Ever have a week where bad luck just piles up on each other? I’m having that right now, where everything I touch becomes a mess. And with that in mind, I’m worried about botching my introduction, so I’ll just cut to the chase — let’s get started with your favorite recap on the web, The Weekly Roundup!
Monday
Our special guest for My Favorite Things is author Melissa Caruso, our featured writer for our May Book Club! Author of The Tethered Mage and its companions The Defiant Heir and The Unbound Empire, what sort of favorites can you expect from her? How about some more books to add to your list, a long-awaited fantasy game remake, a shōnen manga featuring the son of the devil, and an animated universe filled with amazing characters! Read on for more!
Tuesday
Nicole reviews the fantasy romance How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days from author Kerrelyn Sparks, where the innocent, magically gifted Luciana is forced to marry a monstrous man, Lord Leofric, also known as the Beast. Is this book more than just a fairy tale? The answer you’re looking for is here.
Wednesday
We’ve got a double-whammy for Wednesday! First up is Lane’s detailed review of the first season of Syfy’s Killjoys, centering on “bounty hunters for the RAC, an offshoot of the Company that runs a four-planet system called the Quad.” There’s a lot to love with this series, and you can find out more about it here.
Next up is special guest Emily McKay, and we’re celebrating her latest release Storybound, a book featuring a character come to life and whose fate can be forever altered. For You’re My Inspiration, she shares what went into her latest work from Entangled Teen: a wizard-turned-detective for hire, the greatest homage to Star Trek ever made, and lots of other fun little details. Find out more here!
Thursday
Nicole is on a roll with her book reviews! Next up is Lock In from John Scalzi, and she’s talking about a contagious virus that spreads across the globe (hey, sound familiar) but with its worst symptoms being “lock in” — a syndrome that resembles a waking coma. The novel covers how the world changes to meet this challenge. Is this a fitting book for the times we live in? Check out Nicole’s take here.
Friday
And we’ve rolled a triple score with Nicole, who’s also featured for this week’s Fiction Friday! Writing under the pseudonym Nick Trevano, we’re excited to share an excerpt of Advenae, a science fiction novel from Five Thousand Realms publishing. We’re talking space exploration, a human-friendly alien outpost, and a group of destructive invaders — what happens when all of this collides? Find out more here!
Book Club
We’re so excited about our May Book Club pick, Melissa Caruso‘s The Tethered Mage. Lane will be hosting this month’s discussion, and you can familiarize yourself with the premise here. And don’t forget to read Melissa’s MFT to get a feel for the author’s tastes!
You can also prepare for June’s Book Club selection, Heather Webber‘s Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe, hosted by Kelly. You can read more about this pick here.
Meanwhile, we’ve also announced the following three months’ worth of book club picks:
- Matt Ruff‘s Lovecraft Country, hosted by Casey — JULY
- Clive Barker‘s Weaveworld, hosted by Michelle — AUGUST
- K.B. Wagers‘s A Pale Light in the Black, hosted by Ronya — SEPTEMBER
Read about the next three selections here.
I’m having a week where I need to s l o o o w down given all the wackadoo stuff happening. Usually I turn on Netflix and lose myself in streaming bliss, but we’ve had so many good featured books and interesting authors on Speculative Chic lately that I think I’ll reattempt reading again after a months-long slump. When you’re wanting to slow down and take things easy, especially after a rough week, what do you turn to to bring you comfort? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll see you next week!
Photo by David Lezcano on Unsplash.
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