Category: Swords and Spaceships

Happy Friday, nerd-friends and geek-pals.

First things first:
– A correction is called for; despite it being on the cover image and everything, I had Lara Elena Donnelly’s name wrong last issue. Mea culpa!
– And a MUPPET ARMS! The Nebula has announced the 2016 nominees and I cannot stand how excited I am about the list for Novel. I have read all but Borderline (must get on that) and could not agree more with their nominations! I am trying to ration exclamation marks but it’s not working!?!

For today’s issue, I have a book listicle spectacular for you. Ready, set, TBR:

I have no real feelings about 50 Shades of Grey but I do love this post about eight sci-fi/fantasy books sexier than it.

Here is a list of Middle-Eastern inspired SF/F and while it’s light on authors actually from the Middle East, I extremely cosign their recommendation of Alif the Unseen. Before she was the pen behind Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson wrote a killer tech-punk action novel, plus genies! It’s also one of the few books out there that plays equally with technology and fantasy.

Want some comics that scratch the fantasy itch? Christine has five recs for you. Points of interest: Mike Carey is the same writer as M.R. Carey (The Girl With All The Gifts) and Marjorie Liu is the author of the Hunter Kiss urban fantasy series as well as Monstress. Multi-tasking!

Japanese speculative fiction in translation! I’ve been a fan of Japanese noir for some time, but haven’t delved much into speculative fiction yet, so this is exciting. I have my eye on Mr. Turtle in particular, as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were very important in my formative years.

And finally, how about some color on the silver screen? Jessica has a wish-list of diverse fantasies she’d love to see adapted.

Speaking of things I’d love to be adapted…

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Wow, you guys. SERIOUSLY WOW. This space opera belongs on your shelf next to the works of China Mieville, Iain M. Banks, and Cixin Liu. The sequel The Raven Stratagem comes out in June and I will be counting down the days. (Bonus: just listed for the Nebula Award for 2016 Novel!)

Captain Kel Cheris has kept her head down and worked her way quietly through the ranks, but a battle with heretics that goes sideways draws the attention of the higher-ups to her mathematical talent. Her skills get her assigned to a mission that is all risk and little reward, and which requires her to be pseudo-possessed by the centuries-old ghost of a brilliant and insane tactician. (And this is me simplifying the plot!)

Lee has built an empire in space in which the mechanics of calendars are all-important, heresy not only disrupts governance but changes the way the universe works, and everyone’s motives are inscrutable and suspect. The action sequences are intense, the plotting is top-notch, the conspiracies are shocking, and the characters are fantastic. Truly, I do not have superlatives enough to tell you how much I enjoyed Ninefox Gambit.

 

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

This one made the rounds of favorites when it came out in 2015, but I recently ran into someone who hadn’t read it yet and it reminded me that some of you might need a push! Naomi Novik is best-known for the Temeraire series, which just recently came to an end (long live fussy dragons during the Napoleonic wars!), but this stand-alone novel is gorgeous.

Inspired by a Polish folktale, Uprooted follows a young woman named Agnieszka as, against all expectations, she is chosen by a wizard to be his … housekeeper? Kind of? In exchange for a village girl every ten years, the Dragon (title, not literal dragon) protects the village from the ravages of the very-angry forest on its borders. Agnieszka is not expecting to be taken since she’s neither the most beautiful nor graceful nor bravest nor, well, you get the idea. But what she has in spades is moxie, and is thus the perfect person to star in an epic adventure.

There are a bunch of twists and turns to this fairytale rewrite, which always makes me happy. Novik knows the tropes well and isn’t afraid to spin them around until they lead off in unexpected directions. Evil forest, terrifying wizard, plucky young heroine, royalty in peril: all are there, but none are what they seem. And while the ending is satisfying, I hope someday that I get to return to Agnieszka’s world. Maybe now that Novik is done with historical dragons, we’ll get a sequel?

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Greetings and salutations, good readers.

As if we didn’t have enough bad news in our lives, physics students have done the math on the zombie apocalypse and we are all doomed. According to their initial calculations, it would only take 100 days before the human population would be unsustainably decimated. Why physics students are working on epidemiological models I cannot say, but I am delighted that these findings were presented for peer-review.

