, the researchers don’t know the poachers are there.

I found the plot very interesting, but also, completely predictable. The writing was engaging, and the two character voices were distinct enough. What I had trouble with was connecting with the characters. Grace’s passion for dinosaurs aside, there’s nothing about her that felt real, and Julia was even worse.

Like I couldn’t even sympathise with her wanting to break that deadbeat son out of jail. In my opinion, he deserved it. So from the get go, I hated Judith, which made it difficult to connect to her or her character arc overall, which is actually important to the story.

Grace often behaves in thoughtless ways and only seems to realise the impact of her actions only when others point it out.

Like she never thinks. At all. Which annoyed me to no end. So, yeah, I had problems with both PoV characters.

Grace and Julia are clearly foils to each other, both researchers who reacted completely differently when faced with the actions of someone they both loved, albeit in different ways. I get as Andrew’s mother, Julia is bound to be a bit biased but come on. She raised him, and seeing as she has no qualms about shacking up with poachers, the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.

None of the deaths made me sad; tbh, they made me feel nothing, which is why I said the characterisation did nothing for me. The plot carried the book, which isn’t my favourite thing.

The book is well written, but lacked any kind of emotional payoff for me

That aside, this was an entertaining read, and as someone who loves dinos (is there anyone who doesn’t? If you don’t, don’t come near me), I enjoyed this book a lot. The danger of being in that era is clearly brought out. There has obviously been a shittonne of research done, which I applaud because man, that thing is hard. The writing and plot are both excellent.

If you like sci fi with dinosaurs and time travel, a sprinkle of romance, and a heap of adventure, this book is for you. Believe me, you’re in for a wild ride.

Yes, it’s that day!! The day we announce our semifinalists! While we have attempted to read in full nearly every book allotted to us, sometimes it’s impossible. It becomes pretty obvious at around 10% to 20% mark if a book is for us or not, and since we had at least two people reading every book, we have tried to eliminate the bias as much as possible.

In the end, our team reached a consensus.

Withour further ado, our top pick and first semifinalist is

Frostbyte by N.S. Chaudhury!

Our judges were unanimous in their praise of this book.

Daniel Ruffolo- Score: 9/10

Does all the things you want out of good sci-fi IMO, be something novel conceptually that still has a lot of relevance to contemporary issues, create a compelling world that you can understand without many big exposition dumps, and strike a balance between the plot and the internal lives of the characters

Devin (Bromantasy)- Score: 8/10

Chaudhury puts these two people together and the friction between them is what makes this book incredible… a rich girl who has never needed anyone, and the guy who has survived by not trusting a soul… But the ending…. that truly is what I wasn’t ready for and what made this my pick for our group.

Rari (Niranjan)- Score: 9/10

It captivated me from the start and refused to let go. Hania, Ayan, Nas, and Key, the four main characters are all well rounded, complex, and realistic. The prose flows easily and beautifully. The plot is intriguing and the payback satisfying. While one mystery was solved, there are enough things left unresolved that I can’t wait for the rest of the series.

Dan Roop- Score: 7.5/10

In FrostByte, I was reminded of Altered Carbon to some extent, as the mind in a new body investigates a murder. Plus, I love the morally gray characters.

Due to personal issues, Corey was unable to read any of the books

Average Score for Frostbyte is 8.375

Our Second Semi Finalist was a close race between two books, but in the end, one had a narrow advantage and is our second semifinalist with an average score of 8.125.

Cargo Hold 4 by Lonnie Busch

Dan Roop- Score: 8.5/10

A well-written scifi-horror novel that builds the tension among the crew in this first contact alien story as well as any thriller that I’ve read in several years.

Dan Ruffolo- Score: 8/10

First entry to also include some great horror elements. Some really eerie stuff. Some pretty fucked up stuff as well. A thing I especially appreciate about self published stuff is when it can lean into things that would make it harder to get tradpubbed and this was that for sure

Rari (Niranjan)- Score: 8.5/10

I’m not a fan of horror… So imagine my surprise when I found myself unable to put it down…The unnatural sounds from the entity, the outdated technology, and the crew’s fracturing bonds make for a truly gripping tale.

Devin (Bromantasy) is yet to review Cargo Hold 4 but he has scored it a solid 7.5/10

And now for our escape pod, the book that narrowly missed the semifinalists spot with an average score of 8/10

The Torus Run by Harry Buck

SPFBO Review: Taking Flight by Kelly Scriven

Blurb

What do you fight for, when you lose yourself?  A high-profile murder, a life stolen and illegally returned, all tied to a mystery that threatens to upend multiple lives.

