History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Review of Rosalind’s Siblings

| December 27, 2023

Rosalind’s Siblings, edited by Bogi Takács (Atthis Arts, 2023), is an anthology of stories and poetry about scientists of marginalized genders, inspired by the erasure of Rosalind Franklin’s scientific discoveries and inspirations. The stories and poetry are wide ranging across genres and themes, though all with the central core of science and gender. Favorites of […]

Review of Resurrections by Ada Hoffmann

| December 20, 2023

Resurrections by Ada Hoffmann (Apex Book Company, 2023) is a wonderful collection of speculative fiction stories and poetry, ranging through a variety of themes and lengths. Many of the pieces feature neurodiverse and/or queer characters, either explicitly or implicitly. The collection as a whole is brilliantly assembled, with many of the stories arranged in such […]

Kickstarter Recommendation: In the Neck of the Woods

| December 13, 2023

If you like spooky stories about camping, check out the Kickstarter for In the Neck of the Woods, an anthology of camping-themed horror stories by LGBTQ+ and BIPOC authors! In addition to the anthology, there are some very cool items along the camping theme included in the highest tier! The Kickstarter runs until December 31st, so […]

What I’m Reading, Watching, and Listening To, December 2023 Edition

| December 6, 2023

Reading: Lots of anthologies and collections lately, which I’m planning to review. I’m finding books of stories easier to read right now than novels. Watching: There hasn’t been a lot we’ve watched lately, since November was NaNoWriMo, and we didn’t have a lot of spare time for TV or movies. We still haven’t finished season […]

Review of Skin Thief by Suzan Palumbo

| November 29, 2023

Skin Thief by Suzan Palumbo (Neon Hemlock, 2023) is a collection of dark and atmospheric stories, the majority of which have been previously published in major speculative fiction magazines. The stories contain a variety of themes including family (particularly sisters, but also mothers and daughters) and Trinidadian culture. Stories I really loved in this collection […]

Review of A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic

| November 22, 2023

A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic, edited by Anna Tan (Teaspoon Publishing, 2023), is a delightful anthology of short stories by Malaysian authors and featuring the legends and tales of Malaysia as elements of those stories. A handful of the stories are also themed around cooking and food, and others around family, though not all share […]

Review of Robotic Ambitions

| November 15, 2023

I reviewed one of the stories from Robotic Ambitions, edited by Lesley Conner and Jason Sizemore (Apex Book Company, 2023), prior to the Kickstarter for the project. Now I’m back with a review of the whole anthology, filled with stories of mechanical sentience. In addition to Elliot Wink’s “A Still Life,” this anthology collected many […]

What I’m Reading, Watching, and Listening To, November 2023 Edition

| November 8, 2023

Reading: Bunches of books to review. I’ve gotten a lot of short story collections, either as anthologies or single-author collections, which are some of my favorite things to read, for the length and the variety! Watching: Not quite as much as usual, though we caught up on season 2 AND 3 of Reservation Dogs. Now […]

Review of Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology

| November 1, 2023

Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology, edited by Wole Talabi (Android Press, forthcoming), is a collection of science-fantasy, shared-world/universe stories set in a universe created by African and African diaspora writers reflecting a combination of worldviews from throughout the African continent. The setting is also described as “Black Panther meets Wild Cards with all the rich spacefaring worldbuilding of Dune.” This […]

Review of Mermaids Never Drown

| October 25, 2023

Mermaids Never Drown, edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker (Feiwel and Friends, 2023), is a wonderful collection of stories of a variety of creatures in the seas, including but not limited to mermaids. The stories range from humorous to dark, but frequently include fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, often as a part […]