April 4, 2020
Hello and how are you doing, dear readers? I hope you’re all staying safe, healthy, and practicing self-care during these times. As always, fantasy and science fiction are portals where can escape your present world in exchange for vivid, imaginary ones, so now is a perfect time to seek comfort in the extraordinary by cracking open an book. And if…
April 1, 2020
When the people behind Serial Box offered a copy of Machina to Speculative Chic for review I jumped at the chance, because I liked the work of three of the involved authors, and the fourth, I’d heard good things about. Plus, the plot piqued my interest: scientific teams competing to see whose AI might just save humanity? Sure. Sign me…
January 6, 2020
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 Gemma Files, whose Spectral Evidence and Drawn Up from Deep…
January 24, 2019
Ninth Step Station (2019) Written by: Malka Older, Fran Wilde, Jacqueline Koyanagi, Curtis C. Chen Genre: Science Fiction, Police Procedural Length: the ARC I received did not have a page count attached. This is a fiction serial of ten episodes Series: Book #1 of Ninth Step Station Publisher: Serial Box Disclaimer: I received a copy of Ninth Step Station for…
June 28, 2018
Bookburners: Season Four (2017) Written by: Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Brian Francis Slattery, Andrea Phillips, Mur Lafferty Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 463 pages (ARC) Series: Bookburners Publisher: Serial Box Disclaimer: I received a copy of season four of Bookburners from the publisher, Serial Box. The fact that I received it for free will not impact my opinion/rating of the book. Why I Chose It: Having…
May 24, 2018
Born to the Blade: Season 1 (2018) Written by: Michael R. Underwood, Marie Brennan, Malka Older, Cassandra Khaw Genre: Fantasy Pages: The weekly serial has 11 episodes. Not sure what the official page count total will end up being, but the ARC I received was 405 pages long. Series: Born to the Blade Publisher: Serial Box Disclaimer: I received a copy Born to…
November 30, 2017
Bookburners: Season Three (2017) Written by: Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Brian Francis Slattery, Andrea Phillips, Mur Lafferty Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: The weekly serial has 13 episodes of approximately 50 pages each Series: Bookburners Publisher: Serial Box Disclaimer: I received a copy of season three of Bookburners from the publisher, Serial Box. This was not done with the understanding that I would write a review. The fact that I received it for free…
August 24, 2017
Bookburners: Season Two (2016) Written by: Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Brian Francis Slattery, Andrea Phillips, Mur Lafferty, Amal El-Mohtar Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 734 (Kindle version; although I listened to the audio) Series: Bookburners Publisher: Serial Box Disclaimer: I received a copy of season two of Bookburners from the publisher Serial Box. This was not done with the understanding that I…
June 22, 2017
Bookburners (2017) Written by: Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Mur Lafferty, and Brian Francis Slattery Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 787 (Hardcover) Publisher: Saga Press/Serial Box Why I Chose It: I’ve previously enjoyed works by a couple of the authors involved in Bookburners. That, and I find the concept behind Serial Box to be really interesting (more on that below!). The premise: The…