» Books

Can you create a slave? A review of Octavia Butler’s Kindred

Kat — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:35:09 +0000

[caption id="attachment_515" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Slave houses at the Laura Plantation in Louisiana"][/caption] I’ve been travelling across the South recently and wanted to read a book that would suit both my weird tastes and reflect some of the history of America. Being a Read more

The pointy end of a parasol: Gail Carriger and the Parasol Protectorate

Kat — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:10:20 +0000

When asked why someone would read her books, Gail Carriger wrote “It’s got gay vampires, dirigibles, and madly wielded parasols in it. What more could you want from a book?” I can’t say it any better than that. But here I go anyway. The Parasol Protectorate is a series of five novels, Read more

Review: Sacred Curse

Kat — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:50:09 +0000

Author: Larry E. Huddleston Publisher: Midnight Express Books 2009 213 pages. $11.95 Reviewer: Christopher Zoukis At the present juncture, vampire novels are in vogue. The guy who started the whole thing was Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. Hollywood got a hold of the book and went Read more

Earthsea: an exercise in humility

Kat — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:28:06 +0000

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted on here. In this time I’ve read lots of great books and have been working on my own novel! Enough to keep me busy, that’s for sure. Lately I decided to read Ursula K Le Guin’s Earthsea series, consisting of A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Read more

If Robin Hood were cast by sci-fi and fantasy writers…

Kat — Thu, 27 May 2010 00:32:11 +0000

I saw Robin Hood last week, starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett. While I really enjoyed the film and the great historical detail, every character seemed to remind me of an author. Maybe it’s a reoccurring trend for science-fiction and fantasy authors to look like they’ve come out of Read more

Weird Fiction News Flash

Kat — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:28:51 +0000

There’s been a few bits and pieces on the weird fiction radar lately and since I’ve been doing a lot on video games I thought I better get back to my books. So here goes: Cthullu’s News Desk at nine. Jeff Vandermeer and his wife Anne have released The Kosher Guide to Imaginary Animals. Read more

World fantasy awards, draft swapping and Margo Lanagan

Kat — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:36:59 +0000

On the weekend I attended a draft swap meeting run by a dear friend of mine, Jan Cornall. Jan’s a great facilitator, she’s led a number of wonderful authors from first concept to publication, one of them being the award-winning fantasy author Margo Lanagan. We all met up in an enchanting Read more

Dead, dead, dead: Charlaine Harris and the Southern Vampire Mysteries

Kat — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:25:02 +0000

There’s been a lot of talk recently about Charlaine Harris’ novels, ever since Alan Ball (creator of Six Feet Under) turned her books into a TV series. TrueBlood has been described as ‘trailer trash vampires’, so I decided to take a look at what the fuss was all about. And I can tell you, Read more

Interview with Eirik Gumeny, author of Exponential Apocalypse

Kat — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:09:10 +0000

Kat Clay got talking to Eirik Gumeny, author of Exponential Apocalypse and editor of the Jersey Devil Press. In his own words, the book is “the tender, heart-stirring tale of crappy jobs, a slacker cult, an alcoholic Aztec god, reconstituted world leaders, werewolves, robots, and the Read more

Shlocky Holmes and the Case of the Dunderheads

Kat — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:34:56 +0000

I’ve been going through a Victoriana bingefest lately – Wilkie Collins, Bram Stoker, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen… So I thought I’d hark back to the world’s number one detective, the marvellously arrogant Sherlock Holmes. The famous detective was created by Sir Arthur Conan Read more