Book Reviews

By Shen Tao
Jan. 20, 2026
400 pages
$32.99
Tor Publishing

‘The Poet Empress’

You should know that this is not a fantasy romance book, despite the piles of marketing that say otherwise. This is a book about power in 100 different forms, and, more specifically, this is a book about words. The magic in the setting literally comes from poetry. Also, the story itself is told so richly and beautifully, it becomes its own spell.

Shen Tao’s debut drops us into a world women are forbidden to read, but the protagonist Wei Yin isn’t going to let that stop her. Raised in poverty and the horrors therein, she is the rare kind of heroine who is genuinely, functionally competent without ever feeling like a caricature. She’s desperate, brilliant and has to navigate a political labyrinth that would make Machiavelli sweat.

This is not an easy read. With power comes abuse, and while Tao writes with a poet’s restraint, weaving the story so that pain and terror mean something, there is a lot of grim stuff. But there is also hope, and humanity, and the kind of epic tale that will resonate with me for a long, long time. Clear your weekend and surrender. It’s so worth it. ♦ — Review by Julie Goodrich

By Veronica Roth
May 12, 2026
432 pages
$39.99
Tor Publishing

‘Seek the Traitor’s Son’

I came into this expecting something interesting and easy to read. I was not at all expecting to be swept off my feet — dazzled by this incredibly rich world, half in love with all the characters, and consumed by the need to know what happens next. 

There is a deadly fever that blesses half its victims with mysterious gifts and kills the rest. In a situation that will seem familiar, part of the world welcomes the disease with religious fervor, while the other avoids it like the plague it is. Then a prophecy shakes up the status quo. Two enemies are told one of them will triumph and one will fall, but neither knows which. It’s maddening and brilliant and so much fun to read.

Elegy is at the center of the prophecy, and she is exactly the kind of protagonist I want to follow into narrative peril. She is not the chosen one, but she is handed a terrible destiny and has to decide, in real time, what to do with it. There is a slow-burn romance, devilish politics, religious fanaticism and so much more. I don’t think I’ve read a world that feels this live-in for a long time. It’s just so good! ♦ — Review by Julie Goodrich