A unique, minimalist space-drama written in poetic-verse using the Orkney dialect.

Harry Josephine Giles' DEEP WHEEL ORCADIA has a simple plot - it's a love story with familiar complications taking place on a space station that's purpose is to gather resources from the gas giant planet that it orbits.  The groundbreaking originality and beauty of this work are derived from the subtle nuances of the Orcadian language, as well as Giles' gift for poetry and showcasing a minority language.

The mechanics of this 'novel' are brilliant, utilizing page-foot prose translation into English, giving clarity to the Orkney poetic-verse above.  The former includes...

New Galveston is a rough frontier town, barely hanging on to existence by the sheer willpower of its hard folk and gritty inhabitants.  At its center stands a beacon of light, The Mother Earth Diner, run by a sad man, his kitchen engine (robot), “Watson”, and his tough-as-nails 14-year-old daughter, Belle, who is our protagonist and the narrator of the story.  Oh, and New Galveston happens to be smack dab in the middle of nowhere, on Mars.

Belle is low maintenance.  As long as you pay for your coffee and treat her father with respect, she’s perfectly content, but...

We are very pleased to report that we have acquired a significant Lovecraft collection. Yes, we believe all the usual suspects will be in evidence, and we love and honor those suspects. "Suspects", in this case, refers to Lovecraft hardcover editions from publishers both large and small. However, we would like to point out that this particular collection includes an abundance of ephemera. It is, in fact, this kind of out-of-the way material that we find most interesting. At any rate, the long and short of it is this: If you like Lovecraft, we suggest you check our site with...

LEGENDS & LATTES by Travis Baldree

2023 Nebula Award Nominee Reviews Part 5/6

Reviewed by:  Abe Ziesing

After deciding to read all of this year's Nebula Award nominees, and upon examining the book covers of each, I immediately predicted that LEGENDS & LATTES was going to be my least favorite. It turns out that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Huh, who would've thought?

Viv is an enormous sword-wielding orc that's grown weary of fighting, bounty hunting and adventuring for treasure. She's ready to put an end to her rough and rugged lifestyle, retire the sword, and of...

NETTLE & BONE by T. Kingfisher

2023 Nebula Award Nominee Reviews Part 3/6

Reviewed by:  Abe Ziesing

Kingfisher picks through her bag of tropes and tricks to brew up an original fairy tale worthy of its award nomination(s).

Marra is on a quest to simultaneously rescue a princess and avenge her sister's murder with an unlikely alliance of quirky, mismatched characters... sound familiar? It doesn't matter how many times this brand of plot has appeared in sword and sorcery, and epic fantasy, because this fresh take, with a cast of enchanting heroes, anti-heroes and villains is sure to whisk you...