Last week I gave you some short fiction; to balance the scales, have some long series! You’re going to need to stock up on lengthy reading material for your zombie-apocalypse bunker, after all.

If the apocalypse arrives in 2017, it will be EXTRA ironic because then we’d miss Good Omens coming to a screen near us in 2018. The BBC are turning one of the funniest end-of-the-world novels of possibly ever into a six-part series, and I cosign the heck out of The Nerdist’s dreamcast.

Alright, some non-apocalypse news. I have refused to watch Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle for a variety of reasons (JK, it’s basically because I am a jerk-purist about this book), but I was delighted to see this reading list from Teresa — she covers books that are read-alikes, books inside the book/series, actual history, all the angles! It makes my History Major heart grow three sizes. (I am still not going to watch the show.)

The following reviews are certified zombie and/or apocalypse free. (FOR NOW.)

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

This is a book about a space princess on the run from a murderous conspiracy, and that is probably all some of you need to hear. For the rest of you, there’s a lot to love about Belleza’s debut. Following the aforementioned space princess Rhiannon “Rhee” Ta’an and soldier-turned-reality-star Aly, Empress introduces us to a galaxy in which a tenuous peace is about to be shattered. Rhee is the sole heir of her dynasty and is pretty sure her family was killed by the current Regent, so she’s spent the last ten years plotting revenge. Naturally! (This is where all those “Arya Stark in space” parallels come up.) Now that she’s turned 16, she’s ready to be crowned and to wreak her vengeance. But on the way to her coronation ceremony, everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

Poor Aly, the sidekick on a reality show about patrolling soldiers (I was initially skeptical of this future-TV spin, but it really grew on me as the plot developed), becomes the center of a new incident and is branded a traitor and murderer. And Aly is where the politics of Belleza’s galaxy really show up, as he’s the reluctant public face of a refugee population. His struggle to prove his innocence leads him into Rhee’s orbit. While they don’t actually meet in this first installment (who wrote that cover copy?), they’re definitely on a collision course.

The action is solid (spaceship fights! Hand-to-hand fights! Assassins! Religious cult archers! Deadly robots!), the world well-built, and the characters endearing. Belleza also neatly avoids a couple of my least-favorite YA tropes, although I’m not telling which because spoilers. For those looking for #ownvoices, this definitely qualifies and the main characters are clearly non-white. In conclusion, read this so we can yell at each other about the big twist, mmkay?

Amberlough by Lara Ellen Donnelly

I promised you cabaret last time, and cabaret you shall have! Donnelly has written a spy thriller set in an alternate world, and I absolutely devoured it. (Technically this is speculative fiction, folks, as there is no magic.) I’ve been trying to come up with my elevator pitch, and keep getting stuck somewhere around “It’s like if The Great Gatsby and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy went through a wormhole and then had a baby.” Baz Luhrmann would definitely be tempted to adapt this.

Cyril dePaul is a spy, and a louche one at that. His lover Aristide Makricosta is a smuggler, dealer, and cabaret emcee. Their arrangement involves them pretending they know nothing about each other’s real jobs while half-heartedly spying on each other, and also definitely not falling in love, not even a little. They live in Amberlough City, center of graft, whimsy, and liberalism. When Cyril falls into the hands of the conservative neighboring province’s spy forces, their relationship has to come to an end — but neither wants to let go. In the meantime, streetwise singer and small-time dealer Cordelia is just looking to keep herself in rent and food, but finds herself sucked into the darkest side of politics as the encroaching One State Party makes its move.

The plot is meticulously paced, as are the switches in POV (close third, in case that matters to you). The parallels to historical and current politics are obvious and, for some readers, perhaps a little on the nose. But what made this book such an incredible read for me were the character arcs. Cyril’s cynicism and self-interest; Aristide’s savvy and force of character; Cordelia’s political awakening; their interactions with the richly imagined and portrayed supporting cast, all held me from the first to the last page. Not to mention the ending! It hit me in the feelings place, I tell you what. This book is so vivid that a month after reading, I was still thinking about it enough to dreamcast it.

