Category: Swords and Spaceships

Nightmare Houses and Magical Comas

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date September 14, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got a couple new releases and two book recommendations about rather awful houses because…well, I’m in the midst of trying to sell my house and it’s the stuff of nightmares. So that’s where my brain is at. I guess the upside is that with most of my earthly possessions already in boxes and my house staged to look like an Airbnb where I can’t touch most anything, I have no excuse not to get some reading done. Always look on the bright side, eh? Stay safe out there, space pirates, and pour one out for my sanity. I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Book Riot’s editorial team is writing for casual and power readers alike over at The Deep Dive! During the month of September, all new free subscribers will be entered to win Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler plus 5 mystery books from The Deep Dive. To enter, simply start a free subscription to The Deep Dive. No payment method required!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s two places to start: Maui Aloha: The People’s Response, which sends support to those affected by the wildfires on Maui, particularly first responders; and Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.

Bookish Goods

a photo of a fully assembled book nook kit that looks like a magical bookshop

Magic Room Book Nook Kit by PatchDecoration

My best friend has started making these really cool miniature houses and shops from kits like this — and don’t be fooled, this is a kit you get the fun of building for yourself, unlike the couple other book nooks I’ve pointed out in the past. If you like doing miniatures, this kind of thing is super cute and a ton of fun! $57

New Releases

Cursebreakers by Madeleine Nakamura

In the massive, magic-filled city of Astrum, people are falling into magical comas, and no one can find out why. Adrien Desfourneaux, a professor of magic struggling with disgrace, his own mental health, and a bad relationship, has an idea of why this might be happening, but the deck is stacked against him even without the political intrigue coming his way.

A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey

The Untermarkt is a magical bazaar that lies beneath Covent Garden; it is a place where anything has a price, and the price is counted in time and life and experience paid. Deri was sold to a merchant there as a child, but sees his chance of freedom when he meets a princess who wants nothing more than to sell her royal destiny.

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

Riot Recommendations

Let’s just say I’m having nightmares about houses right now, so that’s our theme!

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

When Mouse is tasked with clearing out her recently deceased grandmother’s home, she finds a horrifying task ahead of her; grandma was a hoarder, and the house is overflowing with garbage. And that’s before she discovers her step-grandpa’s diaries, which are full of nonsensical rants and cryptic references that she dismisses…until she meets one of the eldritch beings in the woods herself.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A socialite from Mexico City goes to a country estate to try to find out what’s gone wrong with her cousin, who married into a wealthy Anglo family. The house is a character in any good gothic tale, rotting from the inside out just like the horrible family filled with secrets it contains, and Mexican Gothic‘s house is no different.

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 Hamlet Murder Mystery in Space

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date September 11, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’m coming at you today with a double dose of new releases, because September is just a massive flood of new books, apparently. I had a very busy weekend (trying to get ready to move, RIP me) but thankfully the weather’s been nice at least. It’s finally feeling like autumn, and I’m loving every second of it — because it definitely puts me in the mood to make a cup of tea and settle on the couch with a book. Have a great week, everyone. Stay safe out there, space pirates, I’ll see you on Friday!

Bookish Goods

Hamlet Book Scarf by Cyberoptix

I’m in a Shakespeare kind of mood thanks to Em X. Liu’s book (see below) being a Hamlet retelling. So I like this scarf that’s printed with the title page from the 1604 print of the play. And you can choose from a lot of colors! $48

New Releases

The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu

Hayden Lichfield has been working with his father on the Sisyphus Formula, which one day promises to reverse death. But when Hayden’s father is murdered in their lab and the security camera footage is conveniently erased, he already has plenty of motivation to investigate, even before discovering his father’s final message to him: Avenge me…

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

As beings birthed by human desires and fed by worship, gods are startlingly common…except in the kingdom of Middren, where they are forbidden. And Middren is kept free of their presence by “godkillers” paid to destroy any that manifest. Kissen became a godkiller after her family was killed by a fire god; her latest job has been to find a way to kill a small god of white lies that is bonded to the soul of a child — without killing the child.

