Now that Nacho's guild, The Chips, is really starting to make a name for itself, it is also attracting unwanted attention from other guilds. Nacho never wanted to be the guild leader, but his knowledge about the Juxtaposition made him the obvious choice. That knowledge, combined with his class and ability to provide edible food for so many, has allowed The Chips guild to thrive and advance much faster than he did during his original attempt. This has caught the eye of the Patrons, who then decide to offer up a legendary weapon in a contest for control of Kansas City. This puts all the human guilds into direct competition with each other, and The Chips realize they must win this contest or risk being dominated by a guild with far fewer morals. They must now balance winning the competition with surviving in a hostile world that was already trying to kill them.

Towerbound continues to follow Ren and his expanded crew of gamers as his future knowledge starts to pay off. Literally. Thanks to Ren's growing potion empire his nine roommates have been able to quit their jobs and play Towerbound full time. They even managed to buy their own building which feels like a palace even if its situated in the worst part of District One and commonly known as The Murder Hospital. Relocation brings it's new issues including spies from rival guilds, menacing gangs, and a psycho ex-girlfriend Ren hoped to avoid this time around. Ren's friends though are starting to suspect that there's something strange going on and he has to explain. Will they think he's crazy?

Ren loves being the best alchemist in the popular VR game Towerbound. His skill not only got him a place in a corporate guild, Prosperous, but it also got him out of the the slums of District One and into District Ten. He hates combat, and his contract says he's not required to do any, but the Guild Master badgers him into doing a dungeon run that requires an alchemist. Ren succeeds where all other alchemists have failed, but his guild betrays him leaving Ren with nothing except a vision of the coming apocalypse and the end of humanity. He wakes up back in his old District One dorm with nine other guys two days before the release of Towerbound. He has no idea how he went back in time or exactly how he can get everyone he knows to start playing in preparation for doomsday, but he's going to save District One and get revenge at the same time. F*** Prosperous!

Calen Bryer is coming of age in the village of Milltown, and that means The Proving is just around the corner. He and the other young men around his age will be split into teams and sent into Olm Forest for three days and nights, and the team that emerges with the head of the most dangerous prey animal will be declared the winner, and grow in status within the village. This is a test of courage, fighting skill, and teamwork that not everyone survives. Calen enters the forest teamed up with his good friends Dann and Rist, but none of them are prepared for what they find. Their discovery kicks off a series of events that eventually puts his entire village at risk, and results in all 3 of them becoming embroiled in a centuries old war. A war fought between Jotnar (Giants,) Elves, Dwarves, Uraks, and even Dragons. We've seen most of this before, so does this all add up to another great epic fantasy series or is this just another fantasy series in a crowded genre?

The world as we know it is gone. Eli ‘Nacho’ Naches finds himself involved in a new reality with the rules of a video game, the Juxtaposition. Levels, skills, stat points, monsters, and dungeons are all part of this new reality, and it becomes obvious that he and the other humans fighting for survival in this world didn't grasp the rules well enough when they made their initial choices. Food and water are poisonous without proper processing, yet nobody chose the class or skills needed to make it edible, and all human players have become reliant on the game store for sustenance. An unsustainable situation. As players level up, they must eat higher tier food, and the prices increase beyond their ability to pay. Eventually they discover the only source of food they can afford that doesn't make them sick.....each other. That's when the game world turns into a living hell of cannibalism and eventually Nacho finds himself on the menu. That's when Nacho's patron gives him a boon, and grants him the opportunity to start over with his memories intact. Thus Nacho finds himself back in the normal world with six months to prepare for the Juxtaposition, and his best friends think he has lost his mind.

What does Ann Leckie get when she combines the deep character and history of The Raven Tower with her complex Imperial Radch sci-fi universe? I really anticipated finding out with Radiant Star. Ooioiaa is an ice planet on the fringe of settled space where it’s single city has only a single export; the cult-like worship of the Radiant Star which is supposedly a temporal anomaly the blesses its followers with visions of the future. Each sect of worshippers is convinced that the others are heretics but they all agree that there is good money to be made from the visions with pilgrims coming from nearby worlds. For the Colonial Governor, it’s just a big headache until they lose all contact with the with the Radch empire and it’s interstellar supply lines. As food runs low, and religious quarrels flare up, the story focuses on a diverse cast of characters as their lives are changed in surprising ways.

There are many reasons you could be enjoying this series. You might like the story of magic returning to our world and learning about how it works along with the protagonist, Kaz. You might like some of the other human characters and the odd mix of time travelers and secret agents, or more likely, it's the talking dog, demigod cat, and/or the djinn. Or maybe it's a combination of all these things that result in entertaining stories that don't take things all too seriously. No matter, you know the formula already, and you also know that the main plot is moving along rather slowly. So does this book finally pick up the pace and move us towards some meaningful plot progress? Not really.

Hadrian Marlowe started telling us his story 6 books ago, and it is finally time to find out how it all ends. Hadrian finds himself a fugitive, from pretty much everyone, due to multiple betrayals, in both directions. This book starts with Hadrian hiding beyond the borders of human space, waiting for the only remaining friend he has in the universe, the Jaddian Prince. He wants to share his mad plan with someone other than his daughter, and this sets the stage for the final battle of the series. The Cielcin vanished over a hundred years ago, but Hadrian knows how to find them. He is also certain they are preparing for a final assault against humanity, and he stands ready for them. The ancient war machine known as the Demiurge is at his command, as well as the legendary weapons within, one of which was designed to kill gods. The same gods who are rallying the Cielcin against humanity. It's a good thing we are finally ready to put aside the petty politics and help Hadrian save us from this existential threat, right? Nah, we'd rather just fight amongst ourselves.

This isn't the first time we've read about a holy knight from a secret order who thought they were the good guy but then discovers that they're also killing innocents. Reason enough to abandon the order and try to disappear into normal society, only to pick up the sword again in order to right all the wrongs. But Stewart manages to breathe new life into the trope with colorful characters and some great world building. This is an urban fantasy with magic, mythological beings, spy tech, and some LGBTQ+ Pride.

Each floor of the dungeon in this series has a unique theme and rule set, and this is true for both floors included in this book, the 10th and 11th. The 10th is a racing format where the crawlers are split up and competing in insane race stages against teams of NPCs, and sometimes each other. Each race has a different rule set and severe consequences for anyone who comes in last. This is a complicated set up that can be difficult to follow at times, but it is offset a bit by the 11th floor, which is the titular Parade of Horribles, and is a rather simple concept. The AI that runs the dungeon continues to become more unstable, and external political forces also get involved to make this one of the most chaotic books in the series, and that is saying something. So has the story remained compelling, or has this series finally jumped the shark?