C0smic Occurence

A Rune in the Rubble

One of my goals in 2025 was to read more truly unknown books. Some of my favorite reads have been nearly unknown, and popularity is no indicator of quality. Steven Cavehill’s pitch for his book on r/queersff caught my eye, and I mentally bookmarked it for when I started one of my kindle binges. It’s got some classic high fantasy and dystopia elements, and was a fun read. I’ll definitely pick up the sequel, but I also hope that Cavehill goes through a final round of line-edits on his writing next time around.

The Premise:
Rhys is a city guard relegated to paperwork, much to the disappointment of his noble family. He’s dating the mildly possessive leader of the demon-hunter Rangers, an organization he’s working to join. Ambrose is a half-elf thief desperately trying to buy a better life for his younger brother. The two are on a collision course when Ambrose robs a noble runesmith, accidentally causing the house to burn down and starting a manhunt for him. A manhunt Rune is placed in charge of.

Read if Looking For: asshole families, always another secret, tropey fantasy characters, overly-dependent relationships, notices at the start and end of sex scenes

Avoid if Looking For: polished writing, characters who see the plot coming at them, books free from fantasy racism (elves)

Watchmen

Watchmen has been touted as one of the best comics to come out of all time. Historically, many such novels lauded as ‘all time bests’ in the fantasy and science fiction genres have not lived up to the hype for me. Watchmen however, feels like the real deal. It’s dark and gritty, a take on superheroes that feels more nuanced than other deconstructions of superhero stories I’ve seen (such as Hench, Steelheart, or The Boys, all of which I very much enjoyed). It’s tough to read in a lot of places, and not a story I was interested in binge-reading. However, the juice was absolutely worth the squeeze, and I think it has a lot of important things to say about America and its fascination with superheroes.

The Premise:
This story bounces back and forth in time, but mostly sticks in an alternate version of the 1980s. It follows the lives of superheroes far past their prime, and after the practice has fallen out of style. Woven in between their individual stories (including plenty of flashbacks to the not-so-good old days) is an investigation/conspiracy theory that these former-supers are being targeted , a brewing nuclear war between the US and Russia, and in-universe texts ranging from memoirs to news articles to pirate comics.

Read if Looking For: layers of theme, episodic chapters, cold war stories, low powered supers (mostly), comics that get studied at colleges, epistolary comics

Avoid if Looking For: mindless fun, protagonists who are good people, books free of sexism and homophobia, diverse protagonists

The War Arts Saga

This is a series that I find myself recommending a lot recently. Epic Fantasy meets Wuxia featuring steampunk Mongols is a really attention grabbing hook, and the series lives up to that promise admirably. I finally got around to finishing book 3 (somehow despite reading more than ever I find myself reading precious few sequels), so figured I’d do a write up for the entire trilogy. I left the series with mixed feelings, but definitely enjoyed the ride.

Read if Looking For: protagonists of many skill levels & ages, beautifully written fight scenes, chosen one subversions, grumpy mentors, sassy assassins

Avoid if Looking For: series that end as strong as they start, zero to hero storylines, clear good vs evil plotlines

5 Comic Mini-Reviews

I’ve been reading lot’s more comics recently, both for work as I continue to develop two seperate comics courses for middle and high schoolers, but also for personal pleasure. I’ll still do bigger reviews for comics that I want to dig a bit more deeply into, but for now enjoy a pre-Thanksgiving meal of some (mostly) light and fun comics.

The Sleepless

Going to sleep is probably one of my favorite things in the world; that said, I also feel like I’m constantly craving just a few more hours in the day. The Sleepless by Victor Manibo tackles the premise of what a world without sleep might look like, wrapped up in a cyberpunk-noir trenchcoat. I appreciated a lot about this book, and it surpassed my expectations knowing that this book both grew out of NanoWrimo and also is written by an author whose later work I have DNF’d. It’s a solid read, especially for people interested in exploring how a Cyberpunk society might come to be.

The Premise
Jamie is one of the Sleepless: the quarter of humanity who stays awake 24/7, one medical professionals are still scrambling to understand. He’s also an investigative journalist on the cusp of publishing a major corruption story when his boss Simon is murdered. Not only did Jamie find the body, but he’s also the last man to see Simon alive, making him a prime suspect in Simon’s death. Unfortunately, Jamie also seems to have a mysterious bout of amnesia, where he can’t remember going to work that night, even though the video footage clearly shows he was there.

Read if Looking for: near-future cyberpunk, greedy CEOs, chaos bisexual best friends, jacked drug dealers

Avoid if Looking for: scientific rigor, happy endings, multidimensional side characters, romance plotlines

Dark Rise

For me, C.S. Pacat has been a relatively no-brainer author for me. Their works are rarely perfect, but have consistently captivated me. Some are ruthless and full of content warning-worthy topics (Captive Prince), and others are overdramatic sports comics about a bunch of queer teens in a fencing club. Dark Rise seemed like a natural book that I’d love. However, I found it extraordinarily lacking compared to Pacat’s other works, and I struggled a lot with this one.

The Premise
In the midst of London’s industrial revolution, the Dark King is about to rise once more, ready to destroy the world. Will is the descendent of the Dark King’s only real foe, and is humanity’s only hope. Violet is a younger sister to an influential paladin for the Dark King’s cause. Together, they join with a mysterious organization called The Stewards, who are committed to keeping the Dark King from rising.