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

Riot Recommendations

This is another September week with an abundance of good new releases, so you’re getting a double dose today!

Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo

Wanderer Cleric Chih returns to their home of the Singing Hills Abbey after nearly three years on the road because their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died. However, Thien was not always a simple cleric; they were once the patriarch of the Coh clan, and now their daughters want their body back for burial.

Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Ever since her younger sister, Sky, died, Sage Flores has been running from her family and their so-called “gifts.” Eight years later, she finally returns to her hometown and takes a job where she can use her ability to communicate with plants to find unusual specimens in the surrounding hills. With magic family drama already beginning, the last thing Sage needs is the boy who broke her heart in high school coming back into her life as a mature, sexy man.

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

On the Run From an AI Assassin

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date September 7, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with a selection of new releases that I painstakingly winnowed out of the massive tidal wave of new books that hit this week. There’s a lot more coming at us this month — over 70 SFF new releases from just the bigger publishers — so brace yourselves and get ready to read! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

Bookish Goods

Metal Black Cat Bookends by ArtekaMetalWallArt

It’s been a minute since I found some cute bookends, and one of the covers this week has me thinking about cats… plus, these cute bookends remind me of my beloved black cat, Tengu. Perfect, adorable, and durable. $44

New Releases

Androne by Dwain Worrell

When all major military installations on Earth are wiped out by a completely unknown power, humanity creates the andrones, combat androids remotely piloted by soldiers who will never see the battlefield. Sergeant Paxton Arés is one such pilot, spending mostly uneventful days patrolling for an enemy that no one has ever even seen. But Paxton soon finds he cannot set his curiosity aside — he needs to understand the unknowable, no matter how dangerous the truth may be.

Midnight at the Houdini by Delilah S. Dawson

Anna thought that she would be with her sister, Emily, forever, happy to let Emily stand in the spotlight while she stayed quietly in the background. But when she finds out Emily is in fact moving away — on Emily’s wedding night — Anna stomps out of the reception and into a raging storm, where she soon has no choice but to take shelter in a mysterious hotel called the Houdini. This strange hotel suddenly puts Anna at the center of its attention, and she finds she enjoys it immensely — but if she doesn’t leave by the time the clock strikes midnight, she will be trapped there forever.

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

Riot Recommendations

The number of new releases this first week of September is absolutely stunning, so I had to tell you about two more, because I couldn’t choose!

Cover of What Are You Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts

Sayuri Komachi is the most enigmatic and mysterious librarian in Tokyo, with an uncanny ability to sense and find exactly what each visitor to her shelves is looking for — and needs.

Exadelic by Jon Evans

When an AI is trained on “black magic” rather than stolen, copyrighted material, it learns to hack reality itself… and then it decides that a middle manager named Adrian Ross is a threat that must be eliminated. If Adrian wants to survive, he has to not only go on the run and find a way off the grid, he must embark on a journey across time and worlds.

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

Short Bites of SFF

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date September 5, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, coming in off a holiday weekend and…attempting to recover from it. Thus, I have focused today’s new releases and recommendations on anthologies, since short bites of fiction seem the best way to ease into life after a holiday. Also, I want to bring your attention to this Kickstarter, Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from Ukraine and the Diaspora. That’s all from me for today — stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Bookish Goods

Xenomorph-in-a-Jar Movie Prop Replica by SUstudios

These prop replicas based on the xenomorphs from Alien (which has also had books written about it!) look cool and could double as a bedside reading lamp if you would like to never sleep again. $35

New Releases

Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror and Delight edited by Shelly Page and Alex Brown

This queer horror anthology features writers of color putting a new spin on classic tropes. Authors include Shelly Page, Em Liu, Vanessa Montalban, Tara Sim, and more!

Cover of The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Seven

The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Seven edited by Neil Clarke

This is Neil Clarke’s seventh entry in his anthologies of cutting-edge science fiction, curated from everything that’s been published in the last year. Authors include Aliette de Bodard, Ken Liu, Hannu Rajaniemi, Tade Thompson, and more!

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

Riot Recommendations

Since today is anthology day, here are two more anthologies to check out!

