Books (137)
Tales of the Lost: Volume 1 – We all Lose Something! is a themed-anthology from Things in the Well publishing which has established itself as a publisher of such focused short story collections. As the name implies, the theme from Tales of the Lost is the concept of lost things, interpreted by the anthology’s sixteen contributors in a variety of ways. This also means that the majority of stories in Tales of the Lost will lean toward the tragic and solemn side. As with watching Requiem for a Dream or Grave of the Fireflies, the craftsmanship and narratives of the stories within are well executed, but the subject matter can be quite difficult to negotiate emotionally. Sometimes, characters in the stories are seemingly punished for having lost something in their lives, even when circumstances are outside their control.
Wardens of Eternity is a new Young Adult novel by Courtney Moulton that released this week from HarperCollins. Moulton is an author of fantasy novels beginning with Angelfire in 2011 and followed up with three sequels.
Over the past four decades, there have been hundreds of non-fiction books written about all aspects of Star Wars: making-of stories, behind-the-scenes accounts, scholarly analyses, picture books, encyclopedias, biographies, and so on. While this gives the impression that everything that could possibly be said about Star Wars has been said, there’s always a new text that shines a new light or perspective on the beloved franchise.
Stan Lee worked in the comic book industry since the late 1930s and was integral to the evolution of Marvel Comics and the “Marvel Style.” For seventy years, he was a writer and editor who co-created the Mighty Marvel Universe, including fan favorites Spider-Man, The Avengers, and the Incredible Hulk. Lee worked with many rising stars and established creators over the decades, endowing him with invaluable knowledge about the industry. As a veteran and legend, Lee shared his experience in a series of books that includes Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics, Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics, and Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes. And, last month, the fourth book of the series, Stan Lee’s Master Class, was released by Watson-Guptill (Penguin Random House).
The following is an interview with Jon Sprunk regarding the release of his new fantasy novel, Sun and Serpent. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Sprunk about the inspiration behind the novel (which serves as part four within The Book of the Black Earth series), his creative process in bringing the story to life, what readers can anticipate from this latest installment in the series, and more!
What if the descendants of pregnant African slave women, thrown overboard for being too burdensome to their kidnappers, become merpeople and developed a new culture and community under the sea? That’s the premise behind Rivers Solomon’s novella, The Deep.
What does one do when an entire country comes calling? Penny White faces her strangest challenge yet, when representatives of Les Etats Units (Daer’s equivalent of the United States) arrive on her doorstep with a unique request: They need Penny to negotiate with bees from Earth and convince the buzzing insects to return to their native world. The disillusioned vicar steps up to the challenge even when an opportunistic praying mantis with a penchant for Southern sayings becomes part of her entourage. Can Penny successfully solve political issues between nectar-loving species? Will negotiating with distinctly non-human inhabitants of Daer be the last straw?
Weird Tales is a legendary magazine whose roots go back to the 1920s and served as the proving grounds of many influential horror and weird authors such as H. P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith, and Frank Belknap Long. The periodical has exchanged hands and creative editors over the last 100 years, with many long spells of inactivity peppered throughout. The newest issue of Weird Tales, number 363, is the first issue in five years and sees prolific speculative fiction author Jonathan Maberry at the editorial director’s helm.
In July, I received the opportunity to review the first two books in the Young Adventurer's Guide series. I've waited ever since for the chance to pick up the remaining books in the series and, as luck would have it, Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeons & Tombs recently crossed my desk.
The People’s Republic of Everything is the most recent short story collection from auteur author Nick Mamatas. Containing fourteen short stories and one novella, People’s Republic strays away from clear-cut genre definitions (unlike Mamatas’ prior collection, The Nickronomicon, which focused on Lovecraftian and cosmic horror) and instead veers into general speculative fiction. While the stories within People’s Republic may not be uniform in tone, setting, or style, they are all unified in conveying Mamatas’ left-aligned politics. While overtly political, People’s Republic is never preachy; its politics are seamlessly integrated into the stories, which range from the comedic to the tragic, from steampunk to folkish.
