Category: Doreen

Hugo Awards 2025: Best Short Story Nominees

I have become even more time blind than usual lately, and am woefully behind on any emails that may be reminding me of voting deadlines. Nevertheless, I’m glad that I’m finally getting a chance to look at this year’s Hugo nominees, beginning, as is tradition, with Best Short Story! And, as is tradition, let’s start …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/16/hugo-awards-2025-best-short-story-nominees/

Hourglass by Barbara Mazzi

So it’s weird sometimes, when I’m trying to review the first book in a series where a large part of the plot revolves around a mystery. There’s a very delicate balance that authors have to hit in order to make the book feel both satisfying for the reader and like we really need to read …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/15/hourglass-by-barbara-mazzi/

The Zombees by Justin Colón & Kaly Quarles

Aside: this is the second zombie-related book I’ve read in a row, how odd for the middle of July! It’s Halloween and the normally quiet graveyard by Honey Hills is abuzz. Literally, as strange creatures begin to rise from the tombs and wend their winding way through town. Could these flying apparitions be… bees? But …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/14/the-zombees-by-justin-colon-kaly-quarles/

Tantalizing Tales — July 2025 — Part Two

Hey, I’m on Jeopardy! today. I had a really great time (as you can probably tell if you watch what is, in my entirely biased opinion, one of the best regular season episodes you’ll ever see) but it’s super cut into my reading time, unsurprisingly. So I wanted to make sure in this round-up column …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/11/tantalizing-tales-july-2025-part-two/

The Agonies by Ben Faulkner

In all earnestness, the teenaged narrator of this affecting novel desperately needs sports. A sport, any sport: even a sedentary bookworm like myself can recognize that the kid has too much energy and too few healthy outlets. The kid in question is Armie Bernal, the son of two semi-famous writers who divorced when he was …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/10/the-agonies-by-ben-faulkner/

Student Government by Dave Justus, Lilah Sturges & Joe Eisma

with colors by Michael E Wiggam, and letters by Simon Bowland and Charles Pritchett. When was the last time I sat down and enjoyed a teen comedy that wasn’t primarily another genre, be it mystery or romance or fantasy? Student Government has a bit of all of those, but is primarily just a warm-hearted coming-of-age …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/09/student-government-by-dave-justus-lilah-sturges-joe-eisma/

Only Between Us by Ellie K Wilde (EXCERPT)

Hello, readers! I have a treat for you today especially if you, like me, could use a little more romance in your lives. I’m so pleased to be able to offer you an excerpt from Ellie K Wilde’s latest novel Only Between Us, a highly-anticipated, steamy and whip-smart romance set in the world of Oakwood …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/08/only-between-us-by-ellie-k-wilde-excerpt/

Tantalizing Tales — July 2025 — Part One

The midpoint of the year has come and gone, and here we are, looking forward and back on a specially scheduled day to showcase what’s just come out and what we’re looking forward to next! Top of the pile is Martha Grimes’ latest Richard Jury novel, The Red Queen. This twenty-sixth novel in a series …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/07/tantalizing-tales-july-2025-part-one/

Arthur by Giles Kristian (EXCERPT)

Hello, dear readers! We have an excerpt from a retelling of a tale out of legend for you today, a surefire treat for fans of Ancient Briton. As the third book of Giles Kristian’s Arthurian Tales begins, the Saxons are now the lords of Britain. Yet the bards still sing of Arthur: In our darkest …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/02/arthur-by-giles-kristian-excerpt/

Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hell Screen by Mihiro

This manga adaptation of a classic Japanese horror story is shockingly nuanced, as writer and illustrator Mihiro reworks the tale for a modern audience, translated then into English by Itoh Makiko. A bit about the original author himself before we continue. Akutagawa Ryunosuke is widely considered the father of the Japanese short story, with Japan’s …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/01/ryunosuke-akutagawas-hell-screen-by-mihiro/