Iāve been reading and writing stories for as long as I can rememberāand the weird ones have always been my favorite. I discovered many of my favorite books by wandering into my local library, telling the librarian about my strange reading interests, and allowing them to set me up with literary masterpieces of the most unusual kind. Once I knew how to bend the rules of genre and form to create something original, I took to creating my own weird stories, and have been doing so ever since in my novels, short stories, D&D characters, and bedtime stories for my bird.
Bats of the Republic is by far one of the most engaging, unique reading experiences I have ever had the delight to enjoy. The breathtaking art decorating every page (and I do mean every page, from the copyright page to the back of the dust jacket) enhances a deep and intriguing story.
One of my favorite parts of this book is that every piece of writing you encounter comes from one of the characters in the story. This makes for a completely immersive experience as you flip through maps, examine drawings of new animal species, and even uncover a few secret messages. Dodsonās incredible art and one-of-a-kind narrative style create a complex, deep world that I couldnāt help but fall in love with.
"Archetypes of the cowboy story, tropes drawn from sci-fi, love letters, diaries, confessions all abound in this relentlessly engaging tale. Dodson has quite brilliantly exposed the gears and cogs whirring in the novelistās imagination. It is a mad and beautiful thing.ā --Keith Donohue, The Washington Post
Winner of Best of Region for the Southwest in PRINTās 2016 Regional Design Awards
Bats of the Republic is an illuminated novel of adventure, featuring hand-drawn maps and natural history illustrations, subversive pamphlets and science-fictional diagrams, and even a nineteenth-century novel-within-a-novelāan intrigue wrapped in innovative design.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā In 1843, fragile naturalist Zadock Thomas must leaveā¦
A Prayer for the Dying is the only full-length novel Iāve ever read entirely in second-person perspectiveāwhich makes for a white-knuckle-grip adventure as the narrator drags the reader along a dark, haunted path, which is also a little bit on fire.
This ghost story full of living people (at first) follows a hard-working and dedicated protagonist who tries to protect his little town of Friendship as it faces disaster after horrible disaster. The narrative of the story unfurls like a tidal waveāterrifying, yet impossible to look away from as it sweeps away everything in its path. This scary story is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Set in a leafy Wisconsin town just after the American Civil War, this story opens one languid summer's day. Only slowly do events reveal themselves as sinister as one neighbour after another succumbs to a creeping, fatal disease.
Cygna is the kingās fairy get, born with a swan wing in place of an arm. Something monstrous to hide away. But when a monster from the Underworld appears, theyāre all too happy to sacrifice her life for theirs. The kingdom is withering into a wasteland, and the Lindworm isā¦
Jonathan Stroudās Bartimaeus Sequence, consisting of a trilogy and prequel novel, was one of the founding books for my love of fantasy. This is mostly due to the unique and engaging dialogue of one of the booksā protagonists: the ancient demon Bartimaeus.
Bartimaeusās witty and hilarious interjections to the story come in the form of footnotes, which leave delightful little bits of information for the reader to enjoy throughout the narrative. These footnotes contain worldbuilding info, situational commentary, or even (my favorite) demon jokes.
The first volume in the brilliant, bestselling Bartimaeus sequence.
When the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus is summoned by Nathaniel, a young magician's apprentice, he expects to have to do nothing more taxing than a little levitation or a few simple illusions. But Nathaniel is a precocious talent and has something rather more dangerous in mind: revenge. Against his will, Bartimaeus is packed off to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace, a master magician of unrivalled ruthlessness and ambition. Before long, both djinni and apprentice are caught up in a terrifying flood of magical intrigue, murder and rebellion.
Have you ever read a book made up of notes between two interesting people? What about if those people were time-traveling agents of rival time-travel agencies sent to destroy each other? And what if their means of communicating was a little bit more interesting than the typical snail-mail correspondenceālike manipulating tree rings over a hundred years to scrawl a message in code?
No matter what way you slice itāas a creative sci-fi/spy thriller or budding sapphic romanceāThis is How You Lose the Time War is a fantastically fun read.
WINNER OF The Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella, the Reddit Stabby Award for Best Novella AND The British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novella
SHORTLISTED FOR 2020 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award The Ray Bradbury Prize Kitschies Red Tentacle Award Kitschies Inky Tentacle Brave New Words Award
'A fireworks display from two very talented storytellers' Madeline Miller, author of Circe
Co-written by two award-winning writers, This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epic love story spanning time and space.
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. Itā¦
When Syd Brixton was eleven years old, her identical twin vanished from a park and was never found.Ā
Now twenty years later, Sydās favorite customer, Morley, is killed in a horrific accident outside the pub where Syd works. Moments before Morley dies, he gives Syd an extraordinary gift: the powerā¦
Due to my short attention span, I was hesitant to read this book at first, due to the words āHistoryā and āMemoirā in the title; however, āDragonsā sold me, and Iām very glad it did.
This book reads like a classic Victorian travel narrative, following an intelligent and likable protagonist in her quest to learn more about the natural life around herānamely, dragons. The way this genre-bending novel treats dragons, showing them in scientific diagrams and field drawings, makes for an interesting semi-fantasy world thatās exciting to step into and so much fun to explore.
Everyone knows Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, prospects, and her life to satisfy scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the mountains of Vystrana, where she made discoveries that would change the world.
When an army of unknown invaders attack, the United States - and perhaps the whole world - finds itself woefully unprepared. The deadliest part of the planet-wide assault is not how swift and ruthless the attackers are, but rather the fear that these people aren't quite human.
For a thrilling ride on a post-apocalyptic emotional rollercoaster, dive into Wyrforra and see if humanity is ready for a global attack from within.
When Syd Brixton was eleven years old, her identical twin vanished from a park and was never found.Ā
Now twenty years later, Sydās favorite customer, Morley, is killed in a horrific accident outside the pub where Syd works. Moments before Morley dies, he gives Syd an extraordinary gift: the powerā¦
What if the gods could be FORCED to answer our prayers? Amelia and her friends were once DnD-style fantasy adventurers, who found themselves launched into science fiction when they discovered their medieval worldās āgodsā just have access to space-age biomech.
Since ascending to "godhood" herselfāthat is, earning a place onā¦