 

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This newsletter is sponsored by Age of Order by Julian North.

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Daniela Machado is offered a chance to escape the deprivation of Bronx City through a coveted slot at the elite Tuck School. There, among the highborn of Manhattan, she discovers an unimaginable world of splendor and greed. But her opportunity is part of a darker plan, and Daniela soon learns that those at society’s apex will stop at nothing to keep power for themselves. She may have a chance to change the world, if it doesn’t change her first.

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Hello, geek-friends and nerd-pals.

Our cyborg lives are upon us! Gizmodo rounded up all of the bio-tech achievements of 2016, and wow. As someone who can under no circumstances point to North when inside a building, I look forward to the day that implant reaches an affordable cost. I would prefer, however, not to have my brain zapped under any circumstances, please and thanks.

If your brain is scrambled by January and all that comes with the start of a new year, may we interest you in some SF/F short fiction? You’ve already heard me talk about Ken Liu’s Paper Menagerie, but AJ’s round-up on Book Riot includes several other excellent options.

There is no time like the present to reread The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, not least because the trailer has arrived for Hulu’s adaptation. I was (very) skeptical despite the A-list cast but this trailer has me converted, in particular thanks to the riffs on Offred’s pre-handmaid life. The first 10 episodes drop on April 26, and I’ve got it marked on my calendar.

Speaking of adaptations and TV, a quick note to say, WOW did the third episode of NBC’s Emerald City go off the rails. I have downgraded my “definitely going to watch” to “you get one more episode to prove you actually know what you’re doing here.”

In happier news, this examination of “The Twelve Huntsman” on Tor.com had me in stitches. My plan for the weekend includes digging out my copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales so I can read it for myself. Also how has this not been rewritten as a novel yet?? If I am just missing it, please do point me at it; if you’re an author, please consider this a formal request.

And now, this week’s recommendations! I’ve been delving into some backlist while I wait for pub dates to roll along for my favorites from this year, and I have three genre classics for you.

The Silent City and The Maerlande Chronicles by Elisabeth Vonarburg
These are out of print but not particularly hard to get; I got one from a used bookshop, one from Powells.com, and someone in my book group bought a copy on her phone while we were still sitting in the coffee shop. Which is to say, I have already been gushing about these both in person and online and you are my next victims!

I picked up The Maerlande Chronicles (actually the sequel) at a used bookstore based entirely on the cover and the Le Guin blurb on said cover. What an absolute delight to find such a compelling, thought-provoking book by chance! Following the exploits of a young girl growing up in the far-future, it uses letters and diary entries to introduce us to a matriarchal society that is on the cusp of cultural evolution. In this book Vonarburg’s writing has some of the scholarly feel of Susannah Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (although with zero footnotes), supplemented with a transgressive and bold imagination similar to Le Guin and Atwood.

And then there’s (actually first in the sequence) The Silent City, which looks at a future-albeit-not-quite-as-far-off city in which the technologically-enhanced elite have walled themselves off from the tumultuous and impoverished world and are slowly dying out. Enter the genetic experiments that produce Elisa, who might just save all of humanity. Here Vonarburg is really playing with our understanding of, and the taboos surrounding, sexuality and gender. Some of it is still subversive today, and some of it rings of the gender essentialism of its time (it was written in the 1980s). Regardless, it’s a fascinating and meticulously constructed novel, and these two books have gained a permanent spot on my bookshelves.

A note on order: I actually am not sorry I read Maerlande first, but the ending is deeply confusing if you haven’t read The Silent City or don’t have it immediately to hand. Do with that knowledge what you will!

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
I still haven’t managed to watch the Carmilla web-series, but I did dig up the novel that inspired it. (And by dig up I mean, borrowed it digitally from the library. Truly, my efforts were Herculean.) And I am so glad I did!

