September 25, 2020
I enjoy escaping into space opera, and as a librarian, I enjoy promoting my favorite reads. I loved K.B. Wagers’ The Indranan War trilogy, starting with 2016’s Behind the Throne, which starred a gun smuggler-turned-princess who leveraged her past in negotiating alliances, avenging her family, and stopping wars. So I was excited to hear about A Pale Light in the…
September 24, 2020
I’m generally not one to read poetry, so I wanted to reach beyond my comfort zone and dive into a collection for the first time. The major conceit of Burials, as listed in its premise — “the narrative of those whose voices have been taken away” — also greatly intrigued me. I’m happy to read a work that challenges me…
September 23, 2020
I liked Aurora Rising well enough to check out its sequel, Aurora Burning. And since the first one ended with the squad coming together and actually working as a team (and since that’s my favorite part of any ensemble piece) I figured the second one would be all about Squad 312 versus the galaxy. Aurora Burning (2020) Written By: Jay…
September 22, 2020
I fell down a rabbit hole of reading lists about diverse books when the colorful color of The House in the Cerulean Sea caught my eye. I noticed that the book is set in a home for magical children, which reminded me of one of my favorite series, Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I also want to…
September 15, 2020
Editor’s Note: content warning for violence, abuse, and potentially triggering subject matter. Marrying a vampire is a terrible idea. Just ask Dracula’s brides. As much as I love Bram Stoker’s novel, most of Dracula’s “romantic” encounters are nonconsensual. He uses mesmerism or some other form of mind control to seduce his prey and then he uses the bodies of his…
September 2, 2020
When I first heard that Katherine Addison wrote a new book, I was excited. I love her writing! When I heard it involved angels, my response was a disappointed, “Oh no.” I have significant issues with angels in fantasy novels. Then I read a review that said that The Angel of the Crows was Sherlock Holmes WingFic, which meant that…
September 1, 2020
A Pale Light in the Black (2020) Written by: K.B. Wagers Genre: Science Fiction Host: Ronya F. McCool Discussion Date: 9/25/2020 The Premise: The Expanse meets the Battle Room in Ender’s Game as K.B. Wagers brings us the rollicking first entry in a unique science fiction series that introduces the Near-Earth Orbital Guard — NeoG — a military force patrolling…
August 28, 2020
I first read Weaveworld in high school in 1988. I think it was the third Clive Barker book I read, with The Damnation Game being the first. At the time, a friend of mine volunteered at our local library and wanted to impress me, so he snagged an audio copy of The Damnation Game. I think I still have the…
August 18, 2020
It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. (Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness) The field of Speculative Fiction is often accused of being “escapist” as though that’s a bad thing. We all need escape every now and then, and escape to female utopias, the gentle…
August 6, 2020
When I finished reading Borne, I was pretty smitten with the world and characters that Jeff VanderMeer had created (I’m still smitten, to be honest, and it’s on my list of books to buy for when I have room on my shelves again). Eventually, I learned of this short story set in the same universe. When I had a little…