Bluntly, I don’t know anyone working in speculative fiction today who consistently writes such disturbingly weird shit. But not like in a gratuitous way. Aliya Whiteley doesn’t want to shock you, necessarily, but she is unafraid to plumb into the deeper, uglier parts of the human psyche to examine the monstrous and strange, to ponder …
Tag: Doreen
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/17/from-the-neck-up-by-aliya-whiteley/
Sep 16 2021
Rooms Of The Mind by Makenzie Campbell
There’s a huge caveat to my review of this book today: I got an e-galley for Kindle, which was so strangely formatted as to make me constantly second guess whether I was reading a new poem or a continuation of the last one every few stanzas. This pervading doubt is not terribly conducive to enjoyment …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/16/rooms-of-the-mind-by-makenzie-campbell/
Sep 15 2021
Poe For Your Problems: Uncommon Advice From History’s Least Likely Self-Help Guru by Catherine Baab-Muguira
I honestly wasn’t sure when I started reading this book where Catherine Baab-Muguira was going with it, and to be completely honest, I’m still not sure how to categorize this work now that I’m done reading it either. I do know that I finished reading this with stars in my eyes and hope in my …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/15/poe-for-your-problems-uncommon-advice-from-historys-least-likely-self-help-guru-by-catherine-baab-muguira/
Sep 14 2021
Beautiful Country: A Memoir by Qian Julie Wang
For the first three-quarters or so of this book, I was absolutely enthralled. Qian Julie Wang tells the story of her relatively prosperous, if politically oppressed life in Northern China before her Ba Ba emigrates to America, followed by herself and her Ma Ma five years later. They overstay their visas, becoming undocumented while Ba …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/14/beautiful-country-a-memoir-by-qian-julie-wang/
Sep 13 2021
Among Thieves by M.J. Kuhn
This debut fantasy novel has all the things that pique my interest, starting with a motley team of rogues coming together for a daunting heist, each with their own ulterior motives and back stories that unfold as the novel progresses. There’s adventure, romance, multiracial representation and plot twists galore! So I should totally love this …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/13/among-thieves-by-m-j-kuhn/
Sep 10 2021
Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn
I admit that I flinched a little when I read the blurb for this on receiving the Wednesday Books circular. How much would I, a progressive Muslim, find in common with a bunch of evangelical Christian church kids? Apparently, quite a lot! I’m glad I put my trust in Wednesday Books on this: when they …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/10/never-saw-you-coming-by-erin-hahn/
Sep 09 2021
Malika: Warrior Queen Volume 1 by Roye Okupe, Chima Kalu & Raphael Kazeem
What a fantastic way to kick off the YouNeek YouNiverse, an interrelated set of fantasy, sci-fi and superhero comics and properties from an African perspective! The first volume of Malika: Warrior Queen tells the story of a 15th century ruler, who she was and how she was shaped by the battles that rent and threatened …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/09/malika-warrior-queen-volume-1-by-roye-okupe-chima-kalu-raphael-kazeem/
Sep 08 2021
An Interview with Fran Dorricott, author of The Final Child
Q. First off, congratulations on your second book! How was the experience of writing The Final Child different from writing your debut, After The Eclipse? A. Thank you! Honestly, writing The Final Child was a lot of fun. To me it feels a little grittier, a little slower in terms of tempo, and I liked …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/08/an-interview-with-fran-dorricott-author-of-the-final-child/
Sep 07 2021
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
It’s weird how Silvia Moreno-Garcia is so hit or miss for me. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t start with the books which made her famous, and which I still really want to read. Instead, I’ve hopped around her timeline somewhat, based on what was available to me, and can safely say that her newer works …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/07/certain-dark-things-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/
Sep 03 2021
Enola Holmes And The Black Barouche (Enola Holmes #7) by Nancy Springer
Who’s ready for a brand new story arc in the Enola Holmes universe? As we swiftly discover in the opening pages of this latest installment of the series, Enola has reconciled with her brothers and is living as an independent Consulting Perditologist in London. However, she’s dismayed that her brothers, famous old Sherlock and Mycroft, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/03/enola-holmes-and-the-black-barouche-enola-holmes-7-by-nancy-springer/