Categories
Swords and Spaceships

Demon Priests, a Dream Goddess, and African Fantasy

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and today I have for you two new releases, and two books set in cool fantasy versions of Africa. I’ve had a great week filled with lots of good news and positive happenings, so I’ve just been thinking about how dang lucky I am sometimes. I hope some of that luck comes your way as well, and soon! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

This week I want to draw your attention to a couple of neat-o SFF Kickstarters. 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. I also stumbled across this super cool project: An Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction. They’ll be translating a collection of Gujarati novellas and short stories into English, and some of them will be sci-fi, since that falls under the pulp umbrella.

Bookish Goods

a photo of a set of bookmarks labelled "Annotation key" with stacks of small sticky tabs in a match color palette, all labelled things like "Character" and "Plot"

Annotation Bookmarks by AetherealBooks

These are a very cool idea: bookmarks that come with colored tabs that you can use to mark your book (without damaging it) as you read. If you want to save quotes in paper books so you can find them again later, this is definitely better than my method of flipping randomly through pages before giving up in frustration. $10

New Releases

Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa

Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa

In 19th century Sri Lanka, Amara is the daughter of her village’s Capuwa, the demon-priest. Her family was once respected, but with new religious practices being brought in by the British Colonizers, the rest of the village began to turn on them. But when some thing begins to viciously attack men in the jungle, rather than coming to Amara’s father for help, the villagers accuse him of committing the attacks. It is up to Amara to clear her father’s name, but it will take her to the depths of her memories of a time she can barely remember, when she was laid low by a mysterious illness…

Exit Black by Joe Pitkin

Exit Black by Joe Pitkin

Imperium was once an orbiting laboratory; now, it’s being turned into a space hotel that will cater to the ridiculously wealthy. As Imperium preps for the first batch of rich tourists to arrive, the resident biophysicist, Dr. Chloe Bonilla, is really questioning whether the chance to continue her research is worth her having to play part-time tour guide and nanny for a group of dilettantes. But the tourists bring an unpleasant surprise with them — a terrorist who plans to see wealth redistributed globally by taking the one percenters hostage.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Here are a couple of novels set in fantasy versions of Africa that are both very good fun to read.

Imaro by Charles Saunders

Imaro by Charles Saunders

This book was pitched to me as “What if Conan the Barbarian was African?” and that was all I needed. Imaro is an outcast warrior who wanders the fantasy-African land of Nyumbani, searching for a place that will be his home.

The Dreamblood Duology by NK Jemisin

The Dreamblood Duology by N. K. Jemisin

This omnibus collects two books together, The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun. In a fantasy Egypt, the Gatherers, adherents to the dream-goddess, keep peace and harvest magic from those sleeping, using it to heal and help — and to execute the corrupt. But someone or something begins to murder dreamers, and Ehiru, Gujaareh’s most well-known Gatherer, must find the source of corruption and conspiracy — and question everything he once believed.

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.

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

Fighting Colonialism by Sword and Magic

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and today, I’m coming at you with a double dose of new releases. We had a snowy weekend again in Colorado, and I actually read quite a bit — I even finished up a book I put down back in July last year! That was pretty exciting, and I was glad I’d kept at it. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

This week I want to draw your attention to a couple of neat-o SFF Kickstarters. 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. I also stumbled across this super cool project: An Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction. They’ll be translating a collection of Gujarati novellas and short stories into English, and some of them will be sci-fi, since that falls under the pulp umbrella.

Bookish Goods

acrylic book vase

Acrylic Book Vase by LaVieLenteStyle

This is just a neat idea: an acrylic vase that’s shaped like a book and has a title and such on it. I’m tempted to contact the seller to see if they could put a fantasy book title on it… $23

New Releases

The Book of Ile-Rien by Martha Wells

The Book of Ile-Rien: The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

This book compiles and re-releases two of Martha Wells’s novels, now revised and updated by the author. It’s two sprawling stories set in the kingdom of Ile-Rien, one about the bastard sister of the current king showing up unexpectedly and throwing the court into disarray, the other about the greatest thief in all the kingdom who uses what he steals to fund a bloody vengeance long in coming.

