Magic

Book Review: ‘Silver Nitrate’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

16th Sep 2025Leave a comment

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s ‘Silver Nitrate’ is my latest read of 2025.

Moreno-Garcia first popped onto my radar with the release of ‘Mexican Gothic’ (which I’ve still yet to read). So, when I found ‘Silver Nitrate’ on the shelf, I grabbed it – and not only because that red cover oozes coolness.

‘Silver Nitrate’ follows Montserrat, an awkward sound editor. She’s in love with her childhood best friend, the washed-up actor Tristan. Together, they discover his new neighbour is a horror director from years past. For unknown reasons, he never finished his final film. Now, the director wants Montserrat and Tristan to help him complete it. Things go awry from there.

I had a good time with ‘Silver Nitrate’. The setting of ’90s Mexico is very cool and original. The childhood friends who always loved movies and horror resonated with me. And the idea of Nazi sorcerers is always creepy. The book is easy to read and doesn’t overstay its welcome. That said, I do have a few complaints.

I thought the genre was going to be horror when I went in. But, despite one or two scares (a couple of which were quite fun), the book itself isn’t terrifying. In fact, it wanders over to fantasy, sci-fi, and romance. I’d say it’s a romance novel wrapped in horror wallpaper.

Additionally, very few of the characters popped for me. Tristan, despite his interesting backstory, is whiny and annoying. Montserrat has her moments, but sometimes acts out for no clear reason. Abel was fun, as was the other guy who likes tropical décor (I forget his name). Speaking of forgetting, the main villains were all forgettable. We’ve all encountered these nefarious, lurking-in-the-shadows cult types before. Plus, there never felt like there would be any real repercussions if our heroes failed, only a vague ‘end of the world.’

These caveats didn’t stop me from enjoying ‘Silver Nitrate’, but they did make it disappointing. Judging by the cover and the blurb, this should have been a home run for me, yet it wasn’t. In the end, ‘Silver Nitrate’ didn’t quite cast the spell I hoped for. But it was fun enough to keep me curious about Moreno-Garcia’s other worlds.

I’m especially eager to check out ‘Mexican Gothic’.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ☆ ☆

Book Review: ‘Odin’s Child’ by Siri Pettersen

10th Sep 2023Leave a comment

Siri Pettersen’s ‘Odin’s Child’ is book thirty-one of the year (I made a counting error in my last review!).

I recently joined a book club here in Innsbruck. We first met in August to discuss some short stories, and ‘Odin’s Child’ was the first full-length novel we read. We will meet later in September, and I look forward to discussing it with the group.

Seeing as fantasy generally isn’t my cup of tea—with obvious exceptions, such as ‘Lord of the Rings’—I was dubious. But, as it turned out, I enjoyed ‘Odin’s Child’. I didn’t love or hate it (as I sometimes do with fantasy). Pettersen sidesteps some fantasy errors whilst succumbing to others.

The story follows Hirka, a tailless girl in a world where having a tail is the norm. She also can’t “bind”—the codeword for magic in this universe—whereas everyone else can. The usual fare of the “orphaned special one” begins, and worldbuilding clogs up the story. But once Pettersen gets most of that out of her system, the story is fun and fast-paced. I didn’t feel that the novel dragged with extraneous details once we got rolling. Except for a rather unnecessary attempted sexual assault, the tale was entertaining.

So, for someone who dislikes most fantasy, I had a good time with ‘Odin’s Child’. I am still determining whether I will read books two and three in the series. It’s not Pettersen’s fault that this genre isn’t for me, but I must be honest about how much I liked it. I may pick them up to see where Pettersen takes the story from here.

If you dig fantasy, you may love ‘Odin’s Child’; if you dislike the genre, you might like it anyway, like me.

Book Review: “Der Spiegel des Schreckens” by R. L. Stine

1st Jun 2023Leave a comment

R. L. Stine’s “Der Spiegel des Schreckens” is my twentieth book of the year and my third German book ever.

I decided to continue with my run of “Goosebumps”/”Gänsehaut” books—if it works, why change it? Furthermore, R. L. Stine aimed these books for ten-to-twelve–year-olds, and I loved them as a kid. Hence, they are perfect for me in my quest to learn German.

The story follows two boys and their friends as they discover something in the attic. The object is a mirror that grants whoever pulls its lamp cord the power of invisibility. But the longer the kids stay invisible, the stranger they feel.

There’s no death or injury—it’s a kids’ book!—but the implication of the cursed object is quite creepy. Even so, I had a blast with the book, and I look forward to reading my next “Gänsehaut” book on my honeymoon! (Along with my usual stack of English books, of course!)

Each book I read in German gets a bit easier, and I’m having fun reliving my childhood as I do it.

