Author: Alex Acks

Happy Friday, shipmates! Hey, we made it through another week, and I’m proud of us all. Hopefully you’ll have a chance to do a little relaxing—and reading. It’s Alex, with some books by nonbinary writers for you, since it is still nonbinary week, and a few news items. Stay safe out there!

Thing that made me smile: This wholesome video on how to make chai is the start of an entire, wholesome thread.

Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project.

News and Views

Registration is now live for FIYAH’s online convention 

(CW: Sexual assault) Authors, Customers Demand Borderlands Books Owner Divest From Store

Octavia E. Butler and racialized labor

Congratulations to the winners of the 2019 Shirley Jackson Awards!

Online Hugos voting is available. The deadline is July 22.

Sarah Gailey: Everything Is The Hunger Games Now

Library of Congress to honor Colson Whitehead

New short story from Seanan McGuire that is a side story to In an Absent Dream: Juice Like Wounds

Alex Brown’s list of must-read short SFF from June

Abigail Nussbaum on “The Political Hugo”

If you ever wondered how surgery in space would work…

On Book Riot

8 weird genre fiction books by diverse authors

The appeal of desert fantasy stories and Each of Us a Desert

Reading pathways: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Enter before the end of the month and you could win The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, a year of free books, or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Free Association Friday: Nonbinary SFF Showcase!

July 14 is International Nonbinary People’s Day, if you didn’t realize. We’ve been officially celebrating for eight years—though trust me, we’ve been around waaaaaaaay longer than that. And it’s Nonbinary Week all this week, so what better time to talk about more fiction from nonbinary writers?

Neon Yang’s Tensorate novella series were actually the first books I ever read that had a nonbinary character who was also a love interest. I will always love them for that—plus it’s just a super fun fantasy world with dinosaurs! And magic! And anti-authoritarian rebels! Start with The Black Tides of Heaven. (Full disclosure: Neon and I have the same agent.)

Houses Under the Sea by Caitlín R. Kiernan – Caitlín has written a ton of short fiction, and this is just one of their collections–the Lovecraftian one.

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis – Five girls who were sold to a “welcome house” as children and branded with cursed marking embark on a difficult journey to freedom and justice when one of their number accidentally kills a man.

Behold the Deep Never Seen by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor – Merc writes a ton of really good short fiction, and this one’s a place to start. If you’re looking for more short bites, check out their website.

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender – The only survivor of a family massacred by colonizers sees her opportunity for revenge when the childless king of the islands declares that he will seek an heir among the nobles.

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey – Accidental murder by magic! High school friends trying to make things right and only making things worse! (Full disclosure: Sarah and I have the same agent.)

Empire of Light by Alex Harrow – A hired killer gets his butt kicked by his mark, and in exchange for his life, she demands that he help out the revolution he was supposed to stop.

Depart, Depart! by Sim Kern – A Jewish trans man takes shelter in a basketball arena after a hurricane devastates Houston. As conditions in the shelter detereorate, he begins to see the ghost of his grandfather, who fled Nazi Germany as a boy.

Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore – In 1518, a strange sickness made women dance in the streets of Strasbourg until they died from exertion. Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes visit the same curse on an unlucky girl. Her only hope is the descendent of the family who was blamed for the deaths in Strasbourg.

Ariah by B.R. Sanders – Ariah’s just getting a handle on his dangerous magic–and having a romance with his mentor’s brother–when his education is cut short by an empire expanding its borders.

Feeder by Patrick Weekes – A monster hunter who uses an interdimensional creature to drag aliens into another dimension finds her life even more complicated after she stumbles across a group of super-powered, mutant teenagers being held captive by her employers.

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See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy new book day, shipmates! Hopefully the hot summer breeze (or the cold winter wind, if you’re reading this in the southern hemisphere) is bringing you the scent of fresh pages and new adventure. It’s Alex, with some new books and a bit of bookish news (though I’ll warn you now, the first item is, I think important, but very difficult).

Non-SFF that made my day: I was just introduced to Indian Folk Metal (particularly the music of Bloodywood) so I MUST share. A couple songs to start: Machi Bhasad and Jee Veerey

Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project.

New Releases

Note: There do not appear to be any authors of color on the new SFF release lists for this week that I have access to. Though I will note if you want something that’s filed as horror, definitely check out The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones.

The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal – As the climate disaster set into motion by the meteor impact becomes more clear again, the IAC’s mission to get as many humans off the planet as possible is threatened by riots and sabotage. While Elma York is on her way to Mars to begin that step of the plan, her fellow Lady Astronaut Nicole Wargin is hard at work trying to establish humanity’s first and perhaps most important colony on the Moon. The last thing Nicole needs on top of that difficult task is her husband deciding to run for president.

