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 […]
A Guile of Dragons starts at the very beginning of Morlock Ambrosius’s life, in King Arthur’s Court. A betrayal and capture winds up dragging the parents of Morlock, Merlin (*that* Merlin) and his pregnant mistress Nimue across the Sea of Worlds to the Wardlands, Merlin’s home plane. (A nice touch to Amber and Moorcock). Our […]
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 […]
Mary Robinette Kowal’s Shades of Milk and Honey has been glibly described as “Jane Austen with Magic”. This shortchanges the depth of worldbuilding and characterization to be found in Kowal’s work. It captures a 19th century very much like our own with a depth that is recognizable to any author writing in or of the […]
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. […]
Beyond the mighty Opal mountains and the civilized worlds of the kingdoms of Koenigswald and Juddua, lies the Half-Made World, where reality is still fluid, and in the uttermost west, turns toward formlessness and lack of definition. Here, two arcane powers, the technological remorseless of The Line, and the chaotic nature of The Gun, compete […]
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 […]
“ all things good of this Earth flow into the city because of the city’s greatness. “–Pericles of Athens Cities are one of the most enduring and peculiar of human inventions. We’ve had cities for ten thousand years, as soon as humans started gathering together in groups larger than villages. We’ve built cities on canals, […]
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 […]
Rejoice! The Deliverer has come back to help mankind against the nightly threat of the demonic corelings that rise out of the earth every night. But there are two men that might be the Deliverer. How can there be two? Is it Arlen Boles, the so called Painted Man, who travels between the cities of […]
Interview with Jack Campbell, author of the Lost Fleet Series “Jack Campbell” is the pseudonym for John G. Hemry, a retired Naval officer (and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis). As Jack Campbell, he writes The Lost Fleet series of military science fiction novels. The newest novel in that series, Guardian, was recently […]
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 […]
On a distant world, night is the dark time for the guttering, flickering remnants of human civilization, in more ways than simply the setting of the sun. Every night, demons called corelings rise out of the ground, demons intent on feasting upon the remaining humans. Reduced from a once great civilization to some few communities […]
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 […]
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