HOM by James Moore is a YA Christian fantasy novella (172 pages in paperback). The main character, Hom, was raised in a lab to cultivate his powers—he is visited by angels and demons and can teleport to Hell. However, when demons attack the facility, he learns he’s not the only teen with powers. He teams up with the ragtag group to escape, but when they learn the truth of what the demons are planning, they must make a tough choice—their own freedom, or saving the world.

James is part of the Judging More Than Just the Cover Book Club Podcast, and I was even a critique partner for many parts of this book. I also know it started as a storyboard type outline for a videogame. And it certainly feels like a videogame, with big boss fights, specified powers, and unique uniforms. I also liked Frieda, Hom’s pseudo-mom figure, the interesting settings, and the morally-gray scientist.

The novella went by super quickly, as novellas tend to do. There was a lot more action than emotion, which is not necessarily a bad thing, depending on your mood. I know indie books are sometimes bashed for typos, but the ones here are few and far between, so worry not.

This book is for you if you like Christian fantasy (i.e. angels, demons, and biblical God on the page), if you are in the mood for videogames but don’t want to actually play it yourself, or if you’re looking for a quick paced, high action read. It’s not for you if you aren’t into biblical content in fantasy, if you’re looking for deep emotion, or if violence in a novel is not your cup of tea.

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Have you read HOM yet? I know James would love your support! Be sure to review indie books, it helps the authors get more readers.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is an adult literary science fiction novella. It’s focused on two secret agents, Red and Blue, from opposing organizations who wish to control the timeline. Or, many timelines. There are oodles of parallel threads of time that the agents move around, tweaking and prodding so events eventually turn in their organization’s favor. They touch on Victorian England, Genghis Khan era East Asia, the far future, and even the far past with dinosaurs. It’s mostly in epistolary style (aka letters) between Red and Blue, with some short scenes of discovering the letters—which are often anything but ink on paper—in between.

The story was well done. Classic opposing spies falling in love, with the time travel twist. The literary wording was beautiful and the plot was clear enough to follow, though it certainly made you work to piece things together. It was also a short read, as a novella.

The downside is that sometimes the literary prose ran purple for me—but of course, this is a subjective opinion. The book also rarely described how the characters or even places looked in those rare scenes between letters, so I had trouble picturing them. I’ll also be honest and say I didn’t get the romance between the main characters. There wasn’t enough interaction between Red and Blue for me to feel the sparks, but this is often a problem I have with romance-via-letters stories.

Overall, this was a well written book and I see why it’s won so many awards and so much praise. Alas, it was just not my taste, but that doesn’t mean I can’t see it being someone else’s. It’s for you if you love a literary bent on your reading, if you are into science fiction spies, and if you’re into time travel stories. It’s not for you if you’re looking for epic romance, traditional prose storytelling, or less literary/flowery writing.
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Have you read This is How You Lose the Time War? How about other time travel novellas? Do you love literary or do you want an author to just cut to the chase? Let’s discuss in the comments!

 I'm so excited to announce that my short story "Please Don't be a Serial Killer" will be published in Nightmare Sky, a night sky themed anthology from Death Knell Press. My story is my first attempt at publishing horror rather than scifi, so I was surprised and thrilled! I will say that there's a lot of humor in my story compared to most horror, so it's still very me. 

You may recognize the name Red Lagoe, the editor, as someone who was on my 2021 reads post. She has two anthologies of horror out now, Lucid Screams and Dismal Dreams. She also recently released a stand alone short story, "Black Feathered Fury" and has many shorts published in other anthologies. 

Nightmare Sky will be published in January 2023!


Transparency note: I know Red Lagoe in real life, as we have been in the same writing group. She did not see my short story in advance. I did not think submitting to her was a guarantee for inclusion.