Speculative Fiction

Familiar Magic

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by Ursula Vernon
First sentence: “Mandragora was a city of magic, all right.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: April 13, 2027
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There are a lot of pictures and short chapters. It’s probably good for the 2-4th grade set. It will be in the Beginning Chapter Book section of the bookstore.

Rattigan is a familiar for a not-very-good wizard. It’s a good life; better than being a rat, anyway. He just wants to go about his business, keep his head down, and help his wizard. But one day, everything goes wrong. Hester moves in next door, and has a rather unusual allergy to peanuts. And then Rattigan’s wizard gets stuck in a circle of slime. How is Rattigan going to help? And not get into trouble?

There’s nothing deep here; it’s a beginning chapter book, after all. But it was fun. And silly. And perfect for those beginning readers who want something fun and silly to sit down and read. I don’t know if this is going to be a series (probably), but if Vernon is writing it, it’s definitely going to be fun.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Sweet Saints

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by Cassandra Khaw
First sentence: “You can make a life out of saving seals from the altar.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: March 30, 2027
Review copy pilfered off the ARC shelves at work.
Content: There are some uncomfortable moments and a little bit of violence. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

The animal-wives call her Sister Hound or Sister Hunt. Her job is to save them – the selkies, the foxes, the crane wives – from the men who take their skins and bind them. And she’s very good at it. What she’s not good at is parenting, so when a baby selkie is left on her door – whom she somewhat affectionately names Pest – she has no idea what to do with it. This unravels a story of desire and want, and the ultimate sacrifices we make for our children.

It’s a slim story – I did wish there was more meat to it – but I really liked it. I liked the characters and the way that Sister Hound interacted with both the animal wives and the other humans. It was cozy, but it also had a little bite to it. And I loved the fierce independence at the core of the story.

Maybe I ought to go find more books by Khaw; I really enjoyed her writing.

Grim Tidings

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by B. K. Borison
First sentence: “
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Review copy provided by the publisher
Others in the series: Good Spirits
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, plus on-screen sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Darcy is a Grim Reaper and she’s tired of death. What she really wants to do is LIVE. She spent so much of her mortal life sick that she feels like she missed out on the living end of things. So when she gets a new assignment, she decides that she’s not going to reap their soul. Instead, she’s going to save them. Gabriel is a Guardian Angel, and he’s failed to protect humans twice before. Three times and he’s out – though he’s not quite sure what “out” means, So, when Darcy walks into his town, his bar, he decides that he’s going to do everything he can to stop her from reaping whoever it is she’s here for. And, of course, sparks fly.

I liked this one. Not as much as Good Spirits or Borison’s other books, but it was fun. It has a very serious undertone – both the difficulty and necessity of death – but the dynamic between Darcy and Gabriel is pretty great. It helps that they’re both immortal beings, so age doesn’t matter (spoiler: Gabriel is like thousands of years old) and doesn’t feel creepy. There weren’t as many side characters in this one – the undead dog was my favorite, to be honest – but Darcy and Gabriel did well carrying the book on their own.

If there’s more in this little series, I’ll definitely read them.

Audiobook: Threshing Day

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by Rebecca Yarros
Read by a full cast
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, Onyx Storm
Content: There is some violence, most of it off-screen, plus lots of swearing, including many f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

I told myself at the end of Onyx Storm I wasn’t going to read any more in the series. But, this came out, and I figured what the heck, why not?

This is a series of short stories about the threshing days of many of the main and minor characters. Not Violet, of course, but many of the others. Much like the rest of the series, it’s not great writing – I especially dislike the way the dragons talk to the humans – but it is fun. I enjoyed the narrations; every chapter/character has a different narrator, which worked well, I think, Some of the narrators got into it more than others (there was one that was particularly good with the dragon voice), but overall it was a fun way to spend six hours.

But I’m really not going to read any more of these.

Audiobook: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me

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by Ilona Andrews
Read by Kristen Sieh
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is a lot of violence, including some pretty grisly murders. There is also some swearing, including a few f-bombs. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

One day Maggie goes to bed in our world and wakes up in the world of Kier Toren, a city she knows from her favorite book series, one that she has read and obsessed over for years and years. She knows the ins and outs of this world, and (once she realizes that if she is killed, she resurrects, even if it’s painful) decides that she has a chance to change the outcome of the story, to save the world from the certain chaos and doom it had in the books. It’s a dangerous path, one that is certain to make enemies, but with the help of people – she can’t think of them as characters – she collects on the way; she is sure she can do this.

I found this one on Bookstagram and thought it sounded intriguing. I have always liked it when the thing is poking fun at the thing – in this case, books where the heroine falls into a story – while being the thing. And this book does it marvelously. It’s twisty – some caught me entirely by surprise – and it’s intense. It’s a delightful romp in all the best ways, and Sieh does a fantastic job with the narration. I realized about 2/3 of the way through that this has to be a series, and the epilogue set up the next book well. I’m actually invested in this story now, and I’m curious to see where it goes.

Sometimes Bookstagram gets it right.

Public Access Afterworld

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by Jane Schoenbrun
First sentence: “This book is not my own.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: October 27, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is a super high body count, on-page (but not graphic) sex, lots of swearing (including multiple f-bombs), drug use, and just plain weirdness. It will be in the Fiction section, but could easily be found in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section.

