As a quick introduction, a magic system is a set of rules that guides what magic can or can’t do in your world. It dictates what kinds of magic exist in the world, their limitations, and who can use them for example. Author Brandon Sanderson has a very interesting take on this. He wrote what he calls The Laws of Magic. These dictate what the reader knows about magic in the story....
Marvel launched two — count ’em, TWO — animal themed super-hero titles last week. One of these characters has a movie coming out while the other tries to broaden the sometimes narrow scope of the super-hero. How’d they do? Let’s find out! Ant-man #1 presumably gives us a primer on Scott Lang, soon to be played by Paul Rudd in a major motion picture. I’ll admit, as a long-time comics reader, I had a hard time turning off my knowledge of Scott Lang’s daughter, Cassie, who is apparently alive and not a super-hero anymore…?...
“The awarded work can be of any genre in fiction, memoir, biography, poetry, or critical non-fiction from around the world – whether it is in English, in translation, traditionally published or self-published.” Publishers and disabled authors can find details about how to submit work for the prize here. Submissions are open now and end October 31st, 2020. While disabled authors will be given precedence over non-disabled writers, “[a]uthors – such as those in a carer’s capacity – who themselves are not ill may be considered for the prize if their work is truly exceptional as an articulation of life with illness....
Of course, you’ll also need the right books to fill your beach bag, right? The Book Riot team is on the case! These lists of summer reads are a great place to start. But let’s be real: There are no rules to beach reading. If you’ve got a book you want to read, that makes it prime beach reading. 5 Books That Will Transport You to the BeachQuiz: What Book Should You Pack in Your Vacation Bag This Summer?...
Most of this week is keeping the same course: the usual Colleen Hoover domination, the new titles are just the most recent books in long-running series, and this list continues to be mostly (entirely?) by white authors. The only new addition this week that isn’t part of a series is a Christian self help title. For new releases that deserve a lot more attention, also check out The Lies We Tell by Katie Zhao and Making Love with the Land: Essays by Joshua Whitehead....
“What the website lacks in pomp and flash is made up for in its legendary breadth. True to its name, Olver’s Food Timeline begins with entries on ice, water, and salt in prehistory and ends with cronuts and test-tube burgers in 2013, making every stop along the way, from “blood as food” to turtle soup to Pop Tarts. The archive has garnered 35 million readers and counting, and during her 16-year tenure, Olver has answered more than 25,000 questions from those readers....
All Rob wanted was a normal life. She almost got it, too. But when her oldest daughter, Callie, exhibits the same darkness Rob remembers from the childhood she left behind at Sundial, the mother and daughter embark on a dark, desert journey to the past in the hopes of redeeming their future. It returns to the author to make the edits, then returns to the publisher to dust off the final misspelled words and misplaced commas....
Agatha Christie is known as the Queen of Crime for a reason. The best-selling author of all time — only the Bible and Shakespeare have sold more copies — wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, as well as several plays, one of which, The Mousetrap, is the longest-running play ever. Her life was as full of mystery and intrigue as her stories; her 11-day disappearance in 1926, following the breakdown of her first marriage, has led to speculation ever since, particularly as she never spoke about it again....
These are books which are seeing a lot of interest but haven’t necessarily stayed atop bestseller lists for months and/or books with particular interest locally. The data looks at adult fiction, adult nonfiction, and young adult books (which includes fiction, nonfiction, and comics). Panorama Picks groups public libraries by coordinating American Bookseller Association (ABA) regions, which allows for a really neat way of exploring interest on a regional level. A book might be especially popular in California but less so in the Midwest, and looking at that data provides a real opportunity for local bookstores and libraries....
The survey asked my fellow contributors to list up to ten authors that they consider “must-read,” meaning they would read anything they write. I also asked them to provide a little insight into what qualities push an author into this category. Nineteen Book Riot contributors filled out the survey, listing a combined 82 unique authors. After analyzing their responses and researching each author listed, here’s what I learned. Top 6 Must-Read Authors According to Book Riot Contributors The biggest surprise in collecting this date was the sheer breadth of authors Book Riot contributors listed....
