Beam aboard your own Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror classroom with the next volume of the BSFA-shortlisted writing-guide series!
Join Tiffani Angus (Ph.D.) and Val Nolan (Ph.D.) for a whirlwind introduction to the storytelling basics of 30 more subgenres and major tropes from across the limitless realms of Speculative Fiction.
Learn about Space Opera, Folk Horror, Climate Fiction, Werewolves, Astronauts, Mythic Fantasy, Goblin Markets, Dragons, and many more with deep dives into each subgenre’s history and development, spotter’s guides to typical examples, pitfalls to watch out for in your own writing, and activities to help you get started! All derived from a combined two decades of university-level practices and experience!
Spec Fic for Newbies breaks genres into bite-sized pieces for students or for any budding writer. It offers a welcoming introduction to how writers, filmmakers, and other creatives can begin to explore the infinite potential of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror to create new stories beyond the boundaries of the ordinary.
This is not another dusty rulebook. This is a portal to endless other worlds!
In the city of Amoria, where magic rules all, Naila is the ultimate conundrum. A student under the watchful eye of Amoria’s sprawling Academy, Naila is undeniably gifted, yet she has never been able to harness her abilities. And time is running out. If she fails, she’ll be forced into exile, or worse – consumed by her own magic.
For decades mages and the magicless Hollows have lived side-by-side peacefully. But now that peace is threatened as old resentments bubble over. A powerful anti-Hollow faction led by Amoria’s most influential mages is determined to cast the Hollows out. With her Hollow background, Nalia is in danger of being exiled from everything she knows and everyone she loves if she cannot unlock her power.
When a tragic incident threatens her place at the Academy, Naila is saved by Haelius Akana, the most powerful living mage. A scholar and fellow outcast, Haelius is fascinated by Naila’s inability to use magic. Eager to help someone in whom he sees so much of himself, he stakes his position at the Academy on teaching her. Trapped in the deadly schemes of Amoria’s elite, Naila must dig deep to discover the truth of her powers – or watch the city she loves descend into civil war.
Annabel writes fantasy with fierce female characters and disaster wizards, and believes everything is improved by dragons.
She lives in a tiny village in Scotland, where most of her neighbours are sheep. She has a PhD in cardiovascular science, and when not making things up for a living, she works as a Medical Writer.
Her other joys are red wine, playing games, or showing you too many pictures of her dog.
I know this post is a few weeks late, but I’ve been ill, and in pain. I’ve decided to make this one publicly available rather than behind a pay wall. The story is over 19000 words long now, and there’s some difference between the story I’ve written in my notebook and the one you’ll read here.
Chapter 12 – Lah-Shah – In the asteroid belt
Lah-Shah looked over the scan data. The asteroid was quite large, dense and peanut shaped. There was plenty of metal in it, and the shape suggested that two asteroids had got a bit too close to each other and collided at some point. It surprised Lah-Shah that the humans on Aurox hadn’t sent auto-miners out here; despite the distance from the planet, it would be worth the effort.
A large object showed up on the scans; it lay buried beneath the surface, in the waist of the asteroid, hidden by scattered debris and surface shadows. It had a familiar outline on the scans. Lah-Shah ran the images through the control system and found a match: an IGASS science division mission ship.
Category: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy ISBN: 9781399734783 Publication date: October 17, 2024 Format: Hardback RRP: £20.00 Publisher: Hodderscape
Book Description
When the Gendarmes ask the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena for help, they don’t expect them to send Samantha Harker.
She’s a researcher, more used to papercuts than knife fights. Sam is also the daughter of Dracula’s killer and can see into the minds of monsters. It’s a perilous power, one that could help her crack this case ─ or have her thrown into an asylum.
Dr Helena Moriarty is Sam’s reluctant partner, the Society’s finest agent who has forged a formidable path in her notorious father’s shadow. Professor Moriarty is in hiding, but he still makes his presence known: Hel’s partners have a way of dying in mysterious circumstances.
From Paris’ glittering opera house to its darkest catacombs, the investigation pits Sam and Hel against magic, monsters, and men. And beneath their tenuous partnership, something else is growing . . .
But is trusting Hel the key to solving the murders? Or is Sam just another pawn in a Moriarty game?
With characters drawn from the worlds of Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, Strange Beasts is a twisty puzzle box of a historical fantasy ─ perfect for fans of Genevieve Cogman, Theodora Goss, Freya Marske, T. Kingfisher, and Gail Carriger.
