Blog Posts

Guest Post by Aliette de Bodard: Beyond the Cliché Shelf: Making Characters Vibrant and Unexpected

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Today instead of a review from me, we have a guest post by Aliette de Bodard. Her second Dominion of the Fallen novel, The House of Binding Thorns, is now out, and you will see a review of it from me here soon. In the meantime, Aliette has some words to say about Characters: I used to struggle a lot with characters. My natural strength is worldbuilding: I can quite happily spend weeks and months reading non-fiction books on anything from the history of food in Vietnam to the role of servants in 19th-Century Paris, and slowly and painstakingly creating a universe from these inspirations. With characters… my earliest ones were correctly created as part of the setting, but I struggled with giving them individuality and personality beyond that. When I created memorable characters they almost always were by accident rather than by design — while the discovery process was wonderful, it was rather annoying to not be able to repeat that when I needed this!

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Signal Boost #1: George Sandison (2084) and Alexandra Pierce (Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia Butler)

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SkiffyAndFantySignalBoost1GeorgeSandisonAndAlexandraPierce/SkiffyAndFanty–SignalBoost1–GeorgeSandisonAndAlexandraPierce.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSWelcome to the first edition of Signal Boost, a twice a month edition of the Skiffy and Fanty Show where we use our platform to promote books, anthologies, comic books, short films, zines, blogs, podcasts, artists, and whatever other cool stuff we think you should hear about. In our first edition George Sandison, managing editor of Unsung Stories, joins Jen to tell us about 2084, an upcoming Orwellian inspired anthology that is currently in its Kickstarter phase, and Alexandra Pierce, of Galactic Suburbia, joins Paul to tell us about Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia Butler, an upcoming collection of letters and essays from Twelfth Planet Press, about the influence that Octavia Butler has had on the science fiction community, personally, professionally, and politically. 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: The Weight of the World by Tom Toner

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The second novel in Tom Toner’s Amaranthine Spectrum sequence, The Weight of the World continues the story of the descendants of humanity across local space 125 centuries into the future with a continued exploration of its range of characters set across an era of change and uncertainty for the immortal masters of the Firmament and their would-be supplanters alike. What The Weight of the World brings for a reader of the original book, The Promise of the Child, is the continued development of the plotlines whose tapestry began in that first book. There is Lycaste, of course, now far from the simple home, the Eden, really, that he had been driven from in the events of the first novel. Here, he continues his perambulating journey, a pawn of forces that seem determined to use him as he simply, still, like Odysseus wants to return home. But duties, promises, responsibilities and the vicissitudes of conflict drive Lycaste forward. Too, other characters met in the first novel show up here. The knight Ghaldezuel, for instance,  continues his lonely, rambling quest across the worlds. Sotriis and Jatropha, two of the immortal Amaranthines whose lives seem as fragile as their own world, and others, continue to make their way in this time of tumult.

Blog Posts

Book Review: CONGRESS OF SECRETS by Stephanie Burgis

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Known for her Regency-era fantasy series for middle-grade readers that began with A Most Improper Magick (published as Kat, Incorrigible in the US), Stephanie Burgis’ debut novel for adults, Masks and Shadows, similarly combined romanticism with the fantastic. Her sophomore novel, released at the end of 2016 by Pyr, continues this formula. Well paced and passionately infused with historical details and characters, Congress of Secrets will appeal to readers who enjoy a touch of magical darkness balancing Austenesque romance and historical intrigue. The story is set in 1814 at the start of the Congress of Vienna, a conference held by European powers to settle pressing geopolitical issues after the initial defeat of Napoleon. Clandestinely among the throngs arriving into the city are two former citizens who have spent years in exile, separated from Vienna and from one another after a traumatic night that ended in flames and escape from the secret police. Karolina Vogl, daughter of a printer who published pamphlets critical of the Holy Roman Emperor, is now a wealthy English widow named Lady Caroline Wyndham. With the passage of time and her new identity, Caroline plans to take advantage of the Congress to locate and rescue her imprisoned father. But Michael Steinhüller, an opportunistic con man who had been her father’s former apprentice, also uses the Congress as an opportunity to re-enter Vienna, posing as one “Prince Kalishnikoff” and looking for a score of a lifetime. Amid the diplomatic aristocracy Caroline and Michael each maneuver towards their goals, trying to avoid discovery. However, the greatest threat to their plans may be a chance, volatile reunion with one another, and reignited emotions of friendship and betrayal in their shared past.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

320. Alex Wells/Acks (a.k.a. Social Justice Biker Witch) — Hunger Makes the Wolf (An Interview)

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode320AnInterviewWAlexAcks/Sandf–Episode320–AnInterviewWAlexAcks.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSBikers, hardpan, and train robberies, oh my! Our very own Alex Wells/Acks joins Jen and Paul to talk about their new book Hunger Makes the Wolf, recently published by Angry Robot Books. We cover everything from adapting short stories into novels to Colorado union history to desert geological formations. It’s about as fun a ride as the book is! Strap on your helmets and give it a listen! 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):

Torture Cinema Polls

Torture Cinema Poll: April Showers!

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We do hope you enjoyed our last Torture Cinema as much as we didn’t. Who am I kidding? WE LOVE GETTING TORTURED! (We laugh so we don’t cry) We’ve got some really good movie picks for you this month! Or is that bad ones? Whatever they are, they’re something.  

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