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher – Harry Dresdent is called on to join the White Council’s security team as the supernatural nations across the world meet to negotiate the end of ongoing hostilities. As the meeting progresses, the politicking threatens not only peace of the supernatural world, but the very existence of Chicago.

Mayhem by Estelle Laure – Mayhem flees with her mother Roxy to California after Roxy’s husband (and Mayhem’s step father) pushes them too far. Mayhem has always known there’s something strange about her and her mother, but on the beaches of Santa Maria, she discovers it’s not just an inborn strangeness, but magic that runs through the female line of her family. Mayhem’s self-discovery is interrupted by the search for a man who has been kidnapping girls from the beach; that sends her into a tangled mess of revenge and vigilante justice.

In the Kingdom of All Tomorrows by Stephen R. Lawhead – Tara’s Hill has become a refuge for those driven from their homes by the violence of the Scálda barbarians. Conor mac Ardan, the new clan chief of the Darini, must join the other lords of Eirlandia as the black ships of the Scálda draw closer—and treachery threatens from within.

The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune – Nick isn’t an Extraordinary himself, but he’s the most popular fanfiction writer in the whole fandom, so that counts for something. After encountering the Extraordinary who is his biggest crush, Nick becomes determined to join their ranks—and drags his best friend (who might be the actual love of his life), Seth, along.

Other People’s Pets by R.L. Maizes – An animal empath named La La Fine has been abandoned twice by her mother; she has only her father, a locksmith who is in reality a thief. Growing up, she used her skills to calm watchdogs while her father performed robberies. Now an adult in veterinary school, she is forced to drop out when her father is arrested and her tuition money needs to go to pay his legal fees. She takes up burglary again, though now she only robs houses where she senses the pets are in trouble, leaving behind aide for animals even as she takes valuables with her.

News and Views

TW for sexual assault, domestic violence: allegations of violent and predatory behavior have been made about the owner of Borderlands Books.

There’s now a Murderbot box set.

Sara Kuhn’s Heroine Complex series is coming to audiobook!

Nnedi Okorafor shared the new cover of the 10th anniversary edition of Who Fears Death and the new cover for The Book of Phoenix.

The New York Times Magazine has published the Decameron Project, which is 29 short stories about current times, from authors such as Margaret Atwood and Victor LaValle.

New book coming from S.B. Divya! You can already pre-order Machinehood.

The politics of peeing in space.

On Book Riot

8 elemental fantasies to read after your Avatar: The Last Airbender rewatch

Enter before the end of the month and you could win The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, a year of free books, or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

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See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with something a little unusual this week. I’ve just got one book I want to shriek about, but you’ll understand why when you get there. Have a great weekend and stay safe, everyone!

I wish to share a TikTok that brought me joy this week.

Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project.

News and Views

Nisi Shawl would like to guide you on a tour through the history of Black science fiction.

In case you missed it: N.K. Jemisin and Kate Elliott in conversation.

P. Djèlí Clark and and Troy L. Wiggins talk about the building of FIYAH.

Octavia Butler’s motivational notes to herself

C.L. Polk and Alyssa Cole have a conversation about romance in science fiction and I LOVE IT. (And if you haven’t grabbed Alyssa’s book The AI Who Loved Me, check it out.)

Sci-fi shows ruined by terrible endings

ConZealand has unveiled a Colonised, Marginalised, and Historically Underrepresented People Inclusion Initiative. They’re also extending the Hugo voting deadline due to issues getting online voting up and running.

UFO sightings have gone way down in the last few years.

41 years ago today, Voyager 2 started going in for its Jupiter fly-by.

On Book Riot

12 must-read high fantasy novels coming out in the second half of 2020.

Enter before the end of the month and you could win The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, a year of free books, or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Free Association Friday: Stealing Thunder

I want to do something a little different this Friday, because You-Know-Who is having another Twitter tantrum and I just finished reading a book that’s sticking with me. I want to talk about Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden.

In her intro to the book, Alina writes that it’s the first fantasy novel published by a major publisher (Ace) that’s written by a trans woman and has a trans woman protagonist. As far as I know, that’s true. It’s about Razia Khan, a hijra who lives in a fantasy Mughal Empire, dancing and also stealing for her supper. Razia was formerly the son of a powerful Sultan; she escaped him to live as her true self, and despite all she has lost—and then suffered as a hijra—she still considers it a good bargain. Then she meets Prince Arjun, the son of a Maharaja who is her father’s rival, and falls in love with him.

I don’t want get into spoilers, but I do want to tell you, it’s a ton of fun–though I’d add content warnings for discussion (but not depiction) of sexual assault and Razia getting dead named a lot. What I want to talk about is my own reaction to reading it and why I love it.

