Author: Alex Acks

Swords and Spaceships for November 5: Goodbye, Halloween, for Another Year

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 5, 2019

Start a brand new series with New York Times bestselling author Kel Kade’s Fate of the Fallen.

What happens when you’re out of princes and angels and heroes to save the world? You get the B team. When the unthinkable happens, the supposed-chosen-one’s best friend Aaslo forms a crew to take on the job everyone else has given up on: Defy the gods. Save the world. Probably just die trying. It’s too bad his crew is made up of a mage-school drop out, the world’s worst horse, some petty thieves, and a prophet who refuses to tell the future.

Happy beginning of November, and also Tuesday! It’s Alex, bringing you the joy of new releases and a selection of genre-related news. But first, let us have a moment of silence to mark the yearly passing of the best holiday of them all: Halloween.

Halloween Highlights

Highlights from the NASA-JPL annual pumpkin carving contest!

NASA also made some spooky posters about inhospitable exoplanets.

And here’s my favorite Halloween costume from the last week.

Though there was some pretty cool stuff at Heidi Klum’s Halloween party.

The Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast had a spooky Halloween episode with Victor LaValle and Benjamin Percy!

New Releases

The Deep by Rivers Solomon with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes, inspired by the song of the same title by the group clipping. The descendants of pregnant African women who were thrown overboard from slave ships live deep under the ocean, forgetting their traumatic memories by giving them to their historian, Yetu. Torn apart by so many powerful memories, Yetu flees to the surface and learns of her peoples’ past–and future. If her people are to survive, they must reclaim their memories and their identity.

They Will Drown in Their Mothers’ Tears by Johannes Anyuru, translated by Saskia Vogel – A young woman participating in a terrorist attack has a premonition that changes the course of history. Two years later, she reveals to a famous writer that she comes from an oppressive, dystopian future–one that he is implicated in creating.

Skein Island by Aliya Whiteley – To quote the book’s own synopsis with its delightfully chilling fourth sentence: “Skein Island, a private refuge twelve miles off the coast of Devon, lies in turbulent waters. Few receive the invitation to stay for one week, free of charge. If you are chosen, you must pay for your stay with a story from your past; a Declaration for the Island’s vast library. What happens to your Declaration after you leave the island is none of your concern.”

Novice Dragoneer by E.E. Knight – An orphaned girl with a stutter doesn’t have much of a future ahead of her, but Ileth still dreams big; she wants to be a dragoneer, riding a silver dragon. When she’s old enough, she runs away to join the dragoneers, where she must fight for her place among the wealthy and privileged. And it only gets worse when she kisses the wrong boy…

Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao – Lan, the daughter of a wealthy nobleman, rejects the love of a poor physician’s apprentice named Bao. An evil witch curses Bao and traps his soul inside his prized flute; only love can set him free. Though Bao now despises her, Lan vows to break the spell and set him free.

News and Views

Congratulations to the 2019 World Fantasy Award winners! C.L. Polk’s Witchmark won the award for best novel.

Charlie Jane Anders has announced a new book!

Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series has been optioned for TV. All I can say is female showrunner or GTFO.

There’s an official cookbook for Supernatural. And yes, it does contain pie.

How one drag queen became 31 Harry Potter characters.

A Q&A with the artist for Folio Society’s gorgeous edition of The Dispossessed.

In this week’s SFF Yeah! podcast, the subject is comfort reads.

Where did Frodo go?

How did I not know there was a ballet version of Dune?

Rats driving tiny cars. RATS. DRIVING. TINY CARS.

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.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for November 1

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 31, 2019

Sponsored by Tor Books

Kihrin D’Mon is a wanted man. He has been on the run from the wrath of an empire. In his attempt to escape, he crosses paths with Janel Theranon, a mysterious Joratese woman. Janel’s plea for help pits Kihrin against all manner of dangers including Kihrin’s old enemy, the wizard Relos Var. Janel believes that Relos Var possesses one of the most powerful artifacts in the world—the Cornerstone called the Name of All Things. If so, there may be that can stop Relos Var from getting what he wants. And what he wants is Kihrin D’Mon.

