Fantasy Literature

Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy by Ada Palmer & Jo Walton I’m a big fan of Jo Walton and Ada Palmer’s writing. I consider their fic… ift.tt/GVmDnRq

The City of Desire: Nora the explorer The City of Desire by Juanita Savage It was the Spanish conquistador Martin de Ursua y Arizmendi who effectively ended what was left of the Mayan Empire when he and his men conquered the last of the independent Mayan cities, Nojpeten, in…

WWWednesday: March 18, 2026 Reactor introduces five sf novels set underwater. They also write about the film The Bride. This interesting concept got bad reviews and didn’t do well at the box office. Their review explains some of the reasons why. The … ift.tt/DC1Rvjq

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter: Cozy, ultimately unsatisfying Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett Last year I sailed through Heather Fawcett‘s EMILY WILDE trilogy, buoyed up by a well-constructed plot, sharply drawn characters … ift.tt/sdqbWrI

When the Earth Swung Over: Do redheads have more fun? When the Earth Swung Over by Alfred Colbeck Are you ready for a trivia question that you might not have encountered on Jeopardy before? Here it is: Which spot on planet Earth is perpetually covered… ift.tt/wzgVv3o

WWWednesday: March 11, 2026 Reactor reviews the latest Pixar film, Hoppers. Last week, Reactor’s Molly Templeton did her weekly roundup column, and it is really good! The Saturn Awards were announced last week. The Author’s Guild has expanded its Hu… ift.tt/nKiNuvk

The Masquerades of Spring: Mainly for completists The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch 2024’s RIVERS OF LONDON novella, The Masquerades of Spring, by Ben Aaronovitch, will be a treat for series completists. It takes place not in London or anyw… ift.tt/OzHt58D

The Red Winter: An utterly delightful debut novel The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan The Red Winter (2026), by Cameron Sullivan, is an utterly delightful debut novel: self-assured, complex in both plot and structure, funny, violent, filled with action… ift.tt/nrAdcM0

WWWednesday: March 4 2026 George Takei will appear at the Los Angeles Library on May 31, for the “One Book, One Coast” event. File 770 wants to share the quest of Dave Hook, who searches for the first “great fiction of Clifford Simak.” Spoiler alert: … ift.tt/9n7JMBt

Vigil: Falls a bit short Vigil by George Saunders Vigil (2026), George Saunders’ newest novel, is a return of sorts to Lincoln in the Bardo (one of my favorite books that year) in that we’re once again dealing with a “between world” with characters ei… ift.tt/lPQupds

The Treasure Vault of Atlantis: Swede talking The Treasure Vault of Atlantis by Olof W. Anderson There have been so many fictional works dealing with the subject of Atlantis that they practically constitute a subgenre of fantastic literature unto them… ift.tt/xf6QOdy

The Rainseekers: Bradbury + Robinson + Chaucer The Rainseekers by Matthew Kressel Imagine a cross between Ray Bradbury (particularly “All Summer in a Day” but without the cruelty), Kim Stanley Robinson’s MARS trilogy, and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a… ift.tt/2MxIUrl

The Forest On The Edge Of Time: A bit betwixt and between The Forest On The Edge Of Time by Jasmin Kirkbride Jasmin Kirkbride tosses a lot of elements into The Forest On The Edge Of Time (2026) that would normally be right up my “please, yes more” all… ift.tt/u5awNkF

WWWednesday: February 18, 2026 Back in January when I was recuperating from surgery I watched Bryan Fuller’s movie Dust Bunny. I liked it. Variety liked it too, probably not as much as I did. Speaking of movies, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die sounds f… ift.tt/RNq7vrE

A Submarine Tour: High gloss A Submarine Tour by Frank Balch There is a certain aptness that today just happens to be the 198th birthday anniversary of the French author Jules Verne, because it is of the so-called “Father of Science Fiction” that I wo… ift.tt/CRAxv8T

Bridge of Storms: Solidly enjoyable for MG readers Bridge of Storms by Philip Reeve Bridge of Storms (2026) is Philip Reeve’s follow-up to Thunder City and the middle book in a new trilogy set in his MORTAL ENGINES series. While the original and main-… ift.tt/e6quxNr

An Aerial Runaway: Up, up and away! An Aerial Runaway by W.P. & C.P. Chipman It sits in the southeast corner of Venezuela, at the border of both Guyana and Brazil; an enormous, flat-topped mountain (a tepui), rising up to 9,000 feet above the surround… ift.tt/FV14oeA

The Chromatic Fantasy By H.A. (An Oxford College Student Review!) The Chromatic Fantasy By H.A. In this column, I feature comic book reviews written by my students at Oxford College of Emory University. Oxford College is a small liberal arts school ju… ift.tt/tbvN6iW

The Secret of the Earth: In one end and out the other The Secret of the Earth by Charles Willing Beale It was in 1818 that the NJ-born Army officer and trader John Cleves Symmes, Jr. made something of a laughingstock of himself by circulating his nove… ift.tt/HSjJ7iU

Hum: An easy recommendation Hum by Helen Phillips If I had to describe Helen Phillips’ short novel Hum (2024) in one word, that word would be “understated.” In its genre trappings, its worldbuilding, its scale, Hum takes a minimalist approach. For som… ift.tt/UGfBc1s