ESC is a "subtle masterpiece"

Thomas Pluck calls Every Shallow Cut "a subtle masterpiece that lays open the story of the man who’s lost everything and goes looking for answers." He gives the book five out of five stars.

Read his review.

Buy Every Shallow Cut here.

January reviews Ison of the Isles

"Like the best of the genre, you spend some time orienting yourself in a world so complete, it's easy to get lost. ...If you’re ready to be fully carried away, Ison of the Isles is a good choice. Ives Gilman builds her world with a muscular poise that is so graceful and authoritative, it seems easy in its confidence." - Sienna Powers, January magazine


Read the review!

Learn more about Ison of the Isles here. 

Bearded Women shout out in Asimov's!

In a lengthy post about short story collections, Paul Di Filippo of Asimov's Science Fiction writes, "...the magnificent, bold and perspicacious Chizine Publications delivers a phenomenal collection with Teresa Milbrodt’s Bearded Women... The most outré beings and events are presented with matter-of-fact mimetic clarity and emotional empathy."

Read the article here!

Learn more about Bearded Women here!

In the Mean Time review by SFReader

SFReader has a review up of Paul Tremblay's collection In the Mean Time. It breaks down the book story by story, and the overall rating is 4/5 stars.

Read the review.

Order In the Mean Time.

Two fantastic reviews of Westlake Soul!

"This novel transcends genre. Youers’ lyrical prose transcends literary convention. Westlake himself transcends the page and lives in hearts of all who encounter him. Anyone who finishes this book and does not carry a bit of Westlake with them literally has no soul." - Shedrick Pittman-Hassett, Shroud Magazine

Click to read the review.

"This is a novel that will stay with you long after you've read its last words. It's a novel that will affect the way you see the world, a novel that will change you. Westlake Soul goes beyond labels, be they genre labels, descriptors, or praise. It is simply one of the best novels this reviewer has ever read, and he's read more than his fair share. Westlake Soul is a masterpiece." - Christopher Shearer, FEARnet

Click to read the review.  

Click to order a copy of Westlake Soul.

Dead End Follies gives you three reasons to read ESC

Ben of Dead End Follies writes:

"THREE REASONS TO READ: EVERY SHALLOW CUT

1) It's a freakin' novella! ... It's short, not intimidating and it doesn't waste any words. It cuts down to the bare essentials of good storytelling.

2) It's a pure noir, but it has only one cop (for a few pages), one gun, no mobsters and very little violence....

3) It's a sad book. ... Sadness is a difficult emotion to trigger through page, but this is done amazingly well and should you embrace that you want to read something sad, this is the perfect book."

Read the book-club review here.

Buy Every Shallow Cut here. 

Booklist review of Westlake Soul

"With thematic similarities to Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun, this imaginative mix of fantasy and reality combines highly dramatic subject matter with a narrative touch that is surprisingly light and funny. The ending, though, is haunting and more than a little emotionally charged. A daring and completely successful book." — David Pitt

This review is print only, but you can learn more about Westlake Soul here. 

A slew of Steel Seraglio praise!

SFRevu writes: "The Steel Seraglio is a masterful, engaging and utterly fascinating story by three wonderful writers. One can only hope they will collaborate again, as this project has proven how well they work together. The reader is really the winner here." 

Read Drew Bittner's review here.

The King of Elfland's Second Cousin gave the book 4/5 stars, saying: "The Steel Seraglio is a wonderful, resonant book and I would love to see more such novels from its authors, illustrator, and publisher."

Read the review.

And Slant magazine raves: "With remarkable elegance, the Careys have enriched meta-fictional allegory into furious pop entertainment—full of sex, passion, violence, and magic. The Steel Seraglio is razor-sharp, cutting straight through the bullshit of bigotry to tell a fun, resonant story."

Read their review here. 

Buy the book everyone's buzzing about!

Interview with John Mantooth (with CZ shoutout)

"ChiZine Publications is awesome, how has it been working with them?

I was so excited when Sandra informed me they were going to buy Shoebox Train Wreck. I actually submitted it to them not expecting much. I’d been collecting rejections from Chizine for years, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try it one more time, so I sent it. They accepted it about a year later. Working with them has been great from acceptance all the way to where I am now—about a month from publication. Brett and Sandra are extremely author friendly. They’re approachable, knowledgeable, and very supportive. They’ve got great folks working for them too (Helen Marshall, Erik Mohr, Samantha Belko, etc.), and their books speak for themselves."