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, or more accurately, an Alex-sicle thanks to an extremely mean snowstorm moving through the Denver Area. Please stay warm, if it’s applicable, and enjoy some news and murderous robots to take you into the weekend!

News and Views

We have an interview with Rena Barron, author of Kingdom of Souls.

I want everyone to read this beautiful little thread from Tasha Suri about widowhood and her soon-to-be-released book Realm of Ash.

Margaret Atwood was named a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour by Queen Elizabeth II.

That female-lead Game of Thrones HBO spinoff show isn’t happening after all. A different spinoff got green-lit.

Free audiobook download of China Miéville’s horror short story The Design.

A short story from Cory Doctorow about technical restrictions that initially target the powerless eventually come for us all.

I was remiss in not telling you that clipping. has released a new album, though this one is more horror than sci-fi: There Existed an Addiction to Blood

Lime Media will be adapting Juno Dawson’s Hollow Pike for TV.

In Seach of Afro-Solarpunk (part 1). I can’t wait for part 2.

A talk from 2001, now available for your reading pleasure: Philip Pullman on Children’s Literature and the Critics Who Disdain It

Essay: No one should be asked to prove their humanity.

Seven novels with their roots deep in folklore.

Wow, 2019 was a good year for witches in books.

Cute robots are the best: The UK’s first moon rover will be a tiny jumping spider in 2021

I’m a geologist, so I’m contractually obligated to link to this: Geologists Unearth Fully Intact Rock

The Murderous Robots (and AI) of Sci-Fi

Terminator: Dark Fate is good, y’all. Linda-Hamilton-With-a-Rocket-Launcher good. I always thought it was a shame that they didn’t make any Terminator movies after Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but the long wait was worth it! So in honor of Linda Hamilton’s sunglasses and Arnold’s return, I’m going to tell you my five favorite murderous robots.

5: The Alphies. The robotic underclass who serve humans in The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden, the alphies have it rough… not that they necessarily care about it, until they start becoming self-aware. At which point, they realize what a raw deal they have, and they’re getting pissed. They’re also getting their own deity and religion, which might be the only thing that saves humanity from certain doom. The alphies haven’t gone full murderbot, but you can see robo-revolution on the horizon.

4: Breq, once part of the greater whole that was Justice of Toren. Breq is a robot in the sense that she is an ancillary, a once-human person that has been transformed into a (mostly) mindless vehicle for the AI that runs the Justice of Toren to run around in. As the AI of a military ship, Justice of Toren‘s already got a lot of blood on her hands. And after the betrayal that leaves her a lone ancillary instead of a massive ship, she’s out for some serious, galaxy-spanning, empire-rending revenge. Start with Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

3: GCU Grey Area aka Meatf*cker. A massive ship-wearing AI that has been ostracized by its AI peers for engaging in non-consensual mindreading–which is gross enough–Grey Area is super into such fun topics as war, genocide, and pain. It has transformed the interior of its ship into a museum of torture devices that would make a Cenobite proud. Fun guy to have at cocktail parties. Find the Grey Area in Excession by Iain M. Banks.

2: The Allied Mastercomputer. Harlan Ellison’s I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is a short story set during the height of the Cold War. China, the USSR, and the USA each decided it would be an absolutely A+ idea to create super computers to run their end of the war more efficiently. Because that’s what you want out of a war, right? Efficiency. One of these Allied Mastercomputers becomes sentient and immediately absorbs the other two, then gets down to the serious business of total human genocide.

