Kara Babcock

Jan 21, 2025 | kara.reviews | Marcus Chown |Kara Babcock

A few years ago, probably during lockdown, I watched the excellent Netflix documentary Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know about the Event Horizon Telescope and the effort to photograph the supermassive black hole at the centre of galaxy M87. Black holes have always captivated me ever since, as a wee lass, science and science fiction came on my radar. How could they not? So even though Marcus Chown is a new-to-me science writer, I was excited to read A Crack in Everything.

Nov 5, 2024 | kara.reviews | Tasha Suri |Kara Babcock

Three years ago I read The Jasmine Throne, gave it three stars, and said I might read the sequel. Then that sequel, The Oleander Sword, got a four-star rating and an even better review. Now the conclusion, The Lotus Empire is out, and … y’all, this is top-shelf fantasy. Like, we’re talking one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read this year, and a stunning conclusion to The Burning Kingdoms trilogy. Tasha Suri has outdone herself. Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for an eARC.

Oct 28, 2024 | kara.reviews | R.F. Kuang |Kara Babcock

Finishing a whole trilogy in less than five months? Must be a new record for me. The Burning God is a hell of an epic conclusion to R.F. Kuang’s Poppy War saga. All I have to say is: George R.R. Martin, eat your fucking heart out. The Red Wedding? Bah. None of the gruesome acts in A Song of Ice and Fire come close to the mayhem and misery inflicted here. This book is dark, we’re talking Frank Miller Batman dark and then some….

Oct 23, 2024 | kara.reviews | Claudie Arseneault |Kara Babcock

How do we choose who we are? Or are we simply born to be something, our fate fixed from the start? The Sea Spirit Festival tackles weighty questions for such a brief novella. Claudie Arseneault continues The Chronicles of Nerezia with a high-stakes, dramatic story that centres Aliyah even Horace continues to grow into the hero e hopes to be. I received an eARC in exchange for a review. Our intrepid adventurers have made it to Alleaze, a coastal city just starting its eponymous festival.

Oct 20, 2024 | tachyondecay.net | Kara Babcock

There are many events I could not have foreseen in this decade—most of them, uh, really not great (free Palestine). One such event? Will Ferrell making a documentary with Harper Steele, his friend and former SNL writer, as they road trip across the United States of America so they can reconnect since Harper’s transition. Like many people, I had never heard of Harper Steele, but of course I have heard, for better or for worse, of Will Ferrell.