We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today, this time with a review of Middlegame by Seanan McGuire. An alchemical fairy tale, Middlegame is the story of not-quite-human twins–Roger and Dodger–who created in…
Thea
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! In celebration of May the Fourth, aka Star Wars day, it is Thea’s turn, with a list. In celebration of Star Wars, Thea shares a list of three recently…
Title: Sherwood Author: Meagan Spooner Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult Publisher: HarperTeenPublication Date: March 2019Hardcover: 480 pages Robin of Locksley is dead. Maid Marian doesn’t know how she’ll go on, but the people of Locksley town, persecuted by the Sheriff of…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn, with a review of romantic YA fantasy novel A Curse So Dark And Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with a modern and multi-world fantastical…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn, with a review of Sarah Beth Durst’s newest fantasy novel, The Deepest Blue. A spinoff novel set in the world of Renthia–in which elemental spirits try to kill…
Title: The Wicked King Author: Holly Black Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young ReadersPublication Date: January 2019Hardcover: 336 pages This exclusive edition contains deleted scenes sure to delight fans and give them a special peek into the world…
“Inspirations and Influences” is a series of articles in which we invite authors to write guest posts talking about their Inspirations and Influences. In this feature, we invite writers to talk about their new books, older titles, and their…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn, with a list of some awesome female-centric and female-authored fantasy, leading up to the final season (!) of Game of Thrones. There are powerful queens and evil sorceresses,…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn this time with a review of Tehlor Kay Mejia’s debut YA novel, We Set The Dark On Fire. A dystopian fable that is not too far away from today’s world (at…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today with a review of Kiersten White’s newest: YA urban fantasy novel Slayer. Like basically every other SFF nerd of the past 20 years, Thea is…
Title: The Flicker Men Author: Ted Kosmatka Genre: Science Fiction Publisher: Henry Holt & CoPublication date: July 2015Hardcover: 352 pages A quantum physicist shocks the world with a startling experiment, igniting a struggle between science and theology, free will and fate, and…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn, this time with a review of Yoon Ha Lee’s much-anticipated middle grade science fiction novel, Dragon Pearl. Thea has been a huge fan of Yoon Ha Lee’s…
Today we bring bring back our feature, “What She Said…” in which we both review books that the other has previously read and reviewed. This feature arose because of a very serious dilemma we faced at Casa de Smugglers:…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn this time, with an impassioned defense of some favorite anti-heroes–inspired by her reading of Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C Dao. Heroes are great and all, but are a…
Title: The Kingdom of Copper Author: S.A. Chakraborty Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Harper VoyagerPublication date: January 2019Hardcover: 640 pages S. A. Chakraborty continues the sweeping adventure begun in The City of Brass—”the best adult fantasy I’ve read since The Name of the Wind” (#1 New York Times bestselling…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today with a review of Furyborn by Claire Legrand. The first book in a new series from Claire Legrand, Furyborn tells the story of two different…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today with a review of Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri. The debut novel from Tasha Suri, Empire of Sand is a historical fantasy novel inspired…
In which we reveal the cover and open preorders for The Anthology–a limited edition printed collection of the first four years of short stories from Book Smugglers Publishing. Today, we are utterly delighted to share with you the publication…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today with a review of Nightflyers by George R.R. Martin. Originally published in 1980 as a novella, and now fodder for a brand new SyFy original…
We are delighted to share an excerpt from the second novel in Tade Thompson’s highly acclaimed Wormwood trilogy science fiction series, The Rosewater Insurrection. About the Book The second volume in a vibrant and compellingly told trilogy by one…
Earlier this year we published six original short stories online for free and as standalone ebooks, all under the theme of “Awakenings.” Today, we are thrilled to announce that we have collected each of these short stories in an…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today with a review of Umbertouched by Livia Blackburne. The second and concluding novel in the Rosemarked duology, Umbertouched is beautifully characterized, self-contained, and full of…
Title:The Defiant Heir Author: Melissa Caruso Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Orbit Publication date: April 2018 Paperback: 515 pages Across the border, the Witch Lords of Vaskandar are preparing for war. But before an invasion can begin, they must call a…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! Thea takes over today with her review of Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean. A standalone YA fantasy novel set in a fictional Japanese-inspired world, Empress of All…
Here, Have A Creepypasta: Channel Zero and Slender Man (and a Giveaway)
I’ve always thought creepypasta was a great word. For those uninitiated, creepypastas are horror-related legends or images that have been copied and pasted around the Internet, most often focusing on supernatural horror (although serial killers, suicide, and other non-supernatural…