Category: Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for November 15

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 14, 2019

Sponsored by Supernova by Marissa Meyer, with Fierce Reads

We were all villains in the beginning. All heroes in the end. It’s up to you to decide where you stand.

Don’t miss the epic conclusion to The Renegades Trilogy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer.

“Edge-of-your-seat action.” —Bustle; “Blends sci-fi and action like a young adult X-Men novel.” —Paste; “Will keep readers on their toes as they try to untangle the complex lines between hero and villain, friend and foe, right and wrong” —BookPage; “Cinematic.” —Entertainment Weekly

Happy Friday, shipmates! We survived the week–or maybe it’s just my ghost writing this to you. It’s possible, right? This is Alex, with some Friday news and a few book recommendations to take you into the weekend. But before we start, it’s not SFF, yet I feel compelled to share Jennifer Nettles’s very pointed CMA red carpet look.

News and Views

For N.K. Jemisin, world-building is a lesson in oppression. And you can watch her full Wired25 session at the link. (Also, I just have to plug How Long ‘Til Black Future Month.)

You can read an excerpt from Malka Older’s …and Other Disasters.

I found this piece about Samuel R. Delaney’s Babel-17 really interesting: Language, Warfare, and the Brain as a Computer

Machine of Death the anthology has become a… game?

How did I not now about Young People Read Old SFF before now?

Netflix has renewed The Witcher for a second season.

The version of A New Hope on Disney+ has yet another version of Han versus Greedo.

Amazon has ordered an adaptation of William Gibson’s novel The Peripheral.

An interview with the director of the Doctor Sleep adaptation, about finding hope in bleak stories.

The silver-backed chevrotain, thought to be extinct, has been spotted in Vietnam. It looks like something straight out of the Eocene to me.

On Book Riot

This week’s SFF Yeah! is about roadtrip-ready audiobooks.

PREACH! Why Leia has always been the main character of Star Wars to me.

Matching Book Quotes to Each Hogwarts House

Also: 50+ of the most magical DIY Harry Potter crafts

What is a Warlock? And other types of magic users.

Free Association Friday

We’re officially halfway through November… which if you’re like me and you did something terrible in a previous life, means you should be around 25,000 words on your National Novel Writing Month project. I feel like we all deserve a book-themed pick-me-up and encouragement—and those not doing the word count slog might want a book recommendation or two—so let’s look at three SFF novels that started their lives as messy, ugly, NaNoWriMo babies.

My number one choice has to be The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern. It’s a gorgeous, atmospheric book with a fascinating, subtle plot that involves a very aesthetically lush circus. And it started out as an atmospheric book without much of a plot at all, according to the author. She started in one NaNo, and then worked on the book again over the next two, added 50K words to the circus each time before carving it into some kind of shape. Sometimes it takes a lot of revisions, a lot of added words, and several years of work, but it’s worth it in the end.

The Beautiful Land by Alan Averill is a fast-paced part-scifi part-horror book about a man stealing a time machine to save the life of the woman he’s loved since they were in school together—with the twist being that he invented the time machine in the first place and he has to steal it from a company that’s using it to alter history. Trying to belt out a novel in 30 days demands a breakneck writing pace, and that can make for a fast-paced book, too. Alan did a Q&A for NaNoWriMo.

And of course we all bow down before Marissa Meyer, who basically wrote all three of the novels for the Lunar Chronicles during one single NaNoWriMo. She was trying to win a contest… and the fact that she didn’t win the contest with like 150k of words that was a trilogy of books is literally making me sweat as I sit here and type this. As with The Night Circus, Cinder and its two sequels required a lot of post-November work, but they’re out there in the world now and doing pretty darn good for themselves.

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

A Wearable Tribute, New SFF Releases, And More

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 11, 2019

Sponsored by Ethereal Visions Publishing and Frankenstein Illuminated written by Mary Shelley and illustrated by Matt Hughes.

This stunning edition of the original 1818 version of Frankenstein comes to life through the artistry of Matt Hughes. Each chapter includes a unique black and red ink illustration as well as four full color tipped on plates showing the development of the Monster throughout the book. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Illuminated is the first in a three-part series focusing on the most beloved creators of classic horror – the second in the collector’s set is an illuminated edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Click here to learn more! Don’t miss the chance to own a copy of this beautiful limited edition. Books ship out early December. Make your bookshelf an art gallery!

