January 25, 2018
Dust (2007) Written By: Elizabeth Bear Genre: Science Fiction Pages: 368 (Mass Market Paperback) Series: Jacob’s Ladder Book 1 Publisher: Spectra Why I Chose It: I was intrigued with the melding of angels and religion with space travel and nanotechnology. Also, I’ve never read anything by Elizabeth Bear and I keep meaning to. Premise: On a broken ship orbiting a…
January 24, 2018
This year I resolved to read more classic science fiction and fantasy, hopefully making a dent in that stack of books I really should have read by now. Mostly because they should be good books, but also to be better informed about my genre and its history. I decided that this meant reading six science fiction and six fantasy books…
January 23, 2018
A Wrinkle in Time (1962) Written by: Madeleine L’Engle Genre: Science Fantasy/Young Adult Pages: 228 (Paperback) Publisher: Macmillan Why I Chose This: I missed out on this classic while growing up, so my 2018 Resolution Project was to read the book before the movie is released in March. Success! The premise: It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her…
January 18, 2018
Pegasus (2010) Written By: Robin McKinley Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Pages: 416 (Hardcover) Series: Pegasus Book 1 Publisher: Putnam Why I Chose It: Robin McKinley has been one of my all time favorite authors since I read The Blue Sword back when I was a kid. I haven’t absolutely loved everything she’s ever written (Deerskin, I’m looking at you). But…
January 16, 2018
Beneath the Sugar Sky, the third in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, was recently released into the wild. Before I get into my review of the novella, I want you to take a minute to read this essay that McGuire wrote for Tor.com regarding My Little Pony. I’ll wait. Back? Great. I had you read that because it gives you…
January 11, 2018
Reincarnation Blues (2017) Written by: Michael Poore Genre: Science Fantasy Pages: 371 (Hardcover) Publisher: Del Rey Why I Chose It: I literally judged this book by its cover. I was browsing in the science fiction/fantasy section of the Barnes & Noble and picked it up because I liked its colorful and unique cover. The premise: First we live. Then we…
January 9, 2018
Warprize (2011) Written By: Elizabeth Vaughan Genre: Fantasy Romance Pages: 340 (Kindle) Series: Chronicles of the Warlands Book 1 Publisher: Berkley Why I Chose It: It was described as Fantasy Romance, and I’m a sucker for romance in my fantasy. Also the woman on the cover reminded me a lot of Kahlan from The Sword of Truth television show. And…
January 2, 2018
I have fallen down hard into the expanded Star Wars universe, clearly. It started with the book of short stories From a Certain Point of View, which I previously reviewed, and has honestly just devolved from there. I’ve never been one for media tie-ins, the end of 2017 has been a weird one for me. But hey, this book was…
January 2, 2018
Editor’s Note 6/22/2020: At the time of the original posting, Speculative Chic was unaware that author Paul Krueger had harassed various people in the publishing industry. We do not condone harassment, and we stand with those people who’ve been harmed as a result of his actions. Speaking up is one of the bravest things they can do, and we thank…
December 27, 2017
When Prudence first came out I somehow missed that the series, The Custard Protocol, is a sequel to The Parasol Protectorate. I don’t know how. I must not have been paying very close attention. Or maybe it’s because I don’t like the covers quite as much as the first series. But I’m a completionist and as soon as I realized…