"Whenever I get asked how I develop some part of my books - a magic system, a fantastical species, some invented history - the answer is always that I never do it in advance. Every story and every novel starts for me with a first line that makes me want to know more myself ... … Continue reading Buried Deep and Other Stories – Naomi Novik
"If I stood there long enough, I was sure I'd see one of the Old Ones dancing in the distance." Najeeba is a young teen in a small African village. Her father and brothers are part of the annual pilgrimage to the salt flats, hoping to find the purest samples to take to market. The … Continue reading She Who Knows – Nnedi Okorafor
Following the events of Deadpool 2 (2018), it seems that Wade Wilson's (Ryan Reynolds) life hasn't turned out for the better despite his meddling in time (notably in the hilarious post-credits scene). However, it did attract the attention of the TVA - the Time Variance Authority, as introduced in the Loki tv series, and for some … Continue reading Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
"Jason! My little boy! Is this really you?" It's been half a century or so since Nathalie Hart, stricken with grief and guilt over the death of her family, embarked on a mission to the distant colony of Bethesda. Discovering a dark truth, she sent messages back to Earth with no way of knowing if … Continue reading Inversions – MV Melcer
"The Feidi is still burning as my cab winds its way towards the elevator terminal, the enclave's empty streets littered with shells of riot gas and abandoned picket signs." Nathalie Hart is a Canadian space pilot about to embark on a 70-year rescue mission. Mankind's first successful interstellar colonisation project has stopped communicating, and someone … Continue reading Refractions – MV Melcer
Very - very! - loosely based on real events, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare tells of the creation of the Special Operations Executive, a 'black ops' group of expendables sent to carry out a crazy mission to hep the Allies win the Second World War. Crazy is perhaps the right word: to qualify for the … Continue reading The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)
"Hello. This is your storyteller. You may already be wondering why I'm intruding onto the story like this, which is a fair question." Fifteen years ago, teenagers Jeremy and Rafe went missing in a West Virginian forest for six months. They never provided an explanation, and no longer speak to each other. Jeremy, however, makes … Continue reading The Lost Story – Meg Shaffer
"On this day of days there was an unfamiliar stirring deep inside the dozing heart of the Hayholt, in the castle's bewildering warren of quiet passages and overgrown, ivy-choked courtyards, in the monk's holes and damp, shadowed chambers." Welcome to Osten Ard, a now-peaceful land united under the rule of Prester John, the High King. … Continue reading The Dragonbone Chair – Tad Williams
"There was a body in the chapel of Saint Bride's." "Forget what you think you know - this is not that crime novel", states the publicity for Chris Brookmyre's new mystery novel. And it's really not, although I was mightily confused from the get go as to what exactly I was getting myself into. We … Continue reading The Cracked Mirror – Chris Brookmyre
Back in the 1980s, the world of Hollywood movies was shifting. For the first time, films seemed to be aimed directly at teenagers, and a new, younger generation of actors was getting famous for starring in them. Movies such as The Breakfast Club and St Elmo's Fire gave us Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Ally … Continue reading Brats (2024)
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