Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with a few more new releases and the second installment of books from the self-published science fiction competition. I am writing this to you from this year’s WorldCon, which is taking place in Chicago. We’re two days away from the Hugo Award Ceremony, and I’m pretty jazzed to see who the winners are this year (we’ll talk about them next Friday). Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.
Bookish Goods
Dragon Guarding Pearl of Wisdom by FaithStoneArt
This sharp and colorful wood block print is just stunning. If you click through, there’s a little video showing the end of the inking process that is just stunning. $125
New Releases
The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim
Princess Shiori promised to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful place; now she must journey to the kingdom of dragons, and along the way navigate the politics of both humans and dragons — and fight off thieves who want the pearl for themselves. The pearl itself is a chaotic factor, aiding Shiori one moment and trying to destroy her relationships with all those she loves the next. Shiori must marshal all her strength to keep her promise, defend herself from the pearl, and maintain her appearance as the perfect princess while doing it.
Holiday Heroine by Sarah Kuhn
When Bea Tanaka’s family comes to visit on her favorite holiday — Christmas — she couldn’t be happier. Her life seems to be going great, and everyone is ecstatic for her… too bad Bea feels adrift, between trying to figure out the long distance relationship with her boyfriend and her powers expanding toward something rather villainous again. When the holiday visit is cut short by monsters rising out of the ocean near Maui, Bea gets blasted back to the perfect Christmas in San Francisco during battle…and into the rom-com of her nightmares.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Here’s the second installment of cool-looking books from the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. There are six pages (so far) of neat entries to rest your eyeballs on, so I definitely recommend you give them a look.
The Diamond Device by M. H. Thaung
Diamond power is poised to replace steam power, and that seismic shift in real and political power sets off shockwaves that could cause an international war. Alf Wilson is unemployed thanks to the new tech, and he has no other options due to his clockwork legs. Richard Hayes is an impoverished lord who keeps his seat in parliament with charm and a spot of burglary. When they end up in jail together, they each see an opportunity to use the other to get out of their current scrape. Neither has any idea where it will lead…
Inish Carraig by Jo Zebedee
Earth has been defeated by an alien invasion…not that the locals in Belfast are willing to admit to such defeat. John Dray is a teen doing what he can to survive, including taking a job spraying a mysterious compound over Belfast in exchange for food. This gets him send to Inish Carraig, an infamous prison, and in prison, he discovers a conspiracy that threatens to finish Earth off entirely.
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.