SPEC.FIC

all about diverse, debut, and indie sci-fi & fantasy books written by women and nonbinary authors

Tag: five star

  • ARC Review: The Age of Calamities by Senaa Ahmad

    ARC Review: The Age of Calamities by Senaa Ahmad

    Absurd. Poetic. Provocative. Cannot recommend this ENOUGH!!

    The Age of Calamities by Senaa Ahmad is a collection of short stories that are as absurd as they are poetic and unexpected. Just when you think you know where the stories are going, BAM!…total-and-complete-upside-down-throw-the-tables-across-the-room switch up of events.

    It’s a delight to be surprised by movements in the plotlines after reading a lot of predictable fiction. It feels like traveling through wormholes…we are in one place and then suddenly we have been whisked away to a different place. All with elegance and a flourish after which trails a smirk you can feel shining at you through the page.

    Bullet summary:

    • short story collection (of 9 tales)
    • absurd twist of historical figures
    • poetic, hilarious, and provocative writing style

    The most memorable stories for me were Let’s Play Dead, The Wolves, and Choose Your Own Apocalypse (one which I can see why this is placed last and I would recommend reading last). While each story centered around “calamitous” moments and figures of history, they still felt very unique in the structure of how the author offers a point or statement or commentary. Each one felt like a new adventure or disturbing nightmare or hilarious happenings until they aren’t so hilarious anymore. It’s a bizarre set of tradgedies really. Funny, but not funny h.a.h.a…

    I highly highly recommend this to anyone who’s looking for something clever, for something different, for something to get swept up in for awhile, and for those of you that simply want to be in awe of the human imagination.

    Thank you to Henry Holt & Co. for the review ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All my thoughts are my own.

    Buy from Bookshop.org here.

    Disclaimer: This blog is part of the Bookshop.org affiliate program and I may earn a very small amount for each purchase made.

    Find more information on the author’s website linked here!

  • Firstborn of the Sun by Marvellous Michael Anson

    Firstborn of the Sun by Marvellous Michael Anson

    HIGHLY recommend this book – especially the audiobook. What an amazing performance from narrators Adjoa Andoh and Folake Olowofoyeku!!

    This is the first part of an epic fantasy series rich in Yoruba inspiration. Forbidden powers, political maneuvering, and secrets upon secrets. The magic system is well thought out and explained. The political lineage was a bit confusing at first as to who was related to who but eventually as the story progressed, it became very clear. So, if you are confused initially, continue to go with the flow – it’s worth it.

    I love the complex world that the author weaves with excellent character building and development, it’s incredible and I can’t wait for more!

    Find more information about the author and their books at their website linked here.

    Marve has been writing for over a decade and has self-published a thriller, HIS DARK REFLECTION, to critical acclaim. Her debut fantasy novel, FIRSTBORN OF THE SUN, is the first in a trilogy being published by Penguin Michael Joseph in October 2025. This novel also placed her as a finalist in many competitions, including the 2023 Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy Writers of Colour.

    Marve is an award-winning filmmaker, and when she’s not weaving fantastical tales, you can find her exploring life as a serial hobbyist, delving into everything from obsessing over myths and histories, collecting books and passionately assembling her own personal library to indulging in an unapologetic obsession with all things Christmas. She is represented by Ciara Finan and Flo Sandelson at Curtis Brown Literary Agency (UK) and United Talent Agency (USA).

    She can be found online @justmarvewrites and justmarve.org

  • ARC Review: Burn the Sea by Mona Tewari

    ARC Review: Burn the Sea by Mona Tewari

    Burn the Sea is a rich historical fantasy that calls attention to the true story of Rani Abbakka Chowta, a Queen who led her people and allies in a successful resistance against the Portuguese colonizers in the 16th century.

    Mona Tewari’s writing brings history to life in a beautifully woven story of politics, love, loss, and a fight for freedom. I can’t fault the style, the pacing, the world-building. It’s lovely and well crafted. While there were some directions that the plot took that I found frustrating, it might be consistent with the historical inspiration and I think without would have made the plot and character development quite flat.

    Instead of a magic system, we have an imagined belief system involving Spirits and this was one of my favorite parts of the book. The interactions our protagonist has with the Spirits is incredibly charming and adds another wonderful layer of depth to the story.

    Burn the Sea flips the euro-centric historical script that often “others” those it seeks to conquer. This is told from the side of the people defending their shores against invasion and how they see the would-be colonizers.

    This is the first in a duology and Book #2 has been announced so stay tuned for more!

    I would highly recommend to fantasy and historical fiction lovers who adore a female protagonist leading a political fight for freedom against would be oppressors.

    Thank you to Boundless Press at Bindery Books for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

    Buy from Bookshop.org here.

    Disclaimer: This blog is part of the Bookshop.org affiliate program and I may earn a very small amount for each purchase made.

    Find more information about the author and their books at their website linked here.

  • ARC Review: Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois

    ARC Review: Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois

    This is a MUST read for 2026. A brilliant biting critique on christian faiths that manipulate believers with falsehoods, especially in order to control women and do away with others who don’t fall within their circle of acceptable ways.

    Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois is an amazing Haitian, LGBTQIAP+, and feminist story of pirates, mermaids, and gods. It sets itself apart with lush world building, mythology and lore, and characters representing those who have found their stories historically pushed out of traditional publishing. This is a beautiful book and I would highly recommend it!