Stealing Thunder is about a trans woman who gives up everything—wealth, power, and her beloved zahhak (a dragon powerful princes fly around on) Sultana—in order to be her true self. And her true self necessitates a life of scrambling and suffering, clawing always to be above poverty, but is still better than being someone she isn’t. That part of the story isn’t so different from common trans narratives in fiction that cis people consume, though it’s very firmly on centered Razia’s experience of the reality of her gender. But the rest of the book is very much about Razia taking back everything she has lost and about her finding love and family that accept her for herself. It’s about Razia winning, and winning, and winning, and winning against a cis-centered society that would love nothing more than to see her lose.

In that way, it’s a work of pure wish fulfillment. It’s a book that, honestly, I would have rolled my eyes at a bit if the heroine had been a cis woman, because at times it feels almost too easy. But the very fact of a trans woman enacting that wish fulfillment fantasy was, let me tell you, absolutely revolutionary for a trans person like me to read. It’s defiant. It’s beautiful.

There’s a lot of discussion about stories of queer suffering in general. How cis and straight people write us, or the narratives that we write for ourselves that have previously been deemed acceptable for consumption by intended cis audiences. There definitely needs to be space for us to process our traumas and explore darker themes, and do so when we are our own intended audience. But we so infrequently get a chance to explore our wishful fantasies and our joy, particularly not when major publishers are involved. That’s why Stealing Thunder was a shot of sunlight directly to my heart.

Here’s hoping that Stealing Thunder will open the door for more kinds of wish fulfillment stories and joy. It’s our turn, damnit.

Aside: If you want more Mughal-inspired fantasy that’s really good and has an A+ romance (this one written by a cis queer woman), I definitely recommend Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri, and its sequel Realm of Ash.

 

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See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ll keep this brief so I can stuff even more new releases into this newsletter. July is off to a good start. Hope you stayed safe over the weekend–and that you’re hungry to read.

Thing I’m laughing about: I cannot believe this hilarious fake trailer was made 8 years ago and not this year.

Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project.

New Releases

Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott – Princess Sun has come of age in a time when conniving ambassadors and scheming noble houses have set their sights on removing her as heir to the Chaonia republic, or better yet, just killing her outright. Sun isn’t going down without a fight; in her coming battle for survival, she will rely on her wits, her secret lover, her biggest rival, and a prisoner of war.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust – Soraya is a princess who poisons all who touch her. She’s been hidden away by her family, but when her brother gets married, she has the chance to step out of the shadows–if she chooses. Caught between a demon who promises her knowledge and a young man who sees through her coating of poison, she must figure out if she is a human or a demon herself.

Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim – Maia has succeeded in making beautiful dresses from the sun, moon, and stars, but she returns to a kingdom at the brink of war. The boy she loves is gone forever, and she has no choice but to take her place as the Emperor’s bride-to-be. The political machinations going on around her are nothing compared to the changes within, however. As the corrupting touch of the demon spreads through her, Maia has only a short time before she loses even herself.

Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders by Aliette de Bodard – When a dragon prince brings home is brooding husband home for Lunar New Year, they find not their weight in candied fruit, but a corpse laying outside their quarters. Neither are thrilled by being embroiled in either a murder investigation or the inevitable politics that follow. It will take all of their diplomacy–and skill with knives–to get through this mess.

Haunted Heroine by Sara Kuhn – Evie is a woman who has it all: she’s a badass superheroine, she’s got good relationships with her superhero partner, and a hot half-demon husband. Then she finds out she’s pregnant–and she’s not sure if she’s cut out for motherhood. When she gets called in to investigate a series of “hauntings” at the local women’s college, she finds herself reliving her grad school days–and wondering how things might have gone differently…

A Peculiar Peril by Jeff Vandermeer – Jonathan will inherit his grandfather’s house, which is more like a museum of curiosities, if he can just catalog its contents with the help of a few of his friends. But the house is linked to an alternate Earth called Aurora, and Jonathan has a destiny to fulfill in a secret society whose entire purpose is to keep Aurora from encroaching.

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – 200 years after the death of Cinderella, teenaged girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball so men can select them as brides based on their finery–and those not chosen disappear. Sophia, not wanting this kind of marriage, runs away and meets Cinderella’s last known descendent. Together, they vow to take down the king who thinks this all is a great idea.

