Category Archives: Culture

Reading Well: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Posted on August 2, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

2017’s An Unkindness of Ghosts is my first foray into Rivers Solomon‘s work. It is a story of resistance against oppression, explicitly seen through the dual lenses of class and race, all set on a ship hurtling through space on … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Zen Cho‘s Black Water Sister (2021) does three things exceptionally well. First, it captures a contemporary young, female protagonist with care, detail, and empathy. Born in Malaysia, but raised in the United States, she has now returned to Malaysia with … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

The Norse myths are a rich source of inspiration, so much so that they have been done poorly far more often than they have been done well (see Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology for an example of a deeply faithful example … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Susanna Clarke‘s Piranesi (2020) is a quirky, engaging novel. Part whodunnit, part meditation on mental health, the novel follows its protagonist through an alternate space, a massive mansion containing a nearly infinite network of rooms, situated by a shattered seaside. … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

We’re back with some more Helen Oyeyemi (see Boy, Snow, Bird and Ginger Bread) with 2009’s White is for Witching as I move throug the rest of her output (some of which I read before I started these little web … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Jade City by Fonda Lee

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

One of the beautiful and frustrating things about genre writing is that a single magnificent idea can carry an entire work. For me, such is the case with Jade City (2017) by Fonda Lee. The setting is a pseudo-Asian metropolis, … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar

Posted on February 17, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Sofia Samatar‘s A Stranger in Olondria (2013) stands out most of all for its literaryness, it you’ll allow the word. This is a fantasy novel that reads more like historical fiction, like a finely detailed account of lives lived a … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

{I’m always in a bit of a quandary on what to do with books in a series. I’ve sort of settled on reviewing the first book, then waiting and completing the rest of the series as a group. But I’m … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Burntcoat by Sarah Hall

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Y’all know I love me some Sarah Hall (see my writeups of Daughters of the North, The Electric Michelangelo, The Wolf Border, and her short story collection, Madame Zero). 2021’s Burntcoat is no exception for me. This book is likely … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

There are so many sub-genres out there … The Goblin Emperor (2014) by Katherine Addison is clear fantasy, set in a world of elves, goblins, and mixed offspring of the two. But it is what might be called something like … Continue reading →

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