History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Review of The Map and the Territory by A.M. Tuomala

| April 12, 2023

The Map and the Territory by A.M. Tuomala (Candlemark & Gleam, 2022) is a gorgeous secondary world fantasy novel, the first in a series, with lush worldbuilding and spectacular characters. When a strange event destroys the city where Rukha, who also calls herself Fern after a custom of people not using their given names in […]

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

| April 5, 2023

Reading: Primarily books for reviews (they never stop!), but I’ve also got a couple of other things I’m picking up now and then, in between other books. Just got some exciting new graphic novels in the mail, too, thanks to a friend, so those are on the list as well! Watching: We haven’t really watched […]

Review of A People’s Guide to Publishing by Joe Biel

| March 29, 2023

I recently got a big stack of writing craft and books through a Microcosm Publishing Kickstarter, so I’ve decided to work through several of them for reviewing on my blog. A People’s Guide to Publishing by Joe Biel is a fantastic book for anyone serious about creating and sustaining a publishing business. The focus is […]

Review of Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories by Tobias S. Buckell

| March 22, 2023

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories is the latest collection from author Tobias S. Buckell (Apex Book Company, 2023), and it’s filled with a wonderful collection of previously published sci-fi stories. Several of the stories in this collection share the same setting, one in which oxygen use is monitored and paid […]

Review of Quit Your Day Job by Eleanor C. Whitney

| March 15, 2023

I recently got a big stack of writing craft and creativity books through a Microcosm Publishing Kickstarter, so I’ve decided to work through several of them for reviewing on my blog. Quit Your Day Job by Eleanor C. Whitney is full of useful advice about starting your own business that will allow you to quit […]

Review of City of the Saints by D. J. Butler

| March 8, 2023

City of the Saints by D. J. Butler (WordFire Press, 2015) is a alternate history steampunk tale of a technologically advanced United States on the eve of the Civil War. With characters including Samuel Clemens, Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Burton, and Brigham Young (and many of his Mormon associates), it’s a wild, multi-point of view […]

Review of The Goddess of Nothing at All by Cat Rector

| March 1, 2023

The Goddess of Nothing at All by Cat Rector (Tychis Media, 2021) is an amazing retelling of Norse mythology, focused on Loki’s wife, Sigyn, and the events leading up to Ragnarok (and beyond). Even though it is based on existing tales, this novel covers new ground by making the point of view character a lesser-known […]

Review of Solid-State Shuffle by Jeffrey A. Ballard

| February 22, 2023

Solid-State Shuffle by Jeffrey A. Ballard (New Rochester Publishing, 2006) is a action-packed, high-stakes heist novel set in a post-ocean rise Seattle. With a fun cast of main characters and hints at an intriguing backstory, the prose will carry you along through the book. Isa and her team, consisting of her brother-from-another-mother Puo and her […]

Review of “A Still Life” by Elliot Wink

| February 15, 2023

Today is a different kind of review than I normally post here! I was invited to take a sneak peek at Elliot Wink’s short story, “A Still Life,” which will appear in Apex Book Company’s Robotic Ambitions anthology, the Kickstarter for which launches on February 21st. Robotic Ambitions will feature stories looking at mechanical sentience, and […]

Review of The Red Palace by June Hur

| February 8, 2023

The Red Palace (Feiwel and Friends, 2022) is the second of June Hur’s historical fiction young adult mystery novels set in Korea that I have read and enjoyed. This book, set in the mid-eighteenth century, again features wonderful characters and a great mystery. And while you might guess the culprit earlier in this book than […]