Or What You Will by Jo Walton – “He” is the spark of an idea in 73-year-old award-winning novelist Sylvia’s mind, and he has been many things throughout her books. But he is also very aware that Sylvia is getting old, and when she dies, so does he. But he has an idea how they could gain immortality, together, if she’ll just listen…

Every Sky a Grave by Jay Posey – Humanity decoded the Deep Language of the universe 8,000 years ago and has used that knowledge to spread to the limits of the galaxy. The First House is in charge of “correcting” humanity using language so strong that words can destroy worlds. A mendicant named Elyth is sent to a backwater world to stamp out a forbidden strain of Deep Language, but what she finds there challenges her understanding of everything.

News and Views

After a long hiatus, Fantasy Magazine will be relaunching in November!

Andy Serkis will be recording a new audio edition of The Hobbit.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has some great news about her out-of-print books!

Godzilla officially says Happy Pride. My heart is so full of rainbows.

Awesome time lapse video of the Sun taken from observations of the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory.

On Book Riot

Pride is a rebellion, and rebellions are built on hope

5 science fiction books full of humor

Enter before the end of the month and you could win The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, a year of free books, or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! What a year June has been, huh? It’s Alex, bringing you the startling news that June is almost over, and the parting gift is one last round of books for us, including the final installment of a barn-burner of a trilogy. There’s also some news and a couple essays to go with it. Be most excellent to each other as we head into July!

Non-SFF thing that made me smile: The Hamilton cast reunited to sing “Helpless” from home with a bunch of improvised instruments.

Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project.

New Releases

The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty – The capstone of the fantastic Daevabad Trilogy, which started with The City of Brass. Daevabad has fallen and been stripped of its magic. In the wake of that brutal conquest, a resurrected Dara works to try to stabilize the fractious people left scattered while dealing with his personal demons that have been loosed by the fighting and the loss of Nahri. In Cairo, Nahri and Ali are safe, but haunted by those they have left behind. All three must reassess their relationships with each other, with their own histories, and with those they once hurt if they wish to remake the world.

Goddess in the Machine by Lore Beth Johnson – Andra wakes up from a cryosleep journey that was supposed to be 100 years, just long enough to get to a new home planet, to find out that it’s been over a thousand years and everyone she knew is now dead. The descendents of her fellow colonists also, unaccountably, think she’s some kind of goddess. Soon she’s drawn into politics she doesn’t understand with an exiled bastard prince trying to use her as a path to what he believes is his rightful place on the throne.

Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh – The first time someone has their period, they report to the station and are given either a blue or a white ticket, defining what kind of woman they will be. A white ticket means marriage and family; a blue ticket means career and freedom. No choices are necessary and there are no take backs. When a woman with a blue ticket becomes pregnant and questions her assigned lot, she must go on the run and learn about the qualities within herself that her blue ticket indicated she did not have.

Interlibrary Loan by Gene Wolfe – In a future where our culture continues, if somewhat diminished in size but far more advanced in technology, clones can be made of uploaded personalities. One of these clones is author E.A. Smithe, who is not happy to find that as a borrowed person, the uploaded clone of a dead mystery writer, he’s a piece of property and has no rights. When he’s sent on interlibrary loan to another branch, he runs into another E.A. Smithe… who might not be dead.

The Second Star by Alma Alexander – Earth’s first starship, the Parada, has been missing for over two centuries. One of its successors finds it, drifting in the depths of space, and brings it back home. The crew, miraculously—and due to time dilation—are still alive and have barely aged. But while six people went out on the Parada, what returns are over 70 fractured personalities contained in six bodies. Two psychologists are tasked with finding out why this has happened, and if the condition can be cured. But they find a much deeper, darker mystery than either of them could have predicted.

I accidentally put Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia in last week’s news letter, which was an error. It actually releases today.

News and Views

Congratulations to the 2020 Locus Award Winners! Novel highlights:

• Science Fiction Novel: The City in the Middle of the NIght by Charlie Jane Anders
• Fantasy Novel: Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
• Young Adult Novel: Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

There’s a biopic coming out about Tove Jansson, the creator of Moomin.

Kayla Shaggy has written and shared an essay about one of the current goings-on in the SFF literary world: Anti-Blackness within Indigenous Circles and How it Contributes to the Mistreatment of Rebecca Roanhorse, a Black Indigenous Author

Rosamund Lannin on searching for body postivity in fantasy.

Cree Myles: If you really want to unlearn racism, read Black sci-fi authors.

Beyoncé is releasing her next visual album on Disney+ on July 31. (I am blown away by the trailer and it’s got some very SFF imagery in it.)

Margot Robbie is leading an all new Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Birds of Prey screenwriter is in on it too.

The science behind the smell of fresh rain.

On Book Riot

You can enter to win a three-book fantasy prize pack from Saga.

Oh and hey! We’re running a reader survey. You could even win an ereader from it.