1: Murderbot. Murderbot might not have the sheer body count of the Justice of Toren or the Allied Mastercomputer, but what it lacks in total murders, it makes up for with absolutely wry, delightful humor. Murderous robots can have social anxiety too, and make friends with total asshole ship AIs, and then maybe become heroes. Start with All Systems Red by Martha Wells–you’ll thank me.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for October 29: New Releases and New Fossils

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 29, 2019

Sponsored by Into Bones Like Oil by Kaaron Warren

People come to The Angelsea, a rooming house near the beach, for many reasons. Some come to get some sleep, because here, you sleep like the dead. Dora arrives seeking solitude and escape from reality. Instead, she finds a place haunted by the drowned and desperate, who speak through the sleeping inhabitants. She fears sleep herself, terrified that the ghosts of her daughters will tell her “it’s all your fault we’re dead.” At the same time, she’d give anything to hear them one more time.

Happy Tuesday, shipmates–and happy Halloween-eve-eve! (That’s totally a thing, I swear.) It’s Alex, with some new releases for your perusal, and some fun news… including an exciting paleontology item that was pretty close to home for me.

Thing that made me smile this week: I am so proud of Demon Dad (aka Ted Danson) for getting arrested with GOAT Jane Fonda at a climate change protest.

New Releases

The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah – Leyla is a submersible racer in a drowned world, where sea creatures swim through the ruins of once great cities–including her home, London. The Prime Minister has promised that the winner of the annual submersible marathon can have anything they wish, so Leyla decides to compete in the hope of freeing her father, who was arrested under false charges. But the race takes an unexpected turn, and she must face a corrupt government that will do anything to keep its secrets hidden.

Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather – The Order of Saint Rita crosses the galaxy to give help to those in need, traveling in their living ship, Our Lady of Impossible Constellations. When they respond to the distress call of a new colony, they find themselves caught in a web of politics and corruption that runs from both the central government and the church.

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy – Eva is a descendent of the Queen Raina, a practitioner of dark magic who slew thousands–including her own sister. Eva’s blood thrums with that same dark magic, and she too must kill her own sister if she wishes to ascend to the throne. But when she’s attacked by an assassin weeks before that scheduled, traditional battle, she realizes that there are more people than her sister who would like to see her dead.

Alien: Prototype by Tim Waggoner – Venture, a rival corporation to Weyland-Yutani, is happy to engage in industrial espionage and any other shady behavior to gain an advantage over the competition. Then one of their spies acquires a strange, leathery “egg” and takes it to a testing facility where colonial marine Zula Hendricks is trying to train the staff how to survive hostile environments… (What could possibly go wrong?)

Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon – Kammani dreams of becoming a healer in her home city of Alu, wanting to follow in her father’s footsteps and reclaim her family’s good name. When the ruler of Alu falls ill, Kammani’s sister is chosen to be a gravemaiden, following him into death. Kammani hatches a plan to heal the ruler and save her sister.

News and Views

The 2019 Nommo Award winners were announced! Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater won the Ilube Award for novel.

The case for calling all vampires “Draculas.”

Oh my gosh you have to see this gorgeous new box set of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents.

Well, if you’d like some Game of Thrones TV-related hyper yikes, you can read about what Benioff and Weiss had to say at the Austin Film Festival. Because Y I K E S. Though in related but definitely non-yikes news, keep fancasting the books you love.

Daleks spotted at a bridge in Bristol that was supposedly closed for inspection.

The Captain Janeway Bloomington Collective is raising funds for a Captain Janeway monument.

Another really good piece about HBO’s Watchmen: Some Watchmen fans are mad that HBO’s version is political. But Watchmen has always been political.

Scientists from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science have found a massive treasure trove of fossils that illustrate plant and animal life’s recovery after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event at the Corral Bluff Open Space near Colorado Springs. This is even more exciting than the Snowmastodons!

Wired has a great look at photos taken of the surface of the Moon during moon walks.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for October 25: May the Force be with you, Space Mom

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 24, 2019

Sponsored by Tor Books

Over two hundred years after the first colonists landed on Pax, a new set of explorers arrive from Earth on what they claim is a temporary scientific mission. But the Earthlings misunderstand the nature of the Pax settlement and its real leader. Even as Stevland attempts to protect his human tools, a more insidious enemy than the Earthlings makes itself known. Stevland is not the apex species on Pax. Sue Burke’s sweeping, award-finalist, SF Semiosis epic continues in Interference as the colonists and a team from Earth confront a new and more implacable intelligence.

