Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got your new releases, and then two tech noir recommendations if you’re feeling like wearing a black trenchcoat and walking down a foggy street while you investigate a murder. I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful weekend. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!
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Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Ernesto’s Sanctuary, a cat sanctuary and animal rescue in Syria that is near and dear to my heart.
Bookish Goods
Black Ice Cowboy Patch by BirdOvPrey
Since we’re in a Tech Noir kind of mood today, here’s a very cool cyberpunk patch from an artist that focuses on “occult streetwear.” $8
New Releases
The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed
Alefret is the leader of the pacifist resistance movement in Varkal — so, of course, he was bombed, maimed, and locked up by his own government, then handed over to a “scientist” to be experimented upon. Then he’s offered a chance at freedom; all he has to do is infiltrate the anti-war activists of their enemies and provoke them into an uprising, which just may end the war Alefret has been protesting as his life’s work.
These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein
Dora left her commune years ago and has not looked back…until her ex, Kay, is murdered, and everyone in the commune is a possible suspect. She feels she has no choice but to investigate. Dora quickly discovers Kay’s death is only one of many recent incidents, and there’s a new drug circulating around the community that heralds a war between corporations. That’s when she gets attacked by enemies from before her transition.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Inspired by Izzy Wasserstein’s book, here are a couple of tech-noir-ish books to check out!
Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente
Severin Unck’s father made his name directing Gothic romances; she breaks free of his shadow by focusing her art on documentaries. Her pursuit of a true story to tell has her traveling across the solar System, from Neptune’s cults to Mars’s lawless saloons. Her last film becomes an exploration of a diving colony Venus, and while her crew comes limping home to tell her story, she is never seen again…
Far From the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson
The Ragtime is a colony ship that was supposed to bring one thousand people in stasis to the Lagos system. Michelle Campion is one of the first crew to wake, and she quickly discovers that some of her fellow sleepers never will. She immediately calls for help, and soon investigator Rasheed Fin arrives to begin uncovering a sinister mystery that extends far beyond one ship.
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.