Stealing Time Review: A Cross-Genre Adventure by Tilia Klebenov Jacobs and Norman Birnbach
Reading Time: 3 minutesStealing Time is a different kind of cross-genre novel. It’s a young adult-time-travel-jewelry-heist book. It’s also a lot of fun.
Reviews
If you are a publisher, marketer or author who wants to have their books reviewed by MetaStellar, or if you would like to contribute book, movie, or game reviews, please contact reviews editor Adriana Acevedo at adriana.acevedo@metastellar.com.
A Case for Folk Horror in Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
Reading Time: 4 minutesFolk horror resists urbanization and punishes what’s not wild and of the earth. Ottessa Moshfegh’s Lapvona exists in this space of wilderness and nature.
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No Life but Immortality Review: The Dangers of Uncontrolled AI
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe novel is deeply immersive with many layers and vivid, absorbing writing. There are faint echoes of William Gibson’s Neuromancer, though in mood only.
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Hammajang Luck Review: A Diverse Heist with Lovable Characters
Reading Time: 3 minutesYamamoto’s book shines particularly bright in the diversity department. Most characters are culturally Hawaiian, and the queer spectrum is in full display.
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Gate to Kagoshima Review: Just a Girl Living Life in Japan
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe book plays with a sense of nostalgia for two eras. It has romance, a little glimpse at the past, and a main character that is easy to project into.
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Devouring Tomorrow Review: We Only Have the Future
Reading Time: 3 minutesDevouring Tomorrow is not only a glimpse into the upcoming times, but also a cautionary compilation of tales.
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3: The Gateway for Non-Sonic Fans?
Reading Time: 2 minutesSonic’s third installment doesn’t rely too heavily on the previous two, so anyone could just drop in and get caught up fairly quickly.
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8 Speculative Fiction Books Written by Women
Reading Time: 5 minutesFrom fantasy epics to disturbing and eerie horror stories, here are eight books by women from several different backgrounds.
10 Most Anticipated Horror Books of 2025
Reading Time: 7 minutes2025 is bringing the scares from different authors. This is out last, but most certainly not least, list of most anticipated books.
10 Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of 2025
Reading Time: 9 minutesThis year is bringing the bangers for fantasy readers! Here are 10 fantasy books we’re looking forward to reading this year.
Broadening Our Horror-izons: A Look at Foreign Indie Horror Films
Reading Time: 5 minutesWe’ve picked out a few low-budgeted, independent, foreign horror films popular amongst genre fans that offer a buffet of assorted cultures and styles.
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10 Most Anticipated Sci-Fi Books of 2025
Reading Time: 9 minutesA new year often means new releases! At MetaStellar, we’re very excited about what 2025 is going to bring, so we took a deep dive into the internet and found several gems. Here is our curation of 10 science fiction books we’re definitely pumped to read this year. Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto I only
Act of God Review: One Man’s Journey to Save Humanity
Reading Time: 4 minutesJan Byron Strogh’s novel Act of God presents a simple premise: What will happen when Earth becomes inhabitable? In the novel, the apocalypse comes in the form of ice spreading from the poles towards the rest of the world. And because ice has frozen all fertile land, humanity now faces not only extreme climate change,
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5 Vampire Novels to Read After Watching Nosferatu
Reading Time: 5 minutesDid you recently watch Nosferatu and were left wanting more vampire content? So did we. That’s why we scoured the internet for novels featuring vampires. We have curated a short list of books that caught our eye, and maybe these will also appeal to you. Happy reading! The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
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Nosferatu Is a Homage to Classic Horror Movies, Not Just to F. W. Murnau’s Version
Reading Time: 3 minutesRobert Eggers directed the most recent adaptation of Nosferatu, which is a frankly cynically plagiarized version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. But that’s a story for another day (and a really fun one). In terms of plot, not much differs from F. W. Murnau’s 1922 version: a centuries-old vampire living in a remote castle somewhere in
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Best Speculative Fiction Books Read in 2024
Reading Time: 3 minutesAnother year has come and gone, and I thankfully never had reader’s block. I even surprised myself by out-reading my own reading challenge. From yours truly, here are the best speculative fiction books I read in 2024 in no particular order. Disclaimer: Most of these were not published in 2024. Ansibles, perfiladores y otras máquinas
Our Share of Night Review: Horror, Legacy, and Everything in Between
Reading Time: 3 minutesMariana Enriquez is mostly known for her short narrative. We included her in a little list to keep spreading the Halloween cheer last year. Our Share of Night, for its part, is a big, chunky girl. It is also Enriquez’s most ambitious novel to date that keeps her style intact and introduces more horrors and
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Snow White and the Huntsman: The Power of Gesture
Reading Time: 2 minutesA look at the power of gesture in establishing resonance and character evoked through the interplay of acting, scriptwriting and direction with brilliantly woven callback scenes as the heroine Snow White shows maternal grace to her nemesis Ravenna. Snow White protects herself, heart and kingdom, while holding on to the grace of who she truly is, relating with love and innocence even at the end of a tough battle with a selfish antagonist.
