Penelope’s Bones: A New History of Homer’s World Through the Women Written Out of It by Emily Hauser
Emily Hauser is the author of THE GOLDEN APPLES TRILOGY, a retelling of several Greek myths. But in Penelope’s Bones, she puts her Classics/Ancient History scholarship to work in the service of non-fiction, using her own knowledge and a veritable mountain of cross-discipline evidence to re-examine the role of women in Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey,
First Truth (2002) is the first book in the TRUTH series, a young adult fantasy by Dawn Cook, who’s better known under her pen name Kim Harrison, author of a lot of urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels.
The story follows Alissa, whose mother throws her out when she begins showing signs of magic — something her (possibly dead) father always denied existed. Her mother tells Alissa to seek the Hold, a mysterious place where she might find answers.
The Tony Awards included some speculative plays this year.
Last Thursday was the anniversary of the drive-in movie theater. Here is a nice article about the first drive-in.
Two small-press bankruptcies made the news this week—bad news for writers and readers. Unbound and Albert Whitman and Co have both had financial troubles in the past, and both leave many writers unpaid.
Thanks to File 770 for the link to this long article discussing 100 years of film “stunts.” Some are way more dangerous and convoluted than mere “stunts;”
Utterly Dark and the Tides of Time by Philip Reeve
Utterly Dark and the Tides of Time (2023) is the third and final book in the UTTERLY DARK trilogy, and the reason I left it this long (I read the preceding books exactly one year ago) is simply because I didn’t want it to end. Once a Philip Reeve story is over, it can’t be read for the first time ever again, so you have to savour them while they last.
And in this case,
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
I use up all my superlatives whenever I review anything by Amal El-Mohtar, whose prose is always exquisite and imaginative, flowing like syrup. In the case of 2025’s The River Has Roots, the hardcopy version of El-Mohtar’s lovely, original fairy tale is enhanced by woodcut-style illustrations. The story is short, novella-length, and draws on familiar elements, but the themes of the river and music form the story’s main currents, which drew me in immediately.
Esther and Ysabel Hawthorn are sisters,
Draconda and Others by John Martin Leahy
For modern-day fans of the classic pulp magazine Weird Tales, few websites will be found that exceed the depth and breadth of the one created by Terence E. Hanley; namely, Tellers of Weird Tales. Encyclopedic in scope, the site is a virtual godsend for all lovers of the so-called “Unique Magazine.” In just the Weird Tales Authors section of the website, Hanley gives full biographies of (by my rough count) 460+ authors who contributed to the magazine during its first legendary incarnation (1923 – ’54),
The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed
The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed is a cli-lit book that follows two distinct storylines, one set in the not-too-distant future wracked by climate disaster and a “hyper-pandemic” and the other set 10,000 years later in a vibrant recovered world, one that may or may not have us humans around anymore. The two-track structure is appropriate, as I had two differing reactions to the book, finding the far-future section (mostly) quite strong while having a less favorable reaction to the near-future setting,
Salem’s Lot is beloved by many Stephen King fans, yet adaptations to film and screen remain largely unsuccessful. Reactor analyzes these offerings in depth.
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This YouTube site is streaming science; 100 hours of 5-minute segments by noted scientists, explaining the importance of their field.
Warning, spoilers: The Doctor Who finale swings for fences, jumps a couple of sharks, and generally invokes every other metaphor-for-outrageous.
Oh, wow! Captain Nemo is back, with the Nautilus! This might even be good.
Luminous (2025) is the debut novel for Silvia Park, and as such evinces some of the issues that sometimes crop up in first books in areas such as structure and pace. Those issues, however, are more than eclipsed by the book’s shimmering prose, frequently moving moments, and thoughtful exploration of a number of themes, all circling around the question of what it means to be “human.”
Park sets her novel in a unified Korea, roughly twenty years after the war that ended their separation.
Notes From a Regicide by Isaac Fellman
If Notes from a Regicide were just a book about two artists who become involved in a revolution, it would be one hell of a book. If it were just a story about a man who learns to see his parents as people, it would be one hell of a book. If it were just a love story between two artists, dealing with addiction and mental illness, it would be one hell of a book, too. If it were just about a trans gay man navigating his life,
Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang
Neon Yang’s 2025 novella Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame, is a luscious little book, a tasty way to spend an hour or two. Yang’s words shimmer like a silk pennant rippling in the breeze. There is color, there is food, there are scents, and sensations. At the level of sentences and paragraphs, I enjoyed every moment of Yang’s fantasy. The characterizations and plot choices meant this wasn’t a story that stuck with me or made me think.
