John Scalzi announced some changes at Whatever, his venerable blog site.
Rosalind Franklin provided remarkable and invaluable data in the discovery of DNA, but Watson and Crick didn’t exactly steal her work—they were just clueless sexists. From 2015.
While reading The Spite House, I got interested and found a couple of interesting articles about the residences. Here’s one.
The BAFTA longlist for 2025 is out, with Emelia Perez and Conclave at the top. Wicked and Dune II also drew nods.
January 8th, 2025. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
The Militia House by John Milas
2023’s The Militia House is the debut novel of John Milas. Set in Afghanistan in 2010, it follows a team assigned to a Landing Zone as they are drawn into an abandoned Russian-invasion-era “militia” house close to their base. The sense of dread grows as the story continues, veering into a surreal world, but as in real life, the greatest horror may simply be war.
Our first-person narrator is Corporal Loyette, and his team consists of Johnson, Blount and Vargas.
January 7th, 2025. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | John Milas | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Unkillable Princess is the second book in a series, but it sounds fun and Nerds of a Feather’s review did it justice.
Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M. Pillsworth discuss E. Catherine Tobler’s moody story, “To Drive the Cold Winter Away,” over at Reactor.
File770 had this link to a Doc Savage; Man of Bronze action figure. A belated Christmas present for Sandy?
This is an idiosyncratic list but had some names that were new to me—and a preview of a new Heather Fawcett I didn’t know was coming!
January 1st, 2025. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |
Happy Christmas and Happy Hanukkah if you celebrate. Happy Wednesday if you do not.
The Prometheus Society narrowed the finalists for its 2024 award to four diverse works (and creators) who excellently modeled libertarianism. The short list includes Rudyard Kipling, Poul Anderson, Charles Stross and the musical group Rush.
The Christmas tree is an integral part of the Christmas season for many folks. It has its roots in the Yule celebration, from the Nordic lands.
This article in Reform Judaism discusses the origin of the holy day Hanukkah,
December 25th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
The Horror Writers Association has announced its scholarship winners.
Bruce Sterling was, and still is, an influential writer in the field of SF, most notably in the days of futurism and cyberpunk. What’s he doing now? This interview with Worldbuilding Agency gives us an idea.
Gamergate lurches on, this time in a lawsuit reaching the Brooklyn, New York courts last week. A woman who was forced to resign from game-review site Kotaku is suing a self-styled “gamergate” gamer in California. She alleges he led a concerted hate campaign against her and made false statements.
December 18th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
In the aftermath of the pandemic, fantasy caught the midtown bus and moved into the suburbs of women’s fiction. There, it’s set up shop and seems to be doing quite well, if paperbacks like The Lost Bookshop, by Evie Woods, are any indication. This pleasant story, following three characters and an elusive, magical bookshop, is enjoyable even if it didn’t fully satisfy this fantasy reader.
Set in modern day Dublin, the story follows Martha, a woman fleeing an abusive relationship,
December 16th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Evie Woods | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ruthana Amrys and Anne M. Pillsworth review “The Only Writing Advice You’ll Ever Need to Survive Eldritch Horrors.” This article is funny!
These “22 Chilling Winter Reads” are literally chilly, it turns out—books set during winter.
According to File770, Montreal is now the only contender for WorldCon 2027. Tel Aviv withdrew its id due to the situation in Isreal.
Dorothy’s ruby slippers recently sold at auction for $28 million. After all, they are the first known portkey.
The Guardian UK lists its candidates for Best Graphic Novel of 2024.
December 11th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 4 comments |
Here’s a McSweeney’s column, mocking Amazon and our attempts to order goods that are made sustainably. Enjoy.
Rupert Grint owes over $2 million in back taxes.
Clarion’s 2025 faculty list is stellar. (Thanks to File 770.)
Nerds of a Feather reviews Lavanya Lakshiminarayan’s Interstellar Chef.
The Walt Disney Company announced that Moana 2 broke box office records last weekend.
Over at Reactor, Judith Tarr examines the origins of “Canada’s Nessie,” named Nhaatik by the First Nations,
December 4th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
Reposting to include Marion’s new review.
Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb
FitzChivalry Farseer’s life keeps getting worse. He has once again barely — and I mean just barely — survived Uncle Regal’s machinations. As Assassin’s Quest, the third book in Robin Hobb’s FARSEER trilogy, opens, Fitz’s situation seems hopeless. Only a couple of people know he still lives and Molly is not one of them. She’s gone, and it seems safest for Fitz to let her live in ignorance.
December 2nd, 2024. Kat Hooper and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Robin Hobb | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford
Cahokia Jazz is a detective novel, set in 1922 in the city and state of Cahokia, USA. Police detective Joe Barrow and his partner Phineas Drummond are called up onto the roof of the Cahokia Land Building in the middle of the night, where they find the mutilated corpse of a takata—a European-American–posed like an Aztec sacrifice, its heart removed. In most cities, this would simply be bizarre, but in Cahokia, this makes the murder a flashpoint for unrest in a city and state governed largely by the takouma,
November 26th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Francis Spufford | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…