Category: Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for September 1

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 31, 2020

Millions died after the first contact. An alien weapon holds the key to redemption—or annihilation. Experience Karen Osborne’s unforgettable science fiction debut, Architects of Memory. Terminally ill salvage pilot Ash Jackson lost everything in the war with the alien Vai, but she’ll be damned if she loses her future. Her plan: to buy, beg, or lie her way out of corporate indenture and find a cure. When her crew salvages a genocidal weapon from a ravaged starship above a dead colony, Ash uncovers a conspiracy of corporate intrigue and betrayal that threatens to turn her into a living weapon.

Happy Tuesday, space pirates! Wow, there are a LOT of books coming out this week. This is Alex, bringing you just a small selection of all the goodies to be had–and a little bit of book-related news. In not-book news, Bill and Ted Face the Music just came out–and it’s on streaming, which is how I watched it–and to me, it was the movie I needed in this absolute nightmare of a year because it’s just so sincere and kind and just the right amount of silly and weird. Stay safe out there, be most excellent to each other, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Here, have a thread of Tom Hiddleston as macarons.

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

New Releases

Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher – In near-future America, every citizen has a chip that tracks all their movements, and undocumented immigrants are hunted by the Deportation Forces. When Vali’s mom’s counterfeit chip malfunctions, the entire family is forced to flee the small Vermont town where they’ve been quietly living. Their only chance is to make it to California, a sanctuary state that’s being walled off from the rest of the country.

Find Layla by Meg Elison – When a school competition calls for exploration of a biome, underprivileged and bullied Layla chooses the hostile environment of her own fungi-filled, decrepit home. The video goes viral and Layla is taken from her family by Child Protective Services. Now she has to face friends and bullies alike on her own, and refuse to back down from the truth she’s shown the world.

Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire – Faerie’s archaic marriage traditions mean that Simon Torquill is legally October’s father, and she has to have him at her wedding whether she likes it or not if she doesn’t want to set off a storm of political turmoil. She has no choice to set off on a quest into her family’s past for the sake of her own future.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas – Yadriel is determined to prove that he’s a real brujo after his very traditional family refuses to accept his gender. So he decides to summon the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. Only he accidentally summons the ghost of Julian Diaz, former bad boy, who isn’t going to go quietly into death until he’s tied up some loose ends first. Yadriel agrees to help him to get the ghost to leave… but the longer they work together, the less Yadriel wants Julian to go.

Wayward Witch by Zoraida Córdova – Rose Mortiz is a fixer who’s had her course in life muddied by new powers she doesn’t understand–and the return of her father, who has amnesia. Only she discovers that he’s been faking his memory loss, and when she’s about to confront him, they’re sucked into the Caribbean fairy realm of Adas. If she wants to return home and try to put her family back together, she’ll have to fix Adas–and learn the true breadth of her own magic.

The Four Profound Weaves by R. Lemberg – In this queer fairytale, the city of Iyar lives in the shadow of an evil ruler. Two elder changers, people who have taken on different gender roles, must learn to weave from Death if they are to save their city and find their places in life.

In the Shadows of Men by Robert Jackson Bennet – In west Texas during the new oil boom brought about by fracking, two brothers start renovating an old motel, planning to cater to the workers coming in. The two men are after money, but they’re also running from their own histories. But the motel has its own dark history, and as strange things begin to happen, the two brothers discover that the building had saw other uses in the past…

News and Views

How about N.K. Jemisin reading a story by Amal El-Mohtar: And Their Lips Range With the Sun

All Is Fair in Love and Go: Strategy Gaming in This Is How You Lose the Time War

The Folio Society has done a new edition of Octavia Butler’s Kindred, and here’s an interview with the illustrator.

Rest in power, Chadwick Boseman.

Amazon is going to adapt Eoin Colfer’s novel Highfire, and Nic Cage is executive producing–and voicing Vern. OMG.

A Q&A with Garth Nix.

Artist Kip Rasmussen on Depicting Tolkien’s Silmarillion

Check out this Lord of the Rings fountain pen. (just don’t look at the price.)

The life of library cats during the pandemic

On Book Riot

Everything we know so far about Diana Gabaldon’s new Outlander book: Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone

8 of the best adult dragon books around

You could win a copy of Micaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds. TRUST ME YOU WANT THIS ONE.

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 August 28: Gothic Archetypes

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 27, 2020

Sponsored by Saga Press, the publisher of award-winning speculative fiction from authors like Stephen Graham Jones, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ken Liu, and Rebecca Roanhorse

The Kingdom of Liars blends the taut crime drama of The Wire with the epic worldbuilding of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time in what Brandon Sanderson calls “an excellent fantasy debut.” Savage Legion captures what lies at the heart of epic fantasy—sweeping journeys, brutal battles, and impossible odds—but with true diversity that defies the status quo. Fans of Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver and RF Kuang’s The Poppy War will love The Vanished Queen, a timely fantasy novel about a country held in the thrall to a vicious king, and one woman’s fight to take him down.

This has been another incredibly difficult week, shipmates. It’s Alex, and I wish I could write a cheery intro for you right now, but I can’t. I spent every spare minute of my day doomscrolling Twitter, looking at the news out of Kenosha. I promise the end of the newsletter gets much sillier, and I did find some fun links if you need the distraction. Take care of yourselves, be safe, and solidarity with protestors and strikers.