My Final Story to End the Halloween Season: ‘Unlucky for Some’!

1st Nov 2020Leave a comment

…and here we are! Reedsy story number five! I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey — along with the daily Bite-Sized Horrors. I’ll now return to our regularly-scheduled programming! I know it’s not much, but I hope my little shop of horrors has at least given you a grin or a chuckle during these trying times. 🙂

This one was written for the prompt, “Write about a group of witches meeting up on Halloween night.” The title of my short story is Unlucky for Some, and you can read it here on WordPress or over on my Reedsy profile!

‘Onwards, Towards the Witch’: My magical entry for last week’s Reedsy contest

18th Jan 202027th Feb 2020Leave a comment

Whew! We’re getting there, aren’t we? Almost done! This story was written for last week’s Reedsy contest (just one more short story, then I’m all caught up!). This story was written for the Reedsy theme ‘winter wonderland’. I chose the prompt, “You go for a walk in fresh snow. Suddenly you realise you’re not leaving any footprints.”

This story was written shortly before the deadline of the contest, but it wasn’t quite as last minute as the previous one (although I did cut it close!). I feel that this is a better story somehow… it feels more ‘complete’ — even though I’d have liked more time on it. The title of the story is Onwards, Towards the Witch, and you can read it here on WordPress, or over on my Reedsy profile.

I see you, child.

The words slithered into her brain, as if they were her own thoughts. The world flashed a momentary red. And then they came again.

I see you, child.

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Well, I hope you guys like the story! From this point on, I’m hoping to have more time to dedicate to my short stories (as well as my main WIP — progress for which has recently stalled…). Indeed, the one I wrote for this week’s contest was complete by Thursday. Until next time, guys! Have a good’un, and always pay attention to the warnings of your fairy!

Read ‘When the War Falls Silent’: My last Reedsy story of 2019!

14th Jan 2020Leave a comment

Ah, not doing very well at uploading these at a steady rate, am I? I’ll chalk it up to still waking up after the excesses of Christmas, NYE and my birthday (which was yesterday)!

This particular story was written for the Reedsy theme of ‘that holiday feeling’. I chose the prompt, “Write a short story about an innkeeper wondering whether this will be their last holiday in business.” The title of my story is When the War Falls Silent, and it was the last story I wrote in 2019. You can read it here on WordPress, or over here on my Reedsy profile.

It’s worth noting that this story (along with the two Reedsy stories following it — they’ll be uploaded in the upcoming days, keep an eye out!) was written just an hour or so before the Reedsy deadline. I like the idea(s), but I fully admit that I should have dedicated more time to the actual writing process. Alas, this piece (and the other two that will follow) are a bit rough — so keep that in mind! You might be thinking, Josh, if you didn’t have the time, why did you try and squeeze a story in? Why not just wait until you can work on your stuff? And the answer to that is, I like writing one short story a week (at the very least) — I find it’s good practice! I don’t want to get lazy with my craft. Even if the work isn’t quite up to the standards I set for myself, I like the idea of putting something out there on a regular basis. Anyway, this has been enough of a rambling post. I’ll let the story speak for itself…

When the men from the Otherworld arrived, they brought death and destruction with them.

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I hope you like the piece! Even in spite of the previous ramble, I’m quite happy with it, considering I spent about 40 minutes on it. Who knows, maybe I’ll polish this (and the others) when I’ve got more time?

My entry for this week’s Reedsy contest: ‘A Village Under the Purple Moon’!

5th Oct 20192 Comments

Well, hello there! Fancy seeing you here. How’ve you been? That good, huh? Well, actually, I’ve been quite ill, but it hasn’t stopped me from working. I’ve done some writing, but it was done whilst in a state of delirium, so…

This week’s Reedsy theme was the literary classic, Little Women! I chose prompt #4 — “Write a story that uses flowers as a symbol.” As mentioned, I wrote this piece whilst not entirely here on Earth. I found the finished thing on my desktop, once I’d recovered, with only a vague memory of writing it. I tweaked it a little, once I was better — but for the most part, I left it as it was. I think it’s got a ‘woozy’ sensation to it, probably imbued from my fever! The title of the story is A Village Under the Purple Moon, and you can read it here on WordPress, or over here on my Reedsy profile. It’s a kind of fantasy story, which I never really write — so that’s a first!

Marianne felt the eyes of the townsfolk upon her; hatred intermingled with fear. Although they’d never know it, the people of Maydale had played a role in their own demise.

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As always, I hope you enjoy the piece! And remember: never exile a witch!

If you’d like to read Astro Naught, my winning entry for last week’s Reedsy contest, you can find it here on WordPress, or over here on Reedsy, where it has been published!