Category Archives: Essay

Building Beyond: I Was Featured on Sarah Gailey’s Newsletter!

Sarah Gailey invited me to participate in their newsletter as part of their Building Beyond series, which consists of a collection of worldbuilding prompts answered by various writers and fans. I had a ton of fun writing about the prompt, and I wanted to share it with you all here too in case you missedContinue reading “Building Beyond: I Was Featured on Sarah Gailey’s Newsletter!”

Finding What Was Meaningful – a 2020 Retrospective

I started a “Best of 2020” list. Then, I started over. I scrapped it. Started again. I looked through my books, ran my fingers down their spines, and tried once more. I threw together a spreadsheet from Goodreads, sorted it by date, then by rating, then by author. Deleted it in frustration when the books didn’t feel the way I needed them to. I couldn’t do it.

Does The Player of Games by Ian M. Banks Hold Up to a Modern Reading?

Within the context of its time, The Player of Games is a shockingly progressive novel. Given that it was written at the height of the AIDS epidemic, I’m impressed that Ian M. Banks chose to deliberately and consciously include queer themes and explicitly endorse homosexuality as something that is not just okay, but also aContinue reading “Does The Player of Games by Ian M. Banks Hold Up to a Modern Reading?”

The Rape of Galadriel: A Deadly Education’s Mishandled Treatment of Sexual Assault

In some ways, she was very close to getting it right. From a sensory and emotional standpoint, Novik’s writing is evocative and authentic. Unfortunately, the context surrounding the “assault” (a maleficaria attack described in terms of rape) leaves much to be desired.

The Impact of R.B. Lemberg’s Birdverse: A Second Look at ‘The Four Profound Weaves’

While I’ve already waxed poetic previously on this novella’s merits in a full review back in March, a small reprise is called for as we near its release date. The prediction I made back then still holds true; I don’t think I’ve stopped recommending this book any time it’s even slightly relevant to someone’s interests.

Exploring Trauma Through Speculative Fiction

When I was a freshman in high school, my Honors English teacher had a poster on her wall above the whiteboard. It was a faded yellow, with a plain, sans serif, black font. Arial, possibly, though I couldn’t say it for certain. It had been printed on a standard printer and then clumsily laminated, likely in that very building.