June 8, 2018
Let’s be honest: despite the adage, we are all guilty of occasionally judging books by the cover. We know we shouldn’t, but sometimes, we just can’t help ourselves. This month’s roundtable topic was suggested by Nicole Taft, bookseller par excellence. She sees a lot of book covers, and wanted to talk about books that we, as readers, picked up simply…
February 9, 2018
2018 dealt a crushing blow when it was announced that Ursula K. Le Guin passed away on January 22. At 88 years young, Le Guin was anything but forgettable, a Grandmaster of Science Fiction, a Hugo, Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Pulitzer award winner, among many others. Here at Speculative Chic, we’ve talked about how Le Guin Changed the Map,…
January 12, 2018
It’s no secret that there’s a bunch a readers here at Speculative Chic. Asking our writers what their favorite read of 2017 seemed like an easy task, but it wasn’t. When you read as many books as we do, how do you pick just one? And did it have to be a book published in 2017, or just a book…
December 28, 2017
You know what the trouble is when you look forward to something? Inevitably, it just might let you down, and then something you could’ve shrugged off otherwise becomes a bitter disappointment. So while we at Speculative Chic love celebrating our favorites (seriously, have you been reading our My Favorite Things column?), we also think it’s important to talk about those…
October 13, 2017
Ah, it’s that time of year. The air is turning crisper. The leaves are changing. The dark is creeping upon the light a bit sooner with each passing day. Fall is here. Halloween is right around the corner. Here at Speculative Chic, you may have notice a theme: we’ve been digging into the scary side of things and talking about…
September 8, 2017
You know that speculative fiction thing that everyone seems to love but you haven’t read/watched/played yet? No, not your blind spot. This isn’t something you’re embarrassed about, nor is it something you plan on rectifying anytime soon. In fact, when your friends or family find out you haven’t read/watched/played this thing, you’re more than happy to explain why, in gleeful…
August 11, 2017
Over the summer, we’ve talked a lot about series: when we’ve had to jump ship or when finales have totally fallen flat. One roundtable has inevitably led to the other, which brings us to one of the most natural topics of all. Cancellations That Killed Us The most obvious culprit, naturally, is television, but book series start and never continue.…
July 25, 2017
Death’s End (2016) Written by: Cixin Liu Translated by: Ken Liu Genre: Science Fiction Pages: 608 (Hardcover) Series: Remembrance of Earth’s Past Book 3 Publisher: Tor Why I Picked It: I had already read The Three-Body Problem (#1) and was halfway through The Dark Forest (#2) when I was given the opportunity to review Death’s End. I am notorious for…
April 11, 2017
This month we put Changing the Map into the capable hands of writer and reviewer Ronya F. McCool for her discussion of Octavia E. Butler’s groundbreaking novel, Kindred. Part slave narrative, part time travel story, read on to see what Ronya has to say about how Kindred changed the map. –Sharon When I was asked to write a review for…