History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Review of Planet Fleep by Sherry D. Ramsey

| February 17, 2021

Sherry D. Ramsey’s Planet Fleep (2018) is written for kids between the ages of 9 and 12, but it’s an enjoyable book for older readers as well! With action, adventure, and science, it’s a brief but fun book about family and exploring a potentially dangerous planet with only wits and a teacher robot to protect the […]

Reading, Watching, and Listening To: Early February 2021 Edition

| February 10, 2021

Reading: Still picking up books to review here and there, and trying to squeeze in some other books and stories when I can! I’ve also been reading a lot for an online flash fiction contest, which takes up a lot of my free reading time. Watching: We’ve finished Runaways, and are keeping up with WandaVision. Still working […]

TV Show Recommendation: WandaVision

| February 3, 2021

We normally don’t watch new shows as they air, because it’s hard for us to commit to sitting down to watching something weekly. But we’re making an exception for WandaVision, because it’s wonderful and weird, and we love it! It’s equal parts homage to classic television sitcoms and creepy weirdness. In some ways, it reminds […]

Review of Unnatural Order

| January 27, 2021

Unnatural Order, edited by Lyss Wickramasinghe and Alis Franklin (CSFG Publishing, 2021), is an anthology of stories of monstrous beings produced by the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild. The stories range widely under the speculative umbrella, with fantasy, science fiction, and horror all represented in the anthology’s pages. In a themed anthology, each author’s ideas on a […]

Review of The Dragon Stone Conspiracy: A Strowlers Novel by Amanda Cherry

| January 13, 2021

The Dragon Stone Conspiracy: A Strowlers Novel by Amanda Cherry (Zombie Orpheus Entertainment, 2021) is a tie-in novel to the Strowlers urban fantasy series from the creators of The Gamers. Set during World War II, this novel features action, adventure, and fighting against Nazis and the Third Reich, coupled with magic, fae, and a mysterious artifact. Pepper […]

Review of Hollow Skulls and Other Stories by Samuel Marzioli

| January 6, 2021

Hollow Skulls and Other Stories by Samuel Marzioli (JournalStone, 2021) is a collection of thirteen horror and otherwise dark short stories. The majority of the stories are previously published stories, while a few are new to this collection. One of Marzioli’s greatest strengths, showcased in this collection, is a sense of creeping dread that pervades […]

Reading, Watching, and Listening To, Late December Edition

| December 30, 2020

Reading: More books for review, and a few comics here and there. Watching: We were reminded recently that we’d stopped watching Runaways, so we’re working through season 2 of that, along with our other watching. I finished up Reign and have (re-)started Medici (according to Netflix, I watched two seasons of it already, but I remember VERY […]

Awesome Finds: It Gets Even Better: Stories of Queer Possibility

| December 23, 2020

I’m looking forward to It Gets Even Better: Stories of Queer Possibility, which is currently funding on Kickstarter. It will be an anthology of “speculative short fiction about positive queer possibility”. The idea of an anthology full of positive stories with queer characters is absolutely delightful to me, and I can’t wait to read it. The […]

Review of Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn’t Die

| December 16, 2020

Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn’t Die, edited by dave ring (Neon Hemlock Press, 2020), is a collection of stories and a couple of poems about queer characters in a post-apocalyptic world. The stories range from funny to heartbreaking, while making stops at nearly every point in the range of human […]

What I’m Reading, Watching, and Listening To, Early December 2020 Edition

| December 9, 2020

Reading: Books for reviews have started coming back in, so I’m returning to those. Watching: We’ve recently finished the second season of Hanna (waiting a year for the third season) and the first season of Avatar. I’m also working my way through the third season of Reign as time permits. We watched The New Mutants recently, and while […]