Coming Soon to a Blog Near You: The Speculative Chic Book Club! (Redux)

We came, we saw, and we lost steam. It’s nobody’s fault, really, that our first attempt at launching a book club didn’t gather a crowd. But I am nothing if not persistent, so I sat down with our previous book club moderator, Merrin, and we hashed out what we could do differently in the future. And we were both, if you’ll forgive the pun, on the exact same page.

So you know how book clubs operate in the real world? You’ve got a group of readers, and each person takes turns every month hosting the club at their home? Well, how could we take that particular concept and translate it to Speculative Chic?

And then it hit us: why should one person have all the fun coming up with titles for us to read? What if the various writers of Speculative Chic volunteered to host each month? Each host would pick a title they are jonesing to read, and we’d join them for their dedicated month. This way, we’re exposed to different readers’ tastes in speculative fiction!

So with that in mind, on January 1st, 2020, we will be relaunching the Speculative Chic Book Club!  Each month, you’ll have a different host selecting the title and leading the discussion. And just to make sure you have plenty of time to get your hands on the selections, let alone enough time to read them, we’re announcing the first three months now. Are you ready?

January

This is How You Lose the Time War (2019)
Written by: Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Genre: Science Fiction/Time Travel
Host: Shara White

Discussion Date: 01/31/2020

Why Shara Picked It: I couldn’t very well kick off the revamped Book Club without setting the tone, could I? Oh, you mean you want to know why I picked the book! The title alone caught my eye from the very start, and when I read the premise, I was immediately attracted to the idea of two time-traveling agents from opposite sides of a war falling in love. Forgive me, for I have read To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and I’m a sucker for a great time-traveling romance. I really, really hope this fits the bill.

The Premise:

Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters — and fall in love in this thrilling and romantic book from award-winning authors Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

In the ashes of a dying world, Red finds a letter marked “Burn before reading. Signed, Blue.”

So begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents in a war that stretches through the vast reaches of time and space.

Red belongs to the Agency, a post-singularity technotopia. Blue belongs to Garden, a single vast consciousness embedded in all organic matter. Their pasts are bloody and their futures mutually exclusive. They have nothing in common — save that they’re the best, and they’re alone.

Now what began as a battlefield boast grows into a dangerous game, one both Red and Blue are determined to win. Because winning’s what you do in war. Isn’t it?

A tour de force collaboration from two powerhouse writers that spans the whole of time and space.

February

The Atrocities (2018)
Written by: Jeremy C. Shipp
Genre: Gothic Fantasy/Horror
Host: Kristina Elyse Butke

Discussion Date: 2/28/2020

Why Kristina Picked It: Ghost stories and haunted houses are my absolute favorites in horror, so I actively seek them out. But due to the quirks of my brain and the busyness of everyday life, I don’t have the focus to read books of standard or more length. I’ve been busy reading novellas and short stories for the last decade or so. When Tor.com started releasing their novellas in paperback, I bookmarked several of them, and that’s how I found The Atrocities. Gorgeous cover, interesting premise (twisted human-like statues in a maze? YES!), and a manageable page count all cinched it for me. Plus, I follow Shipp on Twitter and his feed is absolutely a gem: “I don’t know who needs to hear this but a diorama exists depicting your life at this very moment, being viewed by a dozen pale monstrosities in a chthonian cavern,” or “I don’t know who needs to hear this but every time you fall asleep, a giant maggot with human arms pantomimes everything you forgot to do when you were awake.” I feel like more people need to see what he puts out into the world, so that’s why I chose him for our Book Club.

The Premise:

Jeremy Shipp brings you THE ATROCITIES, a haunting gothic fantasy of a young ghost’s education…

When Isabella died, her parents were determined to ensure her education wouldn’t suffer.

But Isabella’s parents had not informed her new governess of Isabella’s… condition, and when Ms Valdez arrives at the estate, having forced herself through a surreal nightmare maze of twisted human-like statues, she discovers that there is no girl to tutor.

Or is there…?

March

An Illusion of Thieves (2019)
Written by: Cate Glass
Genre: Fantasy Adventure
Host: Kendra Merritt

Discussion Date: 3/27/2020

Why Kendra Picked It: Look at that cover. So gorgeous. Also, I’ve been in love with the idea of illegal magic and hidden sorcerers ever since Merlin, and Six of Crows has me craving fantasy heist stories. So this seemed a natural choice since it looks kind of like an illegal magic meets Ocean’s Eleven. But aside from the more visible reasons to be intrigued… Cate Glass is Carol Berg’s new pen name (new publisher + new series format = new pen name). Carol could write a how-to book on underwater basket weaving and I’m sure I’d find it riveting. Clearly I’m going to read it and history indicates I’ll want the next one handy. Since the sequel is coming out a month before the discussion, the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

The Premise:

A ragtag crew with forbidden magic must pull off an elaborate heist and stop a civil war in An Illusion of Thieves, a fantasy adventure from Cate Glass.

In Cantagna, being a sorcerer is a death sentence.

Romy escapes her hardscrabble upbringing when she becomes courtesan to the Shadow Lord, a revolutionary noble who brings laws and comforts once reserved for the wealthy to all. When her brother, Neri, is caught thieving with the aid of magic, Romy’s aristocratic influence is the only thing that can spare his life — and the price is her banishment.

Now back in Beggar’s Ring, she has just her wits and her own long-hidden sorcery to help her and Neri survive. But when a plot to overthrow the Shadow Lord and incite civil war is uncovered, only Romy knows how to stop it. To do so, she’ll have to rely on newfound allies — a swordmaster, a silversmith, and her own thieving brother. And they’ll need the very thing that could condemn them all: magic.

Every three months, we’ll announce the next set of book club picks. Again, we do this so that you have maximum time to get your hands on the book in the format that’s available, or request it from your local library, whatever works for you. If there’s a particular book you’d like to see us choose for the book club, or if you want a particular reviewer, please comment and let us know, because we love your suggestions!

We hope you’ll join us each month, and please, tell your friends to join us as well. Our goal is to have thorough reviews that are full of spoilers, so that there’s plenty to sink your teeth into and talk about.

Questions? Suggestions? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll see you in January!