Books book reviews Half City by Kate Golden is Some Good Demon Hunting Fun “Kate Golden writes in an infectious, bonkers, enthusiastic way…” By Jared Shurin | Published on March 4, 2026 Comment 0 Share New Share Viv is young, fun and 21. She lives in Astera, better known as “Half City” because of the enormous cosmic chasm that ripped the city in half and spawned forth hell creatures to plague the land. (Fortunately, this keeps the rent in Viv’s neighbourhood affordable.)  Viv’s in proud possession of a nice job, a nicer boyfriend, and a less-nice-but-very-devoted family. Sadly, the job is boring, the boyfriend is more so, and the family is a little too invested in her life. The latter is particularly problematic, because Viv is also a demon hunter. This is, for all the sensible reasons, a vocation best kept secret.  It is thanks to Viv that the world isn’t overwhelmed with baddies. She juggles her mundane commitments by day and skewers monsters at night. It is exhausting and painfully lonely. Imagine her surprise when she learns there’s an actual by-gum university for hunters like her. At Harker Academy, all the hunters of the world come together to learn how to best stab, skewer, and slay their various deadly nemeses. Viv is invited to enroll, by a sexy professor/reformed demon no less. She gives in to her curiosity and discovers that there’s a whole world—a whole society—out there that she didn’t know about.  A school full of demon-hunters should be the safest place on earth, but Viv has another secret. Over and above being a hunter, she’s also descendent of a rare and ancient bloodline, one with a bad reputation and a lot of mystical value to the wrong parties. She’d love to relax and kick back with her new friends, but she can’t afford to loosen up.  Half City is a lot. Viv dresses sexy and slays messily and has a steamy crush on a guy from the wrong side of the interplanar tracks. Harker Academy, and hunter society as a whole, has a dangerous curriculum of very stabby classes and lethal field trips. The school itself is center stage for inter-generational family secrets. (What even is the point of going to school if you’re not going to stumble on a yearbook that unlocks your lost family heritage?!) These are all familiar tropes, done well. But beneath the sexy demons and arson classes, there’s a deeper lesson about the role of, and importance of, schools. Viv is a woman caught between two worlds (a metaphor explicit in the gaping and omnipresent inter-dimensional rift). She has a bubble of safety: her family, her job, her boyfriend. They have expectations for her, and—all adolescent whining aside—there’s nothing “bad” about a comfortable life with a well-to-do family, loyal partner, and career in the arts. But Viv also has her instincts and her desires; she’s drawn to being a hunter. There’s something under her skin that compels her to a different way of life, no matter how self-destructive it may seem. In Half City, we have a woman caught in-between: torn in half. She is trying to balance both worlds, but admits (and the reader patiently awaits) that being a hunter is inevitable. Viv knows that she will lose everything eventually: her family, her friends, her boyfriend. She is dragging out her half-life as long as possible, but is fully aware that only blood and loneliness awaits her.  …and that is why Harker Academy is so very special. It is a demonstration that Viv can be a Hunter and have friends, have a relationship, possibly even survive into middle age. It allows her to pursue her dream of being a Hunter, but to do so with support. She can have her dream and possibly even a life.  Buy the Book Half City Kate Golden Buy Book Half City Kate Golden Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget Although demon hunting isn’t (sadly) a traditional degree programme, Half City deftly captures the essence of why schools are so important. They’re a chance to explore outside of the bubble, to realise that your passion isn’t a wild dream, but something that can exist. They’re transitional spaces where you travel, with support, between the comfortable and the future. A school is a safe space: a place to learn, and turn your half-life into a full one. Except, of course, this is still Dark Academia. Harker Academy should be the answer to Viv’s prayers, but it comes with some nasty secrets of its own. For a safe space, students seem to disappear with ominous frequency. Who is behind the disappearances? And what connects them? And behind that mystery are hints towards a rapidly-scaling epic plot.  Half City may begin as student shenanigans, but you can bet your blazer that there are cosmic showdowns ahead. The big monster fights and crisis-to-come are balanced against Viv’s everyday challenges. She’s trying to juggle a job and her studies, a bad (bad) boyfriend and a bad (but so good) crush, concerned friends and meddling family. Viv is somehow working, studying, dating, slaying and mystery-solving, and managing to keep all of that going while still making ends meet. I’m reluctant to call it a “plot hole,” but I think because Viv’s mundane problems are the most relatable, they’re also hardest to believe. Fortunately, Golden adds in some amusing, plot-twisty ways of explaining how the precarious structure of Viv’s life (and diary management) works without collapsing under its own weight. There’s something for everyone in Half City, every species of monster and magic, every possible twist and turn, but there’s also the sense that this wild ride is pointed somewhere, and the conclusion is going to be deliciously explosive. I’m not sure Half City is “ground-breaking,” but even the most familiar elements are likable and well-executed. Kate Golden writes in an infectious, bonkers, enthusiastic way. I have an infinite capacity for gooey monsters, magic schools, cinematic smackdowns, gladiatorial curricula and demonic conspiracies. Half City is far more than the sum of its parts, and wholly fun.[end-mark] Half City is published by Ace. The post <i>Half City</i> by Kate Golden is Some Good Demon Hunting Fun appeared first on Reactor.