A new MORTAL ENGINES story? What bliss!
The first book set in the dystopian world of Philip Reeve’s mighty Traction Cities since Scrivener’s Moon was published back in 2011, Thunder City (2024) ends up being something of an oddity within the overarching scope of the series. Unlike the three prequels, which delved into the genesis of the Traction Cities, or Night Flights,
This article about the original Charlie’s Angels movie with Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, and the “wrong” bird used in a pivotal scene, is long, but it’s written in an engaging way and I learned more about birds that I ever planned to. I enjoyed it and I hope you do.
After three seasons, Amazon Prime has canceled Wheel of Time.
At least with Reactor, Murderbot continues to please. (Warning, spoilers.)
It’s almost summer, which everyone knows is cannibal novel season.
You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming
Written during the winter of 1963, at Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye retreat in Oracabessa, on the north shore of Jamaica, You Only Live Twice was the author’s 12th James Bond novel, not counting the short story collection For Your Eyes Only (1960). Ultimately released in March ’64, just five months before the author’s untimely demise, it was the last Bond novel to be completed. (The posthumous 007 novel The Man With the Golden Gun,
The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah
The Ashfire King is Chelsea Abdullah’s follow-up to the highly enjoyable The Stardust Thief, picking up pretty immediately after the events of that book, which ended on a pretty sizable cliffhanger. While the new novel doesn’t attain the heights of its predecessor, which I called “one of the most enjoyable and captivating books” I’d read that year, despite some issues it moves the story along, deepens several of the characters,
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
2025’s A Drop of Corruption is the second book in Robert Jackson Bennett‘s latest series, THE SHADOW OF THE LEVIATHAN (or, alternately, THE ANA AND DIN MYSTERIES). Set in the same world as the first book, The Tainted Cup, A Drop of Corruption is a glorious magic act, filled with misdirection, mirrors, impersonations, disguises, codes and clues. It also holds a contemplation of the nature of kingdoms and kings.
Murderbot, the Show, premiered on Apple+ last week. Here is Reactor’s reaction to it.
Looking for a news editing job? Reactor is hiring.
Also from Reactor, five books with imposters or con artists.
The 2025 Eisner Award candidates are announced. (Thanks to File770.)
The Guardian has some thoughts on the candidates for the International Booker Prize.
Nerds of a Feather reviews an epic fantasy novel, Birth of a Dynasty,
Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay
In Written on the Dark (2025), Guy Gavriel Kay returns to his “quarter-turn from our own” world, here shifting time and place to a late-medieval “France” (Ferrieres in Kay’s universe) ruled by a “mad king.” When the king’s brother is killed by the powerful Duke of Barratin and left on the streets of Orane (think Paris), tavern poet Thierry Villar finds himself embroiled in the politics and intrigue of a world he’d never imagined himself part of, as Ferrieres tries to avoid civil war while also attempting to fend off an exterior invasion by the king of the island nation across the channel [some spoilers to follow in this review;
Talk To My Back by Muraski Yamada
In this column, I feature comic book reviews written by my students at Oxford College of Emory University. Oxford College is a small liberal arts school just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I challenge students to read and interpret comics because I believe sequential art and visual literacy are essential parts of education at any level (see my Manifesto!). I post the best of my students’ reviews in this column. Today, I am proud to present a review by Ritisha Lingampally:
Ritisha Lingampally is a first-year student at Oxford College and is considering majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service by Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming‘s 11th James Bond book, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, was written, as was the author’s wont, while on vacation at his Goldeneye retreat on the north shore of Jamaica, at Oracabessa, in the winter of 1962 … coincidentally, not far from where filming for the original 007 movie, Dr. No, was taking place at that same time. OHMSS, which was initially released in April 1963,
Agree! And a perfect ending, too.
I may be embarrassing myself by repeating something I already posted here, but Thomas Pynchon has a new novel scheduled…
[…] Tales (Fantasy Literature): John Martin Leahy was born in Washington State in 1886 and, during his five-year career as…
so you're saying I should read it? :)
As a native New Yorker, I love the idea of the city being filled with canals and no skyscrapers! And…