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.
Book Review: Owl and the Japanese Circus
Supernatural clients, or supernatural opposition, or just looking for supernaturally powerful objects are the worst for Owl. There are supernatural entities hiding in the shadows of the world, and an archaeologist-turned-treasure-hunter who has crossed the dreaded IAA not only knows there are vampires and worse lurking around, she has no outside protection from them. Owl avoids supernatural entanglements in her treasure hunting and thievery whenever she can. She leaves that to her online roleplaying character to deal with. Of course, given that she is living on the run in a Winnebago, even that small pleasure is difficult for her to indulge in. When a Dragon offers Owl a deal to get herself out of trouble with a French clan of vampires who are following her around the globe, desperate times call for desperate measures.
253. Kristi Charish (a.k.a. Indiana Jane) — Owl and the Japanese Circus (An Interview)
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode253KristiCharish/Sandf–Episode253–KristiCharish.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSKickass archaeologists, vampire cats, and dragons, oh my! What do vampire-sniffing cats, Las Vegas dragons, and ancient artifacts have to do with one another? Kristi Charish, author of Owl and the Japanese Circus, joins us to discuss just that. We cover her academic past, archaeology weirdness, cats, writing urban fantasy, science, and much more! 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): Episode 253 — Download (MP3) Show Notes:. Kristi’s Website Kristi’s Twitter Owl and the Japanese Circus (Simon and Schuster; Gallery Books) Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
231. City Building in Urban Fantasy (CONvergence Panel w/ Emma Bull, Tania Richter, Kathryn Sullivan, and Christoforo Pasquarette)
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode231CityBuildingAtCONvergence/SandF%20–%20Episode%20231%20–%20City%20Building%20at%20CONvergence.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSCliff cities, twisted towers, and fantastic streets, oh my! Earlier this year, I moderated / participated in a panel on city building with some amazing folks. And I finally get to release it! From new cities to ancient palimpsestial streets, Emma Bull, Tania Richter, Kathryn Sullivan, and Christoforo Pasquarette tackle the process of city building in urban fantasy (and fantasy at large). Here is the CONvergence description: From cloud citadels to urban wastelands, any city has infrastructure needs: water, sewage, transportation. How will those be met? A discussion of good and bad city design in urban fantasy. 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): Episode 231 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Emma’s Website Emma’s Twitter Emma’s Books Shadow Unit! Tania’s Website Tania’s Twitter Tania’s Books Kathryn’s Website Kathryn’s Books Kathryn’s Facebook Christoforo’s Bio Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). Additional music from “Black Vortex” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
My Superpower: Michael R. Underwood, 2nd edition
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 our own Michael R. Underwood (aka Mike) back to talk about how the power of being a role-playing gamer applies to his novel The Younger Gods.
Mining the Genre Asteroid: War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
Eddi McCandry is the guitarist for a band that has just broken up. Her career in rock’n’roll is going nowhere; she’s broken up with her boyfriend; and she is more than a little adrift. Luckily for Eddi, a twist of fate makes her the one selected as the talisman for the conflict between two warring factions of faerie: Seelie and Unseelie. They need a mortal present in order to be able to actually war against each other and physically battle, and Eddi has gotten the job. Add in a Phouka keeper to shepherd her through the runup to the Faerie confrontation, Eddi’s attempts to form a new band and find herself and her musical voice, and a gigantic helping of late 1980’s Minneapolis. And did I mention the Unseelie are trying to kill her?
