I’ve been making steady progress on my Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards shortlists, thanks in part to traveling a lot this past month. There’s nothing quite like the enforced downtime of flying to motivate me to inhale books I’ve been looking forward to or bull through ones I haven’t. Today I’m looking back at the fantasy novellas in a Wyrd and Wonder cross-over.
Category Archive: Reviews
In a magical fortress on the edge of the world, a runaway slave mage hides from his past until the arrival of a gifted refugee threatens his close-guarded secrets. But who is this girl with the tattooed face, and what does she mean to the rebels surging across the country?
Charlie Hall never met a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make. She’s trying to distance herself from her past, but going straight isn’t easy. Now everyone wants to lay hands on a secret that will grant them control of the shadow world – and who better to steal it than Charlie?
I’m on three panels for this year’s Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards, which means nominees have dominated my reading this year. I’m making solid progress on Best Series, so time for a quick recap and a longer look at two of the nominees: Los Nefilim by Teresa Frohock and Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan.
Pop quiz: you are an award-winning researcher, leading the field in human cloning. Your husband has stolen your research to clone a version of you he finds easier to live with. Do you help her cover up his murder?
It is 200 years since women were stripped of their adult status and civil rights. Now men rule a repressive world, but humanity is thriving as it reaches out to the stars. One group of women plan to rebalance the status quo a word at a time…
Lina fled London to work for a European conservation corps, but her fragile peace shatters when her ex is arrested for assassinating a Minister. While Lina tries to extract her family from London, the Minister’s family also flee to the mountain reserve she works on. Everyone has deadly secrets – but will they kill to preserve them?
When Adam Bosch discovered how to travel the multiverse, alternate realities became resources to exploit. Cara escaped Earth Zero’s slums because she’s dead in nearly every timeline, meaning she can safely traverse to 372 worlds. But can she survive the Earths that killed her other selves?
For our fifth year of the Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards, we have stacked our judging panel – and consequently our shortlists – with excellent folk. I’ll be reading and reviewing in batches, starting today with two novellas that focus on very different takes on time travel.
As both Hell and paradise realms cast acquisitive glances towards the Library, Claire and Brevity desperately seek to persuade the other Librarians of their peril. But can they find a way to free the stories from the threat of the afterlives forever – and what will be the cost?
I have a habit of tearing through the Rivers of London novellas. What Abigail Did That Summer is no exception, foregrounding my favourite unruly relative, a teenaged whirlwind who is determined to learn magic. The summer in question is Foxglove Summer and with Peter out of town, there’s nobody to keep a wary eye on what Abigail is up to…
An idealistic rookie may seem an odd choice to unpick a deadly corporate conspiracy, but Tanta offers the one quality InTech needs most: unshakeable loyalty. But no Corp has clean hands. Can even Tanta stomach the secrets she will uncover?
Welcome back to Bite-size Reads, my 2022 challenge to read (some of) the amazing anthologies on my shelves. Today I’m looking at the final batch of stories from Sinopticon, a curated collection of Chinese SF translated and presented by Xueting Ni.
Generations past, the robots of Panga achieved sentience and were unhappy with their lot. When humanity gave them their freedom, they disappeared into the wilderness. Now, they are ready to make contact again – and a restless young tea monk will be asked the biggest question: what makes humanity happy?
Welcome back to Bite-size Reads, my 2022 challenge to read (some of) the amazing anthologies on my shelves. Today I’m looking at my second batch of stories from Sinopticon, a curated collection of Chinese SF translated and presented by Xueting Ni.