(Scroll down to Updates for my latest reviews posted on the Skiffy and Fanty blog!)
I joined the crew of the Skiffy and Fanty Show, a blog and podcast that reviews speculative fiction, in 2014, first as an occasional review, then as a review editor. I started appearing on podcasts in 2015. Eventually I stepped down as a reviewer and editor, but started doing occasional audio edits of podcasts.
The person running the blog ran out of spoons to schedule and edit reviews in March 2021. Since then, all that has appeared on the website has been podcasts, announcements, and occasional surveys.
This summer, Skiffy and Fanty has decided to gear back up again. Daniel Haeusser has stepped up to become the chief scheduler, including scheduling text book and media reviews. I've agreed to read reviews and post them on the blog/website.
Reviews began appearing on the blog again on August 7, with Daniel's review of Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé. Since then, we've published another review by Daniel and one by Paul "Prince Jvstin" Weimer. I am not fond of the WordPress platform from which we publish these reviews, but I am relearning how to make it work.
Today, my first review in years for the Skiffy and Fanty Show appears, about The Unbalancing by R.B. Lemberg. Here's how it starts:
I found R.B. Lemberg’s The Unbalancing to be curiously satisfying and soothing, despite my unfamiliarity with the setting and despite the rising tensions felt by the protagonists and their people. I felt drawn to the mythology of Lemberg’s Birdverse and was intrigued by the structure of the Gelle-Geu island society, but most of all, I enjoyed the well-developed characters, their contrasts, and where their interactions led — to a relationship, to magical discoveries, and to a struggle for survival amid upheavals.
Please check out my review here!
You can see some of my older Skiffy and Fanty reviews (but nothing before 2017, due to a site revamp) at https://skiffyandfanty.com/author/trishmatson/, but the "My Superpower" essays are guest posts that I put onto the site for other people.
"I really enjoyed Valerie Valdes’ Chilling Effect trilogy, so I’ve been eager to check out her new novel,Where Peace Is Lost, which debuts on Aug. 29. It was every bit as good as I had anticipated, but for somewhat different reasons: Although the Chilling Effect books are basically tasty popcorn in the form of space opera, Where Peace Is Lost feels a little more chewy and substantial. ..."
UPDATE: 9/14/2023
My review of Malka Older's delightful The Mimicking of Known Success appeared at https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/review-the-mimicking-of-known-successes-by-malka-older/ on Sept. 14.
"Malka Older’s The Mimicking of Known Successes is a lovely cozy mystery and sapphic romance in a tonally nearish-future SF setting. If, like me, you struggled a bit with author Malka Older’s Centenal Cycle trilogy (I admit I haven’t made it past the first book, Infomocracy), please consider giving this novella a try. It was one of my favorite things to read this year. ..."
UPDATE: 10/23/23
My review of C.L. Polk’s Even Though I Knew the End appeared at https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-even-though-i-knew-the-end-by-c-l-polk/ on Oct. 2.
I adored C.L. Polk’s Even Though I Knew the End, a sapphic noir novella set in an urban fantasy version of 1941 Chicago. It opens strongly, unwraps the mystery as a relationship drama unfolds, and includes some breathtaking prose along the way. I’m completely unsurprised that it won the Nebula Award and was nominated for numerous others.My review of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Silver Nitrate (2023) appeared at https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-silver-nitrate-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/ on Oct. 16.
Montserrat’s research pulls them in dangerous directions, but she’s clever and creative, and Tristán ends up acting beyond his own concerns for once, and the book ends in an exciting and satisfying way. Especially the bit at the very end, which I won’t spoil, but I loved it!
UPDATE: 10/30/23:
My review of Vampires of El Norte (2023) by Isabel Cañas went live at https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-vampires-of-el-norte/ on Oct. 26.
I enjoyed reading Vampires of El Norte. The young lovers’ misunderstandings feel natural, not artificially belabored, and the problems they’re dealing with, of trying to negotiate societal and familial expectations and demands to find some degrees of choice, are depicted with understanding, compassion, and warmth. The monsters are scary, the action scenes are exciting, the love story is sweet, and I found the conclusion very satisfying.
My double review of Fritz Leiber's novella Ill Met in Lankhmar (1970) and S.M. Stirling's and Shirley Meier's novel Saber & Shadow (1992) went live at https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-reviews-ill-met-and-well-met/ on Oct. 30.
Recently I reread Fritz Leiber’s novella, Ill Met in Lankhmar (1970), for a podcast. Immediately after finishing it, I dug out S.M. Stirling & Shirley Meier’s novel, Saber & Shadow (1992), from a box and reread that. I’d love to go on and reread the rest of the Fifth Millennium series right now, by Stirling, Meier, Karen Wehrstein, and combinations thereof, but I have too many other commitments. Sadly, I am not feeling a similar impulse to reread other Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories at this time.
UPDATE: 12/4/23:
I reviewed the first 3 issues (Nos. 0-2) of New Edge Sword and Sorcery Magazine. Issue 0 came out in 2022, and Issues 1-2 came out this fall. There were quite a lot of things I liked about NESS, from most of its stories and artwork, to many of its stories. My review was posted on Nov. 30 at https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/review-new-edge-sword-sorcery-nos-0-2/. The editor, Oliver Brackenbury, emailed me his thanks afterward and said he'd screenshotted parts of the review to send to several authors and artists.
