February 14, 2020
It’s Valentine’s Day! In honor of all the lovey-dovey feelings going around today, we’re going to talk about ships — relationships, that is! Romance crops up in all sorts of stories, and the speculative genre is no exception. We asked our contributors to share with us their favorite romantic couples, and we opened it up to both firmly established pairings…
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 31, 2019
We march into 2020 totally brave and bold with some of our most ambitious Resolution Projects yet! Whether it’s knocking through a catalog of 15 to 20 books, blazing through seasons upon seasons of series both old and newly beloved, or cracking open the cookbooks and assembling a smorgasbord of speculative treats, we’ve got something for everyone to look forward…
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 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 21, 2019
Another week has rolled by, but I’m moving like a lump on a log. I’ve got some holiday traveling planned, a house to clean before I leave, and some cosplay sewing to get started on…and I have nooooo motivation. Honestly, during the week I always would rather Netflix and chill (not that kind of chill, kiddos) or curl up in a…
December 16, 2019
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, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Speculative Chic contributor Kelly McCarty, who is one of our…
November 28, 2019
‘Tis the season where holiday music invades your ear like a Ceti eel, heralding the annual shopping season for holiday gift-giving! While this time of year very much promotes giving for the sake of giving, we can’t overlook the fact that requesting is very much a part of it, too. For well over a hundred years, we’ve been encouraged to…
November 6, 2019
The Twisted Ones (2019) Written by: T. Kingfisher Genre: Horror Pages: 381 (Paperback) Publisher: Saga Press Why I Chose It: The Twisted Ones first caught my attention because it is set in Appalachia. Although I live in Virginia and the book takes place in North Carolina, I have gone hiking on the Appalachian Trail. I know those woods can be…
October 31, 2019
Midnight Crossroad (2014) Written by: Charlaine Harris Genre: Paranormal Mystery Pages: 349 (Paperback) Series: A Novel of Midnight Texas Book #1 Publisher: Ace Why I Chose It: I am a huge fan of True Blood, which was based on Charlaine Harris’ The Southern Vampire Mysteries series. This is blasphemy, but I think the TV show was actually better than the…