The Science of Game of Thrones by Helen Keen was on my planned-but-not-yet-purchased TBR for a long while because I thought 1) it sounded interesting and 2) it could help me with my own fantasy writing. I happened upon the book at a community book sale and bought it for $1. 

An important thing to know about this book is it was published in 2016, between seasons 6 and 7 of the show. It also focuses on science within Westeros/Essos, not on the science of how the show was made. It covers topics like incest, dragon anatomy, the Wall, and wildfire. It's a short read (251 pages). 

I liked that this book had a playful tone and communicated the science clearly.

I disliked that this book was so basic. If you know anything about any of the topics discussed, then you know everything the book will tell you. Probably more. I learned nothing from this book, but  I'm not the right audience because I already know so much science.

This book is for you if you are a GoT fan who has shied away from science, if you want to learn more about fantasy worlds for your own worldbuilding purposes, of if you want to know more about the specific topics covered in the book at an entry level. This book is not for you if you have no familiarity at all with Game of Thrones (it tosses in a lot of character names and events), if you are familiar with basic science, or if you were hoping to learn about the science that was used in the show itself (like pyrotechnics and CGI).  


Have you read The Science of Game of Thrones? What about other books that delve in to the science of other fantasy worlds, like Harry Potter? Let's discuss in the comments!

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel is a retelling of part of the Ramayana (an Indian epic focused on Rama, one of the avatars of Vishnu). The main character, Kaikeyi, is one of Rama's mothers (technically a step-mother) and is famous for banishing Rama from his home for ten years shortly after he gets married. A good portion of the Ramayana is about those ten years, and Kaikeyi is often cast a a villain. This book looked at things from her perspective, kind of like Wicked. This book was a Book of the Month pick, a NYT Bestseller, and was nominated for the Ignyte Award for best Adult Novel.

Kaikeyi follows the titular character from her childhood through the banishing of Rama. Kaikeyi's mother was banished from her home kingdom by Kaikeyi's father and so Kaikeyi had to take on the burden of raising her seven brothers. As a teenager, she was married off to the king of the nearby kingdom that had great power, but no heir from his first two (still living) wives. Kaikeyi makes a deal: she'll marry him if her first son becomes his heir, regardless of whatever other children he has. He agrees. As you can guess, this becomes a big issue later. This is all going on while Kaikeyi discovers a hidden power, and learns to control it. When faced with choices over the years over what's best for the kingdom or herself, she always chooses the kingdom--but not in the way the men around her would prefer.

This book was interesting. I came at it knowing what the Ramayana was and the basic concepts in it, but no memory of if we discussed the character Kaikeyi in my Asian Cultures class 10+ years ago. I think it definitely justified a lot of Kaikeyi's actions, and made Rama look like the bad guy. (I'm not sure if this is intentional because if Rama is an avatar of a god, shouldn't he be considered at least A good guy if not THE good guy in a retelling?)

Some of Kaikeyi's choices weren't the smartest, and if she'd just stopped to think she could have made better choices. Of course, the author was constrained by the Ramayana, so only so much could really change. Kaikeyi also sometimes came off as Not Like Other Girls, which is among my least favorite tropes.

This books is for you if you enjoy fairy tale retellings from new perspectives, if you want a feminist lens in the Ramayana's world, or if you enjoy stories focused on mothers. It's not for you if you aren't familiar with the Ramayana and don't want to be, if you dislike retellings, or if you aren't in the headspace to read about maternal abandonment.


Have you read Kaikeyi? What other retellings have you enjoyed recently? Let's discuss in the comments!

 Redsight by Meredith Mooring is a science fantasy/space opera. It came on my radar because I was hoping to find books by authors with disabilities. Meredith Mooring is blind, as is her main character, which I thought would lead to a unique reading experience. (She has a blog post about being an author who is blind here.)

As a side note, I used to work for a non-profit that dealt with donated corneas (the clear part at the front of your eye, where a contact lens sits) and getting them to patients who needed them. Through that job, I learned that there are all sorts of types of blindness and levels of sight someone can have; the term "blind" not an all or nothing situation. I'm going to refer to Korinna as being blind here for ease of communication, but some might prefer low-vision or vision-impaired.

Redsight follows a red priestess, Korinna, who has always believed she is the worst trainee of her cohort. Red seers are blind, but can tap into the universe's power (tactus) to "see" (think Toph from ATLA) and navigate the stars. When Korinna graduates, she is thrust into a prestigious position as the navigator of a planet-sized ship. An advisor on board, Litia, is strange--Korinna can see her face perfectly clearly, unlike anyone or anything before. However, Litia has a secret and a plan of her own. 

Something I liked about Redsight was that it made it so seamless for a blind person such as Korinna to move around the ships, even when she was the only person with that need on a plant-sized ship. Because with technology that advanced, why wouldn't you make Braille (called tactile script) available everywhere? Why wouldn't you have communication tech that works for everyone? It made so much sense and I loved it. I also liked how the limited visual descriptions from Korinna made the other sense descriptions feel important, instead of how in other books they're mentioned more for ambiance than information. I also liked the relationship of red, black, and white priestesses to each other, and how one could not be dominant over the others.

Something I wasn't as fond of in the book was the body horror element of the magic system. I love that there was a consequence for magic, but I couldn't really vibe with the number of times Korinna's fingernails fell off. I don't care if there was magical healing, losing fingernails is a no from me. (It got to be like that in Gideon the Ninth for me. Despite all the good stuff in there, the gore crossed a threshold I didn't know I had.)

You'll enjoy this book if you enjoyed Gideon the Ninth (Sapphic, science fantasy, blood/body magic), if you want to read from a vision-impaired perspective, and if you want to see how non-visual descriptions can really stand out. This book is not for you if you're not looking for a romantic subplot, if you don't do well with literary blood/gore, or if you are looking for a space opera without magic.


Have you read Redsight? What about other books from authors who navigate the world differently from the majority of people? Let's discuss in the comments!

This post has been on my to-do list for a while. Back in January, I contacted a professional freelance editor about getting a developmental edit. I worked with Jeni Chappelle, who has a great website and newsletter and she has participated in RevPit, a pitch contest to get a free developmental edit. I ended up purchasing what she called a Manuscript Critique, which has the same type of feedback as her developmental edit, but includes a couple fewer things (no list of resources, fewer calls, etc.). I wanted to discover what type of feedback a paid edit would get me vs a free beta read from my writing groups and some reader friends. Is a developmental edit/manuscript critique different or better than a beta read? 

I want to emphasize one of my points here: having others beta read your book is expected by agents before your query. (It's so expected that you don't need to mention it in your query.) However, no agent will reject your work solely because you didn't have a developmental edit. That type of edit might help you solve problems that then take your manuscript from a rejection to an acceptance, but:

No professional editing is required in order to sign with an agent.

My experience with Jeni Chappelle was awesome. She gave me incredible feedback, and our call together made me so inspired to work on my novel again. She was genuinely enthused about my project and was such a nice and caring person. If you're considering a developmental edit/manuscript critique and she seems like a fit for your story and budget, I recommend her.

My beta reader pros and cons are based on several years' worth of beta feedback on my current project and three previous novels. I've worked with betas in my writing groups and friends who were more readers than writers. Your beta experience will vary. Choose wisely and know when you've gotten enough beta readers to give you feedback (you can have too many.)


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Overall, getting a developmental edit is significantly different from receiving beta reads. In my experience, the developmental edit was better specifically for big-picture feedback, but that's what it's designed for. I would never skip beta reading, with or without a developmental edit, because the beta feedback's granularity and variety is also incredibly useful.