The nitty-gritty: A heartbreakingly sad but wonderfully magical tale about growing up. What she wanted most didn’t need to be spoken, for they shared her hunger, her brutal, unforgiving desire: what she wanted most was a door, and the things that waited on its other side. But unlike the rest of them, she knew where […]
The nitty-gritty: A short but powerful twist on the Lovecraftian tale, a story that didn’t quite work for me, but overall an interesting, clever and atmospheric tale. Mystery lingered in the air like the scent of a scorched book. It wasn’t until I had finished reading The Ballad of Black Tom that I found out […]
The nitty-gritty: Another hilarious entry into the Sin du Jour world, with some of the funniest dialogue I’ve ever read. “Are you guys almost done down there?” he asks the impossibly small piece of composite concealed in his right ear. “I’m fuckin’ bored.” “Us ‘guys’ are rigging the final charge now,” Cindy’s irritated voice answers […]
The nitty-gritty: A compact story with big ideas, featuring a fascinating magic system and fierce and determined female characters. I was immediately drawn to this novella by the cover: a beautiful and fierce-looking woman in the middle of a stormy sea. What was happening to her? It is book covers like this that make me want […]
The nitty-gritty: A laugh-out loud skewering of the fast-food industry, filled with funny dialog and memorable characters. I have to admit, when I first saw the cover for Envy of Angels, I immediately filed it in the “I hate the cover so I don’t want to read this book” compartment of my brain. Typically I […]
The nitty-gritty: A very short but powerful story about a girl leaving home for the first time, with a strong theme of dealing with prejudice, but a little too short, in my opinion, to fully develop that theme. This is the second work of fiction that I’ve read by Nnedi Okorafor, and I have to […]
The nitty-gritty: A story about gun-toting animals, with an unexpected combination of violence and wit, and some emotional moments as well. “That’s an ugly hat,” Barley started. Bonsoir’s eyes went wide with mock fury. “This is the greatest hat anyone has ever worn,” he said, pointing at his beret. “This hat was a gift from the Emperor […]