Read if Looking For: books with stereotypical emo haircuts, evil vs good as a core motif, YA that flirts with BDSM subtext, YA fantasy tropes of the 2020s

Avoid if Looking for: books that do more than set up a sequel, female viewpoint characters who have the same main character energy as the males, well-adjusted romance plotlines

Eight Billion Genies

Wish fulfillment (and how it can go horribly wrong) has been a mainstay in storytelling for a long, long time. I, like many of my generation, remember reading and analyzing The Monkey’s Paw in high school English class. In recent years, I haven’t found myself drawn towards stories featuring wishes, as I haven’t seen new ground being broken on a thoroughly explored idea. Eight Billion Genies changed that. Charles Soule and Ryan Browne created something really special with this one, and at 275 comic book pages, it’s a quick read.

The Premise:
When the population of earth reaches Eight Billion People, every human gets their own genie, each able to grant a single wish. Chaos immediately ensues, and the apocalypse is here, complete with cheese monsters and a moon that enjoys eating people. The Lampwick Bar owner wishes for his bar to be a safe haven free from the influence of wishes, leaving those inside (visitors from China, a father and son in grief, and a rock band in desperate need of rehearsal time) able to find a safer way forward. The story spends most of its time on the immediate aftermath of this even, followed by 8-10 years after the event, followed by 800 years after the event.

Read if Looking for: ensemble casts, stories spanning centuries, mischievous (but not evil) genies, whimsical art

Avoid if Looking for: morality lessons, stringent wish fulfillment adherence, innovative villains, genies with any relevance to their mythological origins

American Hippo

Inconsequential history facts can be a ton of fun. Apparently in the 1910s, the US government considered importing hippos as a new source of meat during food shortages. If the cocaine hippos of Columbia (and really any other invasive species) have taught us anything, it likely would have been a horrible idea with lots of downstream consequences. Thankfully, that world didn’t come to be, but it did result in a set of novellas and short stories by Sarah Gailey reimagining this possible history, blended with some Western set dressing, which was a premise too intriguing to pass up. I ended up liking River of Teeth (novella #1) quite a bit, but was mostly disappointed by Taste of Marrow (novella #2).

The Premise:
Houndstooth is a Hop, who raises and wrangles hippos. After his breeding ranch burned to the ground, he turned to a life of crime. Now he’s offered a job by the federal government to clear out feral hippos from the land his former ranch sat on, and which his most hated foe now runs a gambling empire on. Houndstooth’s crew consists of Archie, a fat French conwoman and longtime friend of Houndstooth; Hero, a nonbinary poisoner and demolitionist that Houndstooth quickly falls in love with; Adelia, a bisexual contract killer who is very pregnant; and Carter, Houndstooth’s former ranch hand who now works for his enemy.

Read if Looking for: bloodthirsty hippos, tropey characters, criminal crews totally not breaking the law, a queernormative American history, relaxed reads

Avoid if Looking for: thought-out alternate histories, meaningful Western elements, consistent characterization

The Devils

I shouldn’t have been surprised at how controversial Joe Abercrombie’s new release would be in parts of the fantasy fandom. The Devils is a departure from Abercrombie’s reputation as a character-focused writer interested in deconstructing classic fantasy tropes, and a popular author straying from their niche invariably invites criticism. At its core, this is a misfit adventure novel with a collection of villain archetypes as major players in an ensemble class. I thought the book was fun, a great audiobook to listen to at the gym, but probably not one that’s going to get recommended by me unless it’s a unique fit to someone’s requests. Had a great time with it though.

The Premise
Brother Diaz is a monk who thought he was destined for greatness when he was granted an audience with the Pope. Instead, he’s put in charge of a ratag group of prisoners to escort the long-lost princess of the Empire to take her throne. He’s got to wrangle a suave vampire, a bloodthirsty werewolf, an elf assassin, an egotistical necromancer, an immortal paladin, and a normal woman who has worked any job you could possibly imagine for at least a few weeks. Together, they must beat the odds – mostly just dead Empress’ four sons, all of whom want the princess dead – and complete their holy quest despite none of them wanting to be there (other than the paladin).

Read if Looking For: villain of the chapter, big personalities, extended fight scenes

Avoid if Looking For: a carbon copy of First Law, historical accuracy, a book impossible to call ‘safe’

The Chromatic Fantasy

I’m all about unapologetically queer books, and The Chromatic Fantasy definitely fits that brief. This book isn’t a tour-de-force on the trans experience, but it’s an extremely fun romp a book with great art that didn’t disappoint in the slightest. I need to wait a week or two to see if this has the emotional staying power to crack my top 10 of the year, but I think it’s got a pretty good shot.

The Premise
Jules hates being a nun, in no small part because he’s not a woman. To escape, he makes a deal with the Devil, gaining immortality and becoming a thief, swordsman, and general troublemaker. When he meets his match a fellow scoundrel, the two figure out what a life together might look like. Turns out, this life mostly looks very, very chaotic. Looming over Jules’ new life though, is the Devil constantly pushing Jules into isolation, depression, and doubt.

Read if Looking For: tricksters and thieves, anachronism and whimsy, more color than a chameleon at a rave

Avoid if Looking For: fully coherent plots, historical accuracy (or even consistency in the intensity of historical inaccuracies), memorable villains, books without nudity