If you’re as angry and upset as I am right now, here’s a place you can help: Milwaukee Freedom Fund

New Releases That I Cannot Believe I Missed on Tuesday

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger – Elatsoe is a Lipan Apache girl who lives in an America a little different from our own, one that has been shaped by magic, monsters, and legends. After her beloved cousin is murdered, she has to venture into a town that very much does not want her to pry beneath its picture-perfect facade and unearth its horrifying secrets. But she has magic of her own: the ability to raise the ghosts of dead animals, a gift passed down through her family. And she will use every skill, every trick, all of her wits, and help from her friends to protect her family.

Beowulf translated by Maria Dahvana Headley – Honestly, I’m not that much of a Beowulf stan (or that much into epic poetry) but the more I hear about this translation, the more I feel like I must read it (like translating “Hwæt!” as “Bro!”).

News and Views

Worlds Without End has reproduced (with permission) Nisi Shawl’s Crash Course in the History of Black Science Fiction

Nisi Shawl on music, spirituality, and the creative process

You can stream PBS’s documentary about Ursula K LeGuin for free until August 30.

Arkham Board of Health Feedback on Miskatonic University’s Draft Plan for a Safe Campus Reopening

You can explore the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Klingon

Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers is getting closer to being on TV.

An online exhibit celebrating Ray Bradbury

A new short story from Malka Older: Tear Tracks

Look, Idris Elba has been in enough science fiction films that he totally counts as SFF news even if he’s launching a boxing school.

On Book Riot

10 books that explore the multiverse

5 eco-dystopian novels that explore environmental worst-case scenarios

8 writers discuss how fairy tales can disrupt the status quo

This week’s SFF Yeah! podcast is about diving into fanfiction

This month you can enter to win $50 at your favorite indie bookstore and a 1-year Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Free Association Friday: Gothic Archetype Edition

I mentioned on Tuesday that I finished Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, but I didn’t really have the space to expound upon my love for it. Which is to say, I read that book in less than 24 hours. Just shotgunned it. I haven’t mainlined a book that fast since Catching Fire. And it’s even more impressive when you consider I’m a giant weenie and there’s a non-zero amount of spooky stuff in this book, and I was finishing it up at approximately 2 in the morning, right before bed.

My favorite part, though? The book is tonally perfect for a gothic novel, and it’s set in the 1950s. I will cop to not being the most widely read in the gothic genre (it is a place of prose that crosses over from lush and into impenetrable, in my opinion), but it’s one that normally lends itself to being a bit further back in history, perhaps to aide the requisite “lady in a very large dress running from a spooky house.” And of course the required decaying mansion often feels displaced in time, a moldering corpse that died several decades back and hasn’t yet gotten the memo. Mexican Gothic is pitch-perfect in all these senses, and it’s got eminently readable prose, and it’s got all sort of crunchy issues in it that I can’t get into without spoiling it.

But I can tell you what gothic archetypes you will meet, in a non-spoilery way—and the fact that these all exist in pitch-perfect harmony in this book is a delight that tells me Silvia Moreno-Garcia knows her genre inside and out and loves it enough to just have fun with it by playing with the tropes. In this book, you will meet:

- The plucky, beautiful heroine who is in over her head.
- The woman of the house who is fanatically strict about extremely arcane rules for no apparent reason.
- The Faceless Lady Ghost.
- The hot but extremely creepy guy who thinks manipulating women makes him even hotter.
- The rotting patriarch who stands as a god over his moldering domain and reminisces over his alcohol of choice about how great Empire was.

The female invalid who everyone is trying to keep hidden and no one will actually admit why.
Eerie servants.
The regretful sad sack destined to be played by Tom Hiddleston in the movie version.

I cannot wait for the television show of this. In the meantime, maybe I’ll just rewatch Crimson Peak or give We Have Always Lived in the Castle another read.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for August 25

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 24, 2020

Swords and Spaceships for August 21: Recent Indie Releases

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 21, 2020

Sponsored by Tor Books.

Battle has raged around the great city of Tar Valon. Inside, a Foretelling of the future is uttered. On the slopes of Dragonmount is born an infant prophesied to change the world. That child must be found before the forces of the Shadow have an opportunity to kill him. New Spring begins Moiraine Damodred and Lan Mandragoran’s quest to find the Dragon Reborn that will lead to the events of The Eye of the World and their fateful meeting with Rand al’Thor. New Spring is a perfect jumping-on point for readers wanting to more before the forthcoming TV show.

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with some news and some indie releases to check out today. I’m walking down club music memory lane thanks to one of my happy links and wondering what happened to all my old Eurphoria CDs. Follow that bass beat into the weekend, space pirates, get out your glow sticks, and dance safe.

I’ve got two musical interludes that made me smile today: Frog Beat and Bongo Cat in Space (if the music is familiar and you’re not sure why, remember almost 20 years ago when PPK did ResuRection?)

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

News and Views

FIYAHCon has released the shortlist for the first ever Ignyte Awards—and it’s open to the public to vote. (Also, WHAT A LIST!) Link is at the bottom of the post.

