July 31, 2020
I first decided to read Lovecraft Country back in 2018 for no particular reason. I was scrolling through the titles languishing on my Kindle for something new to read and randomly stabbed the screen when I came across this particular title. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting; indeed, I cannot remember why I even purchased this book. Reading it…
November 11, 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 Kate Heartfield, whose novel, Armed in Her Fashion, just won…
August 17, 2018
Hugo voting is over and the winners will shortly be announced. So I’m getting in just under the wire with a review of the short stories! Reading this category is something of a challenge to myself, as I don’t read enough short fiction in general. I’ve talked about these in ballot order and have not spoiled the ending for any…
January 16, 2018
Beneath the Sugar Sky, the third in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, was recently released into the wild. Before I get into my review of the novella, I want you to take a minute to read this essay that McGuire wrote for Tor.com regarding My Little Pony. I’ll wait. Back? Great. I had you read that because it gives you…
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 19, 2017
Novelettes are tricky little beasts. They are story tidbits, and it takes a particularly skilled writer to create one that offers a full story within the limited constraints of standard word count for the form. I am challenging myself to read more short fiction this year, so when our editor approached me to ask if I would be willing to…
June 20, 2017
Hugo season continues! With the Nebulas wrapped up, you’ll be seeing more and more Hugo-related posts between now and August. Up next in our reviews of the Hugo-nominated works of 2016: the entire short story category. I was especially drawn to the short story category as a challenge to myself. I haven’t read a lot of short fiction that isn’t…
March 21, 2017
Historical fiction is almost always fascinating to me. If that fiction also happens to have a touch of magic to it, even better. That’s exactly what I got when I decided to pick up Ellen Klages’ Passing Strange. Passing Strange (2017) Written by: Ellen Klages Genre: Historical Fantasy Pages: 215 (Trade paperback) Publisher: Tor.com/Tom Doherty Associates Why I chose it: …