Given the wide range of genres that includes horror, this list might seem a bit unconventional. But it’s not—those who read horror might not know they’re reading horror because it’s so often seen as a genre, as opposed to a mood. That mood can be atmospheric or haunting. It can be funny or campy. It can be eerie or chilling. Not all horror is bloody or gory. It’s tough to nail down what it is that makes a perfect horror book, but looking at the top YA horror gives a nice glimpse into just how wide-ranging it really can be....
“If you’re trying to get your hands on a copy of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher, it just got a lot easier. The Witcher’s publisher, Orbit, announced last Tuesday that its “US division is currently reprinting over 500,000 copies to meet the exceptional demand.” Orbit also stated that interest in the novels has ‘increased steadily’ since the Netflix series was announced and has had ‘phenomenal’ sales since the series dropped, leading to the reprint....
There are hundreds of Christmas stories in superhero comics, and plenty for secular or secularized holidays like Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, and Valentine’s Day. There’s even a handful of Hanukkah stories. But as far as I know, there’s only one Yom Kippur story. And it’s one of my very favorites. That story is Fantastic Four #56 (August 2002), by Karl Kesel and Stuart Immonen. It’s called “Remembrance of Things Past,” and as the title suggests, it delves into the past of…well, the Thing, AKA Ben Grimm....
There’s something comfortingly incontrovertible about photographs. I know that queer people have always been here. I know we’re everywhere. I know that queerness exists in infinite variations. It’s why I read so many queer books, every kind I can get my hands on. But seeing the evidence of that is a different kind of knowing. It’s powerful to look at photographs of queer people thriving and celebrating. It’s powerful to look at photos of queer history, to see the faces of the people who have made my life — so many queer lives — possible....
“Like many people who identify strongly as readers, I’ve been having trouble with focus lately. While I yearn for the brain engagement that a good reading session can bring, I find my eyes skimming over words, my mind skipping like a broken VHS tape over images and emotions that keep me perpetually distracted. Some days are better than others, but many days, reading text-only books—a thing that used to light me up—feels almost impossible....
Tonight at 8 pm Eastern time, Atlas Obscura is offering a one hour virtual tour of the infamous Swan house from the bestselling cultural phenomenon by Stephenie Meyer. St. Helens, Oregon, is home to the filming of the 2008 adaptation of Twilight, and in the past 12 years, it’s become a place for fans of the series to tour the places and spaces that represent the books and film. Specifically, fans have flocked to the home where Bella Swan, series lead character, lived with her father Charlie....
Book cover design has become a vital part of book sales. Although there was a time in print history when you would go to your local binder, drop off the loose pages of your new book, and come back to find them bound per your specifications, now we expect our books to come with the bindings. Although beautiful books can come in all shapes and sizes, today we are talking about the hardcovers out right now with the cleverest designs under the dust jacket that I could find....
What Is Warriors About? As Rusty’s time with ThunderClan grows, so does his importance in the group. While the politics of this provide some basis for conflict, other forces also threaten the clans—humans, naturally, are one. This is especially the case in the second series, Warriors: The New Prophecy, when the Clans homes are threatened by construction. Later series dive more deeply into supernatural elements of the Warriors world, further inter-clan conflict, the vast family tree that makes up the characters of Warriors, and more....
Each September during the beginning of the school year, intrepid librarians all over the United States strive to get library cards into the hands of as many people as possible. Let’s take a look at the importance of libraries and some of the activities librarians have in store this month. The Impact of Libraries In the United States, public libraries took part in some of the most important democratic actions the country had ever seen....
Here’s the problem: what artists show, how they show it, the way costumes are designed, whether or not an actor takes his shirt off, isn’t as important as the intent behind the aforementioned. Yes, people who admire the male form certainly do enjoy a well drawn male character (Batman, Nightwing, Cap, etc) but there is one huge difference between the design of male and female characters in comics that’s been there from the beginning: the stereotypical male form in comics isn’t designed for the enjoyment of male form aficionados; it’s intended to be aspirational for teenage boys who wanted to grow up to be those heroes....