The North American Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention (NASFiC) will be happening virtually this weekend and is free for anyone to attend. Want to find out how?

Tor.com is giving away free ebooks of Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi until tomorrow.

New Zealand authors are teaming up to bring you witchy fiction with a dash of romance to brighten your September.

Robert J. Sawyer says we’re all living in a sci-fi novel now

The Flawed Fantasy of the Chosen One

Honest trailer for The Old Guard

Serious Eats did a history of astronaut ice cream

On Book Riot

5 SFF books about rebellion and overthrowing the government

High fantasy vs. low fantasy: your guide

This month you can enter to win $50 at your favorite indie bookstore and a 1-year Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Free Association Friday: Recent Indie Releases

Indie books don’t show up as reliably on my new release lists (sometimes I only know about them due to a lucky Twitter moment or the authors emailing me), so I don’t get to put them in the Tuesday newsletter very often. So let’s play Tuesday on a Friday and look at some recent books from indie authors!

Ex Inferis by Nazri Noor – Being the half-human son of a demon prince has its major perks, and Quilliam leans into his life of luxury and excess. That is, up until he finds out he’s the Chosen of Asmodeus, destined to destroy the world that happens to be where he keeps all his stuff.

Of Flesh and Feathers by L.M. Pierce – Some disaster has fallen humanity; the caretaker of Chickory’s flock no longer comes to feed the birds or take their eggs, and everything stinks of death. Fayne, a member of the flock, begins having prophetic dreams of safety that lies further than any chicken has every traveled. Chickory, with the help of the farm dog, must try to get her flock to safety and discover what has turned their once-loving keepers into monsters.

The Pegasus Pulp Sampler by Cora Buhlert – A collection of short stories and novellas from Cora, who has also been nominated for the Hugo Award for Fan Writer.

Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora edited by Zelda Knight – This is exactly what it says on the tin, and you’ll be getting stories from Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Nuzo Onoh, Nicole Givens Kurtz, and more.

Road Seven by Keith Rosson – Strongly advised to get out of the country after being involved in a drunken and possibly fatal hit-and-run accident, Mark Sandoval decides to spend his exile hunting for unicorns, after a woman from a tiny island off the coast of Iceland sends him grainy footage that could be nothing else. What’s waiting for Mark is a lot stranger and more dangerous than just a unicorn, however.

Black Dawn by K. Gorman – Karin Makos is a genetically engineered creation who has escaped the lab where she was raised and is quietly trying to live a normal life. But when a system-wide attack leaves decimates humanity, she must take to the stars and look to the past she has spent so long running from to find answers–and save those she cares for.

Kill Three Birds by Nicole Givens Kurtz – In the Kingdom of Aves, where humans have wings, Hawks are sent to investigate criminal activity and other difficult situations due to their special hawk-like vision. When a missing girl is found dead in a small mountain village, the Hawk Prentice is dispatched to see what she will see… but she soon discovers it’s not one dead bird, but three.

A Queen’s Pride by N.D. Jones – After centuries of war between humans and shifters, two nations have emerged on the continent of Zafeo: the human territory of Vumaris and the feline shifter nation of Shona. After eight decades of peace, however, the humans are ready to restart the war. They try to assassinate the rulers of Shona and kidnap their daughter, Asha. Now it’s up to Asha to save those she loves—and decide what she will do to her enemies.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for August 18

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 17, 2020

Sponsored by Tor Books.

Cory Doctorow’s two bestselling novels are now available in an omnibus! In Little Brother, Marcus is seventeen when he is caught in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. After being interrogated by the Department of Homeland Security, his city has become a police state. Nobody will believe him, so Marcus must take down the DHS himself. In Homeland, Marcus is employed by a politician who promises reform. Then his former nemesis, Masha, emerges with evidence of government wrongdoing. When Marcus witnesses Masha’s kidnapping, he must decide whether to save her or leak the archive that will cost his employer the election.

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s new book release day, and there were plenty of great books to choose from (apparently we’re going to get buried on September 3, though, so… brace yourself?). It’s Alex, with a selection of new titles and some news for you.

I got a lot of reading done this weekend because there are two massive wildfires in western Colorado that have filled the air with ash and made it basically unbreathable. On the downside, I am getting cabin fever because I couldn’t ride my bike around. On the upside, I got to finish The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson, and I’m taking a point of personal privilege to tell you THIS BOOK IS SO FREAKING GOOD. A multiverse story like I’ve never read before, filled with grit and marrow and science and spirituality, about the multitudes every single person contains. I cannot recommend it enough.

Here, start your week off right, is Steve Martin playing the banjo.

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

New Releases

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko – Tarisai was raised in strict isolation without the normal warmth of a family by a demanding and distant mother she knows only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to compete to join the Crown Prince’s Council of Eleven, a body that is joined through the magic powers of the Ray in a bond deeper than blood. But what seems like a dream for lonely Tarisai becomes a nightmare when The Lady demands that she murder the Crown Prince, and she must choose between loyalty and her own deepest wishes.

