Mistborn Era 2 in Retrospect

Alex Kingsley If you’re at all connected to the SFF world, you’ve probably heard that Brandon Sanderson just released The Lost Metal, which concludes the Mistborn Era 2 series, part of his fictional universe called the Cosmere. So what is the Cosmere, why does it have so many die-hard fans, and why is The Lost … Continue reading Mistborn Era 2 in Retrospect

An Introduction to the Speculative Fiction of Percival Everett

Bren Ram In 2018, a French academic pulled me aside at a conference and asked if I thought Percival Everett was the most important novelist in America. I was surprised—I had only just heard of Everett that year, and while I was ravenously making my way through his prolific catalog of novels and short stories, … Continue reading An Introduction to the Speculative Fiction of Percival Everett

Fantastic Manners: A Guide to Mannerpunk

Misha Grifka Wander Urban fantasy, epic fantasy, sword and sorcery: there are plenty of well-known fantasy subgenres. But my favorite one seldom graces a bookstore sign. Mannerpunk is sometimes described as “Jane Austen with magic,” fantasy zoomed in to focus on conversation, status, etiquette, and intrigue. It’s interpersonal fantasy, the snide insult at court that … Continue reading Fantastic Manners: A Guide to Mannerpunk

ARB Guide to the ’21 Hugos: Introduction

Jake Casella Brookins This year’s Hugo Awards are nearly upon us—voting wraps up in mid-November, with the awards to be presented in December. The Hugos are a pretty big deal in the speculative fiction world, but not all fans and scholars of the genre follow the awards, nominated works, or surrounding controversies very closely: this … Continue reading ARB Guide to the ’21 Hugos: Introduction

ARB Guide to (Alternate) Histories of Black Autonomous Communities in the U.S.

ARB Guide to (Alternate) Histories of Black Autonomous Communities in the U.S. Ellie Campbell Recent films like Black Panther and television shows like Watchmen and Lovecraft Country have sparked popular interest in imagining fictional Black nations, such as Wakanda, and historical communities like Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But speculative fiction authors and radical … Continue reading ARB Guide to (Alternate) Histories of Black Autonomous Communities in the U.S.