Author: Alex Acks

Stormsong only edges out Witchmark because as much as I love the latter book, I do not like the narrator that much so that’s an “only read in print” situation. But I like Moira Quirk, and I like hearing the story of Dame Grace trying to figure out how to save her country while making sure it atones for the terrible wrong its done, all while she falls in love with a lady who’s a nosey and clever newspaper reporter.

This is actually the first of N.K. Jemisin’s books I ever read, and I got it as an audiobook… and it just completely grabbed hold of me and has never let me go. It’s a hidden princess dark fairy tale with deadly, dynastic politics and gods and ancient wrongs that need to be discovered and redeemed. Love this book, love this narrator, and it’s been a regular listen since I first read it over five years ago.

I love this book for a multitude of reasons, but most of all because it’s ultimately about a character whose superpower is empathy and kindness slowly figuring out how to navigate cut throat politics without letting them destroy what is best about him. Plus, I’m admittedly not very good with a lot of constructed language stuff, and listening to it helps me keep track of the characters and vocabulary in a really useful way. Plus, Kyle McCarley is a really good narrator.

Look, by now there can be no doubt that I love the entire Vorkosigan Saga, and I’m here to tell you that Grover Gardner is my favorite audiobook narrator of all time—and he does the whole series. I re-listen to these constantly. I just picked Memory as my favorite because it’s the book that marks black sheep and snarky, hyperactive, and disabled pain-in-the-ass Miles Vorkosigan shifting from his space military commander phase to his space Nancy Drew phase.

I’ll admit this is not the most relaxing book to read, because it’s an urban fantasy mystery where stuff is constantly going down, but the reason I love this book and its sequels is because listening to it is a transformative experience compared to reading. Listening to Daniel José Older read his own prose reveals a cadence like spoken word poetry. It’s honestly pretty unusual to run across a writer who’s actually really GOOD at reading their own work, and he sets the bar HIGH.

Sin du Jour is a series of seven novellas; this audiobook covers the first three. I love them because they’ve got a diverse set of characters running an urban fantasy catering company for the magic underbelly for demons and elves and such that always tweaks the nose of current events. There’s a fun plot that mixes humor and some scary stakes that’s really there to string together some fantastic food porn.

I’m calling this the “bonus not actually SFF pick but this it Alex’s list of things that bring them comfort when their brain is melting and it would be super dishonest not to put a romance novel on it.” Look, I love this book. It’s got an awesome trans lady as a protagonist, a hot physics professor, a You’ve Got Mail-but-updated thing where they fall in love via an internet that forgot AOL a long time ago, and the narrators are fantastic.

Earth abandoned its interstellar colonists when deep-space travel altered their genes and made them into “Variants” who live in the space stations of the Outworlds. When a major waystation is destroyed in a puzzling suicide attack by a young man who was recieving messages from supposedly uninhabited space and playing a virtual reality game, an explorer and a game designer team up to unravel the mystery.

Prisoner Alpha is an enigma that Dr. Ryan, a military psychiatrist, cannot solve. She speaks a language no one understands, doodles strange pictures, and it’s impossible to tell if she’s a cunning spy who is very committed to her act or… something else. While he tries to unravel that mystery, an archaelogist in Egypt discovers an 18th Dynasty tomb filled with relics that couldn’t possibly have existed at its time. The archaeologist is kidnapped away to a hidden lab. And Alpha… disappears from Dr. Ryan’s ward, and he becomes the prime suspect in her escape.

The mill girls of Lowell have had enough with terrible working conditions dictated by the uncaring bosses and penny-pinching owners. But Lowell has seen strikes before—and seen strikes fold. This time, they have something to reinforce the picket line and make sure no one crosses and no one leaves: a little witchcraft.

In a civil war that has ground to a stalemate, both sides are willing to do anything and give everything to win. On one side is a King at the edge of madness; on the other, a set of allies searching for truths that will tear his forces apart. Two friends caught on opposite sides have their own chance to end the war before the most bitter end possible can be reached… but there are many who would like to stop them.

An overachiever named Prudence Daniels feels like she’s won the jackpot when she wakes up one morning with the magical ability to place instant karma on the lazy and rude residents of her town. It works like a charm on everyone… except her slacker lab partner, Quint, who despite his failure in the lab shows a lot more life working at a rescue center for sea animals. Prudence is in for unraveling the secrets of baby sea otters… and mixed romantic signals.

