‘Martyr!’ There’s something special about reading a debut novel. When that author is a beloved poet, however, I get a little worried. Poetry in long form doesn’t always translate well, and sometimes substance gets lost in a whirl of words. I shouldn’t have worried. Akbar has a true gift in
Read More →‘The Iliad’ If you are shuddering from echoes of long, boring classes back in school, stick with me for a few minutes. I promise, there is more to the classics than difficult-to-pronounce names and indecipherable writing. In fact, this is a deeply complex, layered tale with themes as fresh today
Read More →‘A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?’ One of the many common rebuttals to the idea of humanity expanding beyond our ailing, brink-of-climate-disaster of a planet is that there are other problems, right here, that need fixing before
Read More →‘Ink Blood Sister Scribe’ What do you like with your fall leaves and pumpkin spice? How about some dark family secrets, a couple of mysterious libraries, and a heavy dose of whimsical literary magic? I couldn’t ask for a better autumn, myself. Joanna and Esther are sisters estranged by a
Read More →‘The Mimicking of Known Successes’ I make an effort each month to review books with wide appeal, stories most people could read and enjoy. That said, this one is a little niche, but I can’t help myself. I loved it! I’ve read it twice and feel compelled to share. It
Read More →‘Medusa’s Sisters’ There are a lot of successful books out there that take classic stories and spin them around, showing the villain’s side of a fairy tale, for example, or reframing the hero into something completely different. The recent wave of mythological fiction has drudged up a twist on this
Read More →‘Camp Damascus’ Dr. Chuck Tingle is beloved for many reasons, not the least of which is his unapologetic, boundless support for all types of people — especially those who go against the grain. While his self-published stories have become viral memes dozens of times over the years, now Dr. Tingle
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Posted May 31, 2023in Book Review
‘Witch King’ Sometimes I just want to lose myself in a strange place, meet some interesting people with fascinating stories and forget about reality. Thankfully, Martha Wells is a master storyteller and has delivered an epic tale that is tailor-made to swallow me up. Her instantly relatable, always complex characters
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Posted May 03, 2023in Book Review
‘Atalanta’ In my head, there’s a whole interwoven universe of feminist mythological retellings. Like a Marvel Cinematic Universe, but for ancient stories badly in need of a revival. Next up in this wide and wonderful series of stories is perhaps the greatest heroine in all of Greek mythology, the incredible
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Posted April 05, 2023in Book Review
‘The Destroyer of Worlds’ The juxtaposition of sci-fi, the horrors of racism, and the twisted nature of HP Lovecraft’s legacy make for some absolutely riveting fiction. So much is said between the lines of this sequel to the genre-bending “Lovecraft Country,” it’s like reading two stories at once, which makes
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