Published 25 years before Dracula, it’s a seminal work in the vampire genre. That is technically a spoiler (sorry!) as the nature of Carmilla, our pseudonymous antagonist, is the subject of the mystery the book is built around. But since it was published in 1872 I am pretty sure the spoiler statute of limitations no longer applies. It’s also an early example of the portrayal of lesbians in literature, and a stellar example of the Gothic novel.

The mental struggles the heroine Laura faces in her response to the strangely compelling Carmilla are classic fare (Repulsion! But also, attraction?! Not to mention gaslighting; it’s very confusing to be a Gothic heroine, y’all). Le Fanu managed to creep me the hell out despite the fact that I knew what was going on the whole time, which I consider an achievement. It’s a slow-burn plot-wise as almost all the action in the book takes place at the end, but it’s also a novella so it doesn’t take long to get there. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and definitely recommend it if any of the above sounds appealing.

And if not, never fear: our next installment involves space and cabaret!

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This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Wires and Nerve by #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer.

In her first graphic novel, bestselling author Marissa Meyer extends the world of the Lunar Chronicles with a brand-new,action-packed story about Iko, the android with a heart of (mechanized) gold. When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko takes it upon herself to hunt down the soldiers’ leader. She is soon working with a handsome royal guard who forces her to question everything she knows about love, loyalty, and her own humanity. With appearances by Cinder, Cress, Scarlet, Winter, and the rest of the Rampion crew, this is a must-have for fans of the bestselling series.

Greetings, fellow Earthlings!

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by St. Martin’s Griffin.

Mara is used to the extraordinary. Roaming from place to place with Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Carnival, she longs for an ordinary life where no one has the ability to levitate or predict the future. She gets her chance when the struggling sideshow sets up camp in a small town, where she meets a gorgeous guy named Gabe. But then Mara realizes there’s a dark presence in the town that’s threatening her friends. She has seven days to take control of a power she didn’t know she had in order to save everyone she cares about—and change the future forever.

Let’s have some good news, shall we?

In perhaps the most welcome and exciting press release I’ve had the pleasure to receive, Orbit Books has announced a new three-book deal with NK Jemisin (tired of hearing me talk about her? TOO BAD.). The first in the series is also Jemisin’s first novel set in our world and will deal with “themes of race and power in New York City,” due out in April of 2019. No one who’s read Jemisin’s work will be surprised by this description; she frequently deals with themes of race and power. But ever since I read her short story “Non-Zero Probabilities” I have been yearning for an urban fantasy from her, and now we’re getting one. I look forward to looking forward to that for the next two years.

LitHub recently published a selection of letters from Alice B. Sheldon as James Tiptree Jr. to Joanna Russ, and I am fascinated. Not least because I love the work of both authors, but because it gives us a look at the charade Sheldon maintained and her reasons for it. My first encounter with Tiptree’s work was “The Girl Who Was Plugged In,” likely via The James Tiptree Award Anthology 3 — well worth a read if you haven’t already. As near as I can tell, the letters quoted are from this collection (which does not appear to be digitized, alas).

Did you watch the first episode of Emerald City last Friday? I did! And I definitely plan to keep watching. I knew it would be visually lush since Tarsem Singh is involved, and I was excited about having a Latina lead; beyond that, I had no idea what to expect. I wasn’t disappointed: it’s gorgeous to watch, Adria Arjona is beautiful and really good at looking creeped out, Vincent D’Onofrio is perfectly obnoxious as The Wizard, and while it is not without problems there was plenty of plot to intrigue me. (Tor.com agrees.) It also made me want to read the Oz books, as I have heard from friends that Tip’s character is a particularly exciting inclusion (I know, how have I not read them?). Our very own Annika has contemplated the magical systems of both the show and the books (spoilers if you haven’t read the books). This is just one of a plethora of sci-fi/fantasy shows hitting the channels this year; io9 has a guide for you, if you’re interested in adding some screen-time to your 2017.

If you’re looking to add some representation to your TBR, Nicole Brinkley put together a list of Seven Fantasies with Asexual Leads for Book Riot and I want to read all of them. (Except for maybe Jughead; I am just not an Archie fan, y’all.)