The House of Wisdom was a massive exploration ship; now it’s a ghost ship, abandoned for a decade due to an outbreak of a deadly virus on board, one that killed its entire crew—minus one—in a matter of hours. Any would-be shipbreak has a rich target, and all they need to do to get it is not care about the potential for the disease surviving… and kidnap the sole survivor of the disaster, whose gene code will allow entry to the ship. Zahra head a ship breaking crew brave (and stupid) enough to do just that… but none of them are prepared for what they find waiting on board.

The bioship Cyclo is a home to many secrets—one of which is Hana, a child hidden by her mother in a secret room, until one day the entire crew simply disappears. But the Cyclo is destined to die as well, and a group of mercenaries have been sent to observe her death. One of the mercenaries befriends Hana, and the two of them must figure out how to survive the dying ship and all the secrets that the human government would like to die with her.

An expedition to map mineral deposits promises mundane dangers like gear malfunctions and cave collapses. The fat paycheck seems well worth the risk to Gyre… until she gets Em as her surface contact, Em who has no problem manipulating her with drugs, withholding information, and blackmail. And there’s more in the caves than just Gyre—there’s the Tunneler that calls them home, and the ghosts in her own head that grow ever louder.

Two months ago, 65,000 alien objects coated the atmosphere of the Earth, screaming out that humans were being watched for a brief second before burning up in the atmosphere. After those days of tense silence, an almost-defunct probe catches an alien signal—but it’s not there to talk to us. Something is coming, and it doesn’t care about humanity. The only hope to attempt First Contact with a disinterested alien mind is to send a group of humans who seem alien to their own species, and hope they can handle what’s waiting for them out in the black.

Human civilization is dying, and the key to its salvation might wait in the hold of the USS John Muir, a chunk of Earth taken from the planet long before straits became so dire. The crew of the John Muir have been in cryogenic sleep for centuries and have no idea what’s going on… but that’s no problem for ship raider Laura Cruz. But soon she and the no longer sleeping crew have a different, more immediate problem: alien monsters that can kill with a sound.

You may be familiar with the movies this book spawned—the evil video tape that kills, the mysterious monster named Sadako who crawls out of your TV. But the deadly threat that kills in seven days has a far different—and much more science fiction—origin in the book, and a much more tragic and horrifying history. I’ll also note this is one of the best translations from Japanese I’ve ever read that wasn’t a Murakami novel.

A poor scholar and a mindship that is a notorious thief and master of disguise meet in the orbitals of the Scattered Pearls Belt. Vân (the scholar) and Sunless Woods are brought together by a corpse found in the quarters of Vân’s student; together they work to unravel a mystery that leads them from tea house to mindship corpse, while the secrets they’ve hidden from each other threaten to destroy them both.

Emilia and Victoria are twins, and both of them are strega—witches living secretly among humans—living out a normal life and working in their family’s Sicilian restaurant. One night, Victoria misses dinner service, and Emilia finds her body, horrifically desecrated, soon after. Emilia will do anything to avenge her beloved twin, even using long-forbidden magic.

The bonds between Midgard and the gods are straining to the breaking point, and the world shows the strain. A demon is accidentally released from Muspelheim; a village that follows the old ways is slaughtered by marauding Christians. Hilda, Ragnar, and their tribesman must find a way to save their gods and save their traditions in the face of a changing, violent world.

Rory Thorne has renounced her title after kicking over everything in her range, and retired to a more peaceful life as an unglamorous privateer at the edge of space. But she and her crew get drawn back into the multiverse’s problems when they find an abandoned ship that seems to have fallen victim to an attack, and take on its cargo: a rose bush that turns out to be both sentient and a powerful biological weapon.

Reynevan is a healer, magician, and quite possibly a charlatan, depending on who you ask. A foolish indiscretion leaves him pursued by some vengeful brothers, and far worse, the Holy Inquisition. His flight leads him to the Tower of Fools, an asylum that might be for the mad or might be for those who have dared imagine a different world. Escaping it will be his most challenging trick yet.

Immanuelle was born in blasphemy, the child of her mother’s union with a dark-skinned outsider, and existence threw her family into disgrace. Approaching adulthood, Immanuelle does her best to be pious and follow the edicts of the Prophet, even as she becomes ever more aware of his base hypocrisies. But when she is drawn into the woods where the four vengeful spirits of the powerful witches the first Prophet killed still live, she discovers more about her mother, her self, and the grim truths that make a rotting foundation under the community. This is one of the best, righteously angriest books I’ve read this year, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Alex is the most powerful bruja of her generation, but she hates her magic and wants nothing more than to be rid of it. When she tries a spell to remove her own power, it backfires and causes her entire family to vanish. Now she’s got to figure out where her family has gone and how to save them, and the only ally she has is Nova, a brujo she’s not even sure she can trust.

