Sometimes a book is so good that you go look up whatever else the author has written and devour that, too. And then sometimes a book is so very, very good that when you learn the book is a debut, you nonetheless go find the press that published such an audacious novel and start planning …
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey made me really consider that term: “the other woman.” Other. College English classes asked me to consider: who is the Other? And they made it a verb: to Other, to render something that could be taken in terms of its similarities and instead treating it only in terms of …
American stories about people with powers often involve organizations and the general public getting swept up in their struggles. The government wants to use them! Scientists want to study them! The media will hound them! Those stories are always a bit fatiguing to me in their paranoia (not unjustified paranoia, but still), because in reality, …
In time for the holidays, Amazon has published a collection of five short stories centered roughly on the theme of fairy tales. The five authors chosen to create it are very different, and they set off in very different directions at once, their works running the gamut from very literal, with Snow White and Cinderella …
As 2020 finishes up, one of the very few things I’m sad to see go is the Wells of Sorcery trilogy, a bright spot full of action, romance, and magic that took me out of this waking nightmare. A Siege of Rage and Ruin keeps to that trend set by the previous two books and …
It’s no secret that we here at Geekly love Tamsyn Muir and her gothic sensibilities. But does her necromantic space opera mean that she can write a fantasy-based fairy tale as well? Of course it does. Duh. Muir is brilliant in a way that has already transcended genres. Why wouldn’t she be able to pull …
Self-defense storytelling is only a little younger than storytelling itself. Shahrazad is the most famous victor of such a contest, but Egil Skallagrimsson did it in Iceland’s famous Egil’s Saga, and there are fairy tales and legends from across the globe that feature getting creative with a narrative to save your neck. And it’s no …
Families are weird. You love them, but they’re weird. And this time of year, you have to find presents for these strange people you’re somehow related to. If you’re looking for books (and PS, support your local indie bookstore!), here are recommendations for all the loveable weirdoes in your life. Crazy Rich Auntie – She …
Zombies, ghouls, and all the rest of the night’s ilk might be the least frightening things about 2020. I, too, have an approximately once-monthly freakout and want to howl at the moon. I, too, want to dissolve into mist or frantically flap around squeaking at frequent intervals. And I, too, shuffle around mindlessly in search …
In the ongoing tire fire that is 2020, supply chains are still messed up and the postal service is still struggling—as are local bookstores. Independent retailers have begun asking that people start their Christmas shopping early, so that everyone can properly and safely manage the influx. If you can do so, I encourage you to …