Once upon a time in the late 20th century, Keyes and Howard met on a Final Fantasy message forum. Today, they’ve been married for almost eight years. They have a massive collection of Final Fantasy games and games that should be Final Fantasy games (Bravely Default, Bravely Second) and still get nostalgic for things like Fat Chocobos […]

This year, I resolved to see twelve new-to-me spec fic movies in a no-doubt vain attempt at catching up with popular culture. One movie per month, the results of watching said movie discussed at the beginning of the next month. So I made myself some rules: It must be spec-fic. For review here on Spec-Chic […]

What if I told you that the savviest science fiction story on bookshelves right now features a stolen warship, a Martian cowboy, a lady marine who’s nearly seven feet tall, an endearing sociopath and a farm boy who has come close to accidentally instigating interstellar war at least twice? What if I told you that […]

So by now, chances are good that you have heard about American Gods on Starz. You’ve either watched or haven’t watched. If you haven’t watched, you’re either planning to, have no interest in it, or are on the fence. I’ve watched and enjoyed all that the first season had to offer. If you check through […]

One of the interesting things about Orphan Black is how, depending on the episode you catch, it can sometimes feel like this weird suburban murder-mystery comedy. That’s what you get when there’s an Alison Hendrix episode, and througout the series, it’s been cited as a criticism, however slight. At worst, Alison’s episodes have been a […]

Welcome back to Orphan Black‘s Final Trip. After the Hendrix-centric episode in “Beneath Her Heart,” we got to find out what the rest of the clones have been up to in “Let the Children and Childbearers Toil.” Unlike the previous two episodes, at first glance there didn’t appear to be any major moments. Yet as […]

In 2013, Rainbow Rowell published Fangirl, a young adult novel with an interesting speculative twist.  The novel itself wasn’t speculative. It revolves around a set of twin sisters who grew up absolutely enthralled with Rowell’s answer to Harry Potter, Simon Snow.  The main focus of the novel is one twin, Cath. Cath isn’t ready to […]

This Census-Taker (2016) Written by: China Miéville Genre: Speculative Fiction Pages: 206 (Hardback) Publisher: Del Rey Why I Chose It: Although I have heard of China Miéville’s most famous work, Perdido Street Station, I have never read any of his books before. I have been trying to expand my horizons and read more novellas, so when […]

Welcome back to Sound Off!, a semi-regular column where members of Speculative Chic gather together to chat about the latest BIG THING in entertainment. This time, gather your minions close and discuss Despicable Me 3, which premiered in the United States on Friday, June 30, 2017. Sound Off! is meant to be a reaction, but not necessarily a […]

The Girl with Ghost Eyes (2015) Written by: M. H. Boroson Genre: Historical Fantasy Pages: 306 (Mass Market Paperback) Publisher: Talos Press Why I Chose It: I met M.H. Boroson at the Pikes Peak Writers conference this year and took his workshop on writing better fight scenes. He was fun to listen to and seemed […]

They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, a weekly column where we gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we’re still all about Wonder Woman, and her awesome soundtrack, and we continue to be […]

Brimstone (2017) Written by: Cherie Priest Genre: Dark Historical Fantasy Pages: 331 (Kindle) Publisher: Ace Why I Chose It: Given that I read at a snail’s pace of late, I have to get choosy about who I read. Cherie Priest has been one of my favorite authors since I discovered her debut, Four and Twenty […]

This year the Hugos are including a new experimental category for Best Series in order to recognize the awesomeness that can’t be contained in one or even two books. I’m thrilled that one of my absolute favorites is on the ballot. The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold is aptly named, with over fifteen novels […]

Bookburners (2017) Written by: Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Mur Lafferty, and Brian Francis Slattery Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 787 (Hardcover) Publisher: Saga Press/Serial Box Why I Chose It: I’ve previously enjoyed works by a couple of the authors involved in Bookburners. That, and I find the concept behind Serial Box to be really interesting (more on […]