Ours book cover

Ours by Phillip B. Williams

Saint is a conjuror in the 1830s who sweeps across Arkansas, destroying plantations and rescuing enslaved people. She brings those newly freed to a town named Ours just north of St. Louis, which is magically concealed from the outside world. But as Saint ages, so do her powers — and the outside world begins to intrude on those no longer prepared to defy it.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

This week was one with a lot of extremely cool-looking new releases, so I’m double-dipping today.

Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares

Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares

New Spain, the 1500s: witchcraft is punishable by death, mythical creatures are things barely whispered of, and the Indigenous temples have been destroyed by conquerers. The mysterious Pantera uses magic and sword skills alike to fight the Spanish tyrants by night — and by day, she hides behind the mild-mannered identity of Leonora de las Cases Tlazohtzin…who is promised to the heir to the throne.

Night for Day by Roselle Lim

Night for Day by Roselle Lim

Ward and Camille were never supposed to see each other again after breaking up to pursue their dreams on opposite sides of the country. Then, years later, they meet again in London, interviewing for the same job — and discover the spark is still there. They both get the job, scheduled for opposite shifts, and decide to give their relationship a try again. But the job isn’t what they expected: by day, Ward deals with immortals; at night, for Camille, it’s ghosts and spirits, and both are immediately trapped in the building and unable to escape. They can, however, see each other for a few minutes every dawn.

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.

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

She is the Wrath of the Gods

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases and a couple of fun books from Black indie authors. (One of them, I keep staring at and wondering if I could buy a print of her book cover, it’s that dang cool.) I hope you have good things coming at you this weekend! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

This week I want to draw your attention to a couple of neat-o SFF Kickstarters. 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. I also stumbled across this super cool project: An Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction. They’ll be translating a collection of Gujarati novellas and short stories into English, and some of them will be sci-fi, since that falls under the pulp umbrella.

Bookish Goods

Black History Superheroes Shirt with Afrofuturist portraits of Blakc history icons like Malcolm X and Rosa Parks

Black History Superheroes Shirt by MCoStudioShop

This is some extremely cool art imagining figures in Black history in an Afrofuturist style. The shop’s got the nine face shirt or shirts of individual pictures. The picture does not capture how cool they look — you should definitely check out the seller’s site. $41

New Releases

Jubilee by Stephen K. Stanford

Jubilee by Stephen K. Stanford

Detectives Col and Danee have an unpleasant mission: retrieve the body of a conservative politician who has been a naughty boy. But this is complicated by the location, Jubilee, a lawless and artificial world that functionally exists within its own parallel universe. When the detectives arrive to pick up the stiff, they find the corpse has been switched out…and that’s just the start of the trouble.

Cover of The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older

Seventeen students and staff have disappeared from Valdegeld University, yet no one but Investigator Mossa has noticed. Mossa will need Pleiti’s assistance in unraveling this mystery, which will take the two of them to Mossa’s home on Io and require them to delve into the history of humanity’s exodus from Earth.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

I talked about brand new indie releases earlier this week, but here are two more recent indie releases from Black authors!

Sistah Samurai by Tatiana Obey

Sistah Samurai by Tatiana Obey

Okay, first, look at that cover. I want to hang that on my wall; it’s so absolutely badass. Also, the story sounds very cool, too, an homage to the anime Afro Samurai in which Sistah Samurai, despite being tired and busy and way past her days of playing hero, will be called on to do just that.

We Are the Origin by C.M. Lockhart

We Are the Origin by C. M. Lockhart

Brandi was forced into service of the queendom before she was old enough to understand “no” and has since been the queen’s own blade, used to cut down the disloyal and blasphemous. She’s a tool and certainly not someone who is supposed to think. But then Freya, goddess of life and judger of souls, charges her to protect rather than destroy — and Brandi has no choice but to obey these new orders, no matter how much of the world is turned against her and how deeply she wades into the messy and deadly politics of gods.

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.

