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This week of Women in SF&F Month starts with an essay by A. G. Slatter! Her work includes The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings (winner of the World Fantasy Award for Best Collection), Of Sorrow and Such (winner of the Ditmar Award for Best Novella), and The Path of Thorns (winner of the Aurealis and Australian Shadows Awards for Best Fantasy Novel). Her most recent novel, the gothic fantasy The Crimson Road, is described as “a tale of vampires, assassins, ancient […]

The fourteenth annual Women in SF&F Month continues tomorrow, with four new guest posts and a cover reveal/book giveaway coming up this week. Thank you so much to last week’s guests for their wonderful essays! Before announcing the schedule, here are last week’s guest posts in case you missed any of them. All guest posts from April 2025 can be found here, and last week’s guest posts were: “Crayon Trails: On Friendship, Grief, and an Unlikely Book Deal” — Roanne […]

Today’s Women in SF&F Month guest is Antonia Hodgson! She is the author of four historical crime novels and a soon-to-be released epic fantasy novel, The Raven Scholar. The first book in the Eternal Path trilogy, her upcoming novel is an excellent story with factions competing for a throne and a murder mystery that just opens up more and more new questions about the past. Her latest book will be out next week—on April 15 in the US and April […]

Today’s Women in SF&F Month guest is Lucia Damisa! She is the coordinator of Path2pub (Path To Publication), a website where writers offer tips and advice while sharing about their journeys and experiences. Her first novel, A Desert of Bleeding Sand, was just released with Darkan Press at the end of March, and it will be joined by A Winter of White Ash, the second book in her five-book series, this summer. Inspired in part by Nigerian and other African mythology, […]

Today’s Women in SF&F Month guest is T. Frohock! Her short fiction includes “Dark Places” (The NoSleep Podcast), “Every Hair Casts a Shadow” (Evil is a Matter of Perspective: An Anthology of Antagonists), “Love, Crystal, and Stone” (Neverland’s Library), and “La Santisima” (free on her website along with a couple others). She is also the author of Los Nefilim, a series of three historical fantasy novellas set in 1930s Spain, and Miserere: An Autumn Tale, an excellent character-driven dark fantasy […]

Today’s Women in SF&F Month guest is Roanne Lau! Her epic fantasy debut novel, The Serpent Called Mercy, was just released in the US and the UK toward the end of March. Described as a book “where a debt-ridden slumdog joins an illegal monster-fighting arena for some fast coin, but quickly learns the most dangerous beasts are outside the ring,” her novel is also one that centers friendship. I’m thrilled she’s here today to share more about this aspect of her […]

The fourteenth annual Women in SF&F Month continues with four new guest posts this week, starting tomorrow. Thank you so much to last week’s guests for an excellent first week! The new guest posts will be going up on Monday–Thursday of this week, but before announcing the schedule, here are last week’s essays in case you missed any of them. All guest posts from April 2025 can be found here, and last week’s guest posts were: “Let Your Stories Age […]

Today I have two trade paperback copies of a new science fiction novella to give away to two US residents, courtesy of Tachyon Publications! Described as “a taut, ultimately hopeful story that deftly explores identity and autonomy,” Mary G. Thompson’s newest book, One Level Down, was just released on April 1. More information on the book, author, and how to enter is below. Enter the One Level Down Giveaway About ONE LEVEL DOWN: Trapped in a child’s body, a resourceful […]

Today’s Women in SF&F Month guest is M. H. Ayinde! Her science fiction, fantasy, and horror short stories include “The Techwork Horse” (featured on the Locus Recommended Reading List), “Blind Eye” (selected for the BSFA Award longlist), “The Walls of Benin City” (selected for the BSFA Award longlist and The Best of World SF: Volume 3), and “Worst Place Ever – Avoid!” (winner of the March 2021 Apex Magazine Microfiction Contest). A Song of Legends Lost, her debut novel and […]

Women in SF&F Month officially starts today with a guest post by Kamilah Cole! Her debut novel and the first book in her Divine Traitors trilogy, So Let Them Burn—which she described as being “about sisterhood, chosen ones, dragons, anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, and the aftermath of war” in a post on Goodreads—was a National Indie bestseller for multiple weeks and a nominee for the Goodreads Choice Awards for Young Adult Fantasy. It was recently joined by the conclusion to the series, […]

This April is the fourteenth annual Women in SF&F Month here at Fantasy Cafe, starting tomorrow! For the last several years, this month has been dedicated to highlighting some of the many women doing wonderful work in fantasy and science fiction, and the site will be featuring guest posts by some of these writers throughout April. There will be new posts appearing Monday–Thursday throughout most of the month, including a book giveaway this week. As always, guests will be discussing […]

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along […]

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along […]

As a Bookshop affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Book Description: A powerful and fierce reimagining of the earliest Roman legend: the twins, Romulus and Remus, mythical founders of history’s greatest empire, and the woman whose sacrifice made it all possible. The names Romulus and Remus may be immortalized in map and stone and chronicle, but their mother exists only as a preface to her sons’ journey, the princess turned oath-breaking priestess, condemned to death alongside her children. But she […]

Once again, I have scoured the internet for speculative fiction books coming out this year and compiled a list of works I wanted to highlight. After looking through book descriptions, early reviews, and any available excerpts, I’ve put together a list of 17 fantasy and science fiction books coming out in 2025 that sound particularly compelling to me. (Of course, some of these are mainly here due to my having enjoyed other work by the same author!) As always, this […]

Happy (slightly belated) New Year! As usual, I took the opportunity to cover some highlights of 2024 and discuss my favorite stories from the last year. Blog Highlights in 2024 One of the biggest highlights of 2024 on this blog was the thirteenth annual Women in SF&F Month, which contained wonderful essays by speculative fiction authors discussing their thoughts, experiences, influences, and work. It featured the following guest posts (which are eligible for nonfiction/related work awards): Gabriella Buba — “Fantasy […]