2259 Fantasy & Science Fiction Authors:
 A
 B
 C
 D
 E
 F
 G
 H
 I
 J
 K
 L
 M
 N
 O
 P
 Q
 R
 S
 T
 U
 V
 W
 Y
 Z
Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Kate Lechler

testing

DragonCon: Cluster-Frak at the Marriott

I began my first day at Dragon*Con 2014 on Atlanta’s metro system, MARTA, where I met Sre and Lena, a lovely couple headed downtown for the festivities. Sre was dressed as Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy and protagonist from Wes Anderson’s recent film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Lena was dressed as herself, as was I. We made our way downtown to watch the Dragon*Con parade together. (Sre and Lena even shared their water with me! What class acts . . . )

If you’ve never been to Dragon*Con, the Saturday parade has become a local event.


Read More




September 1st, 2014. | | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

testing

WWWednesday: August 27, 2014

On this day in 1992, Super Mario Kart was released in Japan, launching the entire Mario Kart series.

Writing, Editing, and Publishing:

The nominees for the 2014 Endeavor Awards, for a distinguished SF/F novel published by an author from the Pacific Northwest, have been announced; the winner will be announced at the next OryCon, held in Portland, OR.

The European Science Fiction Society presented awards this past weekend at the 36th Eurocon, Shamrokon in Dublin.

Finally, the Sidewise Awards (for best alternate history) and the Chesley Awards (for best science fiction or fantasy art) were awarded last week at LonCon.


Read More




August 27th, 2014. | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |

testing

WWWednesday: August 20, 2014

On this day in 1962, the NS Savannah sailed on her maiden voyage. Savannah was the first nuclear powered passenger ship and she was commissioned as part of Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” initiative, which sought to rebrand nuclear power after the use of atomic force in WWII. Savannah ended up visiting 45 foreign ports and taking 848 passengers, before being decommissioned and moored in Baltimore, Maryland.

Writing, Editing, and Publishing:

Perhaps the biggest news in SFF publishing this week comes to us from LonCon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention in London this past weekend.


Read More




August 20th, 2014. | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |

testing

The House of the Four Winds: Shoddy plot and no romance

The House of the Four Winds by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

Do you ever read a book and wonder how it got published? Or read an established author and think, “Don’t they understand basic storytelling?”

The House of the Four Winds, by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, starts innocently enough. Princess Clarice of the Duchy of Swansgaarde must go out and seek her fortune because she has eleven sisters and a brother, and the Duchy cannot support twelve royal dowries. Clarice is a master sword fighter and intends to make her living as an instructor.


Read More




August 15th, 2014. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |

WWWednesday: August 13, 2014

On this day in 1913, Otto Witte, an acrobat, was purportedly crowned king of Albania. Read his story here: it’s hilarious.

Writing, Editing, and Publishing:

Jack Heckel wrote a beautiful article for Tor.com about why we keep retelling fairytales, as he promotes his soon-to-be-released book, Once Upon a Rhyme, which follows the exploits of Prince Charming. I’m glad this gap will be filled; we need some more masculinity studies of fairy tales to complement the study of fairy tale’s female gender roles!

Recently Star Trek author David Mack received a letter from a reader claiming that they wouldn’t read him anymore since he wrote about same-sex relationships.


Read More




August 13th, 2014. | World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |

testing

Magic for Beginners: Impressive and strange

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

Kelly Link’s short story collection, Magic for Beginners, is a great piece of work. In a bit of a departure from her earlier collection Stranger Things Happen, the stories in it don’t follow normative narrative structures; they draw from sources as various as fairy tales, kitchen sink realism, heist stories, TV fandom, and Link’s own surrealist vision.  These nine stories don’t share overt connections, but they do provide a window into modern American life, complete with bland marriages,


Read More




August 12th, 2014. ´s rating: | | , , , | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

testing

WWWednesday: August 6, 2014

Today, we’re featuring two events on this date in history. First, in 1991, Tim Berners-Lee made public his idea for the World Wide Web. Here at WWWednesday, we salute Berners-Lee!

It is also the date, in 1996, that NASA announced that the meteorite ALH 84001 contained evidence of primitive life-forms. While the existence of non-terrestrial life has never been proven, this meteorite presents some fascinating evidence. Read about it here.

Writing, Editing, and Publishing:

Lev Grossman has been publishing all over the place this week to coincide with the release of his latest novel,


Read More




August 6th, 2014. | World Wide Wednesday | 4 comments |

testing

The Magician’s Land: A big and beautiful finish

The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman

The Magician’s Land, by Lev Grossman, is a superb finish to what is one of my favorite fantasy series of all time. I read it elated, skin tingling and brain buzzing, savoring every word to make it last longer. When I finished, I wanted to read it again immediately. And yet, I also finished the book feeling a persistent ambivalence about the conclusion Grossman has created for his characters.

In The Magician’s Land,


Read More




August 5th, 2014. , , and ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

testing

Rogues: A diverse and satisfying collection

Rogues edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois

Rogues, a short-story anthology by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, is a marvelously diverse collection of stories and genres, tied together by those scoundrels, those tricksters, those rascals, those rogues that you can’t help but love. I listened to it on audiobook and loved the experience, especially because a few of the readers were actors from Game of Thrones.

When I picked this up, I was most excited to hear two stories in particular: “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back,”


Read More




July 31st, 2014. ´s rating: | , , , , , , , , , | | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

testing

WWWednesday: July 30, 2014

On this day in 1932, Disney released Flowers and Trees, their first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first animated short to win an Academy Award. It’s about dancing flowers and trees—pretty much what you’d expect. Also, today is author Cherie Priest’s birthday!

Writing, Editing, and Publishing:

On her blog, Terri Windling writes “In Praise of Re-Reading,” a fascinating piece on how, as we change, our perceptions of our favorite books change with us.

Maybe you guys knew about this already.


Read More




July 30th, 2014. | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

We have reviewed 8494 fantasy, science fiction, and horror books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and films.

Subscribe to all posts:

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!
Try Audible for Free

Recent Discussion:

  4. If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…

  5. Marion Deeds