About the author
Susan J. Morris is a fantasy author and editor, best known for a writing advice column featured on Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog and her work editing Forgotten Realms novels. Susan delights in running workshops for Clarion West and in moderating panels for writing symposiums. When not writing or reading, Susan indulges in playing video games, training in Pilates, and experimenting with new plant-based food recipes. She lives in Sammamish, Washington with her partner, two cats, and entirely too many plants.
Susan had that pink hair at FantasyCon in October. It’s very distinctive and eye-catching…and distracting.
I read this book for the British Fantasy Society book club meeting on Sunday afternoon. I got an Audible code from the book club organiser because my Goldsboro Books special edition of Strange Beasts hasn’t arrived yet. It was the October SFF Fellowship book, but I had to cancel my subscription because funds are a bit tight. I ordered it impulsively after chatting to Susan a few times at FantasyCon.
Conversations in the courtyard are responsible for a number of books I’ve bought in the last month…
Anyway, I also ordered a copy of the standard hardback from bookshop.org when I found out it would be the first BFS Book Club book and before Dave sent me an Audible code. So, once again, I have multiple copies of a book.
Totally worth it!
The main characters of Sam Harker and Dr Helena Moriarty are well-rounded, complex characters, each working through their own problems and dealing with their own secrets. They’re officially investigating the Beast attacks, but they both have their own secret missions and they’re being manipulated by multiple parties. They struggle to trust, because they’ve been taught by other people that they can’t trust anyone and can’t trust themselves. Their growth as people and the tentative nature of their relationship from start to finish is realistic.
Sam is the view point character, so we read her thoughts and see events from her perspective, and see her fears and confusion as she deals with the things the mission throws at her.
They’re also really fun characters.
Jacob Van Helsing is not a fun character. He’s an absolute dickhead. Sam’s memories of him as a loving child contrast with the adult man poisoned by his father – the Van Helsing who helped kill Dracul – into hating and fearing her as a Channel. His comeuppance is well-deserved, although I don’t like that he got credit for Sam and Hel’s work. I suspect even if he hadn’t chosen to take credit, Mr Wright would have given him the credit, because the Society, and society in general, is incredibly misogynistic.
I did not work out who the killer was until quite late on; there are a lot of red herrings. Even the identity of the alchemist was a red herring really, when you think about it, another piece on the chess board, but not the player moving the pieces around.
I felt the mix of science and magic was really well done – a delicate balance of folklore and early 20th century science was found and use consistently. The details of Paris in 1903 feel realistic, although I’ve only been to Paris once and didn’t get to go into the catacombs, but I can imagine them being full of mythical beasts and human criminals. The descriptions were very vivid and events tightly plotted. There are characters I’d like to know more about but they don’t come back into the narrative, and other characters that the reader learns about slowly. Each character has their own backstory and personal history.
Also, chemistry is magic, and fun to play with. So long as you don’t accidentally gas people or blow things up.
The plot starts with a bang and doesn’t stop. Well, actually it starts with a threat, then a few bangs, and then a monster attack in a carriage…you get the picture. You’re just taking a breath when the next thing happens. It’s fun, but I had to take a day between reading/listening to a few chapters at a time.
I have listened to the first 14 chapters as audio and read from chapter 15 to the end. The audiobook was really well read, with multiple accents! I would not have been able to pronounce most of the French and German names without hearing them first. It’s been a lot of years since I sturdied French and I wasn’t very good at it even then, and my German is non-existent. I could not understand the French phrases. I’m just going to assume they’re all in good French, make sense, and not question it.
If you enjoyed Gail Carriger’s books, I highly recommend this historical fantasy of Bell Époque Paris. It’s darker and the focus is on the developing friendship/potential romantic relationship rather than a ‘destined partners’ type narrative. I love it.
One-Time
Monthly
Yearly
Make a one-time donation – If you want. No pressure.
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
£5.00
£15.00
£100.00
£5.00
£15.00
£100.00
£5.00
£15.00
£100.00
Or enter a custom amount
£
Your contribution is appreciated. I put a lot of effort into reading and reviewing books for readers.
Format: 280 pages, Paperback Published: February 18, 2023 by Aethervale Publishing ISBN: 9798987850206
Description
When life gives you lemons, squeeze them into a stiff drink and stir.
