Smorgasbord Fantasia

This book blew me away. Period.  I went in, expecting nothing and came out a big big fan of Angela Slatter and her writing. All   the Murmuring Bones by Angela Slatter is bewitching, a modern day gothic fairy tale, with the right amount of pacing, mystery and magic that will lure you in to the deep. ( pun intended)  So, the bare bones of the story is this: The whole premise is about this family called O'Malleys who are feared and revered in equal measure in an Irish coastal area sometime in the nineteenth century. The world believes that the O'Malleys are blessed by some dark gods, as the great fortunes they amass at the sea continues to grow.  Unbelievable good luck continues to grace the family members but we also get to know that this luck is reserved only for the the true bloodlines. The O'Malleys who don't marry outside the family but get married to cousins and relations, thus, keeping the bloodline pure. But soon enough, the luck deserts the O'Malleys and the...

 Stephen Aryan wrote one of my favorite books last year, The Coward - a splendid tale about an adventure quest across a frozen landscape, featuring a loveable company of 'cowards' with the themes of found family, valour packed in with a healthy dose of politicking, comedy and some well-written vicious action scenes and some crazy twisted monsters to boot. So color me pleasantly surprised, when a sequel to The Coward was announced. But boy, am I happy that I got to tag along with Kell and company for another harrowing quest, in the new book in this series called The Warrior.   So the events of The Warrior happen a few years post The Coward (Where notably, all the threads were tied up very well!) Kell, our favorite reluctant hero is now King and clearly displeased at this turn of events and his new responsibilities. And as usual. itching for an adventure. And hey presto! Look who's back! Our favorite ' Alfar ' (an almost human-like race, known for their strength, en...

I haven't written a movie review for a Telugu movie in a long time. I usually watch these as a one-time mass-entertainer movies, the ones you immediately switch your brains off, close Netflix/Prime and forget about it immediately.   But Ante Sundaranikki , that released a couple of months back and is now available on Netflix - was a movie that entertained me to no end and left me pondering as well. On the face of it, it's a rom-com family drama, a boy-meets-girl romance and how they finally manage to convince their orthodox family to come around and agree to their marriage. But director Vivek Athreya' s story and direction is absolutely phenomenal, a fresh approach to the stale old rom-com dramas. In a twisted narrative, with enough highs-and-lows to challenge, infuriate and satisfy any thriller-fans, Vivek dishes out a social drama laced with  laugh-out-loud moments aplenty and some absolutely shining performances from all his characters, including the leads Nani and Naz...

 Featuring some of the most anticipated new book releases in the SFF space using this meme, Waiting on Wednesday - this week, we have actually the BIGGEST release that I am looking forward to, this year.  Nona the Ninth - third book, in the bestselling blockbuster space science-fantasy series, The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir , is releasing next month Sept. And man, the expectations are sky-high after that absolutely mind-fuckery of a twisted sequel, Harrow the Ninth . And that ending, oh my god, that ending. This one promises yet another absolutely twisted take on what is definitely one of my favorite space-faring lesbian necromancer (the only one so far!) story.  So here are the details we know:  Her city is under siege. The zombies are coming back. And all Nona wants is a birthday party. In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona's not like other peop...