Midnight Riot (Rivers of London, Book 1) by Ben Aaronovitch – Book review

cover photo by shadesofword.com An urban fantasy story set in contemporary London UK seems right up my alley (Sorry, I couldn’t find a river-based expression). I love London, having visited the city a few times on vacation, and I’ve watched many British TV shows set there. I have also enjoyed urban fantasy: stories set against…

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Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher – Book Review

I had read another T. Kingfisher story late last year called Thornhedge that was, like Nettle & Bone, revisiting of a classic fairytale. While I really enjoyed Thornhedge, I came to Nettle & Bone prepared for more of the same. Nevertheless, in this story, T. Kingfisher was not only able to tell a story with…

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Things from the Flood by Simon Stålenhag – Book Review

I recently read The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag and was very interested in more of his work, so when I found out about Things From the Flood, I was very excited to read it. I first discovered Stålenhag as the author of the book that was the basis for the Prime Video TV series…

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The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang – Book Review

The Poppy War is a fantastical tale inspired by Chinese historical events (of which I am woefully under-educated) involving conflicts with Japan. The novel follows a young orphan named Rin, a foster child of opium dealers in a village in Nikan (a fictionalized China). In her efforts to leave an unhappy life of mistreatment, she…

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Six Fantasy Novellas

I love fantasy fiction. As a genre, it brings the reader to so many wonderful, scary, imaginative, and vivid worlds and realities. Having magic in a story really opens up the possibilities for fun exploration and creativity. Over the last few months, I’ve read six novellas (i.e. short novels) that represent a pretty good variety…

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Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Book Review

I had high expectations for Mexican-Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s acclaimed novel, but was pretty let down. Given the book’s title, yes, there was everything classically gothic, but very little Mexican, aside from the geographic setting (and the occasional Spanish word). This tale of a rich city girl going out to a country mansion to rescue…

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The Residence – TV Mini-Series Review

While I do love a clever murder mystery, I can’t say that I watch a lot of them. I grew up in the 80s with the likes of Remington Steel, Murder She Wrote, and Moonlighting, where solving a mysterious murder was a fun way to spend an evening each week. Now victims seem to die…

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The Electric State (by Simon Stålenhag) – Book & Movie Review

After I stumbled upon the unique and provocative sci-fi series Tales From the Loop on Prime Video, I wanted to keep an eye on the artist whose haunting art and ideas inspired the show. But when I heard of the new Netflix film adaptation of The Electric State, another sci-fi art book by Simon Stålenhag, I was…

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