News Lanterns Lanterns Trailer Confirms DCU Series’ Grim Detective Vibes Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan is old and tired, and Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart isn’t enthused By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on March 4, 2026 Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe continues its expansion into television. The franchise has already released Peacemaker season two and the animated series Creature Commandos, but it’s fair to say that Lanterns, which is slated to come out this summer, is the most anticipated thing from the DCU to come to HBO Max. Today, we got a trailer that confirms the show will be “very much in the vein of True Detective,” as Safran described the series back in June 2024. In it, we see grizzled Lantern Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) teaching up-and-coming Lantern John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) how to work with the ring. The two find themselves in a small western town that just doesn’t seem quite right, and the two Lanterns are on the case, hard-boiled detective-style. Here’s the official logline: The series follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland. The trailer also raises some questions. We know from previous reporting that Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), who we met in Superman, will be in Lanterns as well. That brings the Lantern tally up to three (something confirmed by Gunn in an interview), but Jordan says in the trailer that he’s the only human Lantern out there. What does that mean for Guy? Is this a different timeline? Another part of the multiverse? It’s not clear right now, but the show’s tone is quite different than the bowl-cut, green leather bodysuit smarminess we got from Fillion’s character in Superman, suggesting perhaps the latter. We’ll have to mull over these mysteries as we wait for the series premiere of Lanterns, which will come to HBO Max in August 2026. Check out the trailer below. [end-mark] The post <i>Lanterns</i> Trailer Confirms DCU Series’ Grim Detective Vibes appeared first on Reactor.

Excerpts fantasy Read an Excerpt From Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell When Rory was lonely, his sister made a playmate for him—a girl woven from flowers and words. By Bar Fridman-Tell | Published on March 4, 2026 Comment 0 Share New Share We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell, a debut fantasy out from Bloomsbury on March 24th. Once upon a time, on the edge between meadow and forest, there was a lonely child with only his older sister for company. In exchange for being left in peace, his sister made him a playmate—Daye, a girl woven from flowers and words. And for the first time, this boy, Rory, had a friend.Rory couldn’t be happier, until he learns that Daye is a short-lived creature. At the end of each season, she must be woven back together or fall gruesomely apart. And every time Daye falls apart might be her last.As Rory and Daye grow older and the line between friendship and romance begins to blur, Rory becomes desperate to break this cycle of bloom and decay. But the farther Rory pushes his research and experiments to lengthen Daye’s existence, the more Daye begins to wonder just how much control she really has over her own life. Rory couldn’t remember running back to the house, or climbing up the stairs, or banging on Wynne’s door. One moment he was backing away from Daye, a roar of nononononono in his ears, and the next his sister was shaking his shoulders, calling his name. “Rory, take a deep breath. Tell me what’s wrong.” Though Rory could count on one hand the number of times they’d talked that summer, he threw himself into Wynne’s arms and let the hysteria close over his head. “Rory, I need you to tell me—are you hurt? Did something happen?” Rory struggled to draw enough breath to speak. It was useless. Every time he tried, he remembered the cracks in Daye’s skin, her finger lying in the grass, and his stomach roiled and fresh tears flooded his tongue and the words were gone. He tried once, twice, then took hold of Wynne’s hand and dragged her down the stairs, out the front gate, round the meadow. His sister protested all along, but never pulled her arm free. Daye was lying where he had left her, outlined by the purple blaze of the heather. Her left hand was still lying outstretched