Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 11
May 18, 2022
#TBRChallenge – Tales of Old: Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson is set in New York City before the United States has entered World War Two; it seems to be an alternate history in subtle ways. In this world, people of color with mystical/magical talents are known as having “saints’ hands,” which are not necessarily as helpful as one might imagine. The hands or the power that enables them want their possessors to push back against White supremacy, but the humans with powers have difficult decisions to make: how do ...
May 4, 2022
My April Reading Log
Fiction:
Can’t Find My Way Home by Gwynne Garfinkle is a ghost story that’s also a period piece. Vividly set in mid-1970s New York City, it features Joanna Bergman, a young actress in a soap opera who’s developing an intense crush on a married co-star while simultaneously trying to deal with her guilt and grief over the untimely death of her best friend, Cynthia. The story moves back and forth in time between Joanna and Cynthia’s college years, when they were activists in the antiwar and an...
April 20, 2022
#TBRChallenge – Location, Location, Location: A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney
A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney was on my TBR for two reasons: first, I know the author, and second, I knew it involved at least one fictional quilter, and I love reading about quilting. It’s mostly a ghost story, though not a straightforward one; the ghost’s story is a puzzle which you grow to understand in bits and pieces of information coming from different times and settings and characters.
The town of Shimmer is surrounded by Chesapeake marsh, in coastal Maryland, the Eastern S...
April 8, 2022
My March Reading Log
Fiction:
Rescue Operations: Changes of Life by L.A. Hall, sixteenth in the Clorinda Cathcart’s Circle series, includes the return of Josh Ferraby to England amidst a complex plot, involving a vast number of people, to free a woman from an abusive husband and settle her where she can have a new life. Meanwhile, all anticipate the return of friends from their long journey to the Antipodes. At this point, I don’t always immediately remember the identity of all the very large cast of characters...
March 16, 2022
#TBRChallenge – Grumpy: Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki blends: a detailed portrayal of a particular mostly-Asian neighborhood in California; the competitive world of classical music, including performers and luthiers; a transgender queer violinist; lots of lovingly described food; and Faustian bargains condemning souls to the underworld. I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s a gripping story and I loved it.
Content warnings: mentions of death by suicide; racism; the unexpected murder of two people; and dom...
March 7, 2022
Embracing Refuge launches today!
Embracing Refuge, third in A Place of Refuge, launches today!
Is it too late for a cynical super soldier to right the wrongs in her past?
Enhanced soldier Faigin Balfour defected from a fascist military to the revolution. Once the deadliest of warriors, now she fights to settle into a peaceful life on the utopian planet Refuge. Her two closest friends, Talia and Miki, are there to help, and have invited Faigin to join their loving bond for a peace they can all share. Faigin’s not a romanti...
March 4, 2022
My February Reading Log
Fiction:
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers is a novella about crowdsourced interstellar exploration, astronauts sent off from a world suffering the ravages of climate change, with the twist that they do plan to come back, after interfering with the places they find as little as possible. Content warning for a distressing animal death. The four astronauts of varying gender expressions and ethnicities leave their families behind and go into torpor for interstellar travel. Their som...
March 1, 2022
Welcome to my website!
This is the official website of writer Victoria Janssen, author of A Place of Refuge, three science fiction hopepunk novellas following three former guerillas who’ve escaped to a utopian planet after losing their fight against a fascist empire. They’re figuring out how to live a life that’s not focused on the constant fear of death, with the aid of pastries, therapy, and other people.
You can also find these novellas at Goodreads, StoryGraph, and LibraryThing.
Email: victoriajanssen [at] yahoo ...
February 16, 2022
#TBRChallenge – Fairy Tale: Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise
Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise is in conversation with Peter Pan, a story so familiar and entrenched in general English-speaking cultural consciousness that I’m counting it as fitting the fairy tale theme. Peter Pan is easily read as extremely creepy, and Wise runs with that as she explores Wendy’s experiences after returning from Neverland, and on her return. The book is speculative fiction on the dark side, with social commentary; it could also be classified as psychological horror.
This pos...
February 15, 2022
Updates on My Kalikoi Novellas
Finding Refuge has a lovely review at Phoebe’s Randoms.
Embracing Refuge: A Place of Refuge, part three, will be released in less than one month! The cover, seen in this post, is by Augusta Scarlett, who also made the previous two covers.
I’m currently working on supplemental materials to include in an eventual omnibus of all three novellas. I’m writing at least two additional short stories as well as preparing an extensive character list and a small glossary.
