August 9, 2019
Three celebrity deaths rooted me in my own mortality. I will never forget where I was when these passings were announced. I mourned my childhood and young adulthood and thanked The Universe that these artists ever existed and left behind bodies of works that we could continue to enjoy. However, this most recent journey into immortality hit me hard. I felt this…
August 9, 2019
Bonjour mes amies, comment allez-vous? Die Sommer geht weiter. 暑いですね。Gobeithio eich bod yn iach. Isn’t language a marvelous thing? Today we’re taking a look at works of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror from around the world that have been translated for a variety of audiences (at Speculative Chic, we’re focusing on English translations). International works are having a moment, with streaming…
August 8, 2019
Another year, another installment in J.L. Gribble’s urban fantasy/alternate history series! Speculative Chic’s resident Marvel Cinematic Universe fangirl-in-chic is taking a break from obsessing over all the new MCU Phase 4 news to share her latest book, Steel Shadows. This looks different from anything else in the series so far, but if you like a dose of weird with your fantasy,…
August 8, 2019
Midnight Blue-Light Special (2013) Written by: Seanan McGuire Genre: Urban Fantasy Length: 10 hours and 56 minutes (Audiobook) Series: InCryptid (Book #2) Publisher: Audible Studios Why I Chose It: I am staff on a new speculative media convention called MultiverseCon (shameless plug! Come visit us in Atlanta in October!). Seanan McGuire is our Author Guest of Honor, which I’m super-excited about.…
August 7, 2019
The Affair of the Mysterious Letter (2019) Written by: Alexis Hall Genre: Fantasy Pages: 350 (Kindle) Publisher: Ace Why I chose it: I’m a big fan of Hall’s Prosperity series. I like the way Hall can write characters full of outlandish and oversized personalities, and create a weird world for his characters to run amok in. I’ve been waiting eagerly…
August 6, 2019
For better or worse, I’ve been bingeing a lot of television lately. Not all of it is speculative fiction: I could drone on for hours about how absolutely amazing HBO’s mini-series Chernobyl is, or how refreshing it was to see True Detective get back on track in season three, but that’s not what you’re here for. I’ve already discussed the…
August 5, 2019
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with J.L. Gribble, whose latest book, Steel Shadows, comes out on…
August 3, 2019
Welcome back, denizens of geek! We’ve got another Roundup in store for you, with all the best of spec this week! I’m quivering with antici… …pation, so let’s cut the usual goofy intro and jump right in!
August 2, 2019
I am so excited! This year, for my resolution project, I’m rewatching the Star Wars franchise. I chose it because I love Star Wars, and I thought it would be fun to re-watch the movies in order of release date, with perhaps a bit more of a critical and appreciative eye than I have before. This month’s installment: Star Wars: The Clone Wars…
August 1, 2019
The Magicians (2009) Written by: Lev Grossman Theme: Magical Schools! Discussion Date: Friday, August 30th The Premise: The New York Times bestselling novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world, now an original series on SYFY: “The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea…. Hogwarts was never…