An Interview with Jacqueline Carey
Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart can only be described as a cult classic of dark fantasy, and its foundational influences are still visible in today’s romantasy trend. Centred around a courtesan in a Renaissance-inspired world,...
REVIEW: Cassiel’s Servant by Jacqueline Carey
The central precept of d’Angeline society is ‘Love As Thou Wilt’. That is, for everyone except for Cassiline monks. The adepts of Cassiel are celibate warrior-monks, trained in a highly ritualized manner of combat...
REVIEW: Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
Camp Damascus did not begin where I expected it to. The title and blurb suggest it might be set in a conversion camp that is hiding even more than the usual. On the contrary,...
REVIEW: The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson
The Shadow Cabinet is the follow-up to last year’s Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, taking us back to Juno Dawson’s reimagining of a powerful coven as part of the UK government. For those of you...
REVIEW: The Faithless by C.L. Clark
The Faithless follows C.L. Clark’s debut with bloody politics you can cut your teeth on, queer women with sharp swords, intense action, and tense relationships reminiscent of harsh realities. It all starts off where...
REVIEW: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
Some books are so magical you know within a few pages that they will end up on your favourites shelf. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty is such a book. I was...
REVIEW: The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai
Magic. Suffrage. Revolution. These are the three things at the centre of Hadeer Elsbai’s debut The Daughters of Izdihar. Set in an Egyptian-inspired world, probably around the turn of the twentieth century in terms...
REVIEW: Hild by Nicola Griffith
Nicola Griffith’s Hild has deservedly become a classic of its genre. Published 2013, this historical novel is based on the early life of Hild of Whitby, a seventh-century saint and abbess of the monastery...
REVIEW: The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard
Aliette de Bodard’s The Red Scholar’s Wake was one of my most anticipated novels of 2022 and it did not disappoint. Inspired by the author’s Vietnamese heritage, this is the story of an arranged...
Ten Queer Books to Kickstart Your Reading
Welcome to the top ten queer books to kickstart your reading. There is a notion that books that appeal to a Grimdark reading audience are written by cis-het white men for cis-het white men....