Happy Friday, shipmates! If you’re looking for some links and books to get you into the weekend, ol’ Alex is here to help you out. And if you want to see what made me smile this week: First, there’s the Halloween Moose. And then there’s this lovingly written article about a truck-destroying bridge that’s as fine an obituary as any person, let alone a piece of engineering, could hope for.

News and Views

Black Girl Nerds has a great list of Indigenous Sci-Fi and Fantasy authors you should be checking for.

The evolution of dragons in Western literature.

We do not deserve Oscar Isaac. That is all.

Sort of related to the above: you can read an excerpt of Rebecca Roanhorse’s Star Wars novel, Resistance Reborn.

Ooh, an examination of Frederik Pohl’s Gateway as a critique of capitalism.

This week’s SFF Yeah! Podcast is about ocean-themed fantasy.

The first episode of HBO’s Watchmen delivered an unexpected history lesson about the Tulsa Race Riot. I recommend this Twitter thread about the context of that history–and why so many white viewers were surprised.

If you liked Carnival Row, here are eight books you might want to try.

A look at monsters and romance.

If you like animal sidekicks in fiction, have you met these ones?

Free Association Friday:

October 21 would have been Carrie Fisher’s 63rd birthday, so if you’re like me, you spent a lot of the day crying about the beautiful things, big and small, that people did for her. Billie Lourd sang American Girl for her. The final trailer for The Rise of Skywalker came out and Carrie Fisher got the last word on it: Always. The movie poster also got released and sharp-eyed fans noted that she got top billing.

Carrie Fisher was a writer, too. She was a script doctor for some movies you might have heard of. (Her solution? “Make the women smarter and the love scenes better.”) She was an advocate for mental health and spoke openly of her own struggles. She wrote two books about her life: Wishful Drinking and Shockaholic–and one book that was just about filming Star Wars, The Princess Diarist. She was incisive, intimate, unflinchingly honest, and funny as hell.

In honor of Carrie Fisher, I’m not going to talk about Star Wars, though. I’m going to talk about books with complicated, messy, difficult, give-no-fucks women in the lead. The kind of women Space Mom would either nod at with approval, or at the least empathize with.

N.K. Jemisin has written so many books with amazing, difficult women in them, it’s hard to choose. But right now I’ve got to pick The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms because Yeine–she’s sort of a princess. Kameron Hurley also writes books mostly about difficult women, but Nyx in The God’s War, a former assassin with an ugly past, is one of my favorites. Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger has several take-no-shit women with some hella-funny dialog in it. Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson has two fiercely independent, difficult women who were born as conjoined twins and now want to live their own lives, demigod relatives be damned.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse and The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang are both about complicated women who are really their own worst enemies, fighting to save their homes. Border Line by Mishell Baker honestly just deserves the full glory of its logline: “A cynical, disabled film director with borderline personality disorder gets recruited to join a secret organization that oversees relations between Hollywood and Fairyland.” I also feel compelled to mention A Memory Called Empire because it’s got Mahit, Three Sea Grass, and Nineteen Adze (“Her excellency, the ezuazuacat Nineteen Adze, whose gracious presence illuminates the room like the edgeshine of a knife”).

But I’ve got to be honest here. I think the number one character in sci-fi who would get along with Carrie Fisher to a terrifying degree is Chrisjen Avasarala from The Expanse. She doesn’t show up until the second book, Caliban’s War, but when she finally storms onto the page, swearing like a trucker, she is amazing.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for October 22

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 21, 2019

Sponsored by Tor Books

A foundational work from the New York Times bestselling author of The Three-Body Problem, now in English for the first time. Eight lightyears away, a star has died, creating a supernova event that showers Earth with deadly radiation. Within a year, everyone over the age of thirteen will die. And so the countdown begins. Parents try to pass on the knowledge the children will need to keep the world running. But the last generation may not want to preserve the ways of their parents’ world. And though they imagine a better life, they may bring about a future humanity won’t survive.

