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Cast in Blood Published by Harlequin on April 28, 2026

DO NOT MEDDLE IN THE AFFAIRS OF BARRANI

Kaylin has been warned to steer clear of the lords of the Barrani High Court. She’d be more than happy to oblige, but it’s a bit difficult considering she lives with ten of them, all sent to the green to gain power or die. With Kaylin’s help, they finally escaped their imprisonment. But their attempts at freedom had devastating consequences—and a price that has yet to be paid.

The first warning sign is the Consort’s invitation to visit the High Halls—a Barrani invitation, which means an immediate visit.

The second sign is less subtle: Kaylin finds Nightshade’s unresponsive body. He hovers on the edge of death, beyond saving through Kaylin’s healing power. No one can explain his state, nor why she’s powerless to save him. And if she and her Barrani friends can’t figure out a way to bring him back, he’ll be lost forever.

Yet even as Kaylin struggles to keep Nightshade from death, there is deeper magic at play, a growing threat with the potential to affect the entire Barrani race. Factions are shifting, new lines are being drawn—and Nightshade’s near assassination is only the beginning. Can Kaylin uncover the nebulous forces that threaten the balance of Barrani—and their entire world—before it’s too late?

Pages: 512 GoodreadsGenres: Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Fantasy / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Fantasy / Dragons & Mythical Creatures, Fiction / Fantasy / Epic, Fiction / Fantasy / General, Fiction / Fantasy / Paranormal, Fiction / Fantasy / Urban, Fiction / Magical Realism, Fiction / Thrillers / Supernatural, Fiction / Women
Format: eARC ISBN: 9780369774880
By: Michelle Sagara
Source: NetGalleyAlso by this author: Cast in Silence, Cast in Chaos, Cast in Flame, Cast in Honor, Cast in Flight (Chronicles of Elantra #12), Grave, Cast in Deception

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The latest installment in the Chronicles of Elantra series is a must-read for fantasy fans. With its richly layered world-building and complex character development, this series continues to stand out as one of the most compelling in the genre. While romance takes a back seat, the story is filled with deep emotional connections that give the characters real weight and depth.

Blending fantasy with elements of police procedural, deadly magic, and five distinct races, the series offers a unique and immersive reading experience. The world is intricate, the stakes are high, and each book builds meaningfully on the last. This is absolutely a series that should be read in order, as jumping in later will leave you lost in both the plot and the character dynamics.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 628 pages
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Release Date: November 11, 2025
ASIN: B0DVJNMD3C
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought on ebook
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

“Forty years ago, the Gather family—James, his daughter Beau, and his son Billy—vanished during a whitewater rafting trip and were presumed dead.

Five years later, Billy reappeared on the far side of the world, telling an impossible tale of a primordial valley populated by dinosaurs, aliens, Neanderthals, and androids. Little Billy became the punchline of so very many jokes, until he finally faded from the public eye.

Now, a group of graduate astronomy students follow their professor, Noah Barnes, up a mountain for what they believe is a simple stargazing trip. But they’re about to travel a lot farther than they planned …

Noah—the now grown Billy Gather—has finally figured out how to get back to the valley. Accidentally bringing his students along with him, he’s confident he can get everyone back home, safe and sound.

But the valley is a puzzle—one it turns out Noah hasn’t figured out—and they’ll need to solve it together if there’s any chance of making it out alive.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I bought this for ebook.

Thoughts: I enjoyed the puzzle behind this strange story. It has elements of time travel, dinosaurs, aliens, and general strangeness. It moved along at a decent pace and kept me guessing as to where the story was going.

The Gather family disappeared on a whitewater rafting trip and, five years one of the Gather family members (Billy) returned on the other side of the world. Billy had stories about a valley of dinosaurs and Neaderthals, but of course everyone assumed he was a traumatized kid. Billy changed his name to Noah, became a professor, and spent his career learning quantum physics. Now it’s time to for Noah to go back to the mysterious valley of his childhood. Unfortunately, he accidentally drags some grad students along with him. Noah was confident he could get them all home, but things have changed in the valley and now he is not so sure.

There were a few things about this story that really grabbed me and kept me turning pages. The first was the mystery of the valley and how (and why) it had changed over time. The second was the pure wonder of strange things that were found within the valley; you never really knew what you were going to find when you turned the next page.

I enjoyed the characters here. They don’t have a ton of depth to them, but they are entertaining. There is a pretty high (and swift) body count in this book, so it’s best not to get too attached to anyone. Noah/Billy is a bit of a puzzle and I found his stubbornness in admitting things had changed a bit frustrating. Although to be fair, he had been planning this return to the valley his whole life, and to have it all go so amiss had to be mind boggling.

