Books

In a genre of well-mined tropes and clichés (many of them very well done it should be noted), it can be hard to find a truly original story in science fiction. But Ren Hutchings, author of Under Fortunate Stars, has managed it with impressive original and vivacious imagination, delivering one Continue Reading

Head over heart? Or vice versa? All of us tend to lean one way or the other, not necessarily wholly but to a sufficient enough extent that our decisions on what to do next in life or whom to see pivot on either a calm analysis of the evidence at Continue Reading

There is a log and stories tradition of aliens invading Earth. Regardless of the medium, they usually arrive in the skies above our blue ball of life, an armada of advanced technology in terrifyingly awe inspiring form, and variously proceed to attack/enslave/pretend to help while secretly destroying us. It’s big, Continue Reading

It’s a talented writer indeed who can take an appealing out-there premise and invest it with so much humanity that you forget how extraordinary the bedrock narrative of the novel is, consumed only the affectingly real story with which you have been gifted. The consummately good writer in this instance Continue Reading

One of the most exciting things about reading science fiction is its limitless capacity to take you to places that you never in a million years or multiverses encounter. We live in a limited world, bounded by atmosphere and space, and circumscribed by culture, geography and a thousand other finite Continue Reading

The conventionally bucolic ideas of families is that they are warm, safe, inclusively supporting places where unconditional love and selfless intimacy are the hallmarks of relationships brought together and nurtured, not just by proximity but by a genuine liking for the others with whom you are fated by birth to Continue Reading

SNAPSHOTWinter is drawing thick in 1932 Shanghai, as is the ever-nearing threat of a Japanese invasion. Rosalind Lang has suffered the worst possible fate for a national spy: she’s been exposed. With the media storm camped outside her apartment for the infamous Lady Fortune, she’s barely left her bedroom in Continue Reading

Some people do not like or get people. If you’re an extrovert like this reviewer, that likely seems like an alien idea; sure, people can be annoying and trying at times but gosh, isn’t it good to have them around you? Emily Wilde does not think so, and while she Continue Reading

There are a great many times in life when things feel so limited and finite, and defiantly, unhealingly one way. No matter how much we yearn for a something new to life us from a too well-carved rut or for life to bring us meaningful connection or for closure to Continue Reading

As a gay man, you commonly come across the idea that the life you lead must be one of endless partying, unremitting casual sex and a fabulousness wrapped in feather boas, soaked in glitter and strung about with rainbow-hued neon. That’s understandable in one sense since it is the popular Continue Reading