April 3, 2020
I truly appreciate novellas. They seem to fit well with my attention span, especially when life gets a bit stressful. I can sink into a great story without the time commitment of a novel. As a lover of Fantasy, especially Historical Fantasy, I jumped at the chance to read, and review, this new novella by E.C. Ambrose. The King of…
April 2, 2020
It’s taken me 2 years and a few re-reads to get to this point, but here I am, finally finished with Rhonda Mason’s excellent Empress Game trilogy. And as an official part of my 2020 Resolution Project, I can now mark another book off my list! Was it all worth it? You’ll have to read everything below to find out!…
April 1, 2020
Steel Crow Saga (2019) Written by: Paul Krueger Genre: Epic Fantasy Host: Nancy O’Toole Meservier Discussion Date: 04/24/2020 The Premise: Four destinies collide in a unique fantasy world of war and wonders, where empire is won with enchanted steel and magical animal companions fight alongside their masters in battle. A soldier with a curse Tala lost her family to the…
April 1, 2020
When the people behind Serial Box offered a copy of Machina to Speculative Chic for review I jumped at the chance, because I liked the work of three of the involved authors, and the fourth, I’d heard good things about. Plus, the plot piqued my interest: scientific teams competing to see whose AI might just save humanity? Sure. Sign me…
March 31, 2020
I’m continuing on with my 2020 Resolution Project, doing a rewatch and review of some of the great animated series you can find on Netflix. First up: Voltron: Legendary Defender, the reworking of the classic 1984 animated series Voltron (which is in and of itself a reworking of Toei Animation’s Beast King GoLion). My post on season one is here, and I…
March 30, 2020
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Brenda Cooper, who is highlighting a previously published book of…
March 28, 2020
Welcome back to another episode of Weekly Roundup! I’m your host, Kristina, coming to you live from the Land of the Rising Sun on the ancient island of Kyushu. What sort of speculative adventures can you expect this week? We’ve got reviews, recommendations, special guests, and more to appeal to your every genre taste and love. So without further ado,…
March 27, 2020
I really love heist stories — heists, capers, feats of daring-do and espionage — and I’m realizing that I need to explore more of them, since my overall experience is limited to things like Ocean’s Eleven and The Italian Job. I especially love when I can get these types of stories in with my fantasy. Mixing in different genres like…
March 26, 2020
Editor’s Note: content warning for violence, abuse, and potentially triggering subject matter. Dating isn’t easy. Anyone who tells you that it is, is either insane or simply not self-aware enough to see all of the potential pitfalls. Seeking a suitable mate for long-term monogamy isn’t nearly as simple a task as the romance novels and movies make it out to…
March 25, 2020
If you know me, you know I’m a gamer. I play all sorts of things, but I’m especially drawn to games with great storylines and well-written characters or games where I can explore and build. Or any combination of the above. Which is why I picked up Starbound a few months ago. This one really seemed like a great option…