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, still recovering from a busy weekend at the local SFF literary convention, Mile Hi Con. (If you’re ever in Denver in late October, drop on by! It’s a friendly place.) Halloween prep has begun in earnest, with my housemate squirreling away bags of candy for the big day and me investing in a pumpkin cookie cutter. But in the meantime, here are some new releases to sink your fangs into, as well as some SFF-related news!

New Releases

The Blue Eye by Ausma Zehanat Khan – Arian of the Companions of Hira has set her sights on an artifact that could end the patriarchal, authoritarian rule of the Talisman once and for all: The Bloodprint. But to find this artifact she must leave her dearest friends and battle companions behind, making a dangerous journey to a new city–and finding new, much less trustworthy allies.

Empress of the Fall by David Hair – In the wake of Emperor Constant’s death, political factions fight for influence over who will next sit on the throne–and risk plunging the empire into civil war as they do so.

And in honor of the year’s spookiest month, how about two new Dracula books?

Anno Dracula 1999: Daikaiju by Kim Newman – Vampire princess Christina Light has decided to usher the new millenium in with a massive party–and a declaration that this will herald an age of light, no longer overshadowed by Dracula. Unfortunately, there are some party crashers coming who have a different, bloodier vision of the future.

From Hell to Breakfast by Meghan Tifft – Lucinda’s boyfriend, a UPS driver who works the night shift, may or may not be Dracula. They each have their own set of problems in small town America: Lucinda has a boss who’s a creep and is trying to produce a play she’s written in the community theater; Dracula has a bicycle cop who is out to get him, and his girlfriend’s brother keeps asking him to help kill birds… for art?

News and Views

In this week’s SFF Yeah! podcast, Sharifah talks travel SFF.

Congratulations to the 2019 British Fantasy Award winners! The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams won Best Fantasy Novel, Best Novella went to Aliette de Bodard’s The Tea Master and the Detective, and All the Fabulous Beasts by Priya Sharma won Best Collection.

Also, Congratulations to the 2019 Aurora Awards winners! Kate Heartfield took home the award for best novel for Armed in Her Fashion and Fonda Lee took home the award for best YA Novel for Cross Fire. Also, Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction got Best Related Work!

Essay of the week: Metropolis Meets Afrofuturism: The Genius of Janelle Monáe

If my mini-list of SFF cookbooks whetted your appetite, we’ve got a much bigger one for you to peruse!

Victoria Schwab’s books have been getting a lot of adaptation action lately–here’s the rundown in case you’ve missed anything.

Okay, fine, I will mention something Joker-related, because SyFy asked real clowns to reveiw it, and their answers are actually super interesting.

Some casting news for HBO’s Station Eleven adaptation.

The first all-woman spacewalk has finally happened!

Next up: Bug Butter. (If you have no idea what I’m referring to, please see A Civil Campaign.)

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for October 18: Books of the Corn

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 18, 2019

Swords and Spaceships for October 15: New Releases and Increasing Spookiness!

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 14, 2019

Swords and Spaceships for October 11: Cooking up a Nerdstorm

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 10, 2019

Sponsored by Rebel by Marie Lu, with Fierce Reads

Respect the Legend. Idolize the Prodigy. Celebrate the Champion. But never underestimate the Rebel. With unmatched suspense and her signature cinematic storytelling, #1 New York Times–bestselling author Marie Lu plunges readers back into the unforgettable world of Legend for a truly grand finale.

“An epic, romantic saga.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Rebel is a masterful feat written by a powerhouse author. Marie Lu is magic.” —Tahereh Mafi, bestselling author of the Shatter Me series

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, exhausted and covered with powdered sugar after thinking that baking treats for work was a good idea on a week night! (Don’t be like Alex.) As we head into the weekend, I’ve got some fun news items (the one about bats is my favorite) for you and baking on the brain.

