Category: Fantasy

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

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Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow. Isabel Cañas’ novel VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE is a stunning, searing book. Speculative fiction can reveal truth in ways that realism simply can’t, and Cañas uses that to her full advantage in a book balancing sweeping romance with seething horror in the Rio Grande Valley of the 1840s, as the shifting border between Mexico and America was being redrawn in blood.

While the historical basis of the book is nearly two centuries in the past, it is markedly relevant, vampires and all. As Cañas mentions in her final note, “…I wrote this book for my family. For every one of us has been asked variations of the question ‘when did your family come to this country?’ […]
I have realized that the answer is, in fact, a question itself. A question that became the heart of this book.
‘When did this country come to us?’ “



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The Stars Did Wander Darkling by Colin Meloy

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The Stars Did Wander Darkling by Colin Meloy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Colin Meloy’s superbly eerie middle adult fiction doesn’t shy away from unanswered questions or grotesque imagery. THE STARS DID WANDER DARKLING is a wonderfully creepy tale inspired by 1980s American small town life and what I can only assume are some of the weirder wells of Meloy’s expansive imagination. Really appreciate how he trusts his readers to spin part of the web. Favorite character: Randy, the horror-movie obsessed video store owner.



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The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

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The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Super fun and jaunty little time-travel mystery that doesn’t take anything seriously. A fun treat for those who will catch the many British literary references and especially who have a love for Jane Eyre–it was very fun for me to read shortly after reading that classic for the first time earlier this year. While a very insignificant part of the book, I absolutely loved the ubiquitous but never explained genetically engineered pet dodos. Caution: the humor is very British. Proceed accordingly.



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Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

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Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Complex feelings on Ava Reid’s LADY MACBETH. I don’t think I can rate it fairly, nor do I think anyone with a longstanding relationship to the original play and titular character could. Best to know the story is Macbeth-inspired rather than a true retelling. The departures from the original story and Lady are many. There were lots of things I hoped this book would be, and instead it was something entirely of its own, which interestingly enough is one of the major themes of the novel–the difference between truth and expectation of identity. It really leaves me wondering if this was the same exact book but with different character names if I would have had a different experience.

Many beautiful and evocative moments in the story. I have a deep respect for anyone who attempts to make something new out of Shakespeare–it’s bold and it’s risky. The atmosphere created had gorgeous intensity. I just couldn’t snap out of my own desire to keep looking for Lady Macbeth. The more time I spent with Roscille, the more I just kept thinking, “that’s not her.” But I do think Roscille’s story has merits of its own.



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Black Tide Son by H.M. Long

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Black Tide Son by H.M. Long

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


BLACK TIDE SON is the second installment in H.M. Long’s pirate fantasy trilogy. This book expands the rich universe of the Winter Sea with more cultures, more monsters, and an unraveling knot of forces at the core of a swiftly intensifying war. It’s a constant chase, careening through alleys, waterways, and levels of reality as the core characters all seek their own forms of redemption amid the swelling supernatural power of the Black Tide. A very fun read!



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Book Review: Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton

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Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ok, this novel was my first-ever read by Andre Norton, who (as I have now discovered) wrote roughly a million books and is one of the grandmothers of science fiction as we know it. YEAR OF THE UNICORN (1965) was part of her larger Witch World series, but reads just fine as a standalone. Guys, when I tell you that the phenomenal weirdness and wonderfulness of this woman’s imagination floored me, I mean it. Classic fantasy and yet experimental even by today’s standards.

P.s. There are zero unicorns in this book, but don’t let that deter you.

And Andre, I hope you are resting in peace. Your stories live on.



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Book Review: A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw

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A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Shea Ernshaw brings a painter’s touch to this twisty-turny plot joyride that takes elements of mystery, fantasy, and horror, puts them in the woods, and sees how they all get along when cut off from the outside world.



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Book Review: Together we Rot by Skyla Arndt

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Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This YA debut is wonderfully tender and toothed. Using the natural world’s hostile indifference as inspiration, a group of angry high school kids (one of my favorite kinds of characters) band together to unveil a horrifying secret at the center of their town. I loved the Skyla Arndt’s old-school gothic technique of really dialing in to the physical decay of the mundane settings the kids spend time in, and the love story at the center gives some sweetness to the book’s bite. A little bit of mystery, a little bit of nature nerdery, and overall well-paced storytelling with not a paragraph wasted.



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Book Review: Fish Gather to Listen, edited by Jes McCutchen, Victoria Moore, and H.V. Patterson

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Fish Gather to Listen by Jes McCutchen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A memorable collection from a dynamic new press thematically unified around that most primal of fears: deep, murky water occupied by things unknown. The grotesque swims parallel to the lyrical in Fish Gather to Listen. There is much here to disturb and delight, often simultaneously.



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Book Review: Briefly, a Delicious Life by Nell Stevens

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Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Strange and sensual, surprising and intimate, Nell Stevens weaves a meditation with music and sensation that interprets human life as a collection of rapid and urgent desires, pleasures, pains, tastes, jealousies, and reveries. The historical facts are merely the stage for Stevens’ story to dance over–irreverently, longingly, ultimately full of life.



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