Tag: Bounty Inc

My Favorite Non-Crime Fiction of 2025

On January 8, 2026

In Fantasy, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, News/Misc., Science Fiction

Covers of The Goblin Emperor, Light from Uncommon Stars, Anxious People, A Drop of Corruption, Five Broken Blades, Dogged, Mushroom Blues, Bounty Inc., The Price of Power, My Documents, and The Amazing Twin Chicken Freedom Fighters, next to an image of an anthropomorphized Pilcrow and the words 'My Favorites of 2025 Other Than Crime-Fiction'
Back when I started this site, I knew the content would be largely “genre”-oriented. I’d have wagered the content would be roughly 1/3 Mystery/Detective fiction, 1/3 Urban Fantasy, and slightly less than 1/3 SFF, with “non-genre” fiction, humor, and non-fiction being enough to make my one-thirds just an approximation (honestly, if you asked me what I read regularly, that’s pretty much how I’d describe it today). Actual numbers show that’s wrong—it’s typically almost 40% Crime/Thriller Fiction, the rest of fiction is around 30% combined. This is just a long-winded way to get to these two points: because Crime Fiction takes such a big chunk of my reading, it gets its own “Favorite” list, but none of the others really garner enough numbers for their own. This year, however, the numbers are a bit more even gross-genres, but…the practice has been set. We’ll see what next year brings.

When it comes to this particular list of favorites this year, I just couldn’t get lower than 11 (I’m thankful I made it lower than 24). But as this is a catch-all, I figure I can be a little loose with the numbers. So here’s my list of 11 favorite non-Crime Fiction Novels of 2024. Hopefully, you will find something here to tempt you.

As always, re-reads don’t count—only the works that were new to me.

(in alphabetical order by author)

The Goblin Emporer

by Katherine Addison

To say I was daunted by the incredibly detailed pronunciation guide and information about names before the novel is to put it mildly, but that went away almost immediately. This is a wonderful work–such an intricate web of courtly manners and rules (written and unwritten), a murder plot, a coup or two, and some geeky engineers. Okay, that’s a bad way to try to describe this. I read this a couple of months ago, and already want to re-read it. Once I got into this novel I didn’t want to leave.

Light from Uncommon Stars

by Ryka Aoki

Words fail me as I try to talk about this contemporary Fantasy about a woman whose way out of a Faustian bargain depends on her damning others. And it turns out that I really liked this woman, and hoped she’d get that last soul. Just not the one she’s decided to use to fulfill the bargain, because this one should be protected and nurtured. Oh, and there’s a bunch of aliens on the run from an intergalactic conflict.

This book made me happy–it delighted me in the description of music, in fact. It broke my heart. It made me tense. It filled me with hope. There might be books on the lists this week that are better technically, but I’m not sure any of them worked on my heart the way that this one did.

Anxious People

by Fredrik Backman

Of this books that made me laugh this year, this is probably in the top 3. It’s also the book that probably made me think of fatherhood more than any other. And marriage. And all the ways we can let each other down, and the hope that exists for the next time when we don’t.

It’s Backman, so you know he’ll be funny. You know he’ll tug at your heartstrings. You know he’ll make you think. He does that, and more–because he throws in some small town cops, a bank robbery that went wrong, and a bunch of hostages. If I stopped reading after this one in February, I’d have called 2025 a good year for reading (although I’d have been so bored for the remaining 10 months, it’s good I didn’t).

A Drop of Corruption

by Robert Jackson Bennett

My original post
This is simply a perfect follow-up to The Tainted Cup–new strangeness to explore in this world, new depravities to be seen, new political machinations to watch, new opportunities for Ana Dolabra’s brilliance (and strange way of seeing the world) to shine–yet entirely of a piece with the first book. A Drop of Corruption is another fantastic mystery/fantasy hybrid. Like so many of the others on this list, superlatives fail me.

Five Broken Blades

by Mai Corland

I love the set-up to this book–a bunch of killers of varying in strengths and modus operandi are brought together for one joint-job. And one of them is a traitor. And the reader doesn’t know (but we can guess, and will) who the traitor is, why they’re doing it and more.

I liked this one so much that I bought the hardcovers for the rest of the trilogy right after finishing. I never do that.

I’ve seen some criticisms of the work–and some of them have merit. But while I was reading it? I was so taken in that I didn’t notice any of them. And now? I don’t care about any of the criticism, I had so much fun with this book that you could tell me that I’m the only one in the world who likes it and I’d be fine with it. (I’d also know you were lying, but that’s okay)

Dogged

by Michael R. Fletcher

This is a violent, grisly novel about an empire on the brink of ruin–and the devastation this wreaks on the populace. It is also one of the most heartwarming tales I’ve read this year about loyalty, determination, and doing what’s right for those important to you.

