7 Feb, 2025
Doing the WFC's Homework
Premee Mohamed’s 2024 The Rider, The Ride, The Rich Man’s Wife is a fantasy novella.
Rain should be welcome in an arid town like Wrathford, which is otherwise dependent on unreliable wells. But the infrequent rains come with an unwelcome price.
31 Jan, 2025
Doing the WFC's Homework
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Makana Yamamoto’s 2025 Hammajang Luck is a (thus far1) stand-alone science fiction heist novel2.
Former aspiring criminal Edie has spent eight long years in Kepler System Penitentiary contemplating what happens when you trust the wrong person. Unexpectedly paroled, Edie soon discovers that time invested considering misplaced trust was time well-spent… but perhaps not as useful as one might expect in charting Edie’s post-prison life.
Angel and Edie used to be as close as siblings, but when Angel had to choose between prison time or flipping on Edie, Angel chose to betray Edie. That makes Angel’s current offer of a job a bold choice on Angel’s part.
24 Jan, 2025
Doing the WFC's Homework
2023’s The Yellow Rambutan Tree Mystery is the seventh volume in Ovidia Yu’s Crown Colony mystery series.
Imperial Japan has been crushed. Singapore has been liberated from the rapacious Japanese. Those who survived occupation begin to rebuild their lives. Su Lin’s friend Parshanti plans marriage despite qualms1. Su Lin’s Chen clan adapts to new business realities. As for Su Lin, the future is less clear.
Japan’s defeat only changed the identity of Singapore’s colonial masters, not the fact of colonial rule. The British have returned.
17 Jan, 2025
Doing the WFC's Homework
B. L. Blanchard’s 2023 The Mother is an alternate history thriller. It is technically the second book in the Good Lands series, but can nevertheless be read as a stand-alone.
Marie, Duchess of Suffolk, vanishes from Grayside, the family mansion. The evidence points to suicide… But the evidence is misleading. Marie is fleeing from her husband and his family, and toward a new life.
10 Jan, 2025
Doing the WFC's Homework
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2025’s Breath of the Dragon is the first of two volumes in Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee1’s secondary-universe fantasy Breathmarked duology.
When two warriors with special powers (warriors known as Aspects of Virtue) arrive to collect Jun’s twin brother Sai for training as an Aspect, six-year-old Jun is outraged. While Breathmarked Sai’s gift allows him to copy perfectly other people’s martial arts skills, mundane Jun has trained hard to be a skilled martial artist.
East Longhan forbids common folk from learning martial arts. The end result of proud Jun’s display of prowess is that Jun and his father are exiled to West Longhan for five years.
Ten years later, Jun and his father are still in West Longhan.
3 Jan, 2025
Doing the WFC's Homework
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2023’s Inferno is the eighth tankōbon (or “volume,” in the quaint American vernacular) of Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s on-going Monstress graphic novel series. Liu is the writer while Takeda is the artist.
Mistakes were made, revelations were reveled, and Maika Halfwolf’s soul is no longer resident in her body. Fox girl Kippa, Master Ren, and others quest into astral space to locate and recover Maika’s soul. It’s probably for the best that they did not know where the quest would lead them.
27 Dec, 2024
Doing the WFC's Homework
2024’s The Scarlet Throne is the first volume of Amy Leow’s secondary-universe fantasy, the False Goddess Trilogy.
The goddess Rashmatun manifests to her devout followers by possessing the body of sanctified host girls. Through these living vessels, known as Rakhti, the goddess makes her will known. This system has functioned for centuries.
The current Rakhti is a teenager named Binsa. Binsa has secrets. For example, although traditionally Rakhti serve for a short term, Binsa has no intention of leaving office. For another example, Binsa is no holy vessel, just a barefaced liar dependent on demonic magic.
20 Dec, 2024
Doing the WFC's Homework
S. L. Huang’s The River Judge is a prequel to The Water Outlaws1.
In a land not unlike the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Li’s foul-tempered father and submissive mother run an inn in a village notable mainly for its isolation. An inn might seem a reliable source of income. Nevertheless, Li Li’s father has side ventures.
Thus, the corpses.
13 Dec, 2024
Doing the WFC's Homework
2024’s Sound the Gong is the second and final volume of Joan He’s The Kingdom of Three duology.
Although the empress still lives, her empire has long been divided into three principal regions under three warlords. Cicada holds the south, Xin Ren clings to the west, and Miasma holds the rest. Miasma is also in control of the person of Empress Xin Bao. Miasma can be described as the empress’s regent (if one is polite) or jailor (if one is not).
Observers might credit Miasma with the strongest position and Xin Ren with the weakest… if not for the fact Xin Ren has as her strategist the brilliant Zephyr. With Zephyr guiding her, surely Xin Ren can triumph, taking the empire and throne for herself.
There are a few minor problems with this otherwise perfect plan. The most obvious is that Zephyr died in the previous book.
6 Dec, 2024
Doing the WFC's Homework
Bethany C. Morrow’s 2022 Cherish Farrah is a horror novel.
Teens Cherish Whitman and Farrah Turner have been best friends since they met in fourth grade. Their common ground is obvious: Cherish and Farrah are the only two black girls in their upscale neighborhood. However, their parents could not be more dissimilar. Farrah’s parents are Farrah’s biological parents. Cherish was adopted by a rich white couple.