Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Kate Lechler

Elite Groups in SFF

Welcome to another Expanded Universe column where I’ll be featuring essays from authors and editors of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, as well as from established readers and reviewers, talking about anything SFF related that interests us. My guest today is Micah Dean Hicks, who is a Calvino Prize-winning author of fabulist fiction. His collection of Southern fairy tales, Electricity and Other Dreams, was recently published by New American Press and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. You can follow him on Twitter at @micahdeanhicks or at his website www.micahdeanhicks.com.

June 26th, 2015. Kate Lechler | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 7 comments |

Steal the Dragon: Fun, light fantasy with some disturbing subtexts

Steal the Dragon by Patricia Briggs

In Steal the Dragon, Patricia Briggs creates yet another strong, believable female protagonist in Rialla, a horse trainer and ex-slave from the country of Darran, who now lives in Sianim. (In fact, Steal the Dragon is technically part of a series called SIANIM, but as the books in the series do not share a lot of plot or characters, merely a setting, you don’t have to read the others to enjoy it.) She learns from the spymaster of Sianim that an influential lord in Darran would like to outlaw slavery,

WWWednesday: June 24, 2015

This is my last WWWednesday column; from here on out, I’ll be focusing on The Expanded Universe column and catching up on my many reviews I have yet to complete! (You know you’re past your freshman year as a FanLit reviewer when you’re at least 15 books behind, and reading more all the time.) Thanks for sticking with me this past year, and let’s welcome Marion Deeds next week when she takes over the web round-up column!

Writing, Editing, and Publishing

SFWA has a pic of the Nebula Award Winners after receiving their awards.

June 24th, 2015. Kate Lechler | World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |

Raven’s Strike: A solid sequel

Raven’s Strike by Patricia Briggs

Patricia Briggs’ second novel in her RAVEN DUOLOGY, Raven’s Strike, picks up where the last novel leaves off. Seraph and her family have been reunited and are back on their way toward Redern, eager to get to the bottom of the mystery that presented itself during Tier’s captivity in Taela, the capital. Namely, what does The Path, the new religion developing in the septs, have to do with Traveler’s Orders? And why are so many ordered Travelers dying,

Film Review: Jurassic World

Jurassic World: Immensely satisfying, with a surprising message

If you are a big fan of the first Jurassic Park film, you’ve probably been waiting on pins and needles for the latest installment in the franchise, Jurassic World. After seeing the trailer, I felt very anxious: would this live up to my lofty dreams, or would it be another Jurassic Park III? I can now say with pleasure that I laughed, and gasped, and oohed and aahed throughout the movie. The chase and fight scenes are intense,

June 18th, 2015. Kate Lechler´s rating: 4 | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |

WWWednesday: June 17, 2015

On this day in 1903, Ruth Graves Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn, created the chocolate chip cookie. Thank you, Ruth!

Writing, Editing, and Publishing

The finalists for the Chesley Awards, given by the Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists (ASFA), have been announced. I’m excited to see Todd Lockwood on the list, whose work we have featured before in WWW. Click through to check out the rest of the nominees.

The winners for the Campbell and the Sturgeon Awards have been chosen: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August,

June 17th, 2015. Kate Lechler | World Wide Wednesday | 6 comments |

Raven’s Shadow: A fun, easy read with good worldbuilding

Raven’s Shadow by Patricia Briggs

Patricia Briggs’ novel Raven’s Shadow begins with a rescue and a romance. Tier, a Rederni ex-soldier, saves young Seraph, a Traveler girl, from murder at the hands of some ruffians in a tavern and a strange, dangerous man in the forest. Intrigued by this brave, foolhardy girl, Tier takes her home to his village to protect her from the forces that follow. Travelers are Briggs’ answer to Patrick Rothfuss’ Edema Ruh or Robert Jordan’s Tuatha’an…

Tricksters in Fairy Tales

“They seek him here, they seek him there…”

This past spring, I taught a class on fairy tales and fairy tale adaptations to undergraduates at the University of Mississippi. We started the semester reading three stories: “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Rumplestiltskin,” and “Cagliuso” (Straparola’s Italian counterpart to “Puss in Boots”). I chose these stories first so we could talk about trickster figures because, let’s face it, tricksters are fun.

The archetype of the trickster is older than recorded literature. Jack Zipes’ essay “Fairy as Witch/Witch as Fairy,” in his collection The Irresistible Fairy Tale,

June 12th, 2015. Kate Lechler | Expanded Universe | 19 comments |

WWWednesday: June 10, 2015

On this day in 671 C.E., Emperor Tenji of Japan introduced a water clock called Rokoku. The instrument measured time and indicated hours and was placed in the capital of Ōtsu.

Writing, Editing, and Publishing:

Jeff VanderMeer won the Nebula Award for the best novel on Saturday. Here you can read the text of his acceptance speech, which calls for more diverse voices in SF/F.

The other Nebula winners were: Yesterday’s Kin, by Nancy Kress (novella);

June 10th, 2015. Kate Lechler | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |

Against Speculative Poetry?

Welcome to another Expanded Universe column where I’ll be featuring essays from authors and editors of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, as well as from established readers and reviewers, talking about anything SFF related that interests us. My guest today is Jennifer Schomburg Kanke, who is a visiting instructor at Florida State University. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, Pleiades, Star*Line, and Goblin Fruit..

One commenter will win a book from our Stacks.

I’m ambivalent about the term “speculative poetry.” Is it just another way of categorizing poetry,

June 5th, 2015. Kate Lechler | Expanded Universe | 6 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

We have reviewed 8468 fantasy, science fiction, and horror books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and films.

Subscribe to all posts:

Get notified about Giveaways:

Support FanLit

Want to help us defray the cost of domains, hosting, software, and postage for giveaways? Donate here:

You can support FanLit (for free) by using these links when you shop at Amazon:

US UK CANADA

Or, in the US, simply click the book covers we show. We receive referral fees for all purchases (not just books). This has no impact on the price and we can't see what you buy. This is how we pay for hosting and postage for our GIVEAWAYS. Thank you for your support!

SFF Deals

Recent Discussion:

bounty lottery on The Giallo Films of Edwige FenechMay 10, 2025
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Steven on The Saint of Bright Doors: The good parts are so goodMay 8, 2025
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Sandy on Quest for the White Witch: The exciting conclusion to an epic trilogyMay 5, 2025
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Marion Deeds on Quest for the White Witch: The exciting conclusion to an epic trilogyMay 5, 2025
Wonderful review, Sandy.
Marion Deeds on Red Rabbit: Perfect blend of western adventure and wild magicApril 27, 2025
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…