The central character just might be the character of the year for me–she embodies so much of what I love in a noble warrior character.

This book made my month in December–and I read a lot of books that I really enjoyed. But while I was reading this one, almost everything I’d read last year paled in comparison (including every other item on this list).

It sucks you in, it tells a perfect story in an almost perfect way–and makes you want more. I don’t want a sequel, it’s a wonderful stand-alone. I just want a half-dozen books just like it.

Mushroom Blues

by Adrian M. Gibson

My original post
A Police Procedural set in a world with Earth-like technology and laws. However, it’s inhabited with humans and a sapient, humanoid, fungal species. Basically, humanoid Mushrooms. It’s hard to explain.

The mystery/police procedural part of this was great. The alternate world was outstanding. The worldbuilding is top-notch. The primary and secondary characters were drawn so wonderfully. The motives for the crimes (and the crime fighting) were complex and messy—and almost entirely understandable. The genre-hybrid of this feels entirely natural to an extent that you can almost wonder why anyone hasn’t been approaching these genres in a similar fashion for decades.

Gibson’s scheduled to get a sequel out this year. I’m going to be at the front of the line for it.

Bounty Inc.

by Adam Holcombe

My original post
This book is a space opera/SF adventure. With intrigue, action, strangeness, betrayal, and more. It’s what you expect from this kind of book—and it delivers that well. But I can also describe it as a wholesome, found family, cozy-ish, feel-good novel at its core. With an earnest spirit that reaches every corner of the book.

Satisfying on several levels. Fantastic action. Strange alien species. And entertaining on every page.

The Price of Power

by Michael Michel

My original post
I read four books this year that I might have described as “one of my favorite fantasy novels” at one point. It’s a hotly competitive rank apparently. This is one of those. And that thumbnail review is still true.

This is a gritty, intense read following four primary characters (and a couple of others nearby each of them). The world it sets up and introduces us to is teetering on the brink of civic upheaval and all-out war. And something tells me those’ll be the easier problems to deal with. Book three releases in a couple of weeks not and my anticipation level is high.

My Documents

by Kevin Nguyen

My original post
This is a timely work about the complete internment of Vietnamese-Americans following some terrorist strikes. It is chilling. It’s occasionally joyful (usually as a precursor something utterly absent of joy, but also as a reminder of its importance).

This is a powerful, haunting, (purposefully) uncomfortable read that will also charm you. It’s been residing in a corner of my mind since I read it, and I keep almost making references to it when talking to others about current events as if it’s something in our shared cultural moment. It’s impact is going to last a while in my mind–and I’d recommend you let it impact yours, too.

The Amazing Twin Chicken Freedom Fighters

by Zephaniah Sole

My original post
This is either brilliant or the ravings of a madman. Possibly both.

It is absurd in every way. It’s hilarious on several levels–from very low-brow to philosophical riffs. Sole plays with narrative, meaning, reality…and I don’t know what all, really. If I was pursuing some sort of English degree right now, I’d be using this (and the promised sequel) as the foundation for a few papers.

It can also be read as twisted fun–you’d be missing a lot, but you’d have a great time.

A few books that almost made this list and I want to be sure to mention:
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler, The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman, Bones & Betrayals: Silence of the Dead by Andi Ewington & Erica Marks, Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon by Mathew Norman, Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by Jason Pargin, and How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler.

Bounty Inc. by Adam Holcombe: Because Bounty Hunters Are Cool

By HCNewton

On October 13, 2025

In Fiction, Science Fiction

Bounty Inc.

by Adam Holcombe

DETAILS:
Series: Bounty Inc., #1
Publication Date: October 15, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 684 pg. 
Read Date: September 24-26, 2025

What’s Bounty Inc. About?

Wyn Kelda was raised in a privileged way, by a super-wealthy father to be part of his family’s business. And then when his father died, he threw that all away. He sold the company and used the proceeds to start a new venture. The galaxy’s first conglomerate of bounty hunters. He wants to take as many of the lone-wolves he can and turn them into a team—a team that can act independently as they desire, or can pool their abilities for other jobs.

There are some things standing in his way—beyond the idea, he doesn’t really know how to pull this off. He’s also so green at this kind of thing that Kermit would say, “As not-easy as it is for me being green, you’re helpless.”* He also wants to be in the field, not just the CEO. So he needs to be trained.