Far Out: Recent Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Paula Guran

This anthology seeks to cover the rainbow of queer identity with its selections, as well as the full range of the sci-fi and fantasy genres. Stories by Tamsyn Muir, Nino Cipri, Nalo Hopkinson, Neon Yang, Amal El-Mohtar, and many more!

cover of Long Hidden edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older

Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older

This is an alternate history anthology composed of speculative stories that are set between 1400 and the early 1900s, focused on marginalized people. Authors include Sofia Samatar, Tananarive Due, Nghi Vo, and Troy L. Wiggins!

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

An Intergalactic Pop-Up Restaurant

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 31, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’m coming in with the final wave of new releases that are technically from the end of August, even though it’s September now. Yes, really. It’s September. I don’t believe it either. Imagine me saying “Time is a flat circle” in my best Matthew McConaughey voice. We’ve got a holiday weekend coming up (in the US at least), so I hope you have something fun and also relaxing planned. Well, I hope you have a fun and relaxing weekend ahead of you even if it isn’t a holiday! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Bookish Goods

Dragon Book Nook by 3dGameCraft

As unlikely as it seems that someone might have space on their bookshelves to put something like this, dang this is a cool shelf decorator for anyone partial to dragons. $48

New Releases

Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim

Channi and Vanna are sisters who seem like opposites; Vanna is the greatest beauty of their village, while Channi was cursed with the face of a serpent when her father offered her in sacrifice to the Demon Witch. But they love and trust each other deeply, and when Vanna is offered up as the prize for a vulgar contest that will bring money to the village elders, Channi defends her sister from the cruelest of her “suitors.”

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea

Laura Mesny is a perfectionist — not unusual for a ballerina in the Parisian ballet — but she’s also Black, which sets her apart from her fellows in a way that makes it likely she’ll never take center stage. Until one day, she makes a deal with a river of blood in the Catacombs, which promises her adoration and fame, so long as she’s feeling sufficiently vengeful to climb over the broken bodies of her peers to reach it. As she ascends to fame, she simultaneously descends into madness — and becomes the target of a god-killer.

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

Riot Recommendations

Second books in series often don’t get enough love, so here’s a couple I’d like to call your attention to!

The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle by T.L. Huchu

This is the third book in the series that starts with Library of the Dead. Ropa, who is a ghosttalker, arrives at the biennial conference of the Skeptical Enquirers and is immediately sucked into a mystery that’s not so much locked room as locked down creepy haunted castle. But Ropa’s got a secret weapon for solving a crime rife with powerful players — the many ghosts that occupy the castle.

The Lightstruck by Sunya Mara

Sequel to The Darkening. Vesper sacrificed everything to become a vessel of The Great Queen and thus save her city from the cursed storm. Three years later, she wakes to find that her city still lives in fear, but now not of a storm — The Great King and his army of lightstruck terrorize the people. And now that she’s awake, the people are looking for her to save them; she’s a goddess, after all.

Devil’s Gun by Cat Rambo

Sequel to You Sexy Thing. Niko and her crew are on the run from a vengeful pirate-king, and inconveniently enough, the intergalactic Gate that would take them to something approaching safety is shut down. So they make a pop-up restaurant to serve the other stranded ships and hope for the best…until an archaeologist shows up claiming to be able to fix the Gate and provide the crew with a weapon that could stop their enemy in his tracks.

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 Pop Star Alien Ambassador

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 28, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and boy howdy do I have a lot of new releases to tell you about today (and Friday). I don’t know why the publishers felt the need to stack them all up toward the end of the month, but YEESH. Hope you’ve got plans to read a lot for the upcoming holiday weekend! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Delighting velocireaders since 2017, Book Riot’s New Release Index will keep you in the know about all the latest books. All of them! For when my double features are not enough, because there are too many good books. Subscribe today — you won’t be able to read them all, but it’s fun to try!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s two places to start: Maui Aloha: The People’s Response, which sends support to those affected by the wildfires on Maui, particularly first responders. Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.