Will everyone please report to the bridge? An exact replica of the original Star Trek bridge exists in Ticonderoga, NY, and you can visit it. It’s currently closed, but you can buy gift tickets now; might be a good Valentine’s Day gift for the Trekkie you love, I am just saying. Special tours with the original Chekov, Walter Koenig, (RIP Anton Yelchin) will go on sale in February.

And now: books!

Galactic Empires, edited by Neil Clarke
Empires, so hot right now! You’ll forgive me for not having read all of this 600+ page anthology yet, as I’ve been cherry-picking. Personal favorites Ann Leckie, Aliette de Bodard, Yoon Ha Lee, and Naomi Novik all have pieces here-in, and all are worth your time. If you’ve missed the Raadchai, Leckie’s brief tale of interspace espionage will scratch that itch (and if you’re unfamiliar with her Ancillary series, welcome aboard). De Bodard expands on the world of the Dai Viet (On a Red Station Drifting should be required reading for all space-opera fans, in my opinion) and offers a truly unsettling look at sentience and culture clash. Yoon Ha Lee gives us origami-inspired warships and moral ambiguity. I am here for all of it! You can see the full Table of Contents here to check if your favorites are included (I bet at least a few are).

Nine of Stars, Laura Bickle
I am a die-hard fan of the Dresden Files, the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews, and of Walt Longmire, so the publicity for Nine of Stars had me curious. “Weird West” is a tricky thing to pull off (and I’m not qualified to comment on the inclusion of Native American elements aside from to say that at least Bickle has honored the original Navajo definition of a skinwalker, unlike a bunch of other writers I could mention), but I enjoyed this installment a great deal. This is the third book in the Dark Alchemy series and I haven’t read the first two, but I didn’t have any trouble following the action or feeling attached to the main protagonists, reluctant alchemist Petra Dee and her love-interest the supernaturally-inclined Gabriel. While Dee and Gabriel are far less grumpy than Harry Dresden or Kate Daniels, it’s still a good comp for those series; Nine of Stars has some nicely escalating villainy, an intriguing supporting cast, and a well-imagined rural West setting. I’ll be going back to read the first two, and recommend them to anyone looking for a good distraction and/or escapist contemporary fantasy.

 

Live long and prosper (at the very least, until the next newsletter).

Hello on these final days of 2016! The future is basically tomorrow.

We’re giving away a $250 Barnes & Noble shopping spree. Go here to enter.

 

My goal with this week’s newsletter is to explode your TBRs for 2017 — sorry not sorry. You all got gift cards to bookstores, surely? (If not, please join me in bombarding my library with hold requests.) To that end, we’re starting off with the top five posts, plus one, from Book Riot’s science fiction and fantasy coverage in 2016:

100 Must-Read SF/F Books by Female Authors
100 Must-Read Strange and Unusual Novels
7 Stand-Alone Novels for Fantasy Lovers
7 Stand-Alone Novels for Science Fiction Lovers
10 Fantasy Books with Excellent Feminist Heroines
Bonus: Your Middle-Earth Race Based On Your Hogwarts House

Those are, of course, all books you can get/read now. I am happy to report that the Gods of Future Books have smiled upon us as well; here are 14 of the most anticipated sci-fi/fantasy/related books coming in 2017, selected by yours truly and my fellow Book Riot contributors. (All descriptions taken from publisher copy.) Time to limber up your pre-ordering muscles, folks.

The Cold Eye (The Devil’s West #2) by Laura Anne Gilman, January 10 2017 (Saga Press)
Picked by: Liberty Hardy
In the anticipated sequel to Silver on the Road, Isobel is riding circuit through the Territory as the Devil’s Left Hand. But when she responds to a natural disaster, she learns the limits of her power and the growing danger of something mysterious that is threatening not just her life, but the whole Territory.

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza, February 7 2017 (Razorbill)
Picked by: Angel Cruz
Rhee, also known as Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta’an, is the sole surviving heir to a powerful dynasty. She’ll stop at nothing to avenge her family and claim her throne.
Aly has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. But when he’s falsely accused of killing Rhee, he’s forced to prove his innocence to save his reputation – and his life.
With planets on the brink of war, Rhee and Aly are thrown together to confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy.
A saga of vengeance, warfare, and the true meaning of legacy.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, February 7 2017 (W.W. Norton)
Picked by: Keri Crist-Wagner and Martin Cahill
In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki, son of a giant, blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.
Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose emerge these gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.