He recruits an experienced hunter to help him on both fronts—who takes the job for an easy check, believing this a doomed endeavor. But her presence helps recruit some great hunters, and his naiveté gets them some…interesting choices with promise.

* That was a much-zippier sentence in my head.

And well, the rest of the book traces the company over its first (only?) year of operation. His initial investment can only carry them for so long. Can they turn a profit? Can they form a team? Do they actually want to? Will they get an excuse to fire off the slag cannon they con Wyn into buying? These questions and more will be answered in Bounty Inc.

The Various and Sundry Alien Species

One of the areas that comics and (especially) short stories/novels have been superior to TV/Film is that the latter are usually restricted to humanoid appearing aliens, and the former aren’t. Holcombe takes advantage of this—while keeping plenty of humanoids around. He also plays with scale of beings, too. Yes, most of the group are humanoid-ish, but they all present in different ways.

Wyn is a human—and was raised in an almost total human environment, so other species are things he’s aware of, but he only has the most surface-level understanding of them. This makes him the perfect POV character for most of the book—as he encounters species for the first time, we can react to and understand these representatives through him encountering them in a non-theoretical way. When he’s freaked out—we know we should be (and probably would be in person), when he’s agog, we get the signal to be, too.

This works so much better in this context than someone meeting “just another X” and then having to info dump for the reader about X. Not that can’t be done well (and isn’t all the time), but for this story, Wyn’s reactions really enable us to understand him and the people we’re going to encounter in the series.

This goes beyond appearances, I should stress. These species are really diverse, with individual cultures, governments, and traditions. Most of the assembled team understand each other (particularly those with shared histories), but there’s still a bit of foreignness to everyone. A coming together understanding that everyone’s a little strange. Even the two humans have different-enough experiences that they’re foreign to each other (and not just because of the student-mentor relationship).

This isn’t (as is often the case), Character A is a representative of Species B, and all of B are pretty much the same as Character A—that’s true to a degree for some of these characters, but some of these are outliers—even outcasts. I love this particular kind of troupe—in SF, in Fantasy, even in Urban Fantasy.

The Tone

This book has two tones at its core—two that some people would tackle in a way to make the book feel disjointed, but Holcombe’s better than that. This book is a space opera/SF adventure. With intrigue, action, strangeness, betrayal, and more. It’s what you expect from this kind of book—and it delivers that well.

However, this is Adam Holcombe, who is best known (at least today) for his Gam-Gam series, which is a wholesome, found family, cozy-ish, feel-good fantasy series. And that’s what this book is at its core—Wyn is looking for a family, while also wanting be an action hero amongst action heroes. This business venture is simply the best way he knows to get it. You can tell that from the start (even if he doesn’t know it)—and that earnest spirit reaches every corner of the book, for good or ill (I only include the “or ill” to be thorough, and because some won’t want it in this story). Firefly springs to mind as a good example of this kind of vibe, but it’s overused. So I won’t. Maybe think Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, or later seasons of most ST series.

I do think you could successfully argue the other—that this is a wholesome feel-good SF book with an action novel at its core, but I don’t want to.

And there’s plenty of humor, too. Not Red Dwarf, Hitchhiker’s Guide, or Epic Failure levels of humor. But, you’ll smile enough.

The Action Scenes

Speaking of the action/battle/combat scenes—whatever you want to call them. Boy howdy, these are about as far from cozy as you could want/ask for. “About” being an important word. Holcombe isn’t Pierce Brown or Joe Abercrombie (sorry, I’m blanking on SF authors at the moment).

Obviously, there’s some decent action in his Gam-Gam books, but those aren’t the same kind of thing. But we do know that Holcombe is capable of them. What we get here is barely even the same species.

This is true throughout—but especially in the last two climactic battles. I’m trying to be vague here, you’ll need to read the book to really get what I’m saying here. There’s one battle that most of the Bounty Inc. team is in, and there’s another. Both are vastly important and both are on different scales—seeing them back to back is a real treat and showcase for Holcombe. Both go on for far longer than I expected—an observation, not a complaint—and keep the tension going throughout. Almost every time you think you know how things are going to play out, you will find yourself wrong, and will be pleased.

These scenes are a great way to reveal character, to help us understand things that were hinted at (or more) in a very clear way. You can easily see why some of these hunters were successful on their own. You get a really good idea of how they can work together. At the same time, you get to enjoy some really kick-ass fight scenes filled with cool SF tech.

