Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’m coming at you with new releases and a couple of indie books by Black authors to check out. Let me tell you, my brain is feeling melted coming off the weekend because I was a good little potato and did my taxes. At least I got a lot of audiobook listening in while I was scanning documents…and that’s the only positive thing I can say. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!
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I want to sound the siren one last time! Khōréō year 4 is fundraising! It’s a quarterly magazine of short speculative fiction by immigrant and diaspora writers and artists; they have done such good work the last three years bringing us great fiction from voices I think we otherwise might not have heard. Their all-or-nothing campaign isn’t fully funded yet, so check it out!
Bookish Goods
Last Unicorn Haori by ZyephArtShop
The unicorn on the cover of Premee’s book (see immediately below) got me thinking of unicorns, which of course, got me thinking of The Last Unicorn, and then I found this gorgeous haori. It’s a one-size-fits-all, and I’m wondering if it’s a one-size-fits-me. $40
New Releases
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
A land laboring under the harsh rule of foreign tyrants has one refuge, of a sort: the wild forest to its north, where magic reigns rather than man, and almost no one returns from it alive. The exception to that rule, Veris Thorn, is forced to return to the forest, given one single day to find the tyrant’s missing children.
A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke
In 1901, Nicky is attacked and knocked unconscious, only to awaken on board a whaling vessel named the Ormen, out to sea in what no one yet knows may be its last voyage. And the crew all want something from Nicky…
Over a century later, the wreck of the Ormen washes up on Iceland’s shore, and Dominique braves the ship to document its last days before it is destroyed. Soon, she realizes that she doesn’t walk the rotting decks alone…
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
We’re in a golden age of indie self-published SFF, and I wanted to round out February by calling your attention to two Black authors who are writing some excellent work.
Dusk Mountain Blues by Deston J. Munden
You had me at “Space Western,” Deston. The Caldwells are a family that’s settled down on the backwater world of C’dar, hoping to be left alone while they smuggle and scavenge their way into a comfortable living. But while they may be done with civilization in general, the Civilization isn’t done with them.
Girl of Flesh and Metal by Alicia Ellis
Lena’s parents run a cutting-edge cybernetic tech company; the world thinks machines that think for themselves are awesome, while she has her major doubts. Then a car accident lands her with the corp’s first cybernetic arm, and she’s downright pissed. But things are about to get worse. First, the arm malfunctions and starts causing her to sleepwalk. Next, employees of the company start dying mysteriously in their beds…
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.