Book Review: Even Though I Knew the End, by C.L. Polk
I adored C.L. Polk’s Even Though I Knew the End, a sapphic noir novella set in an urban fantasy version of 1941 Chicago. It opens strongly, unwraps the mystery as a relationship drama unfolds, and includes some breathtaking prose along the way.
396. P. Djèlí Clark (a.k.a. The Historian) — Ring Shout
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-396-pdjeli-clark/SandF_396_PDjeliClark.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSPossessed swords, demonic klans, and mouths all the way down, oh my! Shaun Duke and Jen Zink jump through time to talk with P. Djèlí Clark about his latest novella, Ring Shout. Together, they dive into the novel’s treatment of the early 1900s, the meaning of ring shouts, black history, the brilliant characters of Ring Shout, and so much more! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!
Book Review: The Devil’s Guide to Managing Difficult People by Robyn Bennis
The Devil’s Guide to Managing Difficult People is an urban fantasy that deceptively starts off as a lighthearted take on a relationship with a supernatural being and eventually turns into a meditation on deeper explorations of a character’s pain, personality, choices, and mistakes. It tempts the reader with the fun and goofiness of its initial premise and gradually sucks the reader into a study of the main character and their history in a deep and sometimes painful dive. This latest book by Robin Bennis leverages and leavens Bennis’ droll sense of humor seen in the Signal Airship series and turns it onto a fantastic urban fantasy story.
Comics Review: Revisiting ABBOTT; a look at JOOK JOINT
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 revisiting a limited series that debuted earlier this year, and is now available as a collected volume, and a promising new limited series that’s just getting underway — Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivelä’s ABBOTT, and Tee Franklin and Alitha E. Martinez’s JOOK JOINT #1 and 2 (This review contains spoilers!)
Book Review: Priest of Bones by Peter McLean
Priest of Bones imagines what would happen if the Godfather had gone off to war in an early Renaissance world, only to return home to find the “family businesses” have been taken over by others. He takes this rather badly.
353. Rebecca Roanhorse (a.k.a. The Lightning Wielder), Trail of Lightning
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode353RebeccaRoanhorseTrailOfLightning/Sandf-Episode353-RebeccaRoanhorseTrailOfLightning.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSCoyote, road trips, and ghosts, oh my! We’re very excited to start out Black Speculative Fiction Month with a fantastic interview with the Hugo, Campbell, and Nebula award winning Afro-indigenous author, Rebecca Roanhorse. Jen and Becca figuratively sit down with Rebecca to discuss how the Navajo creation story inspired the world-building of her debut novel, Trail of Lightning, how she created a space that was wholly absent of whiteness, why representation of Indigenous people in pop culture is particularly crucial, what her version of Coyote looks like, how Trail of Lightning fits into indigenous futurism, and so much more! We hope you enjoy the episode!