Tea is different from the other witches of her family; her gift is one of necromancy. As a bone witch, she is feared and ostracized. Her only allies are an older bone witch, who will guide her in her journey to power, and her brother, whom she accidentally raised from the dead.

There are two series-within-a-series about witches in Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, but Wyrd Sisters is still my favorite, probably because it’s got a lot of Shakespearean references in it and that’s the kind of nerd I am. But I heartily recommend joining Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick as they sort out a small problem of succession after the King of Lancre is murdered by his cousin.

Agnieszka has grown up with the Wood as her home and she loves them dearly… but there is a corruption in the Wood, and it’s spreading, threatening to twist and consume every living thing. What keeps this corruption at bay is a wizard known as the Dragon, and every ten years, he takes a woman from the villages to serve him. This time, he reluctantly takes Agnieszka, because he can see what she cannot–that she has magic of her own. But despite his arrogance, it’s not a magic he can understand… and it’s very much of the Wood.

What seems like a common problem for many a sleepy English village–a major supermarket chain wants to plop down a giant store right at their border–is more than a question of local control versus modernization. Because Lychford stands at the boundary between two worlds, and disturbing that boundary would be a very, very bad idea.

Gyen Jebi just wants to be left alone to pursue their art, but when they find themself jobless and desperate, they are recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the magical sigils that animate its automatons. Unable to ignore politics any longer–especially those of the government occupying their land–they have no choice but to rise up and fight. And stealing the mighty dragon atuomaton Arazi is a good first step in their personal war.

After defeating her evil mother and the demon she summoned to try to kill her, Queen Asterin Faelenhart should be celebrating. But darkness has fallen over her kingdom and shadows the queen, reminding her of the sacrifices she made for her crown. The path of the Immortal Realm, ruled by the God of Shadow, begins to intertwine with her kingdom, and she realizes that the wicked ruler of this other realm has the answer to everything she lost and wants returned.

Jeremiah leaps at the offer to escape a life he feels disconnected from; all it takes is participation in an illegal cloning experiment, and he’ll be paid handsomely for it besides. The experimental drug transfers his memories to his clone and lets it take over his life. He soon finds out that watching his own life as an outside observer is an even more displacing reality… and that doesn’t even cover his horror as he watches his clone go into an out-of-control spiral that places his family in danger.

A collection of linked stories that are feminist retellings of Japanese folktales, where the traditionally feminine is cultivated rather than feared or suppressed.

The hidden fourth island of Aran is a place populated by the lost, only found by the dead, dying, and lost after they have given in to a dark emotion. But rather than a hell of the lost, the fourth island and its lost souls have become a community that welcomes those who find refuge there and offers a chance of redemption.

Dr. Rhett Jackson finds out someone wants him dead in the worst possible way–when a dragon tries to kill him in his own home. Unfortunately, his list of enemies is long–not everyone is happy with the scientists who resurrected dragons from the dead to begin with.

Chelsea has been dead for two years due to an unfortunate accident, but she’s not about to let that stop her from making it to her brother’s wedding. Along with the much older ghost who acts as her mentor and their one living friend, an unhoused woman who has an amazing talent as a mime and can see ghosts, they set out to walk from New York City to San Francisco. It’s a road trip book like you’ve never read before.

Li Lan is the daughter of a bankrupt family, so she doesn’t have many marriage prospects… until the wealthy and powerful Lims offer to have her become the ghost bride of their only son, who died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Li Lan must find out the truth behind her betrothed’s death if she wants to make it out of this alive… (Note, this has been made into an extremely cute limited series that’s on Netflix.)

A trans boy named Yadriel is determined to prove to his traditional family that he’s a brujo, and the first step is summoning a ghost… but he accidentally summons the ghost of a high school classmate he didn’t even realize was dead. And the ghost refuses to pass on until Yadriel does a few things for him. And while Yadriel is dealing with a cranky yet very cute ghost (oh no) he’s also trying to figure out what made this classmate and a brujo in his own family disappear at about the same time… (Look, I love this book, and it’s VERY cute.)

People are supposed to live a certain amount of time, and when they shuffle off the mortal coil early for any reason, they find a heavy debt on their record. These ghosts can steal from the living, or they can earn it back in other ways. Jenna, one such ghost, ekes out a little time each day by volunteering at a suicide prevention hotline. But something is binding the ghosts around her into mirror, and she needs to find out what–and stop it.

Elatsoe (Ellie) is a normal ace Apache teen living in a paranormal life thanks to the magical ability to raise the spirits of dead animals, a talent passed down from her ancestors. Rather than going to college, she’s decided she’ll be a PI, putting her brains and natural curiosity to good use. But when her beloved cousin is murdered and his ghost visits her, she has her first case earlier than she ever could have expected–and her whole family is in danger.

