Novels/Novellas:
Tomorrowland by Mari Mancusi
I picked this up for free as an Amazon promo, so I wasn't expecting overmuch. The young, attractive popular girl turns zombie-killing shut in, with a lot of self conscious nods to "strong" female characters. There are better YA novels, particularly in the zombie-drenched post-apocalypse genre, but it was a cute little sugar hit. Parasite by Mira Grant generally does it all better.
The Black Prism and The Blinding Knife (The Lightbringer) by Brent Weeks
I powered through these in Edinburgh (five hour train journey either side) and I am itchy to get my hands on the third novel. Weeks is often compared to Brandon Sanderson, and I can see the similarities. They both love to toy with the morally ambiguous, but overall the Lightbringer series seems fresher. It has a simple, but new magic system, that physically corrupts its users, adding a level of danger to what could otherwise be a godmode society. Also props for a) remembering that women menstruate b) it often happens highly inconveniently, and in complete disregard to general heroic happenings and c) is physically uncomfortable and sometimes incapacitating. The younger protagonist is fat, which is frequently mentioned - not disparagingly, but as a physical descriptor and there's no sign of that fact changing, or a physical transformation being any part of the character development arc. Genuinely cannot remember the last time that happened in general media, let alone genre fiction.
Magician, Silverthorn and Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E. Feist
This series is classic, and ticks all the same boxes as Wizard's First Rule or Sword of Shannara. Each sequence is a coming of age for white, Euro-analogue teenage boys, as wizards, warriors, rulers and princes. The women, although they err on the side of feisty are not usually plot active. The Queen is thrown away in one rather damning sentence as a little bit boring, but happily very pregnant, in high contrast to the go-getum gals our heroes choose. In fact they all choose... and rather quickly. Feist's intentions seem to be to marry everyone off as quickly as possible so they can get back to heroing, slaying and questing. The depth of the wider world is fantastic however, with a rift-spanning universe, ancient Lords of Chaos and battles from beyond time, it excels mostly as an exercise in classic fantasy worldbuilding.
John Dies At The End by David Wong
I don't know entirely what happened here... but I know I like it. I'm going to be interested to see how the frankly bizarre timeline gets turned into a film, as it's been option for.
Short Fiction:
Ballroom Blitz by Veronica Schanoes
I love the 12 Dancing Princesses, and this is a great take on obligation, on growing old and separately growing up.
La Héron (Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, March 2015) by Charlotte Ashley
A dreamy, Gothic fairy tale that I'm going to read over and over. Gorgeous atmospheric prose with a Shakespearean depth of action and the fantastic.
Nonfiction:
Screenplay: The Foundation of Screenwriting by Syd Field
Comics/Graphic Novels:
Umbrella Academy 1&2
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