Dave Higgins's Blog, page 98

The Mindmage’s Wrath by Garrett Robinson

Combining powerful magics and political intrigue with a tight focus on character, Robinson creates a tale that will appeal both to fantasy and mystery readers. Following the attack on the High King’s Seat, both Ebon and the Academy struggle to return to the ordered study of magic. A struggle made worse by the murder of […]

So Happy Together

Continuing this week’s theme of expressions of love, this mural of Donald Trump kissing Boris Johnson went up near me earlier this month. On the surface it seems like political satire, but it might be much more. It might be an effort not to mock, but to uplift. The intersection of street art and pro-European […]

The Principle of Love

I am grateful that I am loved. To celebrate this, I am sharing an image of selfless love: a 1996 image of a woman shielding a suspected KKK supporter from assault by angry protesters. May you receive the best of others today, too.

Fantasia by Jane Turley

Combining serious issues with a light and accessible style, Turley creates a novelette that is suitable for children without seeming too superficial for adults. In 2031, the human race is on the verge of interstellar travel. As part of his research into the neurological impact of cryonic suspension during space flight, Dr Corey revives Walt […]

A Job For Life

Campaigners for laws requiring people to use the facilities of their “real” gender, and the laws that come from such campaigns, often make reference to the sex listed on a person’s birth certificate. As if the information on it is somehow a sign of what should be forever. Here is a specimen UK birth certificate […]

A Very Dim Mirror

In one of my favourite scenes from Inspector Morse, Morse tells Lewis a little about his adolescence and how he promised himself that he’d never forget what it felt like; and then he delivered the kicker, that of course he did, that everyone does. There are many reasons I accepted the fallibility of memory, but […]

How To Date Dead Guys by Ann M. Noser

Interweaving young romance, survivor guilt, and the supernatural while keeping a firm base of normal, average, US college life, Noser creates a story that provides occult mystery and the travails of love without allowing either to steal the limelight. Emma Roberts is a responsible student, putting her college essays ahead of partying, volunteering as a […]

We Don’t Mind the Language, It’s the Logical Dissonance We Don’t Need

Just trod in a post about the election of Sadiq Khan meaning Britain no longer exists; which I suppose would be why my socks are damper than usual. Of course, they didn’t mean that: they helpfully defined Britain as the bastion of a white morality stretching back to Classical civilisation and Jesus. Which is of […]

Coherent Shadows

A touch of beauty. A reminder than the capability for great joy opens the door to great sorrow. And a particle physics pick-up line.

A Facet for the Gem by C.L. Murray

Combining depth of history and nation-spanning threats with a strong focus on character, Murray creates an epic fantasy without epic exposition. Orphaned then shifted from foster home to foster home, Morlen has grown up an outsider, a position made worse by his exceptional competence as a hunter and forager. Only Nottifer, wizard-adviser to the King, […]