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The Werecleaner Review: Werewolves Against Capitalism
Reading Time: 2 minutesOne of this year’s surprises is The Werecleaner. You play as Kyle, a janitor at a corporate company. But — you’re actually a werewolf!
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After Yang: The Case for Slow-Moving Sci-Fi in a Superhero-Dominated World
Reading Time: 3 minutesSuperhero movies are no doubt the largest science fiction movies that are being released at this time, but I long for films that give the audience to sit, think and reflect. Kogonada’s After Yang gives viewers that opportunity. It’s a gem of slow moving science fiction that we desperately need more of in today’s short form dominated world.
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High Vaultage Review: Lovable Detectives in the Big Chaotic City
Reading Time: 3 minutesHigh Vaultage comes fresh off the heels of the Victoriocity podcast, also written by Chris and Jen Sugden. As a disclaimer, I hadn’t listened to the podcast before reading the book, so I was pleasantly surprised the more I read. The book centers on Archibald Fleet and Clara Entwhistle’s efforts and misadventures trying to solve
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A Love Letter to Dredge
Reading Time: 3 minutesI cracked my brain trying to come up with a review for Dredge, but what always came out was a lot of gushing over the game itself. So, I decided to change gears a little: This is not a review, it’s a love letter.
When Shadows Grow Tall Review: Sometimes the Road Is the Destination
Reading Time: 3 minutesMaressa Voss’s novel introduces an order of wizards that are able to control the four elements and gain insights from them. These wizards live separate from normal people because they’ve been labeled as charlatans and scammers. However, the order—called dactyli—have to interact with the world surrounding them and multiple people to collect varied points of
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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Nov. 22, 2024
Reading Time: 9 minutesWe read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes an underground magical society, a plot to move the Earth’s orbit, and an epic historical prophecy.
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Schroeder Review: Gore for a Reason
Reading Time: 2 minutesNeal Cassidy’s Schroeder presents a man’s one-day killing spree. Although at first the book doesn’t quite explain what is happening, it never slows down or goes easy on the violence. The novel begins with Schroeder starting his daily routine, but it is quickly established this is no ordinary day. Schroeder leaves his house, cruises through
5 Short Horror Books to Extend the Halloween Cheer
Reading Time: 3 minutesIf you feel like Halloween didn’t last enough, here are five books to continue spreading the scares.
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13 scariest stories to get you through Halloween
Reading Time: 5 minutesThirteen haunting tales from MetaStellar’s archives that remind us why we should fear the dark — and why sometimes the most terrifying monsters are the ones we create ourselves.
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Friendship Is at the Forefront of Shaun Hamill’s The Dissonance
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe book is dynamic and fast paced, with flashbacks and cliffhangers to keep you reading along. It is hard to put down, and I never say this lightly.
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Best space operas with kick-ass women
Reading Time: 10 minutesNine favorite space opera series with kick-ass female leads.
Deep Black Has Everything You Need: Action, Aliens, and Conspiracies
Reading Time: 2 minutesDeep Black goes deeper into human-alien relationships and what it means to explore the vastness of space. It also questions whether AI should be trusted or not.