News and Views

The National Book Awards announced the finalists for this year and genre is still going strong:

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James is a finalist in Fiction
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi is a finalist in Young People’s Literature
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa is a finalist in Translated Literature

Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Gods of Jade and Shadow) and Lavie Tidhar (Unholy Land) have a new column in the Washington Post!

Favorite essay of this half week: Seanan McGuire on how the best horror stories commit to sincerity.

Though this is a close second: Ad Astra is an Unnecessary, Still Problematic Retelling of Heart of Darkness

And this ties for second: Why This Fanfiction Site’s Prestigious Literary Honor Is a Win for LGBTQ Representation (If you know and love AO3, prepare to get a little teared up.)

A great summary of the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy panel at NYCC, which was standing-room only.

Mary Robinette Kowal live-tweeted a space walk.

A conversation with the force behind Looking for Leia.

FIYAH has started its 2019 State of Black Speculative Fiction Writer Survey. (You can look at previous survey results at the site, too.)

You can donate your old Legos!

The most metal pterosaur ever has been discovered in Australia.

A scientist at the USGS would very much like us to stop using the term “supervolcano.” (As a geologist, I agree with them.)

Turns out that a lot of that bat squeaking is actually arguments.

How the first exoplanet was discovered.

Free Association Friday

I mentioned before that I have baking on the brain, since that basically just consumed my evening and I’m using a goopy mixture of cream cheese and eggs instead of a brain to power through this newsletter. So how about some nerdy cookbooks?

First, I have to mention Ad Astra: The 50th Anniversary SFWA Cookbook (edited by Cat Rambo and Fran Wilde), which is put out by the Science Fiction Writers of America. The recipes themselves are not necessarily nerdy, but as you page through, you’ll probably see something by one of your favorite authors.

I’m not sure if I’m surprised or not by the actual number of genre property tie-in cookbooks, but there’s plenty to choose from:

Firefly: The Big Damn Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel came out extremely recently and I’m still not over the fact that there’s a recipe for Mudder’s Milk.

The Star Wars Cook Book: Wookiee Cookies and Other Galactic Recipes by Robin Davis is only one of several Star Wars cookbooks, but it’s one I personally own and have utilized. It’s another kid-friendly cookbook, and it’s actually just fun to read because it’s full of ridiculous puns and galactic safety tips.

The Redwall Cookbook by Brian Jacques and Christopher Denise is aimed at being accessible for kids. The Redwall books were always wall-to-wall descriptions of absolutely mouthwatering food, so if any series was going to get a cookbook, this one deserved it. Deeper’n’ever Pie for everyone!

A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel is definitely more meat (a LOT of meat) than baking, but it’s a way to put together a Game of Thrones-style feast without anyone getting stabbed. I assume. I mean, I don’t know your life.

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz is probably the best gift I ever gave my Harry Potter-nerd of a niece, because it’s something she still uses and has a ton of fun in the process. (She makes better brownies than me, and I’d say it’s unfair except she always lets me have one.)

Okay, and it’s not technically genre, but I still want to mention my favorite cookbook of all time because again, it’s more a hilarious journey than just a list of recipes: What the F*@# Should I Make for Dinner?: The Answers to Life’s Everyday Question by Zach Golden. I cannot make it through this book without becoming helpless with laughter from just reading the recipe titles.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for October 8: Adaptations and Tie-ins Ahoy!

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 7, 2019

Sponsored by The Nightmare-Verse Series by L. L. McKinney with Imprint

“The fantasy series I’ve been waiting for my whole life. Alice is Black Girl Magic personified.” —Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Hate U Give

For Alice, keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. The deeper she ventures into Wonderland, the more topsy-turvy everything becomes. It’s not until she’s at her wits end that she realizes—Wonderland is trying to save her. Venture into the Nightmare-Verse, where Alice meets Buffy in an action-packed twist on an old classic that’s full of romance and otherworldly intrigue.

