August 24, 2019
Hail and well met, strangers! I have returned from a long journey through the wilds of northern Kyushu, encountering stone princesses, water dragons, white snakes, the bones of a mermaid, and a goddess with 1,000 arms — and after viewing these forbidden treasures, I’ve lived to tell the tale! If such stories drive your fancy, walking the lines of the…
August 23, 2019
Welcome to the first post in a series in which I will be examining vampire fiction — novels, film, and TV shows — through the lens of identity politics. Specifically, I’ll be looking at the concepts of white privilege and racial identity/representation in popular vampire fiction and discussing why certain tropes are problematic. As a woman of color who has…
August 22, 2019
Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider, vol 1: Spider-Geddon (2019) Written By: Seanan McGuire Illustrated By: Rosi Kampe and Takeshi Miyazawa Genre: Superhero Pages: 112 pages Publisher: Marvel Comics Why I Chose It: Spider-Gwen is a character that I’ve been meaning to get back into, so a new writer seemed like a great place to start. The premise: Gwen Stacy makes her sensational…
August 21, 2019
Back in June, I wrote a post discussing the fantasy adaptations currently making their way to the small screen. Long story short: Most of the books being adapted are the ones you’d expect — LOTR, Chronicles of Narnia, Wheel of Time, The Kingkiller Chronicles, etc. Classics? Sure. Predictable AF? Absolutely! The good news is that the networks are being much…
August 20, 2019
Being a chronicle of the voyages through the realm of the fantastic, recording a summary of the journey through perilous islands to bohemian cities. As we take a brief tavern break, a welcome respite from the wilderness of words, let’s take a moment to reflect upon our journey through the year. This month marks the second year of our arduous,…
August 19, 2019
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 author and publisher Joshua Palmatier, who is currently Kickstarting not…
August 17, 2019
You know what they say…. time flies when you’re having fun, or when you’re so busy you forget what day of the week it is and you promised one of your contributors you’d take over the weekly roundup! Never fear! Your Editor-in-Chic shook herself off from dreaming about the weekend to make sure you had everything you need to stay…
August 16, 2019
Magic Breaks (2012) Written by: Ilona Andrews Series: Kate Daniels #7 Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 381 (Paperback) Publisher: Ace Why I Chose This: My 2019 Resolution Project for Speculative Chic is to read the books in the Kate Daniels series and finish up with a first read of the final book. I first read Magic Breaks in 2015 and reviewed it at my own blog. The…
August 15, 2019
Growing-up, I played with Barbie dolls with blonde hair and blue eyes, and I wanted to be like Jessica Wakefield from the Sweet Valley High books. It wasn’t until I was introduced to Claudia Kishi (a Japanese-American teenager with “long, silky black hair and dark, almond-shaped eyes”) from The Babysitter’s Club book series that I truly felt represented in the…
August 14, 2019
Dungeons and Dragons is an incredible hobby, game, and way to hang out with your friends. Building an entire campaign — a long-lasting game with the same characters played out over years — can be really intimidating, especially if you’ve never run a game before. While Dungeons and Dragons official content, like the new Dungeons and Dragons Starter Kits or the…