Martha Wells’ Murderbot series must surely be counted among the biggest hits of contemporary science fiction. The story of an artificial being – half-machine and half-clone – who became a freelance bodyguard was originally told over the course of four novellas: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, and Exit Strategy; with Network Effect, it…
Queering Cozy Classics for the Winter!
The weather is getting chillier where I live, and I’m starting to yearn for afternoons curled up with a hot drink, rereading something cozily canonical like Austen or Shakespeare. Part of what’s cozy about that scene, for me, is the interpretations of characters I developed on first reading, and still stand by. In fandom, “headcanons”…
2021 Hugo Award Review: The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
“Clearly, the Space Age is over” declared J. G. Ballard in the ’70s. He had a point: the past few decades have done little to revive the old assumption, made by so many science fiction writers, that a smooth and steady line would stretch from Sputnik to the moon and then to Mars and beyond….
2021 Hugo Award Review: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
A man inhabits a vast building containing reams of hallways and innumerable statues depicting various mythological figures. His sole companion is a man he refers to as the Other; in return, the Other refers to him as Piranesi. This bewilders him, as he does not identify with that name — at least, not until he…
2021 Hugo Award Review: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Black Sun’s prologue introduces us to Serapio, a boy who is groomed by his mother to become the avatar of a Crow God — a process that entails being ritually blinded. All of this is to prepare him for a specific date in the future: the day of Convergence, when the sun shall turn black…
2021 Hugo Award Review: The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
In her 2016 short story “The City Born Great” N. K. Jemisin introduced us to a homeless youth who was actually the avatar of New York City. The City We Became is a novel that takes the original short story as its prologue and proceeds to expand on the premise: the city’s avatar has gone…
2021 Hugo Award Reviews: The Empress of Salt and Fortune/Riot Baby
WWAC’s coverage of the 2021 Hugo Award finalists continues with a look at the final two contenders for Best Novella: Tochi Onyebuchi’s Riot Baby and Nghi Vo’s The Empress of Salt and Fortune…
REVIEW: Untold Horror Is a Horror Revelation
Like many writers and creatives, I have a file on my computer of incomplete projects. Some things I have abandoned, and other times I have been left high and dry by gonzo publishers. A few months ago, I filed multiple pieces to be greeted not by cheque but by ghosting. Their silence is impenetrable, and…
Archie Comics Pubwatch: October 2021
Welcome to the Archie Comics Pubwatch for the month of October! I’m Lisa, reporting from a corner booth at Pop’s Chock ‘lit Shoppe, and here’s this month’s news! In this month’s Archie Comics Pubwatch, we have New York Comic Con news, a full review of Big Ethel Energy, Riverdale announces some major casting news, and…
INTERVIEW: Jardine Libaire’s The GoldTwinz
Cult photographer Neil Krug adds his eye for visual storytelling to acclaimed author Jardine Libaire’s new novella, The GoldTwinz, to create something truly stunning. In their first collaboration, Krug, known for his work on album covers for the likes of Tame Impala and Lana Del Ray, brings Libaire’s “sunshine noir” story to life. Here, Libaire…
2021 Hugo Award Reviews: Ring Shout/FINNA
Welcome back to another instalment of WWAC’s trip through the Best Novella category at the 2021 Hugo Awards. This time, we shall be covering P. Djèlí Clark’s Ring Shout and Nino Cipri’s FINNA…
Current and Kind: Light From Uncommon Stars and Other Speculative Fiction to Restore and Revive
Sometimes I want to escape to the stars, or to the future, or to a magical land where people are just cozily, reliably nice to each other. Luckily, I’m not alone in this wish, as a current wave of speculative fiction is prioritizing kindness in its characters. Here’s a list of current books with plots…