Showing posts with label civil war. Show all posts
Showing posts with label civil war. Show all posts

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for April 12, 2024


 
It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Star Wars in general, Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek in general, X-Men '97, Fallout, Invincible, Civil War, The People's Joker, Chucky, The Regime, Shogun, The First Omen, Twin Peak, The Matrix at 35, an uproar about Angry Robot planning to use AI to scan submissions. ttributes to Lynne Reid Banks and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

Tributes to Lynne Reid Banks:

Comics and Art:
 
Film and TV:
 
Comments on Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek in general:

 
Comments on Civil War: 
 
Comments on The People's Joker:

Comments on Shogun:
 
Comments on The Regime: 
 
Comments on Chucky:
 
Comments on The First Omen: 
 
Comments on Twin Peaks:
 
 
Awards:

Writing, publishing and promotion:
 
Interviews:
 
Reviews:
Classics reviews:
Con and event reports:
 
Science and technology:
 
Toys and collectibles:
 
Free online fiction: 
 

 

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Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Little Nothing by Dee Holloway

 

Release date: July 13, 2023
Subgenre: Historical fantasy
 

About Little Nothing:

 

Two young women race to turn the tide in a Florida on the brink of civil war…

Everyone knows that Jonnie trains and races the limerunners, the deadly water horses that live in the swamps and streams around the town of Sawgrass and that she’s got a way with them that none of the local men can match. And everyone suspects that while Bess works at her family’s inn, The Nag’s Head, she sews her little nothings, magic in every stitch, to protect her beloved Jonnie and their family. What they don’t know is that Jonnie runs messages, stitched in code by Bess, for the Union Army. But now the Confederate forces have taken the nearby fort and they want to use Jonnie’s limerunners and Jonnie herself as weapons against the Union. And all of Bess’s magic won’t be enough to save them when they’re caught in a web of betrayal in a Florida being torn apart by burgeoning civil war. Only Ada Nuit, the Maroon’s ghost queen, knows what lies in store for them and she’s not telling…

 

Excerpt: 

 

It was market day, and Jonnie had bled through her best shirt.

She hissed as I drew the shirt over her head, turning slightly so that I could see the gash running cockeyed over her ribs. There was a bandage on it, but whoever had put it on had done a poor job. She swore when I touched the edge, where blood welled beneath the cloth.

“Well, if you’d just let me do it in the first place—” My fingers were gentler than my words. I unwound the stained cotton from her side and dropped it on the hay scattered in the back of the wagon. “Who tied this up, Keke? Somebody else with hooves instead of hands?”

“Bess,” she said, almost a whine. I kissed her cheek to keep her distracted while I swabbed the wound with water from a flask Ma passed me. “Lord a’mercy, this couldn’t have waited?”

“Waited ‘til what? You fainted right off the cart here? You already ruined your nice shirt.” I folded the aforementioned shirt twice and pressed it to her side, so that part of it covered her chest and part of it the gash. “Here. Hold this. Press it down hard.”

“I know how to dress a wound,” she muttered, but she did what I said. I heard Pa snicker above our wagon horse’s hoofbeats. “What am I supposed to wear then, Miss Fix-It?”

I didn’t have an answer for that, though we’d need to come up with something and right quick. The market town that served Sawgrass was but fifteen miles north and we were nearly there. She couldn’t go sauntering through the stalls and tip her hat to the church ladies with her bosoms out to the world. I was the only lucky soul who got to admire those bosoms. But we had more urgent matters just then, because if the bite in her side wasn’t seen to, she wouldn’t be sauntering anywhere at all.

Not to mention Jonnie’d think it a poor display of her expertise if word went around the limerunners she trained up so nice were still liable to bite—her or anyone else.

“Who gave you this anyway?” The sound of my voice would act as an anchor, and the question would force her mind to focus. I glanced at the boy trotting behind the wagon on his placid marsh-tackie, mounted to the side of the six limerunners following us in a string to market. The solid ponies were better at herding half-broke limeys than any dog. “That nasty blue-eyed one there? I’ll bet it was him.”

“Not him, Bess!” Aaron, Pa’s horse-boy, piped from my left. He winked his own blue eyes, one and then the other, and lifted his hat toward the limey my joke had been aimed at. A single icy eye glared out of a white blaze scarring the colt’s otherwise-inky coat. “She was out ‘fore light in Sanctus River to catch a few more.”

“Is that right,” I said, not at all a question, and tugged the linen strip in my hand just a little tighter than necessary. It wound around Jonnie’s ribs once and again, tucked beneath itself at intervals to form a basic plait. Her heart thudded under my palm, too fast and fluttering. “And how’d that go for you, Jonnie?”

She didn’t answer, just pressed her lips together and stared hard at the clear sky above us.

