Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Anthologies tend to be hit or miss with me. The collection of multiple authors’ works can either be a great gateway to new voices (that’s how I discovered Vivi Andrews), or something that can’t hold my attention long enough. For the sake of this discussion, there are two types of anthologies: those including a few novellas and others featuring a bevy of short stories. The novella anthos, which include...
Earlier this week, I received the email below from a VBC reader. She asked me to about beloved authors publishing graphic novels in addition to traditional novels. I’m not the best person to ask, to be honest. I have great respect for the talent that goes into conveying the emotion and narrative of a complex story visually, but I’m just not into graphic novels. I will say, before turning it over to VBC...
Last week I reviewed Kevin Hearne’s debut urban fantasy Hounded. The novel, featuring 2,100-year-old druid Atticus, is set in Tempe, Arizona. Mostly in downtown Tempe, which is a dense mashing of bars, indie shops and the best hamburgers ever. I say all this because I lived there for several years there. I attended Arizona State University when the journalism school still resided at its Tempe campus. So,...
Last week we asked for your help in assembling the ultimate urban fantasy starter kit — those books that are musts for the genre. And, wow, did you ever have suggestions. We loved it. (And we know we weren’t alone in adding tons of great books to our to-read list.) From the quintessential Charles de Lint to Kim Harrison and Rachel Vincent to Jaye Wells and Nicole Peeler. You were all over the place, and...
We know y’all love the discussion posts. And, honestly, so do we. So, today we’re soliciting your advice. We often get emails saying “I just found this genre through Book A. Tell me where to go now!” And with us reading so many good novels it’s easy to just suggest the latest and greatest. (My go-to recommendation this week is A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang. Really excellent dark fantasy.) But,... 
