I’ve been talking about resuming writing, and now it’s time to reveal my latest publication! The fine fellows at Purple Toga Publications have set out to issue speculative anthologies. The first is dedicated to the meaning of care and compassion, to imagining worlds where taking time off work to care for others is not a […]
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Books Review: Black City Tales and Black City Angel, by Richard A. Knaak
What’s not to love about this series? Roaring 20’s, mythological creatures, and a hard-boiled noir gumshoe. What to Expect Black City Angel is the fourth full-length novel in the series (and it’s been a while since the previous). This one sees Nick dealing with an increasing number of refugees from Feirie. Trying to investigate affairs […]
Tasmanian Crime Fiction – or is it?
Since moving to Tasmania and embracing the scene, I have naturally started to toy with an idea about a modern-day, Outback-noir style, fantasy (duh) crime mystery. So for the sake of ‘research’ I’ve been reading a few police procedurals and crime fiction set in Tasmania. Or so I thought. This post collects several reviews in […]
Book Review: Fated, by Benedict Jacka
The Alex Verus series of urban fantasy has been recommended to me repeatedly, so finally got around to it. What to Expect Expect a well-written, original take on urban fantasy themes. TRhe story is told from the point of view of Alex, a mage living in London. While he’d like nothing more than to run […]
Book Review: A Specter Raps on My Windowpane, by Douglas Lumsden
I love the urban-fantasy noir-detective blend of this series, and have followed it from the start – it maintained its high quality throughout. What to Expect Trigger warning: Alex doesn’t get paid for this case. Well, OK, that’s not that atypical of gumshoe detectives – but most cases don’t start with being ‘hired’ by the […]
Fun with Latin
You might have noticed there’s a certain Latin flavour around here that has nothing to do with salsa. As Roman life makes one of the “Three-R” pillars of this blog (Reading, Writing, and Romans), this also seeps in to the language. Now, I’m the first to admit my Latin is atrocious, but that doesn’t mean […]
Book Review: Shattered (Iron Druid #7), by Kevin Hearne
I’ve read an d enjoyed the previous books – now it’s time to finish the series 🙂 What to Expect Shattered starts soon after Hunted (the previous novel in the series), with Granuaile getting a call about her father which takes her to India, and Atticus bringing his recently-revived former archdruid Owen up to speed […]
Book Review: Dragonfired (The Dark Profit Saga #3, by J. Zachary Pike)
I’ve enjoyed the first two parts of this trilogy (Orconomics and Son of a Liche), and was eagerly looking forward to the grand finale. What to Expect Pike started the Orconomics series as a deep satire, on both fantasy and economics. This continues in this vein, though the focus shifts more toward the epic (which […]
Book Review: Split the Party, by Drew Hayes
Though it’s been a while since I read the first book of this series, I was in the mood for some light entertainment and this fit perfectly. What to Expect Another D&D-ish adventure for the band of heroes, this one leading them to chase an evil artifact that a whole town into zombies. Naturally, they […]
Reflections of 2023
My last post every year is about reflections of the year just passed, and the tone I hope for the coming one. This past year has been… eventful. And not always in a good way. I’ve learned a lot, but many were the days where I was wishing life would finish up with the lessons […]