Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Marion Deeds

WWWednesday: March 26, 2025

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,

March 26th, 2025. Marion Deeds | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Salt-Black Tree: Magical cars are cool

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,

March 25th, 2025. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Lilith Saintcrow | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Spring’s Arcana: Slavic gods on a road trip

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,

March 20th, 2025. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Lilith Saintcrow | SFF Reviews | no comments |

WWWednesday: March 19, 2025

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.

March 19th, 2025. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

Amazing Adventures: Marvel Super Stories #2

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.

March 13th, 2025. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The Tomb of Dragons

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,

March 10th, 2025. Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4, 5 | Katherine Addison | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Carnivale of Curiosities: A complex carnival story with an antihero protagonist

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,

WWWednesday: March 5, 2025

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.

March 5th, 2025. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

The First Bright Thing: I wish I liked this book more

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,

WWWednesday: February 26, 2025

Uncanny Magazine launches issue 63 on March 4, 2025.

The Bram Stoker final ballot has been released. I thought I’d been reading a lot of horror lately but I recognize almost none of these.

The NAACP Image awards were announced last weekend, with several of genre interest, including Wicked.

File 770 shared a New York Times link on faux books. Neat photos! (The link bypasses the paywall.)

“You already have three strikes against you,” Raye Montague’s mother told her.

February 26th, 2025. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Recent Discussion:

Marion Deeds on The Salt-Black Tree: Magical cars are coolMarch 27, 2025
Hahaha! You might like the one "Shocktober" scene near the end!
Sandy Ferber on The Salt-Black Tree: Magical cars are coolMarch 25, 2025
For some strange reason, I get the feeling I might like this one! 😁
Bill Capossere on Murder by Memory: Intriguing setting but didn’t connectMarch 25, 2025
Wow, 20 dollars? That seems a lot for a 100-or-so-page book, but most of my novellas have come via ARCs…
Marion Deeds on Murder by Memory: Intriguing setting but didn’t connectMarch 20, 2025
I might say "formulaic" actually.
Paul Connelly on Murder by Memory: Intriguing setting but didn’t connectMarch 19, 2025
Your review made me curious, so I looked this book up. Sure enough: Tor. Tor seems to specialize in these…

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