Sponsored by Macmillan Audio
Buckle up your seatbelt for the Victories Greater Than Death audiobook, a thrilling YA sci-fi adventure from internationally bestselling author Charlie Jane Anders, read by Adventure Time narrator, Hynden Walch. Tina isn’t just an average teenager and beloved daughter—she’s the hidden clone of a famed alien hero, left on Earth disguised as a human to give the universe another chance to defeat a terrible evil. But not everything goes as planned when she realizes that everyone in the galaxy is expecting her to actually be the brilliant tactician. If she’s going to save this universe, first she must save herself.
Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with some pre-orders you should totally check out and some sci-fi newsy links. Colorado’s moving into one of my most favorite parts of the year–cold at night, warm enough for a bike ride during the day, and we’re getting rain! Trust me, that last item is very exciting. I’ll be able to put my plants outside soon, and make the cats happy because they can have one of their windowsills back. Hope that spring is bringing some equally lovely days your way. Stay safe out there, and I will see you on Tuesday!
Let’s make 2021 better than 2020. A good place to start? The Okra Project and blacklivesmatter.carrd.co
News and Views
The 2020 BSFA Award Winners have been announced
Science Fiction Representations of Cyborgs in Kim Ch’o-yŏp’s“My Space Heroine”
WorldCon 2021 has changed hotels and moved its dates to December 15-19
Nerds of a Feather did some Nebula and Hugo Award predictions
Philip K. Dick’s complete short stories are getting a Folio Society edition
Samuel R. Delaney received a lifetime achievement award from the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
The return of the return of MST3K!
WandaVision creator explains why it was never really Agatha all along
30-year-old Soviet TV adaptation of The Lord of the Rings surfaces on YouTube
A Scientist Taught AI to Generate Pickup Lines. The Results are Chaotic.
A great thread about horror in space, spurred by a very silly take
Is science fiction holding back climate action?
Game of Thrones’ 10th Anniversary Celebrations Hope You’ve Forgotten the Final Season
…no, we’re way past April 1. And… peeps are getting their own movie?
On Book Riot
This week’s SFF Yeah! podcast is the SFF mixtape
What kind of SFF hero are you?
This month you can enter to win your own library cart, a year of free books, $100 to spend on comics, and a $100 Books of Wonder gift card.
Free Association Friday
To be honest, I’ve been avoiding Twitter lately because every time I open it, I see the newest anti-trans, gender-policing attack legislation getting pushed through in various states. It’s making me really tired, y’all. So how about a little list of some upcoming books (and one previously released that I missed somehow) by trans and nonbinary authors? Pre-orders are love, and these books look pretty awesome! As a bonus, there’s two more books fit for this list that’ll be coming out on Tuesday–you’ll see them then.
The Witch King by H. E. Edgmon (June 1)
Wyatt is a witch from the realm of Asalin, where he was betrothed to a fae prince, Emyr, who was also his best friend. But after losing control of his magic, Wyatt flees to the human world to find himself and escape his past… until Emyr hunts him down, still intent on seeing their engagement through so he doesn’t lose his throne.
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon (May 4)
A pregnant woman escapes from a religious compound to give birth to her twins in the woods. But cults don’t let go easily, and she’s forced to fight against that community and the outside world to defend her family–a battle that begins an uncanny metamorphosis of her body that can only be understood by facing the past.
Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel by Julian K Jarboe
A short story collection that ranges from fairy tales to Catholic cyberpunk, all with a healthy dose of body horror and queer fabulism.
The Scratch Daughters by Hannah Abigail Clarke (September 14)
Sequel to The Scapegracers. As the loss of her magical soul drives her to desperate measures, Sideways Pike still has to keep her coven together, deal with her evil ex, and maybe throw some hexes at toxic men while she’s at it.
The Sisters of Reckoning by Charlotte Nicole Davies (August 10)
Sequel to The Good Luck Girls. Now that the Good Luck Girls are free, most have crossed the border to pursue new lives, while Aster tries to help more girls escape. But when she finds out about a new welcome house opening, she decides that helping individuals isn’t enough. She hatches an ambitious and dangerous plan to free all dustbloods, and calls upon her friends to make it a reality.
See you, space pirates. 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.