Genre: Hard Sci-fi

Mixing together politically motivated corporate strategizing, samurai code of conduct, rigid society resource management, all set on a frozen and desolate planet, The Last Contract of Isako is a complex and mature story. One of the most anticipated SFF titles of the year as well as Fonda Lee’s scifi debut, this book is incredibly ambitious, featuring themes, character writing, progression, and an ending that is understated and restrained. This is not a book for those looking for heavy samurai action, futuristic cyberpunk visuals, or flashy space opera elements. But for readers that appreciate slow-burn investigative political thrillers and thoughtful reflections on aging and one’s mortality, The Last Contract of Isako does not disappoint. In many ways beyond the age of its protagonist Isako, The Last Contract of Isako is the kind of mature book conceptualized and written by an established author confident and settled to take bigger and unexpected narrative swings. Although it is described as scifi space opera with a battle-worn samurai on a last mission where she may face death at every turn, this almost feels like an attempt by the publisher to market the book and make it appear far more mainstream than it really is, hence…

A Scifi epic about identity, loyalty, and trust across time, space, and alien race, Some Desperate Glory is an ambitious book that covers an impressive amount of narrative material within its sub four‑hundred‑and‑fifty pages. A solid novel on its own, it’s even more impressive being Emily Tesh’s full length debut novel on top of winning a Hugo award and earning a Locus award nomination. At first glance, it appears to be a simple space‑opera story, but it quickly becomes much more, incorporating dystopian concepts, reality‑distorting twists, and excellent queer representation and feminist themes. Yet for how refreshingly modern its story is, this book’s character writing is what leaves a lasting impact. While I was hesitant about the book until the halfway point, I’m thrilled to say it absolutely lives up to its accolades and hype. Some Desperate Glory is one of those books that is difficult to review without spoilers, as its major twists are integral to the reading experience. Without mentioning its heavier content, the book risks sounding generic and far less interesting than it truly is. The story follows Kyr, the top cadet‑in‑training of her female cohort on Gaea Station, until she receives a shocking assignment that undermines…

There are many ways one could describe Matt Dinniman’s scifi novel Operation Bounce House, but what I’ve settled on is “refreshingly brilliant”. A self-contained standalone satirical epic that mixes Dinniman’s signature over-the-top absurdity with a lot heart, this book is what Dungeon Crawler Carl was to the LitRPG swapped for Apex Legends with parallel metaphors encompassing the political tension of the last several years. Despite having a premise that sounds like a fever dream on paper, Operation Bounce House is an excellent scifi book with a lot of depth and substance, easily one of my favorite reads of the last few years. At a first glance, Operation Bounce House is a book of seemingly endless contradictions that somehow works through sheer audacity and confidence. While its synopsis and book blurb has a lot going on, when stripped of its flashy styling and scifi jargon, the story is essentially one of government sanctioned genocide. If that is a turnoff, bear with me for a sec before throwing in the towel. Taking place on the distant planet of New Sonora, Oliver Lewis is one of many humble agricultural farmers whose ancestors several generations ago were sent as settlers to colonize the planet…

Most sci-fi alien invasion stories are told from the frontline defenders, innocent bystanders, or the invader themselves, but not many are told from the perspective of the early vanguards planted in place to test the soil before the interstellar fleet arrives (sorry couldn’t resist the pun). Putting a unique botanical spin on the classic alien invasion story, Mira Grant’s Overgrowth is a unique, intellectual, and ambitiously crafted novel written from the perspective of Anastasia Miller who has believed herself to be an alien for nearly thirty years. Constantly telling others she’s an alien sent ahead of an invading armada for years and being written off as an eccentric oddity, her unassuming life in Seattle is upended when an alien signal is received announcing that said alien armada is finally coming to Earth. While most stories of similar content show off the epic scale and flashy combat of the invasion, Overgrowth instead chooses to focus on the ramifications for individuals like Anastasia, with conflicting loyalties and the often cruel and destructive nature of human behavior on full display. Featuring slow pacing interrupted by frequent political and social commentary, Overgrowth is not for everyone (myself included), but it’s nonetheless an intriguing sci-fi…

The fifth book in Pierce Brown’s Sci-fi epic, this review assumes you have read the previous four books in the series. Spoilers specific to Dark Age will be hidden with spoiler tags, but any content covered in the previous books will not be hidden. Besides, why in the world would you be reading a review for a book in the middle of a long-running series, go read Red Rising first, it’s really good. Now on to the actual review- The 2nd book in what’s considered the 2nd phase of Pierce Brown’s series, Dark Age needed to be solid to maintain the series’ momentum. Despite being an overall great book, I found the previous entry Iron Gold to easily be the weakest and most inconsistent book thus far. I acknowledge that a good portion of its length was required to both bridge the big time jump from Morning Star and to introduce what was perceived to be the new set of main characters. While Iron Gold accomplished what it needed to do, the reading experience for me felt disjointed with its jumping between three different plot threads and the overall direction felt lacking. Picking up after a short time jump, Dark…