The Spirit War by Rachel Aaron
The Spirit War (2012) is the fourth and penultimate installment in Rachel Aaron‘s THE LEGEND OF ELI MONPRESS. You’ll want to read the first three books, The Spirit Thief, The Spirit Rebellion, and The Spirit Eater. This review will have some mild spoilers for those earlier books.
In this volume Eli,
World of the Starwolves by Edmond Hamilton
Although Ohio-born author Edmond Hamilton had given his readers much in the way of action, spectacle, alien races, futuristic science, and cosmic wonder in the first two novels of his so-called STARWOLF TRILOGY – The Weapon From Beyond (1967) and The Closed Worlds (1968) – there was yet one element that he seemed to be holding in abeyance. In Book #1, the reader had met Morgan Chane,
Echobird Press is accepting submissions for an anthology of hopeful science fiction stories. The window closes May 31, 2025. This is an opportunity for writers, and it’s very important for us to have hope, so I will include this link more than once before the deadline.
One of the fantasy’s genre most innovative and most “American” series is Alex Bledsoe’s TUFA series, and Nerds of a Feather talks about it here.
John Scalzi and Mary Robinette Kowal participated at an event in Columbus, Ohio; she for her newest LADY ASTRONAUT book,
The Salt-Black Tree By Lilith Saintcrow
The Salt-Black Tree came out in 2023, three months after Book One of THE DEAD GOD’S HEART duology. Three things are obvious. One: This was written as one longer book. Two: it would have worked better if it had been published that way. Three: Magical cars are cool.
Book Two opens with a repeat of the final chapter of Spring’s Arcana. After finding another part of her arcana as the emerging goddess of spring,
Valdemar (2023) is the third and final book in Mercedes Lackey’s FOUNDING OF VALDEMAR trilogy. This series is a great place to start if you’re new to Valdemar, but you’ll definitely want to read Beyond and Into the West first. Only mild spoilers for those books ahead.
It’s been ten years since Duke Kordas Valdemar led his people away from the Empire, and they’re still working to establish their new home.
Spring’s Arcana by Lilith Saintcrow
2023’s Spring’s Arcana by Lilith Saintcrow has atmospheric language and lovely descriptions. This is Book One of a duology, THE DEAD GOD’S HEART. The book is a road trip, taking us through exquisitely described scenes of fantasy, magic and mundanity. The language is gorgeous, but the story feels derivative, and the protagonist faces very little direct danger. The book ends abruptly midway through the main character’s quest, with the words “To be Continued.” Read it for the beautiful language,
Here is a nice website with statistics and facts you might find useful.
Judith Tarr considers a “river monster” from West Africa.
After the Army removed articles about the 442nd Regiment, World War II’s most decorated regiment, they reacted to public outcry and restored the articles. The 442nd was comprised mostly of Japanese American soldiers, many of whom had family members left behind in camps.
I read several paragraphs into this article, drawn in by the sprightly tone, before I realized it was a “Five Books…” list.
Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite
Murder by Memory is a cozy mystery novella by Oliva Waite set on a generation spaceship. Unfortunately, despite the intriguing setting, this didn’t connect with me for a number of reasons: the brevity of the novella form seemed to work against the story, neither the mystery nor the solving of it was particularly compelling, and the novel was both a bit overly expository and too twee for me.
The HMS Fairweather has been journey through space for 300 years, carrying thousands of passengers whose minds are stored in the ship’s Library so when their bodies wear out or are damaged,
The Closed Worlds by Edmond Hamilton
In Edmond Hamilton’s 1967 novel The Weapon From Beyond, Book #1 of his so-called STARWOLF TRILOGY, the reader had been introduced to Morgan Chane, an orphaned Earthling who had been brought up and raised by the piratical Starwolves of the planet Varna. In that first installment, Chane had been forced to flee from the vengeful Varnans after having killed one of them in self-defense, and had gone on to work with a group of mercenaries,
Sound of Magic: Annarasumanara by Ha Il-Kwon
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 Victoria Cheng:
Victoria Cheng is a second-year student at Oxford College and is considering majoring in Biology.
Airborne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe by Carl Zimmer
Carl Zimmer’s book Airborne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe is an always informative, often fascinating, and at times worrying look at humanity’s long speculation and exploration of what is in the air around us and what we breathe besides the life-giving oxygen we need.