Wintersong by S. Jae Jones, February 7 2017 (Thomas Dunne)
Picked by: Jenn Northington
All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.
But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.
Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.

Shadowbahn by Steve Erickson, February 14 2017 (Blue Rider Press)
Picked by: Jan Rosenberg
When the Twin Towers suddenly reappear in the Badlands of South Dakota twenty years after their fall, nobody can explain their return. To the hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands drawn to the American Stonehenge including Parker and Zema, siblings on their way from L.A. to visit their mother in Michigan the Towers seem to sing, even as everybody hears a different song. A rumor overtakes the throng that someone can be seen in the high windows of the southern structure.
On the ninety-third floor, Jesse Presley the stillborn twin of the most famous singer who ever lived suddenly awakes, driven mad over the hours and days to come by a voice in his head that sounds like his but isn’t, and by the memory of a country where he survived in his brother’s place. Meanwhile, Parker and Zema cross a possessed landscape by a mysterious detour no one knows, charted on a map that no one has seen.

Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez, March 14 2017 (Nobrow Press)
Picked by: Ardo Omer
Every night, tiny stars appear out of the darkness in little Sandy’s bedroom. She catches them and creates wonderful creatures to play with until she falls asleep, and in the morning brings them back to life in the whimsical drawings that cover her room.
One day, Morpie, a mysterious pale girl, appears at school. And she knows all about Sandy’s drawings…Nightlights is a beautiful story about fear, insecurity, and creativity, from the enchanting imagination of Lorena Alvarez.

Borne by Jeff Vandermeer, April 25 2017 (MCD)
Picked by: Martin Cahill
In Borne, the epic new novel from Jeff VanderMeer, author of the acclaimed, bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy, a young woman named Rachel survives as a scavenger in a ruined, dangerous city of the near future. The city is littered with discarded experiments from the Company—a bio-tech firm now seemingly derelict—and punished by the unpredictable attacks of a giant bear. From one of her scavenging missions, Rachel brings home Borne, who is little more than a green lump—plant or animal?—but exudes a strange charisma. Rachel feels a growing attachment to Borne, a protectiveness that she can ill-afford. It’s exactly the kind of vulnerability that will upend her precarious existence, unnerving her partner, Wick, and upsetting the delicate balance of their unforgiving city—possibly forever. And yet, little as she understands what or who Borne may be, she cannot give him up, even as Borne grows and changes . . .

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson, May 2 2017 (WW Norton)
Picked by: Jenn Northington
While waiting for your morning coffee to brew, or while waiting for the bus, the train, or the plane to arrive, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe.

Beren and Lúthien by JRR Tolkien, May 4, 2017 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Picked by: Kristen McQuinn
Painstakingly restored from Tolkien’s manuscripts and presented for the first time as a fully continuous and standalone story, the epic tale of Beren and Lúthien will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, Dwarves and Orcs and the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkien’s Middle-earth.
In this book Christopher Tolkien has attempted to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien from the comprehensive work in which it was embedded; but that story was itself changing as it developed new associations within the larger history. To show something of the process whereby this legend of Middle-earth evolved over the years, he has told the story in his father’s own words by giving, first, its original form, and then passages in prose and verse from later texts that illustrate the narrative as it changed. Presented together for the first time, they reveal aspects of the story, both in event and in narrative immediacy, that were afterwards lost.

Radiate (Lightless #3) by C. A. Higgins, May 23 2017 (Del Rey)
Picked by: Liberty Hardy
In the follow-up to Lightless and Supernova, C. A. Higgins again fuses science fiction, suspense, and drama to tell the story of a most unlikely heroine: Ananke, once a military spacecraft, now a sentient artificial intelligence. Ananke may have the powers of a god, but she is consumed by a very human longing: to know her creators.