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! Here’s Alex with a selection of new releases and some SFF-related news. I think CBS is trying to kill me. Within 24 hours, they hit me with a new trailer for Picard and then went in for the KO with the Discovery season 3 trailer. But my favorite thing so far this week on Twitter is another scifi-themed crochet project that I definitely can’t add to my list because there’s no pattern.

New Releases

The Rosewater Redemption by Tade Thompson – The independent city-state of Rosewater faces threats from all sides. Debts from the insurrection are coming home to roost. Nigeria isn’t willing to let Rosewater go without a fight. And the aliens that inhabit the city are threatening mass murder.

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia – When the enigmatic billionare Vincent Pryce dies, he leaves behind a treasure hunt that will lead to his fortune, directed by clues inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. Puzzle-loving loner Tuesday joins with a group of other misfits on the hunt, which not only requires all their combined brainpower, but will force them to face painful ghosts from their pasts.

The Beautiful by Renée Ahdiehm – Nineteenth-century New Orleans is ruled by vampires, which makes it an ideal safe haven for Celine, a dress maker who was forced to flee from Paris. Rather than finding safety, she falls in with the city’s underworld… and then dead girls begin to show up, stirring up fears that a serial killer is on the loose.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – Alex Stern dropped out of school young and went into a downward spiral of bad decisions that ended with her as the only survivor of an unsolved multiple homicide. Recovering in the hospital, she’s offered a too-good-to-be-true deal: a full ride to Yale, and the only price is that she has to monitor the school’s secret societies… which dabble in forbidden magic.

A Kingdom for a Stage by Heidi Heileg – Jetta is wanted by both sides of a civil war, for the magic in her blood that can animate ordinary objects–or weapons. But Jetta fears using her power will turn her into a tyrannical necromancer like her father. Is saving her country worth sacrificing her soul?

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason – Rory is a princess who received thirteen fairy blessings, the most useful of which is the ability to see through flattery. After the birth of her younger brother means she will no longer be taking over the throne after her father, she’s betrothed to a prince on a distant world. Her talents soon have her uncovering a plot in her new home and leading a small group of friends to save her betrothed.

News and Views

Apparently the Nancy Drew series on the CW is going to have actual ghosts, unlike the books it’s loosely based on.

Amazon’s got a short story collection coming, with stories from from N.K. Jemisin and Andy Weir.

Robin Hobb on 25 years of Assassin’s Apprentice.

Essay of the week: Why Has Ursula K. Le Guin Inspired So Many Musicians?

Good Morning America revealed the cover and title of the prequel to The Hunger Games.

The writer of John Wick has been hired to adapt A Darker Shade of Magic.

Roundup of post-Rise of Skywalker plans for Star Wars, which includes more Thrawn novels from Timothy Zahn! Also, check out io9’s aptly named post: So Many Goddamn Star Wars Books and Comics Got Announced at New York Comic Con.

The Geeks of Color panel at NYCC was about fandom joy (and featured some familiar names!)

We’ve got recommendations for sci-fi books you can cozy up with as the weather gets colder.

Stephen King’s scariest villain is at the center of season 2 of Castle Rock.

Also, there’s a new trailer for His Dark Materials that looks pretty dang epic.

Le Creuset is doing a Star Wars collection. Just don’t look at the prices.

Star Trek wine tasting.

First look at Outlander season five.

The Ohio State University marching band did a super cool space-themed half-time show that was definitely the Right Stuff.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for October 4: Raising the Dead

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 3, 2019

Sponsored by LMBPN Publishing and Obsidian Detective

On the fringes of human space, a murder will light a fuse and send two different people colliding together. She lives on Earth, where peace is a given. He is on the fringe of society where authority is how much firepower you wield. Both want the truth – but is the truth good for society? Two years ago, a small moon in a far off system was set to be the location of the first intergalactic war between humans and an alien race. It never happened. However, something was found many are willing to kill to keep a secret. Now, they have killed the wrong people. How many will die to keep the truth hidden? As many as is needed.