I ended up liking how the story wrapped up. At first I wasn’t sure how aliens, dinosaurs, Neaderthals and robots were going to come together in a cohesive story but Clines made it work. He made it work in a way that was cohesive, easy to follow, and entertaining. Whenever I want something a bit weird and quirky, I pick up a Clines book and am never disappointed.

My Summary (4.5/5): Overall I really enjoyed this. This story is a bit weird and different, but I liked that it kept me guessing and really enjoyed the wonder of all the weird surprises throughout. If you are looking for an odd mystery adventure story that involves dinosaurs, Neaderthals, aliens, and robots, I would recommend. Trust me, it all works together great and will keep you on your toes. Can’t wait to see what Clines comes up with next!

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (Ballantine paperback editions, October & November 1965). Covers by Barbara Remington

I’ve defined Heroic Fantasy (HF) as a type of fiction in which a heroic (bigger than life) figures use a combination of physical strength and edged weapons (Swords, Axes, Spears) to face bigger than life foes. The hero may be either male or female, but the focus is primarily on personal conflict between the hero and various villains.

I divide Heroic Fantasy into four categories: Sword and Sorcery, Sword and Planet, High Fantasy, and Heroic Historical. I’ve previously discussed S&S, S&P, and Heroic Historical (HH). Today let’s check out High Fantasy.

[Click the images for heroic versions.]

The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris (Ballantine Adult Fantasy #3, July 1969) Cover by Gervasio Gallardo

The emphasis in High Fantasy is on a Mythic adventure, either a quest or a large scale (often world spanning) conflict between the powers of Light and Dark. The hero is usually not bigger than life. In fact, he, or she, is often rather small and weak physically, though there is usually a tight knit band of followers or friends who help them.

The heroes are generally chosen for their role by some greater power and usually do not know how strong they really are at the beginning of the story. They grow into the role as the work progresses.

The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison (Ballantine Books, April 1967). Cover by Barbara Remington

Supernatural forces are integral to High Fantasy, and there are almost always magical items such as rings, or swords, or enchanted armor that can help or hinder the heroes in their quests. There is much less emphasis on individual physical combat than in S&S, S&P, or HH. The High Fantasy setting is a mythic world, usually an ancient Earth that is populated by elves, dwarves, dragons, goblins, or recognizable variants of these. Dragons seem particularly indispensable.

J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 – 1973) established the primary tropes of High Fantasy and his Lord of the Rings trilogy is still the best example, although William Morris’s (1834 – 1896) The Wood Beyond the World (1894), E. R. Eddison’s (1882 – 1945) The Worm Ouroboros (1922) and Lord Dunsany’s (1878 – 1957) The King of Elfland’s Daughter (1924) preceded Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings trilogy (1954-1955).

The fantasies of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Annotated Hobbit (Houghton Mifflin, October 1988), The Silmarillion (Houghton Mifflin, September 1977), Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham (Science Fiction Book Club, May 1984), and The Lord of the Rings revised editions (Houghton Mifflin). Covers, top row: J. R. R. Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien, Daniel Horne)

The sheer scale and detail of Tolkien’s Middle Earth has established him as the grandfather of the High Fantasy genre, and pretty much everything that came after owes him a debt. I don’t personally read a lot of High Fantasy and seldom write anything linked to the genre, but I have read some very good stuff in the field, including most of Tolkien’s work.

One difference between High Fantasy and the other three HF genres is the level of good versus evil that exists in them. In High Fantasy, we generally need to speak of EVIL in all caps because it is often a soul-destroying force that wants to bring darkness to the whole world. In S&S and S&P, the evil is not so all powerful, although it may be very nasty. In HH, the evil is human, as is the case in the real world.

The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany (Ballantine Adult Fantasy #2, June 1969). Cover by Robert Pepper

There are two more differences between the subgenres I’ll mention. First, S&S works best in short stories, S&P and HH in novellas or short novels, but High Fantasy needs a grand scope and lends itself to large novels and multi-book series.

Second, High Fantasy lends itself to humor better than the other types. Perhaps because of its length and its ensemble cast of characters, it provides a setting where more humor naturally occurs.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, filmed as the HBO series Game of Thrones

So, who writes High Fantasy since Tolkien?

There’s been a bunch of it. It currently seems the most popular form of Heroic Fantasy published today and has been for a long time. George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones is a prominent example, as is Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time.

The first four novels of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson: Lord Foul’s Bane, The Illearth War, The Power That Preserves, and The Wounded Land (Del Rey paperback editions, August and September 1978, March 1979, and May 1981). Covers by Darrell K. Sweet

I haven’t read either of those but I saw the TV series based on them and enjoyed them. I haven’t read them because both are multi-volume works with each volume making a good doorstopper. I’m 65 and there’s a lot of books I want to read before I go; I don’t plan to spend a year or two of precious reading time on these kinds of series.

