Happy Birthday, Mercedes Lackey: An Ode to Valdemar, and the Books That Changed My Life
Yesterday was the 69th birthday of author Mercedes Lackey, a woman whose work literally changed my life. I want to…
Commentary
A Magic 8-Ball Reviews 15 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Prequels
In science fiction and fantasy, more than in any other genre, sequels make sense: authors have already done the heavy…
Where Are All the Queer Men in Sci-Fi?
What about the guys? …is not something we usually need to ask. The genres of science fiction and fantasy have,…
After The Handmaid’s Tale: 7 Recent, Essential Feminist Dystopias
No one wants to live in a dystopia, but we’re certainly living in the golden age of feminist dystopian novels.…
George R. R. Martin Might Never Finish A Song of Ice and Fire, and That’s OK
We put a tremendous amount of stock in endings. The concluding paragraph or a novel, or the final novel in…
You Are Reading a Blog Post About Point of View in N. K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth Trilogy
The 2017 Nebula Award nominees were announced last week, and the Best Novel nod for N.K. Jemisin’s The Stone Sky means…
Fear No Evil: On Sorting Hats and Forest Gods
Don’t be afraid. Step forward and allow your teacher to place the omniscient, transdimensional sapient hat upon your head. Yes,…
A Statistical Analysis of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time
If you’ve arrived here by traveling any logical path, you need no introduction to Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time…
In Praise of Rereading
I read a lot of books. Most years, I read somewhere north of a hundred of them. I try to…
Harry Potter: A Beginner’s Guide to Evaluating Authority
“I want to teach my daughter to resist,” my friend said. “She’s going to grow up in a time when…
From It to Stranger Things to Paper Girls, We Sure Do Love the ’80s
A new adaptation of Stephen King’s It opens in theaters today. Anyone familiar with the novel knows a good half…
The Better Halves of Three Pioneering Science Fiction Writing Couples
At this year’s Hugo Awards, an unprecedented number of shiny rocket trophies went to women writers. And yet, despite the…
The Future Library Is a Vote of Confidence Humanity Will Make It to 2114
You thought waiting for the remaining volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire was bad. How about waiting nearly…
A Woman, Explaining Things
There is a television show I love. The show frequently features brilliant, courageous, unstoppable women. They are emotionally vulnerable. They…
Why We Still Read The Lord of the Rings
I love J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Back To Top
Disabled Heroes and Where to Find Them
I spent most of my youth trying to find books that reflected aspects of myself, looking far and wide, throughout genres…
On Feasting
You are a character in a fantasy novel. Congratulations: you have been invited to a feast. The first course is…
We Play Mix and Match with Our Favorite Authors and Genres
Genre is a funny thing. It acts as a signifier, label, and shorthand, telling readers what kind of book they’re holding…
Harlan Ellison: He’s Not Dead Yet, and He’s Not Done Either
In a 1994 Babylon 5 episode “TKO,” a character in the year 2258 is seen reading, and laughing, at a…
10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Sir Terry Pratchett
Sir Terry Pratchett died in 2015, but he will forever number among the greatest fantasy writers of the last century. His…