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,…
November 1, 2016
Halloween might be over, but that doesn’t mean we stop embracing the scary around here. Welcome back to my soon-to-be-completed romp through the world of Mira Grant’s Newsflesh series. Today, we are discussing the newest addition to the series, Feedback. In Grant’s own words, This standalone entry in the Newsflesh world follows a new blogging team through a new adventure…and…
October 26, 2016
An undeniable truth about myself and my reading preferences: scary stories belong to October, the way that The Hobbit belongs to November and Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather belongs in December. This is not to say that I always succeed in these traditions, but the thought is never far from my mind. When I was approached to tackle Paul Tremblay’s A Head…
October 18, 2016
The Buried Giant (2015) Written by: Kazuo Ishiguro Genre: Fantasy/Literary Fantasy Pages: 317 Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Why I Chose It: The last Ishiguro book I read was The Remains of The Day, which was sad and beautiful all at the same time and which I absolutely loved. I’ve been wanting to read The Buried Giant, but had too many…
October 12, 2016
Savages (2015) Written by: K.J. Parker Genre: Fantasy Pages: 392 (Kindle) Publisher: Subterranean Press Why I Chose It: I’d never read any of Parker’s books, and I was intrigued by the news that after 17 years of writing as K.J. Parker (presumably a woman using a pseudonym to avoid being discriminated against in the field), it was revealed last…
October 11, 2016
“Great,” Shaun said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s go through decon, get in there, and change the world. And then? Cookies” (p 620). What a wonderful time of year it is. The weather grows crisp. Halloween is just around the corner, and just in time for more scary fiction. I hope that you’re caught up on your Newsflesh reading, ladies…
September 29, 2016
Super Extra Grande (2012 – original Spanish, 2016 – English translation) Written by: Yoss, translated by David Frye Genre: Science Fiction Pages: 160 (Paperback) Publisher: Restless Books Why I Chose It: When I read the back blurb for Super Extra Grande, I saw: “Cuban science-fiction master,” “playfulness and ingenuity of Douglas Adams,” “a distant future […] a veterinarian who specializes…
September 28, 2016
…aka, the book that makes a SpecChic with a phobia of math really like math. Ninefox Gambit (2016) Written by: Yoon Ha Lee Genre: Science Fiction Pages: 384 (Kindle) Series: Book One of The Machineries of Empire Publisher: Solaris Books Why I Chose It: The first editorial review on Amazon is a glowing endorsement by Alastair Reynolds, who writes some…
September 13, 2016
So if you’re just tuning in, welcome! This is the second in a multi-part series highlighting Mira Grant’s excellent political thriller/zombie series, Newsflesh. If you’ve read the series and want to read my thoughts on the first book, Feed, you may do so here. If you are unfamiliar with the novels, I insist that you please stop reading this, find…
August 26, 2016
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016) Written by: Jack Thorne, John Tiffany, and J.K. Rowling Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Pages: 320 (Hardcover) Series: Book Eight of Harry Potter series Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books Why I Chose It: I’ve been a fan of the Harry Potter books for a long time so it was a given that I was going to read…