Beatrice Clayborn is the only hope for her family, in the sense that they’re counting on her to marry well and help them get out of their debts. But Beatrice wants to be a Magus, able to practice her magic out in the open—and marriage will end that dream permanently, with her magic locked down by a marital collar that’s “necessary” to protect her unborn children. When she becomes entangled with a rival sorceress and her brother Lavan, her decision becomes even more complicated. Will she sacrifice her magic and herself–even if she does it for love–or will she devestate her family?

In the Jim Crow South, a teenaged girl named Evvie Deschamps is manifesting magic that grows stronger by the day, a gift that her family calls the jubilation, which has been passed down from generations of Black women. As her magic shakes something dark loose, she must face the demons of the past with the strength of her mighty lineage, all while looking after her two sisters and mother, and trying to find time for her crush.

Winter Solstice is usually a time of celebration in the holy city of Tova, but this year, it coincides with a solar eclipse that the Sun Priest claims will unbalance the world. A ship will arrive on that fateful day, captained by a woman who can calm the waters with a song, and its only passenger a supposedly harmless young man.

The Imperial Wolves are the executioners of the Dragon Emperor, he who watches over the many races who warily mingle in the City of Elantra. To become a Wolf means to have one’s mind read, and it’s an exam very few pass. Severn is determined to join the Wolves, and exposing secrets he has long kept hidden seem a small price to pay. His first task, if he can survive it, is bringing the perpetrators or a series of murders that occured twenty years ago to justice. It’s a hunt Severn might not survive.

By 1893, there are no witches left in America—and if women want power, they need the vote first. When the Eastwood sisters join the suffragists of New Salem, they might just make a witch’s movement out of the winter’s movement. But there are forces arrayed against them who will not suffer a witch to vote—or live.

The Signalman comes calling on Ellison Nicodemo, a burnt out agent who has seen and done one too many things and now longs only for oblivion. But one doesn’t refuse the Signalman, and he has a final mission for her: stop the latest apocalypse, because only Ellison can unleash the Hound of Tindalos.

Long range spy satellites at the edge of human space are going quiet, and Captain Susan Kamala and her crew are dispatched to figure out why. What they find is a mysterious alien ship that could destroy them easily—but it’s not looking for a fight. Captain and crew must figure out how to communicate with this ship and— they’re very skilled and very lucky—preserve the peace.

The mission and even survival of the crew of The Ulysses is thrown into uncertainty when revolutionaries seize the solar systems most important asteroid mine and refueling station. But the captain of The Ulysses knows that failure is not an option—and he’s got a plan.

Fasten your seatbelts for this dark fantasy historical novella that puts a supernatural twist on the Ku Klux Klan. The white-hoods aren’t just men; hiding amount the regular ol’ awful human racist “Klans” are literal, actual demons known as “Ku Kluxes” who ride across the nation spreading fear and violence. Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter, are on a mission to hunt their hunters armed with blade, bullet, and bomb. Maryse senses that something awful brewing in Macon, and the war on Hell is about to reach a terrifying fever pitch.

In an ancient Britain where the wars between the Saxons and Britons have finally ended, an elderly couple journey to visit their son. But a strange mist covering the land is causing mass amnesia, and they barely remember the person they are traveling to see. Joined by a Saxon warrior, a knight, and an orphan, the small party begins to remember together the dark past they all share.

A short story collection from Japanese mystery writer Edogawa Rampo (actually the pen name of Tarou Hirai), but there’s plenty of the perverse and fantastic to be found in here. One of Edogawa’s literary heroes was Edgar Allan Poe (note the play on the name) and it definitely shows.

Edward Weyland is a different kind of vampire. His condition is biological, rather than supernatural, and he’s also a respected anthropology professor who spends decades in hibernation and survives these days by stealing blood from laboratories. Maybe he’s still a monster, but he’s a monster who has to live and cooperate with his prey if he wants to survive.

Everyone is familiar with The Lottery, hopefully—though if you’re not, this is a good season to get started with this disturbing delight. There’s also 24 more stories of the occult (and horror, not going to lie: that was mostly her thing) in this collection. A bit more horror than I normally like to get on my space ship, but I always make an exception for Shirley Jackson.

Another short story collection, perhaps more to the horror side and filled with tales of madness, death, morality, and, yes, fantasy. Horacio Quiroga was a Uruguayan writer and poet who had a massive influence on magical realism.

Look, this is Guillermo del Toro we’re talking about. Did you think for one minute that this wasn’t one of the first books he listed as a favorite?