Review – We Burned So Bright

Posted July 9, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 3 Comments

We Burned So Bright

by TJ Klune

Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 169
Rating: two-stars

Synopsis:
Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they’ve experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world.

Now, the world is ending for real. A wandering blackhole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they’ve ever known will be gone.

Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They’re in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it’s all over.

On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how–impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals, new friends.

And as the blackhole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough.

Is it enough to burn bright if nothing comes from the ashes?

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I didn’t really read much about this novella before requesting it on Netgalley, because I’ve enjoyed TJ Klune’s books in the past. The concept is basically that two elderly gay men are travelling on a road trip during the end of the world to do something they feel they have to do, which isn’t completely revealed at first.

Sadly, I felt that it wasn’t very well written, overall. There were infodumps, the various different encounters and epiphanies they had were fairly predictable, and so was the object of their journey. I had only one doubt about exactly what it would be (which I won’t say in case I spoil it for someone else!) but that didn’t really feel like much to hold on for.

More than anything, the concept felt a little goofy. A black hole is going to eat the Earth, really? It doesn’t feel at all realistic, and I get that it’s not meant to actually convince me that it’s going to happen or is likely, but it felt like even Klune wasn’t totally committing to it, to me. He tried to figure out how people would act, and that part isn’t bad, but I think he’d have been more confident and avoided that goofy feel by picking something less… uncertain in details. A meteor would’ve worked better in most ways, apart from the mystical stuff that snuck in toward the end.

Overall, pretty weak tea, to my mind. Klune usually writes sentimentality quite well, but it didn’t come off here, maybe because the details were so weak.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

Tags: book reviews, books, SF/F, TJ Klune

Review – The House in the Cerulean Sea

Posted December 2, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.J. Klune

If you’re looking for a feel-good book right now, then this is a solid one to choose. It starts off with Linus Baker, the main character, finishing up his inspection of an orphanage for magical children. No sooner is he back from that than he’s handed a bigger task, a highly classified task, to go to an orphanage he’s never even heard of to check on the welfare of some very unique children. Lucy, for one — guess what that’s short for?

I say it’s a feel-good book, but it’s not always: Linus Baker works for DICOMY, which supervises magical children. All magical beings must be registered and monitored, and though Linus cares deeply about the welfare of the children in the orphanages he inspects, he might be the only member of DICOMY who does for all we can tell. It’s a dystopic world, and one that’s not a far cry from our own: “See something, say something” is a recognisable slogan that also haunts the book.

The reason it’s a feel-good book is that Linus is a good person. A very ordinary person in many ways, but one who cares deeply. He tries not to sacrifice his objectivity, and sometimes it’s hard, but he genuinely tries to do his best for the children he oversees… and pretty much everyone he meets. That makes him the right caseworker for Marsyas, a rather unique orphanage, holding unique and troubling children. Talia, a female gnome; Phee, a powerful young sprite; Chauncey, a protean creature of unknown origin; Sal, a shapeshifter with a history of being abused; Theodore, a wyvern with a penchant for buttons… and Lucy, short for Lucifer, and yes, it means that Lucifer. Not to mention Mr Parnassus, the master of the orphanage.

As you’d more or less expect, Linus quickly finds himself losing objectivity, feeling incredible tenderness for the children and concern for them. He also quickly comes to like their caretakers, Mr Parnassus, and the island’s resident sprite, Zoe. He accidentally becomes part of their family, standing up for them against prejudiced villagers, and coaxing the children to come out of their shells — even coaxing Mr Parnassus to give them a little more freedom, rather than protect them too closely.

In terms of the plot, it is predictable, but what’s satisfying is just watching Linus be a good man, and watch him figure out what he needs to do, and where he wants to be. The fact that I found it was predictable didn’t make it a whit less lovely. I shan’t say any more about it, because there are some surprises, and they’re worth it.