The Faithless Hawk by Margaret Owens – With the death of the king and the bid of the witch queen Rhusana for the throne, the Crows are forced into hiding—leaving the country vulnerable to a raging plague. Fie must call on old allies to bring the Crows back to the land—and discover ancient secrets along the way.

Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor – When the Chief of Chiefs, the most powerful criminal in Kalaria, murders the good-hearted chief of police, he leaves the man’s twelve-year-old son, Nnamdi, alive. Nnamdi helplessly vows revenge, but there’s little he can do against such a powerful adult… until a mysterious nighttime meeting leaves him with a magic object, one that gives him superpowers.

When Comes the Stroke of Midnight by Madeline Walz – Zaivyer has never met his father, though he has his name, his eyes, and the same inert metal plate embedded in his temple. When he turns thirteen, the plate activates… and so do his gifts, ones that may lead him some day to save two worlds.

The Vanished Queen by Lisbeth Campbell – The queen vanished long ago, disappeared by her king, who claimed she was assassinated by the neighboring kingdom. Reeling from the unjust execution of her father, Anza finds this long-missing woman’s diary. From the past, her words inspire Anza to join in a plot to overthrow the king at last.

Vicious Spirits by Kat Cho – Somin is ready to help her friends move on from their losses and trauma, but Jihoon and Miyoung are still in deep mourning. Only the dokkaebi, Junu, is ready to resume life. Too bad Miyoung’s lost fox bead has caused a rift between the worlds of the living and dead, and it’s up to Somin and Junu to work together to fix the breach before they lose another friend.

Noumenon Ultra by Marina J. Lostletter – For a hundred thousand years, the great AI I.C.C. has lain dormant, its ships quiescent. But someone walks the halls of the convoy, someone who isn’t human, and the AI stirs. Noumenon is still too young to have evolved intelligent life—so who are these visitors, and what do they want? (Full disclosure: Marina and I have the same agent.)

News and Views

From NYT: ‘We already survived an apocalypse’: Indigenous Writers Are Changing Sci-Fi

Mark Oshiro on the unintended education of literature

FIYAH and Tor.com are working together on an online flash fiction anthology written by Black authors

New generation of writers of color reckon with HP Lovecraft’s racism

Speaking of, Misha Green (showrunner of Lovecraft Country) talks about the horror of marginalization

Tor.com showed off the new cover for A Desolation Called Peace, sequel to A Memory Called Empire–and announced Arkady Martine’s next book, Prescribed Burn.

There’s an SFF Limerick contest!

Sascha Stronach (author of The Dawnhounds, which I am currently reading) offers a Twitter tour of South Island NZ baked goods.

“Teeth the size of bananas.” Okay sure why not. At least they’re safely fossilized and not, like, you know, a fire tornado.

On Book Riot

11 Black sci-fi authors to read right now

This month you can enter to win $50 at your favorite indie bookstore and a 1-year Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for August 14: Wildfire Season

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 13, 2020

Sponsored by Saga Press, the speculative fiction and horror imprint of Simon & Schuster.

Black Sun, the new epic fantasy novel from New York Timesbestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse, is made for readers who enjoyed the lush worldbuilding and beautiful prose of N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season and Marlon James’ Black Leopard, Red Wolf. Inspired by the indigenous civilizations of the Americas before European colonization, Black Su follows warring matriarchies, all vying for power in a world filled with celestial prophecies, political machinations, and forbidden magic.

Happy Friday, shipmates! Days are getting shorter, but the weather is sure getting hotter around here, in part because it’s wildfire season where I’m at. It’s Alex, with some Friday book suggestions for you (on a very hot theme) and some news items for your perusal as we head into the weekend. Stay safe, stay cool (if applicable in your place of residence), and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Something that made me smile: the most adorably New York thing I have ever seen.

Also the best curbside library pickup commercial ever. Bless u, Harris County.

Looking for non-book things you can do to help? Lebanoncrisis.carrd.co

News and Views

A TV series is in development for Jade City by Fonda Lee.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia has been optioned.

P. Djèlí Clark: Will I live to see my utopia?

A great interview with R.F. Kuang

(TW for sexual assault) Lithub did a deep dive into what an utter pig Isaac Asimov was. If you brave the comments, former SFWA President Marta Randall recalls when he assaulted her.

Author Marina J. Lostletter (she of Noumenon) now has a YouTube channel. (Full disclosure: Marina and I have the same agent.)

Speaking of my agent, DongWon Song he had a lot of smart (and kind of angry) things to say about SF “canon.” (I know I don’t normally name drop, but it’s a good piece. Just tell substack that you want to read without subscribing and it’ll show you.)

The Dragon Awards ballot has been posted and there’s actually a bunch of good stuff on it this year.

Interesting interview with John Rhys-Davies and others, in which JRD talks about being an older actor during the pandemic.

This is an amazing thread about Hantu

A long-lost transcript from the Apollo 1 fire investigation has been published

8 Martian postcards to celebrate Curiosity’s landing anniversary

On Book Riot

9 YA folklore books from around the globe

This month you can enter to win $50 at your favorite indie bookstore and a 1-year Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Free Association Friday: Wildfire Season

It’s wildfire season in Colordo, which has announced itself with ever more beautiful pink and orange sunsets which, if you’re from here, are creepy as all heck because on no nomal day should you ever be able to look at the sun. My week started with the Grizzly Creek/120 fire bursting on the scene by burning up around I-70. (As I write this on Wednesday night, I-70 is still closed and the fire, now over 3700 acres, is 0% contained and burning through extremely rugged terrain.)

