C0smic Occurence

To Ride a Rising Storm – No Middle Book Slump Here

I have been waiting for this sequel for a long time (and waited longer because the Library hold time was so long!). I read To Shape a Dragon’s Breath before I started this blog and loved it for … so many reasons. For those who haven’t read that book, go read it now if you have any interest in a slice of life story interested in exploring indigenous takes on classic fantasy concepts, nuanced and rigorous depictions of racism in many forms, and a rambunctious dragon hatchling with quills!

For those who have read To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, the TLDR of this review is that your feelings about Book 2 will probably be the exact same as Book 1. If you disliked the first, this won’t win you back. If you liked it, you’ll find this book to be a feast.

The Premise:
Anequs’s world continues to shift. As she prepares for her second year at Kuiper’s Academy – which she plans to be her last – she begins to come to terms with the impact her fame and position have on her homeland. Her home has far more eyes on it than ever before, she can’t properly talk about her romantic intentions with either Theod or Liberty, and Kasaqua is big enough that she can’t fit in buildings anymore. She also faces rising discontent from the white nationalist political faction, comforting her friends whose struggles she doesn’t understand at all, and a variety of new faces at school.

Read If Looking For: when the leopards came to eat their faces, characters who don’t always get it right but own up to it, tough conversations between characters you love

Avoid If Looking For: lots of dragon riding, easy victories for the main character, one dimensional characters

The Red Winter -A Bloody Debut

Are werewolves going to be a theme of 2026 for me? This is the second book in as many months that did some really interesting things with werewolves in historical France (read this for more straightforward and readable style, or try The Wolf and His King for a more bespoke experience). My partner and I are watching the Twilight films for some fun date night mockery. I really want to read The Devourers by Indra Das soon. Werewolves just seem to be everywhere in my life right now.

If you’re interested in a werewolf story that focuses on hunting one down and killing it, this is your jam. No werewolves were kissed in the reading of this book, and they spend most of their time ripping the hearts out of any living thing they can find. I actually think that a good comparison point for this story is The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, but darker and geared towards adults. The Red Winter is one of the most competently-written debut novels I’ve picked up recently, and I’m excited to read more by Sullivan in the future.

The Premise:
Sebastian was granted immortality when he bonded with Sarmondel, his demonic Guest. This book him reminiscing about his time in France in the 1700s. One storyline follows him joining a large hunt for a monstrous beast ravaging the countryside, falling in love with the young lord Antoine along the way. Another is set 20 years later as he is summoned by Antoine’s son to kill the beast that returned to ravage the countryside. The final storyline is told by Livia, Sebastian’s succubus slave, as she investigates the supernatural oddity that is Joan of Arc. At the center of all three storylines is the Warfather, Ares, Mars, whom Sebastian’s Guest hopes to feast upon.

Read If Looking For: brisk narration, a trail of bloody bodies, snarky footnotes, religious zealotry

Avoid If Looking For: deep characterization, romantasy, impactful female characters

Comparable Media: The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obafulon, These Burning Stars

Kalyna the Cutthroat – An Introspective Refugee Story

This book really snuck up on me. I enjoyed Kalyna the Soothsayer quite a bit despite some flaws and a hefty dose of suspended disbelief. I knew this story would be a different, more somber tale, but I didn’t expect to get sucked into this book as much as I did. It’s got some flaws – major ones, in my opinion – but I found myself consistently thinking about the questions that Spector posed. My reaction to it reminded me a bit of Walking Practice by Dolki Min (a very different story) because I just couldn’t stop thinking about the ideas presented. I’m beginning to think Spector is a writer capable of writing a real masterpiece, and I’m excited to continue following his work.

I think this book can be read independently of its predecessor, but you’ll be aware of the fact that there was a book that came before. You’ll be able to smell Kalyna’s main character energy, and her exploits from the previous book come up several times. However, the core story is about a new character and his complicated relationship with society.

Elevator Pitch:
Radiant Basket of Rainbow Shells is a scholar of curses, travelling abroad to collect knowledge. When the Loashti Empire declares his people as dangerous and revokes their citizenship, he flees with the help of some mercenaries, including Kalyna. We get a decent amount of travel at the start, but most of the book centers around their time at the Lanrius River Guild (spelling? I listened to the audiobook), an anarchist utopia that’s going through plenty of growing pains but is trying to live with as little hierarchy and division as possible. Radiant negotiates whether he wants to be part of this community, whether the community is a good place, and what he can do to help both his family and his people, whom face a persecution he is temporarily free from.

