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Announcement: Creature Feature 2, by Poppy Dennison and Rhys Ford

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Dreamspinner has a new paranormal romance out by two QSFers: Two Men. One Apocalypse. Rise of the Revenants by Poppy Dennison Vampyres are on the loose in Detroit, and novice hunter Taz Cohen is on the job. The mission seems simple: stop the vamps. But Taz knows nothing about the mythical creatures, so he’s in for the fight of his life. Then he meets insanely attractive construction worker Darren Foster, who jumps into the battle with both feet. Sparks and bullets fly as they struggle against the vampyre horde and their attraction to each other. Avoiding gruesome death from the … Read more

What is Urban Fantasy?

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We had a question the other day on the Facebook discussion group about urban fantasies, so I thought that would be a good topic for discussion by the whole group. But what exactly is an urban fantasy? Does it have to include elves or dwarves? Does it need to have a magical element? Is magical realism the same thing as urban fantasy? I’ve read a few of these, and the ones that immediately come to mind are Terry Brooks’ A Man of His Word series – in which demons haunt our present-day society. Now you might think this is paranormal, … Read more

Announcement: Time for Destiny, Michelle Rae

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QSFer Michelle Rae has a new book out – a historic fantasy: When Daniel Wilson, oldest of five children in a troubled family, joined the military, he expected to see combat in Iraq. But it comes as quite a shock when a Rupee minted a century and a half ago transports him to that dangerous time in war-torn colonial India. After he meets and falls in love with Vir during his visit to 1857, he faces the greatest challenge of his life. He knows he may ultimately lose Vir because he belongs in a different time. Still, he wants desperately … Read more

US Still Spends More on Space Than All Others Combined

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Ever since NASA retired its last space shuttle in 2011, American space travel has taken a back seat to news of growing Chinese space ambitions, Indian Mars missions, Iranian space chimps, and Russian space geckos. But make no mistake, the United States is still the global powerhouse in space spending. Last year, the United States spent roughly $40 billion on its space program, which is more than every other country combined, according to a new study (pdf) by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). For comparison, China’s space budget, which is the second largest in the world, was … Read more

Will Our AI’s Be Autistic?

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Andrew Sullivan at The Dish flagged this interesting tidbit: Most of the commercial work completed by AI will be done by special-purpose, narrowly focused software brains that can, for example, translate any language into any other language, but do little else. Drive a car, but not converse. Or recall every pixel of every video on YouTube but not anticipate your work routines. In the next 10 years, 99 percent of the artificial intelligence that you will interact with, directly or indirectly, will be nerdily autistic, supersmart specialists. In fact, this won’t really be intelligence, at least not as we’ve come … Read more

A Setback for Space Tourism

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Kenneth Chang brings us the latest on the Virgin Galactic tragedy: The Virgin Galactic space plane that broke apart over the Mojave Desert on Friday shifted early into a high-drag configuration that was designed to slow it down, federal accident investigators have said. The accident killed the co-pilot, Michael Alsbury; the pilot, Peter Siebold survived after parachuting out of the plane. Clive Irving puts the disaster in perspective: From the beginning in 2004 there has always been a credibility gap between the fairground hyperbole of [Virgin Group founder Richard] Branson’s formidable publicity machine and the scientific reality of the enterprise. … Read more

Announcement: Perfect Timing, by Various

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There’s a new anthology out, compiled by Michelle Rae, with some of our favorite authors – thanks to QSFer LV Llyod for bringing this to our attention: Perfect Timing is the third anthology published by Moral Fortitude. The theme for Perfect Timing was Eras. Each story is written in or has made use of an era. Nine authors contributed stories for this anthology and all have provided quality stories that are enjoyable to read. Authors are : LV Lloyd, Daniel Breham, T.S. Matiano, Fay Summers, EJ Kellan, Dezdemona, Abigail B. Field, David Love and Tess McKenzie. Excerpt from Lost, by … Read more

Plot Bunny Time

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Hi all, I thought we’d have a little fun today. I know all you writers constantly have lots of plot bunnies at your feet (probably playing with the dust bunnies down there, but that’s a different story). So let’s unleash some of them into the world – maybe they will find a loving home. Readers, feel free to jump in too. What are some of your wild, fun, silly, deadly serious, never-gonna happen, or just plain average ideas for a sci fi, fantasy or paranormal story? Extra points for an LGBT tie in. Please mind the bunnies underfoot.

Announcement: Nico’s Fire, by Sui Lynn

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QSFer Sui Lynn has a reissue of a futuristic paranormal novel out, the sequel to Adel’s Purr: Under constant attack, Jesuit Inquisitor Jude Jamison suspects his cover is blown. Without the gargoyles his friend Evan sent as his guardians and his ability to start fires, he’d already be dead. As he lies injured among a heap of rubble, the world as he knows it ends, and he fears the monster he’s become. Nicolai Daemarkus, a fire daemon hiding among the humans, sees a gargoyle circling a smoldering building. Upon investigating, he is totally unprepared to discover his human mate. Unfortunately, … Read more

Book Review: Human Rights, by S.L. Armstrong

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Another review sent to us by Boy Meets Boy: After landing in the pound after being abandoned by yet another family, Ewan is convinced he’s too old to be adopted out again. For a pet like him, the only fate left is to be put down. But when Sir Jiat–of the City Guard, no less–visits the pound, he goes straight to Ewan. Jiat prefers the more mature pets and treats Ewan better than he’s ever been treated by any previous owner. Ewan sleeps at the foot of his master’s bed, not on the floor or outside; he is given toys … Read more