After twenty years defending the frozen north against some of the most dangerous threats in the nine kingdoms, Rhoren “Bloodbane” has finally earned his retirement. While the blood mage’s service to the realm may have ended, burning veins and aching joints remain, and Rhoren soon learns that a warmer climate offers relief from his chronic pain.
And a chance at a fresh start.
In the warm and relaxing atmosphere of Eastborne, the umbral elf finds a new purpose and a sense of belonging. He may have left the frozen north behind, but he brings with him the skills and strength gained from a lifetime of defending the realm. Along with his most prized possession—a book of drink recipes inherited from his father.
Spilled cocktails may not carry the same weight as spilled blood, but opening a tavern brings a unique brand of challenges. With the right friends and a little bit of luck, he might just have a recipe for success.
It’s about half six on Sunday afternoon. The last panel ended almost three hours ago. I’ve had a nap and finally have some time to write about my experience of FantasyCon 2024.
Locus Recommended Reading List 2023 BSFA for Best Non-Fiction, Shortlist 2024 BFS for Best Non-Fiction, Shortlist 2024
Spec Fic For Newbies: A Beginner's Guide to Writing Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. Tiffani Angus (Ph.D.) and Val Nolan (Ph.D.) met at the 2009 Clarion Writers’ Workshop in California and since then have collaborated many times as fans and scholars on panels for SFF conventions and writing retreats.Working together on this book and combining their experience as SFF writers and as university lecturers in Creative Writing and Literature made perfect sense!
Every year they see new students who want to write SFF/Horror but have never tried the genres, have tried but found themselves floundering, or, worse, have been discouraged by those who tell them Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror are somehow not “real” literature.
This book is for all those future Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror writers. Tiffani and Val are approaching these three exciting fields by breaking them down into bite-sized subgenres with a fun, open, and contemporary approach.Each chapter contains 10 subgenres or tropes, with a quick and nerdy history of each derived from classroom teaching practices, along with a list of potential pitfalls, a description of why it’s fun to write in these subgenres, as well as activities for new writers to try out and to get them started!
My Review
I bought this book at FantasyCon 2023. I’ve got quite a collection of Academia Lunare books now, mostly genre stuff and Tolkien books. Look at the Luna Press Publishing website, under non-fiction and academic, to get a sense of the books I mean. Most of the are small, A6 size, usually with monographs on a uniting subject matter.
This book is different.
Yes, that’s me. I got the laptop camera to work properly. Yes, that’s the Pen & Sword TBR pile behind me.
It’s a guide to the sub-genres of SFFH, with two writing exercises for each sub-genre. I’m not exactly a ‘newbie’, but I don’t know all of the sub-genres, and it was interesting to read about the ones they included.
I enjoyed to quick tour and chatty writing style of this book, especially the genre and sub-genre histories. This book is informed by years of teaching by both authors, and it shows. They’ve clearly come across the same mistakes time and time again, but the enjoyment of both spec fic and teaching also really shines through. I could easily devour a volume on each sub-genre by these authors, but I’m weird like that. I like depth and breadth. I don’t think that’s a criticism of this book, but if you’re expecting in-depth discussions of the nuances of each sub-genre you’re not going to get that. The book provides broad overviews of each sub-genre with reference to specific tropes or movements within the sub-genre.
I enjoyed the tour of 30 sub-genres and the writing left me want more on some subject and no more about others (splatterpunk for example, is really not my thing). There’s enough to get you started on any sub-genre, and that’s what this book is for.
If you’re looking for something to read in a specific sub-genre, I think you could flip to the section in this book and find a place to start in a new sub-genre, because the authors provide lots of examples of works – both film and literary – that sit in a sub-genre.
There are also lots of references if you want to follow up on a particular statement or idea. I like references. More references and access to a database of papers, please. Because I don’t have enough to read…
I found the writing exercises prompted me to come up with new ideas and think it’ll be useful when I’m struggling to put an idea down on paper. I’ve got an idea about zombies and cruise ships, but it’s not going anywhere yet… Anyway, the activities make up a small section of each sub-genre entry, but the information packed in before them informs the activities. I think for a writer at any stage of their career, the activities will prompt the brain to try something new. If you’re a new writer they’ll give you a place to start, and for experienced writers they’re a reminder and refresher when your brain is fried. The writing advice found throughout the text is useful and explained well.
While I read this book from start to finish, I think it could be a good ‘dipping’ book, for those having a go at a new genre or sub-genre. There’s always something new to try – nobody could have written in all thirty of the sub-genres in this book – so dipping in and out as the mood takes you can give the writer practice in a variety of stories.