Read If Looking For: fantasy that deals with ethics, casual queerness, optimistic anarchists

Avoid If Looking For: action, comedy, or magic

Comparable Media: The Mars House, A Choir of Lies, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Barbalien: Red Planet – An Optimistic Story set in a Tragic Past

It’s unsurprising that the AIDS epidemic has been notably absent from Fantasy and Science fiction novels. There are lots of reasons for this: many read for escapism, the 80s/90s isn’t a common time period for fantasy or science fiction in general, and AIDS doesn’t fit neatly into the cute love story narrative that traditional publishers have historically leaned on when writing books about gay men. Things are improving – traditionally published trans protagonists exist, though they’re still rare – and there are a few novels that have tackled the idea (though I couldn’t bring myself to keep reading the train wreck that was Disco Witches of Fire Island). I live in hope, but my hopes aren’t very high.

Comics have actually done a much better job of engaging with the topic, though not always well. I got to teach a few lessons on the representation of AIDS in superhero comics a few years ago, and I’m hoping I’ll have the chance to expand it into a full unit soon. Barbalien was part of that journey, and a great example of how mainstream comics have evolved on the issue over 30 years. Barbalien is set in the The World of Black Hammer, a superheroverse more or less analogous to DC or Marvel. You really don’t need any previous context for the story, so don’t feel like you need to jump in ‘at the start’ if you aren’t interested in the cute and satirical set of villain interviews that form the universe’s first installment. Barbalien is a more serious story, but not so bleak as to suffer accusations of torture porn.

Finally, it’s important to note that while Jeff Lemire seems to be listed as the main author, the story is a collaboration between him and Tate Brombal. The actual script (dialogue, panel by panel story descriptions, etc) is all Brombal, an openly gay comic writer.

The Premise
Mark Markz is from Mars. When masquerading as a human, he works as a cop trying to do good. When openly martian, he fights crime as Barbalien. When both personas are needed at an AIDS protest, Mark comes into contact with Miguel, a young activist whose partner recently died of AIDS. As they fall in love, Mark grapples with his growing realization of how the system he works for is a force of oppression, finds connections in the queer underground, and is hunted by a rival from Mars.

Read If Looking For: queer joy, queer pain, and queer love

Avoid If Looking For: sympathetic cops, cinematic fight scenes, fleshed out supporting characters

The Spear Cuts Through Water – Epic Fantasy told Three Ways

Words are not enough to describe how nervous I was to suggest my in-person book club read The Spear Cuts Through Water. Was it everything I remembered, or are my memories clouded by the pink haze of nostalgia? Would my friends like it as much as I did? Was the brutality and violence of the book excessive? Would I still think about this as my favorite book of all time? That’s a lot of pressure to put on a book, and expectations are the mother of all disappointment.

Thankfully, it absolutely stood up to the book of my memories. I think I liked it more this time around, and I certainly noticed things that I had missed in my first readthrough. The jury is still out on whether or not my friends will love it like I do. My only regrets are starting this book a little too close to our book club meeting – it’s tomorrow! – which coincided with a bout of brain frog that left Jimenez’s gorgeous pose a bit more difficult than I was equipped to handle after a long day of work. However, I consider it the best book I’ve ever read, and it represents the direction that I wish epic fantasy would start to explore.

The Premise:
In the inverted theater, the child of Moon and Water performs for you a story of your people’s history. You’d heard this story before. It is the one your Lola told you and that you told your brothers in turn. It follows Keema and Jun, one an outcast with one arm and the other a monster of a man searching for a path towards redemption. They escort the Moon in her desperate bid to escape the empire freeing her from 8 generations of servitude and the people from 8 generations of tyranny. This is a tender story of the journey of two boys, a chronicle of the death of an empire, an exploration of guilt and shame and violence, and it is a story about how our past ripples into our future.

Read If Looking For: a simple story transformed by its format, an ode to the oral history of Fantasy, standalone epic fantasy, a very wise tortoise

Avoid If Looking For: straightforward storytelling, books free from graphic violence or sexual assault, rapid pacing

Comparable Media: Spear (by Nicola Griffith), Hyperion, Princess Mononoke

April Reading Roundup

Oh April, the best month of the year! Spring break, packing up winter coats, and diving into a new bingo challenge. It’s been a bit hectic on the work front (I’m so tired of writing curriculum! Summer break please arrive), and a headcold kept me from getting as much read at the end of the month as I’d like. I’m realizing that I was … perhaps too ambitious in what I thought I could accomplish this month. Lots of books I promised would be April reads got put by the wayside, and I continue to be in a constant war with my unwillingness to put books down if I’m not enjoying them. The hope on the horizon is that the r/fantasy Pride Month planning is well underway! It’s work, but good work.

One of the highlights of my month was spending a delightful hour discovering the work of Weston Wei, whose art has captured my imagination and soul. Do I want to do a monthly artist feature? I probably don’t have the expertise for that, but the vibes here are immaculate.

Anyways, here’s some book stuff. The favorites, the forgettables, and the unfinishables!

Insectopolis – Bad for Entomophobes, Good for Fun Facts

As I’m continuing to explore the ways that I can use graphic novels in my classroom, I’ve begun taking a look at more and more graphic nonfiction. Insectopolis is kind of odd, as it’s half nonfiction and half post-apocalyptic xenofiction (humans die and it turns out bugs can talk like you or me), with plenty of fun tidbits inside. Lesson learned though, graphic novels are NOT to be read on my cell phone. I’ve got to figure out a better way to e-read comics.