Enter before the end of the month and you could win a 1-year subscription to Audible or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

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See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Avast, shipmates. Wow, what a decade this week has been, huh? It’s Captain Alex, and I’ve got some news items and books that involve cats. Because it’s been a week and I really like cats. Hope you’re staying cool or warm, whichever is appropriate to your environment–and that you’re staying safe.

Thing that made me happy this week: Change.org petition to rename Columbus, OH to FLAVORTOWN

Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project.

News and Views

Cover reveal for Premee Mohamed’s A Broken Darkness, sequel to Beneath the Rising.

Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells won the 2019 Bisexual Book Award for SFF.

On virtual conventions.

Some cool sci-fi face masks.

Amazon picked its best books of 2020 so far. The reviewers at Tor.com have also picked theirs.

Star Trek compound of skincare ingredient?

Orlando Jones returns to the Black Girls Nerds podcast

GRRM mentioning The Winds of Winter over at his Not a Blog

Six word stories at Wired: a sci-fi apocalypse with a happy ending

On Book Riot

6 strange tales for strange times

15 fascinating books like Dune

Journey to new worlds this summer with a middle grade fantasy series

Enter before the end of the month and you could win a 1-year subscription to Audible or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Free Association Friday: CATS

Look, it’s been a week, and I’m mentally exhausted, so how about we just talk about some SFF books that have cats in them. Because I love cats, and cats are good. Even when they’re bad.

Speaking of cats, File 770 has an entire tag that’s nothing but sleepy cats in proximity to SFF novels.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami – I don’t think I get to expound on my love for Haruki Murakami often enough in this space, since he’s often borderline as far as actually being SFF. There’s six cats in this book, and half the chapters are the story of a young man who can communicate with cats after being rendered unconscious as a child by a mysterious flash of light. So as an adult, he just finds lost cats.

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett is our first introduction to Greebo, who is most definitely the Best Worst Cat of all time. Greebo is to all appearances a foul-tempered, evil, one-eyed old tom cat, but Granny Weatherwax knows the truth: he is in fact a Good. A Very Good, really. Greebo is a recurring character in the Discworld series. As he should be.

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes – Captain Eva Innocente has to do a lot of really dangerous and unpleasant things to try to pay the ransom for her sister after she gets kidnapped by the shadowy syndicate known as the Fridge. One of these things involves a shipment of psychic cats. This goes just about as well as you think.

Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams – I honestly don’t go for animal POV books all that much–they’re just not really my thing–but I make an exception for this one. It’s from the viewpoint of feral cats, who have their own mythologies and legends and culture. And look, one of the cats is named Eatbugs.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune – This book features a total cat diva named Calliope, the companion of one of the main characters, a case worker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi – One of my favorite things about the fantasy world these books occupy is that everyone rides around on giant cats. How freaking cool is that?

Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold – This is actually my absolute favorite of the Vorkosigan Saga novels for a number of reasons that I cannot get into without spoiling it. But I can say that this book also introduces a recurrent character: Zap the Cat, a stray that takes possession of Miles’s house because he makes the mistake of feeding her (he’s lonely and needs friends, so you can’t blame him) and goes on to have a lot of kittens over the rest of the series.

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente – Features a cat along for the ride when two musicians get sort of but not really abducted by space aliens so they can play in a music contest in an attempt to save the world. The cat, notably, would happily give up India to the aliens to save its own skin, which is notably why we don’t give cats those kind of options.

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See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! There are some exciting books on the horizon, so full speed ahead. It’s Alex, and I’ve got a few items of book news for you as well. Also, happy (belated) Solstice, whichever side of it you might be celebrating!

If you need a smile, I offer: Trailer for the Quarantine Cat Film Festival

Oh and hey! We’re running a reader survey. You could even win an ereader from it.

Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project.

New Releases

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected on Water by Zen Cho – You had me at “A bandit walks into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there.” A wuxia fantasy with found family in which a young votary joins a group of thieves to protect a sacred object, and it just goes out of control from there.

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry – In this fantastical version of the Age of Englightenment, Robespierre is a necromancer calling for revolution in France and weather mage Toussaint L’Ouverture leads the enslaved people of Haiti in their bid for freedom. And in England, Prime Minister William Pitt must consider the matters of abolition and the legalization of magic for commoners. But the upheaval of the world isn’t just normal human conflict–there’s a darker force behind it, and it will take the combined wits and powers of all revolutionaries and abolitionists to win that battle.

