October 29, 2019
Eridani’s Crown (2019) Written by: Alex Shvartsman Genre: Epic Fantasy Length: 265 pages Publisher: UFO Publishing Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy for free in exchange for an honest review. Why I Chose It: Politically intricate epic fantasy is one of my favorite speculative fiction sub-genres. True story: for our first holiday season together, I bought my now-husband the first three…
August 11, 2017
Too Like the Lightning (2016) Written by: Ada Palmer Genre: Speculative Fiction Pages: 433 (Nook) Series: Book 1 of Terra Ignota Publisher: Tor Why I Chose It: It was nominated for the Hugos. Also, a friend who knows my taste very well sent me the link and explained that I had to read this book, and I was going to…
April 19, 2017
Miranda and Caliban (2017) Written by: Jacqueline Carey Genre: Fantasy Pages: 282 (Nook) Publisher: Tor Why I Chose It: I have long been a fan of Jacqueline Carey’s work. I don’t read everything she puts out (to wit: I put down her urban fantasy trilogy, Agent of Hel, halfway through book one and have no plans to attempt it again),…
February 8, 2017
So I had a weird Tina Turner fixation as a child, and it’s all George Miller’s fault. Thirty years before his magnum opus of post-apocalyptic tribalism, feminism and practical effects, 2015’s Mad Mad: Fury Road, George Miller directed and co-wrote another transformative work of cinematic genius featuring post-apocalyptic tribalism, feminism and practical effects. I am speaking, of course, of 1985’s cinematic…
December 28, 2016
It is a matter of family legend that my brothers and I owe our lives to George Lucas. To wit, my parents’ first actual date was to see Star Wars: A New Hope (then referred to simply as Star Wars) when it was first released in theaters in 1977. I always thought that my parents saw it together on opening…
December 21, 2016
Hi, my name is Keyes. I am thirty-six years old and I play video games. Lots of video games. A large portion of my friends? Met them on video game sites or through a mutual love of video games. Husband? Ditto. I’ve been a gamer since I was seven. Do you want to sell me a video game? First, make…
November 9, 2016
The Chimes (2016) Written by: Anna Smaill Genre: Fantasy/Literary Fantasy Pages: 304 (hardcover) 265 (epub) Publisher: Quercus Why I Chose It: When the call went out to read the World Fantasy Award nominees, I selected The Chimes based on its premise: an entire society full people with a severe memory disorder. For reasons which I will get into in the discussion,…
September 14, 2016
Hello, my name is Keyes, and I read fast. And by fast, I mean absurdly fast. Ridiculously fast. How fast do I mean? I recently decided to re-read the Chronicles of Narnia, which I accomplished in less than a week. Ah, you may be thinking. A shallow boast, that — those are not very long books and aimed at middle…
August 10, 2016
Seveneves (2015) Written by: Neal Stephenson Genre: Science Fiction Pages: 744 (Nook) Series: Stand Alone Publisher: William Morrow Why I Chose It: Title was selected as a part of the Speculative Chic retrospective on the titles nominated for a Hugo. I’m quite possibly the only person on earth who actively liked the Librarian info-dumps Snow Crash, which still counts as my…