So yeah, that’s why I’ve got fire and ash-themed things on the brain right now. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin immediately springs to mind, with its apocalyptic, world destroying “seasons” that periodically try to consume the world with ash and fire.

Then there’s Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri, where the titular realm is a magical and haunting place where mortals can travel to find the echoes of their ancestors’ dreams. Arwa, widowed unnaturally early by a massacre, must brave the realm of ash with a disgraced prison, a journey that will take them out into the desert and offer them the salvation of an Empire they’re no longer certain is worth saving.

Ashlords by Scott Reintgen has phoenix horses. Let me repeat that: phoenix horses. The ashlords race these horses, which return to life every morning, and defend their bones at night during the races.

Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter has the fire of dragons, which are the weapon of last resort of the Omehi people as they fight a steadily losing battle to keep hold of the lands they invaded, cast from their home by other invaders in turn. In all that fire and blood, Tau sets out to get vengeance for the death of his father at the hands of a noble far above him in the rigid Omehi caste system.

Smoke Eaters by Sean Grigsby also has fire-breathing dragons that leave total devastation in their wake. But a few lucky humans are immune to the horrors of dragon smoke, and if you’re blessed (or cursed) with that skill, you get recruited into the Smoke Eaters, an elite dragon-fighting force, whether you like it or not.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang – Look, I can’t actually tell you what the fire connection is here because it’s a giant spoiler, so you’re just going to have to trust me. And you should read this book anyway because it’s extremely good and extremely intense.

Jeweled Fire by Sharon Shinn – The most low-key about its fire of the bunch, but it’s about a disinherited princess who is personally ruled by the element of fire. She steals away to escape the political troubles in her homeland… and then just finds more political trouble where she ends up.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for August 11

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 10, 2020

Sponsored by Oni Lion Forge Publishing Group.

From the mind of acclaimed superhero veteran Gail Simone and artist José Luís comes a tale of creation, destruction, and survival. Two years ago, meteors showered Earth, gifting individuals with enhanced abilities. Now, the source of those meteors has returned to finish the job… His name is Khrelan, and he’s given humanity seven days to prepare for death. With the fate of the world depending on them, new and old enhanced heroes join forces to stop Khrelan, but even if he’s defeated, what will be left in the aftermath? Seven days to live, what will humanity choose to do with them?

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! New release day ahoy! It’s Alex, with some new books for you to check out, and a few news itemst that caught my attention so far this week. Stay safe out there, space pirates!

I found this way funnier than I probably should have: The National Park Service says we really shouldn’t sacrifice our friends in the event of a bear attack, “even if the friendship has run its course.”

Looking for non-book things you can do to help? Lebanoncrisis.carrd.co

New Releases

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakar – Sheetal is the daughter of a human and a star, and she spends her life trying very hard to pretend she’s a normal mortal. But when she accidentally loses control of her starfire and puts her father in the hospital, only the power of a star—like her mother, who left long ago—can save him. Sheetal must journey into the heavens if she wants to save her father, but she’s not prepared for the magic or the politics she’ll find there.

Bystander 27 by Rik Hoskin – For Jon, the superheroes and villains colloquially known as “costumes” are a fact of life… until his pregnant wife is senselessly killed in a street showdown between two costumes. In trying to deal with his loss, Jon is determined to fine the truth behind the costumes and where they actually come from.

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson – Baru Cormorant at last has the power to take her full revenge on Falcrest—two chances, in fact. The easy path is to unleash an ancient, hemorrhagic plague, kept alive to be a weapon by the secret society she is now part of. The harder path is that of politics, conspiracies, trade manipulation, and war to bring herself to ultimate power within Falcrest. She must choose between the sure path that will kill countless innocents, and the far riskier gamble that will place her in a position to control the very nation she hates.

The Challenger by Taran Matharu – Cade and his friends have survived the qualifying round of the twisted game they have been forced into, abducted from their home world by the mysterious overlords that run it. But a new round is coming, and Cade must lead his roup to explore a new and dangerous world, looking for any advantage that might help them live to fight another day.

Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland – Three years ago, Sia’s mother was deported by ICE and disappeared trying to make her way home, an incident her small Arizona town still refers to as “an unfortunate accident.” Even though she’s sure her mother is dead, Sia goes out to the Sonoran Desert every new moon to light candles to guide her home. Then one day, an alien spaceship crashes in front of Sia’s car… and her mom, very much alive, is on board.

Cut Off by Adrianne Finlay – The new virtual reality show CUT/OFF pits a group of teenagers against the wilderness, like Survivor on steroids where the audience can touch, see, and live vicariously through the contestants. To win, you simply have to last the longest without “tapping out” and being rescued by the producers. But then four of the teenaged contestants discover that “tapping out” no longer works, and no one is coming to save them.

