Category: Urban Fantasy

Monster Locker Vol 1 by Jorge Aguirre & Andrés Vera Martínez

Coatlicue help me, I’m pretty sure my kids have infected me with their brainrot, because as soon as I realized that this story was set in Ohio, I began chortling to the tune of Swag In Ohio. But that Midwestern state (and Gen Alpha shorthand for weirdness) is honestly the perfect setting for this tale …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/25/monster-locker-vol-1-by-jorge-aguirre-andres-vera-martinez/

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch

Because of the way that Lies Sleeping ended, Peter Grant finds himself suspended, temporarily he hopes, from the London’s Metropolitan Police. Because expenses don’t stop just because a job does, he signs up to work in the security department of one of London’s biggest and flashiest IT start-ups, the Serious Cybernetics Corporation. The founder, an …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/05/false-value-by-ben-aaronovitch/

Camp Twisted Pine by Ciera Burch

Oh wow, getting into this hit hard. Like Ciera Burch, I never went to sleepaway camp, and wound up writing a book/game on the subject. I designed that roleplaying game on my former best friend, the same way choreographers create dances on certain performers. Unfortunately for me, that person I relied on and trusted more …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/16/camp-twisted-pine-by-ciera-burch/

Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker

I wonder why this was published by sff stalwart tordotcom instead of by its horror imprint, Nightfire, as the also creepy (and just as speculative, if not more so) Crypt Of The Moon Spider was. Regardless, I’m so glad that this novella has been released as a standalone book, perfect as a quick-ish read as …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/11/haunt-sweet-home-by-sarah-pinsker/

Red Tundra by Mike Pohjola

a story for Werewolf: The Apocalypse. With illustrations by Krzysztof Bieniawski, Gabriel de Goes Figueiredo and Maichol Quinto. Not only did I manage to snag a copy of this adventure on Free RPG Day 2024, I also had the good luck to have someone run it for me so I could get a better feel …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/08/27/red-tundra-by-mike-pohjola/

Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones

One of the weird things about reading an author’s entire body of work from the start of their oeuvre, especially if you’ve already cherry picked parts of it as a lifelong avid reader, is that you can see the themes develop throughout the creator’s lifetime and echo back and forth through the books. Dogsbody, for …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/08/21/dogsbody-by-diana-wynne-jones/

Eight Days Of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones

The second book in the A Year Of Diana Wynne Jones challenge that I could join in on was this, Eight Days Of Luke. I’m honestly still torn over how I feel about the various covers: some seem a little spoiler-tastic, but if I’m being perfectly honest, I didn’t even look properly at the cover …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/08/08/eight-days-of-luke-by-diana-wynne-jones/

A Bite Above The Rest by Christine Virnig

Oh gosh, I really do hope this is the start of a series! It’s so cute, and the ending is the perfect setup for sequels galore! Eleven year-old Caleb isn’t super thrilled to have to leave California and all his memories of his late dad. But his mom enjoyed growing up in small town Wisconsin …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/08/05/a-bite-above-the-rest-by-christine-virnig/

Witch’s Business by Diana Wynne Jones

Also known in some markets as Wilkins’ Tooth. I’m joining my pal Emily for A Year Of Diana Wynne Jones, a project she recently started where she and other interested readers go through the entire DWJ oeuvre over the course of a year. I decided to dip in and out as books were available to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/07/22/witchs-business-by-diana-wynne-jones/

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed

And with this I’ve completed the reading for the 2024 Hugos nominees for Best Graphic Story! And what a way to round out the category! It won’t topple Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons from the chokehold that book has on first place, but it sure comes close. Shubeik Lubeik is the Arabic for, essentially, “your …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/07/18/shubeik-lubeik-by-deena-mohamed/