Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

Magic realism (or urban fantasy, if you want to call it that) done Americana-style can be a beautiful thing. Examples of this are Neil Gaimon's American Gods, Tim Powers' Fault Lines series (Last Call, Expiration Date, Earthquake Weather), and Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. Hotel Astarte is an Americana magic realism short story podcast from PodCastle. It's not a sad story, but its bones have the old sorrow of fairytales and decades-old tragedies. The writing is as refreshing as a cold glass of milk and a slice of fresh-baked honey wheat bread after you've finished hanging the laundry out to dry in the summer sun.

Go forth and listen.