‘When She Woke’ by Hillary Jordan
Posted on May 8, 2012 by Julie R. Enszer in Reviews, Speculative
At the beginning of When She Woke (2012 Lambda Literary Award finalist), Hannah Payne, the protagonist in Hillary Jordan’s new dystopian novel, wakes up in state confinement. Her body has been transformed by “melachroming,” a biological process that turns a convicted criminal’s skin a different color. Hannah’s body is red, the color designated for people who commit murder. Hannah’s crime? She had an abortion; in the not so distant future, abortion is murder. (more…)
‘Fighting Gravity’ by Leah Petersen
Posted on April 24, 2012 by JM Frey in Reviews, Speculative
Leah Petersen’s debut book is touching, emotional; a comfortably domestic love story set against the backdrop of politics in an empire that spans the galaxy. Our narrator, boy-genius Jacob Dawes, is an oddly mature child who “steps between a punch” at six, is chosen for relocation to the Imperial Intellectual Complex at eight, and “makes love” at fifteen. (more…)
‘Frozen Echo’ by Linda Kay Silva
Posted on April 2, 2012 by Anna Furtado in Reviews, Speculative
Echo Branson hits the frozen tundra of Alaska in an effort to find her ex-lover, Tiponi Redhawk, and Tip’s three young supernatural charges from Russia. In the process, Echo also comes to her own self-discovery. In this fourth installment of the Echo Branson series, Echo braves dangers, not only from the elements, but also from the evil Genysis Corporation, the secret government-backed agency committed to using the likes of Echo and her friends’ supernatural abilities for their own despicable purposes. (more…)
‘Eat Your Heart Out’ By Dayna Ingram
Posted on February 27, 2012 by Damian Serbu in Reviews, Speculative
The horror/speculative fiction genre runs in trends for some inexplicable reason. One year everyone wants to fall in love with a vampire, the next get attacked by a werewolf. Ghosts roam around only to be replaced by witches lurking around the corner. Seldom do you see all of these monsters and ghouls popular at the same time. Recently, horror aficionados have fallen head over heals for zombies, those dead humans without a mind, wandering around and attacking people, just waiting to take a bite out of you. (more…)
‘Hellebore & Rue: Tales of Queer Women and Magic’ edited by Joselle Vanderhooft and Catherine Lundoff
Posted on December 9, 2011 by Merry Gangemi in Reviews, Speculative
Short fiction collections and anthologies are so often ignored in favor of novels and novellas, which is too bad in some ways—because one of the very best aspects of a short story collection is the variety and scope of individual work and the luxury of choosing which story to read and in whatever order one cares to follow. A well-crafted short story is as satisfying as a novel without hundreds of pages to plow through. The editors of Hellebore & Rue, Joselle Vanderhooft and Catherine Lundoff, have put together a collection that has a little of something for everyone, and will not disappoint readers who love and appreciate the complexities of fantasy fiction’s many cultural connections and narratives. (more…)
‘Smoketown’ by Tenea D. Johnson
Posted on September 19, 2011 by Anthony Darden in Fiction, Reviews, Speculative, Young Adult
In her debut novel, Smoketown (Blind Eye Books), Tenea D. Johnson magically creates a verdant jungle from what was once a Kentucky holler. The city of Leiodare, formally Middlesboro, Kentucky, serves as this narrative’s anchor. Essentially an environmental side-effect of climate change, Leiodare is a combination of lush forest and futuristic modern technology. The story is set twenty-five years beyond the 21st century, and twenty-five years past the devastating effects of a virus outbreak believed to have been caused by birds. (more…)
‘InSight of the Seer’ by Linda Anderson and Sara Marx
Posted on August 8, 2011 by Pamela Bigelow in Reviews, Romance, Speculative
The authors introduce Guin Marcus, LAPD cop and closet psychic. Guin is involved with her sergeant, Cheryl Jones, who is married with kids. Their affair is conducted secretly since the Department forbids dating on the job. The two cops ignore the edict and see one another when they can. When they respond to a call one afternoon, Guin’s life changes forever. (more…)
‘A Demon Inside’ by Rick R. Reed, ‘Dead of Night’ by Victor J. Banis and ‘The German’ by Lee Thomas
Posted on August 2, 2011 by Damian Serbu in Fiction, Horror, Reviews, Speculative
Gay horror continues to mature as a genre with quality writing, established authors, and heart pounding tales. Though horror often finds itself the stepchild to other literature, over the last decade it has reached more and more audiences and gained acceptance as a legitimate form of discourse, beyond some pop entertainment—good for beach reading but little else. Renowned authors such as Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker started this battle over a century ago, and Anne Rice and Clive Barker, among others, pulled it into the twentieth century. (more…)
‘The German’ by Lee Thomas
Posted on July 18, 2011 by Vince Liaguno in Mystery, Reviews, Speculative
In The German (Lethe Press), a savage serial killer forces the denizens of a small World War II-era Texas town to confront their own homophobia and xenophobia in this unsettling portrait of small-town Americana at its most insidious from Lambda Literary and Bram Stoker Award-winner Lee Thomas. (more…)
Speculative Dimensions: July 2011
Posted on July 12, 2011 by Vince Liaguno in Features, Opinion, Speculative
Introductions…
Welcome to the revamped speculative fiction corner of the Lambda Literary Foundation’s website. Here’s the spot where chimera rules. We’ll be introducing you to shining new lights in the spec-fic universe and spotlighting the darkest, most fantastical works with reviews and interviews with their creators. (more…)
