Tabitha’s Death by Jordan Elizabeth

Elizabeth blends the intimacy of despair with the universal resonance of fairy tales, creating a bleak yet engaging young adult fantasy novel. While Elizabeth handles the topic sympathetically rather than seeking to titillate or shock, readers should be aware this book contains overt mentions of self-harm and suicide. The death of her best friend unravels …

Lovingly Crafted Fictions?

H.P. Lovecraft at all times presented as a rationalist (albeit potentially drawing upon now-discredited science), and described his creations in terms of a universe with principles we could not understand populated with beings that are alien rather than divine. So—barring a deep and sustained deceit—he didn’t believe he was writing about occult truths in the …

Wavebreaker: Trickle by A.J. Norfield

Norfield balances gritty fantasy with the complexities of cultural and species contact, creating fast-paced action with social depth. This novel is the second in the Stone Wars series. Possible spoilers ahead. Raylan, Galirras, and the other survivors of the mission into the Dark Continent have managed to escape ahead of the Stone King’s army. However, …

The Book is Not the Book

Since at least my A-Levels, I've believed each book is a product of the text and the reader rather than having a single objective meaning. I realised yesterday that the greatest evidence of this lies not in complex literary theory, but rather in re-reading. When I first moved out of my mother's house, I—as many …

The Gate to Oblivion by Matthew S. Cox

Cox blends ancient magical entities with the demands of modern urban life to create a vision of a world where magic is as ubiquitous and mundane as technology is in ours; and just as prone to misuse and malfunctions. This novel is the third in Cox’s Temporal Armistice series. Danger of psychometric backwash ahead. Brooklyn …

String of Conflicts

I greatly enjoyed the string duel between Bill Bailey and Soumik Datta in Tinselworm. Salut Salon have elevated the "competition" to another level though: https://youtu.be/BKezUd_xw20 Today's random thought has been: a piano has strings, but is it a stringed instrument.

Stonefish by Scott R. Jones

Jones summons forth abstruse theology in the language of dystopian thriller, creating the thinking person’s visceral cosmic dread. Years ago, tech mogul and futurist guru Gregor Makarios disappeared completely from public record. However, Den Secord, a journalist for a minor virtual reality publication, finds a fragment that somehow escaped the purge. Following a hunch that …

Walled Improvement

As I suspect it has many of you, lock down has left me feeling somewhat closed in. To ring the changes from brief gathering of essentials and necessary exercise, I decided to undertake a maintenance project Nicki and I had put off until we had time: the back wall of the garden. The previous occupants …

The Restless Sands of Neel by Stephanie Flint

Flint crafts a desert fantasy novella that isn’t just the thinly veiled Middle East or Dune. Ro’nor is a scryer, a gift that lets him make a tolerable living predicting weather for farmers and other mundane tasks. However, when a young beastman fleeing desert raiders leaps into Ro’nor’s cart and scares the horses, the scryer …

Macabre

I found this animated film both tense and aesthetically pleasing, with echoes of Poe or Lovecraft; and at just under twenty minutes, ideal for taking a short break. https://youtu.be/TcDs-CzOKXE