What have I read in the genre? I read Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy in my teens and early twenties, and greatly enjoyed them, although I didn’t have any urge to write such a series. A little later, I read Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series of six books, and I read Dennis L. McKiernan “retelling” of Tolkien’s trilogy in his own trilogy, The Iron Tower.

The final volumes in The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The One Tree and White Gold Wielder (Del Rey, April 1982 and April 1983), and the novella Gilden-Fire (Underwood-Miller, November 1981). Covers by Darrell K. Sweet and Stephen E. Fabian

McKiernan’s work was a little too close for my tastes, and I hated the protagonist in Donaldson’s series. Thomas Covenant was a complete asshole, though I loved the world and many of the supporting characters. I read a couple in Bret Funk’s Path of Glory series. In my fifties I read the entire Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, which I would categorize as High Fantasy, although it pushes the boundaries with few edged weapons and a lot more modern setting.

Why has High Fantasy been so popular? I think there are various reasons.

The first four novels in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Scholastic paperback reprints, November 2011, 2000, September 2001, September 2002). Covers: Mary GrandPré

First, the “growth” of the hero across the books is an attractive quality to many readers, who like to see a character gain strength and competence, perhaps because it offers hope that they, too, can grow. This is the classic “Hero’s Journey,” which can happen in the other genres of HF but often doesn’t, or at least not to the same extent.

Second, although there are plenty of exceptions, High Fantasy also seems to appeal more to the average woman reader than the other types and — quite simply — women buy more books than men, a big plus for publishers. This is illustrated, in part, by the number of women writers in the genre. Patricia McKillip, Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, Joy Chant, Margaret Weis, and J. K. Rowling are just some of the many women writers who have enriched the genre.

The concluding volumes of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Scholastic paperback reprint, August 2004), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Arthur A. Levine Books, July 16, 2005 and July 21, 2007), and The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Paw Prints, April 9, 2009). Covers by Mary GrandPré

Because of the ensemble cast of characters in high fantasy, the lesser focus on hack and slay, and the setting details, there would also seem to be more potential good roles for women in these books.

Charles Gramlich administers The Swords & Planet League group on Facebook, where this post first appeared. His last article for us was a look at the Sword & Sorcery of S. E. Lindberg. See all of his recent posts for Black Gate here.

The fifteenth annual Women in SF&F Month closes this week with one final guest post on Monday, which will be followed by a link list containing all this month’s articles on Wednesday. Thank you so much to last week’s guests for another excellent week of essays! Before announcing the upcoming schedule, here are last week’s essays in case you missed any of them. All guest posts from April 2026 can be found here, and last week’s guest posts were: “Writing […]

The post Women in SF&F Month: Final Week Schedule & Week in Review first appeared on Fantasy Cafe.

This post is a chapter from my book, The Write Attitude, which is now in a second edition. I’m posting it here to entice you to head over to Storybundle to pick up a copy, along with ebooks by Robert T. Jeschonek, Andrea Pearson, J. Daniel Sawyer, Dean Wesley Smith, and ten more great writers. Everyone’s book is an exclusive. That’s right. Everything in the bundle is exclusive to the bundle, including my book.

The book is exclusive to the Storybundle—meaning that at the moment, you can’t get it anywhere else. So if you want to read it now, pick it up from Storybundle. If you don’t want a deal on the ebook or if you only read print, then you can always preorder the book on various retailer sites in a few weeks. The new edition will release on July 14.

The second edition of The Write Attitude is quite different from the first edition, which originally appeared in 2016. I kept some parts of the original book, but much of the material is newer. The new material comes from my Patreon page. Not every post from my Patreon page shows up here, although several do. If you want to see everything, though, head to Patreon and sign up. 

This post, which first appeared on this site in slightly different form, is from January of 2015, and is one of the early chapters in the book.

Churning It Out

Toward the end of a pretty good Entertainment Weekly article about the romance side of the publishing industry, this sentence appears:

[Bella Andre]’s a naturally fast writer—on average she churns out four to six books a year—and she released the first one in June 2011.

Before we get to the reason I’m telling you about that sentence, let me say one thing that might or might not be related: There’s a slight snobby tone to EW’s romance article. What’s that all about? The magazine’s called Entertainment Weekly. It’s not The New York Times Book Review. EW sings the praises of The Walking Dead and video games, and everything in between, for heaven’s sake, but somehow romance fiction doesn’t meet the high standards of entertainment?

Sorry. I had to get that off my chest.

As I said, the article, “A Billion-Dollar Affair,” by Karen Valby, appeared in the October 24, 2014 issue, and did cover the romance industry (of the time) pretty well. (And is still available online.)

So why am I objecting to that single sentence?

