Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with a few more new releases and some Ides-inspired space opera recommendations. Wow, how the heck is it already Friday? Where did the week go? How is March already half over? I have so many questions. I hope that you had an enjoyable Pi Day, since that’s such a feature of this month — we celebrated with a strawberry cream pie from a local bakery that was quite excellent. And hey, if you didn’t get to have pie on Pi Day, it’s perfectly acceptable to celebrate the holiday late, according to me! Stay safe out there, space pirates, have a great weekend, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!
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Bookish Goods
Tactile Black Hole Image by McMaster3D
Okay, this is just so cool I had to share it: it’s a 3D realization of image data from the Event Horizon Telescope that shows the shadow of a black hole against the hot plasma falling into it. (And it’s labeled in braille along the sides.) $15
New Releases
Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz
Anaïs is at a party — the anniversary of the kingdom, a massive and glittering affair — and wishes she were anywhere else, hopefully as far away from the pompous Prince Leo. At midnight, she’s temporarily granted her wish when a massive explosion destroys the palace and kills everyone — including her. Then she wakes up in her bedroom, before the party, and she’s the only one who remembers the disaster. She must relive it again and again until she can find a way to stop the attack, which means diving deep into court intrigue and betrayal.
Nothing but the Rain by Naomi Salman
It has always been raining in Aloisville, at least that anyone can remember…but that is because the rain itself washes away memory. Stay outside too long, and a person can lose everything they ever were. Laverne begins keeping a journal too late — her town has already changed irreparably, and a mysterious force prevents anyone’s escape. But all she wants to do is survive, and remembering anything at all will be the key.
Piñata by Leopoldo Gout
Carmen Sanchez has returned to Mexico to supervise the renovation of an old abbey, with her daughters in tow since they are too young to be left alone in New York. But when an accident at the abbey reveals a collection of ancient artifacts, Carmen loses her job and the family trip is caught short. Something follows Carmen and her girls home to New York, stalking the family and warning of coming catastrophe…
For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
I’m writing this on the Ides of March. While I’m not recommending books about someone getting stabbed at the senate, I did have a bit of betrayal on the brain…and what better place to look for stories of epic betrayal than in space opera?
A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna
Esme was sent away from her home on Kali when she was still an infant, thanks to her mother being cursed. All she wants to do is return to her family; and her brother, deposed by her jealous uncle, wants his throne back. She hatches a plan to win the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania from the King of Wychstar and in so doing reveal her true identity to the world and help her brother in one fell swoop. But nothing is ever that easy or clean in a universe of magic, secrets, and betrayal.
The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis
Sisters have no names, no voices, nothing but the power they can gain by becoming favored of a captain. And when the First Sister is betrayed by her captain and given to the ship of Saito Ren, she has little hope…but the Sisterhood nonetheless orders her to spy on him for the good of the war efforts of Earth and Mars. On the other side of the war, Lito, a soldier from Venus, has his own connections to Saito Ren, the only man who defeated him — and caused the disappearance of his beloved partner, Hiro. But when Lito learns that Hiro somehow still lives and has betrayed Venus, he vows to track him down…but soon finds his own loyalties fraying with every new secret he learns.
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.