In Emma Newman’s Between Two Thorns, the first novel in her Split Worlds series, all Cathy wants is to go to college and be with the man she loves. However, her family in the Nether, the sky-less land between Mundanus, the normal world, and Exillium, the magical land of the Fae Lords, want her back […]
Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga explores the backstory of the most notorious villain of the Walking Dead world, known as Philip Blake or “The Governor.” The novel, the first in a series, begins shortly after the dead begin to rise, with Philip Blake, his daughter Penny, his brother […]
As someone relatively new to comics and graphic novels, as well as a fan of AMC’s The Walking Dead television series, I was anxious to read the original comics that inspired the show. I readily admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of comics. I loved the illustrations, I loved the stories, but the […]
The Dharma of Star Wars by Matthew Bortolin is a simple, fun introduction to the basic tenets of Buddhism. By using examples from the Star Wars saga, Bortolin illustrates how Buddhism addresses the cause of suffering, and how to transcend that suffering by cultivating mindfulness and recognizing our part in the greater whole of reality. […]
The anthology, Raygun Chronicles, from Every Day Publishing showcases many of the genre stories that were featured in the “short lived zine” called Raygun Revival. In the words of editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt, “the kinds of stories that made us fall in love with science fiction and space opera.” With an engaging introduction from the […]
In Codex Born by Jim C. Hines, the hero and heroines from Libriomancer must face an old enemy in a powerful new form. When Johannes Gutenberg began mass printing books five hundred years ago, he made their inner magic accessible to certain people with magical abilities. Libriomancers, such as Gutenberg, could tap into the collective […]
Ian Doescher’s new book, William Shakespeare’s Star Wars, combines the grandeur and sweep of everyone’s favorite space opera with the linguistic style and formatting of the Bard’s greatest plays. References to both Shakespeare and the Star Wars saga have become so commonplace in popular culture that readers should have little trouble picking up at least […]
In Shirin Dubbin‘s To the 5th Power, Zola, formerly known as superhero Watcher, must face three villainous fans while coming to terms with her own psychological trauma and regret. Three years earlier, Zola had retreated from superhero life after witnessing the brutal murder of her sidekick. Though emotionally broken and vulnerable, she’s forced to face […]
Madeline Ashby‘s iD, the 2nd novel in her Machine Dynasty series, follows a self-replicating robot named Javier on his quest to right a horrible wrong against the woman he loves. During his bizarre journey of discovery and danger, he reflects on the nature of sexuality, free will, and his own culpability for the harm visited […]
Beyond the Sun, the science fiction anthology edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt, collects the stories of an eclectic group of authors. Eighteen writers contributed stories addressing the question, what lies beyond the sun? They answered that question with stories told by different species and genders, and their answers are as varied as the authors themselves. […]
In the humorous adventure novel, The Shambling Guide to New York City, Mur Lafferty (@mightymur) shows us that the publishing business can be murder. Zoë is an accomplished writer, fleeing a scandal in her hometown to make a new life for herself in New York City. However, when she takes a job as managing editor […]
In PORTAL 2212 Thadd Evans tells a survival story of humans, raised aboard an alien vessel, trying to survive on a strange planet. The humans on board the ship travel great distances in chambers designed to slow their aging during their long journey. Cared for by android attendants, growing up together on the ship, they […]
Homeland, Cory Doctorow‘s sequel to Little Brother, revisits San Francisco several years after the Bay Bridge is destroyed in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. Soil. Marcus Yallow and his girlfriend, Ange, are still together, making technology with scrap parts and a bit of ingenuity. But when Marcus is given a USB stick with secret […]
In Little Brother, Cory Doctorow paints a dystopian near future when the rights of citizens are taken away in the name of National Security. Marcus Yallow is an ordinary teenager attending High School, bristling under the technological surveillance imposed by his school. Smart and tech savvy, he skips school along with his friends to participate […]
Consumption by Patrick Hester is a charmingly creepy short story of life beyond death in the Wild West. John Henry has just arrived from Georgia to attend the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery when he hears about the exhibition of a newly discovered mummy. While attending the display with his schoolmates, one of them claims […]
The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman takes us into a world torn apart by war between two immortal forces, the Line and the Gun. Amid the chaos, Harry Ransom seeks to escape his humble and tragic origins to found a great and peaceful city of the future. By way of his ‘Ransom Process’, […]
Space Magic by David Levine, a collection of fifteen short stories, combines a variety of award winning genre fiction. Tales of magic and science, ghost stories and fairies, exist side by side in delightful harmony. “Wind from a Dying Star” describes a unique vision of humanity evolving to live among the stars. In “Nucleon,” a […]
Every Tuesday, readers can find free serialized fiction via the Tuesday Serial website. Authors post links to their new and ongoing series using the site’s collector, and the following day a report is generated which links to each story. Most installments range about 1,000 words, so readers can whet their appetites and decide which narratives […]
In The Mad Scientist’s Daughter, Cassandra Rose Clarke weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss centered around the life of Cat and her strange relationship with her father’s assistant, an android named Finn. Though Cat’s mother and father are both cyberneticists, Cat’s mother has largely given up her career to raise their daughter. Doctor […]
The beautifully written novel, Broken by A.E. Rought takes the reader through a modern retelling of Frankesntein with a twist of Romeo and Juliet. The story begins in a cemetery, where the lonely teen, Emma, mourns her boyfriend and the fact that he will never have a grave. Her heartache is palatable; yet soon she […]
In the middle of this elemental storm a fire gleamed among the dripping furze bushes like the madness in a weasel’s eye. It illuminated three hunched figures. As the cauldron bubbled an eldritch voice shrieked: ‘When shall we three meet again?’ There was a pause. Finally another voice said, in far more ordinary tones: ‘Well, […]
This book is a love letter. Within its pages, books are magic. They come alive. Libriomancy allows certain gifted individuals to pull forth objects from the pages of books and use them in our world. From the time Gutenberg himself became the first Libriomancer when he invented the printing press, libriomancy has been used […]
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