Happy Tuesday, space pirates! It’s Alex, with some new releases for you to peruse and some news items of potential interest. And as a follow-up from the previous newsletter, I must present to you the best sports photo ever taken. Enjoy!

New Releases

Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri – With the Ambhan Empire crumbling around her, recently widowed Arwa decides to walk into the Realm of Ash in an attempt to save the royal family she’s pledged service to. She is joined by a disgraced prince, Zahir, a wielder of forbidden magic. But the Realm of Ash exacts a steep price, and Arwa and Zahir must face difficult, fundamental questions–like if the Empire deserves to be saved at all.

The Menace from Farside by Ian McDonald – A pair of unlikely sisters who make even unlikelier allies set off to find the first footprint on the Moon–even if the Moon seems determined to kill them before they get there.

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender – The childless king of the people who colonized the islands of Hans Lollik declares he will choose his successor from among the eligible noble families. The only surviving daughter of the native nobles of the islands uses her secret ability to read and control minds to put herself in the running. But she isn’t the only one using underhanded tactics–and her opponents are happy to commit murder to get what they want.

And one week late, but: A Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away by Paul Hirsch – The film editor of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back offers a scene-by-scene look at how the movies got put together and the decisions behind them.

The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North – William Abbey is young and naive when he witnesses the horrific lynching of a Zulu boy by white colonists. Because he did nothing to stop this crime, he is cursed; the dead boy’s shadow will follow him at a steady pace, and every time it catches up to him, the person he loves most will die.

Flamebringer by Elle Katharine White – The sworn enemy of the house Daired is back from the dead, possessed by a ghast and commanding a force of monsters bent on destruction. Aliza and Alastair Daired, and their dragon, must fight through blizzards and haunted forests to get back to their home… where the less tangible dangers of political intrigue await them as well.

The Impossible Contract by K.A. Doore – Thana seizes her chance for a top-tier contract without hesitation, a death order against a foreign ambassador. But it turns out she isn’t the only one after his life–there’s a horde of undead after him, and things only get uglier and stranger from there.

Dead Moon Rising by Caitlin Sangster – The good news is that Sev has finally found a cure for the deadly Sleeping Sickness, which will allow her to save the world from Dr. Yang. The bad news is, Dr. Yang has trapped Sev in endless sleep as well–and her only chance of being saved is in the hands of people who have been fighting each other for years.

News and Views

Ready to start off your day with a good cry? Billie Lourd on Becoming the Keeper of Princess Leia

Tade Thompson (author of Rosewater) on the books that made him… (In which he notes, rightly, that Victor Frankenstein was a dick.)

A profile of author Maurice Broaddus, who brought us Pimp My Airship.

Rian Johnson: “If someone is responding to diversity negatively, fuck ’em.”

This is a great (and oddly specific) list of SFF stories set in department stores.

And a short story from Yoon Ha Lee: The Second-Last Client

There’s a teaser out for The Magicians season 5.

Coming in spring 2021: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Mini cheetah robots!

Fashion designer Giorgia Lupi has created a wearable tribute to Ada Lovelace, Rachel Carson, and Mae Jemisen using data visualization.

If you got some weird text messages out of the blue on the 7th, this might be why.

On Book Riot

40 Terry Pratchett Quotes for every situation.

Getting ready for your next marathon read? Heres 10 queer YA series to check out.

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for November 8: Taxes, Maybe With a Little Death

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 7, 2019

Sponsored by Paperback Classics, a new pulp imprint from Oasis Audio

After crash landing on the planet Mongo, Flash, Dale, and the eminent scientist Dr. Zarkov, fight against the evil forces of Emperor Ming, who seeks to perpetuate his rule by ruthless and savage methods. Paperback Classics reintroduces the swashbuckling space adventures of Flash Gordon — just as they appeared in the 1970s paperback book series! Twelve exciting adventures written by legendary fantasy author Ron Goulart (writing as Con Steffanson) and narrated by Audie Award–winner Johnny Heller.

Happy Friday, shipmates, and strength to those doing NaNoWriMo! Don’t forget to drink some water and sleep. It’s Alex, with some news for you, and a few fun (I promise, even if I mention taxes) books! Also, you must listen to Kevin Harlan narrating a black cat on the football field, because this is truly the best thing I’ve heard all week. I move that whenceforth, all amusing cat activity be given a sporting event-style play-by-play. And while you’re listening to things, you should also definitely give your time to this version of Let It Go… in Klingon.