The Refrigerator Monologues by Cat Valente, illustrated by Annie Wu, June 6 2017 (Saga Press)
Picked by: Martin Cahill
From the New York Times bestselling author Catherynne Valente comes a series of linked stories from the points of view of the wives and girlfriends of superheroes, female heroes, and anyone who’s ever been “refrigerated”: comic book women who are killed, raped, brainwashed, driven mad, disabled, or had their powers taken so that a male superhero’s storyline will progress.
In an entirely new and original superhero universe, Valente subversively explores these ideas and themes in the superhero genre, treating them with the same love, gravity, and humor as her fairy tales. After all, superheroes are our new fairy tales and these six women have their own stories to share.

The Raven Stratagem (The Machineries of Empire #2) by Yoon Ha Lee, June 13 2017 (Solaris)
Picked by: Martin Cahill
Shuos Jedao is unleashed. The long-dead general, preserved with exotic technologies and resurrected by the hexarchate to put down a heretical insurrection, has possessed the body of gifted young captain Kel Cheris.
Now, General Kel Khiruev’s fleet, racing to the Severed March to stop a fresh incursion by the enemy Hafn, has fallen under Jedao’s sway. Only Khiruev’s aide, Lieutenant Colonel Kel Brezan, appears able to shake off the influence of the brilliant but psychotic Jedao.
The rogue general seems intent on defending the hexarchate, but can Khiruev – or Brezan – trust him? For that matter, can they trust Kel Command, or will their own rulers wipe out the whole swarm to destroy one man?

The Stone Sky (Broken Earth #3) by NK Jemisin, August 15 2017 (Orbit)
Picked by: Jenn Northington
The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.
Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe.
For Nassun, her mother’s mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.
The remarkable conclusion to the post-apocalyptic and highly acclaimed trilogy that began with the multi-award-nominated The Fifth Season.

The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera, October 3 2017 (Tor Books)
Picked by: Angel Cruz
The Hokkaran empire has conquered every land within their bold reach―but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now, their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests.
Away on the silver steppes, the remaining tribes of nomadic Qorin retreat and protect their own, having bartered a treaty with the empire, exchanging inheritance through the dynasties. It is up to two young warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, to save the world from the encroaching demons.
This is the story of an infamous Qorin warrior, Barsalayaa Shefali, a spoiled divine warrior empress, O-Shizuka, and a power that can reach through time and space to save a land from a truly insidious evil.

 

See you in the New Year!

Hello nerdfriends and geek pals!

We’re giving away a 12-month Audible membership. Go here to enter.

 

As promised, I’ve got gift suggestions galore. But so many of you were interested in last time’s link to the Guardian’s Best Of list for 2016 science fiction and fantasy that I decided to include a round-up of a few others! You’ll see some overlap, so here’s a TL;DR list of the most-repeated titles:

Infomocracy, Malka Older
All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders
The Devourers, Indra Das
The Obelisk Gate, NK Jemisin
Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee
Death’s End, Cixin Liu
Too Like the Lightning, Ada Palmer

The lists themselves:

– Book Riot’s own Best Of 2016 is here and you can sort by genre.
– The Washington Post‘s Nancy Hightower picked five.
– Barnes & Noble’s list is delightfully long and includes a bonus 12 honorable mentions.
– Omnivoracious picked eight.
– Tor.com asked 11 contributors to pick three each.
– Publishers Weekly picked six.

And now, onto my Gift Guide for Procrastinating Nerds.