Mexican Gothic By Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Noemí, a glamorous debutante with a spine of steel and an unbreakable will, heads to a house in the Mexican countryside after she gets a frantic letter from her cousin, who has just married a mysterious Englishman. Things are perhaps worse than her cousin intimated: the Englishman is menacing, his father seems weirdly obsessed with Noemí, and the house itself has a dark personality and a supernatural presence that invades Noemí’s dreams. The house and the family hold dark and violent secrets that Noemí will unearth if she digs enough–and she’s never been one to give up.

Shadow Fall: An Alphabet Squadron Novel by Alexander Freed – After the New Republic’s victory, Alphabet Squadron is still busy hunting the elusive Shadow Wing. But while the heroes of Alphabet Squadron prepare a risky trap to catch their quarry, they’re unaware of the evolution of the Shadow Wing that makes it ever more dangerous. The last of the Imperial Aces has taken control of Shadow Wing and is determined to give these lost soldiers–and himself–meaning and purpose. The only thing that stands in his way is Alphabet Squadron–and his traitorous former mentee.

Hunted by the Sky by Tanaz Bhathena – Gul has a star-shaped birthmark on her arm, something that has forced her to remain on the run for years, because in Ambar girls with that birthmark always, always disappear. She’s rescued from the clutches of soldiers who have already murdered her parents by the Sisters of the Golden Lotus, who promise to teach her the warrior magic she’ll need to have her revenge. Then she meets Cavas, a poor boy ready to sign his life over to the Ambar army to save his terminally ill father, at the capital’s bazaar. Sparks fly, and Cavas finds himself drawn into Gul’s revenge.

Instances of Head Switching by Teresa Milbrodt – A collection of short stories that interweave the utterly fantastical (sphinxes as pets? head switching?) with real world questions of disability and economic insecurity.

News and Views

Publishers Weekly did an interview with S.L. Huang about Burning Roses.

The Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist is out.

V.E. Schwab reads an excerpt from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

Animorphs movie!

Chuck Tingle remains a national treasure.

You can catch up with the online, inaugural Juneteenth Book Fest (launched by L.L. McKinney and Saraciea Fennell) on YouTube.

Goodbye to Ian Holm, who has been in a lot of great genre movies.

Today I learned there’s a really cool map site that’ll let you see what ancient organisms used to live in your neighborhood.

On Book Riot

A brief guide to grimdark fantasy and where to start reading it

4 time travel books about lost time

Enter before the end of the month and you could win a 1-year subscription to Audible or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

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See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Friday, shipmates. We made it through another week, and we should be proud. It’s Alex with some news and some book suggestions for Amistad Books’ Blackout Bestsellers challenge. It’s been hot as all heck so far this week where I live, but there’s a promise of rain coming–I hope the winds where you are blow your way, too.

Extremely cute: sometimes the void screams back.

This is a really cool thread about sleuthing internet folklore.

News and Views

Must read: L.L. McKinney on the role publishing plays in the commodification of Black pain

The love letters of Tove Jansson (creator of the Moomin series)

BBC radio has an interview with Nnedi Okorafor

Alex Brown has a list of must-read speculative short fiction for this month.

The visual narration of joyful queer futurism

Max Brooks’s Devolution is already being developed for feature film.

New short story from Sarah Pinsker: Two Truths and a Lie

Joe Cornish and John Boyega are talking about an Attack the Block sequel!!! (If you have not seen this movie, YOU MUST.)

You had me at “Tessa Thompson and Hot Jaffar”

A super cute tardigrade for you!

There’s a green glow around Mars. 2020 needs to calm the hell down.

On Book Riot

Once upon a time, there were 8 LGBTQ+ fairytales from 2020…

10 LGBTQIA+ fantasy and sci-fi adventures to take you far from here

4 apocalyptically good books like The Last of Us

This week’s SFF Yeah! podcast is about Pride Month, anti-racist SFF, and most-anticipated books of 2020.

Enter before the end of the month and you could win a 1-year subscription to Audible or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Free Association Friday: Blackout Bestsellers

Amistad Books has issued a challenge for the week of June 14-June 20 (that’s tomorrow): buy any two books by Black writers to try to Blackout the Bestseller Lists.

I bought Lakewood by Megan Giddings (an intense look at medical ethics and race) and The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin (living cities, come on!).

If you want to participate, here’s eight more suggestions for what you could purchase. I’m focusing on 2020 releases, since those are likely to be up in the numbers anyway–and pre-orders sadly aren’t going to count toward Amistad Books’ challenge, unless it’s for a book coming out next week. Though you should totally pre-order some books, too. If you want even more suggestions, N.K. Jemisin has a twitter thread.

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi – A Black girl with supernatural powers holds the fate of Los Angeles in her hands when she is devestated by the arrest and incarceration of of her brother.

