Upstream Reviews' Best of 2023

Who gets a Golden Raygun this year?

Continuing a tradition we kicked off last year, the gang here at Upstream each chipped in their pick for some of their favorite titles they reviewed in 2023. Again, the book in question need not have been published this year, we simply have to have gotten around to it.

We wish to congratulate each of the authors who stood out among the crowded field of talent that comes through during the year. Keep putting out the stories that will eventually change the face of our culture.

Once again, without further ado, and in no particular order, we present our reviewer’s choices for the best books they reviewed in 2023. Support an author, give the finger to the tradpub cesspit and treat yourself to hours of entertainment; check out these titles!

Lord of a Shattered Land - Howard Andrew Jones

Upstream gave a lot of love to the New Edge Barbarian King this year; when word got around that his world of Hanuvar was getting a proper full-length five book series, we had to pick his brain about it, and of course when LoaSL hit, it didn’t disappoint.

In a nutshell: Legendary general Hanuvar Cabera’s city, family, and life was destroyed by the Dervan Empire. He spends his days in hiding, relying on the fact that most Dervans believe he fell when his beloved Volanis was finally razed. Hanuvar has every right to yearn for revenge. But what he really wants is to deliver his surviving countrymen out of bondage. Defeated but not broken, Hanuvar travels the known world and beyond, his life given new meaning with this one final campaign.

J.E. Tabor said: “Jones is not shy about where he draws his inspiration for Lord of a Shattered Land - He clearly states upfront that Hanuvar is a fantasy hero version of the great Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca, and the Dervan Empire is a stand-in for the Ancient Roman Republic. The world of Lord of a Shattered Land reflects that, there is a fantasy version of the Mediterranean, the Alps, of Carthage, Egypt, Gaul and so forth. If you are a student of history, you will notice plenty of echoes from our own world - the fantasy analogues to Scipio and Cato, references to ‘Carthago Delenda Est’ and even the catapulting of Hasdrubal Barca’s severed head into his brother’s camp.

Much like Robert E. Howard’s Hyperborian Age world, however, this version of the Classical Roman world features hideous monsters, scheming sorcerers, terrible curses and even rifts to other worlds beyond understanding. The weird and strange entities filling this book are too many to count, but some notables are skin-stealing shapeshifters, pain-devouring demons, and blood-drinking telepaths, all fitting into their own well-developed niches in the world of the novel.”

Nightland Racer - Fenton Wood

You want fantastical? Are you tired of tradpub borepunk catering to the micro-niche CalArt fetishes of some gender confused neurotic with purple hair? The subhead from Chris DiNote’s review of Nightland Racer is sure to resonate with you: “Most if not all the major mainstream imprints would have no idea what to do with this book, let alone have the guts to publish it.” Strap in.

In a nutshell: Reynard "The Fox" Douglas is, or was, the world’s greatest outlaw race car driver, so good that NASCAR became little more than a boring hobby. He got himself in trouble with the law, and in the process lost his career, his wealth, his family, his whole life, becoming a washed up drunk for his trouble. To say he has a problem with the U.S. government is an understatement.

Then one day, the President himself shows up on Douglas’ doorstep, to draft him for a world-saving mission. Douglas is the only man capable of piloting the ENLAV-AM, the Experimental Nuclear Land Vehicle, Antarctic Model. The ENLAV is the world’s ultimate supercar, capable of reaching supersonic speeds in a straight run.

The government needs him to drive the ENLAV headlong into the ominous “Zone.” The Zone, a misty other dimensional realm of shadowy monsters invading the real world, is slowly growing outward from the site of the 1945 Trinity atomic bomb tests. The Zone already encompasses hundreds of square miles and will someday engulf the entire world. Douglas’s task is to detonate a nuclear weapon at its heart and destroy the singularity believed to be its source. All previous attempts to explore and destroy the Zone have ended in failure and death.

Chris DiNote says: “Nightland Racer is an astounding “big idea” book. At first it deceives you into thinking that it’s just a straightforward alternate universe 1980s sci-fi-horror action movie homage, the low budget-direct to VHS-on the bottom shelf-at your local non-chain video rental store kind. On TV at 3:00 a.m. if you have basic cable.

