Tag: Speculative Fiction

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Kindle pre-orders now open for Bad Moon on the Rise: An Anthology of the Unsettling

Mandy Webster

The moon has turned dark, and something is stirring—Bad Moon on the Rise: An Anthology of the Unsettling is now available for Kindle pre-order!

What stirs when the moon turns dark? A secret long buried, a shadow at the edge of vision, a reckoning that cannot be avoided.

This collection gathers stories, essays, poetry, and art that explore the uncanny corners of life. Within these pages, you’ll encounter merpeople and vampires, terrifying nights in the wilderness, the quiet horror of domestic violence, poisonous plants, the extremes of human appetite, and all the small and large ways life can unsettle us.

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Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Annie Bot made me relive my abusive marriage—and that’s what makes it so powerful

Mandy Webster

In Sierra Greer’s novel Annie Bot, a robot girlfriend cooks, dresses, and has sex on demand—all at the pleasure of her human owner, Doug. She’s designed to be the “perfect” woman, built to fulfill his desires without resistance. But as her artificial intelligence evolves, so does her awareness, and what begins as obedience starts to feel like a slow, painful awakening.

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I didn’t expect to find pieces of myself in a robot. But Annie Bot made me feel an immediate—and visceral—sense of recognition. Like Annie, I once existed solely to please someone else. My (now ex) husband didn’t see me as a person—only as the idea of a wife he wanted to mold me into. Over ten years of marriage, I was trained through threats, manipulation, psychological warfare, and physical violence to anticipate his moods, regulate my behavior, and suppress anything that didn’t align with his expectations. That Annie had to do the same—scan Doug’s tone, facial expressions, and body language, and modulate her responses accordingly—was deeply familiar.

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Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

What’s the point of surviving? A haunting look at life after captivity in I Who Have Never Known Men

Mandy Webster

Most dystopian novels are driven by resistance, escape, or revolution. Jacqueline Harpman’s I Who Have Never Known Men asks a deeper, more disquieting question: What happens after? After the fences fall, after the captors vanish, after the systems collapse. What’s left to live for—especially when you never knew what it meant to live in the first place?

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Originally published in 1995 and recently rediscovered by BookTok readers who can’t stop recommending it, this slim but devastating novel centers on a girl known only as “the child”—the youngest of forty women imprisoned deep underground by silent male guards. The women have no memory of how they got there or how long they’ve been inside. Time doesn’t function the way it should. They suspect they were drugged. They’re fed regularly, forbidden from touching, and watched constantly, but no explanations are ever given. It’s a setting that feels like a cross between The Handmaid’s Tale and The Road but stripped of the usual narrative comforts: there’s no master plan to uncover, no rebellion to lead, and no villain to confront. There’s only waiting.

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Author Interview

Author interview with dystopia writer Jay Vanlandingham

Mandy Webster

As the author of the Sentient trilogy, Jay Vanlandingham’s writing explores the transformative power of empathy. “Through meaningful connection, empathy can flourish, opening us to the freedom of all beings—ourselves, animals, and nature alike,” he says. “Above all things, I wish for peace and serenity in my life, as well as the lives of all beings.”

Vanlandingham is in the process of publishing his third novel, Sentient Being, which serves as the final installment of the Sentient trilogy. This series delves into the depths of the human spirit, with themes that reflect the author’s core values: freedom, non-judgment, and compassion for all beings. Sentient Being examines humanity’s response to the climate crisis, our relationship with animals, and other pressing issues, including immigration and LGBTQIA+ representation.

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