I’m not, really. It’s a common sentence from any media that covers books. And I’m not even objecting to the entire sentence. Bella Andre does write fast by most writers’ standards, and she does so comfortably.

What I’m objecting to is the phrase “churned out.”

It’s become a cliché. Any writer who writes fast “churns out” material. Or she “cranks out” or “pounds out” whatever it is that she writes. Because clearly, no writer who writes fast can think about what she writes.

There are other implications in that phrase. The material “churned out” isn’t very good. Anything “churned out” is an exact copy of what has come before. It has no real value, primarily because of the speed with which the writer “churns out” the material.

In the olden days of traditional publishing, those of us who “churned out” a lot of books did so under a lot of pen names. Here’s how it worked in my case: Kristine Kathryn Rusch might, at best, put out two books per year; Kris Nelscott one every two years; and Kristine Grayson one every six months.

Most reviewers never noticed all the short stories or blog posts or nonfiction. Only a handful of people (including my agents back when I was stupid enough to hire them) knew that I wrote under other pen names as well.

While reading a midlist thriller novel in bed one night several years ago, I laughed so hard that I woke Dean up. What made me laugh? The author’s bio, which stated that the byline of the novel I was reading was a pen name for a “well-known #1 New York Times bestselling author.” Ballsy and hysterical. That writer wrote so many books that his publisher refused to publish them all under the author’s bestselling name.

Or maybe the publisher never got a chance. Because I later discovered who the author in question was (and that’s why I’m not naming the book here), and discovered that the author had nearly a dozen pen names, and kept them all quiet—except for that coy little bio for at least one of them.

In the opening to Bag of Bones (first published in 1998), Stephen King writes that his main character, a bestselling novelist, kept one novel in the drawer for every novel he published, since his publisher was demanding that he publish no more than one book per year.

Think about this, people: How many other industries that have mega-selling products demand that the producer of popular, high-quality material slow down? What happened to providing the consumers with what they wanted?

When Nora Roberts started out, she was fortunate to begin with Harlequin, which could publish as many books as she produced. She stayed with Harlequin even after she moved to a bigger publisher (Bantam) for a once-per-year hardcover, which then became a once-per-year hardcover and twice-a-year mass market paper, and then became twice-a-year hardcovers and three-times-a-year mass market paper, and finally, she had a big fight with Harlequin, and started up the J.D. Robb pen name (twice per year) and her publisher (by then, Putnam) threw in the towel. The publisher finally agreed that Nora could put out a lot of books. But the publisher’s other writers couldn’t.

Nora Roberts’ speed didn’t matter to that publisher because the publisher had no expectation of quality based on the genre. As we all know, and Entertainment Weekly’s snobby tone confirms, romance is trash anyway. No one expects quality fiction from writers who crank out cookie-cutter books for women.

You think I’m kidding, right? I’m not. I’m old enough to have read the trade journals as romance got its start as a genre, as the Romance Writers of America (founded in 1980) fought for recognition from publishers, as romance readers slowly realized that they were marketing force that had a lot of clout.

Romance has a lot of respect now compared to the 1980s—and still writers see phrases like “churned out” and that slightly school-boyish tone that every Literary Critic uses when discussing romance.

It’s about love and mushy stuff. It can’t be good. It might include kissing and touching and actual irony-free emotion. Anyone can churn out that crap if they put their minds to it. But most people are sensible enough to want respectability instead of…whatever it is that these romance people have.

Oh, yeah. Money.

And readers.

Who actually like the books.

I have taken exception to that snobbish attitude for my entire career. I’ve written essay after essay about it in all kinds of journals and magazines. I’ve written some business blogs on it too.

Back when I was writing those essays, the attitude was merely annoying. Savvy writers could get past it with the judicious use of pen names, and make not just a living, but a substantial living. As in earning mid-six figures or more, simply by hiding the fact that the fast writers wrote more than one book per year.

That snobbish attitude has always been harmful to writers who wanted to make a living. But in my mind, that snobbery always went hand-in-hand with a desire to be recognized over a desire to have a full-time writing career. The writers who wanted to make a living figured out how to handle the respectability argument while “churning out” a lot of books. The writers who wanted respectability and labored over each word never left their day jobs.

Now, however, that snobbish attitude has become actively harmful to writers. Most of the ways that books sell to readers have broken down. The traditional publishing systems have lost their impact. The old-fashioned way that publishers advertised books—that one-size-fits-all method—no longer works. Bookstores don’t window titles much anymore, if a reader can find a brick-and-mortar bookstore that sells new titles within driving distance of home.

Because books are available all the time rather than for only a few months, readers pay less attention to release dates than ever before. Readers have always read a book when they felt like it, and not a moment sooner. But in the past, readers had to buy the book when they saw it, because they might never find a copy again.

So, even if readers didn’t read the book for a year or more, readers still had to buy it in that limited time window.

