This novel cues us to distrust metaphor.

Roseanna Pendlebury There are plenty of ways of talking about books that make me especially happy, and they all bear some baggage. I could say “trash”, which comes with a big side order of judgment…

For the past thirty years, substantial scholarly work has been done on the role of Historical Bias in Tolkien’s Silmarillion. Essentially, the premise is that Tolkien was deliberately present…

Illustration by jorahh , 2025 'What do you know of these horsemen, Aragorn?' [Gimli] said. 'Do we sit here waiting for sudden death?' 'I hav...

Here comes book six. Just two chapters this time, but they’re slightly chunky ones (at least by page count): I – The Tower of Cirith Ungol and II – The Land of Shadow. The story i…

Quality fantasy romp with a side of anti-capitalist fury Mike Brooks is a writer that rarely disappoints. He's one of the most consistently...

Hey! I finally watched Project Hail Mary and it was wonderful. I don’t like Weir’s books much, but I sure do like the well-funded fanfiction based on his...

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May We Feed The King may be misread; but in the open spaces where that opportunity lives there is more space for joy and wonder.

I love stories about fairies, and about people who live in worlds that intersect with them, the people whose lives have been touched by them for good, and for ill. They are often the stories that b…

When asked in a 2012 interview how he feels about being called a “writer’s writer,” M. John Harrison “describes the ‘practice crag’ found in almost every Peak District town or village”:  “It may no…

Recommend works here for the Otherwise Awards jurors to consider!

A book resistant to many things, among them clarity, simplicity and relatability, and mostly the better for it. "Nothing in memory ever made...

A book resistant to many things, among them clarity, simplicity and relatability, and mostly the better for it. "Nothing in memory ever made...

"The Departure of Boromir" by  Anke Eißmann , 2003 Aragorn hesitated. He desired to go to the high seat himself, hoping to see there somethi...

(Nice.) This week I’ve got some SFF adjacent essays, Hugo commentary, both pre- and post-con (I love con reports or Hugo thoughts), multiple new book lists,...

Bagheera was never this much of a prick       Over the last few months, I have become irritated about the all-encompassing spread of "cozy...

The author of May We Feed the King, longlisted for the Booker Prize 2026, on writing in the bath and the poem she re-reads regularly