Author: Daniel Haeusser

Daniel Haeusser (He/Him) is an Associate Professor of Biology who teaches microbiology and biochemistry. He researches bacterial cell shape & division, and phage (bacterial viruses) that alter either in their host during infection. His constant reading spans many genres, but SF, Fantasy, Horror, mystery, and world literature remain closest to his heart. His regular book reviews can be found at Reading 1000 Lives, and he also contributes reviews to Strange Horizons, Fantasy Book Critic, Speculative Fiction in Translation, and World Literature Today. You can connect with him on Goodreads or Bluesky.

Book Review: THE STARVING SAINTS by Caitlin Starling

Cover of The Starving Saints, by Caitlin Starling, with a nun figure holding up a screen with little plants growing on it, with clawlike hands, but the face is like a vidscreen showing several women's faces, and there's a gold halo-like circle behind the head.

There is a strong layer of familiarity underlying it all, particularly in its vaguely Medieval European setting and fairy story folklore inspirations. But Starling takes these basic ingredients or flavors and cooks them into something unexpected and astounding.

Book Review: EAT THE ONES YOU LOVE by Sarah Maria Griffin

Cover of Eat the Ones You Love, by Sarah Maria Griffin, with an odd-looking plant with one blue eye, and a brown eye within a Venus flytrap-looking leaf.

The synopsis for Sarah Maria Griffin’s Eat the Ones You Love would understandably invoke thoughts of Little Shop of Horrors for most people. I also kept thinking about Sue Burke’s Semiosis trilogy, not in terms of the plot, but in the sentient plant character and point-of-view perspective.

Into the Wardrobe: DRAGON OF THE LOST SEA by Laurence Yep

Cover of Dragon of the Lost Sea, by Laurence Yep, featuring a pale greenish-grey dragon, with an Asiatic youth with baggage on its back, flying at night with clouds in the sky and the moon in the background, and mountains and trees below.

Starting the novel, I was immediately drawn into the world and the folk nature of the story being told. As the human, I expected Thorn to be the center of the novel, but gradually began to appreciate Shimmer as the protagonist and character we would see adapt and grow through the adventure unfolding.

Book Review: COLD ETERNITY by S.A. Barnes

Cover of Cold Eternity, by S.A. Barnes, featuring a cryochamber in a dark medbay, with the shadow of an odd-looking hand reaching over it.

Following up on Dead Silence and Ghost Station, S.A. Barnes continues to solidify herself with Cold Eternity as a leading voice in SF Horror, particular within the theme of isolation in space.

Book Review: THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER by Stephen Graham Jones

Cover of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones, featuring a rather battered-looking bison with a broken-tipped horn.

Jones gives each of the three main characters of the novel an exceptionally personalized voice. A large part of what captivated me through the pages was his remarkable ability with the flow of words through a diversity of styles, a variation in ways that stories can be told.

Paperbacks from Hell #4: THE TRIBE by Bari Wood

Cover of the new edition of The Tribe by Bari Wood, featuring several unsmiling faces that come together as a blue-tinted back silhouette of a person.

The Tribe is a novel of continued relevance, as well as intellectual and emotional depth, that makes it deserving of a broad audience beyond typical horror readers. It should have crossover appeal to fans of crime fiction, historical fiction, or religious mysticism, and its themes around Jewish identity, racism, and general humanity put The Tribe on equal footing to any celebrated work of ‘literary’ fiction.