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Short Fiction Review: June–August 2019

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Sometimes the stories that I review in a given month are all united by a particular theme. That is not the case this month. This time around, the only strand uniting these three stories is that each story features something I like. If (like me) you like smart stories about dis/ability and social structures, you should check out “Spectrum of Acceptance” by Nyla Bright, which appears in Escape Pod. If (like me) you like fables about Death or meditations on storytelling itself, you should check out “The Night Princes” by Megan Arkenberg, which appears in Nightmare Magazine. And if (like me) you like stories about happy queer couples or unconventional families, you should check out “A House With a Home” by Jon Mayo, which appears in Anathema Magazine.

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Mining the Genre Asteroid: Planet of Exile

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Today on Mining the Genre Asteroid, I take you to a Planet of Exile. Last time on Mining the Genre Asteroid, I discussed Ursula K LeGuin’s first novel, Rocannon’s World. This time out, I stay in LeGuin’s Hainish universe and take a look at another early novel of hers set in that verse, Planet of Exile (1966). I look at how this novel extends and builds upon Rocannon’s World, and how it lays foundations for more of the Hainish universe. It is also a rather nifty “under siege novel” that keeps the strengths of character and worldbuilding we saw in Rocannon’s World.

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Book Review: FKA USA by Reed King

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Marketed as a cross between The Wizard of Oz, A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Road, and Ready Player One, Reed King’s FKA USA chronicles a misfit cast’s perilous and irreverent road-trip across the variegated geopolitical landscape formerly known as the United States of America. Published under the acknowledged “Reed King” pseudonym of a bestselling author and TV writer, the novel presents itself as an unabridged and annotated memoir composed by protagonist Truckee Wallace between 2086 and 2088 about events he experienced a year prior. With an irreverent tone lampooning social and political issues, the novel puts a lot of disparate ingredients into one romp of a tale. Its ultimate success for any given reader will largely depend on the type of humor they appreciate.

Skiffy and Fanty Booktube Logo
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#Booktube – July 2019 Recap

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Hello, Skiffy and Fanty fans! Somehow August happened while we weren’t looking, which means it’s time for you to catch up on our July #booktube episodes! First up, in our main episode we get a review of Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Calculating Stars and then Benjanun Sriduangkaew’s newest novella, And Shall Machines Surrender, then we dig into what we’re all reading and looking forward to, and finally, Shaun wraps up the month talking about the dreaded SUCK FAIRY!! Enjoy!

A picture of the cover of The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos
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Book Review: The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos

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Rebecca Podos’s The Wise and the Wicked is a love letter to the struggles of a young girl as she tries to be herself in the middle of a dysfunctional family. Chock full of magic, sisterhood, and love, The Wise and the Wicked was a fast read that caught me from the very beginning. I found myself really feeling for the main character, Ruby, a 16-year-old who doesn’t expect much out of life. While I finished this book fairly quickly, it’s one that will stick with me because of its well-written, fascinating characters and its open and unpredictable ending. If you like books with strong female characters who take charge of their own destiny while also doing their best to be normal teenagers who fight and fall in love, this is definitely one for you.

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