where he dropped it, though Rory averted his eyes before he could see if any more fingers— Soft brown shapes huddled around her. Bunnies nestled at the curve of her waist, her knee, her shoulder. A red leaf rested on Daye’s collarbone. It looked like a wound. It wasn’t moving. Rory couldn’t tell if she was moving. All the bunnies’ noses were twitching in unison, their sides rising and falling, and Rory couldn’t see Daye’s chest moving at all. “Please.” Rory couldn’t look. Instead, he watched Wynne, the rapid-fire change of expressions on her face: hand-to-mouth horror, sliding down to dismay before falling away altogether, leaving behind only a patronizing sort of pity, a dash of guilt. He might have gotten angry if he wasn’t so busy panicking, and if Wynne wasn’t the only one that could help. “Rory—” “Please please please do something,” he begged. “Oh, Rory.” Wynne seemed torn. “She’s a flower girl. That’s just the way flower girls are.” “What— What?” Rory asked through salt-numb lips. “She’s out of her season. See? She’s made out of summer flowers, but it’s almost October already, and summer flowers can’t survive in autumn.” “Can you fix her?” Wynne pursed her lips like she was no longer certain that making Daye had been such a great idea. “Sure. But, Rory, are you sure you want me to? She’s not a person, she’s a flower girl. That’s what flower girls do. They’re not meant to last.” “She is a person.” Rory’s hands balled into fists. “She’s my friend—my best friend. I don’t care if she’s a flower girl, I just care that she’ll be okay again.” “Rory, maybe this isn’t—” Rory cut her off. “You promised. You promised that if I stopped bothering you, you’d make Daye for me. Are you going to break your triple promise?” Wynne sighed her most resigned sigh. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” “I won’t. Please, please fix her?” “Fine. I’ll get the heather. You go gather as many fallen leaves as you can. And apples. And any autumn flowers you can find.” Rory dashed away, bringing back a shirtful of apples, as many velvet-centered wood anemones as he could carry, and leaves—red and brown and yellow and speckled every shade of green. Handfuls of acorns with their jaunty little caps. Late harebells and clusters of yarrow. He kept bringing his sister more and more things, long after Wynne said it was enough. Buy the Book Honeysuckle Bar Fridman-Tell Buy Book Honeysuckle Bar Fridman-Tell Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget He didn’t want to watch. Didn’t want to see her untangling parts of Daye, replacing them with others. But no matter how much he tried, he kept catching sight of Wynne’s fingers moving inside Daye’s chest, her arms, her face. Each time he screwed his eyes shut and turned away as fast as he could. It was never fast enough. He really did try not to cry—Wynne kept telling him to stop, that there was no need and Daye was going to be okay and “Really, Rory, stop with the crying” and “Don’t be such a baby,” but tears kept falling from his eyes. Finally Wynne called him to her. “Look. She’s fine. Stop crying and look.” She grabbed his hand and pointed. But it wasn’t Daye lying before her. The girl was Daye-shaped and dressed in Daye’s sweater and pants, but she had red hair, like the dogwood leaves littering the grass around them. Her cheeks were apple red and her lips dusty pink like the heather behind them. She was pretty, but she wasn’t Daye. “It’s not her.” Rory’s voice hitched. Wynne heaved a sigh. “Yes, it is.” “No it isn’t. She doesn’t even look like Daye.” “It’s her. The exact same flower girl, different season.” “But—” “Trust me, Rory, it’s the same Blodeuwedd.” Wynne sounded impatient now. “It’s only the flowers she’s made of that are different. It’s like changing clothes—you can change what you wear and still be the same person, right?” Rory mulled it over for a moment. “But,” he said, voice small, “will she remember me?” “Y-yes. Just, next time, call me before she starts falling apart, will you? It’ll be easier that way. Just come and get me the first week of winter, and I’ll fix her up.” “But why doesn’t she open her eyes?” “Oh, yeah. That.” She looked down at Daye. “Wake up, Blodeuwedd.” And Daye opened her eyes, and smiled. Excerpted from Honeysuckle, copyright © 2026 by Bar Fridman-Tell. The post Read an Excerpt From <i>Honeysuckle</i> by Bar Fridman-Tell appeared first on Reactor.

