Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water, by Vylan Kaftar, never intends to be what you expect. You can feel it gearing up even from the first paragraphs, ready to undermine the darkness and damp through which we watch Bianca climb, already eager to break through. Her companion on the prison planet, her lover Chela, doesn’t want …
This week we are joined by Ray of Brute Force and Sugoi Corp. fame to discuss an a manga that none of us had ever heard of but had been listed as a good comedy book for roudy teens, The Voynich Hotel. It’s the story of a Yakuza who is living at a hotel owned …
Billy Batson is a foster kid who has had a hard life. He is also a huge jerk. But like all good heroes, he learns from his jerkish ways and after being given extrodinary powers by a wizard and eventually fighting a supervillain. It’s a tale as old as time. This week Kieran and Jonah …
A Winter’s Promise was one of those rare books that stood at the exact intersection of nostalgia and innovation. It had the feel of a 20th century classic of children’s literature, but invested with the insight and maturity of more modern YA. I was beyond excited to get my hands on the second installment (of …
If you like horror but haven’t read The Rust Maidens, you’re in for a treat. This story of body horror, industrial uncanny, and all-around eerie ladies is one of my favorite books from 2019. The Bram Stoker awards agree, since it’s also been nominated for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. We were able to …
In the port city of Vastai, to serve as the Raven’s Lease is to one day sacrifice yourself to the god known as the Raven so he will, in turn, serve and protect that port and its citizens. It is a great honor, and one Mawat, the heir to the current lease, has come home …
Hobbes (the philosopher, not the tiger) was right about life being “nasty, brutish, and short,” especially when it comes to the middle ages in Europe. War, famine, plague and poverty were common, and Kate Heartfield didn’t flinch from any of it when building the world for Armed in Her Fashion. Rather than populate her book …
You thought one ghost was spooky? You haven’t seen anything yet! This week Kieran and Jonah dive into the pulp-styled world of Fabian Gray. He’s an adventurer, a ladies man, a treasur hunter, and possessed by, you guessed it, five ghosts. But the good news is they also give him weird super powers. Follow the …
What I loved about The X-Files (while it was still airing; not the reboot garbage) was its commitment to showing all the weird little subcultures and sub-subcultures of American life. The media and the internet was already making America smaller, but The X-Files made it seem so big. Witches and monsters and aliens and mutants …
Do you like action? What about romance? And how about apocalyptic magic that literally turns people inside out? I hope it’s all three, but even if you’re not so sure, Charlie N. Holmberg’s Smoke and Summons will convince you. It’s a wild, breathless dash through a grim urban environment, with mobsters and demons around every …