«SMARTchars» by Anna Kovaleva: a humorous cozy fantasy in the world of magical capitalism. Review by ITC.ua
Imagine a world where magic is no longer something incomprehensible and mysterious. Witches, goblins, fairies, mermaids, vampires, or gnomes have their own chaotic magic. But people have also learned to use it, creating controlled magic. In the novel by the young Ukrainian writer Anna Kovaleva «SMARTchary», this same magic has long since become a…
«No Man’s Land» Yana Valyetova: A post-apocalyptic tetralogy about a destroyed Ukraine. Review by ITC.ua
Ukrainian writer Yan Valetov is not very well known to modern readers. At the same time, the author has published quite a few books, including the once popular «No Man’s Land» series about post-apocalyptic Ukraine, released in 2008. However, judging by Valetov’s past, his low popularity at home is not very surprising, since he was…
«Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology»: A must-read for technology fans. ITC.ua review
Humanity rarely thinks about, and often simply does not know, the crucial role of chips, which have actually created the modern world. The fate of entire countries, their past, present, and future positions in geopolitics are linked to chips and depend on their creation and printing, as well as on the extremely complex and expensive […]
«Stakhanov Movement» Roman Budanov: a detective fiction horror about Donbas. ITC.ua review
In our book reviews, there is a significant increase in the number of works by Ukrainian authors, and I really like it. Especially when I get my hands on a new cinematic sci-fi detective horror novel «Stakhanov Movement» by Roman Budanov, a current military man and former screenwriter. It is also a socio-cultural book about […]
«Witch King» Martha Wells: if you’re tired of standard fantasy. Review by ITC.ua
The American writer Martha Wells has repeatedly won the «Hugo», «Locus», and «Nebula» awards for her science fiction and fantasy novels. And although the author started strongly with fantasy, in Ukraine she is mostly known for her«Killerbot diaries» — space fiction about a humanized android. In 2023, the writer returned to her roots and…
«Tress of the Emerald Sea» Brandon Sanderson: a magical fairy tale for adults, or something more? ITC.ua review
In 2022, the popular American writer Brandon Sanderson launched a company on Kickstarter. The author wanted to publish four secret solo novels in his popular Cosmer universe, which he wrote during the COVID-19 pandemic. In one day, he raised $41.75 million (!), which set a new record for the platform, and went to prepare the […]
«Wolf Lands» by Natalia Zarudnyuk: Ukrainian «Witcher»? ITC.ua review
Contemporary Ukrainian literature continues to develop. Personally, I am pleased that we have young fantasy authors whose books definitely deserve to be read. I’m also glad that various Ukrainian publishing houses are increasingly taking on novice authors, and they are publishing more and more fantasy. Today we’re going to talk about…
«Daughter of the Deep» Rick Riordan: a new look at Jules Verne’s classic. ITC.ua review
American writer Rick Riordan is best known for his series of fantasy novels about the teenage demigod Percy Jackson. The author also has various series of books about teenagers and gods from other mythologies. But until recently, I did not know that he has a single novel outside the «Daughter of the Deep» series, dedicated […]
«Imaginary friend» Stephen Chbosky: Stephen King at his best. Review by ITC.ua
The American writer Stephen Chbosky is best known for his teenage novel «The Perks of Being a Wallflower» and its film adaptation of the same name, where the author was the screenwriter. In general, he is more involved in the film industry, writing screenplays, etc. But in 2019, the writer released his second book, «Imaginary […]
«Ghoulslayer» and «Gitslayer»: heroic, dark fantasy in the world of Warhammer. Review by ITC.ua
The Warhammer universe is very large. Of course, first and foremost, it is a series of board games, and only then come computer games, books, etc. Of particular note is a huge inter-author book series under the auspices of The Black Library — a division of Games Workshop that publishes everything related to Warhammer. In […]
«The Ritual» Adam Neville’s Ritual: when ancient horrors awaken. Review by ITC.ua
English writer Adam Neville is widely known in the West for his horror novels. Finally, his works have begun to be published in Ukraine. Thus, the publishing house «NK-Bogdan» has released his probably most popular horror book «The Ritual», and another work by the author is planned for this year. The novel has an atmospheric […]
«Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire»: the success story of a man and a company that changed the world. Review by ITC.ua
At the beginning of the year, we shared our impressions of a book on Amazon by authors Natalie Berg and Mia Knights called «Amazon and the future of e-commerce». It was a detailed study of the company’s successes from a business perspective, but there was almost no Jeff Bezos or company history in the classic […]
«Jarek’s World» Elia Barcelo: space social fiction «old school». ITC.ua review
The Ukrainian reader is probably not very familiar with Spanish literature. At least not in the genre of space fiction. I hope you know their wonderful contemporary writer Carlos Ruiz Safon, or at least Miguel de Cervantes, but the name of Elia Barceló will definitely not tell you anything. However, in 2024, the publishing house […]