I have already recommended this book to a very new writer (my nibbling is doing creative writing as part of their OU Open Degree – I’m so proud!) and will be buying volume 2 at FantasyCon in three weeks – Francesca, make sure there’s a copy put aside for me, please!
I mentioned on my book Instagram that I was reading this book and Dr Angus kindly told me to contact her if I need any PhD advice, which I thought was lovely.
Tiffani Angus signed the book. It was signed when I bought it, so Tiffani must have been at FantasyCon last year.
Bit of back story. A group of authors in Northern England and Scotland got sick of all the literary events being in London and decided to organise their own it Leeds. They arranged it with Waterstones and called the event ‘It’s Strange Up North’. 18 authors agreed to attend and the notifications went out.
I happen to be on the British Fantasy Society discord and heard about it, since one of the organisers was in the Yorkshire & Humber channel on the BFS Discord. I bought my ticket ASAP and waited. I had planned to go to Leeds for the entire weekend, but hotels are ridiculously expensive. It is my birthday weekend, or at least it’s the weekend closest to my birthday, so theoretically I could have had a whole weekend away but the cat didn’t agree.
Yesterday, I travelled to Leeds by train, went to Hold Fast Books after a ride on the water taxi, then meandered around the Armouries shop, and bought a dragon, got another water taxi back to the Granary Dock and made my way through the station and up Albion Street, stopping in for a pizza and pavlova at The New Conservatory in Albion Place, before heading just a bit further up Albion Street, to Waterstones.
It was packed! They sold out the event! It was catered. Or more precisely, the organisers had gone out and bought party food and told everyone to eat up because they didn’t want it to go to waste. I struggled, honestly. I wasn’t too fussed by the food, and there were too many people corralled into too small an area until the shop shut at 6.30pm. Once it shut, we spread out and took over all three floors.
I met Laura Lam, author of Dragonfall, Goldilocks, and several other books. I bought the paperback of Dragonfall and Laura signed it for me. We had a chat about random things, like epidermoid cysts, and the publishing industry.
I met Sunyi Dean, and her dog. She signed a paperback copy of The Bookeaters for me.
I met Stephan Aryan and got an early copy of The Blood Dimmed Tide. He signed it for me. Stephan Aryan is very tall. I got the first book in this duology, The Judas Blossom, last year at FantasyCon, and he signed that one there. I’m actually going to read both of them at some point.
I bought a copy of The Bone Ships, by R.J. Barker. He was supposed to be there but couldn’t, so sent signed book plates.
I met Charlotte Bond and got a copy of her debut novella, The Fireborne Blade. She was handing out sweets and bookmarks, so I’m not complaining. I read the book on my way home last night and a review will follow shortly.
I met Sarah Brooks, who signed a copy of The Cautions Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands, her debut. It isn’t supposed to be out yet.
I picked up a copy of Ascension from Nicholas Binge. I think it’s the only sci-fi I bought.
And finally, Snowblooded, by Emma Sterner-Radley, a fantasy set in 19th century Sweden.
I have book marks for some of them, and in the goody bag I received an ARC of We Are All Ghosts In The Forest, by Lorraine Wilson and a pin badge for Snowblooded.
There are pictures on my Instagram.
P.S. Did you know the Royal Armouries shop has dragons!?
I bought a Suki brand dragon called Thunder. He is cute and has joined the dragons of my dragon shelf.
Genre – fantasy > mythology > magical realism ● ISBN paperback – 978-1-78758-908-7 ● ISBN ebook – 978-1-78758-910-0 ● Pricing [USD] $16.95 (PB) / $4.99 (EB) ● Pricing [GBP] £12.95 (PB) / £4.95 (EB) ● Releases 14 May 2024 ● Published by Flame Tree Press ● Distributed by Hachette UK
SYNOPSIS
A world where petals are currency and flowers are magic.
A man battling a curse of eternal old age. A girl who can be his boon. But it’s not all tulips and roses. There are also nettles and thorns. Where Delights persist, Sorrow must follow.
In the city of Sirvassa, where petals are currency and flowers are magic, the Caretaker tends to the Garden of Delights. He imparts temporary magical abilities to the citizens of Sirvassa, while battling a curse of eternal old age.
No Delight could uplift his curse, and so he must seek out a mythical figure. A god.