However, the book is much more than that. Nightland Racer draws on themes of mythical America, the Cold War, ancient mythology and folklore, hard science, theoretical physics, and the Power of Engineering. It’s an exploration of a terrifying potential future, eldritch horror, and deep time.”

Deathbringer - Blake Carpenter

Blake Carpenter’s debut title made quite a splash around the indie scene. The revenge tale of a young woman whose husband is murdered when her wedding party is massacred by a ruthless noble’s soldiers in search of a legendary sword named Deathbringer caught the attention of SPFBO9, turning in a respectable showing in a talent-heavy field. His unique Russo-Tsarist inspired fantasy world ruled by matriarchs who don’t read as monodimensional girlbosses are exactly the breath of fresh air indie fiction should be offering.

In a nutshell: Inga Ivanova couldn’t be happier. She is about to marry her childhood sweetheart, Pyotr, and take up her rightful place on the collective farm as a wife and mother. Not even her own mother pulling her aside moments before the wedding begins to show her a magnificent sword and tell her a secret can ruin her big day.

Not until the First Daughter of Clan Avard rides up with her soldiers and, confirming Inga’s likeness to that of a noblewoman, orders her troops to kill everyone on the farm. Starting with Inga’s mother, Pyotr, and Inga herself.

Caroline Furlong says: “Those who like tales of revenge with protagonists who do not lose their humanity or become permanently obsessed by it will enjoy this book. Anyone who wants to see other cultures portrayed in new settings and new ways will find it entertaining as well. The novel should appeal to fantasy fans everywhere but particularly those interested in Slavic and Russian milieus, as the story has the air of Anastasia about it. Those who want a new twist on familiar tropes should find this story quite engaging.”

Fathomless Pursuit - Eric Kercher

Eric Kercher was one of the biggest out-of-left field surprises to come into our submissions inbox all year. His Patmos Sea Adventures series of steampunk seafaring novelettes are just the kind of adventures that could be set to capture the imaginations of young readers—if they were given the exposure they deserved. His inspiration for writing these novels is born from the same frustration many superversive and Iron Age authors feel, and his swashbuckling coming-of-age adventures reflect his desire to see great heroic stories told again.

In a nutshell: The book begins with our protagonist Christos, the First Mate of the Alopias, a submarine powered by quasi-mystical methods, being jolted out of bed with his crew frantic and alerting him to flooding. By the end of the first chapter, his captain is dead, run through by the dread pirate Diomedes, whose crew proceeds to board and loot the ship of most of its food stores. Christos, relatively young and inexperienced as a leader, must now rally his men to attempt to salvage their ship’s damaged power core and avoid starvation out at sea while trying not to let his lust for revenge blind him.

Michael Gallagher says: “Given Kercher’s past naval service and wistfulness for the return of golden age adventure fiction, it’s no surprise that the world in Fathomless blends equal parts Jules Verne, and Robert Louis Stevenson with a healthy dose of steampunk tech. Submarines are powered by otherworldly energy sources that power consoles with light up displays; gilded pirate subs board using cannon-fired grappling hooks with massive chains. Desolate islands with treacherously jagged coasts hide tunnels that make allow for dangerous but quick travel, and the glittering blue seas’ depths hide ancient behemoth dangers that blindly stalk for prey. The vividness of Kercher’s wild seas are only matched by the word economy he uses to bring them to life.”

Darkest Hour - Mark C. Jones

Prolific reviewer Graham Bradley has read close to 150 books this year (and talked about a fair amount of them on his YouTube channel) had this to say of the first entry into the “Tin Can Tommies” series: “Of the best I’ve reviewed, and of this year, the Venn Diagram gives me only one result:

In a nutshell: The eponymous “Tommies” are a squad of heavy robots originally sent into military duty in World War One. They saw action at the Somme. While they were somewhat effective, their development was expensive and protracted, so by the time the war ended there was no need to make more. The project was shelved and nearly forgotten.

Then World War Two broke out, Dunkirk happened, and suddenly England needed an army. That would take too long to assemble (thanks, Chamberlain) so Churchill decided on new tactics: needle Hitler wherever possible, slow him down, and hinder his ability to wage total war on the British Isles until they could commit real martial power to the fight.

