Category: Swords and Spaceships

She Herself Is a Haunted House

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date July 5, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got some new releases for you, and as definitely goes with the American Independence Day Holiday, uh…recent gothic novels. It made sense in my head, I promise, and now I’ve committed so it’s too late to go back. Plus, the books are really good! Beat the heat with the unnatural chill of a haunted house. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

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Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Ernesto’s Sanctuary, a cat sanctuary and animal rescue in Syria that is near and dear to my heart.

Bookish Goods

She Herself Is a Haunted House Plaque by ATSCustomOddities

I went looking for gothic, and I found this wonderful plaque of a quote from The Lady of the House of Love (found in The Bloody Chamber) by Angela Carter. Perfect with black curtains or diaphanous white shrouds. $18

New Releases

Still the Sun by Charlie N. Holmberg

Tampere is a planet of mysteries, seeded with buried artifacts of strange technology once used by the Ancients. Pell, an engineer, has an affinity for that old technology and spends her time digging for more. Her affinity causes her to be called to a forbidding tower near the village of Embarden, which houses the remnants of Ancient machines more complex than Pell has ever seen — and the keepers of the tower wish her to put the machines back together and get them running. But what she finds is more than technology in need of repair; she begins to have visions, ones that may reveal the origins of the technology’s keepers.

Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi

Òdòdó is already something of a pariah in Timbuktu, as a woman who is a blacksmith. But when her hometown is conquered by Yorùbáland, things grow even worse…and then she’s abducted by a vagrant. Though after the vagrant takes her across the Sahara to Șàngótè, to her shock she discovers he is a king, and he wants her as his wife. Soon, Òdòdó is at the height of society, able to wield power she never could have imagined, gained through the cruel man she was forced to wed. And what she can do with that power is reforge a kingdom and save her own life — if she is strong and clever enough.

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

Riot Recommendations

I am delighted by the diversity in takes on the gothic novel we’ve been seeing lately. (See also: Song of the Six Realms and Mexican Gothic.) Here are two more recent releases in that subgenre!

Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles

As a bi-racial woman in 1840s England, Orabella Mumthrope never expected to marry — and then a scruffy man who claims to be the scion of an extremely wealthy family shows up on her uncle-guardian’s doorstep. Thanks to her uncle’s large debts, that impossibility quickly becomes reality, but her new husband’s manor is rundown, and soon she begins to awaken to mysterious screaming in the night.

Linghun by Ai Jiang

The mysterious town of HOME is a place where the dead come to live as spirits, called by a population who refuses to let go of their grief. Into that milieu comes Wenqi, Liam, and Mrs., and they will somehow have to find their way out again…

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

New Sci-Fi & Fantasy In Translation

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date July 1, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases and some SFF in translation for your reading pleasure today. And…somehow, July returned. What happened to June? No one can say. But now we’re truly into the summer, so if you’re in my neighborhood, it’s about reading books while standing watch over the grill and drinking a cold iced tea or lemonade.

Bookish Goods

Persephone Bandana, skull and pomegranates

Persephone Bandana by TheMushroomCove

This is a really cool two-sided bandana with a Hades/Persephone theme that feels very appropriate for today! $15

New Releases

The Hades Calculus by Maria Ying

Elysium has long been under siege by colossi; it is a battle the land of the dead is losing by inches. Hades has long sought a solution. She finds one in Persephone, a cyborg who seems made to pilot a war machine and who wants nothing more than to escape her mother’s control. Hades is all too happy to provide her an avenue for escape in exchange for her service.

The Night Ends With Fire by K.X. Song

Even though war burns through the Three Kingdoms, Meilin’s father—an opium addict—refuses to obey the imperial draft. Worse, he is determined to sell Meilin for her dowry to a man as violent and ill-tempered as he. The solution she finds is both simple and daring: Meilin disguises herself as a man and takes her father’s place in the army. Even as she grows as a warrior, she finds herself torn between two princes, one her training partner and one her enemy, and the power offered to her by a sea dragon spirit. Everyone has their own agenda, and she must find a way to navigate between loyalty, independence, and her own heart.

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

Riot Recommendations

Here’s some new SFF in translation!

Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías, translated by Heather Cleary

In a near future ravaged by ecological discussion, a woman tries to survive in a plague-wracked city where a toxic algae bloom has poisoned the very air. There is only one food that all people can afford: a pink slime with proprietary ingredients. Between deadly windstorms, she tries to maintain the few relationships she still has with those who have yet to escape the city, and the worse conditions become, the more determined she is to stay in her home, no matter the price.

cover of The Tyranny of Flies by Elaine Vilar Madruga

The Tyranny of Flies by Elaine Vilar Madruga, translated by Kevin Dunn

On an island that is Definitely Not Cuba, three siblings try to endure life under the tyranny of their country’s dictator, Pop-Pop Mustache, and the tyranny of their parents—their father was Pop-Pop’s right-hand man. Each sibling rebels in their own way, but most worrying is Calia, the youngest and quietest, who may be in league with the flies that swarm around the house.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

All Hail the AI Goo

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 27, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and here’s your last set of new releases for June! (What the heck? Where did this month even go?) I’m making this one a double dose, with the second set of new releases series enders that have come out this week. I hope you’ve stayed cool this week, and that you’ve got a relaxing weekend ahead of you! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Bookish Goods

Spilled Coffee Bookmarks by ChameleonPrinting

Okay, these are hecka cute: little 3D coffee cups with the pretend spilled coffee to act as a bookmark! And I love that you can get a variety of coffee colors, so you can pick your favorite brew. $8

New Releases

Saints of Storm and Sorrow by Gabriella Buba

María Lunurin is, to all appearances, a mild-mannered nun who serves the colonizers of her land of Aynila. She’s hiding her true nature as a stormcaller, the chosen of the goddess Anitun Tabu, desperately avoiding witch hunts and the ire of her patron goddess alike. She wants only to keep her people safe and protect the family she has built at her convent, but she cannot change the march of armies alone, nor can she ignore her goddess’s calls for vengeance forever.

Edge of the Wire by Scott Kenemore

The Goo, an AI network that anticipates all human wants and needs, has become an all-encompassing reality for humanity; no one can really remember a time before its existence. So when a new planet is discovered, the first order of business is for a crew of astronauts to be dispatched to wire that world into the Goo. But when the crew leader, Rowe, finds mystery after mystery barely buried under the planet’s surface, he begins to doubt his mission — and the Goo itself.

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

Riot Recommendations

Time for some love for new sequels…in this case, series capstones!

children of anguish and anarchy book cover

Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi

It’s here: the conclusion to the Legacy of Orïsha series! Zélie has the palace, but it didn’t end her battles like she thought it would. The maji rose again, and now she and her people are being sold across the sea to the Skulls. But what she finds is beyond slavery — the ruler of the Skulls has been pursuing her in particular, wanting to harness her power to make his own bid at taking over Orïsha.

The Bound Worlds by Megan E. O’Keefe

Seventh Cradle was to be Naira and Taquin’s home, their place of peace at last. But all too soon, Naira begins to see visions of a terrible future, and the settlement is attacked by mysterious forces. There is a plot to end the universe, and Naira may be the key to destruction or salvation.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

Poisoned Tea and Political Plots

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 24, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’m here with new releases for this last week of June, and to tell you how much I love Judy I. Lin’s books. Because that’s what I did over the weekend when it was horrifically hot: hid in the basement and read three absolutely delightful novels. I definitely recommend it as a way to stay cool in the summer, assuming you have a basement available and have forged a peace with your uncomfortably large basement spiders. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Bookish Goods

A hardcover edition of A Magic Steeped in Poison with its edge beautifully painted

Painted Edge: A Magic Steeped in Poison Hardcover by LiteraryDreamer

I truly love the artists who take hardcovers of books and add their own designs to the edges to tie the front and back covers together. It’s just so beautiful! $80

New Releases

Cover of Festival & Game of the Worlds by Cesar Aira translated by Katherine Silver

Festival & Game of the Worlds by César Aira translated by Katherine Silver

This is a book made of two smaller books. In Festival, a sci-fi filmmaker named Alex Steryx comes to a film festival as its star guest…and brings his 90-plus-year-old mother with him as his plus one. Things only get more surreal from there. In Game of the Worlds, a middle-aged dad in the far future is grappling with something all parents understand: a complete inability to grasp the fad technology his kids are into. Except this particular internal cultural crisis may result in a world-ending chain of logic.

Sleep Like Death by Kalynn Bayron

Eve is a princess with a unique magical talent: she can conjure weapons from nature. And she has one task, which is to destroy the Knight who has terrorized Queen’s Bridge for far too long. But the conflict between her mother and the Knight is not as simple as she was raised to believe, and it will be up to her to decide which side she will fight for.

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

Riot Recommendations

I have been on a Judy I. Lin kick recently, so I am taking this corner of my newsletter to scream about her books. Because I can.

One thing I do want to call out specifically for her duology and the standalone novel is that they’re in fantasy worlds that are built on the foundation that queer people exist and their relationships are accepted. It was a delight to encounter that casual world-building detail, and it made me feel so welcomed as a reader.

