Posted on

Lote by Shola von Reinhold 

As laconically seductive as the 1920’s which so inspire its heroine, Lote is a tantalising work of black, queer, speculative fiction. Appropriately genre-bending in its style, it combines the page-turning appeal of an investigative thriller, with the nonchalant grace of a period piece set in the modern day. 

Like Europeans in a Henry James, we would be creatures of genteel penury, full of education, artifice, a little vampiric, duping all the dull rich people around us. Except we were Black, except were poor, except we were basically self-taught (by their standards), except we were infinitely more subtle and fabulous, as far as we were concerned.

Mathilda is an escape artist. She has many names and specialises in her own reinvention in the pursuit of a life of beauty and glamour. An ‘Arcadian’, she is much more interested in the past than the present, and spellbound by her ‘fixations’—flashes of inspiration connecting her to figures from the past—she gets herself accepted onto a prestigious, if strange and secretive, residency in order to continue her ‘research’ into their lives.

Dripping with baroque prose, charming characters, and historical references to forgotten Black modernist figures, the book is as decadent as a goblet of foamy pink champagne in a dining hall draped in candlelight. It absolutely delights in its own opulence, channeling all the energy and frivolity of the Bright Young Things, to waltz you through a mystery that asks whether certain historical truths are forgotten, or mislaid, on purpose.

LOTE, is Scottish author, Shola von Reinhold‘s debut novel, and won the Republic of Consciousness Prize and the James Tait Memorial Prize in 2021. If you’ve already read it, let me know what you thought in the comments, and as always, don’t forget to sign up for future blog updates. 

Buy on kindle £3.99 

Paperback from World of Books £7.90

Follow the author @socialmedea__

Want more book recommendations? Follow me on twitter @SLangridgeUK for updates on what I’m reading.

Check me out on TikTok @theyrhymesometime

Posted on

The Once and Future Witches, by Alix E. Harrow

An oppressive shadowy force weighs on the inhabitants of New Salem and it’s down to three estranged sisters to rally the voices of dissent and arm themselves for a fightback.

Somewhere between historical fantasy, fairytale, and a feminist call to arms, this is a charming story of magic, rebellion and sisterhood, with a host of wonderful characters, and plenty of action to keep you entertained.

Proper witching is just a conversation with that red heartbeat, which only ever takes three things: the will to listen to it, the words to speak with it, and the way to let it into the world. The will, the words, the way…

The town of New Salem is an echo of 1600’s America, complete with suffragettes and racial segregation, but the characters are made for today’s battles; the fight for class, race, gender and sexual equality. Fittingly, the folklore which forms the magical collective consciousness of the novel – the nursery rhymes, sayings and children’s stories – is all invitingly familiar, teasing us with the promise of magic at our own finger tips. The world is not our world, but we are encouraged to feel part of the secretive pact of information sharing, solidarity and insurgency, as the Eastwood sisters learn to extend their circles of trust, past the point where it is comfortable, in order to harness the strength they need to defeat their foe in the book’s tragically stirring finale.

The novel is Hugo nominated Author, Alix E Harrow’s second novel, and it won the British Fantasy Award’s Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2021. For those of you who are suckers for a bit of magic, this will definitely inspire you to get in touch with your inner witch, and maybe stir up some mayhem while you’re at it.

As always, don’t forget to sign up for future blog updates. 

Buy on kindle £4.99 

Paperback from BUUKs £6.99 

Follow the author @AlixEHarrow

Want more book recommendations? Follow me on twitter @SLangridgeUK for updates on what I’m reading.

Check me out on TikTok @theyrhymesometime

Posted on

Speculative Reader’s Best of 2022

I read lots of great books this year, but have whittled it down to my favourite five. If you have any recommendations for books I should read in 2023, I’d love to hear them, so please drop me a note in the comments, and as always, don’t forget to sign up for future blog updates. 

My top five reads from 2022, in no particular order…

 

Best space opera: A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine 

Overflowing with wonderful characters, a charming love story, elegantly rendered intergalactic politics and some fascinating philosophical questions to boot, this is an exciting, glorious book and you should read it.



 

 

Best sci-fi:  This Is How You Lose The Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

I can’t stop recommending this to everyone who’ll listen. A heart-wrenching story of love, friendship, and solidarity, staged against an ideological cold war for the fate of the universe. I doubt you’ve read anything like it before and you should absolutely read it now.



Best historical fantasy: She Became The Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan

An epic story of human will, set in 1300’s China. The heroine is irresistible, the world achingly real and the story of a peasant monk’s mission to rewrite their own fate is and change the world is utterly captivating, you won’t be able to put it down.


 

 

Best speculative detective: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton

If you’re a sucker for a classic whodunnit and you’re down for some speculative genre-bending, you will absolutely adore this book. Everyone I know who’s read it has raved about it, so if you’re looking for something gripping and eminently readable, get ready to be charmed.



Best novella: Agua Viva, by Clarice Lispector

An absolute flying gut punch of a book. To say it’s a novella is slightly misleading, but I don’t know what else to call it. It’s an immersive experience in which you enter the current of another’s mind; a mind painfully astute, exquisitely poetic, and utterly consuming. Brace yourself, breathe deep and dive in.



Want more book recommendations? Follow me on twitter @SLangridgeUK for updates on what I’m reading.

Check me out on TikTok @theyrhymesometime