The New Wilderness by Diane Cook – The Wilderness State is a swathe of untouched, protected wildland, where humans are forbidden to go. But an experiment is being conducted, to see if twenty volunteers can coexist with nature as hunter-gatherers in the Wilderness State. Bea volunteers herself and her five year old daughter for this experiment; getting Agnes out of the pollution of their metropolis home is, Bea is convinced, the only way to save her life and health. But the wilderness is not an easy place to live, and while Agnes’s life may bloom, her relationship with her mother will be forever changed.

News and Views

Here’s a neat interview with Eiko Kadono, author of Kiki’s Delivery Service, and translator Emily Balistrieri

Author Tananarive Due made an amazing advice Tik Tok.

FIYAHCon has announced that it will also be running the new Ignyte Awards. Can’t wait to see the nominee list!

Did you see me mention The New Wilderness up in the new releases? It’s being adapted for TV.

New trailer for Antebellum and good news–it’ll be released on VOD platforms on September 18.

Tamsyn Muir talks about writing, necromancy, and fanfiction

Astronomers say there’s a new class of planet that can form around black holes

On Book Riot

23 fun and delightful light fantasy novels

This week’s SFF Yeah! podcast is about series we wish we could read.

SFF book giveaways ahoy! Enter by 8/13 to win Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy, or get your entry in ASAP today for Lobizona by Romina Garber.

This month you can enter to win $50 at your favorite indie bookstore and a 1-year Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for August 7: New Zealand Writers

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 6, 2020

Sponsored by our Kindle Unlimited 1-year subscription giveaway!

We’re giving away a 1-year subscription to Kindle Unlimited courtesy of Early Bird Books! Early Bird Books brings you free and bargain eBooks that match your interests. You can sign up for free, read the books on any device, and the books are yours to keep. Click to enter!

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and today I want to talk to you about some awesome fiction from New Zealand, so I’ll keep this short. Stay safe and steady as she goes!

A silly thing to start your Friday: I made a Twitter quiz (the polls are no longer running but you can see the answers) called “Protoss or IKEA furniture?”

Looking for non-book things you can do to help? Lebanoncrisis.carrd.co

News and Views

C.L. Polk made a minigame to introduce you to the world of Midnight Bargain. Also, the covers of Kingston Cycle books say Bi Pride!

Mary Robinette Kowal has made transcripts of all the Hugo winner speeches.

Don’t threaten me with a good time, clipping.

New Connie Willis novella coming from Subterranean Press!

The man whose science fiction keeps turning into our shitty cyberpunk reality

The Huntington Library has created a $50,000 Octavia Butler Fellowship.

Wow, I hadn’t even had a chance to tell you about the whole Flashing Swords 6 thing. WHEW. Well, it’s been resolved.

On Book Riot

5 YA fantasies with feisty princesses

8 of the best YA books set in post-apocalyptic cities

Free Association Friday: New Zealand Writers

I don’t want to take a deep dive into the WorldCon New Zealand post mortem; I shared plenty of links last newsletter about one of the big issues. But one big failure of WorldCon that deserves to be mentioned is that it was supposed to be the chance for New Zealand writers to meet a wider international audience. Note the supposed to be part. It was an utter failure at that, from the lack of New Zealand-centered (both Māori and Pākehā) programming, to the absolute shit show that was the Sir Julius Vogel Awards. If you’re wondering what the SJVs were and how that was a failure, Casey Lucas, one of the winners, explains.

The tl;dr is that these writers deserve so much better, and their books more than deserve to be seen. So let’s get to it, shall we?

The SJV winner for Best Novel is one of the books I mentioned last week, the ACAB and very queer The Dawnhounds by Sashca Stronach. It shared the nomination with:

The Blacksmith by Barbara Howe, a fantasy where the riddle ‘How is the king like a blacksmith?’ might be the salvation of a hunted man accused of murder.

Into the Ashes by Lee Murray – The Kāhui Tupua, the great mountain warriors of New Zealand’s central plateau awaken, causing earthquakes and eruptions; an NZDF sergeant and his squad are sent in to evacuate civilians, but they’re quickly cut off.

The Prince of Secrets by AJ Lancaster – Look, all you need is the tagline: “Well-bred women should not be seen kissing their butlers. Even when the butler in question is secretly a fae prince.”

Solar Federation by S.E. Mulholland – An engineer and a healer of the land each have their own idea on how to save the ailing planet, but they’re unaware of darker forces in the shadows that will happily kill them both to achieve their own destructive goals.

The winner of Best Youth Novel is The Clockill and the Thief, a swashbuckling tale of sky pirates and traitors. The main character, Sin, is desperately trying to defeat the Clockill before his poisoned blood kills him. It shared the nomination with:

Tyrelia by S.R. Manssen – Fourteen-year-old Freya must quest deep into the land of Tyrelia, in order to find the Ancient One and save her family, trapped in the Golden City by a merciless tyrant.

Ringlet and the Day the Oceans Stopped by Felicity Williams – When the tides suddenly stop, an eleven-year-old mergirl must save the oceans from this deadly stagnation—while a monster tries to stop her.

Dragon Rift: Riders of Fire by Eileen Mueller – Ezaara’s secret lover, the dragon master Roberto, is captured, and the ruling council refuses to rescue him. She must take matters into her own hands if she wants to save both Roberto and the Dragons’ Realm.

