A Wasteland Of My God's Own Making by Bradley P Beaulieu

Here is the latest Shattered Sands novella from Mr Beaulieu and, as usual, it's a really good, immersive tale and features one of the side characters from his main series.

This time around it is the story of Djaga, an awesome pit fighter on the edge of retirement and looking forward to a life with her partner. Nothing is straightforward though and when a face from Djaga's past appears the story of how she became the person she is now is revealed.

This is a tale of love and loss, Gods and mortals and, ultimately, how far will you go when all you love is threatened.

To say this is only a novella it feels like there is a hell of a lot of story here. As always Beaulieu paints a wonderful world with his words. The desert city of Sharakai is almost a character in itself while the actual characters feel really alive, each with their own accents and ways.

And then there's the action sequences...and man does this guy know how to write 'em. Both the fighting in The Pits and the scenes in the desert (I'm really trying to avoid spoilers here so sorry if this is a bit vague) are about as visual as you can get on the written page.

Of you haven't read the Shattered Sands books yet I strongly advise you look them up and if you have then you probably don't need me to tell you to go pick up this one when it is published (not long now)