Book Reviews

In this category, find our book reviews, with a strong focus on fantasy, sci-fi, and horror genres, as well as some movies, comics, or superhero-based stories.

Take a look through the Recommended Reading tag for some great stories to add to your TBR!


If you visit Bookshop.org via the linked banner below, you can purchase many of the books reviewed here and help support independent bookstores at the same time. Cosmic Circus may receive a small commission for purchases you make from the shop via this link.Purple Bookshop.org support indie book stores button


Book ReviewsBooksReviewsStellar Picks

Book Review: ‘Empire of Exiles’ by Erin M. Evans

Magic and mystery, trust and betrayal, Empire of Exiles has it all. Set in the walled city of Semilla, Erin M. Evans spins an intriguing tale of murder and secrets that are forced into the light in the devastating aftermath of a seemingly unexplainable attack. Quill, an apprentice scribe, must decide who he can trust as he investigates further into the

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviewsStellar Picks

Book Review: ‘The Last Raven’ by Steve McHugh

Most fantasy books tend to be set in a medieval or, at best, Renaissance, time period. Or they take place in some alternate world that mimics our notions of these times. With The Last Raven by Steve McHugh, we’re offered a rare fantasy novel that is set in both modern times and the real world. I mean, the FBI is a huge

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviews

Book Review: ‘The World We Make’ by N.K. Jemisin

Quick physics review: energy equals matter and matter equals energy. The most well-known equation in the world, E=MC², tells us exactly that. We all parrot this but for the most part, we never think about what it actually means. Or what could be possible because of this fundamental principle of the universe? After all, thoughts are also energy. Our bodies make

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviews

Book Review: ‘Okoye to the People’ By Ibi Zoboi

There’s no denying that Okoye (played by Danai Gurira in the MCU) is a fan favorite. Leader of the Dora Milaje, her fierce loyalty to and unwavering protection of Wakanda and its king are her defining traits. She is so intense that it is hard to picture her as ever being anything other than the intimidating Captain of the Dora Milaje.

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviews

Book Review: ‘The Last Kids on Earth and the Forbidden Fortress’ by Max Brallier

Remember being a kid and thinking how cool it would be if there were no grown-ups telling you what to do? Well for four lucky kids their wish came true In The Last Kids on Earth and the Forbidden Fortress. Max Brallier writes about Jack, June, Quint, and Dirk as they live through a monster/zombie apocalypse.  All the grown-ups have vanished…

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviews

Book Review: ‘A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever’

After nearly forty years, four movies, numerous cartoon shows, and multiple video games, Ghostbusters remains a very important part of American culture. James Greene Jr’s book A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever takes a deep dive into the history of the Ghostbusters phenomenon. The author starts his history before they were even called the Ghostbusters and takes us

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviewsStellar Picks

Review: ‘In the Coils of the Labyrinth: An Arkham Horror Novel’ by David Annandale

David Annandale takes us back to Arkham, the center of horror, in his mystery-thriller In the Coils of the Labyrinth. This time Professor Miranda Ventham is caught at the center of an occult conspiracy. Luckily her best friend is Agatha Crane, a parapsychologist who has devoted her life to uncovering and fighting the evil at the center of Arkham. Together they

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviewsStellar Picks

Book Review: ‘The Prisoner of Tartarus: A Marvel Legends of Asgard Novel’ By Richard Lee Byers

In The Prisoner of Tartarus, Richard Lee Byers gives us an origin story we didn’t know we needed. But we did! Byers shares with us not just the story of Heimdall coming into his own, but also the story of how the Bifrost, one of the most important means of transportation in the Marvel universe, came to be.  [Note: While I

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviews

Book Review: ‘Light Perpetual’ By Andrzej Sapkowski

Light Perpetual is a historical fiction novel about a man moving through a very long war. He’s drawn on by love but his path leads back and forth through both sides of a messy battlefield. The Witcher series author Andrzej Sapkowski’s tale of love and war is finally making its English debut (Translated to English by David French) this month. [Note:

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviews

Book Review: ‘The Princess and the Scoundrel’ by Beth Revis

The Princess and The Scoundrel by Beth Revis is the Han and Leia Star Wars love story we’ve been waiting for. Now that the Empire is destroyed, Han and Leia can have their happy moment before life starts up again.  Yet happily ever after doesn’t come easily. As soon as Han and Leia depart their idyllic ceremony for their honeymoon, they

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviews

Book Review: ‘Squirrel Girl Universe: A Marvel Heroines Novel’ by Tristan Palmgren

What difference can one little squirrel (girl) make in the universe? Turns out it’s quite a big one in Squirrel Girl Universe by Tristan Palmgren. The titular heroine is joined by a whole pack of friends in a quirky adventure on the far side of the galaxy. Squirrel Girl faces gigantic problems down with a wholesomeness not often seen in heroes.

Read More
Book ReviewsBooksReviews

Book Review: ‘Sisters of Sorcery’ By Marsheila Rockwell

Marsheila Rockwell pulls together some far-flung sorceresses and forges them into a potent team in Sisters of Sorcery: A Marvel Untold Novel. Clea, Sorceress Supreme of the Dark Dimension, Margali of the Winding Way, a former Sorceress Supreme, Holly, a young apprentice of Agatha’s, and Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, aka the Talisman, enter an uneasy alliance to fight a threat that’s too big

Read More