In Ada Palmer’s first novel, Too Like the Lightning, the history professor tells an ambitious story of a future word on the brink of extraordinary change, when the well-ordered structures of society are poised to collapse under their own weight given the introduction of a young boy who represents something wholly new and unexpected. The […]
Free Comic Book Day 2015 is coming up this weekend, as is Avengers: Age of Ultron is opening as well. Who plans these things? It would be a fickle fate, indeed, that would see me sacrificing the best seats for Avengers because I was out getting free comics. Luckily, there’s some fun stuff coming out this week that’ll […]
When writing a science fiction or fantasy story that isn’t pure alternate history, including real-life events or historical figures is a dangerous trick: pull it off, and you’re rewarded with verisimilitude in spades, not to mention the fun of playing with reality in a very literal way. Get it wrong, and it can actually sabotage the suspension […]
I remember the first time I noticed the “Teen Paranormal Romance” section while shlepping my haul through the bookstore. It felt as if a new age was upon us, a classification born where before there was none. I waited for the revolution…but nothing has yet rocked my organizational world like the hottest thing since the […]
Attention, world, I have a confession. My confession is this: I genuinely enjoy those literary moments when the Queen of England slays demons, or Toulouse-Lautrec fights off otherworldly villains. That’s right. I deeply and unabashedly appreciate a pulpy, fast-paced, supernatural alternative-history romp. Who are you to judge? When the zombies-go–classic lit craze sparked by Pride […]