Bookish Goods

Darmok and Jalad T-shirt by LeleArtworks

With Karen Lord’s new book coming out, I’m in a first contact kind of mood, and when I think first contact stories, I think of the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Darmok. This t-shirt design is just a delightful riff on it. $16+

New Releases

The Blue, Beautiful World by Karen Lord

While climate change is transforming Earth into a more hostile place to humans, we are being watched from afar by alien civilizations…and they have decided to make contact. There are several humans interested in preparing their fellows for first contact, trying to reimagine society into one that cooperates with aliens. And they have a surprise ally: Owen, a pop star who has a hidden talent that allows him to do far more than connect with his adoring fans.

House of Marionne by J. Elle

Quell has lived all seventeen years of her life on the run with her mother, thanks to the deadly magic she must hide. But when someone finally catches onto her and her secret, she finds her only choice is to join a secret society of magical social elites called “the Order,” who will teach her to use her magic and hide her from the assassin that pursues her. But if she fails, at magic or at being a perfect debutante, she will die.

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

Riot Recommendations

There are so many awesome new books sneaking in before the end of the month, I’m going to give you a double dose of new releases today!

The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma

Born of prophecy, the Ravani kingdom is ruled by the Ravence, who command the Eternal Fire. The heir to the throne, Elena Aadya, is the only one of her family who cannot wield that magic, and so she must find another way to prove her worthiness to inherit. Into that mix is thrown Yassen Knight, an assassin who claims he is loyal to the throne…but Elena knows he must be hiding something.

A Second Chance for Yesterday by R.A. Sinn

SavePoint is a brain implant that rewinds the seconds of a person’s most embarrassing moments, and Nev Bourne, hotshot programmer, is working feverishly on the next rollout, to the extent that she’s basically ghosted everyone in her life. But when she tests SavePoint 2.0, she wakes up to discover that she’s fallen backward in time by a day…and it’s only going to get worse.

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

The New Golden Age of Short SFF

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 24, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I have a couple more new releases for you and part two of recent indie SFF for your perusal. This time, it’s themed for those who love short stories. I know I tend to focus mostly on novels, honestly because I like novels best. But there’s so much good short fiction going on out there! We truly are in a new golden age of short SFF, so we should enjoy it. I hope y’all have a great weekend. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s two places to start: Maui Aloha: The People’s Response, which sends support to those affected by the wildfires on Maui, particularly first responders. Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.

Bookish Goods

Abhorsen Bandolier of Bells Brooch by HannahHitchman

This is a very cool pin that represents the bells from Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom books! I love the little jingly bells hanging from it, just in case you find some dead that need to be sent packing. $43

New Releases

The Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang

Lin Chong has always believed in keeping her head down. She’s satisfied with her lot as an expert arms instructor for the Emperor’s soldiers. But when a powerful man with a vendetta strikes, she finds herself on the run from those she once trained and tattooed as a criminal. She’s recruited by the Liangshan Bandits, who are criminals and cutthroats but also profess a belief in justice for the downtrodden. And together, they might just bring down an empire.

Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz by Garth Nix

This is a collection of stories (one of which is brand new) about Sire Hereward, the only male child to be produced by an ancient society of witches, and Mister Fitz, sorcerer and loremaster. Together, they have been godslayers; it’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.

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

Riot Recommendations

As promised on Tuesday, here’s part two of recent indie SFF releases. Today I’ve got something for the short story-lovers out there!

Cover of A Practical Guide to Levitation by Jose Eduardo Agualusa

A Practical Guide to Levitation by José Eduardo Agualusa, translated by Daniel Hahn

This is a collection of short stories, translated into English for the first time, that tend toward the dryly humorous, surreal, and fantastic. Translator Daniel Hahn has been a longtime collaborator with José Agualusa, equal to translating his lyrical yet deeply weird prose.

Cover of Luminescent Machinations edited by Rhiannon Rasmussen and dave ring

Luminescent Machinations: Queer Tales of Monumental Invention edited by Rhiannon Rasmussen and dave ring

This anthology features 26 stories and poems — and a story game — all themed around queer mecha. Authors include Phoebe Barton, Violet Allen, Iori Kusano, Sam Yoo, Charles Payseur, and more!

