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Book Review: Radiant by Karina Sumner-Smith

Sitting squarely in the borderlands between science and fantasy, Karina Sumner-Smith’s first turn into novel length fiction (after a number of well received stories, including the Nebula nominated “An End to All things”) is the strongly crafted story of the ghost-seeing young woman Xhea in RADIANT, the first in the “Towers Trilogy”. The science fantasy city of the Lower City and the Towers floating above provides a secondary world urban fantastical environment for Radiant’s story. Class in this world is very much a function of the ability to use magic. Those who can and do practice magic competently live in the floating Towers that serenely hover over the ruination and post-apocalyptic state of the Lower City left behind. The dregs of society, on the other hand, live in those lower city ruins, in quarters ranging from makeshift shelters in ruined subway tunnels to skyscrapers that try and reach the sky.

Shaun's Rambles

Shaun’s Rambles 002: The Value of Book Reviews and Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman

http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/ia801505.us.archive.org/17/items/ShaunsRambles002TheValueOfBookReviewsAndDarkOrbit/ShaunsRambles002–TheValueOfBookReviewsAndDarkOrbit.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS…in which I continue a podcast of random thoughts had while driving home from work. In this edition:

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My Superpower: Michael R. Fletcher (Beyond Redemption)

My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome Michael R. Fletcher to talk about how the power of manifesting delusions as reality relates to Beyond Redemption. My new novel, Beyond Redemption, takes place in a world where belief defines reality and the deranged—those capable of believing the impossible—can twist the world with their delusions. My superpower, fittingly enough, is that my delusions manifest as reality. It is less handy than you might think. I’m not delusional about everything. I’m no god; I can’t bend the world to my mad whims. My delusions are rather narrow in focus. First, a short non sequitur: I wish my superpower was swearing like Chuck Wendig.

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Hardholders, Drivers and GunLuggers — Mad Max: Fury Road and the Apocalypse World RPG

The Apocalypse World RPG is a seminal game in recent, if not all of, roleplaying history. The game allows the GM and the players to create, and play in a world ravaged by an apocalypse whose nature is mysterious, somewhat lost to time, and has left a mess of a world for people to try and survive in. Written by D Vincent Baker, the game features relatively simple mechanics, niche protection by defining classes for player characters, and tons of tools for the GM to up the stakes, bring the pain, and make hard moves to get the players to make the ugly bargains and hard choices in a post-apocalyptic society.

Shaun's Rambles

Shaun’s Rambles 001: The Gallo Conspiracy and Trial By Fire

http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/ia601500.us.archive.org/15/items/ShaunsRambles001TheGalloConspiracyAndTrialByFire/ShaunsRambles001–TheGalloConspiracyAndTrialByFire.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS…in which I begin a podcast of random thoughts had while driving home from work. In this edition: Some thoughts on the controversy over Irene Gallo’s statements about the Sad / Rabid Puppies Some thoughts on Trial By Fire by Charles Gannon and the absence of sf/f awards for adventure fiction Enjoy the rambles. You can download the mp3 directly from this link or stream the episode below.

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Book Review: The Dragons of Heaven by Alyc Helms

In the darkened streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown, Missy Masters is struggling to take up the vigilante-hero mantle of her retired, estranged grandfather, Mr. Mystic. Missy shares his stubbornness, his intimate connections with Chinese culture, and his uncanny ability to cross into a realm of shadows and exert limited control over the creatures within. Just as she literally straddles worlds, Missy also dances a line of pretending to be an aged, but expert, male superhero while training to advance beyond her actual novice abilities. She aspires to the strength and moral right that her grandfather embodied while battling against memories of his emotional distance, his personal secrets, and the prejudices common of his generation. Typical of masked superheroes, she has two lives, the separate worlds of Missy Masters and of Mr. Mystic. And she has past experiences, a world away in China, that have led her to be the woman and vigilante of the present.

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