Feb 06 2026

Tantalizing Tales — February 2026 — Part One

I can’t believe it’s the first week of February already, dear readers, especially since I’ve been a shut-in with one illness or another for these past three weeks. I’ve managed to leave the house exactly once — for much-needed specialty groceries — but haven’t ventured any farther than my yard otherwise, as I’ve only felt healthy for exactly two out of these last twenty-one days.

Hopefully, your year has been going much better than mine so far! I console myself with the thought that at least I have so many wonderful books to lose myself in, including our first selection this week, Andrea Tang’s upcoming sapphic enemies-to-lovers romantasy, To The Death.

Eighteen year-old Samantha Chan lives in a world where magic is a thing of the past, used mostly for show nowadays in highly regulated duels. But after her older brother got caught up in illegal dueling and died at the hands of the legendary Mateus Blackwood, Sam has thrown herself into learning and mastering the ancient art herself. Under the tutelage of (legitimate) dueling champion Lysander Rook, she quietly plots her revenge against the man who killed her brother.

Up-and-coming duelist Tamsin Blackwood is desperate to get out from under the shadow of her father and coach Mateus. Receiving a challenge from the undefeated Lysander and his assistant Sam seems like the perfect way for her to finally make a name for herself. Neither she nor Sam is prepared for the friendship, and more, that spring up between them, however. Sam has no intention of letting Tamsin in on her plans for vengeance, but will her feelings get in the way as her machinations bear down to their deadly conclusion?

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/02/06/tantalizing-tales-february-2026-part-one/

Feb 05 2026

The Hunted by Steven Max Russo (EXCERPT)

Steven Max Russo is back with another action-packed examination of the repercussions of war and the moral choices we need to make, both in theater and in the aftermath.

Ophelia Harris is a former CIA analyst who joined up with a private security firm, Grendel, in Afghanistan. After an investigation into an insurgent money laundering op went awry, everyone on her team died. Ophelia, however, escaped with both her life and two suitcases full of cash.

Now she’s on the run. Her boss Gerhard Mueller knows that a traitor set up the ambush that killed her team. He’s determined to find and catch Harris, and he’s just as determined to see her dead.

Austin Medford is a former Army ranger who had a memorable interaction with a beautiful blonde while out in the sands of Afghanistan. He’s surprised to cross paths with her again in, of all places, an airport bar in New Jersey. Soon, Medford and Harris are on the run from ruthless forces trying to remove them from the board of a game that spans continents and years.

Read on for an excerpt from the book’s prologue, where questionable choices are made before Mr Russo plunges us headlong into the action.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/02/05/the-hunted-by-steven-max-russo-excerpt/

Feb 04 2026

Thrillers! Three Upcoming Teen Thrillerrrrs!

I recently got to read three really fun teen thrillers that will be released in the coming months! Most Likely to Murder by Lish McBride is coming out in March from Penguin. They Want Us Dead by CL Montblanc is coming out from St. Martin’s Press in May, and in July, we get No One Leaves the Manor by Kelly McWilliams from Little, Brown.

With each of these books, the author was new to me, and I enjoyed them all so much I’ve sought out other stuff by the authors since. They all offer fast-paced, enjoyable ensemble casts with a progressive perspective. And they all put teens in deadly peril.

Most Likely to Murder presents a contemporary high school setting where our two protagonists are best friends known for playing pranks. People start getting murdered in ways that seem connected to a prank version of their yearbook, so Rick and Martina come under some suspicion, but also, as it turns out, are being targeted themselves. Rick is really just trying to get by, helping his single mom with money troubles and taking care of his little sister. His best friend Martina’s big family considers him one of their own. They both have crushes on cute girls.

This is a town where teens get horribly murdered, sure, but it is also a town where the students of color don’t receive any specific racist bullying, and it doesn’t seem like anyone’s sexuality is socially problematic, either. I also appreciate that our protagonists get along well with their parents, who are good people who support their kids. A relief for me, someone who read teen books as a 90s teen.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/02/04/thrillers-three-upcoming-teen-thrillerrrrs/

Feb 03 2026

Detox Doodles by Joy Chew

I’m a doomscroller. In this environment, who can afford not to be? But I do have a carefully curated feed that helps me know when I’ve come to the end of my Instagram and, especially, BlueSky time so I can go do other productive things once I’ve thoroughly acquainted myself with what fresh horrors this administration keeps churning out daily.

But if you need a little something to help get you off your phone and into a more productive habit, then you should definitely check out Joy Chew’s terrific new art book, crowdfunding on Kickstarter now!

Back in 2025, lawyer-turned-artist Joy decided to challenge herself to put down her phone in favor of spending time with her sketchbook instead. She would sketch at least one page of animals per day, to help her get into a calm, creative mindset free from the noise and brainrot of social media. This book is the result, a chronicle both of her artistic journey and of the animals she would eventually decide to focus on depicting.

