History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Review of The Iron Below Remembers by Sharang Biswas

| February 25, 2026

The Iron Below Remembers by Sharang Biswas (Neon Hemlock, 2025) is a charming novella that mashes up academia and superheroes with a largely LGBTQ+ cast of characters. Professor Laxman Yadav, who specializes in art history and archaeology, is brought in to examine a recently unearthed artifact, a rare example of a fully intact technology from […]

Review of The Cellar Below the Cellar by Ivy Grimes

| February 4, 2026

The Cellar Below the Cellar by Ivy Grimes (Apex Book Company, 2026) is a folktale-inspired horror novella with a fascinating cast of characters and themes of family inheritance and isolation. While Jane is visiting her grandmother, an extreme solar event wipes out power, communications, and even car batteries, stranding her in the semi-rural location. As […]

Review of What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

| December 3, 2025

T. Kingfisher’s What Moves the Dead (Tor Nightfire, 2022) is, at its core, a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” This novella takes the classic tale and puts a new spin on it, lending something of an explanation to the original while taking it in an amazingly cool direction! Rather […]

Recent Superhero Fiction

| October 16, 2025

Since my last post about my superhero fiction, I have a couple of new things out. First off, my novella Sure Shot in Cobalt City: Homecoming came out in March. This novella is a stand-alone sequel to Sure Shot in Las Capas: The Case of the Absent Star. The two books can be read independently of each […]

Review of The Oblivion Bride by Caitlin Starling

| September 10, 2025

Caitlin Starling’s The Oblivion Bride (Neon Hemlock, 2025) is a gorgeous science-fantasy novella with some Gothic and surreal elements worked into an incredible world. Lorelei is one of a very small number of members of her family who hasn’t been killed by the family curse, which no one has been able to figure out. In order […]

Review of The Transitive Properties of Cheese by Ann LeBlanc

| July 30, 2025

The Transitive Properties of Cheese by Ann LeBlanc (Neon Hemlock Press, 2024) is a sci-fi novella featuring duplicated consciousnesses and a cheese heist with wonderful character development and worldbuilding bundled within its pages. Millions Wayland has focused all of her attention on making cheese, after an incident when some of her duplicated consciousnesses rebelled against […]

My Historical Fiction Round-Up

| June 19, 2025

I’ve published quite a bit of historical fiction, so I thought it might be useful to have one post where you can find all of those collections and novellas! Unfixed Timelines – alternate history stories and essays about the real history Unfixed Timelines 2 – alternate history stories and essays about the real history Unfixed […]

Have You Checked Out Sure Shot in Cobalt City: Homecoming?

| May 8, 2025

Have you checked out Sure Shot in Cobalt City: Homecoming, the second of my Sure Shot novellas, which are stand-alone, alternate history, 1950s noir mysteries with superheroes? A mysterious case, a murdered friend, and something sinister behind it all. Sarah Castile, former superhero turned private investigator, is on the case! When her old friend Lillian invites […]

Kickstarter Recommendation: Neon Hemlock’s Sixth Novella Series

| April 9, 2025

Neon Hemlock is at it again with another novella series for 2025! This year’s Kickstarter will fund the publication of six novellas and a short story collection. There’s one historical fiction novella on tap, alongside several contemporary fantasy titles, which will carry into early 2026. I’ve enjoyed all of the Neon Hemlock novellas and collections […]

Sure Shot in Cobalt City: Homecoming Out Today!

| March 11, 2025

Sure Shot in Cobalt City: Homecoming is out today! This is the second installment in my alternate 1950s, superhero, noir mystery series, but each book is a stand-alone story that doesn’t require knowledge of the other books! This book has Sarah Castile returning to her hometown of Cobalt City for a case … or two! […]