Demons, Detectives, and Dark Places: 6 Gritty Supernatural Crime Novels
I’m a fiend for crime fiction: the twisted plots, the dangerous characters, the desperate situations…it provides a rush few other…
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The House of Shattered Wings Is a Dark, Operatic Political Fantasy
Operatic: that’s the word that best describes Nebula Award-winner Aliette de Bodard‘s dense, tragic political fantasy The House of Shattered Wings. It’s grand, theatrical, and, like…
The Flicker Men Is a Chillingly Plausible Scientific Thriller
Full disclosure: I am incredibly biased when it comes to books like this one; anything that contains in-depth quantum mechanics, noir…
The Devil’s Bag Man is a Brutal, Brilliant Southwestern Supernatural Thriller
Every time I think about The Devil’s Bag Man, I think about Cormac McCarthy. Not in the sense that Adam Mansbach’s nasty,…
The Library at Mount Char Is a Deeply Strange, Heartbreakingly Human Fantasy
The Library at Mount Char, a fantasy debut by Scott Hawkins, kind of floored me. I don’t say that often.…
The Unnoticeables Is a Genre-Smashing Urban Secret History
A city gathers stories and legends like a snowball rolling down a hill, stories of secret places, and disused train stations, and old theaters…
Beyond Redemption Is a Wild Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Ride
When all the gods either abandon the world or go insane on page one, you know you’re in for a wild…
5 Reasons Iain M. Banks’ Culture Should Be the Next Big Sci-Fi Adaptation
It’s a wonderful time to be a science fiction fan. The television adaptation of James S.A. Corey’s Expanse space opera series is…
Throwback Thursday: Writing is Magic in Fool on the Hill
Writing is magic. I’ll believe it until the day I die (and bite anyone on the nose if they say different).…
Bourne Meets The Body Snatchers in Wesley Chu’s Tao Trilogy
How’s this for a quirky, compelling sci-fi setup: On the Earth of Wesley Chu’s Tao trilogy, a secret war has raged…
Persona is a Frighteningly Plausible Near-Future Thriller
Dystopian fiction is addictive, in part, because of the comfortable distance between the world outside and the one on the page. We feel…
Of God, Godzilla, and Galapagos: James Morrow’s Strange Fictions
Satire is a tricky thing—even done well, it can date badly. James Morrow is an author who not only manages…