 

Read this and more at Mourning Goats.

 

John Mantooth's Shoebox Train Wreck is available now!

Bearded Women "phenomenal"

Matt Baker of Oxford American calls Teresa Milbrodt's Bearded Women "phenomenal", adding that it "firmly establish[es] Milbrodt as a premier writer, and maybe the founder, of Midwestern mythic."


Read the review here!


Buy Bearded Women here!

Another great review of Every Shallow Cut

"This book was the first book in quite some time that I didn’t skim the pages to get to the end to see how it ended. It had such a perfect pacing balance that kept me engaged enough to want to keep reading yet wasn’t so bombastic that I had such a desire to get to the end that I was willing to sacrifice the buildup. Well done, Mr. Piccirilli."
- Bryon Quertermous 

Click to read the review.

Click to learn more about Every Shallow Cut.

Mythopoeic Society dissects The Choir Boats

An interesting review for those inclined toward literary analysis. Sue Bridgwater of The Mythopoeic Society looks at the use of language and intertextuality in Daniel Rabuzzi's The Choir Boats. Read it if you want to see a new angle on his fantastical world.

Read the analysis.

Order The Choir Boats.

You can now pre-order a signed, limited edition of The Indigo Pheasant, Volume 2 of Longing for Yount.

ESC "vicious as a kick to the shin"

"EVERY SHALLOW CUT ranks among Tom Piccirilli’s best work. ...As abrupt and vicious as a kick to the shin... A marvelous noir-flavored character study." - Scott Emerson

Read the review.


Order your copy of Every Shallow Cut.

The Pattern Scars gets 5 stars

Lorina Stephens gave Caitlin Sweet's The Pattern Scars 5 out of 5 stars, writing: "From the first sentences Sweet demonstrates her craftsmanship by translating the reader into a richly and perfectly realized world... If you are of a tender heart, as am I, it is a novel that will make you weep, and one you will return to time and again."

Read the review!

Order your copy of The Pattern Scars!

Shoebox Train Wreck reviewed!

One of our newest offerings, John Mantooth's collection Shoebox Train Wreck, got a great review in The Crow's Caw. 

"Mantooth plays with genre without hesitation. Literary, horror, science fiction, suspense and noir are all touched upon and regardless, his voice remains clear, the writing gripping, his characters devastatingly real." - K. E. Bergdoll
Read the full review. Find out more about Shoebox Train Wreck.

Lura Slowinski reviews The Pattern Scars

"[Caitlin] Sweet strikes a perfect balance with the prose, just enough lyricism and vibrant sensory detail to set the chilling tone, but not enough fancy wordwork to take the reader out of the story." - Lura Slowinski

Read the full review.

Buy The Pattern Scars. 

Westlake Soul gets a starred review in Publishers Weekly!

Publishers Weekly likes ChiZine's forthcoming Westlake Soul, giving it a starred review and writing: "[Rio] Youers deftly captures the voice and raw emotion of a young man struggling to delay the inevitable."

Read the review.

Westlake Soul is now available for pre-order, and releases April 15.

The Hopeful Librarian loves The Pattern Scars

"ChiZine is batting 100 here – I would absolutely recommend this, particularly for fans of unconventional fantasy (I was reminded of N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy) and horror-tinged fantasy (think a grittier, nastier Jaqueline Carey). ...The Pattern Scars is an exquisitely unique fantasy novel, its horror existing entirely in the narrow space between two people." - The Hopeful Librarian

Read the review!

Buy the book!

Bakka Phoenix recommends The Pattern Scars

"Inventive, well-written and unique, The Pattern Scars examines how even the best of emotions can be twisted into something strangled and perilous. Not for the faint of heart." - Chris Szego for Bakka Phoenix Books

Read the recommendation!

Order The Pattern Scars!

Two more great reviews of Every Shallow Cut!

Dead End Follies raves: "EVERY SHALLOW CUT is as beautiful as it is sad and depressing. ... It will resonate inside you like somebody smacked you upside the head with a baseball bat. I will read EVERY SHALLOW CUT again, many, many times for it's a work that has staying power."

Read it here.

And there's a very in-depth review up at Open Letters Monthly, analyzing the book's plot and characterization in great detail. Craig Dowd writes: "Every Shallow Cut is not so much a broken window into the battered soul of the Everyman, but a broken mirror, lined with age and ignorance, showing each and every one of us what we’re capable of – and, more specifically, so very close to becoming."

Check it out. (spoiler-heavy)

Order Every Shallow Cut.