The night Hania Fatik was murdered in cold blood, she died believing her death to be a permanent one. However, fate had a different plan in mind when Hania wakes up in a body not her own, in a city also not her own. Now, faced with an uncertain future as an illegal resurrect, Hania must learn to navigate a life she didn’t want, while trying to investigate the abrupt ending of the one she did.

The night a strange woman passes out in his store, Ayan Shihab realizes his wish to protect his loved ones and stay under the watcher’s radar is over. Holding the secret of his illicit activities close to his chest, Ayan finds his life is thrown into chaos when he’s forced to care for his unwelcome guest, dredging up demons from his past he’d rather forget. Now, he must do everything in his power to avoid getting purged for harboring an illegal resurrect, help his houseguest figure out the mystery of her murder, all while trying not to get anyone else killed.

Can Ayan push himself beyond his limits and take unprecedented risks to protect the ones he loves? Will Hania learn to let go of her long-held prejudices and rely on people she considered beneath her?

FrostByte is the first book in The Frostieverse Trilogy which blends together the neon tech-heavy cyberpunk with the colorful culture and food of South Asia.

If you enjoy morally grey anti-heroes, unreliable narrators and uniquely crafted worlds, then you’ll love N.S. Chaudhury’s NA, Desi Cyberpunk epic.

My Review

I read this as part of the SPSFC and the opinions herein are my own and not my team’s.

I was intrigued by the description of this as a desi cyberpunk novel. As someone from India, characters, setting, cultures that are from the East have always been my favourite types of books.

FrostByte happens in a futuristic world where humans have triumphed over death. They have backups of their memories and details called souldata that can be uploaded into a new body or biological container/ Biocon when they die.

The downside? Only the very rich and those who hold up their power structures have access to the technology. FrostByte is the hacker version of the tech by which a person who isn’t officially allowed a rebirth can be brought back. The catch? Frostbitten are illegal with no rights and will be purged by the law with extreme prejudice.

Hania Fatik is a sacrosanct, the elite of the elite, daughter of the man who runs the company that owns the tech that can bring the elite back to life. The elite use the tech to stay young, to stay on top, but a mysterious illness called Tal’luf is affecting some of the reborn elite, causing dementia and death, and Hania’s father’s company is researching ways to counter it and to know what causes it. Hania is also the daughter of Haleema, who was instrumental in the laws that made Frostbitten illegal and who was killed by those against the law and her work.

Hania is killed in a home invasion that seemed planned to take her out permanently. The perpetrators made it seem like they deleted her souldata backup to make her death stick.

Except she wakes up in a strange place, in a body not her own, brought back by a technology that has made her illegal.

In an attempt to escape whoever brought her there, she runs into Ayan, who runs a grocery store, and who  has a double life as Khyaal, the cracker, one who can use FrostByte to bring someone back illegally and who can build impeccable backgrounds for them that can hold up under the strictest scrutiny.

Ayan, in his Khyaal guise had already turned down a lucrative offer to bring Hania back since he considered messing with a sacrosanct souldata wasn’t worth it. But when Hania ends up in his store, passed out, he needs to protect her while delving into the mystery of who killed her to protect himself and his family.

But the secrets they want do not reveal themselves lightly and their search for answers leads them into a labyrinth of lies, manipulation, and danger.

Ngl, I adored this book. It captivated me from the start and refused to let go. Hania, Ayan, Nas, and Key, the four main characters are all well rounded, complex, and realistic. The prose flows easily and beautifully. The plot is intriguing and the payback satisfying. While one mystery was solved, there are enough things left unresolved that I can’t wait for the rest of the series.

Honestly, I loved Ayan. There’s something so visceral about his struggle with guilt, grief, and his attempt to do the right thing. Hania was a good foil to him, and I liked that she regains some of her old self’s confidence in time. There are some plot points that were surprises that I more or less guessed, so the author’s foreshadowing was spot on.

This was an excellent book and if you love sci fi, cyberpunk, morally complex characters, and a well written plot, you should read this book.

You can find FrostByte at Bookbub, Goodreads, and Pagebound

Blurb

Several years into a multi-decade deep space mission, a team of eight scientists—four women, four men—are exploring a dwarf planet near the Kuiper Belt, loading soil samples, rocks and artifacts onto their ship, when they inadvertently bring aboard a stowaway, an unseen entity which is trying desperately to escape from Cargo Hold 4.