Not any longer. Readers can make a note of the title, realize it’s been published, and buy it days or hours or minutes before reading it. That really changes the way that the publishing industry markets books—or it should.

It hasn’t yet, entirely, anyway. But the industry is starting to get a clue.

Event books, the ones that publishers convinced the media to promote, are no longer events. The numbers to become a bestseller are much, much lower than they were in 2007.

Lists matter, but less and less as readers discover their books in other ways.

And one of the major ways that readers discover a book? E-mail alerts or notifications that scroll across the reader’s favorite online retailing site—alerts and notifications tailored to that reader.

No longer do we all get notification of the top five books on The New York Times bestseller list. Now, we get science fiction (if that’s what we read) or romance or mystery. We get notifications about our favorite author’s latest book, not the latest release from some author whose work we would never, ever, ever read.

The notifications come from bots designed by the retailers. What provokes those bots to let a reader know about an author? Publication of her latest work. The bots always send readers a note that an author they have bought before (through that retailer) has released a new book.

The reader might not buy that book immediately, but the book might go on a wish list. It might be put in reserve until the reader has the cash to order or the time to read.

Another change in the way people buy books also has to do with unlimited availability. All readers indulged in binge reading of a new-to-them author, but in the past, that binge reading was combined with treasure hunting.

Whenever I discovered a new writer whose work I liked, I’d read what was easily available, then I’d go to the library to see what it had. Libraries never had the complete oeuvre because, like bookstores, they have limited shelf space. So I’d dig through every used bookstore in every town I visited until I got each and every book by that author.

Or as close to each and every book as I could get.

Other readers did the same.

Now, readers can order every book that a favorite author has written, whether that author has written five books or hundreds. That fear writers have, the fear that readers won’t respect the work if it doesn’t take years to complete, is silly when looked at from a reader’s perspective.

Readers want to escape from their lives for a few hours. They might want to read a beautiful well-written slow-moving literary novel or they might want to read a fast-paced hard-to-believe thriller. But readers want the book when they’re ready to relax. If they liked that book, they want another by the same author. The author becomes a known quantity, and the reader wants more.

Binge-reading has become an all-consuming activity, just like binge-watching. And the best way to get noticed as a writer is to publish enough to enable your readers to binge for a weekend.

But the idea of writing a lot is the opposite of the way that most writers are trained. Writers are told to slow down, think about every word, consider every sentence. Writers are taught to forget story because story is something that hack writers do.

Hack writers can “churn” out words because words are unimportant to them.

Real writers write so slowly that they might only compose a paragraph per day.

Real writers who have day jobs and who still believe myths spouted in the 19th century.

Real 19th-century writers who are still read today, like Charles Dickens or Louisa May Alcott, got paid by the word, so they wrote a lot of words, for a lot of publications. These writers wrote fast long hand, and they “churned out” a lot of stories we no longer read.

But they also “churned out” stories that all of us still read.

That little phrase, “churned out,” holds so much disrespect. Deadly disrespect, because writers who hear that phrase—and use it themselves—won’t be able to survive in this new world.

The 21st century is not leisurely, although we have more leisure time than ever. Can you remember the name of the “important” literary novel of five years ago? Ten? Without looking it up? I didn’t think so.

Yet, I can still name the important literary novels of forty years ago, because they got all the press, and I do mean allthe press.

It’s impossible to get all of the press now. The best way to get attention is to give your readers what they want. If they like your work, they want more of it.

If they want more of it, the only person who can give them more is you.

And the only way to do that is to write a lot, whatever that means for you.

One sure way to teach yourself to write at a comfortable pace is to clean up your language. Watch every word. Make sure you’re using the right phrase—when you’re talking about writing.

Clean “churned out” from your vocabulary. Don’t say you “cranked out” a novel. Don’t apologize for writing fast. Don’t tell anyone how long it took to finish a novel.

Write and release.

The only people who judge fiction writers for how fast they write are people for whom reading isn’t something they do for enjoyment but for prestige. They want to impress others with their literary acumen.

I don’t know about you, but I want readers who get lost in the story, not readers who have already determined that I’m a hack because I don’t write at the proper speed or in the proper genre or with the proper attention to language.

Enjoy your writing. Take as much—or as little—time as you like to compose your stories.

Because how you created the story doesn’t matter. How much readers enjoy the story does. Readers don’t care if it took you one week to write that story or fifteen years. All readers want is escape.

And it’s your job to provide it.

