Reviewed by Frankie Martinez

A powerful story of humanity, nature, and the fight for truth.

In a world where most of humanity has fled to live deep in Earth’s underground, Violet Murphy refuses to leave her family’s farm on the surface. Located in Fulminara, one of two habitable islands left on Earth, the Murphy estate is home to Violet, her horse Firestorm, and the relics of her family’s agricultural research.

Life is peaceful until one day, officers of the government’s Science Bureau arrive to conduct the annual census and invite Violet to visit their facility underground in the capital of Apricus. What is supposed to be a presentation on the Murphy family’s developments in food generation devolves into an unsettling interrogation—one which leaves Violet drugged and imagining the voices of what she believes are trapped animals in the stark hallways of the Bureau, pleading for help.

When Violet returns home and feels an unusually close sense of comfort from Firestorm, she is convinced that the voices she heard were real.

Meanwhile, there are others experiencing a strange connection with animals. Emily Steuben, an Earth preservationist, discovers ducklings at her home for the first time in three years after being led there by other animals’ insistence. Jack Collins, a retail director, is hunting a doe on the surface when he is suddenly struck with the deer’s fear, so much that he leaves and decides to swear off hunting for the rest of his life. Mason Agu, a computer programmer for the government’s Infrastructure Bureau, is spending a quiet evening at home in Apricus, until he gets a strong feeling from his cat that something has happened next door to his elderly, beloved neighbor.

The four strangers come together after responding to Violet’s vague online forum post about a “special connection to animals” and quickly become fast friends. As their bond grows, so do their questions about the government, especially after learning about Violet’s interrogation there.

The organization’s increasingly strange activities—starting with the census and leading to the announcement that they’d be evacuating Aprica permanently for an unknown, habitable land—lead the friends to start an investigation into the Bureau, one that leads them down a dangerous path to the truth.

Imber is about the light and dark in the world, highlighting both the comfort of the bonds between living things, as well as the strength to fight against overwhelming odds.

Mistina’s debut is filled with expansive, dynamic descriptions of nature and humanity. The novel’s quiet opening is moving and immersive—Violet walks through her family’s estate, remembering the day she found a dead hawk, only to find Firestorm peeking through the windows of the greenhouse in search of Violet’s mother after her untimely death.

Mistina is also playful with her portrayal of gestures and movement. Each character interacts with one another in unique ways: Jack can’t keep his eyes off of Violet’s freckles; Mason’s deep voice contains a childlike innocence when he’s around his cat or Firestorm.

Because descriptions are so detailed and plot details are so heavily focused on the government’s secret plans, the pacing of the story can be quite slow. There is something comforting about it, especially in the first parts of the novel that are more focused on worldbuilding and the friendship between Violet, Jack, Emily, and Mason, but it also does not quite match the content in the novel’s latter half with its somewhat shocking violence. A lot of information is jammed into the last half of the novel because of this. While Imber does reach a satisfactory, open-ended conclusion in the larger story about evacuating humanity from Earth, I longed for more important plot threads between the four friends.

But that’s also because I wanted to linger in Mistina’s world for just a little bit longer without the government’s evil plans. While lies, deceit, and the end of the world run underneath the surface of the novel, Imber is a gorgeous portrait of humanity, rich with the warmth between people and their chosen companions, whether they be family, friends, or animals.

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Reviewed by Chika Anene

A shining feat of literary sci-fi in a totalitarian futuristic society

Kim lives in a society largely controlled by artificial intelligence (AI). Everything from the outfits she wears to the food she eats to the people she has sexual relations with is decided for her. In this society, thoughts that involve the individual rather than the collective are considered “selfist.”  

Working as an AI trainer at her company’s transit support division, Kim’s job involves training automatons, devices that are incapable of thinking for themselves.

Things are going somewhat well for the main character until she gets herself into a less than flattering situation, which propels her into a new role and lands her in the midst of the very forces that control the society. With this, her privacy and identity have become compromised.

Believe me when I tell you that this world and the tensions within it are going to have you feverishly flipping pages. It might start off a bit slow, but it really picks up when things take a dark turn.

Perhaps what offers the most anticipation in the reader is the sinister way in which things are controlled behind the scenes in Kim’s world. It’s captivating to be in her point of view here as she discovers that everything she thought she knew isn’t quite right. 