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow – A young siren hiding her powers and a human girl who has literal demons in her past form an unbreakable bond of friendship that will help them survive their junior year of high school and the growing danger of the world around them.

Stormsong by C.L. Polk – In the wake of Aeland’s horrible secret being revealed, Grace must try to save her country from a series of ever-increasing storms from the outside, and from rogue mages and a queen uninterested in necessary change from the inside. Oh, and she might be falling in love with a nosy reporter named Avia Jessup.

A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell – An absolutely gorgeous SFF anthology filled with resistance, hope, and stories of Black women and gender non-conforming people.

Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown – A young wizard from the west side, a place of poverty and ubiquitous magic, transfers to a wealthy school on the east side. As she travels between those two worlds, she realizes that she leaves a part of herself behind on the east side… and not everything in the west side is as it seems.

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland – Jane just wants to head west to find her mother, but she ends up in a protected village called Nicodemus instead, and what she finds there has her questioning her life, her survival, and everything she’s learned as a slayer of the restless undead.

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown – When a vengeful spirit abducts his sister, Malik strikes a deal to secure her return–he must kill the Crown Princess Karina. Meanwhile, Karina has her own ambitious and deadly plans; she will resurrect her mother by marrying the winner of the festival competitions and then cut her husband’s still-beating heart out to fuel the ritual. And then Malik and Karina begin to fall for each other…

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow – Aliens control the Earth, and emotional expression (and thus art) is outlawed after emotions caused an unfortunate misunderstanding that ended with the aliens killing one third of the Earth’s population. Ellie keeps a secret library of music and books… except one day she’s discovered by an alien commander. But instead of delivering her for execution, he finds he really enjoys music.

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See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Tuesday, shipmates. The hits just keep on coming, huh? Alex here, and I’ve got some new releases and some news items if you need something to escape into for a bit. The power might be fighting us as hard as it can, but you can’t keep good space pirates down. Unfurl the black flag, keep the powder dry, and eyes up to the horizon!

A thing that made me smile: Geolgical baking!

Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project

New Releases

Note: There do not appear to be any authors of color on the new release lists for this week I have access to. (Just gonna gently set down the link for FIYAH’s Black SpecFic Report portal here.)

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks – In the wake of Mount Rainier’s catastrophic erruption, the Greenloop Massacre was almost forgotten… until the journals of one of its victims came to light. The bloody, terrifying truths revealed in those journals are many, but the most earth-shattering is that Bigfoot walks among us, and is not friendly.

The Unconquered City by K.A. Doore – It’s seven years after the hungry dead rose in an event called the Siege, the city of Ghadid remains unbowed, protected by its militia against the ever-increasing waves of flesh-hungry guul. Illi, trained to be an elite assassin in that militia, must face her inner demons and her past when a general from a neighboring nation arrives searching for the source of the guul–and in that search, the unearths a terrible secret hidden at the edges of Ghadid.

The Grand Tour by E. Catherine Tobler – A collection of stories of Jackson’s Unreal Circus and Mobile Maramalade. The steam train that brings the circus mysteriously to town might seem ancient, but its metal confines lead to destinations beyond the imagination, just waiting for the right visitor. The circus is a place where you can be whoever–or whatever–you want.

The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae – Zahru is a lowly girl with magic that only allows her to commune with animals; she believes she’s fated to work in the royal stables until her magic runs dry and she dies. When the Crossing, a deadly race across the desert, is invoked to determine the next heir to the throne, Zahru sneaks into the palace for a night to enjoy the revelry. But one mistake puts her between the feuding heirs and directly in the middle of the Crossing–but not as a contestant. She’ll be the human sacrifice the triumphant heir will make at the end of the contest.

The Lightness by Emily Temple – After her father disappears while on a meditation retreat, Olivia follows him to the mountains to find out what happened. She signs up for a summer program for troubled teens at his last known location, the Levitation Center. She’s drawn to a trio of fast friends who are determined to achieve enlightenment this summer and learn to levitate.

Hella David Gerrold – Hella is a world that’s earned its name, home to dinosaur herds, mile-high trees, and a climate so vicious and extreme that the human colonists who live there have to migrate twice a year to escape it. A neuroatypical young man with real-time access to the colony’s computer become the bridge between the residents of Hella and a ship of refugees from Earth that arrives unexpectedly. Can a barely self-sufficient colony take the burden of a thousand new people, bringing with them many of the problems they were fleeing?

News and Views

Because we need joy to fuel the fire, the People of Colo(u)r Destroy… special issues of Lightspeed are now FREE.

New Star Wars anthology alert! From a Certain Point of View strikes back.

A delightful low-budget remake of Alien.

Sarah Pinsker’s A Song for a New Day has been optioned for television.

