History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Review of The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie

| February 28, 2024

The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie, edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Henry Herz (Blackstone Publishing, 2023), is a speculative fiction anthology that blends historical fact about Marie Curie’s life as a young woman and fantastical, science fiction, and horror elements to present new and intriguing experiments a young Marie might have undertaken. Most […]

Kickstarter Recommendation: Bikes in Space 11!

| February 14, 2024

The Kickstarter for volume 11 of Bikes in Space has launched. I’m a fan of this series from Microcosm Publishing, and I’m pleased to announce that my story, “The Storyteller,” will appear in Bikes, the Universe, and Everything! The theme for this volume is bikes and books, so I wrote a post-apocalyptic story in which bikes […]

Kickstarter Recommendation: Wyoming

| January 24, 2024

If you like the idea of a nonlinear choose-your-own-adventure anthology, check out the Kickstarter for Wyoming, which is exactly that. It involves 35 authors writing pieces that can branch off of one another, creating an interactive reading experience that can take many paths. Backers of the Kickstarter will get early access to the anthology’s contents […]

Kickstarter Recommendation: Aether Beyond the Binary

| January 17, 2024

If you’re looking for an awesome anthology to back, check out Aether Beyond the Binary from Duck Prints Press! It’s got aetherpunk (magic-powered technology) stories with characters outside the gender binary. In addition to the anthology, there are a bunch of great add-on items, from stickers to wands, along with more things to read! This Kickstarter […]

Review of Embroidered Worlds

| January 10, 2024

The Embroidered Worlds anthology, edited by Valya Dudycz Lupescu, Olha Brylova, and Iryna Pasko (Atthis Arts, 2023), collects speculative fiction stories from Ukranian and diaspora authors. A number of the stories are translated from Ukranian and reprinted in English for the first time, allowing English-speaking readers to get a taste of speculative fiction from Ukraine they […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]