Song of the Six Realms

This is an absolutely delightful take on a gothic romance. It’s got everything: mysterious nobleman, crumbling manor, suspiciously missing former betrothed. And here, the magic is based on the main character’s skills at playing the qín, something that hit me straight in the heart because I play the koto. (Which is the Japanese equivalent…ish.) Anyway, I mainlined this book and heartily recommend it.

A Magic Steeped in Poison

And of course, do not miss the sequel, A Venom Dark and Sweet.

I picked this book up because I loved Song of the Six Realms so dang much, and I was not disappointed. A country girl with a special kind of magic that’s based on making tea goes to the capital city to compete to become the Emperor’s tea master, in hopes it will enable her to save the life of her sister, who is slowly dying from having partaken in one of the bricks of mysteriously poisoned tea that have been spread across the empire. Dark political plots are pretty obviously involved from the start, but then the gods wade in…

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

Writing Stories for the Devil

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 20, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases and a couple of recent indie books for your perusal to close out the week. I ended up dipping out of the genre this week and read Courtney Milan’s The Marquis Who Mustn’t, which I just devoured. I laughed, I chortled, I cackled, and I respected the heck out of Courtney keeping the personal stakes high while avoiding every single trope the genre-savvy gremlin that lives in my brain insisted was definitely going to turn up. If you like a romance, I heartily recommend it. Have a wonderful weekend! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Bookish Goods

A cute sticker of a devil with a cocktail in a martini glass

Devil With a Cocktail Sticker by FreshDesignsBySummer

This sticker is so dang cute, I couldn’t resist. And of course, it really goes with the first of our new releases below. Devils just wanna have fun (and definitely not do their work). $3

New Releases

The Witchstone by Henry H. Neff

The Drakeford Curse has been going on for centuries, mutating its victims and generally making a family’s life deadly and deeply unpleasant. And now Laszlo, an 800-year-old demon, has been put in charge of the curse…except he’s entirely uninterested in doing that nitty gritty duty, and his ratings show it. He’s given six days to shape up to be melted back into primordial ooze. This brings him to the doorstep of Maggie Drakeford, who is 19 and desperate to save herself and her family—desperate enough to take the chance Laszlo offers her, even if it’s a certainty that he’s lying.

Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil book cover

Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima

This collection of interconnected short stories starts with a writer sleeping with the devil at a Halloween party in 1999…and then as her life unfolds, that writer produces stories for him, telling tales that are both utterly impossible and fundamentally true.

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

Riot Recommendations

Here are a couple of small press releases that came out recently, leaning into strange manifestations of emotion and trauma as reality.

Hollow Tongue by Eden Royce

Maxine Forrest is reluctantly driven back to her childhood home by a financial situation best described as “dire.” She finds the old house empty, her parents missing, and the memory and history of the house a force that wreaks change on her, both metaphysically and physically.

Cover of Things I Want Back From Your by Elizabeth Stix

Things I Want Back From You by Elizabeth Stix

This collection of 20 linked short stories chronicles the bizarre, angsty, and astonishing lives of those who live in the fictional suburb of San Encanto, California.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

A Storm of Books

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 17, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got a double dose of new releases coming at you today, since June continues its absolute storm of books. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend — I played way too many video games, because the final installment of Destiny came out and just stuck the landing, story-wise. (One thing to love about this space wizard FPS is that there’s a massive amount of in-game text lore, which has now been collected into six print volumes.) If you didn’t have as much fun as me, hopefully you at least got more things crossed off on your to-do list! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Bookish Goods

Trans Siberian Express Art Print by EmuDesigns

This art print is absolutely gorgeous. I love the style and color of it. And of course, I had trains on the brain because of one of the new releases (see below)! $25

New Releases

Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera

In the midst of the Sri Lankan civil war, two children met and were bound indelibly together, first by a search for truth, and then by an act of violence that propelled their souls ever into the future. No matter how many lives they live, Annelid and Leveret will hold on to each other.

The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks

The Trans-Siberian Express is the only means of traversing the Wastelands, and its tickets are always sold out, its cars always filled with people who want to see the fantastic and terrifying creatures it will pass on its journey. On the last journey, something went terribly wrong, yet no one can remember what. And as the train departs again into the Wasteland, there is a stowaway — and one lifelong employee of the train service who can’t bring herself to turn her in.

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

Riot Recommendations

Two more new releases, coming your way!

The Runes of Engagement by Tobias S. Buckell and Dave Klecha

Fantasy is all fun and games until portals open in the sky and let forth a wave of dragons and trolls. It’s even less fun and games if you’re in a Marine platoon trapped on the wrong side of one of those portals, in a world that gives lie to every geek’s knowledge, and where the next mission involves a Very Important Princess.

Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen

At 18 years old, Aihui Ying finds her dreams of becoming an engineer like her father abruptly ended by his assassination. Pursuing answers, she poses as her own brother to enter the Engineer’s Guild…with a little unexpected help from a prince who has his own motivations. Ying’s mission brings her up against jealous engineers, competitive classmates, and then far deeper and scarier politics. Revenge may save her life — but it soon becomes clear that it will require her to betray her father’s memory.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

Horror-y Short Stories + More SFF Book Talk This Week

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 13, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases for you to round out the week. I’ve also got a couple of short story collections that are rather on the horror side of SFF. I hope you all had a great week full of good books, and a lot of reading time waiting for you over the weekend! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Bookish Goods

Flip a (Book) Coin by SchepperDesign

Considering what T. Kingfisher’s books have been doing to me this week, I desperately need one of these—it’s a coin to flip so fate can decide if you’re allowed just one more chapter, or if you really do have to go to bed this time, I mean it, really. $12.

New Releases

The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

Maya Hoshimoto was a sort of Robin Hood of art for 10 years, returning stolen artifacts to the civilizations they were taken from. Then a job gone wrong forced her into hiding and she settled in to trying to live a quiet life. Now an old friend has come to her door with one last job she can’t refuse. At least not when the stakes are the extinction of an entire civilization…

Rogue Sequence by Zac Topping

Andre Rade gave himself over to Zyphos Industries years ago, volunteering for the Gene-Mod Program that promised to turn him into a super soldier. He’s been following orders since then…until he’s captured, imprisoned, and put in pit fights for almost a decade. In those 10 years, people like him have been made globally illegal—and agents from the World Unity Council have found him, not to imprison or execute him, but to get his help in capturing one of his former squad mates.

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

Riot Recommendations

Here are two new short story collections that edge into the bizarre and horrifying—they make a nice set.

Mouth: Stories by Puloma Ghosh

This collection of short stories focuses on themes of grief, bodily autonomy, and sexuality, adroitly deploying gore and absurdity to explore truth disguised in fiction.

Stories I Told My Dead Lover by Jo Paquette

This collection is one of inner horror and secrets revealed, characters pushed to the brink until they will either break through the bonds that hold them in check or be destroyed in the process.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

A Double Dose of New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Releases

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 10, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got your new releases for this second week of June. (How the HECK is it already the second week of June?) Today, you’re getting a double dose of new releases because I just couldn’t choose.

Over the last week, I’ve read a bonkers number of audiobooks (4!) and seen Furiosa three times, so my brain is just swimming with extremely cool things. Paladin’s Hope by T. Kingfisher delighted me the most.

Bookish Goods

Book Shaped Bookmark Holders by mcs3Dstudios

3D printing can do a ton of cool stuff these days (have you seen what you can get out of Hero Forge now?) and this is a super fun and cute idea brought to us by that technology. Move over, old coffee cup! A new bookmark holder is in town. $9.50

New Releases

One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon

Liberty is a planned Black utopia and a place where Jasmyn and King Williams hope they will finally find a community of like-minded people who care about peace and social justice. What they find is mostly residents who care only about setting up spa treatments and ignoring any and all social activism. Jasmyn finds a few others who are as frustrated as her by this outlook…and then she discovers a terrible secret about Liberty and its founders.

Hearts of Fire and Snow by David Bowles and Guadalupe García McCall

Blanca believes she can make a difference in the world, though she’s not getting a lot of support from her wealthy godfather or her spoiled-rotten boyfriend. When a new student shows up at her school, she decides to start with him. But their sudden friendship isn’t just personal chemistry…it’s the echo of lives lived a thousand years in the past.

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

Riot Recommendations

Double dose of new releases, coming in fast!

Cover of Dancers of the Dawn by Zulekha A. Afzal

Dancers of the Dawn by Zulekhá A. Afzal

Aasira is part of an elite troupe of dancers who serve at the pleasure of the queen—but all of them are so much more. They are also her assassins, wielders of magic and blade. Aasira is the rarest sort, one who wields flame to execute the enemies of the crown. But on the eve of her graduation from student to dancer, she begins to question the tension between her loyalty to her queen and the feeling that she was meant for more than death.