«Kaidashev family vs. zombies» Oleksiy Dekan: the walking dead vs. Ukrainian classics. ITC.ua review
In the West, the mashup genre has been played with in literature for a long time. It is a combination of a work of classic literature with a variety of fantastic elements, assumptions, etc. Mashups became quite famous in the 2009 novel by American writer Seth Grahame-Smith «Pride and Prejudice and Zombies», which was made […]
«The Stranger Times» by Cam McDonnell. A British fantasy detective story that surprises and makes you laugh. ITC.ua review
British humor doesn’t go down well with everyone. Some people like it, and some don’t, but I think I know the formula for the exact success of books from Foggy Albion — mystery, supernatural, and detectives. And when all of this is combined in one book, and with quality humor, it’s hard to refuse. It […]
«Empty Graves» Taras Melnyk: a successful debut or a passable mystery detective? Review by ITC.ua
The «KSD» publishing house has released a debut mystery novel by a young Ukrainian writer Taras Melnyk. This is the creative pseudonym of a scientist and historian, and now a military man, Serhiy Tymofiyko. He has already published books before, but at first it was online literature, and then several paper editions, but as part […]
«Aurora Rising»: epic launch of a space opera or just a pretty cover? ITC.ua review
The first installment of the popular space opera series for young people «Aurora Rising», was published by «RM». Its authors, the Australian duo Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, have previously become famous in the West for their other series, The Illuminae Files. It’s not clear why they didn’t start translating it here, but it’s…
«Sea of Tranquility» Emily St. John Mandel: a fascinating chronofiction that you must read. ITC.ua review
There are a lot of novels about time travel, but somehow it happened that ITC.ua reviews almost never mentioned them. Only the recent «Recursion» Blake Crouch. So it’s time to make amends, especially since today we’re going to talk about «Sea of Tranquility» by Emily St. John Mandel from Vivat — one of the best […]
«The Right of the Strong» Konstantin Valde Ulyanov. A world ruled by power. Review by ITC.ua
Dark fantasy is a wonderful genre that, in my opinion, opens up this area of fiction with interesting and complex themes such as the ambiguity of Good and Evil and a realistic representation of human vices. I’m sure you know without me that there are incredible world-famous authors like Joe Abercrombie, George Martin, Andrzej Sapkowski,…
«Nhagas Who Extract Their Hearts» Lee Yondo: a bright fantasy with an Asian soul. Review by ITC.ua
We have already written about the trilogy of Asian fantasy «Sketches of steel» by Polish writer Arkady Saulsky. And now we have another fantasy story «Nhagas Who Extract Their Hearts» directly from Asia by the South Korean author Lee Yongdo. This is a series of four books, the first volume of which was published in […]
«The Heat Will Kill You First»: why heat will become the main enemy of humanity. Review by ITC.ua
It is probably best to read about the heat from June to August. In the summer of 2024, the sun was hotter than ever, and the temperature rose to record levels not only in Ukraine but all over the world. Nevertheless, the book «The Heat Will Kill You First» by «Bearded Tamarin» is worth reading […]
«Recursion» Blake Crouch: When Memory Changes the World. Review by ITC.ua
We have already told you about two science fiction novels by the famous American writer Blake Crouch «Dark Matter» and «Upgrade». And now let’s talk about the book that the author wrote right in between — this «Recursion» from the publishing house «RM». Once again, the reader is presented with Crouch’s signature fantasy and…
«The Puppet Masters» Robert Heinlein: a cult novel about aliens. ITC.ua review
The trend for body mountains turned out to be far from modern, as people wrote similar stories in the middle of the last century. For example, in his 1951 novel «The Puppet Masters», the prominent American writer Robert Heinlein created an Earth where slug aliens from Titan landed. They took over the human body by […]
“Symphony of the Road” by Oleg Karachevsky: a bicycle journey through the post-apocalypse. Review by ITC.ua
I don’t believe in fantasy collections these days, but there are more and more of them. We have already written about «Palimpsest» Charles Stross and now we’ve come to a collection by the Ukrainian author Oleh Karachevsky called «Symphony of the Road». Is it better than «Palimpsest»? Definitely not, but it would be strange and…
«Night House» Jo Nesbø: playing with reality and King’s motifs
Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø is widely known for his Scandinavian detectives and thrillers. But recently, he decided to play on the field of Stephen King and other authors who create fantastic horror stories. Jo Nesbø wrote «The Night House» — a mystical horror about a teenager set in a small town in the 1980s. I […]
«Black Phone» Joe Gill: short stories that leave a lasting impact. Review by ITC.ua
This year, Vivat Publishing House published a collection of short stories «Black Phone» by the famous American writer Joe Gill (son of Stephen King). This book was the first in his career and was published in 2005 under the title «Ghosts of the Twentieth Century». It brought the author fame and several serious awards, including […]
«Salem’s Lot» Stephen King: Is the horror classic still relevant half a century after its release?