Review

I will start this with a disclaimer, shall I? I’m not a fan of horror, because a) I get scared far too easily b) I have a very vivid imagination as well as insomnia and horror stories stay with me well past the story’s end, and c) I’m an empathetic reader which means my mood and mindset is affected by the books I read as if it’s happening to me. (I remember one time when a character was being manipulated and got angry on realising it and my temper kept fraying irl for no reason)

And this is a horror story, even if it’s set in space and the horror is of the sciencey kind rather than the fantasy kind.

So imagine my surprise when I found myself unable to put it down.

Ngl, this did do a number on my head that left me messed up for a bit after I was done, but even so, I enjoyed it a lot!

Deep in Space, a scientific crew collecting samples comes across an entity that stowed away in one of their samples: and now it’s desperately trying to break out of Cargo Hold 4. The unnatural sounds from the entity, the outdated technology, and the crew’s fracturing bonds make for a truly gripping tale.

I read this as part of the SPSFC and the view herein are only mine and not the team’s.

If you love space operas, cosmic horror, queer characters, and complex relationships, this is the perfect book for you.

You can find Cargo Hold 4 on Bookbub, Pagebound and Goodreads

Blurb

Dragonlance meets Pirates of the Caribbean in this swashbuckling pirate fantasy… a revenge-fueled tale of clashing cutlasses, monsters and magic, second-chance romance, and salty sea adventure.

A once-legendary pirate and his loyal crew out to retake the high seas.

Captain James R. Hawk, aka Trusty Jack, and his Salty Scoundrels are do-gooder buccaneers leaving a trail of merry mayhem in their wake. Their credo: ignore the corrupt laws of the Jewel Island’s greedy regent and sail the tropical seas in search of treasure, freedom, and adventure.

But when the royal navy teams up with a powerful mage, Trusty Jack’s sordid past catches up with him. Lost love, lost lives, and a lost ship haunt the legendary pirate, none more than Marian, his once-betrothed. That’s when a cunning gnome arrives from the mainland with a daring proposal. Will Jack muster his sea dog courage and sail through the illusion-filled mists to reach a forbidden island? The ghostly horrors and powerful curse at his destination will test more than his pirate mettle. He’ll have to weigh the price of gold against the risk of peril to himself, his crew, and those he loves… and face down a haunting past trailing in his wake.

My Review

I signed up for this ARC for two reasons. First, I liked the blurb, second, the author was like, leave a review sometime in this century.

That decided me. Because I can absolutely, totally, completely, leave a review this century. Not that it took that long, in the end.

To quote the book’s blurb, “Captain James R. Hawk, aka Trusty Jack, and his Salty Scoundrels are do-gooder buccaneers leaving a trail of merry mayhem in their wake. Their credo: ignore the corrupt laws of the Jewel Island’s greedy regent and sail the tropical seas in search of treasure, freedom, and adventure.”

When the story opens, we see Trusty Jack about to attack what looks like a merchant vessel, with the help of an Elven mage he picked up. Except nothing is as it appears, and Trusty Jack and his crew are captured by the royal navy who imprison his officers while condemning him to the sea.

More than a decade later, Trusty Jack is in an island, drowning in ale and self-pity when an intrepid Gnome finds him to help her get a treasure from a cursed Island. She offers him a chance to get back his ship and crew, and a chance to get back at the man who framed him and destroyed his life years ago. The same man who would be crowned as king if Jack did nothing, The catch? The man is also the father of Marian, Jack’s one true love, who he was forced to leave behind, letting her believe the worst of him.

Marian is a healer mage now, and is working to help the poorer people of the city. The beginning of a plague has her worried, but when news comes of someone from the past she believed dead, Marian doesn’t know whether to be glad or sad.

Marian holds the key to the compass Jack and his crew needs, but how can he make her trust him again?

This was a fun read, though it had its heart wrenching moments. The author’s notes say he was influenced by the legend of Robin Hood and that shows in the narration, where he has portrayed Jack as a pirate who steals from the rich and gives to the poor, and Mage Marian whose name is rather on the nose.

The bad guy is just as bad as the villain in the Robin Hood stories but dialled to the max and with more power. I hated him so much and not in the fun way.

This was a wholesome adventure with pirates, magic, dragons, curses, romance, and a host of characters you’ll love to cheer for. If that looks like something you’ll enjoy, grab it today. 

You can find it on Goodreads, Bookbub, and Pagebound.