Our monthly Patron-exclusive essay series continues. You can read all of these incredible analyses for as little as a dollar a month on our Patreon. The erotic-horror fumetti published in Italy through the seventies and eighties may seem arcane to outsiders. The plots of these comics are built around sex, violence and combinations of the two,…
Remembering Charlee Jacob: Dark Moods
In Charlee Jacob’s fiction, the modern landscape of mass media and urban sprawls is never far from the barbarism of the ancient world. An earlier age of weird divinities and brutal religious rites is present just below the surface of those millennial cityscapes, ready to burst forth into the lives and minds of contemporary humanity….
2020 Dragon Award Winners: Thousands Vote Despite Right-Wing Backlash
Atlanta’s Dragon Con was one of many science fiction and fantasy conventions to become a purely online event for 2020, but — just like the Hugo Awards at Worldcon — its annual Dragon Awards went ahead as scheduled this Sunday. Decided via a free online poll, the Dragon Awards recognise science fiction and fantasy novels,…
Remembering Charlee Jacob: Geek Poems and Wormwood Nights
In 2005, the same year that Vestal was published, Charlee Jacob’s novella Wormwood Nights was given a limited edition run by Bloodletting Press.
REVIEW: The Tammy & Jinty Special 2020 Brings Back a Beloved British Heroine
Summer 2020 has been far from ideal, to put it mildly, so it comes as a true pleasure to see a tradition from British summer times past make a comeback: the children’s comic special. Published by Rebellion, the Tammy & Jinty Special 2020 continues the legacy of two beloved comic anthologies that enthralled generations of…
2020 Hugo Awards Reflect Struggle Over History
The weekend saw the presentation of the 2020 Hugo Awards at CoNZealand, this year’s iteration of the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon, for short). Although the ongoing pandemic prevented CoNZealand from being held in physical form, like many similar events, it adapted to the situation by offering a virtual convention – and the Hugos were,…
2020 Hugo Awards Reviews: Novels – Part 3
Welcome to the final post in a series examining the contenders in the main prose categories for the Hugo Awards. So far, the Best Novel selection has shown an interesting set of recurring themes along with some stark contrasts. Two of the finalists, Seanan McGuire’s Middlegame and Alix E. Harrow’s The Ten Thousand Doors of…
2020 Hugo Awards Reviews: Novels – Part 2
Continuing our reviews of the 2020 Hugo Awards finalists in the Best Novel category, we move on to Middlegame by Seanan McGuire and The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow.
2020 Hugo Awards Reviews: Novels – Part 1
Welcome to another instalment of the WWAC series that takes a close look at the finalists for the 2020 Hugo Awards. Previous posts have examined the contenders for Best Short Story, Best Novelette and Best Novella; now, we reach the final stretch. Here are two of the six finalists for Best Novel: Kameron Hurley’s The…
2020 Hugo Awards Reviews: Novellas – Part 3
Welcome to the third and final part in a series of articles looking at the works in competition for the Best Novella category at the Hugo Awards.
2020 Hugo Awards Reviews: Novellas – Part 2
Continuing our reviews of the 2020 Hugo Awards finalists in the Best Novella category, we move on to To Be Taught, if Fortunate by Becky Chambers and Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom by Ted Chiang.
2020 Hugo Awards Reviews: Novellas – Part 1
Welcome back to the Women Write About Comics series looking at the finalists for the main prose categories at the Hugo Awards. Past instalments have covered Best Short Story and Best Novelette; now, it is time to look at the category for stories long enough to fill books, but still a little too short to…