Browsing all articles by L. A. Young.
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
When an author has an impressive debut year—as in being nominated for and winning several literary awards: the Hugo, the Nebula, etc.—the question is can the author go further and beyond with their stories and their writings after a strong debut? The answer is, yes! And several authors have managed to do this with their […]
The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell
2020 continues to present books by debut authors, which continues the expansion of speculative fiction canon. Several works by new authors remind readers the genre is influenced by more than just fantasy and science fiction. Nick Martell’s debut—The Kingdom of Liars, the first book in The Legacy of the Mercenary Kings—is part epic fantasy and […]
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
Speculative fiction is a term used when the common themes found in fantasy, science fiction and horror overlap while incorporating at least one of the many subgenres into the narrative. Add themes of race, sex, religion, family, and revenge, and you have a story that reflects any era in human history. The Year of the […]
Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
The 21st Century has seen a slew of diverse authors writing and releasing stories that have expanded the speculative fiction canon. Not only have these authors written stories for readers like them, but also presented a deeper look into issues—both past and present—that affect their represented groups. Themes of oppression, slavery, colonialism, poverty, and genocide […]
Recommendations for SFF Authors of Various Identities
Today’s society claims to be “woke” when it comes to the need for diversity, except we all know that isn’t true. The prejudice and bigotry presented on the news and in other media continues to reflect similar issues seen within the publishing industry. While movies and television have made visual strides to present more diverse […]
The Nine Realms by Sarah Kozloff – Series Review
Robert Jordan, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Brent Weeks, Samantha Shannon, Haruki Murakami and Robin Hobb. These names go with epic fantasy, or any fantasy story that has multiple characters, amazing worldbuilding, complicated yet believable plots, and over 600 pages of content. Many people, including other readers, are amazed at how their fans […]
Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
What if space travel, other planets and prestigious interstellar universities in neighboring galaxies existed within our lifetime? If everything related to space travel and outer space was an everyday practice, then how would all beings coexist with each other? How would humans live on Earth with these opportunities? Would they take advantage of it, or […]
The Shadow Saint by Gareth Hanrahan
The hype surrounding a debut novel can be anxious for positive and negative reasons. This is because the author is waiting to find out what readers and critics thought of the book. The success of the book can put the author on a spectrum ranging from bad to cult fandom to excellent to classic. Yet, […]
His Dark Materials – Season One Review
Back in 1999, it was announced that both The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were becoming film franchises. There was both excitement and apprehension. Excitement because fans were going to get movies based on their favorite fantasy books, and apprehension because—at the time—so many movies based on fantasy or science fiction books had […]
Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko – Translated by Julia Meitov Hersey
Readers who enjoyed The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins must read Vita Nostra—the first book in the Metamorphosis series. If not, then they are missing out on this mind-bending, anti-Hogwarts, Russian import! We must show our appreciation to Julia Meitov Hersey as well, for translating the […]
The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan
Every once in a while, a book is released and it’s all everyone talks about. How great the story is, how rich the characters are, how the worldbuilding matched the dark tones and the originality of the story, etc. And, it was the author’s debut book! When I finally read (or, more accurately, listened) to […]
Smoke and Stone by Michael R. Fletcher
Smoke and Stone is a grimdark story about two young people who live at opposite ends of their caste system. Both believe one of the gods has chosen them to carry out their desires to improve life in their city. What ensues is not only the beginning of rebellion amongst each caste, but also the […]
