Blog Posts

SEA Quest: Malay SFF

Current science fiction and fantasy is heavily Anglophonic. English is an imperialistic language. I would like to see more science fiction and fantasy, especially from Southeast Asian, written in the languages of the region. For this edition of SEA Quest, I am focusing on two writers who write in Bahasa Melayu(or Malay). Previously, I wrote about Tunku Halim and Eve Shi who also write in their own language. I would like to highlight Isa Kamari and Hassan Hasaa’ Ree Ali.

SF in Translation, The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Speculative Fiction in Translation #1: Introductions

https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SFiTEpisode1IntroducingTheSpeculativeFictionInTranslationPodcast/Sfit–Episode1–IntroducingTheSpeculativeFictionInTranslationPodcast.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSThe brand-new and sparkling Speculative Fiction in Translation podcast is here! In her 1st episode, Rachel introduces herself and talks about what to expect from the podcast throughout 2018. She also takes a quick look back at 2017 and its SFT riches and forward to the rest of 2018 and the novels/collections coming up. Episodes moving forward will feature two segments: 15 minutes of up-to-date news, new-releases, and details about speculative fiction in translation available online 15 minutes of interviews with wonderful translators, publishers, editors, authors, and readers. A bientôt!

Blog Posts

Book Review: The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang

Releasing books in a series in quick succession is nothing new. An author sells multiple volumes, already written, which come out in relatively short order with each other. It is far far less common, however, for a publisher to release multiple works by an author at the same time. It’s even rarer to have a pair of twinned works, who inform and influence each other. In The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune, two entangled novellas have been released by a new talent on the SF scene, JY Yang.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

At the Movies #66: The Shape of Water (2017) w/ Caitlyn Paxson

https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFAtTheMovies66ShapeOfWater/SandfAtTheMovies66–ShapeOfWater.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSIt’s finally here. The Show Formerly Known as Shoot the WISB returns with its new name:  At the Movies. In today’s episode, we’re joined by Caitlyn Paxson in a riveting discussion of the much-acclaimed Guillermo Del Toro fantasy, The Shape of Water. The crew looks at how the film examines folklore, its approaches to marginalized identities, where it succeeds and fails, the importance of the color green, and much more. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Blog Posts

Reviews: Beautiful Sorrows by Mercedes M. Yardley & Everything That’s Underneath by Kristi DeMeester

Many of the reviewers associated with the Skiffy and Fanty team have a contribution specialty. I’ve always avoided this because I don’t like the limitations; I read/review outside of these genres even. But if I were to have a niche, it would probably be short fiction. I adore the variety it affords and the low commitment to discover new authors. It’s easier to convince myself to step away from work for a moment to read a short story, compared to equal time reading a portion of longer works that may not have obvious stopping points. Most importantly, some of the most exciting writing I’ve seen comes from the short form.

Blog Posts

Book Review: The Harbors of the Sun by Martha Wells

I’ve made no bones of the fact that I am a fan of Martha Wells. I’ve read her work, in toto, since the nineties, starting in those days when I took a look at Nebula and Hugo nomination lists and took them as straight-up reading guides. Her Ile-Rien Nebula-nominated novel Death of the Necromancer introduced me to her work, then, and I moved forward from there. The Cloud Roads, in 2011, started a new universe for her. A world with many humanoid species living in a welter of civilizations and cultures, current and past. A world where two species above all were focused. The Fell, ravenous, destructive and dangerous shapeshifters, their Flights devastating to all, a threat to any and every community. And then there were the Raksura, a shapeshifting species far, far more benign to their neighbors. A species rich in culture and internal society, a matrilineal culture built around courts ruled by Queens, with their consorts and a couple of subvarieties of the species providing a rich social environment. One problem the Raksura have is that their more aggressive flying forms have more than a passing resemblance to the Fell, and so with few exceptions, the Raksura treat with other species in their humanoid form secretly, or not at all. Into this mix, enter Moon…

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