“Can I Have a Cigarette?”: November in Review

November was supposed to be SciFi Month. I mean, it still was for everyone else and, while I usually have a theme for events like this, I had opted for a chaotic lack of a plan this time round. In the end that turned out to mean not taking part at all cos of a...

Interview with Erica L. Satifka, Author of How to Get to Apocalypse and Other Disasters

I'm dead happy to welcome Erica L. Satifka back to Parsecs & Parchment. I'm firmly of the opinion she's one of the most exciting writers out there at the mo. If you've not read her stuff yet check out my reviews of her rural cyberpunk novella BUSTED SYNAPSES and her new short story collection HOW...

Review: HOW TO GET TO APOCALYPSE AND OTHER DISASTERS by Erica L. Satifka

Having read Erica L. Satifka's rural cyberpunk novella Busted Synapses last year and chatted to her about it a little bit on this blog, I thought I knew what kinds of stories to expect going into How to Get to Apocalypse i.e. stories about working class people doing their best to navigate the grim technological...

Announcing the Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards Winners 2021!

Award season is truly upon us bookwyrms, and the Subjective Chaos 2021 winners have been chosen! Congratulations to all the winners and to Alix E. Harrow and C. L. Polk in particular for being the first joint winners in the Fantasy category! It was an honour to be asked onto this years panel and hats...

The Scourge of Corporate Media: October in Review

I've been very quiet during the second half of this year blogwise, especially when it comes to book reviews. That's cos I've been going through a kind of extended epiphany about my relationship to media analysis and the cultural environment in which we read books and watch films or TV shows. For a long time...

Interview with Matt Blairstone, Founder of Tenebrous Press

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Matt Blairstone, founder of new independent horror publisher Tenebrous Press. Matt and I chat about horror films, his journey into making comics, publishing ethics, Tenebrous' new gothic horror collection, novella submissions and more! This was a genuinely amazing interview. Matt is a gem and Tenebrous is one...

Boo! Watcha Readin’? A Spooky Reading Update 19/10/2021

I'm in full Halloween mode now. Nary a night goes by without a pant-shittingly scary film on the telly or a spooky ass book in my hand. Film-wise I've been having a ton of fun with some new-to-me stuff and classics alike. Got a rewatch of Dog Soldiers in last week, followed by UFO cult...

The Great Series Read Project Launch Part 2: Electric Bookaloo

Evening bookwyrms. The more discerning among you may have realised it's been two months since I posted part one of my Great Series Read Project launch. My commitment to blogging just ain't what it used to be apparently. Nevertheless, the tortoise beats the hare and all that, so you can all let out that breath...

“No One Escapes Cidhna Mine”: September in Review

Happy Spooky Season one and all, however you choose to celebrate. I've got a new cauldron on order, a rewatch of Hocus Pocus planned out and a bunch of small press horror books and short stories on hand to see me through the month of dark magic and pumpkin spiced lattes (yes I've embraced my...

Review: HORUS RISING (The Horus Heresy #1) by Dan Abnett

I only really read Horus Rising cos one day I opened the Warhammer 40k wiki and spent a wonderful three hours of my life barely making a dent in the lore. I got obsessed pretty quickly and wanted to read the stories set in this world while also getting a more substantial grounding in the...