Kim starts off as a timid and compliant character living a rather monotonous life. But as she encounters these obstacles, she evolves into a more confident and inquisitive individual eager to break down a system that doesn’t benefit the individuals it was created to control. 

Her defiance and reluctance to accept her fate, however, grants her a public-enemy-number-one status, and she soon finds herself being threatened into submission. 

The premise on which this book is founded is a brilliant one. The terms of service hinted at in the title are really going to get your attention. There are also a number of smart sci-fi details that make this world unique, like the use of “Oneday” and “Twoday” instead of what we call our weekdays.

The worldbuilding is really excellent here with its focus on artificial intelligence. It’s not every day we get to read an artificial intelligence novel from an author who has a PhD in artificial intelligence. The systems within the world really make it clear that Stanfill knows his stuff.

There is an all-seeing, all-knowing entity controlling the masses. Dystopian novels, for me, are often only as strong as those entities. And in this novel’s case, the entity stands up to those in 1984 and Brave New World.

Terms of Service is simply unputdownable. This novel comes highly recommended for those readers looking for a strong and unique AI world.

Genre: Science Fiction / Dystopia

Print Length: 332 pages

ISBN: 978-1638778219

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Reviewed by Robyn-Lee Samuels

A thought-provoking adventure through a post-apocalyptic world unlike any other

In Heart of the Storm, author Marie Howalt brings the Moonless Trilogy to a gripping close. Set in post-apocalyptic Italy, this novel follows a curious cast of rebels, fresh off of an apocalyptic event, as they try to find their place in a new world.

The book opens as political tensions are building in Florence and as life in Siena is stabilizing into a city that’s ready to trade. With the worst seemingly behind them, Teo, Renn, and Luca set off to explore the rest of the world and acclimate to their new lives.

While the stellar worldbuilding takes center stage in this one, the primary adventure story is smooth and the characters’ personal storylines also keep us curious and cued in. Characters naturally mention key events of the previous books for both new and returning readers, including the apocalyptic event, why Florence is under a dome, and how Luca is the only person alive who remembers life before the world ended. Author Marie Howalt paints a picture of the socio-political landscape in Florence well, but as the point of view characters leave, the focus shifts to Siena.

If, like me, you’re starting the series with book three, there may be a few things about this new world that aren’t particularly clear to you, but this turns out to be a good thing; the current era exists only in Luca’s memory and relics, like flashlights and motorcycles, and help drive the curiosity of the post-apocalyptic world home.

Heart of the Storm is largely character-driven. It’s a thought-provoking look at what happens when the apocalypse is over, how it feels when the time has come to step out of survival mode. Who do you become when the crisis ends?

From co-parenting sisters to LGBTQ+ relationships, the author draws on a mix of relationships, family structures, and age groups in this adventure. The multiple points of view give us an insight into the the intimate lives of each person, while taking a grander look at the dystopian world as a whole.

In the wake of 2020, Heart of the Storm hits home and feels oddly timely in dis- cussing life post-apocalypse. We may not have taken it this far last year, but the smart writing of this novel offers astute glimpses into the realities of the after-effects of life-changing events.The prose is witty, thoughtful, and captivating. You’re going to want to see this far-future Tuscan wasteland.

Publisher: Spaceboy Books

Genre: Science Fiction

Print Length: 345 pages

ISBN: 978-1951393113

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Reviewed by Samantha Hui

A dreadfully delightful homage to Gothic classics that offers something entirely of its own

Children of the Night by Zan Safra bewitches readers every step of the way. Drawing from multiple Gothic literary influences like Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Bram Stoker, Safra beckons readers to lean their ears in close, to listen for the haunting whispers that tell this captivating story.

Combining science fiction technology with Gothic and grotesque fantasy, this novel feels timeless yet futuristic, an anachronism well-juxtaposed.

“The uncanny feeling, the menacing sense of wrongness soaks the colors in my head, deadening them to a sea of rotten blood.”

Ayanda Draculesti navigates a world of “Naturals” and “Unnaturals,” a world dividing humans from those who have been tested on, mutilated, and reconstructed by alchemists who prey upon helpless children. A common enemy for the Naturals and Unnaturals, however, are the Risen Dead: vampires.