On October 3, a new adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name «Salem’s Lot» was released on HBO Max. This is the fifth attempt to transfer the second novel by the King of Horror, which was published in 1975 after the famous work «Carrie». We will definitely have a review of this movie, […]
«Upgrade» Blake Crouch: is humanity ready for an upgrade? ITC.ua review
Recently, we told you about a science fiction thriller by the popular American author Blake Crouch «Dark Matter». We also have review of the series based on it. And today we’ll talk about the writer’s latest novel, and the last one at the moment, called «Upgrade», which was published by «RM». This is another classic […]
All Tolkien’s books in Ukrainian: from «The Silmarillion» and «The Lord of the Rings» to «Beren and Luthien» and biography of the writer
On August 29, Amazon Prime launched the second season of the controversial and ambiguous series «The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power». It takes place thousands of years before «The Hobbit» and «The Lord of the Rings» — in the Second Age. At that time, Sauron deceived the elves and created the rings […]
«Alphabet for Android» Alexei Dekan: a fantastic anthology about the relationship between humans and robots. Review by ITC.ua
Despite my skeptical attitude toward short story collections, there are more and more of them in the contemporary book world. And I’m only talking about the fiction genre, which is definitely experiencing a new wave of popularity in Ukraine. Just recently we wrote about the collection «Palimpsest» by the famous British writer Charles…
«All These Worlds Are Yours» John Willis: an interesting story about the search for life in the Universe. Review by ITC.ua
The search for extraterrestrial life is an important but so far fruitless endeavor. So it is not surprising that a lot of time, money, and research is devoted to this topic. We have recently talked about the book «Oceans outside the Earth» by Kevin Peter Hand from «Bearded Tamarind», and she explored the same question. […]
«Vengewar» by Kevin J. Anderson: a bright edition, dragons and epic dark fantasy. Review by ITC.ua
At the end of 2023, we wrote about the book «Dragon’s backbone» by American writer Kevin J. Anderson. This dark fantasy novel «under Tolkien» is part of the trilogy «Awaken the Dragon». Mediason Publishing has already released the second book, «Vengewar». It’s just as beautifully done, with detailed pictures, maps, and a cool…
«Cyberjunk. Neon Stories» Serhiy Pyltyai: Kyiv of the future, hackers and corporations. Review by ITC.ua
A few days ago, the winners of the Eurocon awards, the annual European science fiction convention, were announced in Rotterdam. There is also the «Crisalis» award, given to a writer or artist who has made a strong statement with their debut work. This year, along with other authors, it was awarded to Ukrainian author Serhiy […]
«Leap into the Abyss» by Andriy Voron: Ukrainian space opera with a Warhammer 40000 flavor. Review by ITC.ua
Young Ukrainian fiction is definitely flourishing and developing. Along with other Ukrainian publishers, «TUT» plays in this field and is doing very well. We have already written about «Synthesis» by Eliel Drake, which was published by the same publishing house. But if I had many questions about that book, I have almost no questions about…
«Dark Matter» Blake Crouch: a sci-fi thriller worth reading
Recently, the series «Dark Matter» was released on Apple TV+ streaming, and we already had a review of it review. This TV show is an adaptation of the science fiction novel of the same name by the famous American writer Blake Crouch. Of course, a book is always better than a TV series or movie […]
«Fighting Falcon. The History of the F-16»: A comprehensive story about the most popular military aircraft in the world
For several days now, news has been circulating on the Internet about the alleged appearance of an American F-16 in the sky over Ukraine. Every Ukrainian is waiting for this legendary «Fighting Falcon», without exaggeration, and hopes for a better future are associated with it. And there is a lot to look forward to, especially […]
«The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age»: how the most high-profile cyber attacks in history took place
For the past two and a half years, Ukrainians have been aware of cyber threats like no other. In addition to the full-scale war with the Russians, we are also fighting a cyber war. Something is always happening in the swamps: websites are down, important information is disappearing, services are breaking down, and entire systems […]
«Ruination: A League of Legends»: the first fantasy novel based on the famous MOBA game
League of Legends is one of the most popular esports games in the world. A few years ago, Riot Games, the game’s developers, successfully expanded the universe of their creation with the Netflix series «Arkane». And then there was the underrated «Players» about the life of the League of Legends esports team. It seems that […]