When a Delight allows a young girl the ability to change reality, the Caretaker believes he’s at the end of his search. But soon a magical rot takes root in his Garden, and the Caretaker must join forces with the girl and stop it from spreading.
My Review
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book and to Anne Cater for organising this blog tour.
The blurb doesn’t do this book justice. Also, the Caretaker doesn’t realise what Iyena could do, and who she was, until after she cures the rot and dies.
Okay, that’s a bit of a spoiler. Iyena dies and is reborn, and it’s magnificent!
We start with an epic battle between a Florral and a Champion, the semi-divine magicians of the Inishtis and Abhadis, two tribes of humans who have been fighting forever. The Inishtis use floral technology; the Abhadis use metal technology. In the centuries that follow the epic battle, two cities rise: Sirvassa, home to floral technology, a stronghold of the Inishtis, a city of flowers and petal rains, and the Garden of Delights, overseen by the Caretaker, one of the few remaining Florrals; and Alderra, industrial capital of the Three Realms, the Abhadis stronghold, a place of flying machines and railways, a place where the Champions still have a home, a city they protect.
The Caretaker, protector of the Garden of Delights, and Sirvassa in general. He gives Delights made from the flowers in his Garden to the people of Sirvassa, giving them a temporary taste of the magic Florrals used at will. He is worried about developments in the city, something is going on, especially after Ministry officers from Alderra arrive and the Mayor of Sirvassa becomes weak. The Caretaker is dealing with his own problems. His experiments in curing the curse have made things worse.
Meanwhile, a girl, 15, arrives in Sirvassa, with her father. Iyena is the daughter of an Abhadi father and and Inishti mother, and born in Alderra. Separated, Iyena has no idea where her mother is or why she left her with her father, but immediately feels at home in Sirvassa, her mother’s home city. Her father is a stern, distant man, who works for the Ministry of Miscellany in Alderra, has brought them to stay with Maani-Ba, her mother’s sister, ostensibly to see about trading agreements between Sivassa and Alderra.
Iyena goes to school, and is enchanted by everything, from learning from books rather than oral learning, to the beasts that pull the carriages, to the fluttering ribbons that cross the city above the roofs, to a boy named Trehan. Making friends and learning about this new society, her maternal inheritance, brings her joy. She learns about the Garden of Delights after Trehan shows off his current Delight. With some forgery, she gets permission to visit the Garden and receives a Delight.
After that it all gets a bit political; there are explosions, sudden changes to the school curriculum and teaching, a fancy dinner at the mayor’s bungalow, fights between the Caretaker and Champions, death and rebirth, freedom and battles to maintain the cultural diversity of the Three Realms.
I was enchanted by this novel. I was about two thirds through it when I got a sense of terrible dread, that Sirvassa would be destroyed by the Minister’s plots; I had to put the book down because I couldn’t face the thought. After a couple of days I went back to the book, because I had to know what happened next. I think I struggled because the sneaky colonialism of Sirvassa by the Alderrans reminded me too much of events in the real world. The wholesale changing of school curricula, the re-writing of history, trying to co-opt Sirvassan cultural traditions, and the ‘if we can’t have it, destroy it’ attitude, remind me of historical colonialism and current colonial states. We’re bearing witness to several such colonial events right now, with all the attendant propaganda, murder and re-writing of history. Anyone with empathy would feel dread at reading it in fiction, when we’re already bearing witness in the real world.
The novel has a much happier ending than the consequences of historical colonialism and the realistic consequences of current colonial efforts. Any Florrals around who can save the world?
The writing is quite lyrical, and compelling reading. The descriptions are beautiful and colourful.
The relationship between the Caretaker and Trulio is paternal, and the way it ends is devastating. The confusing relationship Iyena has with her parents, her distant but present father, and absent but close in memory mother, especially after she meets her aunts, prompt many of Iyena’s actions. She’s pushed from one to the other, by the actions of her father and his friends. I particularly found the relationship between Iyena and Maani-Ba touching. There’s a lot of love and care between them, and secrets. Maani-Ba stands by Iyena when she goes through her change of state, and is instrumental in the rebellion after Iyena becomes afraid of her own abilities. The character development of the main characters is gentle but present.
The touches of Indian culture and inspired mythology, the contrast between the industrial Alderra and the floral Sivassa, the hints of a greater world beyond, really bring the world building to life.
