Book Review
Boy with a Black Rooster
by Ho Lin
A fairy tale with an edge, Stefanie vor Schulte’s "Boy with a Black Rooster" explores a vast land afflicted by cruelty and ill fortune. Martin is a kindhearted orphan whose father went insane and killed the rest of his family. Looked...
Book Review
Inheritance
by Ho Lin
With its palpable instances of sabotage and tragedy, "Inheritance" is an exciting, mystery-filled introduction to a new science fiction series. "Inheritance", the first volume in Lou Iovino’s Rare Earth Trilogy, is a fast-paced,...
Book Review
The Math Kids
by Ho Lin
Four determined friends learn to speak truth to power in The Election Calculation, an engrossing addition to an educational series. The Election Calculation, the tenth volume of David Cole’s Math Kids series, combines strong...
Book Review
Honeymoons in Temporary Locations
by Ho Lin
The threat of climate change looms over the short stories of Ashley Shelby’s "Honeymoons in Temporary Locations", resulting in a zesty mix of humor, speculative science fiction, and melancholia. Set in a future wracked by environmental...
Book Review
Family Values
by Ho Lin
“Extraordinary people doing a most ordinary thing” is how rock journalist Michael Azerrad sums up the images in Guzman’s "Family Values". Drawn from a fall 1992 photo session for Spin magazine, this collection captures grunge rock...
Book Review
A Lethal Question
by Ho Lin
A patient poses a question to his psychologist: “Ya wanna know who clipped Boris Levenko?” It’s a query that a bevy of Russian and Albanian mobsters want answered, setting off a chain of mortal consequences in Mark Rubenstein’s...
Book Review
Exile in Guyville
by Ho Lin
Within its compact length of six stories, Amy Lee Lillard’s collection "Exile in Guyville" packs a major punch with its hard-hitting science fiction that centers women’s perspectives. Sometimes darkly humorous and sometimes just...
Book Review
Prairie Edge
by Ho Lin
Downtrodden heroes are the focus of "Prairie Edge", an intimate, unsparing novel about the lives of Indigenous people in Canada. Ezzy is an aimless young man of Métis descent who has been scarred by stints in prison. He struggles to...