February 7, 2020
One of the great things about Science Fiction and Fantasy is that they are entertaining while offering a new social or political perspective or commentary. We love these books, movies, and TV shows because they get so much right, they tell a great story, they make us think, and of course they entertain us. But sometimes, there’s a character or…
December 12, 2019
Zombies, Anyone? I’m not really a zombie girl. They freak me right the heck out. I can read about them — no problem. But visual media? Television? Movies? Yeah, I’m sure there’s a pressing root canal I need. A friend of mine was on the Walking Dead’s first couple seasons, so when it started, I thought I’d watch it and…
September 4, 2019
The Girl in Red (2019) Written by: Christina Henry Genre: Fairy Tale/Folklore Retelling, Post-apocalyptic Fiction Pages: 292 (Paperback) Publisher: Berkley Why I Chose It: I first heard about The Girl in Red when the Speculative Chic editor posted about it, but I am a huge fan of revamped fairly tales. What really sealed the deal for me was the book’s…
August 9, 2019
Bonjour mes amies, comment allez-vous? Die Sommer geht weiter. 暑いですね。Gobeithio eich bod yn iach. Isn’t language a marvelous thing? Today we’re taking a look at works of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror from around the world that have been translated for a variety of audiences (at Speculative Chic, we’re focusing on English translations). International works are having a moment, with streaming…
April 11, 2019
The Reckoners Series Steelheart (Book 1) Mitosis (Book 1.5) Firefight (Book 2) Calamity (Book 3) Written by: Brandon Sanderson Genre: Post-apocalyptic, YA Lengths: 12h 42m (Book 1); 1h 3m (Book 1.5); 12h 5m (Book 2); 12h 18m (Book 3) Publisher: Audible Studios Normally, when I review books in a series, I do it individually, reviewing one book (or more) as…
March 29, 2018
It seems like it’s always award season somewhere, and right now the Speculative Chic crew is reading the nominees for the Philip K. Dick Award! After the Flare (2017) Written by: Deji Bryce Olukotun Genre: Science Fiction Pages: 275 (kindle) Publisher: The Unnamed Press Why I chose it: I picked this particular book from the list of nominees because I…
March 26, 2018
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 author Kate Jarvik Birch, whose forthcoming novel, Unraveled, comes out…
March 22, 2018
The Book of Etta (2017) Written by: Meg Elison Genre: Post-apocalyptic fiction Pages: 305 (Paperback) Series: The Road to Nowhere Book #2 Publisher: 47North Why I Chose It: The Book of Etta is one of the nominees for the 2018 Philip K. Dick Award, which Speculative Chic is covering. I did not want to read this book at first, because…
March 21, 2018
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (2016) Written by: Meg Elison Genre: Post-apocalyptic fiction Pages: 291 (Paperback) Series: The Road to Nowhere Book #1 Publisher: 47North Why I Chose It: I read this book because its sequel, The Book of Etta, is nominated for the 2018 Philip K. Dick Award. I really did not want to read this book because…
January 26, 2018
Welcome to the Speculative Chic Book Club! Each month, we invite you to join us in reading a book that is voted on by YOU, our readers. We’re still experimenting with the format, so just like last month, this month we’re just doing a review followed by your discussion in the comments! Dawn (1987) Author: Octavia E. Butler Pages: 256…