Last year, I became aware of a debut magazine called New Edge Sword & Sorcery, which aimed to revive the “outsider protagonists, thrilling energy, wondrous weirdness, and a large body of classic tales” of this old subgenre of fantasy with a focus on inclusivity and diversity (of both characters and creators). As a longtime fan of sword and sorcery stories, I checked out Vol. 1, No. 0, Fall 2022, which was an unpaid labor of love for all concerned (free to all to download at https://newedgeswordandsorcery.com/). I mildly enjoyed it, but I had a lot going on then, so I didn’t back the Kickstarter to fund NESS Nos. 1 & 2 (Fall and Winter 2023). Now that those have been released, I decided it was time for a fresh look. ...
UPDATE: 12/7/23:
I reviewed A Death at the Dionysus Club, by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold, which was re-issued by Queen of Swords Press on Dec. 7. I enjoyed it as much as the first Mathey & Lynes gaslamp fantasy, Death by Silver, and was pleased with the expansion of the worldbuilding in this book, with a plot involving how "non-conforming metaphysics" reacts badly with modern practices.
I don’t want to spoil how the mysteries or the romantic issues get resolved, but the puzzles are intriguing, the perils are exciting, and it’s great how the lovers end up standing for and standing by each other.
UPDATE: 12/14/23:
I had reviewed Uncanny Times, the first Huntsmen book by Laura Anne Gilman, here on my own blog on Nov. 28. My review of the sequel, Uncanny Vows, was published at Skiffy and Fanty on Dec. 14.
I’m sure I’ll continue to like the Harkers’ relationship, and although Uncanny Vows ties up most of its plot elements in a satisfying way, there are plenty of intriguing hints left to be explored in future books.
UPDATE: 1/8/24:
I've reviewed two collections for Skiffy and Fanty in the last few weeks. My method for these is to take notes as I go, which slows down the reading but makes review-writing much easier, once I figure out how to organize my impressions.
My review of Rosalind’s Siblings, edited by Bogi Takács, was published Dec. 28, 2023. "It’s a very interesting anthology of speculative fiction and poems,
containing some fascinating ideas and characters and some really
beautiful language. Edited by Bogi Takács, it features both new and
established authors from around the world. Calling it Rosalind’s Siblings is a salute to scientist Rosalind Franklin, a chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was fundamental to understanding DNA, along with important contributions to knowledge of viruses and coal..."
My review of Resurrections, by Ada Hoffman, was published Jan. 8, 2024. This is a collection of short poetry and fiction by the author of The Outside trilogy. "It shows a wide range of subject matter, themes and topics; nearly all
of the pieces are interesting and engaging, and some of them are
breathtakingly gorgeous and moving."
UPDATE: 2/7/24:
My review of The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older was published Jan. 22, 2024. It's the second book in the Mossa and Pleiti series. "Happily, for anyone who longs to return to the gas-fire rooms and dumbwaiter-delivered scones, the academic bureaucracy, the ecological speculations, the journeys, and perhaps most of all, the intermittent, somewhat difficult but definitely rewarding relationship of the first book, this one should also be rewarding."
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher was also a sequel, and again I found it quite satisfying, although not as striking as the original. "I think a reader could conceivably start the series with this second novella, although that would mean missing some of its impact and a fair number of references. However, although this is labeled a horror series, I found this sequel significantly less horrific than What Moves the Dead; it’s more of a dark fantasy."
UPDATE: 2/25/24
My review of Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares was published Feb. 19, 2024. It's sort of a gender-flipped Zorro, where La Pantera (The Panther) is both a swordswoman and sorceress, whose parents were Spanish and Nahua, struggling for self-control and against oppression and her own cursed destiny. "(L)ike xocolatl, the original chocolate drink, this book is a rich, frothy brew, and the conclusion, although it has its bittersweet elements, goes down smoothly. "
UPDATE: 3/8/24
My double review of What Grows in the Dark, by Jaq Evans, and Terror at Tierra de Cobre, by Michael Merriam, was published March 7. "It’s interesting to watch those choices and consequences unfold, and What Grows in the Dark
offers the most of that; however, if at the end of the day you just
want to see some people simply stand up against evil and win, even with
heavy losses, you can consider giving Terror at Tierra de Cobre a try."
UPDATE: 3/21/24
My review of Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger was published March 14. "I happily devoured the nearly 400-page novel within one day, although I
had to stay up a few hours late to finish it. I just couldn’t put it
down. ... Shane had lost her home and most of her family in the aftermath of a hurricane, so when her mother goes missing herself while trying to find two missing children, it’s up to Shane to find out what happened..."
UPDATE: 4/16/24
My review of The Navigating Fox by Christopher Rowe by Christopher Rowe was posted on April 4. "...I really enjoyed this book. The style is fairly simple and direct, vivid and descriptive but not so much as to slow things down. Characters are distinctly drawn and interesting (although some definitely lack charm). Worldbuilding details are placed carefully throughout the book, not dropped in stumbling blocks of information. The pacing is somewhat complicated by flashback chapters, but the parallel structures of the current journey and the vanished expedition do make sense..."
My review of Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro was posted on April 8. "...I was pleased to sink my teeth into Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro, about an ancient Nahua (from what’s now Mexico) vampire roaming the modern world. Some elements of the book weren’t to my taste, but it was fairly interesting and entertaining..."
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