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

Harpies, Ubiquitous Data Harvesting, and More SFF Book Talk: February 13, 2024

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got a double dose of new releases for you today, big publisher and indie. I hope everyone had a marvelous weekend and—gong shi fa tsai! (Wishing you wealth in this new year.) Happy Year of the Dragon!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

This week I want to draw your attention to a couple of neat-o SFF Kickstarters. 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 over the last three years. I also stumbled across this super cool project: An Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction. They’ll be translating a collection of Gujarati novellas and short stories into English, and some of them will be sci-fi since that falls under the pulp umbrella.

Bookish Goods

Summon the She-Beast Stickers

Summon the She-Beast Stickers by DiwataCraft

I was thinking “harpies” today (see the indie releases below) and found these extremely cool stickers. Intricate and absolutely gorgeous. $10.87

New Releases

Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi

Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi

This collection of sixteen short stories from a Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Nommo Award-nominated author examines humanity’s relationship with technology and our convergence on our future selves.

the book of love by kelly link

The Book of Love by Kelly Link

A year after their disappearance, three friends who have long since been presumed dead (and in fact are) reappear in their high school classroom to find their slightly strange music teacher has called them up. They have a chance to reclaim their lives in exchange for performing magical tasks. But in the end, there will be winners and losers, and the mystery of their deaths will be the most important riddle of all to solve.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

There are a lot of really great indie SFF books coming out this month, so here are a couple of recent releases to check out.

American Abductions by Mauro Javier Cardenas

American Abductions by Mauro Javier Cárdenas

In a near-future United States, ubiquitous data harvesting has enabled the mass incarceration and deportation of Latines, whether they are citizens or not. Ada and Eva lose their father at an early day to this horrifying practice when he is deported to Colombia. Then, as adults, they must try to reunite with him as his health fails, a nearly impossible task due to the increasingly Byzantine security state.

Roxy and Coco by Terese Svoboda

Roxy and Coco by Terese Svoboda

Roxy and Coco are sisters who work together as social workers, saving the world one child at a time—and they also happen to be harpies. But when Roxy is inexplicably attracted to her supervisor, Coco is immediately suspicious. But even as Coco’s trying to cover her sister’s back and figure out what’s going on, the authorities are coming for her, certain she’s the source of a series of strange homicides.

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.

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

Sword Fighting Magistrates and More Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and today I have two new releases and two recent indie releases for you. I’m particularly excited about Praiseworthy since the author is Waanyi (Aboriginal Australian), and I feel like we haven’t gotten to see a lot of Waanyi writing in SFF so far. Give me more perspectives! There’s a lot of really cool stuff coming our way in February in general, and this is just the beginning.

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

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

Celestial bookmarks

Laminated Celestial Bookmarks by SeeknfindCreations

I am a sucker for shiny things and pretty pictures, so these bookmarks certainly hit me right where I live. They’re laminated, too, to make them more durable! $13.

New Releases

Tales of the Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan

Tales of the Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan

This book contains nine short stories, seven of which have never been published elsewhere, each about the Celestial Kingdom we visited in Daughter of the Moon Goddess. Even better, it contains illustrations by Kelly Chong!

Crucible of Chaos by Sebastien de Castell

Crucible of Chaos by Sebastien de Castell

Greatcoats are the king’s personal investigators of all things supernatural, magistrates who specialize in sword fighting. Estevar is one such Greatcoat, dispatched to an abbey after a frantic message from the abbot who is trying to deal with the monks warring from within over a new pantheon of gods starting. But Estevar has problems beyond a bunch of mad, violent monks. He’s got a near-fatal sword wound he’s trying to nurse along, a diabolical inquisitor dogging him, and a young woman who keeps popping up and claiming to be his ally when she’s likely anything but.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Here are a couple of recent indie releases that sound absolutely fascinating!

Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright

Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright

A mysterious cloud descends on a small town in northern Australia, bringing with it ecological catastrophe—and a gathering of the ancestors. The Aboriginal residents of the town react in different ways. One sees donkeys as a solution to both the climate crisis and the economic dependency the Aboriginal people labor under. His wife follows butterflies and tries to find a way for her family to be repatriated to China. Meanwhile, their sons court death, driven by the nightmare or dream of being white and powerful.

