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Read the conclusion to the award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling series from Hugo Award–winning author John Scalzi! The collapse of The Flow, the pathway between the planets of the Interdependency, has accelerated. Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who deny the reality of this collapse, but the forces opposing her aim to topple her from power. Grayland and her allies must use every tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization…or the last emperox to wear the crown?
Happy third week of April, shipmates! It’s Alex, and… I don’t know about you, but we celebrated getting midway through the first month of spring here with… let me check my notes… a snow storm. I hope everyone is staying safe (and warm, where applicable) and here are some brand new books to help brighten your day, as well as some fun news!
But first, the best fashion show I’ve ever seen.
And while I’m not big into poetry, this is some amazing work: The First Lines of Emails I’ve Received While Quarantining
New Releases
The Conductors by Nicole Glover – After the Civil War, former Underground Railroad conductor Hetty has settled in Philadelphia with her husband Benjy. The two of them work to solve mysteries and deaths that the white authorities of the city would rather ignore. When they find one of their friends dead in an alleyway, they must embark on a dangerous search for truth so deep and ugly that will take all their wits–and magic–to face.
Simantov by Asaf Ashery, translated by Marganit Weinberger-Rotman – Two detectives head a team of mystic agents tasked with solving otherworldly crime scenes and bizarre clues. They realize that their newest case, a series of strange abductions, is pointing directly toward an oncoming apocalypse, brought on by a war between factions of angels. But while the angels fight it out over who will have access to heaven, neither side has accounted for the weight of human free will in their battle plans.
Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu – After the civil war between Earth and Mars, a group of young people travels from Mars to Earth in an attempt to heal the rift between the two. But on Earth, the Martian youth find themselves without welcome or friends, bereft of the beauty and culture they’re familiar with from their home.
The Unsuitable by Molly Pohlig – Iseult is a woman who, by Victorian standards, is on the edge of irretrievable spinsterhood, and her terrible father is determined to marry her off. She has little trouble frightening away the suitors her father finds… until he brings up a man who has been turned silver by odd medical treatments. Even if Iseult might be all right with this courtship, there’s another problem–her mother, who died in childbirth, lives in a scar on Iseult’s neck and has some very negative opinions about all of this, and she’s not afraid to express them strongly.
Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost – In the midst of being torn by the winds of the Dust Bowl, the respectable, god-fearing town of Elysium, Oklahoma is chosen by the sisters Life and Death, to be used in a gambling game. The town has ten years to prove itself worthy, or have all its citizens slain by Dust Soldiers. With the ten years almost expired, it will be up to a band of girls exiled to the Desert of Dust and Steel to join forces and save the people who cast them out.
The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey – In a post-apocalyptic world, the small village of Mythen Rood is surrounded by a hostile landscape populated by murderous plant life. Koli has lived in the village all his life, and firmly believes that in order to survive, he must stay in the village walls. All that is about to change.
News and Views
N.K. Jemisin has a Twitter thread if you’re not sure which of her series to read first.
A great #DontRushChallenge done by some awesome ladies in publishing. Look for guest appearances by Bruja Born, Mexican Gothic, and A Phoenix First Must Burn.
Patrick Stewart reads Sonnet 25.
Station Eleven, Mr. Burns, and (Re)Telling Stories to Survive
I Am Using My Free Time to Not Write a Novel (I feel so personally attacked.)
Imagining an Indigenous science-fiction festival for the stay-home era
An Alien facehugger mask. YIKES.
Want to help NASA do some science and save coral reefs? There’s an app for that.
It’s that time of year again: peep in a vacuum flask
On Book Riot
The horror and speculative fiction I’ve been reading to distract myself from IRL horror
10 lovely fantasies to remind you there’s beauty in the world
8 great portal fantasies for YA readers
You can enter to win a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card
See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.