Highly recommended.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amal Singh is a writer of science fiction and fantasy from Mumbai, India. He has numerous short story publications to his credit, in venues such as Clarkesworld, F&SF, Apex, Fantasy, among others. His story What is Mercy?, published in Fantasy Magazine, was longlisted for the BSFA Award in 2021. While he has held jobs of IT Analyst, Database Administration, and SOP consultancy in the past, he is now fortunate enough to do something that involves full-time writing. By day, he juggles screenwriting, audio-writing, and Creative Production, working on web-shows and movies. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and running. amalsingh.substack.com / X: @Jerun_ont
FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing independent Flame Tree Publishing dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. Learn more about Flame Tree Press at http://www.flametreepress.com and connect on social media @FlameTreePress
Format: 400 pages, Hardcover Expected publication: May 28, 2024 by Angry Robot Books ISBN: 9781915202680 (ISBN10: 191520268X) Language: English
Description
The Devil knows your name, David Aristarkhov.
As a teen, David Aristarkhov was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his oppressive occultist father. Now, years after his father’s death and rapidly approaching his thirtieth birthday, he is content with the high-powered life he’s curated as a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a powerful medium for his secret society.
But with power comes a price, and the Devil has come to collect on an ancestral deal. David’s days are numbered, and death looms at his door.
Reluctantly, he reaches out to the only person he’s ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend and secret Society rival Rhys, for help. However, the only way to get to Rhys is through his wife, Moira. Thrust into each other’s care, emotions once buried deep resurface, and the trio race to figure out their feelings for one another before the Devil steals David away for good…
The first book in a spellbinding and vibrant new series from The Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dowry of Blood.
My Review
I have a limited edition proof copy of this book, sent by the publisher in December last year. I started reading it in January, but then life and blog tours got in the way, so I managed one chapter before I had to put it down. Last night, I read it all. In about five hours. I think the cover of my edition is way cooler that the standard edition. And I got a mini chocolate bar with my book.
From reading the first chapter I didn’t know if I’d enjoy the book. David is not a likeable character at the start. However, as the story progresses and the reader meets Rhys and Moira, and then other people in their circle, we learn something of them all. David, particularly, makes major character changes over the course of the novel as he becomes sick and is forced to confront his dead father, and a demon. Rhys and Moira are both antagonistic to him at the start, which we learn is due to David misdiagnosing the cause of a haunting in their house and blaming Moira. This is apparently the plot of the novella that precedes this novel. I haven’t read the novella, but picked up some of the story from mentions in this novel.
Rhys has ambitions of becoming important, while Moira suppresses her ambitions under the rules her mother taught her, and David has the insouciance and confidence of old money. They clash, because they all need therapy. David is driven by the fear of failure, of perfectionism, beaten into him by his abusive father. He’s a sober alcoholic, who copes with his stress by obsessively working both as a medium and a lawyer, while maintaining a punishing food and exercise regimen (he’s clearly struggling with orthorexia). Rhys has a load of Catholic guilt about being bisexual, about being an occultist, about having ambition. Moira needs to learn to put herself first sometimes, and to accept her own power.
Moira is the first one to realise, with the help of her friend Kitty, also a powerful magic worker, and wife of one of David and Rhys’ friends at the Society, that there is more than one way to do relationships. Moira at times acts as the hinge that keeps the two men from killing each other, holding them together when they’re falling apart, fighting demons or dying. As the story develops, and they all confront their feelings and trauma, they realise they can form a family that works for them.
It feels a bit like Moira is the one who is doing a lot of the work, of parenting two men in their late twenties who clearly didn’t get the parenting they needed as children. It’s unfortunate that this dynamic is one often found in heterosexual relationships (a woman becoming wife and surrogate mother to a man), and I found criticism of S.T. Gibson in other reviews of this book for that dynamic, but it’s what relationships are often like, and in a book that has demons and magic, the reality is grounding. I enjoyed the character growth they all go through and the resolution is satisfying.
S.T. Gibson is a really talented writer who knows enough about a variety of occult, magic and religious traditions to write convincingly about the many traditions that make an appearance in this book. It was fun playing ‘spot the tradition or folklore reference’ as I read the book. I want more of these books, more adventures for David, Rhys and Moira. And Leda, David’s half sister – who is utterly cool. I reckon if Kitty, Moira and Leda decided to, they could take over the Society, although Lorena would still be more powerful.
Recommended for fans of urban fantasy. Not much sex, for those who aren’t into it, but lots of angst and romance.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 