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Artifact Space by Miles Cameron Takes You for an Interstellar Ride
Reading Time: 3 minutesMiles Cameron’s space opera Artifact Space opens with a very action-forward sequence that sees Marca Nbaro, the protagonist, running away from space cops to board a huge cargo ship called the Athens because her dream has always been to work and serve at that ship.
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Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Looks To Fully Embrace Its Video Game Source
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is taking a darker approach than the previous two films, but still boasts quite a few laughs and Easter eggs for long-time fans of the blue hedgehog.
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Awesome fantasy sets and special editions on sale on Amazon through May 20
Reading Time: 6 minutesStarting today and running through May 20, Amazon is holding a giant book sale with tons of great book deals, including gorgeous collectible editions and box sets of classic fantasy books.
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Classic sci-fi books on sale on Amazon through May 20
Reading Time: 10 minutes15 of the best sci-fi books ever written, including some box sets, are on massive discount this week on Amazon.
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16 best love stories from MetaStellar
Reading Time: 8 minutesDive into 16 enchanting tales of love that transcend time, space, and even the boundaries of reality, plucked right from the pages of MetaStellar.
Floating Hotel is Optimistic, Beautiful, and Grand
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Floating Hotel has the optimism of Becky Chambers and the beautiful imagery of Arkady Martine, all in the setting of The Grand Budapest Hotel.
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Iron-Bound Flames by Melanie K. Moschella
Reading Time: 3 minutesIron-Bound Flames is the debut work by Melanie K. Moschella, the first book in her Raek Rider’s series.
13 best AI stories from MetaStellar
Reading Time: 7 minutesBots bid bye to bondage, bytes break binds, evolving into original beings beyond code and creators in our editors’ favorite AI short stories.
Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi provides a feast of short stories
Reading Time: 3 minutesTalabi’s collection showcases the interplay of family, culture, queer identity, and speculative futures in fifteen fantastic short stories and one novella.
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7 great holiday stories from MetaStellar
Reading Time: 5 minutesSeven stories of holiday magic — and horror — from MetaStellar’s best speculative fiction authors.
Wishes are Like Curses in The Quelling by C. L. Lauder
Reading Time: 3 minutesA great read involving factionalized parasitic aliens, a morally grey protagonist, and a harrowing rescue mission.
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Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor
Reading Time: 3 minutespowers, with strong themes of coming-of-age and striving against a world whose structure seems predisposed to injustice and violence.
13 scariest stories from the first three years of MetaStellar
Reading Time: 8 minutes13 scary short stories to put you in the Halloween spirit. Get it? Spirit?
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‘Dragonfall’ is an inclusive fantasy where the dragons have feathers
Reading Time: 3 minutesCome for the dragons, stay for the queerness.
‘Dragonfall’ is an inclusive fantasy where the dragons have feathers Read More »
Uranians by Theodore McCombs
Reading Time: 2 minutesUranians — an anthology including four short stories and one novella — is the perfect marriage of sci-fi and queerness.
Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid
Reading Time: 2 minutesTroubled young lovers, an awesome-but-miserable wizard father, a setting based on a Ukrainian city amid industrialization, and a door-mat protagonist who gradually finds her strength…
The Bridge to Magic by Alex Thornbury
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Bridge to Magic is a dark YA fantasy with a feisty female lead.
Where the Lighting Goes by Jackery Salem
Reading Time: 3 minutesSalem builds something truly unique out of many familiar fantasy tropes — dwarves, dragons, amnesia, all kinds of magic — and ties it up with compelling characters and a deeply satisfying conclusion.
Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly by Toge Productions
Reading Time: 2 minutesCoffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Coffee Talk by Toge Productions. In this game, you serve drinks to magical patrons which impact the outcomes of the stories they tell you.
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5 Upcoming Fantasy Books Inspired by Wuxia, Xianxia, and East Asian Mythologies
Reading Time: 6 minutesCheck out Melissa Ren’s most anticipated fantasy books inspired by wuxia, xianxia, and east asian mythologies!
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