The next Doctor Who audio series is going to be about Rory, and what he was doing that whole time he was sitting around and guarding a giant box.

Hans Solo, ranked.

A history of slash in six ships.

Deep structures in the Earth! Geology is awesome!

How do neutrinos get their mass?

Kathy Sullivan was the first woman to walk in space, and now she’s the first woman to visit the Challenger Deep.

On Book Riot

15 Paranormal Mystery Books to Read Right Now

You can win a copy of Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams

Enter before the end of the month and you could win a 1-year subscription to Audible or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

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See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Well, this has sure been a week, hasn’t it? But we did it, shipmates! We made it to Friday. Drink some water. Stretch. Unclench your jaw. It’s Alex, with some news and important (if difficult) essays, and then a bunch of books by trans and nonbinary authors for your perusal.

Something that brought me a lot of joy this week: if I haven’t mentioned it recently, I’m a dedicated player of the game Destiny. The look forward to the coming content gave me happy chills. And started my Tuesday this week in an exciting way.

Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co

News and Views

I’m not going to get into Those Statements by She Who Shall Not Be Named, because I’m sad and angry and frankly? Incredibly tired. But here are a few things worth reading:

• Book Riot’s succinct statement.
• Kacen Callender (author of Queen of the Conquered) shares their deeply personal story over at Them.
• Gabrielle Bellot writes about transphobia and growing up with Harry Potter.
• All around good human Daniel Radcliffe responds over at the Trevor Project.
• Tamora Pierce was a balm to my soul today.

Bogi Takács has done a twitter thread of books by Black intersex authors.

The finalists for this year’s Sturgeon Award have been announced.

New short story from K.M. Szpara: We’re Here, We’re Here

E. Catherine Tobler wrote a short story about a gay fashion vampire: True in His Fashion

Charlie Jane Anders on: Everything is broken! What do I write about?

Soulstar (third book in the series C.L. Polk started with Witchmark) has a cover and I want it now!

Also, A Desolation Called Peace (sequel to A Memory Called Empire) has a cover and it’s gorgeous! (full disclosure: Arkady and I share an agent.)

Bill & Ted Face the Music has a first trailer now.

Ronald McNair’s Civil Disobedience: The Illustrated Story of How a Little Boy Who Grew Up to Be a Trailblazing Astronaut Fought Segregation at the Public Library

On Book Riot

This week’s SFF Yeah! is about Black women in SFF.

How A Wrinkle in Time got me through depression.

Give Me More Sirens in Fantasy

Enter before the end of the month and you could win a 1-year subscription to Audible or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Free Association Friday: Trans and Nonbinary SFF Showcase
For reasons that should be obvious, I want to shine a spotlight on books written by trans and non-binary authors. Here’s a selection that’s just the tip of the rainbow iceberg. (And don’t forget Kacen, to whom I linked above!)

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas – A trans boy named Yadriel accidentally summons the wrong ghost when he attempts to prove he’s a real Brujo… and then the ghost won’t leave.

Ardulum by J.S. Fields – Neek ekes out a living piloting a dilapidated transport, but her dreams are haunted by a traveling planet, Ardulum, which visited her people long ago and brought them art and technology before vanishing.

No Man of Woman Born by Ana Mardoll – A collection of short stories in which trans and nonbinary character subvert gendered prophecies.

Automaton by D.J. Goodman – In the near future, the creator of the first robot indistinguishable from a human discovers that some are willing to kill her over her creation. In the far future, an automaton discovers a human wandering in the woods… something that should be impossible because humans have been extinct for 300 years.

She of the Fallen Stars by Dane Figueroa Edidi – All you need to know is that it’s space opera, and there are trans space pirates.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi – A trans girl tries to figure out how to stop monsters that no one will admit exist, aided by a terrifying creature who came from one of her mother’s paintings.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee – Best, silliest summary: “Two ghosts have an argument about daylight savings time. Billions die.” (But make it space opera.)

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White – Treasure hunters in a race to find the greatest war ship the galaxy has ever seen, which has long been missing.

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy – A young woman investigating her best friend’s suicide traces him to a community of squatters watched over by a protector spirit… just as the spirit begins to turn on its summoners.

Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden – A former crown prince leaves behind her royal life–and hateful father–to become a dancer and thief. But when she crosses paths with a prince of another kingdom, she loses her heart and finds herself embroiled in dangerous politics again.

Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead – An anthology of utopian speculative stories by Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous writers.

Spellhacker by M.K. England – After a plague released by an earthquake devestates kills thousands and makes magic a commodity controlled by a nasty corporation, Diz and her friends make their living stealing and reselling it. And this is going to be the last heist they ever have to do…

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See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.