Um. eeeeeeee!

We all know what it's like to escape into a great work of fiction -- but it's quite another leap of pleasure to get lost in a truly exotic, alternate-reality world of an author's unique creation. Critic Glen Weldon trips out on the haunted, vivid landscapes of 2010's best speculative fiction.

Their choices? Oh, Cronin, Bear, Collins... me!

"Gilman is a charming writer, and her main character — the feisty, funny Bonnie Torres, who first appeared in the Retrievers series — benefits from the spotlight she is given here."


To celebrate, I'm going to give away three copies of HARD MAGIC to randomly-chosen posters from the comments below (starting now, ending @ 12:45 Tuesday afternoon. 24 hours to get in!)

Cheap, easy and fast. Pick Two.

So, last week Fresh Direct was offering "fish cubes" at a really cheap price. Apparently, it was whatever bits they had leftover from the day's fish orders, cubed. No certainty what you'd get, although I could make a guess, based on what's popular.

So I figured, wothtehell. For $3/half pound, it wasn't like I was throwing money away, even if it was useless.

So it came, and I browned some garlic and onions, added three cups of beef broth and a cup of water, and brought it to a boil, seasoned the fish with white pepper and...something else, I don't remember what Thai fish sauce -- and tossed that in with fresh dill, and let it cook an hour or two. Then I added some leftover grilled vegetables (zuke, red peppers), and a bunch of fresh baby spinach, and let it cook. And cook. About an hour before it was done, I added a handful of pastina, and let it all cook down again. Stir in some arrowroot at the end to thicken it, and voila, fish stew.


Reader? This stew rocks. And if you want to make it even more awesome? Serve it the next night over leftover mashed potatoes. It's like the most perfect cold-weather, hard-working-onna-deadline dinner ever.

Nom.

Of course, now all I want to do is take a nap....