The Waking Engine by David Edison

“‘When we die, we don’t cease to exist or turn into shimmering motes of ectoplasm or purple angels or anything else you may have been brought up to believe. We just…go on living. Someplace else.’” I oftentimes feel like I can tell when a book is objectively good or not. Yes, there are personal biases…

Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat by Andrez Bergen

“Every goddamned thing about this Test grated. And let’s be honest here: ‘grated’ is just the wrong word to use. Maybe ‘vexed’ is better? I always liked the sound of ‘vexed.’ It was comfortingly old-school, like something that someone in a Jane Austen adaptation would utter, in a steely British accent, after he mopped his…