Disclaimer: I love fanfic. A lot. Disclaimer the second: I am Australian. Hopefully my spelling and vocab make sense. Many years ago, I watched an episode of Buffy and thought, “I wonder what other people thought about this?” From a simple Yahoo search (this was pre-Google) I found forums, then it was a quick descent (or ascent, depending on the showrunner) into fanfic. So imagine my joy when some big names in fandom announced they were starting up their own publishing company with the express purpose of promoting […]
A Pocket Sized Adventure
Last year I was delighted with Jackaby by William Ritter. It had just the right mix of historical fiction, fantasy, and whodunit to be right up my alley. It’s got a bit of Sherlock mixed with a little Doctor Eleven for a male protagonist and a female protagonist who is smart, wily, and sarcastic in equal measure – and a great example of female agency in print. I immediately added the second book, Beastly Bones, on my to read list for 2016 as well as […]
History has its eyes on you
I dug this book. I wasn’t sure at first, because it was another novel where the heroine is forced into a new situation because of DESTINY and has to learn how to deal, etc. But guys, there is so much to like here. For instance: This heroine (Kelsea) has her shit together. She’s smart, stubborn, and brave, and does what she thinks is right, even if it’s not easy. She’s not beautiful. The heroines in these novels are always the most (understated) beautiful women the […]
My Kinda Horror
I have a…complicated relationship with the horror genre. For most of my life, I avoided it entirely, more afraid of the fear and uncertainty that would come as a result of the scary thing than the scary thing itself. But I loved those books and movies that existed right on the edge of horror–Frankenstein and Dracula were just creepy enough to satisfy my desire for something mildly frightening, but weren’t so scary that I found it difficult to sleep at night. Through the Woods is something different. […]
The Colt 45 of Space Comics
As previously mentioned in my Agent of the Empire reviews, I’m not much of a Star Wars guy, but I do enjoy the universe. It lends itself to telling all kinds of stories. For example, Agent of the Empire (Dark Horse) used a galaxy far, far away to tell James Bond stories well. Charles Soule’s (She-Hulk, Letter 44, Superman Wonderwoman etc. etc. etc.) Lando is another great example of how the larger Star Wars ‘verse can be used to tell smaller, genre-ish stories. This is […]
How Do They Rise Up?
The following contains minor spoilers. Wading through ash “What if the Dark Lord won?” is the tagline of The Final Empire, the first book in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series. The Lord Ruler rules the Final Empire as a god-king, immortal, immensely powerful and all-knowing. According to legend, he vanquished the Deepness, an unknown evil which would have destroyed the world otherwise. As it is, the battle resulted in massive volcanic eruptions that changed the environment to an ash-covered waste with little vegetation that is barely […]