“Churning It Out” from The Write Attitude

Copyright © Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Published by WMG Publishing

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This ebook, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Any use of this publication to train generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies is expressly prohibited. The author and publisher reserve all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

 The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of The Geomagician

Publisher: Del Rey (March 31, 2026)

Length: 464 pages

Author Information: Website

I confess, I went into The Geomagician expecting something lighter and fluffier with a heavier romance angle, but this is one of those rare cases where I’m glad to be wrong. Instead, the novel delivers a story with far more substance than I anticipated, blending historical inspiration with magical charm and bigger, thoughtful thematic ideas embedded in a strong narrative that kept me hooked.

The book follows Mary Anning, an aspiring geomagician who grew up fossil hunting along the English coast in the small, humble village she calls home. All her life, she’s dreamed of joining the elite Geomagical Society in London, a group of scholars who can harness magic from fossils. But as a woman, that path is firmly closed to her. For now, she has to settle for building a reputation through her remarkable finds, selling fossils to tourists and the very geomagicians who benefit from work she’ll never be credited for.

But everything changes when Mary stumbles upon a fossil bed containing an intact egg which, against all odds, hatches into a living baby pterodactyl after she channels her magic into it. All of a sudden, she has something the Geomagical Society would be desperate to have. Maybe even enough to finally offer her a place among them? She quickly reaches out to her mentor, hoping to turn the discovery into an opportunity, but when he arrives, he brings along his colleague Henry Stanton, the man who was once her first love before breaking her heart. Though Henry’s presence complicates things, Mary is determined not to let it derail her plans. And yet, as she pushes ahead to London, she finds herself caught in a tangled web of politics, rivalries, and conflicting beliefs about magic, forcing her to confront just how far she’s willing to go to claim her place.

To start, I loved the world-building, which is easily one of the book’s biggest highlights. The idea that fossils can store and channel magical energy to accomplish incredible things is such a cool concept, and the story really digs into it from multiple perspectives, featuring strong tensions between science and the book’s fictional church, with different factions holding opposing beliefs about where magic comes from. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that this conflict ends up shaping a lot of what happens, and on top of that, you’ve got layers of social hierarchy, gender barriers, and shifting political viewpoints, all tied to bigger questions about power. Who gets to have it? Who controls it? Should magic belong to an elite few or be accessible to everyone? All these questions and more are woven into the plot naturally, giving the world a depth that feels lived in.

And then, of course, there’s Ajax, who completely stole the show. Honestly, I wish we’d gotten more of that little pterodactyl, along with more of the prehistoric elements in general. For a book so rooted in fossils and ancient creatures, it feels like this should have been featured more prominently, especially since the whole science and scholarship angle in addition to a woman fighting for her place in that world are one of its biggest draws. That said, this book still taps into the same appeal as series like Emily Wilde by Heather Fawcett or The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan, both of which feature ambitious female protagonists driven by their pursuit of knowledge and academic curiosity. I think if you are a fan of those types of stories, this one will be quite the treat.

In the end, The Geomagician ended up being a really entertaining novel and meatier than I expected, all in the best ways. It’s got a unique premise, a richly developed world, and just enough emotional weight to balance out its airier moments. If you’re in the mood for historical fantasy with a strong sense of place and an emphasis on ideas as much as plot, this one is definitely worth the read.

Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth by Jack Kirby (DC Comics,
October 1972 and February 1973). Covers by Jack Kirby

Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth, written and illustrated by Jack “King” Kirby (1917-1994), has long been an inspiration to my creative works. The tone, the setting, the characters and creatures — pure brilliance. Highly recommended.

Kamandi #16 is a fascinating issue. An ape doctor who encounters Kamandi knows of Cortexin, the chemical which stimulated evolution and intelligence in animals and turned them into parahumans. The Last Boy on Earth discovers more about the post-cataclysmic Earth, in which men have devolved to beasts, and beasts have evolved to higher intelligence.

[Click the images for Kirby-sized versions.]

Interior art from Kamandi The Last Boy on Earth #3, by Jack Kirby (DC Comics, February 1973)

Jack Kirby was such a visionary and innovator, and Kamandi is such a treasure. Every time I flip through a random issue, I’m filled with joy.

Kamandi art by Jack Kirby. Left: a look at Kamandi’s world. Right: splash page for issue #3, February 1973

Below is a panel from Fantastic Four #34, from 1965, written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Kirby. Kirby as usual peered into his crystal ball and came up with a billionaire just as evil and corrupt as any Marvel costume baddie, smacking of today’s headlines.

Gregory Gideon tried to use his money to destroy the FF, but his son got in the middle and almost died, Daddy repented and the story had a happy ending. The lust for money at any cost is the Root of all Evil.

Art from Fantastic Four #34 by Jack Kirby (Marvel Comics,  cover date January 1965)

There is an incredible array of fascinating characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, not the least of which is Medusa, a member of the Inhumans. Pictured below is a rendition of Medusa by Jack for Marvel’s line of black light posters.