«Lighthouse» Vitaliy Dulenko: atmospheric mysticism with Ukrainian vibes
A novel by a young Ukrainian writer Vitaliy Dulenko, «Lighthouse», has been published by «KSD». Although the author is relatively well known for his works on the Internet, this is his first full-fledged publication, and with such a large publishing house. It’s great that we have new names, and it’s even better that young Ukrainian…
«Sketches of Steel» Arkady Saulsky: a trilogy of bloody combat fantasy with an oriental flavor
I don’t think we’ve ever had an Asian fantasy, and not just any fantasy, but a combat fantasy. The «Sketches of Steel» trilogy, which includes the novels «Red Lotus», «Lady Silence», and «Battle of the Immortals», is exactly that, but the main thing is different. It was written by a young Polish writer Arkadiusz Saulski,…
«Synthesis» Eliel Drake: post-apocalyptic cyberpunk from the Ukrainian author
Ukrainian fiction is alive and well and continues to grow. More and more new publishing houses and books are appearing, and one called «HERE» even specializes in young Ukrainian science fiction authors. For example, today we’re going to talk about the post-apocalyptic cyberpunk «Synthesis» by Eliel Drake (pseudonym). This is far from the…
«Agent to the Stars» John Scalzi: a book about first contact with aliens and love of cinema
We recently wrote about the cycle of «War of the old man» by the American writer John Scalzi. He has won three «Locus» awards, three «Hugo» awards, the John Campbell Award, and many other awards for his work, but today we will talk about Scalzi’s first novel, «Agent to the Stars». At the beginning of his […]
«Stone of Farewell» Ted Williams: a vivid continuation of the cult epic fantasy
We have already talked about «The Dragonbone Chair» — the first part of the cult saga «Memory, Grief, and Thorns» by the popular American writer Ted Williams. Now, the publishing house «A priori», where this series is published, has released the second volume of the series, titled «Stone of Farewell». As a reminder, these books […]
«Alien Oceans: The Search for Life in the Depths of Space» Kevin Peter Hand: a book about the difficulties of searching for extraterrestrial life
The ITC.ua Book Club welcomes readers and fans of literature once again. Today, we are not talking about «fiction» — we are going to talk about the popular science book «Alien Oceans: The Search for Life in the Depths of Space» by the famous American astrobiologist and planetary scientist Kevin Peter Hand. It was published […]
«I Am Legend» Richard Matheson. The cult post-apocalyptic novel about vampires
The fantasy genre of vampires, zombies, and apocalypse has been around for a long time, both in cinema and literature. Yes, from time to time, it changes and follows the fashion. Whether it’s the confrontation between werewolves and bloodsuckers against the backdrop of teenage love, or, again, a mysterious post-apocalypse with teenagers…
«Babel, or the Necessity of Violence» Rebecca Kwan: an alternative history fantasy about the power of words and the importance of language
Chinese-American writer Rebecca Kwan first made a splash with her fantasy trilogy «Poppy War», which won several prestigious literary awards and went viral on TikTok and YouTube. Then the author took on something experimental, darker and more serious and wrote the novel «Babel, or the Necessity of Violence». The book was on the top of The New…
PocketBook InkPad Color 3 review: a color screen reader for reading books, magazines, and drawings
After the release of the 7.8-inch reader PocketBook InkPad 4 PocketBook has introduced another model in a similar format, but with a color screen. This is the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 with an updated body, a fresh Kaleido 3 screen, serious water protection, a night theme, and other features of the latest models of the […]
«Chaos Walking» Patrick Ness: colonial sci-fi post-apocalypse on a distant planet
The British writer Patrick Ness is not very well known in Ukraine. At home, he is the winner of many prestigious awards and even several Carnegie Medals. Ness’s works have also become New York Times bestsellers more than once. But you’re probably familiar with his works in one way or another if you’ve seen the […]
«Holly» Stephen King: the king is back
The publishing house «KSD» has released a new novel by the cult American writer Stephen King «Holly». This is a separate story about Holly Gibney — one of the main characters of the trilogy «Mr. Mercedes», as well as the novel «The Outsider». I have already read this novelty, and below I share my impressions. […]
«Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disasters»: Can Nuclear Accidents Happen Again?
On this day, 38 years ago, an accident occurred at the fourth unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It was the largest man-made disaster in history and remains so. After that, Fukushima happened, and then the Russians came to ZNPP, the most powerful nuclear power plant in Europe. The recent shelling of Ukraine’s energy […]
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