Triangulum by Subodhana Wijeyeratne

Triangulum by Subodhana Wijeyeratne

For three thousand years, the garden world of Prithvi has been kept safe by the godlike Dawn and her Golden Swarm, while the Red Fleet, under her nephew, watches over the Nine Worlds. But nothing lasts forever, and Night, Dawn’s estranged sister, is coming to right an ancient wrong and topple the old order. The people of the worlds will soon find out that everything they thought they knew about the order, about those who rule them, is terribly wrong.

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.

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

Small Bites of SF/F

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases for you today, with half of them focused on short stories in case you’re in the mood for small bites. Whew, but it was one heck of a weekend here. Nine-plus inches of snow to shovel (RIP, me) and then thick fog! Ah well, as we like to say in Colorado, “We need the moisture.” May your weekend have been warmer, or at the least, may the plows have visited your street swiftly. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

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

Leather Book Harness

Leather Book Harness by FierceEagleLeather

These book holsters look very cool—a way to carry a book hanging from your belt, whether it’s what you’re reading, what you’re journaling in, or what you’re sketching in.

New Releases

infinity alchemist book cover

Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender

Ash wants to be one of the elite few legally allowed to study magic, but after his rejection by the Lancaster College of Alchemic Science, he takes his ambition underground by getting hired as a groundskeeper for the school. He studies alchemy there in secret until he’s caught by Ramsay, who promises to keep his secret if he helps her find a sacred book that will give her extraordinary power. It’s a quest that pits them both against powerful alchemists…including Ash’s estranged father.

Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine

Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine

The apocalypse has come and gone, brought on by a strange condition where meeting another human being’s eyes will cause both to break into deadly, violent rage. In order to survive, Riley hasn’t seen another human face in years. When Ellis moves in down the road, Riley can’t help but try to get to know him, as starved for human contact as she is. All she wants is to take just one look…

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Let’s do a bit of short story reading! So here’s a recent collection and an anthology to check out.

Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart: And Other Stories by GennaRose Nethercott

Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart: And Other Stories by GennaRose Nethercott

This collection focuses on the inner abomination that resides in the heart of every human, the way longing is both monstrous and necessary, and questions what a beast truly is.

Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories edited by Sandra Proudman

Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories edited by Sandra Proudman

This collection features 16 stories by Latinx authors that remix classics, myths, and fairy tales through the lens of their experience and imagination. Prepare yourself for Pride and Prejudice in space and The Great Gatsby in Costa Rica!

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.

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

Djinn Cats, Dragon Eggs, and More Palestinian Fantasy Novels

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and while it’s technically February now (HOW???) I’ve got two more end-of-January new releases for you and part 2 of my little spotlight on Palestinian SFF authors. The weather here has been balmy after a cold mid-January, so I’ve been getting some fresh air, if you can believe it. Walking outside. Touching grass. Sounds fake, I know. I wish for you a little touchable grass (even if it’s perhaps dead grass since it’s still February) and sunny days! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

Let’s make the world a better place, together! Rose and Jasmine Press is a Palestinian-owned small press based out of Canada, and they are fundraising for their first year!

Bookish Goods

Sarabic calligraphy olivewood bookmarks

Arabic Calligraphy Olivewood Bookmarks by NHfashion

These bookmarks are gorgeous, and all I want to do is touch one! The message on them is a quote by Palestinian poet Ghassan Kanafani, “there is something for you on this earth so get up.” $25

New Releases

these deadly prophecies book cover

These Deadly Prophecies by Andrea Tang

Tabatha Zeng is the apprentice of one of the most famous sorcerers in the world. Then her boss predicts his own death by murder — and it comes true, forcing her to go from learning fortunetelling to solving crime. The police want to pin the crime on Callum, the sorcerer’s son, but Tabatha knows he must be innocent. Together, they team up to find the real killer.

