Stories

  1. Why The Poppy War Is Historical Fantasy Without LimitsR. F. Kuang’s The Poppy War is the sort of novel that refuses to make war look noble for very long. It begins with an ambitious orphan, an elite military…
  2. New adult fantasy with found family and high stakes worth your weekendFound family has long been one of fantasy's most reliable emotional through-lines, and in new adult fiction it has found a particularly fertile home. Books…
  3. Five underrated space fantasy novels of swords and starshipsScience fiction has never kept its futuristic technology in a neat box. A starship can carry a knight, a plasma blade can stand in for a broadsword, and an…
  4. A Summer Solstice Reading List Made for Australian Book LoversA seasonal reading list can turn the summer solstice into more than a date on the calendar. In Australia, it arrives around 21 December, when school holidays,…
  5. Cursed objects in horror beyond The Monkey’s PawA cursed object turns an ordinary possession into a source of dread. A car, videotape, portrait, puzzle box or second-hand suit can carry a history that…
  6. Seven Thrillers That Take Place in a Single RoomThere's something deliciously unsettling about a thriller that refuses to give its characters anywhere to run. While many crime novels sprawl across…
  7. Spirits on the Shinkansen: Mythological Retellings Set in Modern JapanJapanese mythology has always lived in the margins of the modern world, lingering in shrine gardens, vending machine alleys, and the back of family restaurants…
  8. The Locked Tomb Series and the Marriage of Necromancy and Space OperaTamsyn Muir's The Locked Tomb series has carved a peculiar corner of speculative fiction. By threading the rituals of necromancy into the bones of space opera,…
  9. Sci-Fi time loop novels that escape the Groundhog Day shadowThe time loop trope in science fiction has become a playground for exploring regret, fate, and human nature. While the concept exploded into the mainstream…
  10. Five Fantasy Novels That Make the Antagonist Hard to HateThe most memorable fantasy villains are rarely evil in a simple, comfortable way. They may commit terrible acts, threaten kingdoms or manipulate the…