Every SFF enthusiast should be reading Alexandra Erin (be it the abundant work offered on her website and news letter, her eclectic musings and commentary on Twitter, or in this book of excellent short stories). Erin's writing is incisive, fun, and empathetic. And more often than not, profound.
FIST DATES, LAST CALLS feels different from a lot of SFF fiction I've read. Not because it focuses less on life-and-limb danger, and deeds of daring do (though it does for the most part), but because its stories feel more like exploration than narrative. Traditionally, Speculative Fiction applies a 'what if' to reality, creating spaces for characters to have meaningful experiences. FDLC, however, skips the mediator and applies its 'what if's directly to the characters themselves. The experiences are no less meaningful, but they are drawn in terms of theme and emotion rather than setting or plot.
All good SFF fiction should make you think. And FDLC absolutely does. It also makes you care.
Book Review: The Revisionaries by A.R. Moxon
I don’t do a lot of reviews on this blog, but as I occasionally do my utmost to bore you with my thoughts on the craft of writing, and as this book is something of a masterclass in certain facets of that craft, I thought I’d offer my two pennies on how it struck me. So that being said…
Oh, man. What do I even say about this book? Whoof. How do I describe it?
…A.R. Moxon’s debut novel, The Revisionaries isn’t a time travel story, yet reading it is undoubtedly what it feels like to get hopelessly lost while travelling through time.
…A.R. Moxon’s debut novel, The Revisionaries is Infinite Jest, if Infinite Jest were actually good and had a compelling story.
…A.R. Moxon’s debut novel…
Shazam!: A Case for Kindess
Shazam! is good and fun and kind, and not lazy, and you should probably go watch it.
Die-hard Adam Wing fans will recall I used to run a different blog in which I pretty much only wrote long-winded and overly-wordy (and at times, rather shallow) movie reviews. Since starting this site, I’ve let that fall away, but I just came back from watching Shazam! and I wanted to write a few short words about it.