Many of us have already heard – or heard of – Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, but this gothic post-war retelling is uniquely Kingfisher's.
I picked it up at a convention as part of a giveaway bag, and it was such a delightful surprise; I hadn't read Kingfisher before. The author's character, place, and object descriptions are visceral and creepy and immersed me deep in the tale, even as they creeped me out.
Despite its relatively short length, I felt like I got to know and admire (or fear) everyone in the story. Now I have this alternate universe in my head all the time now and hope – and fear – someday to return.
From the Nebula and Hugo award-winning author of The Twisted Ones, comes What Moves the Dead, a gripping and atmospheric retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's classic "The Fall of the House of Usher."
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.
What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her…
Arguably, one should wait many years after finishing a beloved TV show before diving into the books, but after stumbling acrossLeviathan Wakes– the first book in The Expanse series – in an Oslo bookstore, I couldn't resist taking it with me.
The TV show hews close to the book's beats. Yet, I felt I got a more detailed interior look at the characters by reading the story, which is just the beginning of a massive space odyssey that finds humans encountering aliens – and also learning that some of the aliens are themselves.
Rich, thought-through, and with characters who actually feel human while doing heroic things, I can't wait for the next book to lure me in.
Humanity has colonized the planets - interstellar travel is still beyond our reach, but the solar system has become a dense network of colonies. But there are tensions - the mineral-rich outer planets resent their dependence on Earth and Mars and the political and military clout they wield over the Belt and beyond. Now, when Captain Jim Holden's ice miner stumbles across a derelict, abandoned ship, he uncovers a secret that threatens to throw the entire system into war. Attacked by a stealth ship belonging to the Mars fleet, Holden must find a way to uncover the motives behind the…
I have a few soft spots when it comes to horror book subjects – and homes and wacky kids are among them. Robert Ottone's novel gives me both, in a sense.
A domestic drama that takes a little while to get going, it's about the terror of not being parents and losing your friends – and then the terror of becoming parents and losing your sanity. Ottone isn't afraid to go there with his creepiness and the slow fracturing of what seems like an unbreakable relationship, and he doesn't mind making the titular child in the book a true terror.
I like a book that sneaks up on you, and this one still lingers months after I finished it.
Tune in Tomorrowis a humorous pop culture fantasy about a reality TV show run by mythical creatures – for mythical creatures – that stars humans. When struggling actor Starr is discovered while doing improv as a singing mango, she has no idea that entertainment exists beyond "The Veil." As she slowly falls in love with her new job, she'll have to dodge a dangerous diva, befriend a dragon receptionist, and uncover the mystery of just what happened to the last actress hired on the series – who disappeared 30 years ago!
