Strange Beasts of China, Yan GE

The novel’s environmental ethos is also very much of the now, with numerous, vivid descriptions of urban decay competing with the natural world. As an example, there’s a wistful moment where the novelist sees a bird rise into the air with… “an elongated body and exquisite movements, feathers as pale […]

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Matrix, Lauren Groff

Pandemics recur in her stories, as do natural landscapes ravaged by climate change, as do women who are quietly incandescent with rage. –The Atlantic

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The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak

In The Island of Missing Trees, prizewinning author Elif Shafak brings us a rich, magical tale of belonging and identity, love and trauma, memory and amnesia, human-induced destruction of nature, and, finally, renewal. –Penguin Elif Shafak hardly needs any introduction. Her beautifully designed books can be found everywhere, from airports […]

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Spotlight – Bijal Vachharajani

Click here to return to the series I virtually met author Bijal Vachharajani this past summer at Scotland’s CYMERA Festival of Science-Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Writing. We talked with host and author Lauren James, along with author James Bradley, about how we were motivated to write stories that focus around […]

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Beautiful World, Where Are You, Sally Rooney

Rooney is back with another bookish, epistolary novel — this time following two intelligent young adults navigating their personal lives amid the backdrop of environmental and social upheaval. –New York Times Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a warehouse, and asks him if he’d like to travel to […]

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Darklands, Arnav Das Sharma

India is reeling from an environmental catastrophe, water has replaced oil as the most valuable commodity, and our cities have become nightmarish places infested with gangs, secretive corporations, and powerful religious figures. Arnav Das Sharma’s coming-of-age novel in an all-too-real Indian dystopia falters But the promise of being a dystopic […]

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The Body Scout, Lincoln Michael

Diamond-sharp and savagely wry, The Body Scout is a timely science fiction thriller debut set in an all-too-possible future, perfect for readers of William Gibson. In Michel’s cyberpunk New York of the future, climate change and repeated pandemics have ravaged the city; meanwhile, cybernetic body modification is de rigeur, and […]

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Indie Corner – Cai Emmons

Back to the Indie Corner series Thanks so much to Cai Emmons, author of Sinking Islands (a sequel to Weather Woman), for answering some questions about her new book. Sinking Islands is out September 14, 2021, from Red Hen Press. Cai is also the author of the novels His Mother’s […]

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Harrow, Joy Williams

In her first novel since The Quick and the Dead (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), the legendary writer takes us into an uncertain landscape after an environmental apocalypse, a world in which only the man-made has value, but some still wish to salvage the authentic.

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Spotlight – Venetia Welby

Click here to return to the series I had the wonderful opportunity to connect with author Venetia Welby late last year and learn about her novel Dreamtime (Salt Publishing, September 2021). Signed copies are available from UK bookshop Burley Fisher here, and here is the Amazon UK link. I’ll admit […]

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Damnation Spring, Ash Robinson

An epic, immersive debut, Damnation Spring is the deeply human story of a Pacific Northwest logging town wrenched in two by a mystery that threatens to derail its way of life. Thanks to Booknet Canada for the BiblioShare plugin.  

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Indie Corner – Emma Reynolds

Back to the Indie Corner series I was thrilled to talk with Emma Reynolds, author of the just-out children’s book Amara and the Bats, a beautifully written and illustrated story that reminds us of the determination of youth and the importance of bats. Emma Reynolds is an illustrator and author […]

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Ark of the Apocalypse, Tobin Marks (Review)

Ark of the Apocalypse by Tobin Marks ISBN: 978-1-63337-237-5 Publisher: Boyle & Dalton Publication date: March 14, 2021 Review by Mary Woodbury Review Tobin Marks’ Ark of the Apocalypse is, in part, a thrilling, page-turning journey into a fictionalized history of our world, with a look-back at some of our […]

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Tree Magic Series, Harriet Springbett

Thanks to the author for sending in information about her series. The following comes from her Bookshop info: Tree Magic (Book 1): A life fractured into parallel worlds. A quiet magic to accept or ignore. A decision to make. Escape from difficult family dynamics is teenager Rainbow’s desire. When she […]

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Spotlight – Matt Bell, Appleseed

Click here to return to the series I was happy to reach author Matt Bell to talk about his new novel Appleseed (Custom Press, July 2021), a highly anticipated novel that takes our world eco-fiction series to the United States, where the story takes place in three timelines, across the […]

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