Zimmer covers a lot of ground here, going back to ancient civilizations and the idea of “miasma” or “bad air,” an explanation of sickness that held sway for centuries until being rivaled in the 14th century by the opposing idea that “diseases such as plague were caused by contagion — a poison that grew inside the sick and then spread to the healthy.” A speculative theory strengthened by the invention of the microscope in the 17th century,
Amazing Adventures (Marvel Super Stories Book #2)
Last November, Abrams Fanfare published their second volume of middle-grade comics stories, based on some slightly less-exposed Marvel heroes. Some, like Spider Man, are immediately recognizable, and some have had their own series recently and we know them from that. Each story is no longer than six pages, and various award-winning comic book artists and writers were invited to the anthology. The result, Amazing Adventures (Marvel Super Stories Book #2), is a pleasant sampler, and maybe an introduction to some new and interesting cape-and-mask heroes.
Into the West by Mercedes Lackey
Into the West (2022) is the second book in Mercedes Lackey’s THE FOUNDING OF VALDEMAR trilogy. Readers can absolutely start with this trilogy before diving into any other VALDEMAR books, but you’ll want to read Beyond, the first (and most exciting) book in this trilogy, before picking up this one. Only mild spoilers for Beyond are in this review.
The journey continues with Duke Kordas Valdemar and his people as they seek a new home.
The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison
2025’s The Tomb of Dragons is the fourth book in Kate Addison’s CHRONICLES OF OSRETH. The Goblin Emperor has retroactively been designated Book One. The Tomb of Dragons, like the two books before it, features Thera Celehar, a Witness for the Dead, as he tries to bring justice to his world in large and small ways.
In The Goblin Emperor,
The Weapon From Beyond by Edmond Hamilton
It would seem that I owe a very sincere apology to all my FanLit readers here. In my June 2017 review of Edmond Hamilton’s 1966 novel Doomstar, I mentioned that this was the final work given to us by the Golden Age sci-fi master, and as it turns out, that statement was far from being correct. One of the folks who saw that review, Dennis Burdette, was good enough to point out, 10 months later in that review’s Comments section,
The Carnivale of Curiosities by Amiee Gibbs
This carnival book completely satisfied. 2023’s The Carnivale of Curiosities, by Amiee Gibbs, is set in 1880’s London. It’s a slow-burn, late-Victorian-styled literary novel, filled with magic, lies, secrets, and revenge plots, all centered around Ashe and Pretorius’s Carnivale of Curiosities, and its leader, Aurelius Ashe, who can grant anyone nearly any wish… for a price.
Unlike other circuses and carnivals of the day, Ashe uses real magic and many of his “freaks” have magical powers. Some are simply unusual-looking people,
Since the CDC cannot release information about the avian flu and other contagious diseases, the American Medical Association is providing updates. Here is their Youtube channel.
Reactor is offering new fiction by Elizabeth Bear.
Nerds of a Feather reviews Gareth Powell’s latest.
Here’s an interesting article about one of the things NOAA does.
The U.K. Guardian shares fantastical sketches by Victor Hugo.
File770 provides the Australian Romance Award short list.
Mercedes Lackey’s Beyond (2021) is the first book in her THE FOUNDING OF VALDEMAR trilogy which is set in her wider VALDEMAR universe. As the name of the trilogy suggests, it’s a prequel, so Beyond is a fine entry point in the VALDEMAR series and, in fact, I’d recommend it as a great starting point because it’s well-written and entertaining all the way through. Lackey’s books are often hit or miss for me and Beyond,
The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson
Published in 2023, J.R. Dawson’s The First Bright Thing is a solid entry in the subgenre of magical carnivals, joining The Night Circus, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Bacchanal, and Mechanique, among others. Once again, good versus evil plays out in the center ring, against the backdrop of big tops and midways. Dawson adds one new ingredient to the mix,
Rogue Star by Frederik Pohl & Jack Williamson
Have you ever read a science-fiction book that was so bizarre, so way-out, that you said to yourself “How did the author ever think of this? What was he smoking? Did she possibly eat a Fluffernutter and headcheese sandwich, go to bed, and dream the whole thing up?” It’s happened to me any number of times, with such novels as Henry Kuttner & C. L. Moore’s The Well of the Worlds (1952),
Hahaha! You might like the one "Shocktober" scene near the end!
For some strange reason, I get the feeling I might like this one! 😁
Wow, 20 dollars? That seems a lot for a 100-or-so-page book, but most of my novellas have come via ARCs…
I might say "formulaic" actually.
Your review made me curious, so I looked this book up. Sure enough: Tor. Tor seems to specialize in these…