Light in My Blood by Jean Gilbert and William Dresden – Earth is separated by a wall from the realm of Nön, a place ruled by a dark creature that would love to capture any human it can, for in Nön humans have immense power. But humans might also be the key to this evil’s defeat…

Definitely also check out the winner for Best Collected Work, Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy (Volume I) edited by Marie Hodgkinson.

You can see the full award list here, including links to all the short stories, novelettes, and novellas.

You should also check out this excellent Twitter thread, or this likewise excellent Twitter thread, or this third-times-an-excellent Twitter thread for story, book, and author recommendations. Also do not forget Whiti Hereaka’s excellent thread of Māori writers (or her novel Legacy).

I also recommend checking out the offerings of Paper Road Press, which you can get outside of New Zealand in ebook and sometimes paperback. Start with The Stone Wētā by Octavia Cade if you want a climate thriller or No Man’s Land by A.J. Fitzwater if you want historical fantasy. (A.J. also gave us The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper, which is the adventures of a lesbian capybara who is also a pirate.)

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for August 4

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date August 3, 2020

Sponsored by Tor Books.

Sorcery of a Queen by Brian Naslund is a fast-paced adventure perfect for comic readers and fans of heroic fantasy.

She was driven from her kingdom, but Ashlyn will not stop until justice has been done. Determined to unlock the secret of her powers, Ashlyn must master the one thing people always accused her of, sorcery.

Meanwhile, having learned the truth of his mutation, Bershad is a man on borrowed time. Never knowing when his healing powers will drive him to self-destruction, he is determined to see Ashlyn restored to her throne and the creatures they both love safe.

Happy Tuesday, space pirates! It’s Alex, and there are SO MANY books coming out today. I’ve also got news for you, a lot of it Hugo-centric. And… I’m tired. WorldCon was shockingly exhausting for something that I attended via my house, partly because it… had some problems (see the news section for more info). Going back to work feels like a great break from my vacation, at this point.

Stay safe, and I’ll see you on Friday!

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

New Releases

The First Sister by Linden Lewis – The women of the Sisterhood have no name and no voice; they are “comfort women” that travel the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars. When First Sister’s captain dies, leaving her with no allies, she is ordered to spy on the new captain, Saito Ren, who has deadly enemies of his own.

Court of Lions by Somaya Daud – Amani, the body double of Princess Maram, is held in isolation. The world outside is ready for revolution, and any wrong move could get Amani executed for treason. But Maram wants Amani to play her part one more time in court…

Harrow the Ninth by Tasyn Muir – Harrow has been drafted by the Emperor to fight an unwinnable war–and as if that’s not bad enough, she has to cooperate with her most detested rival while her own health is failing and her mind threatens to unravel.

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson – Welcome to the multiverse, travel at will—but with one important catch. You can’t go to any world where your counterpart is still alive. Cara is an outlier who has died in almost all possible universes, and that makes her the ideal agent–and she’s happy to just be plucked out of the wasteland. But when one of her few remaining multiverse dopplegangers mysteriously dies, she begins to realize her own place in a plot that endangers all of the worlds.

Lobizona by Romina Garber – Manuela is an undocumented immigrant in hiding in Miami. When her mother is arrested by ICE and her grandmother is attacked, Manuela follows the only clues she has of her dead father and his criminal past. Those clues lead her to folklore about brujas and lobizónes, and to the horrible conclusion that her real heritage may make her very life illegal…

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy – Franny is a wanderer and lover of the rapidly-disappearing wild. She begins a journey to Greenland to see the last flock of Arctic terns and witness their final migration. But Franny has a lot of secrets, and their unraveling might very well threaten the crew of the ship carrying her on this journey.

Poe Dameron: Free Fall by Alex Segura – After the death of his mother, teenaged Poe runs away from home to search for adventure.

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer – The story of Twilight, told now from Edward’s perspective.

News and Views

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards! (I already ordered a copy of The Dawnhounds because it sounds fun as heck.) We will be talking more about these awards and the awesome books involved on Friday, so stayed tuned.

Congratulations for the winners of this year’s Hugo and Not-a-Hugo Awards! A Memory Called Empire won Best Novel and This Is How You Lose the Time War won Best Novella.

The awards themselves were, frankly, A Mess. A really upsetting, embarrassing, terrible mess thanks to Toastmaster GRRM spending more time talking about, say, noted racist and fascist John W. Campbell, for whom an award is no longer named, than any of the nominees for this year’s Astounding Award. That said, I’d rather focus on the winners, most of whom gave excellent speeches in opposition to the remarks that made the ceremony last over three and a half hours. Speeches of note:

Rebecca F. Kuang
Jeannette Ng (who won Best Related Work for her speech calling Campbell out as a fascist last year)
Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar
Arkady Martine
The Book Smugglers
Navah Wolfe
Bogi Takács

You can also watch an edit of the Hugo Awards that’s just the good bits, which is only an hour and 40 minutes long here.

Cora Buhlert’s thoughts on the ceremony. Also definitely worth reading are thoughts from Cheryl Morgan and Natalie Luhrs.

