It’s no secret or shock to anyone with a decent knowledge of history that America is a country built on the backs of enslaved people. When Michelle Obama, speaking at the DNC in 2016, stated that slaves built the White House, it generated waves of shock and faux outrage. How dare she point out a historical fact. I remember not being surprised by her statement at the time nor thinking it should be particularly shocking to anyone, but it was for white people who didn’t […]
The Right Words Can Change the World
This book is about taking the broken pieces of yourself and arranging them into something resembling a thinking and feeling person again. It’s about facing your deepest, most painful secrets and being able to exist with them and because of them. It’s about owning and honoring all the parts of you that scare you; whether those parts are wretched or wonderful. And it’s also about people with magical abilities who can defy gravity, change their appearance, heal instantly and fight with long, magical swords. Brandon […]
Creeping Dread Coated with a Veneer of Bigotry
My introduction to the works of H.P. Lovecraft was most likely the film Reanimator, though I don’t know if I realized the source at the time. I was interested in reading these stories because Lovecraftian mythos is has been the source of so much pop culture that I’ve imbibed – movies, books, video games – Lovecraft has either provided a source for other storytellers to embellish (as in the case of Reanimator) or has inspired all new horrors (like the xenomorph in Alien). Chances are […]
The Macaroni and Cheese of Fantasy Books
Peter David writes my very favorite Star Trek books. I discovered his work at some point in the ’90’s when I was still interested in attempting to read all the Star Trek novels related to The Next Generation. The lack of quality of most of the TNG ties-ins made it quite an effort, and then Peter David comes along. I don’t remember exactly which novel of his I read first, but I remember Imzadi being the point at which I decided to go from buying […]