Magnificent Medusa by Jack Kirby

Medusa, inspired in part by the creature of same name from Greek Mythology, has prehensile hair that can lift thousands of pounds, can extend to great lengths, and strangle an enemy with ease. The wife of Black Bolt, she is a stunning beauty whom Jack illustrated magnificently. Her first appearance was in Fantastic Four #36, but I best remember her from the Kree-Skrull War, which took place in the pages of The Avengers.

Anyone else a fan of this lesser known character, or any of the other Inhumans for that matter?

Warlock by Jim Starlin

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would do well to look into the character Adam Warlock, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. His original name was “Him,” a being created by a group called Enclave to be the next step in human evolution (Fantastic Four #66-67). It was an interesting storyline, but not very significant as compared to other characters and stories being developed at that time.

It was years later, when Roy Thomas and Jim Starlin really brought the character to life as Warlock, renamed and rebirthed by the High Evolutionary. The Marvel Comics Database explains it well.

The High Evolutionary gave Warlock purpose, direction, and the vampiric Soul Gem. Soon afterward, Warlock journeyed to the planet called Counter-Earth, one of the High Evolutionary’s experiments, that had recently been contaminated. Counter-Earth had been an attempt to create a Utopian society, and it had been so till the evil Man-Beast, a renegade creation of the High Evolutionary, had corrupted it; the Man-Beast was to become Warlock’s greatest enemy.

Warlock’s later involvement versus Thanos — and that one’s obsession with the accumulation of power — gave rise to the original mini-series, The Infinity Gauntlet. While it was nice that the MCU afforded Warlock a bit role in the films, satisfying (to some degree) fans like me, it is still worth pointing out that major aspects of that spectacular MCU run were derived from content that Adam Warlock was the star of in the comic books.

Any other Adam Warlock fans in the house?

Conan the Barbarian by Jack Kirby

I’ll close with a few sketches of other Marvel characters, starting with Conan the Barbarian, by Jack Kirby. Jack was not known for many Conan illustrations, but by Crom, this one is incredible.

Thor by Jack Kirby

Although Walt Simonson wrote my favorite Thor story arc, no one, IMO, drew the thunder god better than Kirby. If you have a favorite Thor picture, feel free to mention it in the comments! Make sure to cite the artist.

The Silver Surfer by Jack Kirby

Finally, here’s a rendering of the Silver Surfer by Jack.

Jeffrey P. Talanian’s last article for Black Gate was a look at the Fifty Years of Gary Gygax’s Greyhawk. Jeffrey is the creator and publisher of the Hyperborea sword-and-sorcery and weird science-fantasy RPG from North Wind Adventures. He was the co-author, with E. Gary Gygax, of the Castle Zagyg releases, including several Yggsburgh city supplements, Castle Zagyg: The East Mark Gazetteer, and Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works. Read Gabe Gybing’s interview with Jeffrey here, and follow his latest projects on Facebook and at www.hyperborea.tv.

TODAY IS THE DAY!

We have chosen our champion, and we’re excited to announce the winner and runners-up.

First, we want to thank all SPFBO participants. We sincerely appreciate your involvement in the process. 

After getting through the batch of thirty books, we’ve picked five semi-finalists. Here they are in alphabetical order:

CARRION SAINTS by Hiyodori - In its authors words "Carrion Saints is a sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance between an immortal saint and a severed head." And that's it, in a nutshell. We highly appreciated Hiyodori's unique take on the trope, bitter-sweet ending and excellent writing. If you like character-driven conflict, this one sticks.

PILGRIM by Mitchell Lüthi - Dust, faith, politics, and people making difficult choices for reasons that make sense to them. It’s immersive without feeling like a lecture, and the amount of research into various cultures, religions and traditions must've been insane. Not fast, but worth checking out.

THE INHERITED BLADE by Jye Sorensen - it connects two storylines: one with lots of running for survival, one about inheriting unwanted responsibilities. It takes a bit to balance, but when it does, it clicks nicely. Good if you like character contrast and gradual build.

THE SINS OF STEEL AND SHADOW by Steve Pannett - Fast, scrappy, and very aware that most problems can (unfortunately) escalate into violence. Bail is a great guide through a cruel city, and the book rarely slows down long enough for you to get bored. Not deep, but reliably entertaining. Most of us will read the sequel as soon as it hits the shelves.

THE UNNAMED by M.S. Masood - It has a rich world, and skillfully pictures a slow unraveling of belief. The tension comes from watching someone realize their entire worldview might be wrong and not liking that realization one bit. Heavy at times, but well-written and engaging.

CHOICES CHOICES

At this stage, we had to decide how to evaluate one good book against another and whether it was at all possible to come to some sort of fair and objective decision. We tried to base our choice on the following criteria (listed in alphabetical order):

• Characterization
• Editing
• Personal Enjoyment
• Plotting
• World-building
• Writing Style

You can almost hear the drumroll, can't you? Or is that just the sound of SPFBO followers holding their breath?

