Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with new releases, both traditional and indie, for your perusal. It’s been surprisingly rainy this week, which my plants are loving… and so have I, honestly, since it’s cooled things off a lot. I’m also super jazzed because I’m going to get to see Nope this weekend — if you’ve seen it already, don’t tell me how it is, I want to be surprised. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!
Don’t forget to apply by August 8th to work at Book Riot as an Editorial Operations Associate!
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.
Bookish Goods
Final Boss Candle by MoonGeekCandleCo
I’ve been playing a lot of video games lately, so I am highly amused by this coconut wax candle that’s been dubbed “final boss.” Apparently it’s got three different layers of scents in it too? Makes sense, because any good boss fight is going to change phases! $17
New Releases
The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne
Haelewise is a strange, weak little girl, whose black eyes and fainting spells leave her shunned by her village, with only her overprotective mother to care about her and tell her stories of an ancient tower where women can find shelter if they are sufficiently brave. When her mother dies, Haelewise sets out to find this legendary tower, which is named Gothel, and there she finds shelter under the tutelage of a wise woman. But she isn’t the only woman to seek shelter there…
After Life by Melissa de la Cruz
Schuyler wakes up in New York safe and sound… but at the price of having sacrificed the love of her life in order to defeat Lucifer. Worse, she quickly realizes that she’s not actually in her own body… and this is not her life she’s walking around in. Because somehow, she’s ended up in an alternate reality, one where Lucifer is stubbornly undefeated… and the mayor of New York City.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Closing out July, here’s a few more recent/soon-to-be released books from indie speculative fiction authors!
Bones to the Wind by Tatiana Obey
The Forging is a trial of hunting skill and survival that every child must survive in order to become adult. Rasia is determined to not only make it through, but show up her father and beat his record — bigger kill in a faster time. But unfortunately she’s stuck on a team with Nico, who doesn’t care about her dreams of glory; Nico just wants to make it through the trial and help her brother pass, so he doesn’t get disowned. The two girls clash immediately, and they’re going to have to learn to cooperate if they want to even make it out alive.
The Famous Magician by César Aira translated by Chris Andrews
An old writer of a certain renown, suffering from writers block, strolls through the book market in a park in Buenos Aires. Soon, an inability to write is the least of his problems as he meets a master magician who makes him an offer he may not be able to refuse: absolute power, but only if he never reads another book again.
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.