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 Indie SFF You Should Know About

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 21, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got your new releases for you. For recommendations, this week I’m putting the focus on recent indie and small press sci-fi! I also want to give a shout-out to the podcast Overinvested, which normally focuses on movies, but this week had a great episode recommending a really wide range of books, including some SFF bangers. I had a pretty busy weekend, so I’m hoping for a chance to recharge and read some books (keep your fingers crossed that my new glasses will finally come in). I hope y’all had a great weekend that was calmer! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Maui Aloha: The People’s Response, which sends support to those affected by the wildfires on Maui, particularly first responders. Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.

Bookish Goods

Stenciled, Sprayed Edges She Who Became the Sun by PegacornPages

This is another beautiful book-made-into-handcrafted-visual-art, this time of Shelley Parker-Chan’s amazing novel. (Which has a sequel coming out this week!) This thing is absolutely gorgeous. There are a lot of other great designs for other books in the shop as well! $69

New Releases

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

This is the sequel to She Who Became the Sun, and it’s one of the books I’m utterly hyped about this year! Zhu Yuanzhang has become the Radiant King, and she stands victorious after wresting southern China from the Mongols. But with one enemy dealt with, more emerge, including those from within, who want to take their own run at the throne. If Zhu wishes to remain king, she will have to ally with her old enemy General Ouyang.

cover of The Year's Best Fantasy edited by Paula Guran

The Year’s Best Fantasy, Volume 2 edited by Paula Guran

The second volume in this series brings us 28 stories — which totals over 400 pages — of fantasy short fiction that ranges across a diverse array of authors, styles, and subgenres.

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

Riot Recommendations

How about some small/indie press SFF? He’s installment one of two for this week!

South by Babak Lakghomi

A journalist known only as “B” travels south in a desert country carefully unnamed to report on a recent attack made on an offshore oil rig. But his journey takes him through a landscape wracked by drought and decay and filled with the superstitious — and the entities that they believe in.

cover of The Princess of Darkness by Rachilde

The Princess of Darkness by Rachilde, translated by Brian Stableford

A haunted house, a family curse, and neo-Gothic motifs both familiar and unusual will challenge and alienate readers with perversity and questions of gender and sexuality. Rachilde is the pen name of Marguerite Vallette-Eymery, a 19th-century Belgian author who was convicted in absentia for pornography for another of her novels.

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

Neo-Luddites vs. The Panopticon

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 17, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and this time I’ve got for you the double dose of new releases that you didn’t get on Tuesday. I hope you had a safe and peaceful week, if possible. My thoughts are still very much with the people of Maui (and will be for some time, I think) and taken up by how much we all mean to each other on this fragile blue marble of ours. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s two places to start:

Maui Aloha: The People’s Response, which sends support to those affected by the wildfires on Maui, particularly first responders.

Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.

Bookish Goods

Mexican Gothic Painting by MSchueyArtworks

This is cool as heck. It’s a Gouache watercolor painting plainly inspired by Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic — whence the pattern of mushrooms, ouroboros symbols, and eyes. $25

New Releases

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

Nena is the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico; while the Anglo settlers to the north of the ranch are often a threat, she knows of one much more pressing and terrifying: the vampires that attacked her nine years ago, which still lurk near the ranch at night. Her childhood sweetheart Néstor believes her dead in the attack and has been wandering since, working as a vaquero. When the U.S. invades Mexico in 1846, the two are brought back together. But whatever complicated feelings the two may have for each other are quickly overshadowed by the return of the monster that haunts both their nightmares.

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

On the day of her birth, Toadling was stolen away by the fairies, and she grew up safe and loved in their care. Now grown up, the fairies ask a favor of her: return to the human world to offer a blessing to a newborn. It isn’t as simple as that, though; things with the fae never are. Many centuries later, Toadling faces a knight hacking his way through a wall of impenetrable thorns, determined to break a curse that Toadling must uphold.