Movies & TV Outlander Outlander Showrunner Says Show’s Ending Is “Not Going to Please Everyone” “You want people to be satisfied. You want them to feel like the story’s been told” By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on March 4, 2026 Credit: Starz Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Starz The eighth and final season of Outlander begins on March 6, and in the lead-up to its premiere, showrunner Matthew B. Roberts and executive producer Maril Davis reflected on what the series finale will mean to fans of both the books and the series. “You want people to be satisfied. You want them to feel like the story’s been told,” Roberts said during a press conference hosted by the Television Critics Association that Reactor attended. Roberts then went on, however, to acknowledge that the ending is “not going to please everyone,” that “not all stories have happy endings,” and that how a fan feels about the ending will be “subjective.” Davis also shared that she “cried fat, ugly tears in the last episode” and that while “it did feel very sad because it’s ending,” she, as a fan, “was very satisfied” with it. “It’s going to be subjective,” she said, echoing Roberts’ words, “but I thought it was a really beautiful episode.” And as for how the show’s ending compares to the one author Diana Gabaldon is working on? Both Roberts and Davis were coy, though Davis confirmed that she and at least Jamie Fraser actor Sam Heughan have read the last couple of pages of the yet-to-be-published final book in Gabaldon’s series (Roberts had the opportunity to do so and chose not to). Credit: Starz “We certainly didn’t want to do an ending that [Gabaldon] might do,” Davis said, “but it was also kind of impossible [to do so], since we are ending it a book early.” However, the writing team did keep Gabaldon informed as they worked on the series finale because they wanted her to let them know if what they had come up with made her uncomfortable. “We just had to try to wrap some things up, [and] some things we will not be able to wrap up, just because there’s so much material still to go,” Davis said. We’ll have to wait to see how the show’s final episodes play out. Outlander season eight premieres on Starz on Friday, March 6, 2026, with Starz releasing a new episode each Friday thereafter. [end-mark] The post <i>Outlander</i> Showrunner Says Show’s Ending Is “Not Going to Please Everyone” appeared first on Reactor.

News A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Three New Characters Join A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 2 It’s feisty redhead o’clock in Westeros By Molly Templeton | Published on March 4, 2026 Credit: Hulu Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Hulu A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has just wrapped up its first season, but the second is already on the way. The Game of Thrones spinoff was renewed back in November, and its second season is expected to air in 2027—meaning the production has got to get cracking. And it is! Variety brings the word that three new cast members have already been added. As expected, all three come from George R. R. Martin’s novella The Sworn Sword, on which season two is based. Lucy Boynton (Barbie, Bohemian Rhapsody) will play Lady Rohanne, the daughter of Lord Wyman Webber, of Coldmoat. She is also a petite redhead, so presumably we’re back in wig territory, as Boynton appears to be quite blonde. After several doomed marriages, Lady Rohanne marries Gerold Lannister and they have some kids, one of whom is Tywin Lannister’s father. But that’s later. Alien: Earth standout Babou Ceesay (pictured above right) has been cast as Ser Bennis, a hedge knight also known as Bennis of the Brown Shield. He is not the charmingest or kindest of knights. Alongside Ser Duncan (Peter Claffey), he works for Ser Eustace Osgrey. Peter Mullan (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) has just been cast as Ser Eustace, who comes into conflict with Lady Rohanne over a dam (and some possible dishonor, naturally). A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms stars Claffey as the titular knight and Dexter Sol Ansell as his squire, Egg, who is not really a squire at all. The show was created by Martin and showrunner Ira Parker, and the first season is currently available on HBO.[end-mark] The post Three New Characters Join <i>A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms</i> Season 2 appeared first on Reactor.