-
3 weeks ago | 
fantasyliterature.com | Marion Deeds |Amal El-Mohtar
The River Has Roots by Amal El-MohtarI use up all my superlatives whenever I review anything by Amal El-Mohtar, whose prose is always exquisite and imaginative, flowing like syrup. In the case of 2025’s The River Has Roots, the hardcopy version of El-Mohtar’s lovely, original fairy tale is enhanced by woodcut-style illustrations. The story is short, novella-length, and draws on familiar elements, but the themes of the river and music form the story’s main currents, which drew me in immediately.
-
Mar 3, 2025 | 
fantasyliterature.com | Marion Deeds |Bill Capossere |Genevieve Valentine
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve ValentineHere is how you read Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti:You open the book, and the first paragraph reminds you, a little, of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and then a gold and brass hand sprouts from the pages, grabs you by your collar, and drags you headfirst into the book.
-
Jan 1, 2025 | 
fantasyliterature.com | Marion Deeds |Johnny Compton
The Spite House by Johnny Compton and I went down a shallow rabbit hole preparing for this review. With his 2023 novel, The Spite House, Johnny Compton takes on the concept of a house built solely to irritate and harass nearby landowners, and morphs it into something original and scary. Eric Ross and his two daughters, Dessa and Stacy, are making their way through Texas, trying to keep under the radar.
-
Jan 1, 2025 | 
fantasyliterature.com | Marion Deeds
The New York Times profiles Nnedi Okorafor and her forthcoming autobiographical novel. (This article may be behind a paywall.)Thanks, File770, for introducing me to yet another “—punk” category: Incensepunk. Also, you can click on their submission guidelines if this is a market where your short fiction would fit. At Reactor, Molly Templeton takes a thoughtful look at the nature of “escapism” in fiction.
-
Jan 1, 2025 | 
fantasyliterature.com | Marion Deeds
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.
-
Jan 1, 2025 | 
fantasyliterature.com | Marion Deeds |J.M. Miro
Bringer of Dust by J.M. Miro2024’s Bringer of Dust, J.M. Miro’s second book in the trilogy of THE TALENTS, finds our survivors from Book One, Ordinary Monsters, scattered across Europe. Maybe “scattered” isn’t the right word, because their locations are purposeful, as they seek to find an orsine they can open, to return to the world of the dead and rescue Marlowe, the Shining Boy. A quick review of the magic: Clanks can manipulate their own flesh, like making it so dense it will repel bullets.
-
Jan 1, 2025 | 
fantasyliterature.com | Marion Deeds
Reactormag shares a couple of forthcoming 2025 releases, among them the latest by Charlie Jane Anders and a dragon book by Cherie Radke. They also shared an excerpt from T.J Klune’s latest, The Bones Beneath my Skin. Best Of Lists, Recommended Reading lists, nomination suggestions… it’s that time of year. Nerds of a Feather starts with their recommended list of fiction and visual work categories.
-
Jan 1, 2025 | 
fantasyliterature.com | Marion Deeds
I will read two short fiction works on The Story Hour tonight, at 7 PM Pacific Time. The readings are store on the Facebook page, if you want to catch up later. The Centers for Disease Control have downloadable data available to the public. Check their site here. In Reactor’s List of Five column, James Driscoll shares five books about gods causing trouble for humans. Award Season! Speculative fiction is well represented on the ALA’s Alex award list this year.
-
Dec 2, 2024 | 
fantasyliterature.com | Marion Deeds
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 last weekend.
-
Dec 2, 2024 | 
fantasyliterature.com | Marion Deeds
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.