The Premise
Set in an insect exhibit at the New York public library both before and after humans have died off the face of the earth, this book pops from topic to topic in the insect world. It touches on biology, ecology, and biographies of human naturalists as it takes you on a tour of the bug world.

Read If Looking For: a survey of the insect world, notes on how bugs have affected the course of human history, ants that complain a lot

Avoid If Looking For: a rigorous examination of any particular insect or event, anatomical diagrams of bugs, nonfiction without frills or fluff

Comparable Media: Magic School Bus, the educational movie you watched when your science teacher was sick

Psycop – A Guilty Pleasure Binge Read

As a teenager, I was mildly obsessed with the Stephanie Plum series, which featured a chaotic detective (private eye?) who solved crimes and was torn between a hot Italian cop and a hotter brooding guy named Ranger. At one point I even went to the library’s book club when the newest book came out, which was me and a bunch of middle aged women. I got invited to their Jazzercise class. It was awesome. Anyways, Psycop feels a bit like that, but spooky and gay. I was really into thrillers growing up – David Baldacci had me in a chokehold before college – and it’s been nice to reconnect with that part of my reading history. Psycop isn’t building my brain up or pushing me to consider anything serious, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun. This review covers my thoughts on the first three books in this series, all novella length.

The Premise:
Victor Bayne is part of a supernatural investigations unit. He can speak to the dead, which is mostly a pain in his ass except when it helps him do his job. That’s why he’s addicted to psychic suppressants. His partner just retired right in time for a murder scene to pop up that is mysteriously free from voices. Also on this case is Jacob Marks, a hunky mundane cop who recently jacked Victor off in the bathroom while they were at the retirement party for Victor’s old partner. Each book follows a new crime or mystery to be solved, often with a brand new cast member to spice up the dynamic for the book

Read If Looking For: a lead with a bunch of baggage, quick pacing, paranormal thrillers with a side of romance

Avoid If Looking For: books free from ‘pointless’ sex scenes, thematic depth, criticisms of the US police state

Comparable Media: Steaphanie Plum, Magic for Liars, Bones

Witchmark – Bikes and Murders with a side of Medicine

I’m not sure why Witchmark languished on my shelf for years. I already know that I love Polk’s writing, and Witchmark was on the forefront of queer content from Tor and Orbit releases right as it was starting to become more commercially acceptable for traditional publishers to put out queer books. It was one of 12 books I committed to read in 2026, and I’m glad I did! It sits in a setting I’ve not read much of (World War I adjacent, time period wise, though not set on Earth), but I think I need more bicycles in my fantasy. I don’t think I loved it quite as much as most others, but I had a great time and will be chasing down the sequels for sure.

The Premise:
Miles has a gift for healing. Unfortunately, his magic doesn’t involve controlling the weather, which means he had to run away from his aristocratic family and fake his own death to prevent his father from turning him into a glorified magical battery for the Storm Singers. He’s now a Doctor who focuses on mental health in a veteran’s hospital. He gets yanked back into his old life when a dying man is brought to him, a man who knows that Miles has magic. And the gentleman who brought that dying man also seems intent on the secrets that Miles has so desperately kept. He needs to solve the man’s murder, lay low, and prevent his sister from binding his freedom to her whims.

Read If Looking For: a story set after the war has ended, an oppressive oligarchy that hits a bit too close to home, grounded and messy sibling dynamics

Avoid If Looking For: a mystery where you put the clues together, deep explorations of PTSD, developed romance arcs

Comparable Media: Howl’s Moving Castle, A Marvellous Light, Full Metal Alchemist

Remarkably Bright Creatures – I Get the Hype … I Don’t Share It

This book was pretty far out of my wheelhouse, but it’s relentlessly good press plus my desire to stretch outside my comfort zone – this is so close to being realistic fiction in entirety – got me to pick it up. Octopuses are awesome, so what’s not to love? I left the book pretty torn: I understand why it worked for so many people, and I think if I were a bigger fan of realistic fiction I’d have enjoyed it. As it is, this was a slog to finish, despite really enjoying some significant chunks of the book.

The Premise
Brandon’s mother abandoned him at 9, and he never knew his father. After getting dumped by his girlfriend, he follows clues left behind to try and find his family. Tova is an aging woman who enjoys her knitting club and cleaning at the local aquarium, where she’s befriended the Giant Pacific Octopus. Marcellus is said octopus, who is desperately trying to find stimulation and enjoyment in his life.

Read If Looking For: heartfelt family stories, lovable old ladies, an octopus smarter than the humans who are stumbling through the plot

Avoid If Looking For: xenofiction to be the focal point, characters to communicate with each other

Comparable Media: A Man called Ove, Shadow Life