Happy Friday, me hearties. Everyone got a good book or three queued up for the weekend? If not, here’s Alex, with some news and a random assortment of books that you might find interesting.

My favorite non-SFF thing all week: This reminder about the Dutch Police putting a bird in jail. I mean, it’s technically not SFF but someone should totally write this book. Second place in my heart and also, weirdly, bird-related is the new trailer for Birds of Prey.

News and Views

This week’s SFF Yeah! is about fashion in fiction.

Dark Horse Comics is releasing a collection of Neil Gaiman’s short fiction. You can pre-order on Amazon now.

Exciting adaptation news! Michael B. Jordan’s production company has acquired Rena Barron’s Kingdom of Souls.

The Wheel of Time on Prime Twitter account has a quick little video from a table read of the show.

io9 has a first look at the new series from M.R. Carey, author of The Girl With All the Gifts.

JY Yang (author of The Black Tides of Heaven) drew some absolutely gorgeous fanart for Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness.

An in-depth review of The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games.

Annalee Newitz on time travel stories and how they reflect on our current timeline.

Tor.com has a preview of some of the gorgeous art from the new illustrated edition of Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice.

SyFy Wire has an interview with Wesley Chu about his The Walking Dead novel, Typhoon.

Star Wars Resistance has the franchise’s first on-screen actually gay couple, according to the producers. (It’s an alien couple. I have conflicting feelings about this.)

Some casting news for Netflix’s Shadow and Bone adaptation.

Netflix has also confirmed there will be a fourth season of Stranger Things.

There’s a new, live-action version of Treasure Island coming, helmed by the writer/director of How to Train Your Dragon.

Some cool science! Swedish biologists are using footprints to track polar bears and map their genetics.

Free Association Friday

Last week my brain was filled with Pokémon. I regret to inform you that this week, my brain is now full of Destiny, since the newest expansion released. It’s creepy, it’s filled with nightmares, there’s giant, deathless, chitinous monsters with swords that want to murder you and utterly destroy your soul for the glory of their disturbing death-and-torture-cult. Honestly, it’s a perfect start for October.

So let’s talk necromancers: generally bad news people bringing the dead back to life for their own nefarious purposes.

The most appropriate book for this free association is Gideon the Ninth. It’s a perfect fit in the sense that not only are there necromancers, they’re… IN… SPACE! And there’s a haunted gothic palace, which is basically what I’ve spent all night running around and shooting things in via an Xbox controller.

Urban fantasy-wise, there’s several examples of books narrated by necromancers who have to deal with the dead, the undead, and mysteries while often dodging their own demise. Arranged in order of most to least grim: Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore, Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton, Grave Witch by Kaylana Price, and How to Save an Undead Life by Hailey Edwards (contains an undead parakeet). That’s just a taste from urban fantasy; there’s a lot of necromancy going on out there in the wild streets.

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone starts off his Craft Sequence, which has quite a bit of necromancy in it. In the first book, Tara, who is an associate at an international necromantic firm, has to bring a murdered god back to life in order to keep an entire city alive. For a more historical and gothic turn, but with a good dash of humor, there’s Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. Johannes sold his soul to Satan to learn necromancy, and now if he wants to get it back, he has to convince 100 other people to sign theirs over instead. It’s a soul pyramid scheme, really.

Into more pure fantasy, The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco starts a YA series about a girl named Tea, who accidentally raises her brother from the dead and is then ostracized from her community. The Wolf of Winter by Paula Volsky has a prince far down in the line of succession learning the forbidden art of necromancy–which he intends to use to reshape the kingdom.

Honorable not-quite-necromancer-but-still-in-with-the-god-of-death-but-in-a-totally-non-evil-way book: Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard. It’s a fantasy historical crime procedural…and the main character is an Aztec priest.