Fiction

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Putting the Steam in Steampunk

    First of all, what is this steampunk, anyway? Think of it this way. If the kind of technology in Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth or Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea actually worked, if all those marvelous Victorian steam-powered machines, and we used airships like the Hindenburg instead of airplanes, well,… Continue reading

  • Historical Fiction: Tall Ships and the Napoleonic Wars

    During the Age of Sail, which lasted roughly from the 16th to mid-19th century, elaborately-rigged tall ships served to transport goods and passengers and to wage wars, like the Napoleonic Wars, which is famously portrayed in the fiction of Patrick O’Brian. O’Brian’s 21 novel series featuring Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin were first published between… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Bluestockings in Romance

    Not all the heroines in historical romances love going to balls and attending soirees. There are some that prefer the quieter things in life; like reading a book. There have always been women (at least in the pages of romances) who would rather be reading! Bluestockings were educated, intellectual women. Romances featuring bluestockings as heroines are… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: 3 steampunks perfect for summer reading

    Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells edited by Ellen Datlow A stunning collection of short stories by some of the best fantasy authors in the field that range from lush historical fantasy to thrilling steampunk, and everything in between. Plenty of revenge tales (a personal favorite of mine) and all the authors capture the Victorian period… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Ex-Box

    Now it’s not a gaming console, it’s that little box in the back of your closet or in the storage unit at your apartment, that little box of doom and gloom. I’ve come to believe that most of us have a Pandora’s box of heartbreak. It has the power, once opened, to bring back all… Continue reading

  • A Tale of Two Burgs

    In July of 1863, 150 years ago, Blue still fought Gray and the fate of a nation was hanging in the balance. Two great battles ensued simultaneously, one to control the western nation and one as an invasion of the north. At Vicksburg, Mississippi, a great siege was in progress under the command of General… Continue reading

  • Warm Bodies screening with author Isaac Marion

     Can love make a dead heart beat again? Shamble in to the Central Library to watch the newly released zombie romance film “Warm Bodies” and meet the book’s author, Isaac Marion, for a question and answer period afterward. Isaac Marion has recently completed a prequel novella and is currently working on the sequel to Warm Bodies.… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Military Romance

    They say that everyone loves a man (or woman) in uniform. So much so that there are whole platoons of romances with military or ex-military heroes and heroines. Enough to make military romances a special force in romance of their very own. If you’d like to see a romance featuring those currently serving, you can’t… Continue reading

  • Historical Fiction: The American Revolution

    Some of us remember the Kent Family Chronicles by John Jakes, an eight volume historical fiction series first published in the 1970s and popular for years among historical fiction readers. What better time than July to read (or re-read) Jakes’ vision of what life was like in the 18th century for fledgling Americans who believed… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: The 5 best queer sci-fi reads of the decade

    Farthing by Jo Walton Set in an alternate 1949 where Hitler won the war, Lucy and David become embroiled in a murder investigation and their only hope of exoneration is the work of a Scotland Yard investigator with secrets of his own. A wonderfully clever and dark murder mystery that has quite a bit to say… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: If you like Jane Austen

    If you’ve read everything by Jane Austen, and would like more in that same vein, you should try Georgette Heyer. Heyer has been credited with writing the first modern historical romance novels. Many of her novels are set in the Regency era in England (the same time period/location as Jane Austen’s novels), and she also wrote… Continue reading

  • Historical Fiction: The wives of Henry VIII

    Divorced, beheaded, died Divorced, beheaded, survived So much historical fiction relates to King Henry VIII in some way: his mother, his sister, his niece, his Church, his advisors, his children and his wives. Most of us have a blurred idea of who these wives were and which ones were executed, though many readers know Anne… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: One for the Guys, One for the Gals

    There are precious few movies about LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) people in which a character doesn’t die, kill somebody, commit a crime or remain closeted and self-loathing. Why is it so difficult for Hollywood to make a grand gay romance—or even a simple one? Be that as it may, in recent years the number… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Contemporary summer reads

    Summer is just around the corner in Seattle! It’s almost time to relax on the beach at Golden Gardens with a good romance novel. If you’re looking for the ideal summer romance novel filled with witty banter and great character chemistry, you can’t go wrong with the current queen of contemporary romance: Susan Elizabeth Phillips,… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Paranormal romance vs. urban fantasy

    Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy are like kissing cousins. Considering all the vampires and werewolves involved, maybe that should be biting cousins. The big difference between Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance is usually where the focus is placed in the story. It’s not that Paranormal Romances can’t include an other-than-human hero or heroine, or that… Continue reading

  • Lumpen London

    The loveable con artist is a staple of British literature.  Lucky Bunny by Jill Dawson fits the pattern, but with a whip smart female protagonist who comes full circle from stealing from doorsteps to keep her little brother fed, to taking part in the heist of the century to escape from an abusive husband with… Continue reading

  • Historical Fiction: Where do you want to go?

    What are your travel plans this summer? Chances are you can easily find a historical fiction book to enhance your visit if you are traveling to Great Britain, Mexico, Australia or Western Europe. Finding good historical novels set in other places is more difficult. Below is a short list of recently-published historical novels that might… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: The 5 Iain Banks books you must read

    It’s almost unbearably depressing that for the second week in a row this column in taken up with a tribute to a fallen giant of the genre. This past weekend British science fiction and mainstream writer Iain Banks died at the age of 59. Banks had publicly announced two months ago that he had been… Continue reading