

- Sep 19, 2020
- 2 min
Book Review: The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal
Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Calculating Stars begins as a disaster story and ends as a space race. Both tales are compelling in their own...


- Aug 11, 2020
- 2 min
Book Review: The Map of Salt and Stars, by Zeyn Joukhadar
Zeyn Joukhadar’s The Map of Salt and Stars sucked me in with a fascinating structure: parallel stories, both anchored in Syria, one set...


- Jun 20, 2020
- 3 min
Book Review: Assassin's Fate, by Robin Hobb
She did it. Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Fate might have started slowly—as did the prior books in her Fitz and the Fool trilogy—but the middle...


- May 17, 2020
- 2 min
Book Review: Fool's Quest, by Robin Hobb
Normally, I like every entry in a series to stand on its own. Not entirely—it’s (obviously!) fun to have a larger narrative that runs...


- Apr 20, 2020
- 3 min
Book Review: The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, by Ken Liu
I think part of why I enjoyed Ken Liu’s The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories so much is that his collection of science fiction and...


- Mar 14, 2020
- 3 min
Book Review: Fool's Assassin, by Robin Hobb
The first two trilogies in Robin Hobb’s FitzChivalry Farseer series contain some of my favorite fantasy books. Fitz is a compelling...


- Feb 11, 2020
- 3 min
Book Review: Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James
Marlon James’s Black Leopard, Red Wolf is one of the most challenging books I’ve read in a long time. It’s also one of the most...


- Feb 6, 2020
- 1 min
New Release: Magic in the Mud Show
I'm thrilled to announce that my historical-fantasy novella "Magic in the Mud Show" (set in the Barnum & Bailey Circus of 1892) is in the...


- Dec 13, 2019
- 3 min
Book Review: World Without End, by Ken Follett
World Without End is a worthy follow-up to Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett’s epic tale of medieval cathedral building. World Without...


- Nov 11, 2019
- 2 min
Book Review: Kings of the Wyld, by Nicholas Eames
Nicholas Eames’ Kings of the Wyld is essentially a Blues Brothers version of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). It’s pretty awesome. The story...


- Oct 26, 2019
- 2 min
Book Review: The Aeronaut's Windlass, by Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files are some of the fastest-paced books I’ve read. Set in modern-day Chicago, the intensity of these...


- Oct 21, 2019
- 3 min
Writing Tips: How to Hurtle Your Writer's Block
Here's the text of an article Janice Hardy was kind enough to let me post on her excellent Fiction University site. I’ve never really had...