And wouldn’t you know it, we’ve got this unit of dusty old robots lying around from WW1, maybe we can whip them into shape…

Graham Bradley says: :They have distinct enough personalities to tell them apart, while still being mechanical enough to seem not-quite-human. You get a little bit of the “Do I have a soul?” stuff from them, which I think is usually interesting to address in robot stories, but the author doesn’t waste too much time on that, which I appreciate.

Really though, the Tommies are subordinate to their human officers, Jack Stone and Billy Bragg, both survivors of Dunkirk who have to learn how to work with the idiosyncrasies of the robots. By the end, I really loved these characters. They were all well done and had meaningful motivations, including the robots. Their story is a fun romp through real historical events, culminating in a showdown between Morder and Jack Stone, with the robots dividing their loyalties along the way.”

Threading the Needle - Monalisa Foster

Caroline Furlong’s review of the now just-released Threading the Needle gets dense quickly. Monalisa Foster’s novel of a former sniper who buys her freedom out of indentured servitude and starting a new life as a firearms instructor on the island of Tatarka. She’s barely unpacked in her new home when she quickly becomes embroiled in criss-crossing intrigues between old colonial families, corporate meddling and a slumbering threat that could wipe out the entire planetary food chain.

In a nutshell: Talia Merritt, a former sniper who lost her arm and now has a prosthetic replacement for it, became an indentured servant for seven years on the planet of Goruden, where she worked as a bodyguard. Having finally earned the money to buy her freedom, when a call comes in for a firearms instructor on the island of Tatarka, she leaves the city of Sakura and goes to answer the advertisement.

But all is not as it seems, and Signore Ferran Contesti’s advertisement was less than truthful. Talia learns this when her old friend, Lyle Monroe, meets her in the Full Moon bath house while she is relaxing after a month’s worth of travel to get to Tatarka and the town of Tsurui. Lyle is the local sheriff appointed by the Tsurui residents to deal with Contesti, who is trying to buy out or destroy the first settlers in Tsurui and is making life miserable for the other locals.

So much for the relaxing bath – and the remainder of Talia’s funds.

Caroline Furlong says: “Readers who enjoy space opera, space westerns, and fans of Firefly will LOVE this book. Western aficionados will especially appreciate it, particularly if they liked the John Wayne film El Dorado, which helped to inspire Threading the Needle. This is the type of space opera and western once ubiquitous in pop culture and which could stand to be resurrected, so those who want that type of tale to return to the wider culture would do well to pick up this book. Fans of Leigh Brackett will also love the book for paying homage to the queen of science fiction, and anyone who wants a pulse-pounding adventure is sure to like the increasing tension as the story rushes to its conclusion. The novel is absorbing and makes one quickly forget the outside world, so for those looking for even a little respite from the present, Threading the Needle is a good place to find it.”

Ridiculum - J. Ishiro Finney

Equal parts top-tier golden era pulp anthology and work of historical preservation, this first entry into 01 Publishing’s Immortal Classics line deserves to establish itself as a seminal single-volume introduction to the some of the greatest selections of the genre’s early roots.

In a nutshell: Ridiculum is a labor of love from J. Ishiro Finney, author of the Casefile Arkham series and co-host of the Wordcraft podcast. It’s an easily-read collection of 14 short stories from the lighter side of pulp’s golden age featuring works from the likes of H.L. Gold, Harry Harrison and Phillip K. Dick. It’s not only a wonderful introduction for those curious about golden era pulp, it’s a thoughtfully fleshed-out work of preservation that longtime fans will appreciate as well.

Michael Gallagher says: “I really must laud the efforts of Finney here. Looking to give a good introductory collection for newcomers to pulp, he dug through the offerings on Archive.org and Project Gutenberg on the hunt for stories.

However, in many cases, what Finney found were corrupted text files that read like barely-discernible gibberish, or had to transcribe stories verbatim when the only records available were scanned pages. Despite these hurdles, he made the effort to reproduce the work faithfully for 01’s Immortal Classics Line, which will be publishing other themed collections of classic pulp work. The book is truly, a delight. Finney’s choices of entries are superb, with stories whose humor holds up nearly a century later.”