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

Riot Recommendations

Here’s a double dose of new releases for this week, since I didn’t throw one at you on Tuesday!

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

When Mia is at her lowest point, reading The Scarlet Letter saves her; the story it tells is so familiar to the life Mia knew, growing up in a cult in Massachusetts. As she grows older and begins a strange journey through time, she falls in love with the man who wrote that book.

More Perfect by Temi Oh

The Panopticon is a network that connects the minds and dreams of people, allowing one to peer into the thoughts of another. Moremi connects to it, hoping to find a cure for loneliness and depression. Then she meets Orpheus, who was raised as a neo-Luddite, and who views the Panopticon with extreme suspicion, for all its promises of connecting humanity together. Together, they discover the dark side of that promise.

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

Hawaiian SFF Authors — and How to Help

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 14, 2023

Sponsored by

Well, it’s Tuesday, shipmates. It’s Alex, and I’m here with your new releases to start off this week, and…some very sober remarks. Like many, my thoughts are with the people of Hawai’i, who have been hit by an absolutely devastating wildfire on Maui. As an adult, I’ve seen a lot of really scary fires sweep through my own state of Colorado (and was in one of the evacuation zones for the NYE 2021 Marshall fire) and even with that in mind, it’s hard to imagine the shock and horror Hawaiians are feeling with the death toll still mounting and Lahaina all but razed. It’s easy to feel helpless at times like this, but it’s important to know there are things we can do: give to the people it will help, and stay focused and loud about climate change because that’s not science fiction — it’s science reality. (Optional: have a good cry to let it all out, because that’s okay to do, too.) While I know a lot of that is outside the scope of this newsletter, what I can do is give you a couple “make the world a better place” links and point as much as I can to Hawaiian creators. Stay safe out there, space pirates, stay strong, and I’ll see you on Friday.

Maui Aloha: The People’s Response, which sends support to those affected by the wildfires on Maui, particularly first responders.

Hawai’i Community Foundation: The Maui Strong Fund, which will funnel funds to local leaders, nonprofits, and community members who can best apply them to evolving, on-the-ground needs.

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Bookish Goods

Sailor Moon’s Wand With a Hawai’i Flair by kehaunoeau

Once again, my love of enamel pins wins out! But this such a cool idea, Sailor Moon’s iconic wand reimagined with a Hawai’i style by a Native Hawaiian artist. Check out the rest of her shop: she’s got a lot of cute pins, including a series based on the adventures of Mauiakalana. $13

New Releases

The Brill Pill by Akemi C. Brodsky

Research scientist William Dalal has developed a medication that does what was once thought impossible: regenerate brain tissue from stem cells with nearly perfect accuracy. Emphasis on the nearly. Those Will helps face a wide range of side effects, including loss of motor function and sociopathy. Mentally trapped by his own personal tragedy, Will works feverishly to perfect his treatment, only to discover that the monsters he’s had a hand in making are beginning to take over.

the cover of Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go by Cleo Qian

Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go: Stories by Cleo Qian

This is a short story collection that focuses on the alienated and technology-riddled lives of Asian and Asian American women. The women in the stories question convention and fight against dutiful and docile stereotypes, struggle, and embrace queer longing and desire.

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

Riot Recommendations

With our thoughts going to Hawai’i right now, one little way to help is to spotlight authors from the islands. Here’s a couple of books to check out!

Cover of Ike Papalua edited by Sam Fletcher

‘Ike Pāpālua: Science Fiction & Fantasy Stories from the Hawaiian Islands edited by Sam Fletcher

This is a collection of speculative fiction stories written by Hawaiian authors and set in Hawai’i. Topics range from magic to advanced technology, ghosts, robots, shapeshifters, trickster spirits, vampires, and more!

For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig

Jetta’s family are the most talented troupe of shadowed players…and much of their success has to do with her magic, which allows her to bind the souls of the recently departed into puppets with her own blood. It’s a deeply held secret because old magics like her are forbidden by the colonizers of her land. But when her family is invited to perform for the Mad King, Jetta will face danger beyond the secrets she holds — and find herself amidst a rebellion.

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.