January 17, 2020
It’s a new year and a new decade, and for our January Roundtable, we’re talking new worlds in a post that celebrates the brilliance and care that goes into worldbuilding, often considered a genre qualifier when it comes to science fiction and fantasy. So we asked our contributors, “What fictional world do you want to live in?”and to give examples…
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…
September 28, 2019
Greetings, dark lords! Hail, horrors! Friends and fiends, hearken to my call: welcome back to the realms of science fiction, fantasy, and horror! We’ve returned with another roundup of the best of Speculative Chic this week, coinciding with the Autumnal Equinox. The veil between worlds is lifting — what strange, unknowable things will you see? Fear not! We’ll keep you…
September 27, 2019
Kushiel’s Avatar (2003) Written by: Jacqueline Carey Genre: Fantasy Pages: 750 (Paperback) Series: Phèdre’s Trilogy Book #3 Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates Why I Chose It: I decided that it was my destiny to read the entire nine book Kushiel’s Legacy series after I found eight of the books dirt cheap at a library book sale. I even made it my…
April 13, 2019
Greetings, gentle readers! It’s your friendly neighborhood otaku, Kristina! Today’s weekly roundup is coming to you live from Japan, where the cherry blossoms have fallen and given way to the fresh green leaves that herald the warm spring season. I won’t mourn the sakura for too long, though, because at end of this month and into early May, the wisteria…
April 12, 2019
Kushiel’s Chosen (2002) Written by: Jacqueline Carey Genre: Fantasy Pages: 678 (Paperback) Series: Kushiel’s Legacy Book #2 Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates Why I Chose It: After finding almost every Jacqueline Carey book set in the land of Terre d’Ange at a library book sale, I decided that it was fate for me to read all nine books for my 2019…
January 18, 2019
Kushiel’s Dart (2001) Written by: Jacqueline Cary Genre: Fantasy Pages: 912 (Paperback) Series: Phèdre’s Trilogy Book #1 Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates Why I Chose It: I first heard about Jacqueline Carey through Speculative Chic and since I enjoyed George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series, I figured that I would enjoy another medieval-based fantasy…
December 31, 2018
Welcome to the very end of 2018! For the past few years, we have challenged our contributors to come up with a goal for the coming year. Those goals have varied from “read a certain book” to “consume ALL of the Game of Thrones content currently available.” You’d be surprised and perhaps a little amused that those of us who…
July 3, 2018
You know how there are good things in the world that just aren’t for you? I experienced a massive dose of this lately. To preface, let me begin by confessing something: I am a fantasy reader who is very picky about epic fantasy. I didn’t like The Lord of the Rings. I loved the movies, but the books? I barely…
July 3, 2017
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, a weekly column where we gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we’re still all about Wonder Woman, and her awesome soundtrack, and we continue to be obsessed with the Black Panther…