Judge Dee returns to solve a new case involving a Parisian party gone wrong. But this time? Everyone in attendance is a suspect, including the judge himself.
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Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre
Rhythm of War Reread: Chapter Fifty-Two
Well, and a fine morning to you all, my Cosmere Chickens! It’s Thursday again, and time for another installment of the Rhythm of War reread. This week, we’re looking into the past again, as Venli fears for her mother and gets frustrated with her sister and the humans. Also, I don’t blame her. For once, I’m on Venli’s side.
Series: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
Room Service for the Squamous: Sarah Peploe’s “UNDR”
Welcome back to Reading the Weird, in which we get girl cooties all over weird fiction, cosmic horror, and Lovecraftiana—from its historical roots through its most recent branches.
This week, we cover Sarah Peploe’s “UNDR,” first published in Scott R. Jones’s 2018 anthology, Chthonic: Weird Tales of Inner Earth. Spoilers ahead.
Series: Reading the Weird
Read an Excerpt From Greta Kelly’s The Seventh Queen
Askia—a warrior, witch, and queen-to-be—confronts the monster that stole her throne…
We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from Greta Kelly’s The Seventh Queen, the exciting conclusion to The Frozen Crown—publishing November 2nd with Harper Voyager.
Prelude to a Coda — What You Need to Know Ahead of Star Trek’s Most Epic Novel Trilogy
This week officially kicked off what promises to be the most epic literary trilogy in all the decades of Star Trek’s publishing history…
Let’s take that in for a moment. With an estimated 700 franchise novels, the next three months will give us a series crossover trilogy to rival fifty-plus years of printed Trek stories.
Balanced Between Worlds: Revealing Rovina Cai’s Illustrations for Nicola Griffith’s Spear
For Spear, Rovina Cai has created five interior illustrations, all emotionally evocative: immanence, despair, loss, reaching out, and belonging. They complement the text beautifully. I can’t wait for you to experience them. Below, I have written about two of my favourites.
What If… “Ultron Won”? Gives Us Peace in Our Time
Screenshot: Marvel Studios
When an episode of What If…? opens with The Watcher saying “This one breaks my heart” you know you’re in for a ride.
This week’s What If…? is the first half of a two-part finale—it’s a stew of ridiculously dark events and Marvel snark, and it completely worked for me.
The Book of Boba Fett Has a Release Date!
Screenshot: Lucasfilm
Well, HELLO. Ever since the end of The Mandalorian‘s season two finale, we’ve known two things about The Book of Boba Fett: that it exists, and that it would premiere in December 2021. As of this morning, we know a tiny bit more—Boba Fett arrives on Disney+ on December 29th, just squeaking in to this year.
After the Fall: The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett
In this bi-weekly series reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy books, Alan Brown looks at the front lines and frontiers of the field; books about soldiers and spacers, scientists and engineers, explorers and adventurers. Stories full of what Shakespeare used to refer to as “alarums and excursions”: battles, chases, clashes, and the stuff of excitement.
Over the past year or so, I have been delving into the works of Leigh Brackett, a science fiction pioneer best known for her swashbuckling tales of planetary adventure. As I researched her career, a book came up that I’d not heard of before—The Long Tomorrow, the tale of a young man coming of age in a United States struggling to survive the aftermath of an atomic war. So I tracked the novel down, ordered a copy online, and am glad I did. The book ranks not only among Brackett’s best work, but also among the best science fiction of that era. It describes a fantastic journey, yet remains utterly believable and deeply rooted in the real world.
Visit One Very Magical House in the Trailer for Encanto
Fair warning: The song in this trailer is an earworm. If you can get through the rest of your day without it stuck in your head, I envy you and would like to understand your powers.
But there are worse things to be humming! Encanto, Disney’s upcoming animated feature, has songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a very sweet story about the Madrigals, a family who live magical lives in their magical home. Everyone has a special magical gift—except Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz). But she might be the only one who can save the day when something goes terribly wrong.
Celebrating the Librarians of SFF
Across fantasy and science fiction (with the occasional stop in horror), there are any number of amazing fictional libraries we’d love to visit—especially to meet up with the guardians of the stacks! After all, what’s a fantasy story without an awe-inspiring tower full of potentially curséd books? Or a sci-fi adventure without the cumulative knowledge of civilization stored somewhere to guide our heroes on their quest?
We decided it was time for an overdue celebration of the keepers of knowledge, from experts in Egyptology to far-future book-lovers fighting tyrannical governments to sword-wielding barbarians, we have a librarian for every occasion.
Questions Asked in the Belly of the World
For the residents of this mycological ecosystem, creating art feeds the World around you and requires working in harmony with your inner voice. When one artist’s voice begins screaming, he’s forced to travel farther than he ever has before to reconcile with the noise in his head and find his true place in society before it’s too late.
Anthony Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land Is a Book of Wonders
Anthony Doerr’s new novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land, has arrived at last, preceded by every form of publicity and marketing that a Big Five publisher can bring to bear. As befits the first novel in a half a dozen years from a critically acclaimed and bestselling writer, there are full-page newspaper ads, website banners, in-store posters and displays, flyers slipped into Barnes & Noble packages, and announcements from Bookshop.org. And of course there’s a book tour. Doerr’s novel deserves all the attention and acclaim, and yet it’s somewhat strange to see the promotional campaign after reading this novel, because Cloud Cuckoo Land is a book about the transformative effect of a forgotten book.
Read an Excerpt From Marie Lu’s Steelstriker
The fate of a broken world hangs in the balance…
We’re excited to share an excerpt from Steelstriker, the riveting conclusion to Marie Lu’s Skyhunter duet—published by Roaring Brook Press.
Harley Quinn, Eat the Rich and the Joy of Returning to Comics
I was an avid comic book reader for years… and then I wasn’t. It felt like the same handful of “diverse” characters reenacting the same handful of storylines. Comics publishers were doubling down on keeping or rehiring bad actors. The Big Two were constantly rebooting their characters and jamming in special events that spanned across numerous series, all while delaying trades by months to force people into buying issues or digital.
To put it plainly: I was bored. I figured I’d take a break from comics for a few months and then dive back in. That break turned into two and a half years. What finally pulled me back in? Eat the Rich and Harley Quinn: The Animated Series: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour.
Teen Horror Time Machine: Horror and History on Fear Street
This past summer, Netflix took fans back to Fear Street with a trio of films: Fear Street 1994, Fear Street 1978, and Fear Street 1666. While there are significant differences between the two iterations of Shadyside, both R.L. Stine’s series and these films are deeply invested in the horrors of history and the Gothic tradition of a past that refuses to stay buried.
Leigh Janiak, who directed all three of the Netflix films, has made it clear that her adaptations aim to be true to the spirit of Stine’s books rather than follow any specific narrative from the author’s series, which is ideal for creating new stories for a contemporary audience and amplifying representations that were marginalized, silenced, or absent altogether in the pop culture landscape of 1990s teen horror.
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