    • LGBTQIAP+ representation
    • Haitian culture & mythology
    • Critique of harmful belief systems
    • Feminist / Matriarchal
    • Betrayal, romance, swordfights
    • A pirates life for me please 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Even though I read the eARC, I will absolutely be getting a physical copy to re-read!! (I don’t often re-read books)

    Thank you to Left Unread & Bindery Books for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

    Buy from Bookshop.org here.

    Disclaimer: This blog is part of the Bookshop.org affiliate program and I may earn a very small amount for each purchase made.

    Find more information about the author and their books at their website linked here.

  • ARC Review: Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity

    ARC Review: Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity

    SPECTACULAR…give me 14 of them right now!!

    This dark and haunting masterpiece just absolutely barrelled itself into my book-loving heart and obliterated whatever poor soul had previously held the title of ‘the best book I’ve read in recent memory’. The way I became an obsessive unrecognizable creature absorbing this story, these characters into my veins as directly and swiftly as possible, while at the same time mourning the fact that I would never again be able to read this book for the first time.

    Heba Al-Wasity sweeps us away with her beautiful, well-edited manuscript, her characters that burrow and nestle themselves in the dark corners of your heart, and a masterclass in creating atmosphere, depth, tension, anticipation, and feeling.

    Being pitched as a gothic fantasy, this means pain, and no doubt there is suffering here. You will feel it, you will feel everything, and it climbs and it builds like a wave about to devastate the shores of a sleeping village, unaware of the beast about to change its entire world in one crash. I was that sleeping village. And I’m awake now.

    Dear potential reader, I could summarize the plot and tell you about all of the poignant themes brilliantly laid bare for your consumption in Weavingshaw, but I promise that no matter what, once this book comes out, there will be severe FOMO for those who don’t immediately shell out what little value money has in the exchange of such a treasure.

    * Gothic

    * Political

    * Demons

    * Ghosts

    * Mysteries

    * A slow burn you will devour

    Leena Al-Sayer can see the dead; this is her most severely kept secret. But when she needs to exchange it for the life of her brother in a deal that will threaten to upend her already fragile situation, she bargains with the Saint of Silence. Not a Saint but a haunting mystery, one that slowly unravels into madness, demons, ghosts, and dark corners of the world that might have been better left unturned.

    The first book in a TRILOGY.

    Recommendation: I’d recommend this book to anyone, everyone!

    Additional compelling themes/commentary:

    * Legacy – and what men will do/have done to maintain it. How self-important they make themselves and how monstrous…how they feel fit to make decisions of fate like gods for those they see as less than or in control of simply for greed.

    * Exploitation – of the poor, the migrant, the refugee. How they are used and bled for the continued vitality of the rich and ruling class. How prison systems become businesses, profits before people…How ‘othering’ people makes it so easy to treat them as less than, to rationalize harming them.

    * Secrets – even the smallest of these can change the course of a life.

    * Family – and how sometimes the ones we love the most will move and shake our lives so violently we might find resentment haunting our relationships

    * Fear & Control – and that maybe, just maybe we might be stronger than we think when it comes to fighting our ghosts.

    Thank you to Del Rey for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

    Buy from Bookshop.org here.

    Disclaimer: This blog is part of the Bookshop.org affiliate program and I may earn a very small amount for each purchase made.

    Find more information about the author and their books at their website linked here.

  • Book Review: Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

    Book Review: Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

    Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots is a hilarious, fun, and devious story about superheroes and villains where you might just side with evil on this one. I certainly did.

    Plot Summary:

    Anna is a low-level assistant to villains working temp jobs when she is seriously injured by the most famous superhero alive. While recovering from her injury, she ends up calculating the costs of damage done by said superhero and others like him. Suddenly she finds herself employed again and diving into the world of true villainy or is it heroism? And maybe the superheroes aren’t so super after all?

    Author bio (from their website):

    “Natalie cultivates fandoms, builds new communities, develops character voices, leads interactive fiction workshops, designs alternate reality games, constructs branching narratives, and most mornings opens Tumblr before opening her eyes. Her client list includes scrappy indie game studios, critically acclaimed television shows, mixed martial artists, print magazines, talk shows, NGOs, and a few more that defy categorization.

    tl;dr: free lance, writer, memesmith, bailed academic, nerd, gamer, metal head, SJW, world builder, supervillain.”

    Review:

    I rated this book five stars and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys analyzing data and human psychology that feels like they might have a tiny villain inside.

    The author hits on several themes surrounding good and evil as we would call it. How some people we put on a pedestal don’t live up to how high we have built them and how some people we condemn are the farthest thing from evil. And the costs of doing “good” can far outweight the good done and was any good done at all?

    One of my favorite discussions that can be had from this book is that of the creation of a villain. How are villains made? And sometimes, are heroes to blame for the existence of evil? How careless acts can damage and how covering it up hurts even more…

    At first, this book seemed all fun and games but then by the end, it became a cavern of depth. Heavy on the theme of collateral damage of “doing good”. There was a lot of development of the themes, of characters, of plot action, and suddenly I was so invested, I was figuratively biting my nails until the last page.

    I very much enjoyed the found family formed but make it villain. There’s also an aspect of how success can create a space for jealousy and the loss of a former life and contacts.

    I was buckled in for the ride on this one and I CANNOT WAIT to start reading the ARC for the next installment, VILLAIN – coming out May 2026.

    Buy from Bookshop.org here.

    Disclaimer: This blog is part of the Bookshop.org affiliate program and I may earn a very small amount for each purchase made.

    Find more information about the author and their books at their website linked here.