Holcombe shows off a whole new side of his skills here, and you’ll be left waiting for more examples of it.

So, what did I think about Bounty Inc.?

This reads like someone who watched the bounty hunter scene in The Empire Strikes Back and never got over it. Wyn himself says at least once “Bounty Hunters are cool.” Please note, that I have yet to fully get over that scene myself, so there’s no shade there. I had most of the action figures, too.

And yes, Bounty Hunters are cool—particularly the fictional ones. It’s hard not to have a fun time reading (or probably writing) this kind of thing.

While reading the book, I said something online about Holcombe fans becoming bigger fans by the 20% mark (if not earlier) of this book. The next 20% of this book was better yet. And the rest? Dude.

Is the big romantic arc entirely predictable? Yes. Is it effective, sweet, and wholly satisfying? Yup. Will you get gut-punched by what happens to some of these characters? Yup. (I didn’t say it was cozy, I said it had that heart, bad things happen). Will you cheer at parts of the action? Yes. Will you be dismayed by some of the twists? Yup. Will you want this pretty long book to be longer? YUP. Will you think about camping out in Holcombe’s backyard until the next book is ready? I sure think so (I gave him enough warning that there’s likely a protection order in place, so I won’t).

For all the good things I’ve said above, I don’t think I’ve done a good job of articulating the strengths of this book. I think I’ve captured my enthusiasm, but not the particulars. Which rankles me—but without breaking down key scenes or something, I don’t think I can. There are solid, solid reasons to be enthusiastic about this book on a micro-level as well as on a macro-level, or even just vibes.

I don’t doubt that this is going to end up as one of my favorite reads of the year. It comes out later this week, so you still have a chance to pre-order and be cool. Or, be a timely/late adopter. Regardless, just get your hands on this.

5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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Cover Reveal: Bounty Inc by Adam Holcombe

By HCNewton

On September 15, 2025

In Science Fiction

I’m very pleased today to welcome the Cover Reveals for Adam Holcombe’s upcoming Bounty Inc! Because SF about intergalactic bounty hunters is just what you expect after couple of books about a grandmotherly necromancer, right? Eh, maybe not…but I’m game for pretty much anything he puts out.

I’ll show you this cover below, but first let’s learn a little bit about the book and author, shall we? It’ll just take a moment, and then we can all take a peak at the cover.

About the Book:

A dream lives on while a will is strong, but a significant inheritance from a recently-deceased father sure helps too.

When Wyn throws away his easy life to open the galaxy’s first bounty hunter organization and become a bounty hunter himself, he soon learns that a strong support system will be needed. A support system like an unwise mentor, her giant lizard ex-girlfriend, a woman trapped within her armor, a suspicious cyborg, a possible war criminal, several thousand beetles, and a ten-year-old insectoid with a pet.

Money is never endless, however, and Wyn will need to lead his new friends down a dangerous path to prove Bounty Inc.’s worth and keep his dream alive.

Book Links:

Amazon Preorder ~ Direct Signed Bundle Preorder ~ ARC Request Form

About the Author

Adam Holcombe daylights as a programmer and moonlights as an author. After spending years toying with the idea of writing, he decided to commit and work toward releasing his first novel. Then Gam Gam got in the way, and now he’s writing too many stories to count.

When he’s not locking himself in a cold basement to type away, he can be found squishing his dog (but not too hard), squawking at his tortoise (but not too loudly), goofing off with his wife and daughter (in perfectly ordinary, non-weird ways), playing D&D with friends (I’m playing a character now!), or the usual chilling at home. He is a lover of books, board games, video games, and swords.

He is the author of the Chronicles of Gam Gam series featuring the titular necromantic grandmother Gam Gam, and the Bounty Inc. universe which will be a collective of sci-fi novels spanning a galaxy. You can find out more about both series, along with future publishing news, and additional book content at bountyink.com. Onto the next one!

Author Links:

Bluesky ~ Discord ~ Patreon ~ Instagram ~ TikTok ~ Goodreads

and now…

The Cover

The Complete Cover Wrap:

Click to embiggen either image. And why wouldn’t you want to see them in their complete glory?

Kudos to these fine folk for their work on this eye-grabber:
Cover Art by Kerstin Espinoza Rosero
Cover design by VM Design

I was in from the words “by Adam Holcombe.” I’d pre-ordered the book as soon as I could, actually. The blurb sealed the deal (but I’m pretty sure I read it after I ordered). That cover is just icing on the cake for me–very attractive icing, I should add.

Go and do the right thing–place your orders now.

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