Hello and welcome back to your favorite source of spec on the web! As always, we’ve got guest authors and reviews, books and TV, representing all shades of sci fi, fantasy, and horror at your fingertips! And if you’ve missed out, don’t worry, we still love you. Take the refresher course below and you’ll be sure to ace the Weekly Roundup!
Monday
Our special guest for My Favorite Things this week is author Cindy R. Wilson, and we’re celebrating her freshly released dystopian romance, Sting. What’s better than raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens? How about a writer-director who’s all about the Jaegers; a collection of geekiness any merch fan would love; a real-life dusty fluff butt; and unique book mementos to carry with you long after the covers close. Intrigued? Read on for more!
Tuesday
J.L. reviews Carrie Vaughn‘s The Immortal Conquistador, the fifteenth (!) book in her Kitty Norville series. This serves as the origin story for fan- favorite character Rick, who’s long been Kitty’s ally in this popular urban fantasy series. This mysterious vampire has always kept mum on his background and personal life, and these four connected novellas offer what readers have long been waiting for. Was it worth it? The answers you seek are here!
Wednesday
We’ve got a double dose for you! First off, Lane reviews one of Netflix‘s newest speculative offerings, The October Faction. Based off of the graphic novel by Steve Niles and Damien Worm, we’ve got a deliciously spoilerific review that breaks down this tale of middle-aged monster hunters and their teenage kids who leave Osaka, Japan and return to their old haunting grounds in small-town, upstate New York. Does this show live up to the promise of “everything but the kitchen sink?” Find out here.
Next, we have special guest Cate Glass (our author for March’s Speculative Chic Book Club!!) join us for You’re My Inspiration, the column that goes deeper than the MFT to give you the foundational favorites that inspire an author’s specific works. Join us as Glass reveals what went into An Illusion of Thieves (our March pick), its newly released sequel A Conjuring of Assassins and a bit of what’s shaping book 3, A Summoning of Demons, currently a WIP. What went into these works will dazzle and surprise you, so dive into the magic here!
Thursday
Nicole continues working through her 2020 Resolution by reading through an impressive stack of fiction. Her latest review covers Melissa Albert‘s The Hazel Wood, a YA fantasy that takes its cues from fairy tales, dark magic, mystery, and more. Read all about it here!
Friday
Sherry reviews Terri Favro‘s Sputnik’s Children, sci fi story with a narrator who may or may not be unreliable, and centered on the hit comic series she’s created that’s a throwback to the Cold War era. Tasked with writing the origin story of her heroine Sputnik Chick, what makes for a better story…truth, or fiction? Find out here!
Book Club
On the first of the month we gave you a friendly reminder — our March Book Club pick is Cate Glass‘s An Illusiion of Thieves, selected and hosted by Kendra. Crack open this fantasy featuring a “ragtag crew with forbidden magic [who] must pull off an elaborate heist and stop a civil war” and then join us for the discussion on March 27! And here’s what else you can look forward to in the upcoming months for the Speculative Chic Book Club:
- April — Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger, hosted by Nancy O’Toole Meservier
- May — The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso, hosted by Lane Robins
- June — Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber, hosted by Kelly McCarty
If you want to know more about the book choices above, read here and here, and we’ll see you towards the end of the month for our discussion!
How’d things go for you this week? Are you keeping safe and healthy and happy? I hope so! Whenever there are ups and downs, especially when they run in a row with little time in between to catch your breath, I know what works for me is curling up with a good book, or streaming multiple episodes of a show in a row in a deliciously unhealthy binge. Just from everybody’s posts this week, it looks like there are many more good things to add to my booklist/watchlist. Do you have some ideas, too? Leave them in the comments and I’ll see you again next week!
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