After five centuries of inactivity from these Dead, the cool and calculating vampire Isadora comes to Venice to wreak havoc, feeding on the Naturals and turning the Unnaturals against them. Ayanda’s particular set of skills, similar to those of vampires, may make her the perfect hero to fight against these killing things.

“‘We are alike. Unnaturals and the Dead,’ [Isadora] says, ‘The meat murder us all.’”

Ayanda does not have to fight this evil herself. The resurfacing of a familiar evil will connect Ayanda with other Unnaturals such as Jette Jekyll, Belle Frankenstein, and Yurei. Each character comes with their own set of skills and abilities as well as their own set of demons they must reconcile with.

While Ayanda is determined to take down the evil that is Isadora and her lackies, the other Unnaturals are hesitant to fight against such a lethal creature. They must also wrangle with the understanding that in fighting against the human-eating vampire, they would also be fighting for these Naturals who have forced an unbearable existence upon the Unnaturals.

“Its black fangs are so large that they distort the creature’s mouth, freezing the lover half of its face into a grotesque smile.”

For centuries, monsters and Gothic fiction have been utilized as representations of the cultural anxieties that took hold of the populations during the corresponding time periods.

Safra has done an excellent job of implementing this storytelling tradition. Times have become more complex and convoluted, requiring more characters to represent a wider array of anxieties and identities that exist in today’s society. Each chapter is dedicated to a different character’s perspective, such that we not only see through Ayanda’s eyes but that of Yurei, Belle, and Jette’s as well.

Because of these shifting viewpoints, the stakes feel much higher and more personal. We see how similar events impact characters in completely different ways. The characters’ own fears are often used against them, creating a sense that danger not only comes from outside players but from internal demons as well.

“But something is here. I feel it, a ripple, a distortion, as though the world itself is recoiling, twisting away from something foul, poisoned, wrong.”

I would highly recommend this book to those with a penchant for steampunk fiction and Gothic tropes. The novel begins in the action of the plot and engages its audience through implicit, active worldbuilding rather than relying too much on exposition. Safra’s storytelling is grotesque and captivating, both repulsing and intriguing us to keep on listening.

Genre: Gothic / Science Fiction / Fantasy

Print Length: 354 pages

ISBN: 978-1737313427

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Reviewed by Steph Huddleston

A fast-paced dystopian adventure, as ensnaring as it is imaginative

Dystopian fiction hit an apparent peak around the time of Hunger Games & Divergent. Since then, it’s been a quietly lurking subgenre with diamonds just waiting to be discovered. That’s where Louis Woyak’s Beneath the Ruins comes in. 

This sci-fi fantasy novel is a compelling reminder of why good dystopian fiction will never go out of style. 

Packed with gripping action sequences, vivid worldbuilding, and a wide range of characters, Beneath the Ruins proves to be a great escape for speculative fiction fans.

Every year, darkness comes and rules over Arkdale for months at a time. Danger lurks in the dark, and shelter can only be sought within the town’s walls. But before the world grows dark once more, a group of friends will discover something in the mysterious ruins of the HARP outside the city walls. Something that could change their world forever and upset the precarious balance of power for good.

“It was that ephemeral time of day that was simultaneously late at night and early in the morning, where one day bled into the next.”

Ever-present danger looms over each character, and monsters and wild creatures lurk around many corners. From mechanical hounds to agents of darkness wielding battle axes, these creatures run the gamut of imagination and fear. There’s even a cross-over appeal for fans of science fiction and fantasy, so speculative readers will be getting a lot of what they come here for.

Fans of The Maze Runner and The Aurora Cycle are going to love the wide cast of characters in this one. Perspective shifts serve the forward momentum of the book and ensure the stakes are always changing and building. However, because of all the characters and the quickly moving pace, the character development can feel a bit rushed at times. This can cause a lack of emotional depth in these too-quick developments and make us wonder about how things happened off the page.

While the characters are largely in their early twenties, it bends a bit closer to YA than adult fiction with the characters’ actions, thoughts, and responses feeling slightly younger than their purported age.

But overall, Beneath the Ruins is a good, fast-paced novel set in a deeply imaginative dystopian world, with series potential. I could see Woyak keeping us captivated with plenty more of where this high-powered sci-fi fantasy came from.

Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Print Length: 342 pages

ISBN: 978-1736763407

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