History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Review of The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard

| December 28, 2022

I initially heard The Red Scholar’s Wake (JABberwocky Literary Agency, 2022) pitched by the author, Aliette de Bodard, as “lesbian space pirates” (which is from a blurb quoted on the front cover of the book). I immediately bought a copy, a month before the book came out, based on those three words. It was exactly […]

Review of You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

| November 24, 2021

You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo (Tor Books, 2021) is a action-packed sci-fi novel of found family, peril, and cooking, blended together in a remarkable and entertaining way. Niko and her restaurant staff are military veterans who managed to break away from their old lives by convincing the military that Niko is a culinary artist. […]

“Earworm” out in Space Opera Libretti!

| January 14, 2020

Coming out in the last minute of 2019 means that it took me a little while to have the space to post about it, but my story, “Earworm” is now out in Space Opera Libretti, an anthology that involves both space and opera! Back when I announced the sale of this story, I mentioned that it […]

Review of Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

| May 9, 2018

I’ve finally written my review of Cat Valente’s latest book, Space Opera! You can find the review at Mad Scientist Journal. This book made me cry twice, but it’s wonderful and amazing. Probably my favorite line from the whole thing is “Life is beautiful and life is stupid,” because that so completely sums up basically everything. If […]