The plot of this book is unnecessary. It’s probably best if you go in knowing very little (as I did), in order to experience the whole thing. It’s really a book that’s about vibes – and the vibes are weird and highly unique. Know that for a 600-page book, it goes really fast (I don’t usually read books this big!), mostly because it’s emulating a TV series – it’s broken up into Episodes, each with its own little arc, but connected to each other. I’ve never seen any of Schoenbrun’s films, but if they are anything like this, it would be wild and wierd, but thought-provoking.

The best comparison I can make is There is No Antimemetics Division: it isn’t the same, but it has a similar weird vibe. And if you liked that one, you will definitely like this one.

The only drawback is that the ending is ambiguous, and I would like a sequel (I’ve been spoiled over the years). But if this is all there is, I’m content with it.

A Snake Among Swans

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by Hannah Kaner
First sentence: “I was born in war.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: The book’s trigger warnings include: war, trauma, violence, self-harm, mild body horror, and sexual violence. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Tilde is the only surviving heir of a conquered land, and so it is her lot to be married to the conquering swan king, whose wife recently died. He’s basically disinherited his sons, and wants a new heir. However, his sons – and one surviving daughter – aren’t happy with this arrangement. Not to mention the swan priest, who has decided that he wants to help one of the princes with a coup. It’s up to Tilde to be smarter, and wilier, than all of that, and to stay as true as she can to her heritage in the process. It’s not an easy task.

That summary doesn’t do this book justice. I was in a bit of a slump, until I realized that Kaner had a new book out, and I devoured this one. It’s so well-written, complex with the politics, but keeping Tilde and the women at the center of it. It’s about colonialism and trauma and imperialism, and what it takes to make it in a world that is not yours. It’s brutal, but I couldn’t help but care for the characters.

And I’m pretty sure it’s at least a duology, because there is still more story to tell. And I’m here for it.

Rising Thunder

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by Neal Shusterman
First sentence: “The Mona Lisa was dead.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: December 1, 2026
Others in the series: Scythe, Thunderhead, The Toll
Content: There is talk of assisted suicide and of murder – including mass events. There is also some mild swearing. It will be in the YA section of the bookstore.

In this prequel to the Scythe series, we follow a diverse group of (mostly) young people in the world as it struggles to figure things out. There’s Aziz, who programs a couple of AIs that are given competing directives (not by Aziz). There’s Renz, who was an eco-nihilist until he destroyed the Mona Lisa. There’s Lizzie, who has taken it upon herself to release people who are put into stasis (there’s a place called Twi-Life where, when someone gets too close to death, they can choose to go there to “wait” for a cure) against their will. There are a lot more characters – almost too many – to relate here. The book takes place over several years, as the world comes closer to immortality, and this group of people – who don’t know that they are the ones in this online message board (for lack of a better term) talking about the problems of immortality – becomes more and more invested in what the future will hold.

Much like the Scythe series, in this one Shusterman tackles the ethics of immortality and curing all disease, as well as the ethics of creating AI. I know in those books, the Thunderhead is an all-knowing, wise creation, but in this one, the competing AI – Overcast and Securis – are not that. And I found it fascinating to see the process of how the Thunderhead became what it is in the books. In fact, this is one of those prequels that’s best if you read the original series first. It gives background and worldbuilding that deepens and expands the story, which is always a good thing. I’m pretty sure this is going to be at least a duology (if not a trilogy), because the story doesn’t end; it just stops, which is a little frustrating. That said, this is as good as any in the original series, and I’m happy to be back in this fascinating world.

Audiobook: Carmilla

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by Sheridan Le Fanu
Read by Katherine Press
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There’s not much, though there is talk of death by vampires. It’s in the Horror section of the bookstore.

In Austria in the late 1800s, Laura leads a solitary life with only her father for company. That is, until a stranger happens upon their isolated schloss and needs her daughter to stay with them to recover from her illness. This daughter, Carmilla, becomes Laura’s closest companion, her bosom friend (as Anne of Green Gables would put it). The problem is that deaths among the peasants from a mysterious disease start happening, and then Laura starts succumbing to it as well. The thing is: Carmilla is a vampire.

The tagline on the book is “the story that inspired Dracula”. I’m not sure if that’s the case, but it’s definitely a vampire story in the vein of Dracula. It’s all insinuation (it’s very sapphic – Carmilla doesn’t just want Laura for her blood, but also for herself) and conjecture. Its narration is in the form a recollection by Laura after the fact, so you know going in that she survives. It’s not gory or graphic. But it is compelling. I think that helps because of Press’s narration: she is very good at what she does. She gave the text an ominousness that helped with the vibe, and kept me interested in listening to it.

It’s also short, which is kind of what I want right now. Even though I don’t think I’m much of a vampire person (or werewolf, really), I did like this one.

Audiobook: Eric

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by Terry Pratchett
Read by Colin Morgan, Peter Serafinowicz & Bill Nighy
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: It’s in Discworld, and the fourth in the Unseen University series. But, like all of Discworld, you can read it out of order.
Content: It’s Sir Terry. There’s nothing objectionable. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Eric is your typical demon summoner, except that he’s 14 and not very good at it. He’s attempted to summon a demon to grant him three wishes, and all he got was Rincewind, who isn’t a very good wizard at the best of times. And, in attempting to grant Eric’s wishes, they unravel time and space back to the beginning. Before ending up in hell, of course.

There’s really not much to say about this, mostly because it’s Terry Pratchett. It’s funny, it’s sweet, the footnotes (read by Bill Nighy!) are hilarious, and it’s an utterly pleasant way to spend 4 hours on a road trip. Highly recommended, especially if you’re driving somewhere.