Science Fiction

Interview with Jon McGoran, Author of the Spliced Series [And Giveaway!]

I have a really exciting post today! I have always been really interested in authors’ writing processes and where they pull inspiration, particularly in the SFF community where there is so much ingenuity and cool ideas. I was lucky enough to be able to interview Jon McGoran, author of the YA science fiction Spliced series, as a part of the blog tour for the final book in this series, Spiked. In the interview, McGoran shared so much about his inspiration, research, and writing process, and it’s such a fascinating discussion. McGoran’s final installment in the Spliced trilogy, Spiked, releases on May 5, 2020.

Review: Goldilocks by Laura Lam

In all the stress of the world right now, I’ve needed some comfort reading, and near-future science fiction is exactly my kind of comfort reading. Any book that starts with the premise of impending environmental collapse will almost certainly make my reading list, but one that also has a space travel plot and feminist themes will shoot right to the top of that list. Goldilocks by Laura Lam just so happens to have all of these elements, so it’s no surprise that it made it to my Spring 2020 TBR top ten list! I mean, any book described as a “high concept feminist dystopian thriller” is poised to be one of my favorite books of all time.

Review: Dust by J.R. Devoe

Dust is the first installment in a new YA post-apocalyptic fairy-tale series by J.R. Devoe. I really love genre-bending stories, and this is one of the better YA versions that I’ve read. It’s fantasy and dystopian and science fiction all wrapped up with a lovely fairy-tale bow.

Review: The Companions by Katie M. Flynn

The Companions is a sweeping near-future dystopian that spans many years and explores the connections between many characters, creating a beautifully earnest vision of a future that feels all too real right now. This story hit me in a way that I haven’t experienced since I read Station Eleven, and I love this slow, deliberate style of story-telling. What Station Eleven did with the post-apocalyptic genre, The Companions does for science fiction, melding and mixing literary fiction with the speculative genre in a very sincere and realistic way.

TEN FREE SFF BOOKS TO GET YOU THROUGH SELF-ISOLATION

This has been a tough week for everyone. So much of the world is in quarantine, self-isolation, or participating in intense social distancing. Like a lot of people, I’m choosing to isolate myself while COVID-19 is so active. Lucky for us, there are some awesome authors in the science fiction/fantasy book community who are making some of their works free for all of us to enjoy. This list includes these free works from a lot of prolific writers, and also some other free SFF reads to enjoy right now.

The Hunger Games Reread and Analysis – Intro

I had great intentions to post this when I woke up this morning. Alas, Animal Crossing: New Horizons released and took away most of my day. However, I really wanted to write this and tell you guys what I have up my sleeve for the upcoming few weeks.

The Hunger Games was a pretty foundational series for me early on in my reading journey. It was my first experience with speculative/dystopian literature, and was the first YA series that I read and enjoyed as an adult. I absolutely devoured this series, and I annotated every book. Best of all, the series still holds up so well! With the new prequel to the series, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, coming out on May 19th, I’m gearing up to dive back into the series head-first.

Release Blitz: Bobby Robot by Michael Hilton

Y’all I am so excited for this title. It sounds so fun, and I am always on the look-out for good YA sci fi. YA romance + robots + a human having to pass robot test? MY KIND OF BOOK. I also love that this is YA and has a male protagonist; that’s not as common as it should be! I’m excited to pick this one up soon!

Continue reading “Release Blitz: Bobby Robot by Michael Hilton”

Mini Review: Anthropocene Rag by Alexander C. Irvine

When I read the synopsis for Anthropocene Rag, months ago, I was so excited to get my hands on this book. Dystopian setting, roaming monsters, sentient AI, religious themes– these are things I love most in speculative fiction!

Review: Unexpected Stories by Octavia E. Butler

Here’s where I have to admit something that’s embarrassing as a science fiction blogger and former English major: I had never actually read any Octavia Butler works before now, and I am honestly pretty ashamed of myself. I have known of Butler for years, but for one reason or another, hadn’t ever made time for her books. When I was given an eArc of Subterranean Press’s forthcoming collection, Unexpected Stories, by the one and only Octavia Butler, I knew it was time to finally dig into some of her work.

Review: Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

My first foray with Robert Jackson Bennett came with my reading of Vigilance, a recent speculative fiction novella of his, which might well pan out to be one of my favorite books of the year. I knew as soon as I finished it that I wanted to read more by him as soon as possible.

While I had heard of Foundryside, I was put off by some misconceptions I had heard from other people’s reviews of the book. Foundryside is usually described by other reviewers as an epic fantasy about a thieving crew. And it is that. And it also isn’t. Foundryside is fantasy, science fiction, and steampunk all wrapped up with a lovely dystopian bow. It’s epic fantasy in that the world is completely new and not at all our world, but that’s about it. There is no “magic” or “magic system” per se; rather, the magic comes from technology and science.