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…
January 24, 2020
At Speculative Chic, we feature a lot of authors who share everything from their favorite things to the inspiration for their work. Today, we’re introducing a new column called Fiction Friday, where you’ll be able to sample the fiction of a variety of authors, including those who write at Speculative Chic! For our very first column, we’re featuring Judy Black,…
September 5, 2019
The Little Shop of Found Things (2018) Written by: Paula Brackston Genre: Historical Fantasy Pages: 307 (Hardcover) Series: Found Things Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Why I Chose It: When you work at a bookstore you see a lot of titles, and often you end up giving them a peek. This one sounded interesting, kind of chill, kind of cute, a bit…
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…
August 16, 2017
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004) Written by: Susanna Clarke Genre: Historical Fantasy Pages: 866 (Kindle) Publisher: Bloomsbury (UK)/Tor (US) Why I Chose It: This book was my Resolution Project 2017 goal for Speculative Chic. Long story short: I picked up the gigantic hardback edition in 2005, and it’s been anchoring my To Be Read pile ever since. Finally bought the…
July 26, 2017
The cover art for A Natural History of Dragons was what first attracted me to The Memoirs of Lady Trent series by Marie Brennan. That and its title. I have a degree in biology and a passion for dragons so this seemed like the perfect juxtaposition of those two interests. And it was. It so was. Brennan also managed to…
July 6, 2017
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (2017) Written by: Theodora Goss Genre: Fantasy Pages: 416 (Kindle) Publisher: Saga Press Why I Chose It: The premise was appealing. A mash-up of pulp fiction’s literary monsters and their daughters? Mary Jekyll, Diana Hyde, Beatrice Rappaccini, Justine Frankenstein, and Catherine Moreau? Solving crime alongside Sherlock Holmes? Yeah, sign me up. That it…
June 21, 2017
Brimstone (2017) Written by: Cherie Priest Genre: Dark Historical Fantasy Pages: 331 (Kindle) Publisher: Ace Why I Chose It: Given that I read at a snail’s pace of late, I have to get choosy about who I read. Cherie Priest has been one of my favorite authors since I discovered her debut, Four and Twenty Blackbirds, on Live Journal in…