SF/Fantasy/Horror NewsView All
Deb Geisler (1957-2024)
Convention organizer and editor Deb Geisler, 66, died March 23, 2024. She was in home hospice care with lung and heart disease. Geisler was best known for her work running Boston-area conventions, including a Worldcon.
Deborah M. Geisler was born September 20, 1957 in Cleveland OH. She attended Ohio University, where she earned bachelor and master’s degrees, and got her PhD at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. She taught communication and journalism ...Read More
SF/Fantasy/Horror ReviewsView All
Niall Harrison Reviews The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction 2022 edited by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Eugen Bacon & Milton Davis
The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction 2022, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Eugen Bacon & Milton Davis, eds. (Caezik/OD Ekpeki Presents, 978-1-64710-077-3, $11.49, 450pp, eb) December 2023.
The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction 2022 opens with WC Dunlap’s “March Magic”, a brief story about a critical day in twentieth-century American history. It is 28 August 1963, the day of the March on Washington, and Mama Willow, a swamp witch – ...Read More
Alexandra Pierce Reviews Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde
Red Side Story, Jasper Fforde (Hodder & Stoughton 978-1444763669, £17.99, 384pp, hc) February 2024. (Soho Press 978-1-64129-628-1, $29.95, 456pp, hc) May 2024.
When Jasper Fforde did clever things in The Eyre Affair (2001), I was one of many people who fell in love with this funny, bizarre, slightly-askew-to-reality world. Fforde was writing humorous fantasy that commented on and skewered the real one. It sounded superficially like the Discworld novels ...Read More
Ian Mond Reviews The Briar Book of the Dead by A. G. Slatter
The Briar Book of the Dead, A.G. Slatter (Titan Books, 978-1-80336-454-4, $16.99, 368pp, tp) February 2024.
When I reviewed A.G. (Angela) Slatter’s 2022 novel The Path of Thorns, I said she was one of the best contemporary fantasists in the field. But I was wrong; my vision was too narrow. Angela is simply one of the best contemporary writers of fiction, regardless of genre. Deep down, I already ...Read More
Paul Di Filippo Reviews The Morningside by Téa Obreht
The Morningside, Téa Obreht (Random House 978-1984855503, hardcover, 304pp, $20.00) March 2024
Is the New Weird still a going concern? Dating roughly from the turn of the century (China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station is the Monolith that enlightened the hominid readers), with the term itself harking to the year 2002 (courtesy of M. John Harrison), the subgenre with famously leaky borders and hazy definitions is approaching its 25th birthday. ...Read More
Gary K. Wolfe Reviews These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein
These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart, Izzy Wasserstein (Tachyon 978-1-61696-412-2, $15.95, 174pp, tp; -413-9, $11.95, ebook) March 2024.
The term “dystopia” has been so widely and sloppily overused of late that, in the eyes of some, I suppose, it might just as well refer to anyplace without a Starbucks. Without parsing definitions, I’ve always thought of it as a bad society resulting from actual policies and decisions, not just ...Read More
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Beyond the Mag: Vlogs & More!View All
New Books Video for March 26 is up!
Come spend a few minutes with Amelia finding out about all the great books coming out this week! Science fiction, fantasy, horror, young adult, you name it!
...Read MoreMore Posts
2024 SERAPH Winners
Phantastische Akademie has announced the winners for the 2024 SERAPH, a German fantasy award.
Best Debut
- WINNER: Fast verschwundene Fabelwesen: Die sagenhafte Expedition des Konstantin O. Boldt, Florian Schäfer & Elif Siebenpfeiffer (arsEdition)
- Die Moritat der Organspenderin, Tina Ariam (Wreaders Verlag)
- Die goldene Kanone: (K)ein Detektivroman, An Brenach (ohneohren)
- The Dark Secrets of New Orleans, Lisa Doberauer (THEIL Verlag)
- Gameshow: Der Preis der Gier, Franzi
Paul Di Filippo Reviews The Stars Turned Inside Out by Nova Jacobs
The Stars Turned Inside Out, Nova Jacobs (Atria 978-1668018545, hardcover, 320pp, $27.99) March 2024
With the loss (hopefully not permanent) of Gregory Benford’s talents to a medical incident a bit over a year ago, the SF field was deprived of perhaps the most accomplished voice in depicting the reality of “doing science.” His masterpiece, Timescape, is of course the most salient example of that mode, but the steeped-in-the-academy-and-the-laboratory ...Read More
Ian Mond Reviews Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea by C.D. Rose
Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea, C. D. Rose (Melville House 978-1-68589-084-1, $19.99, 224pp, tp) January 2024.
I love a lot of books. But I also love a lot of authors. This means that I rarely read more than one book by a writer in any given year. What I certainly don’t do is buy a new (to me) author’s back catalogue, even if I adored their work. I ...Read More
2024 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize
Winners have been announced for the 2024 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, including titles of genre interest.
Older Readers’
- WINNER: Thieves’ Gambit, Kayvion Lewis (Simon & Schuster)
- Girl, Goddess, Queen, Bea Fitzgerald (Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
Younger Readers’
- WINNER: Greenwild: The World Behind the Door, Pari Thomson (Pan Macmillan)
- Attack of the Vampire Sheep!, Emily-Jane Clark, illustrated by Jeff Crowther (Scholastic)
- Vivi Conway and the Sword
2024 Hugo and Lodestar Trophy Designers
Iain J. Clark will design the base of the 2024 Hugo Award trophy, and Sara Felix will design the 2024 Lodestar Award trophy.
Each year, the rocket-shaped Hugo Award trophy “is given a unique base design to reflect the personality of the hosting Worldcon.” The Lodestar trophy is also given a unique design every year. Felix previously designed the first Lodestar trophy in 2018.
The designs will be revealed on ...Read More