At first, she’d just draw whichever creatures came to mind, but as her mindfulness journey continued, she began to focus on individual species every day, capturing her subjects in different poses and phases of motion, and adding her own brief comments. She’d work each animal page in a single color, allowing her to focus more on the act of drawing rather than verisimilitude. Most of all, her art practice helped her find serenity while appreciating the marvels of nature.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/02/03/detox-doodles-by-joy-chew/

Feb 02 2026

The Aftermyth by Tracy Wolff

Y’all, as soon as I finished this book, I was all Adam Driver Saying More gif. I’m actually kinda mad that I’m going to have to wait who knows how long before I get to read the next book in this series. Tracy Wolff has written something so fresh from what can often feel like a been there, done that premise. If you love retellings of myths at all, then you HAVE to check out this novel.

The Aftermyth opens with Penelope Weaver and her twin brother Paris being driven by their parents to Anaximander’s Academy, the legendary boarding school where they’ll soon start the rest of their academic lives. Penelope is super excited and super prepared. Everyone in her family went to Athena House, with the goddess of wisdom herself as their patron, so she’s lived her entire life striving to be the perfect Athena Girl.

Things start going wrong almost from the beginning. Crossing the bridge to campus is an unexpected ordeal, and walking into the opening assembly late and bedraggled is hardly the impression Penelope wanted to make. Everything goes completely sideways though when Penelope isn’t assigned to Athena House, with its smart, striving rule-followers. Instead she’s sent to live in the campus’ party house, presided over by another deity, with students who are mostly there for a good time.

Penelope knows that there must be some mistake. Maybe if she works hard enough, she can impress the goddess Athena and be transferred into the house where she really belongs, where Paris already is. But the muse who’s been assigned to her seems to have no idea how to be helpful, and the list of Twelve Labors Penelope is meant to complete over the course of her studies is frustratingly vague. And that’s all before it starts becoming clear that one of the gods might actually have it out for her.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/02/02/the-aftermyth-by-tracy-wolff/

Feb 01 2026

What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher

T. Kingfisher’s third Sworn Soldier novella — following What Moves the Dead and What Feasts at Night — takes Alex Easton and their* batsman Angus to America at the urgent behest of their friend James Denton, a doctor last seen by readers not far from where the House of Usher had fallen. He had returned home, still shaken, only to encounter … something that spooked him enough to send a telegram imploring Easton to come “with all haste.” (p. 10)

What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher

Upon their arrival in Boston, Angus and Easton are met by Denton’s assistant Kent. He takes them from the harbor to their hotel, where Denton and his friend John Ingold are waiting in the dining room. Denton, it transpires, has inherited an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia, among many other things. His cousin Oscar recently disappeared while investigating the mine, and Denton wants Easton’s help finding out what happened.

Denton coughed. “At any rate, it’s your experience with … unusual … circumstances that I need.”
I raised an eyebrow. Angus raised both of his. “You mean like what we saw at Usher’s lake,” I said flatly. “Because I’ll tell you, that was the first time I’ve dealt with anything like that.” …
“The first time for me, too,” said Denton. He looked suddenly weary and much older than I remembered. “But you did deal with it, and you know there are terrible things in the earth. If you encounter another one, you won’t waste time insisting that there must be a different explanation or that I’m lying to you or that none of this can possibly be happening.”
Terrible things in the earth. Yes. Denton and I had seen a terrible thing in the earth and ended it … (pp. 16–17)

Oscar, Denton relates, had “always liked digging, whether it was papers or actual dirt.” (p. 19) He was the one who discovered the deed to the mine, which had been abandoned for decades. He was experienced with caves, and wanted to try to figure out why the mine had been abandoned. At first, Oscar sent regular letters. Then he sent one about observing unusual phenomena in the mine. What Stalks the Deep is a creepy adventure story, but it is also very much a T. Kingfisher book, as the next paragraph shows:

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/02/01/what-stalks-the-deep-by-t-kingfisher/

Jan 31 2026

A Brief Visit to DNFland

Most years, I set aside a couple of books that I have gotten a decent way into and decide that I am just not going to finish them. (Each year since 2020, it’s been either one or two.) This year, I’ve already DNF’d two and it’s only late January. I’m not one of those people who commits to finishing every book they start; a few years as a bookseller cured me of that. As did the loss of teen reading speed, no doubt. Nor am I one of those people who ditches a book after a couple of paragraphs or a few pages; I don’t mind a slow start from time to time, and I love big books. Nothing against folks who take either of those approaches. People read in all sorts of ways — boy howdy did a few years as a bookseller teach me that.

