I’m guessing that the pitch for Catfish Lullaby, by A. C. Wise, was: imagine True Detective season one from the perspective of women and queer people of color. That’s certainly an intriguing premise as well as a welcome one, and I already know Wise is an exceptionally good writer from her short stories. Her work …
The second installment of the Market of Monsters trilogy is finally here, and it was so worth the wait. This is another fast-paced, blood-drenched installment that lives up to the promise of the first book in all categories. The characters continue their development in new and interesting directions, the action remains consistent and fairly constant, …
September 3-10 is the Week of Doom, the days when all the presses and houses put on their very finest, select their champions, and then show up to watch a bookish battle royale. Let the gothic fantasies scrap! Let the newbies do battle with the established authors! Let all the murderbabe characters duke it out! …
Since 2018, African rooted fantasy narratives been have been gaining exposure, and the first book of this YA Fantasy series doesn’t disappoint. In the letter to the reader, Rena writes “I can never truly recover what was stolen from them (ancestors) or indirectly from me, but in Kingdom of Souls I wanted to write a …
Vaelin Al Sorna has returned, both literally and spiritually. While Blood Song, the book that introduced us to Vaelin, is a must-read for any fantasy reader, its follow-ups left much to be desired. Disappointing is the best way to describe them, as they are in themselves not bad books, but they are a decline from …
What a ride it’s been! We went from Murder Hogwarts to Magic Spartacus to this, a dark, Tolkienian triumph I’m going to dub Return of the Goth. Surprised? Me too. But we shouldn’t be. Jay Kristoff may write with some pop turns of phrase (and filthy cussing), but his ambitions have always been Epic with …
Growing up as a blerd, loving speculative literature was always a conflicting experience. On one hand I absolutely loved the world building of science fiction and fantasy novels, but on the other, I rarely saw myself or themes that represented my personal experience. Published by BLF Press, “Black From the Future: A Collection of Black …
There are always trends in publishing, but a recent one was particularly odd: the use of “nine” in titles. Was everyone excited about 2019 for some reason? Is there some kind of numerology pact among authors? Are the nine muses subtly signaling for attention? I don’t know. But hey, here’s a list to keep track …
Oh, Dustin. You have confidence, but your charisma-based checks don’t always succeed. Also, nobody believes you have a girlfriend from summer camp. But that’s ok, boo! You just keep singing. Riddle-Master Trilogy (Patricia A. McKillip) – If you wanted to build a character and a story out of the riddle-battle scene from The Hobbit (which …
Here is our live show from GeeklyCon 2019 in Columbus, OH titled Trans-Dimensional Possibilities, Or, What Were They Thinking?: The Greatest Multiverse Characters of All Time. Join us as we explore the multiverse and talk about the strange characters we find there. We are also joined by Mike Bachmann of Greetings, Adventurers, and you’ll never …