At more than a quarter million words, Patrick Rothfuss's first book of the Kingkiller Chronicle trilogy, THE NAME OF THE WIND, defied the rules for a first novel and not only got published but debuted at #11 on the New York Times Best Seller list. In October 2015 it was optioned by Lionsgate for a movie, TV series and video game. How did he do it? A far-out Jedi mind trick? CH Lips has some ideas.
Read moreCinéma Multivérité: Catherynne M. Valente's RADIANCE, Reviewed
What's truth, in a decopunk alt-history novel about movies about alien whales? Lisa Mahoney and Theodore McCombs review Catherynne M. Valente's stunning Radiance.
Read moreSidekicks: A Speculative Fiction Anthology for MileHiCon
Sidekicks have always remained in the shadow of the hero...until now. MileHiCon's first speculative fiction anthology knocks it out of the park!
Read moreThe Heart Goes Last
Fiction Unbounders come together for a pile-on review of Margaret Atwood's latest, The Heart Goes Last
Read moreArmada: Ernest Cline, Puzzle Master, Writes Again
Ernest Cline's newest release gives gamers everywhere something to fight for: bragging rights for saving the Earth from total annihalation.
Read moreMarisha Pessl’s NIGHT FILM, Ann Radcliffe’s THE ITALIAN, and the Legacy of the Gothic Romance
How does the modern Gothic novel stack up against 1797's finest? Fiction Unbound uncovers some dark secrets.
Read moreSarah Pinborough in America
Who knows what kind of story Sarah Pinborough is going to share next, but you can bet it will be packed tight with ideas and it will probably have some darkness lurking in the heart of it.
Read moreThe Origamist: César Aira’s Folded Fictions
The Musical Brain, a new collection by Argentine avant-gardist César Aira, reviewed. With monkeys.
Read moreThe Dead Lands: An Apocalyptic Summer Road Trip
A review of Benjamin Percy's The Dead Lands: excellent summer reading.
Read moreInvasion of the Tearling -- on Secret-Keeping and Tearling as Moses
"The Invasion of the Tearling" is the second book in Erika Johansen’s "The Queen of the Tearling" trilogy. We discuss character and story development, biblical allusions...and propose spoiler-ridden speculations about the upcoming final book.
Read moreABOVE US ONLY SKY: An Interview With Author Michele Young-Stone
Prudence Vilkas was born with wings in 1973 Nashville. The doctors said they were a birth defect and her wings were surgically removed leaving small scars on her shoulders. But the ghost of her wings remains and ties her to generations of winged women across the sea. Author Michele Young-Stone and CS Peterson sit down to talk about winged women, historic horror, transcendence and the craft of writing.
Read moreSpeculative Slavery: Two PYMs and an Irritating Hologram
A look at how slavery haunts the speculative imagination, from Mat Johnson's Pym to Star Trek: Voyager's holographic Doctor.
Read moreGraphic Novels and Comics We Heartily Recommend
In anticipation of Denver ComicCon 2015, the Unbound Writers appreciate some of the best comics and graphic speculative fiction around. See you at the Con!
Read moreQueen of the Tearling: Strong Women Rule
What happens when a strong-willed teenaged queen confronts the corrupt rule of a neighboring queen? The Unbound Writers followed and admired Kelsea's heroic journey from obscurity to power and generosity.
Read more"The Buried Giant": A Quest to Remember
Kazuo Ishiguro's latest novel, The Buried Giant, follows an elderly Briton couple, Axl and Beatrice, as they travel through a vaguely Arthurian landscape of ogres, pixies, and a mist that makes everyone forget—which, given the generations of bloodshed between Britons and Saxons, may not be such a bad thing. Unbound Writers Lisa Mahoney, Theodore McCombs, CS Peterson, and Mark Springer debate whether the novel is, you know, good.
Read moreGOLDEN SON Swings Hard – and Then It Swings Hard Again
This solid sequel to Red Rising never slows down, but the turns are pretty hard.
Read moreThirty Birds Make a Man: Porochista Khakpour's THE LAST ILLUSION
Zal, the hero of Porochista Khakpour’s The Last Illusion, must remind himself again and again he is “not a bird not a bird not a bird.” Our protagonist’s conflict is a wonderfully specific one.
Read moreNeil Gaiman's TRIGGER WARNING: Ghost Stories Fit for Summer Campfires
Neil Gaiman’s most recent collection of short stories are calculated to chill to the bone. The collection is appropriately titled Trigger Warning. Triggers, Gaiman says in the introduction, refer to “those images or words or ideas that drop like trapdoors beneath us, throwing us out of our safe, sane, world into a place much more dark and less welcoming.” So, beware. The book is chock full of stories that would do well at a summer camp for adults, sitting around the campfire, engaged in a friendly competition to frighten each other to jelly before bedtime.
Read more"The Bone Clocks," Mitchell's Scintillating, Sprawling Adventure: Is This The Future?
THE BONE CLOCKS left us impressed, stressed and breathlessly engaged, while lighting one possible way toward the future of fiction.
Read moreContemporary Hero's Journey: The Post-Campbell Post
Join the Unbound Writers on a few hero's journeys as we illustrate a classic quest with Luke Skywalker, then diverge to follow Garth Nix's Clariel and Moira Young's Saba across The Dustlands.
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