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Book Review: State Tectonics by Malka Older

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State Tectonics concludes Malka Older’s Centenal Cycle trilogy, bringing to a head the tensions and potentials for change that have been laid in Infomocracy and continued through Null States. By the end of the second volume of the Centenal Cycle, Null States, the threats to the 21st century political and social order, the dominance of 100,000 person micro democracies, the centenals, has been laid bare and made clear. Sure, the remaining legacy nations have their problems with the dominant Centenal system and might, like China, seek to subvert it and change it for its own ends. Other more militaristic nations might overwhelm nearby Centenals.  But the greatest threat to the Centenal system is a hitherto unknown one—one from inside Information itself.

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Korean Drama Review: Kingdom (Season 1)

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Zombie stories are, for many reasons, a mess. Despite the fact that zombie lore originated with enslaved Haitians who feared that they would be forced to labor even after they died, many contemporary zombie stories focus on white people and their desire to run amok in a world disturbingly devoid of people of color. Not so, however, with the subject of this month’s Korean drama review: Kingdom. The Netflix original series, which released its entire first season in January of this year, transports zombies to medieval Joseon Korea and adds its own twists to the lore, utilizing it to deliver a commentary on the horrific consequences of poverty and inequality. (Warning for minor spoilers ahead.)

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Short Fiction Review: February 2019

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February saw the release of A People’s Future of the United States, an anthology of resistance and hope that’s edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams and features big names such as Charlie Jane Anders, Hugh Howey, N. K. Jemisin, Sam J. Miller, and Catherynne M. Valente. The anthology is filled with great work, and in particular I want to spotlight “Riverbed” by Omar El Akkad and “Harmony” by Seanan McGuire. I could easily rave about A People’s Future of the United States for the rest of this review, but I also want to spotlight some other great new stories by less well-known authors. In February, Nightmare Magazine published “58 Rules to Ensure Your Husband Loves You Forever” by Rafeeat Aliyu, a creative and disturbing take on zombies that powerfully comments on toxic social norms around marriage. This piece is dark and disturbing, so it won’t be for everyone, but if you like horror, I highly recommend it. I also enjoyed “This Wine-Dark Feeling That Isn’t The Blues” by José Pablo Iriarte, which appears in Escape Pod. It’s a short and surprising story about love, grief, and simulated realities. Lastly, I loved “Ti-Jean’s Last Adventure, as Told to Raccoon” by KT Bryski, which appears in Lightspeed Magazine. It’s a very Canadian story that’s equal parts fun folklore and serious cultural critique.

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Book Review: 2018 NEBULA AWARDS SHOWCASE, Edited by Jane Yolen

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As usual, I’m behind and am just now getting to write up these thoughts on the 2018 Nebula Awards Showcase, edited by Jane Yolen for Pyr. Until April when the 2019 showcase comes out, it is the latest of annual volumes published since 1966 to reprint the nominated and winning stories for the previous year. Though this past year’s winners might be more in the forefront of your mind, revisiting – or discovering – the stories in the 2018 showcase (published 2016 and 2017) could be even more rewarding. I had read many of the stories at their original appearance, and going back to these again for a second or third time felt in some cases like meeting old friends, and in a few cases felt like appreciating something wondrous that I had somehow missed on that read a couple years back.

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The Expanse meets Battlestar Galactica in Serial Box’s first space opera: The Vela

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Today, on  March 6th, Serial Box releases The Vela, a space opera combining the visionary setting and tense politics of SFF and Action and Adventure series like The Expanse and Battlestar Galactica. This series will be brought to you by the juggernaut bestselling author team of Becky Chambers, (The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Nominee for the Hugo Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction), Yoon Ha Lee (Ninefox Gambit, Locus Award for Best First Novel), Rivers Solomon (An Unkindness of Ghosts), and SL Huang (Zero Sum Game, Amazon Bestseller).

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Interview: Author David Mack

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Today on Skiffy and Fanty, I interview the author of Midnight Front and The Iron Codex (among very many other things), David Mack. PW: You’ve penned sequels and follow-on novels in the various fictional universes you’ve written in before. What was different about your process in tackling The Iron Codex? DM: Adding stories to the ongoing literary continuity of Star Trek, as I’ve been doing since 2001, is very different from writing a sequel to my own original novel. When I write a Star Trek novel, I’m able to take advantage of the fact that many ideas and concepts don’t need to be explained in great detail, because readers of Star Trek novels are already familiar with the series’ setting and characters.

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