Cover of The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden

American couple Tommy and Kate move to the half-abandoned town of Becchina. It’s close to Tommy’s grandparents, and they can get a house that’s been abandoned for only one euro, so long as they promise to live there for five years. But as soon as they arrive in town, things start getting strange. Tommy’s grandmother is furious when she finds out which house they’ve bought. Then the strange noises and odd happenings begin, and they learn that the Church once owned the house and used it for something terrible…

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Here is part two of the promised spotlight on SFF by Palestinian authors!

Cover of Guardian of the Gold Breathers by Elise Stephens

Guardian of the Gold Breathers by Elise Stephens

At 12 years old, Liam is forced to leave his home in Dublin in favor of his stepfather’s country house. But only one night into this dreaded move, he finds a dragon egg — and the house’s gardener confirms that Liam has a destiny as the next Guardian of the Gold Breathers. But if he’s to be this guardian and find his fate in an enchanted Otherworld, he must complete three dangerous tasks to prove himself.

Cover of Thunderbird: Book One by Sonia Nimr

Thunderbird: Book One by Sonia Nimr, translated by M. Lynx Qualey

Noor is a young Palestinian orphan who must go back in time to retrieve four magical feathers that will allow her to save the world. Noor isn’t alone, at least; she has a djinn cat to help her and several girls who strangely look identical to her, but each has one of the fabled bird’s powers. With these helpers at her back, Noor travels through history, trying to keep the worlds and the walls between them intact.

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.

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

Must-Read SFF by Palestinian Authors

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got your last round of new releases for January and part one of a focus on Palestinian SFF authors. I had a long, working weekend so I’m going to keep this short — please take care of yourselves, please do the little things you can to build peace in the world, and I’ll see you on Friday!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

Let’s make the world a better place, together! Rose and Jasmine Press is a Palestinian-owned small press based out of Canada, and they are fundraising for their first year!

Bookish Goods

Palestinian Tatreez Sunburst Cross Stitch Pattern

Palestinian Tatreez Sunburst Cross Stitch Pattern by MinAmanne

This is a bit of a stretch, perhaps, since I normally try to find book or SFF-adjacent things, but I used to cross-stitch while listening to audiobooks, and this pattern is absolutely captivating. I might have to start cross-stitching again. It’s a PDF pattern for download. $12

New Releases

Cover of A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen

A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen

Mariana has just lost her best friend and would like to just give up and start over — even leaving her job as a consultant at a top-secret particle accelerator. But then Carter Cho mysteriously shows up to stop her with a warning: they’re caught in a time loop together. Then suddenly, it’s Monday morning again, and Mariana and Carter are living through the same four days together. Except Carter’s memories are starting to disappear…

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

The Everly family has lived for centuries, receiving the punishment of Penelope, a mysterious woman who appears to be immortal, who shows up to take their best and brightest in exchange for a crime no one remembers. Violet’s mother disappeared ten years ago when she set off to break this curse; now, Penelope has given Violet an ultimatum. She must find her mother, or she will be taken in her place. But Violet sees a third option: breaking the curse like her mother failed to do. This quest will lead her to the edges of the world and the mysterious city of Stardust, where it all began.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

This week, I want to shine a spotlight on SFF by Palestinian authors. Here’s part one!

Cover of Distance Haze by Jamil Nazir

Distance Haze by Jamil Nasir

SF writer Wayne Dolan has come to the Deriwelle Institute, which he’s convinced is an absolute scam. It’s built on sacred Native American ground, and the institute claims they’re on a mission to find God using advanced technology. The scientists are an unreliable group, to say the least…but Wayne is soon plagued by strange dreams and visions, heralding the nightmare the waking world is about to become.

Cover of A Song of Entanglement by Deena Helm

A Song of Entanglement by Deena Helm

After years of being abused and living in a wasteland in the Midwest (not to mention the fact that her father is missing), Hala has decided to die at the age of 17. Too anxious to carry through with it, she begins writing songs to serve as a memoir of her life. But in another world, 24-year-old Deena finds Hala’s book of songs and it forges a connection between their two worlds. Then, things begin to get a bit…strange.

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.