Department of Shame on Me

Because I somehow managed to not include two new releases that deserved to be on the list.

Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse – If you’ve been wondering what happened after the end of The Last Jedi to get us to Rise of Skywalker, this book is here to answer all of your questions.

Girls & Ghosts by Annie Michaud – A haunting collection of five short stories of the angry dead and resilient living.

News and Views

This has been a week of many good essays. Allow me to share a few to start off with:

Cory Doctorow wants you to know Jeannette Ng Was Right: John W. Campbell Was a Fascist
Alexandra Erin on The Science, Fiction, and Fantasy of Genre
James D. Nicoll, with glorious snideness, on Science Fiction vs. Fantasy: The Choice Is Clear

Here’s some short fiction recommendations from stories published in October.

Nnedi Okorafor defines Africanfuturism.

So there’s a movie based on HP Lovecraft’s The Color Out of Space and it involves both Nic Cage and Tommy Chong. I felt you needed to know this.

Mark Hamill watching his original Star Wars audition.

A new His Dark Materials trailer for the rest of the first season.

I mentioned in the previous newsletter that Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series has been optioned for TV–and here’s a list of moments from the books that would be great on screen that I 100% agree with.

More cookies in space news! The package has been launched!

On Book Riot

This week’s SFF Yeah! podcast is about shapeshifters!

Cover Reveal and Excerpt: B*Witch by Paige McKenzie and Nancy Ohlin

10 YA Fairy Books for Fans of Holly Black

Free Association Friday

I live in one of the states in the good ol’ US of A that had a local election this past Tuesday. All I will say about this, since I know you don’t want to hear me ranting about state politics, is that I’m grumpy, and I’m thinking about taxes and how important they are. So you know what? Here are some books that think taxes (and state finances, and trade) are pretty darn important too.

My immediate go-to on this topic is The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. Which is a dark and complicated and very meaty book, in which some of the most utterly intense action and intrigue revolves around monetary policy. It’s really good.

Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delaney explores the changes to a culture when it is “civilized” by money and slavery. It’s a fantasy where the biggest act of world-altering sorcery is going from concrete trade to the much more abstract use of coins. (And if you find his world and his themes interesting, there’s three more volumes in the series to be had.)

Not so much taxes but very much about economics and trade, there’s Neptune’s Brood by Charles Stross, which is about manners, banking, and a massive scam on the galactic futures market. Hostile Takeover by Susan Schwartz also has plots within financial plots and scams within scams, in a much more corporate framework, with a badass financial analyst for a main character.

Taking a step back into the broader view of just economic systems, I have to mention The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin, which deals with the broad evolution of economic ideas and how they migrate through cultures. It’s also just a darn good book in general.

Lastly, just for fun: Spice and Wolf by Isuna Hasekura starts off a light novel series where the main character is a traveling trader who accidentally picks up a wolf goddess as a companion. It’s definitely not as heavily into monetary policy (and it’s also not the best translated work I’ve ever read, to be honest), but it’s cute as heck.

Swords and Spaceships

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

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 5, 2019

Sponsored by Tor Books

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

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

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

Halloween Highlights

Highlights from the NASA-JPL annual pumpkin carving contest!

NASA also made some spooky posters about inhospitable exoplanets.

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

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

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

New Releases

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

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

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

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

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

News and Views

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

Charlie Jane Anders has announced a new book!

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

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

How one drag queen became 31 Harry Potter characters.

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

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

Where did Frodo go?

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

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

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for November 1

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 31, 2019

Sponsored by Tor Books

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

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

News and Views

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seven novels with their roots deep in folklore.

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

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

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

The Murderous Robots (and AI) of Sci-Fi

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

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

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

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

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

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

Swords and Spaceships

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

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 29, 2019

Sponsored by Into Bones Like Oil by Kaaron Warren

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

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

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

New Releases

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

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

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

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

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

News and Views

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

The case for calling all vampires “Draculas.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Swords and Spaceships

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

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 24, 2019

Sponsored by Tor Books

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

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

News and Views

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

The evolution of dragons in Western literature.

We do not deserve Oscar Isaac. That is all.

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

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

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

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

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

A look at monsters and romance.

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

Free Association Friday:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for October 22

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date October 21, 2019

Sponsored by Tor Books

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

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

New Releases

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

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

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

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

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

News and Views

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some casting news for HBO’s Station Eleven adaptation.

The first all-woman spacewalk has finally happened!

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