Blog Posts

Book Review: The Red Men by Matthew de Abaitua

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About a third of the way through The Red Men, Matthew de Abaitua’s ravishing new-old (I’ll explain in a moment) cyberpunk nightmare, is very likely the creepiest scene I’ve ever encountered in literature. Not just in genre fiction. In literature. I’m not going to spoil it for you. You’ll know it when you hit it. And your brain will leap out of your skull and try to escape the building, flopping and squelching across the floor until it’s stuck hurling itself ineffectually against a door or gate or other obstacle. Help me. You’ll want to chase after it so you can read the rest of the book. Probably.

Blog Posts

Retro Childhood Review: The Dark is Rising

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There was an endless variety of faces — gay, sombre, old, young, paper-white, jet-black, and every shade and gradation of pink and brown between — vaguely recognizable, or totally strange… [Will] thought: these are my people. This is my family, in the same way as my real family. The Old Ones. Every one is linked, for the greatest purpose in the world. I was going to start my review of Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising Sequence with the first in the series, Over Sea, Under Stone, because it holds a certain place of nostalgia based on its similarity to other much loved childhood fiction like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, both being about a group of absurdly normal siblings doing something important. But as I considered what I wanted to read to finish out 2017, a year full of darkness for so many people, the only book that seemed appropriate was The Dark is Rising. Because what’s more relevant than a book about how one person can fight back the darkness by finding strength in the love and support of family, friends, and a world that is fighting with him? Especially when it’s full of winter holiday cheer.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Signal Boost #30: Michelle Kan (No More Heroes) and Rachel Cordasco (SFinTranslation.com)

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFSignalBoost30MichelleKanRachelCordasco/Sandf–SignalBoost30–MichelleKanRachelCordasco.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSIn today’s episode of Signal Boost, Becca talks to Michelle Kan about her book, No More Heroes. They discuss what it meant for Michelle to write an #OwnVoices gender-fluid aro-ace character that included her ethnic heritage, issues with anxiety, and parkour! They also talk about how Michelle wrote No More Heroes during NaNoWriMo and how her film-making education helps her write. Then Rachel Cordasco, founder of SFinTranslation.com, joins Jen to talk about what she does at SF in Translation, what inspired her to create the site. They also discuss how much speculative fiction there really is in translation, what makes a good translation, and some of Rachel’s favorite translated works of 2017. We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Announcements and Errata

Announcement: The 2017 Listener / Reader Survey

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I know. We’re a bit late putting this message up on the blog. Still, better late than never, amaright? Two years ago, we ran a survey primarily for listeners of the show. The intent was get a better sense of what was working and not working for our listeners, what listeners wanted us to do in the future, etc. Now it’s 2017, the year of trashfires, and we’re trying to end things on a high note with a bunch of fantastically geeky podcasts and a brand new survey for listeners AND blog readers. So, here we are imploring you to take our survey. It has questions about how you listen to the show, what you like the most/least, polls on ideas we have for the future, questions about blog content, requests for suggestions for future content, Patreon and funding-related questions, and more.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

#65. Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi — A Shoot the WISB Subcast

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB65TheLastJedi/ShootTheWisb65–TheLastJedi.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSSpace heroism, Porgs, and grumpy Jedi, oh my! In our last Shoot the WISB episode of the year, Shaun, Jen, Alex, Mike, and Daniel join forces for the most anticipated movie of the year, Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi. We talk about Rian Johnson’s direction, the film’s tribute to Carrie Fisher, the core themes of heroism and seeing the world for what it actually is, and much MUCH more. You won’t want to miss this one! We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Blog Posts

Book Review: Winterglass by Benjanun Sriduangkaew

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Benjanun Sriduangkaew creates a fascinating and very loose retelling of The Snow Queen folktale with Winterglass, a high fantasy novella that infuses steampunk technology and an interesting form of magic.  With gorgeous prose and a refreshing perspective on fantasy in general, Sriduangkaew’s unique take on a classic tale creates a captivating narrative with twists, turns, and deadly secrets.  Sriduangkaew’s own-voices retelling features an entirely POC cast and lots of queer rep, set in Southeast Asia.  It’s a relatively quick read, and I spent a very enjoyable afternoon in the world of ice and intrigue. We follow the narrative through two points of view, giving us a deeper look at the complicated and twisted workings of an intriguing world.  Sriduangkaew balances the narrative across the different sides, leaving readers an interesting perspective on a world wrapped in ice.  The narrative itself relies on a concept of a world in the process of being conquered by a deadly force, a queen who desires to be whole.

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