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Without further ado (because we know you're just dying to know), the story that has danced its way into the finals is 

 

Congratulations to Hiyodori , and good luck in the finals! 

We're sending Carrion Saints to the finals with a rating of 8.0/10.

….. ah. After rereading the question I should have been more clearer, I meant to ask what is next after the Sigl Fashion articles. I apologize for the confusion what I wrote wasn’t what I meant to say!

In reply to Valentin.

I would think mending helps with bruising as that is a result of damaged blood vessels. May not remove the leaked blood that causes the discoloring but would mend the blood vessels?

Hamlet – a celebrated Shakespeare classic, filled with treachery, vengeance, and moral dilemmas.  Politics and…

The post “Hamlet” by Shakespeare | Words Become The World appeared first on LitStack.

In reply to Kevin.

Kevin, the answer to your question is literally spelled out in the exact post you’re replying to.

In reply to Edmund Wong.

The edits I make are going to be limited by what I’ve already written in book 5 – which sometimes means I won’t make changes which I might have done had I had the suggestions earlier. That’s just how it goes; time’s a limited resource, and I have to pick and choose how I spend it.

In reply to Celia.

It better not otherwise his forced to write a second draft

Great news! It’s great when you are on schedule with the tasks you need to do!

Out of curiosity what do you intend for the next topic in the Beginners Guide to Drucraft? I myself am interested in Primal and Dimension since we haven’t seen them a lot and I love the associations, and planets they are associated with it’s been a real treat!

But regardless any worldbuilding article is very informative, hopefully one day you can do one on the Cults major and minor, it would be interesting to see what eras where the Order of the Dragon and Warband were on top.

Will Stephen use a bicycle in this book? I thought it would be a cool combination of his Lightfoot and strength sigl.

One of the recent discussions about Science Fiction I’ve had with non-genre readers has been about what readers want from Science Fiction. “Why do sci-fi writers explain things SO much?” was the question. This made me think. Personally, I think that it is part of the SF heritage. Modern SF came from a group of…

Today’s Women in SF&F Month guest is Sonia Tagliareni! Her novel Deathbringer, which is described as “a dark academia romantasy steeped in necromancy, forbidden love and a twisty murder mystery set within the perilous halls of a magical institute,” will be published on April 28 in the UK and May 19 in the US. I’m delighted she’s here today to discuss her main character—a death mage who despises her ability—in “Does a Soft Female Lead Belong in SFF?” About Deathbringer: […]

The post Women in SF&F Month: Sonia Tagliareni first appeared on Fantasy Cafe.

Great audio news to usher us into the weekend:

Graphic Audio’s dramatized full-cast adaptation of Sapphire Flames is now available for preorder, with release scheduled for August 12. Arabella’s POV short story A Misunderstanding will also be included.

This is the first novel in Catalina’s Hidden Legacy trilogy, picking up three years after Diamond Fire. Catalina has been very busy learning what it means to be a Prime, Alessandro is about to do a great deal of Italian exclaiming, and fan-favourite Runa returns in the middle of family tragedy.

Speaking of Diamond Fire, reminder that the dramatized adaptation came out on April 6, so if you are following the Hidden Legacy audio releases in order, you have time to enjoy Nevada’s wedding novella before Catalina fully takes the wheel in August.

And that’s not all that GA has in store for us!

Nora Achrati is back in the Kate Daniels world, and has started directing and recording for the Wilmington Years series – with Magic Tides to be expected in late July.

The script is wonderful, the covers are being designed as we speak, and Nora, of course, brings all of her experience from the main series with her. I’ve also told her everything about the Horde’s reactions to Wilmington, so she knows about the Consort (ever merciful), the magic clams, the Keelan love and just how much we were missing Kate and didn’t want to give her peace in her HEA hehe.

After the Wilmington Years, Nora will move on to Blood Heir. That one is further down the line, and I do not have an official date for you yet.

A lot of you have also asked about a dramatized adaptation of This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me. Thank you for all the casting and directorial suggestions, soundtrack concepts, and the enthusiasm, but a gentle reminder: House Andrews is not hiring or commissioning Graphic Audio to produce these adaptations, nor controlling their business and creative decisions.

GA are an entirely independent business, who approaches authors for adaptation rights of the works they are interested in, and entirely designs and produces the full-cast “movies in your mind”. As soon as we have official news on the Maggie the Undying dramatized front, we will announce it.

Until then: preorders are open, recordings have started, and our summer is looking very good indeed.

The post Audio news: Consorts and Primes first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

I’m glad you finally got the edits back! Hopefully none of the proposed changes affect things you’ve already written for book 5?