Howards End by E.M. Forster

Here in middle age, I think I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on books that are going to interest me. I like books that show me new places (even if they are old or imaginary), new ways of seeing the world (or worlds), new ways of being. The German word for curious, neugierig, translates literally as “new-greedy,” and yes, that’s me. I’m a cat whom curiosity will probably eventually kill. I think that’s what draws me to history, to historical fiction, and to fantasy and science fiction. While I can mostly tell what I will enjoy, I don’t think I’ve fallen into a rut: last year I tried 18 authors whose work was new to me.

So a DNF feels a little bit like a failure. I chose the book for a reason, or several. There was something I was looking forward to, or something in particular drew me in, and nowadays I have plenty to choose from. I didn’t bounce immediately, I got a substantial ways into the book, and decided I didn’t want to go on at all. (Sometimes if a book is short enough, I’ll just go ahead and finish it; this is not always a good approach.) Why?

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/31/a-brief-visit-to-dnfland/

Jan 29 2026

Tantalizing Tales — January 2026 — Part Five

Ooh, is this the first Part Five I’ve ever published of this monthly series? It can’t be because this year’s January has lasted forever can it, hahahahahuuuuuuuunh.

Anyway, this column is coming out on a Thursday this week because we’re taking part in the USA’s General Strike tomorrow. No work, no school, no shopping for one day, which — if you’re like me — could be the perfect opportunity to just curl up with a good book to read for fun. We have some excellent suggestions for you here should you need them, with five upcoming releases you can pre-order in anticipation of the next time you need a temporary respite from the horrors, as well as a throwback from warmer days in 2025.

First up, we have W. M. Akers’ To Kill A Cook, the first in a planned duology set in 1970s New York City. Fast-talking, hard-charging Bernice Black is the city’s busiest restaurant critic, juggling her career with her fiance and his two young sons. When she stops by the restaurant of her favorite chef and mentor Laurent Tirel one morning, she’s horrified to discover his severed head perfectly preserved in a mold of jellied aspic.

The cops are clueless, and with layoffs looming, she makes a reckless bet with her editor to solve the crime and get the scoop within a week. But Laurent’s killer has no qualms about striking again, much less eliminating any nosy journalists who keep getting in their way.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/29/tantalizing-tales-january-2026-part-five/

Jan 28 2026

Murder Before I Do by Rosie A Point and Charles Timmerman

Being confined to the house by a double whammy of flu and ice storm sure has made me appreciate books like this even more than usual!

The third in the Cranberry Creek Word Search mystery series finds our heroine, bookstore owner Abby Jones getting ready for the wedding of her best friend, baker Rose Turner. As maid of honor, Abby has been pretty busy, and is now looking forward to the welcome dinner for the relatives of Rose and her intended Paul Blakely, who’ve been trickling into town for the festivities.

While the Turner side is all in for the celebrations, Paul’s guests prove to be a little pricklier than expected. During dinner at The Barn, Abby has a front row seat to the tensions simmering below their pleasant surfaces. But things get really bad when a sudden power outage strikes. Abby goes looking for help… only to find the best man bludgeoned to death in another room.

Despite her sheriff’s deputy boyfriend having a dim view of meddlers in his investigation, Abby isn’t about to let anything as awful as the cloud of an unsolved murder hang over her best friend’s wedding. Will she be able to figure whodunnit before anyone else gets hurt?

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/28/murder-before-i-do-by-rosie-a-point-and-charles-timmerman/

Jan 27 2026

Initial Condition by Ian Domowitz (EXCERPT)

Hello, dear readers! Today we have an excerpt from a centuries-spanning novel of science fantasy that will appeal to lovers of the esoteric and the technological.

I’m gonna let the publicity materials for this latest book in a series speak for themselves, for fear of accidentally giving anything away with my own writing:

“A twelfth century vision of artificial intelligence foreshadows a sixteenth century recipe to produce it. A nineteenth century prison nurtures it. A twenty-first century golem befriends it. And a boy without a century stands at the intersection of real and virtual, moments into the future. They call him The Mechanic.

“A kidnapping leads Hanzi Boss to a sanctuary community where religious law forbids speech by the artificially intelligent. For beings like him, the penalty for existing is death and his true nature must remain secret. But the community has its own secrets. An ancient immigrant hides there, a monster made not born, a being who can know Hanzi for what he really is. When the price of life is death, who survives—infinite strength steeped in the silence of the past, or intelligence guided by lived experience?

“This is a story of arcane knowledge, alchemy, and strange philosophies. It is the story of a being not created by God, who does not know what he is and searches for something more. Initial Condition is the third book in The Mechanic’s Diary series following Wake the Whirlwind and Neurojuggler.”

Read on for an excerpt on the creation of one of the mysterious figures at the heart of the novel:

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/01/27/initial-condition-by-ian-domowitz-excerpt/