 

We’d planned to ride to market with six half-broke limeys, and so we’d proceeded, which meant that she hadn’t managed to catch any extra. Keke, the trained beast trotting in her own string, belonged to Jonnie and would never be sold. Six were what she and Pa had agreed on with a few people looking to buy, and so why she’d needed to go out and try to haul in a couple more…

 

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About Dee Holloway:


Dee Holloway is a librarian, writer, and Floridian in upstate New York. Bouncing between romance, speculative fiction, and essays, her work has appeared from publishers as varied as Neon Hemlock, Invisible Oranges, Ancillary Review of Books, World Weaver Press, and more. Her first chapbook was part of Sword & Kettle's Cup and Dagger series, and she co-edited The Book of Korinethians for Pink Plastic Press. When not dispensing reference services and story time, she's typically tweeting about coffee and horror at @_deeholloway. Explore recent work at Dee's profile on Chill Subs.
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Wednesday, October 19, 2022

The Shattered Spire (The Chronicles of Xax, Book 1) by Ted Cross

 

Release date: October 20, 2022
Subgenre: Epic Fantasy
 

About The Shattered Spire:

 

The magic of the Spire of Peace has banished evil from the Known Lands for more than twelve hundred years. When a dragon destroys the spire and murders the king, the realm is thrown into turmoil. As civil war looms, can the royal Kaldarion family regain control over the kingdom and restore peace?

Livia, 20, is the eldest child of the slain King Varun Kaldarion. Though the wisest and most learned of the surviving family members, tradition says she cannot inherit the throne.

Balmar, 18, is too feeble-minded to rule, but his uncle, Duke Erol, crowns him anyway in order to appoint himself regent.

Darus, 17, was exiled by the spire's magic due to his bitterness that his father never named him heir. By force of personality and skill at arms, he has risen to command the army of exiles at the fortress of East Gate. Now he plans to invade the realm and take back what he feels is rightfully his by birth.

Imric, 13, was disavowed by his father after his mother died birthing him. Raised by his sister Livia, few in the realm even know he exists. Little more than a pawn in the conflict between Duke Erol and his brother Darus, Imric may hold the key to reuniting the fractured realm.

 

Excerpt:

 

“I’m not keen on anyone wandering my castle unescorted,” the duke said.

“You do not wish the dragon slain?”

“Of course I do.”  Erol began to pace along the carpeting.  “But I’m not sure it can be done.  Our weapons do no harm.  I was told a soldier fired a scorpion bolt into the beast from short range and it could not pierce its hide.”

“You’re right,” Kathkalan said.  “No weapon of man can harm the dragon.  But my sword can.”

“You mentioned an exchange of aid.”

Kathkalan nodded.  “An army marches toward you.  I will help you against your rival.”

Duke Erol chuckled.  “Forgive me, but as potent a warrior as I imagine you are, how does a single elf help me win this coming battle?”

Kathkalan felt nothing but contempt for the duke.  He hated having to pretend courtesy with the man, as if they were equals.  This man whose entire existence was but a single grain of sand to the vast beach of Kathkalan’s life.  That the man understood nothing of what an elven warrior could do was not surprising.  But he bit back the replies that sprang to his tongue and concentrated on the task at hand.  “What do you feel, Duke Erol?”

“I don’t understand what you are playing at.”

“Your heart is not beating fast, so it would be very faint, but you should still be able to feel it.”

Duke Erol glared at the elf, then stopped pacing and seemed to concentrate for a moment.  His eyes widened.  “Just a small tingle, as of the old magic that is lost.  Is that it?”

Kathkalan pulled forth the shard of crystal on its chain.  “This came from your spire after it was destroyed.  The area it affects is not large, but it may be greatly beneficial in battle.  Your opponents are those who were driven away by the magic.  They will be weakened when they draw near, just as your warriors will be strengthened.”

Duke Erol took a step closer, then hesitated.  He held a hand up near the crystal.  “May I?”

Kathkalan removed the chain from around his neck and held it out.  The duke took it and walked over to an arrow slit to examine the crystal in the sunlight.  He looked long and hard before turning back to the elf.  “I apologize if I was brusque earlier.  This would be very helpful indeed.  If we may use this in the coming fight, I give you leave to look over my castle.  If you need help building your trap, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Kathkalan gave a tiny bow of his head to Duke Erol and reached out for the shard.  The duke hesitated for a moment and took another look at the crystal before handing it back.

 

Amazon | Audible

 

About Ted Cross:

Ted Cross is from Arizona and has spent the past three decades traveling the world as a diplomat, all the time dreaming about writing fantasy and science fiction. He has visited nearly forty countries and lived in ten, including the U.S., Russia, China, Croatia, Iceland, Hungary, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Italy, and Luxembourg. He has witnessed coup attempts, mafia and terrorist attacks, played chess with several world champions, and had bit parts in a couple of movies. He is married with two sons and currently lives in Luxembourg.

 

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