The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton

Twenty years ago, the crew of the Providence vanished; now, Cleo and her friends want to know why, so they sneak aboard to find out. But then the ship starts on its own. They’re suddenly all en route to Proxima Centauri and unable to turn around, and the show is being sort of run by a hologram that looks and sounds like the ship’s former captain Billie. As the ship gets deeper into space, the laws of physics seem to fall apart, mysteries are revealed, and Billie and Cleo’s combative relationship evolves into something far deeper.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

Death Talkers, Trickster Gods, and More New SFF

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 6, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases for you and a couple of recent indie releases to check out. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of audiobooks from the library, and this week I got Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher. I’m loving the heck out of it and I’ve already put in holds for the next two books! It’s one to check out if you like fantasy worlds with paladins (shocking, I know) and an exploration of loss and grief that still manages to be darn fun. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Bookish Goods

Nine-Tailed Fox Bookmark by TortunaCraft

What is it, another excuse for me to show you a cool nine-tailed fox thing? Nice! This is a metal bookmark with a laser-cut charm at each end. Gorgeous. $15

New Releases

The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim

The once-infamous Scarlet Fox has retired; she’s eaten so many souls at this point, she can’t possibly contain another. So she passes her time working at a coffee shop and annoying a trickster god, who is a regular there, at every opportunity. The trickster god in question has been exiled to the mortal realm and is grudgingly working toward redemption, but it’s a slow process. When a demon escapes the underworld, he has a chance to do his penance quickly…if he defeats the demon and the elusive Scarlet Fox.

In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf

Weatherly is a Death Talker — she can quite literally talk death out of taking someone, and therefore save the dying person’s life, though it’s a one time only deal. When her cousin, who is a Scryer, sees something unnerving and then dies shortly after, Weatherly feels no question that the death was foul play. And then, for the first time ever, Weatherly isn’t able to talk death out of taking the mayor’s son. Something dark is afoot, and Weatherly is being blamed for being out for revenge when all she wants is the truth.

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

Riot Recommendations

Here are two indie books that came out over the last month!

The Curators by Maggie Nye

In 1915, all eyes in Atlanta are focused on the end of the two-year-long trial of Jewish factory superintendent Leo Frank — and his subsequent lynching. Then five girls build an animate a golem of Frank, desperate to keep his story alive…and soon the golem gets out of hand.

We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed

Nineteen-year-old Reid Graham overcomes chronic illness and the wilds of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta to reach Howse University, the last remnant of society before civilization collapsed. What she finds is not the utopia she dreamed of, but an enclosed community happy to withhold resources from the rest of humanity. Soon, she will have to choose between this place of learning, her own dreams, and her family.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Swords and Spaceships

Murder robots, Coyote Gods, and Superorganisms

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 3, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got your new releases, half sequels and half not, for this first week of June. I hope everyone had a lovely and restful first weekend of Pride Month! I was…running a yard sale. But since I was there with friends, it was all very fun — except having to get up early, because yard sale people apparently don’t believe in sleeping in, even on a Saturday. Bah. I sold a bunch of books to people who were excited to find them, and that’s the best kind of reward. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Bookish Goods

Wooden Robot Toy by MyGiftStudioUA

These little wooden robots are ridiculously cute, and they all have a fidget toy aspect to them, so I guess that makes them both adorable and functional. $46

New Releases

Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope

When Jane Edwards was 11 years old, armed riders drove her and every other Black person from her hometown; she hasn’t spoken a word since. 12 years later, she lives in Awensa, an all-Black town of refuge…until the construction of a dam threatens to destroy her second home. Then a man comes to town, one who speaks of gods and ancestral magic, and she realizes that she’s seen him before — but last time, he was dead.

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky

In the future, humanity relies on robots to do most of the work, and the robots may very well be outnumbering the humans. When a serving robot gets the urge to murder downloaded into its core, it kills its owner — and then discovers it can also run away. Out in the world, it finds an entire ecosystem of robots that needs to find a purpose beyond taking care of a vanishing humanity…

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

Riot Recommendations

Sequels tend to get lost by the wayside at times, so here’s two coming out this week that I want to shine the spotlight on.

Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse

Serapio rules Tova…for now. If he can survive the plotting of the matrons and the distant clans. Now there is a new prophecy of the Coyote God being told, a new doom waiting for him if he does not fulfill it. And he faces all this alone, with Xiala taken by her own people…and Teek now taken with war.

Apostles of Mercy by Lindsay Ellis

The Superorganism will soon arrive to destroy humanity before it can develop into a threat, while the alien known as Ampersand has given up trying to stop it; humanity doesn’t seem to deserve saving. And it seems that Ampersand and his human interpreter Cora need to leave Earth soon, as it’s no longer possible to tell what is the bigger threat: the Superorganism or humanity as it becomes increasingly violent.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.