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

African and Africanfuturist SFF

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, coming at you with new releases and a bit of African SFF, and…how the heck is it almost the end of January? Who gave this year permission? I haven’t gotten hardly anything done! (I haven’t read nearly enough books…but I imagine that’s a common affliction.) Well, that’s how the calendar goes, I guess. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

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

a journal cover showing a Black person wearing futuristic clothing with a galaxy scene behind them

Journal With Afrofuturist Cover by thetrinigee

Since we’ve got a bit of an African SFF theme going in this newsletter, I wanted to get something that celebrated Afrofuturist or Africanfuturist imagery. And this is one cool-looking journal cover image. (They also have it as a tote bag!) $25

New Releases

cover of Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Nelah is trapped in a marriage with a police officer who tracks her constantly using microchip monitoring, though to anyone looking from the outside, her life seems perfect. Even that appearance is shattered after a car accident; desperate, she hides the body of her victim. But the mundane horrors of her life are soon joined by the supernatural as her victim’s ghost begins to hunt down all those she loves. If she wants to save those she has left, she will need to unravel the conspiracy they were about to expose.

Cover of Three Eight One by Aliyah Whitely

Three Eight One by Aliya Whiteley

Rowena is the curator of a vast archive of twenty-first-century internet material. One day, she finds a story that was posted during the summer of 2024, in which the number 381 is used repeatedly. As she follows the story of this fantasy character, she begins to question her own life path and choices.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

With Womb City coming out, I wanted to grab a couple of other SFF books by African authors!

cover of Jah Hills by Unathi Slasha

Jah Hills by Unathi Slasha

Jah Hills is alone in the bush of Kwafindoda, waiting for the elders to deliver him home. But he is instead tricked and transformed into an isithunzela, a creature that is trapped in a wardrobe by day and free by night to travel between the realms of the dead and the living. When he finally escapes, his only wish is to return home…but home is no longer home.

Cover of Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

The Kintu clan in Uganda is a bloodline cursed by the actions of their leader in 1750. As the history of their nation unfolds, different members of the clan work to reconcile the curse, their history, and the unfolding of time and modernity.

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.

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

A Double Dose of Faeries

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with a double dose of new releases, half of which are sequels. This week, I’m excited and thankful because I found a nice carpenter to make new steps in my garage — my joints are happier already. Did I expect as a teenager that I’d become the kind of person who is super excited about having new steps? No, but that’s how life is. At least I’m still super excited about books! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

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

an image of a tiara made of thick black metal in the shape of bare branches with a red jewel in the center

Fae Crown by PernCirclets

Since we’re talking a dark fae book this week, I went looking for something that had that flavor, and what I found was this gorgeous circlet! $89

New Releases

cover of Exordia by Seth Dickinson

Exordia by Seth Dickinson

Anna is a survivor of a genocide, a refugee-turned-office worker who one day has a close encounter of the third kind…with a multi-headed, serpent-like alien named Ssrin. But rather than a happy occasion, their meeting reveals a danger that threatens the entire universe, and Anna must join a small team of people from many walks of life to investigate this unknowable horror and the mysterious broadcast that heralds it.

Cover of Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

Yeeran is a warrior in the elven army and knows only that she will die as she has lived: on the battlefield. Her sister, Lettle, is a diviner who searches for prophecies of a better future. But when Yeeran is exiled after a mistake, Lettle is forced out with her into the wilderness, where they find a danger both impossible and wondrous: the fae court.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

There are several sequels coming out this week, and I wanted to call your attention to two of them!

kinning book cover

Kinning by Nisi Shawl

Sequel to Everfair

Everfair may now be at peace, but the heroes of our story are certainly not done with their journeys. Tink and Bee-Lung travel the world in an aircanoe, following a fungus whose spores cause empathic links — and will spread, they hope, understanding. Princess Mwadi and Prince Ilunga have returned from Egypt to vie for rule after their father abdicates…while being manipulated all the while by their mother.

Cover of Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Sequel to Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Emily has learned many secrets of the fae, from her journeys and from Wendell Bambleby, who is secretly an exiled faerie king. She’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage; she’d rather work on her maps of the fae lands, but then he gets her in trouble again, putting her in the line of fire of assassins sent by his mother. And that’s just the start…

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.