Book Review: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Spinning Silver first appeared as a novella in The Starlit Wood edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe. It has been expanded into a novel that will delight lovers of fairytale retellings. The story is based on Rumplestiltskin. Miryem comes from a family of moneylenders, some more successful than others. Her father’s generous nature makes him one of the less successful. When Miryem’s mother grows sick from their impoverished conditions, Miryem takes over the family business. She finds she’s good at it. So much so that when her grandfather gives her a pouch of silver to help grow her business, she’s able to return the pouch to him full of gold. Unfortunately for Miryem, the snowy fae Staryk who haunts the woods hears her boasts. Craving gold above all else, the Staryk threatens Miryem: change his silver into gold or risk being turned to ice.
COMICS REVIEW: Primary Relationship, Secondary World – Hien Pham’s ‘It Will Be Hard’
Welcome to the latest instalment of my comics review column here at Skiffy & Fanty! Every month, I use this space to shine a spotlight on SF&F comics (print comics, graphic novels, and webcomics) that I believe deserve more attention from SF&F readers. This month, I’m going to explore a new graphic novel with an innovative format that uses its speculative lens to look at two characters in a secondary fantasy world who aren’t trying to save the universe or the kingdom – they’re just trying to make their relationship work: Hien Pham’s It Will Be Hard. (This review contains spoilers!)
Book Review: Witchmark, by C.L. Polk
In C.L. Polk’s Witchmark, an Edwardian world-next-door fantasy universe is the setting for the story of an on-the-run doctor scion from a noble family, hiding his magical gifts, and getting wrapped firmly in the coils of intrigue, politics and romance. Miles Singer is a Doctor working in an out of the way hospital, hiding in an unlikely place to run away from his past. A veteran himself, his medical skills gained during his time in a recent war now concluding have transferred to a post-war career helping fellow veterans. His past, however, is why he is working in an impoverished hospital for low wages, living hand-to-mouth in a Tenderloin, and scratching out a living.
Book Review: The Last Sun by K. D. Edwards
A fascinating tale of magic, beings of immense power and their unique governing system, and even Atlantis, The Last Sun is K.D. Edwards’ debut novel with Prometheus Books, which promises an engrossing trilogy to follow a solid beginning. With a court system based on tarot and the Major Arcana, powerful magics, and mythical dangers around every corner, Edwards brings a new Atlantis to life just off the coast of Massachusetts, and pulls readers into a twisted missing-person investigation that is covering up much more sinister plots.
Short Fiction Review: June 2018
My favorite story last month was “In the End, It Always Turns Out the Same” by A.C. Wise, which appears in The Dark Issue 37. It’s a smart, dark take on the Scooby Doo formula that pauses and asks, “Aren’t they too young for this?” Like poetry and space opera? Go read “I Sing Against the Silent Sun” by A. Merc Rustad and Ada Hoffmann, which appears in Lightspeed Magazine Issue 97. In this harrowing yet hopeful story, a poet-revolutionary is hunted by a god of silence. (Also, this story makes me happy because of its genderfluid and nonbinary representation.) I also enjoyed “The Sweetness of Honey and Rot” by A. Merc Rustad, which appears in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue 254 (21 June 2018). It’s a story about the costs of resistance, and it features original, inventive worldbuilding and gorgeous, detailed prose.
Book Review: Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor
Keen fans of the Hugo Awards will be aware that 2018 marks the inaugural presentation of the World Science Fiction Society Award for Best Young Adult Book. The shortlist for this Hugo-adjacent award (which will, barring shenanigans at the AGM, henceforth be known as the Lodestar Award) includes Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor. This is the second book in Okorafor’s series, Akata Witch. It tells the story of Sunny Nwazue, a teenage girl born in New York City whose Nigerian parents have brought her across the Atlantic to live in their hometown. Sunny is a Leopard Person, someone with an affinity for juju and thus able to work magic. In Akata Warrior, she develops these abilities under the strict guidance of her mentor Sugar Cream and the tried and true method of getting into mischief with her friends. However, it’s not all fun and games. Ekwensu, the masquerade responsible for murdering Sunny’s grandmother (and also the only other Leopard Person in Sunny’s family) is still on the loose. Sunny and her friends must track down the masquerade before Ekwensu brings about the apocalypse.
