February 20, 2020
Working at a bookstore has its sad moments. That may sound like a strange thing to say, but it’s true. Going through the shelves and picking out all the books that are due to be returned is one of them. I always get sad when books we only have a few copies of have to get sent back. True, often…
February 18, 2020
Examining the weird/gothic landscape through eyes firmly embedded with set of rainbow lenses, Tanith Lee erected severely Weird Gothic Towers and Spires throughout the map, starting with her debut novel, The Dragon Hoard in 1971. Her edifices are constructed using the building blocks of fairy tales, myths, standard fantasy, vampires, and just plain strangeness, and are adorned in proper Gothic…
February 6, 2020
I seem to do this thing where I’ll be super-excited for a book, buy it the day it’s released…and then never get around to reading it. Or read it much, much later than originally planned. I think part of that stems from knowing once I’m finished, I’m back to waiting for the next/final book in a particular series. That’s pretty…
February 4, 2020
Hi! Venessa here. You might recognize my name from my monthly column here at Spec Chic, where I talk a little bit about books, television shows, and lot about conventions, including my Convention Life series and Con Season on a Budget. I also do some behind-the-scenes stuff for the My Favorite Things column too. In my “other” life, I’m a…
January 22, 2020
I can’t remember where I first heard about The Last Sun. I think it popped up on a list of science fiction and fantasy picks for your Christmas list. Wherever it was, I was intrigued enough by the idea of a modern Atlantis to put it on Goodreads so I’d remember to check it out. I shouldn’t have worried. Once…
January 9, 2020
This month, I decided to have a look at His Dark Materials, which is currently on HBO. It is an eight-episode series based on Philip Pullman’s book series of the same name. Dafne Keen plays Lyra Belacqua, our main character. As a note, though I’d heard of the book series (and adored the name), I’ve never read any of the…
December 30, 2019
Every year, we invite our contributors to challenge themselves with the Resolution Project — a special event where our writers sift through all things speculative and settle on something worthy of personal conquest. The sky’s the limit when it comes to choices, whether it’s knocking through a back catalog, revisiting a popular franchise, or embarking on something totally new; whether…
December 27, 2019
There are lots of exciting things slated for 2020 release: the new Wonder Woman movie; the next Ghostbusters film; the long-awaited Black Widow stand-alone; the debut of new series Locke and Key… lots of major premieres and new seasons of returning favorites. But may we also suggest for you some other goodies that might be flying under your radar? Here are…
December 26, 2019
We got pumped; we ramped up; we were ready to go, and… well… then… Stuff happened. Or did not happen. Or did not happen how we wished them to. That’s the thing about disappointment — it’s our primary emotional response to expectations unmet — and boy, does it sting. What were we looking forward to that failed to deliver on its…
December 5, 2019
Pet (2019) Written by: Akwaeke Emezi Genre: Fantasy/Young Adult Pages: 204 (Paperback) Publisher: Random House Why I Chose It: We get a lot of Advance Reader Copies at the bookstore — this happened to be one of them. But if you dangle a book featuring a blood-summoned monster from a painting in front of me, I’m going to read it…