The CoNZealand Fringe is a bit of companion programming that got set up by fans so there’d be a few more panels with European-friendly times. You can watch the recorded panels here.

Kacen Callender on the humanization of authors

Twelfth Planet Press is running a Kickstarter for a new anthology, Rebuilding Tomorrow

Olivia Munn showing off her sword skills

On Book Riot

28 J.R.R. Tolkien quotes form his books, essays, and letters

I’ve missed a couple episodes of the SFF Yeah! Podcast, mea culpa. Let’s catch up:

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for July 31: Greetings from CoNZealand

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date July 30, 2020

Sponsored by Tor Books.

Mary Robinette Kowal continues her Hugo and Nebula Award–winning Lady Astronaut series.

The impending climate disaster of the Meteor strike is becoming clear, but the political situation is already overheated. The IAC’s goal of getting as many people as possible off Earth is being threatened.

Elma York is on her way to Mars, but the Moon colony is still being established. Fellow Lady Astronaut Nicole Wargin is thrilled to be one of those pioneer settlers and keeping the program on track. But she is less happy that her husband, the Governor of Kansas, is considering a run for President.

Happy Friday shipmates! It’s Alex, bringing you greetings from CoNZealand, this year’s WorldCon. No Hugo news for you quite yet (the awards ceremony will be happening probably a few hours after this hits your inbox), but there’s other fun stuff going on. This is my first virtual convention, and in some ways it’s kind of nice (cheap, can wear sweatpants whenever I want, I control the climate in all the “conference rooms”) and in others it’s sad, since I was really hoping to be in New Zealand right now. Like everyone else, I’m making the best of the situation—my housemate and I have planned a fancy New Zealand menu, and it’s NZ-approved!–and looking forward to attending a lot of SFF readings and panels. Stay safe out there, space pirates.

Non-SFF thing that made my day: Time lapse painting

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

News and Views

The Guardian did a great profile of author Tade Thompson. I had no idea he’s a doctor!

Linguistic world building in N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy

The 2020 World Fantasy Award final ballot has been announced. Congratulations to all the finalists! It’s a great list.

Well, July 29 was the day GRRM said we could imprison him if he wasn’t done with the book… except as io9 points out, he’s scot free from that promise because none of us are actually going to New Zealand! George knew! He knew!

The Recognize Fascism SFF anthology Kickstarter has… started.

Jordan Peele and Issa Rae will adapt Leyna Krow’s short story Sinkhole.

Ars Technica did a roundup of trailers from Comic Con.

From the Department of Unsurprising, But Still YIKES: If you already had a feeling Marvel’s Netflix shows Daredevil and Iron Fist were real racist, turns out there’s a reason for that.

Star Trek: Discovery has an official season 3 start date: October 15!

Possible live volcanoes on Venus!

Scientists discover the source of Stonehenge’s largest stones

On Book Riot

13 fantastic Black fantasy authors

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

Free Association Friday: SFF and Te Ao Māori

A panel I was really excited to attend at CoNZealand was SFF and Te Ao Māori, in which four Māori writers of speculative fiction discussed being Māori writers, their influences, and what they’d like to see in the genre moving forward. (More stories in space! Erotica! Horror! Stories of people cooperating with their worlds rather than fighting them!) It was an intensely interesting conversation to listen in on, and here’s hoping it might end up being a public offering of CoNZealand, since it was recorded.

The four writers on the panel were:

Cassie Hart writes as J.C. Hart and Nova Blake. Check out her books: The Way the Sky Curves is paranormal romance about a woman with a deadly magical power and a man who can sense that power, who wants to protect her but has secrets of his own. Ebony Slumbers is urban fantasy about a woman with a murky past she doesn’t even understand herself, so protectively smothered by eight men who claim they stand between her and death that she can think of nothing but escape.

Steph Matuku writes YA and children’s fiction. Flight of the Fantail is about the teenaged survivors of a bus crash, stranded in the bush. Help is strangely slow to arrive, and some of the kids soon start acting strangely and having nosebleeds. Also, her children’s book Whetū Toa and the Magician looks super cute.

Whiti Hereaka writes plays and screenplays to go along with novels. Her novel Legacy is about a seventeen-year-old Māori boy who is hit by a bus and wakes up in Egypt in 1915, where he begins living through his great-great-grandfather’s time in the Māori contigent. And she also has this incredible Twitter thread where she’s been posting a book by a different Māori author every day.

Dan Rabarts writes fantasy and a bit of horror. A place to start on his books is Brothers of the Knife, in which poor Akmenos, who just wants his souffle to come out right, gets swept into a tangled web of politics and murder when an elvish prince ends up dead at his banquet.

A few more books they recommended along the way:

Ruahine: Mythic Women by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku – Retellings of Māori myths about women.

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach – On his Twitter, he describes it as cops being bastards. There are also conspiracies, a pandemic, and a warlock who used to be a cop trying to shut it all down. And it’s apparently queer as hell. I’m sold.

Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa by Tina Makareti – A short story collection in which the mythic is part of everyday life, and magic happens.

Bonus Fijian recommendation:

Black Ice Matter by Gina Cole – A short story collection that explores both ice and heat from a Fijian perspective.