The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle; As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers; The Eye of Goliath by Diego Muzzio; Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm
TL;DR
- Victor LaValle's "The Ballad of Black Tom" is a response to H.P. Lovecraft's racist works, recasting "The Horror at Red Hook" from a Harlem musician's viewpoint.
- Becky Chambers' "As You Wake, Break the Shell" is a non-linear cosy sci-fi romance between a botanist and a rorqual pilot, set on a distant planet.
- Diego Muzzio's "The Eye of Goliath" is a gothic horror novel about war trauma, hypnosis, and madness in a 1920s Edinburgh asylum, featuring a lighthouse keeper's dark history.
- Deena Helm's "Our Cut of Salt" tells the story of a young woman exploring her Palestinian grandmother's past through a haunted house in Haifa, symbolizing loss and vengeance.
- The review highlights elements of horror, romance, and historical trauma across the four discussed novels.