Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got a couple new releases for you, and a bit of a Korean theme thanks to one of the new releases. (And also, I will admit, because a Bonchon franchise just opened a short walk from my house and its Korean fried chicken has changed my life.) I hope you’ve had a lovely week, possibly with some delicious fried chicken in it as well (if that’s something you like). Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!
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Bookish Goods
Gumiho Enamel Pins by Linai
With the Korean SFF-theme that evolved in this newsletter (just keep reading), I of course also thought about Kat Cho’s Wicked Fox. The nine-tailed fox appears in a lot of east Asian mythology and well, you know I love an enamel pin. This is one of the designs in a set of three. $15
New Releases
And Break the Pretty Kings by Lena Jeong
Mirae’s destiny was always to be queen, but the ceremony that was to end with her on her throne instead is cut short by terror and death — and the awakening of a magic power within her. In the chaos, her older brother is taken, and Mirae must master her new magic to rescue him and save her queendom from an ancient, monstrous enemy.
Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool
Marlow Briggs once lived in the gilded cage called Evergarden; she’s now made a name for herself in the Marshes as the best cursebreaker around. Yet no matter how many people she helps and how many mysteries she solves as she rends curses asunder, she cannot escape the haunting mystery of her mother’s disappearance. When an old friend who is also the scion of a wealthy family comes to her for help with a curse, Marlow is reluctant to accept — there’s too much emotional baggage between them. But with him comes a new lead in her mother’s case.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
With And Break the Pretty Kings coming out this week (and dang, is that not a COOL title?) how about a couple more novels rooted in Korea and its mythology?
Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh
Over a century and a half from now, East Asia is in ruins after a massive war. Neo Seoul is a brutal place ruled by combat, ad Lee Jaewon is an ex-gang member who has found success as a pilot in the academy — it’s his best chance to escape his past. His ambitions for military glory become complicated when he meets Tera, a test subject in a supersoldier project, destined to pilot a God Machine in a never-ending war.
Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur
Many years ago, Elsa’s mother warned her that the women in their family are destined — and doomed — to repeat the narratives of their ancestors. Elsa sees a far more realistic problem: mental illness and generational trauma carried by her immigrant family. When she spots her imaginary childhood friend, a spectral woman waiting for her in the snow outside the neutrino observatory in Antarctica, and when her mother wakes from her catatonic state and speaks, she knows there is no more running from her family and their past.
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.