Let’s Start With Books

Staff (and personal) favorite Lauren Beukes got stellar new covers for her mind-bending older books, Moxyland and Zoo City. Get both for the dedicated Beukes fan or either to introduce them to the wonders of her imagination!
Price range: less than $20 each

We are happily not short on geeky coloring books. Pick your fandom: Game of Thrones; D&D’s Monsters and Heroes of the Realm; there’s a whole line of Harry Potter ones; the rabbit-hole goes on and on. For a nice pairing and starter-kit, add a set of Pop of Color pencils.
Price range: less than $20 each

For the nerd who has everything OR doesn’t know where to start, I recommend Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, edited by Karen Joy Fowler and including favorites Sofia Samatar, Kelly Link, Charlie Jane Anders, and Ted Chiang.
Price range: $20ish

For the nerd who loves art, you cannot do better than Shaun Tan’s beautiful and epic The Singing Bones (there’s a great review on Tor.com).
Price range: $20ish 

For the classics-inclined geek, these new Penguin Galaxy covers are drool-worthy. They’ve got a cornucopia of standards, including Dune, The Left Hand of Darkness, and The Once and Future King.
Price range: $20ish 

This book was all the rage when it came out in hardcover a couple years back (to the point where it was on backorder for actual months), but I bet we don’t all own Philip Pullman’s Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm AND WE SHOULD.
Price range: $20ish in paperback

If you’re looking to introduce someone to NK Jemisin’s work (or help out a completist), the Dreamblood Duology has a lovely new omnibus edition. (Bonus: we’re doing a giveaway of her Broken Earth books right now!)
Price range: $20ish 

What about a gift that keeps on giving? Here’s a genre-focused subscription box that’ll send a selection of themed books every other month!
Price range: $30+ per box

How about something for the armchair traveler and those looking for magic in our own world? Let me introduce you to Atlas Obscura.
Price range: $30+

For the Le Guin completist, while we’re all awaiting the illustrated Earthsea: have a beautiful boxed set of her short stories and novellas (which I can verify are well worth owning).
Price range: $50+

If the Penguin Galaxy covers appeal to you but are not quite fancy enough, The Folio Society has you covered (that illustrated Voyage of the Argo, though.)
Price range: $50+

Who doesn’t need a new Star Trek Encyclopedia, I ask you.
Price range: $100+

Now For Some Things Which Are Not Books

For the wickedest witch in your life: a Bellatrix enamel pin.
Price range: less than $20

For the gaming/Adventure Time enthusiast in your life: a BMO Light-Up journal.
Price range: $20ish 

For fans of The Martian: a “Science The Shit Out Of It” shirt!
Price range: $20ish

Beam us up, Scotty: an ugly sweater Star Trek-style!
Price range: $40ish

Listen, y’all, I own a cuddly Hulk from this seller and it is the best “late night lying in bed lurking on Tumblr” purchase I have ever made: get your own Nerd Plush.
Price range: $40+ 

For geek couture: I don’t know what to be more excited about from Elhoffer Designs, the Galactic vest and armwarmers or those Hogwarts sweaters.
Price range: $50+

For those strong in the Force: BB8 now has a Force Band!
Price range: $80 – $200

For the well-heeled gear-head: High-end gear gear.
Price range: $125+

But wait, there’s more! We’ve got a few Book Fetish posts that speak to your needs as well. For example, this one is entirely composed of Game of Thrones lingerie options. And for your comics-loving friends and relatives, a special edition.

 

Happy holidays, and may the shopping odds be ever in your favor!

Greetings, nerd-friends and geek-fellows!

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by us!

No need to mince words here: we are giving one lucky Book Riot reader $250 to blow at Amazon. Overstuff those stockings or get a jump on your New Year reading pile–up to you. Go here to enter.

There’s a lot of geeky movie/TV news in the offing, but before we dive into that I invite you to explode your to-read lists along with me thanks to this piece from The Guardian on 2016’s best SF/F. Obviously big fan of Jemisin and Chiang over here, and I adored Zen Cho’s book. There are several titles mentioned in that piece I’ve had on my TBR for ages (time to bump ’em up) plus a few I hadn’t heard of at all — always a delightful moment!

And now, to the screens.

– Anyone seen Arrival yet? There are linguists at USCD and Gizmodo who have thoughts. (If you haven’t seen it, their general thoughts about the role of linguistics vs. their very spoilery thoughts about plot are clearly marked, so you’re safe!)

– Anne Rice is planning a Game of Thrones-level TV adaptation of The Vampire Chronicles. While I have many qualms about her personally, I can’t help but think that if it actually happens this could make for some really good (or so-bad-it’s-good) binge-watching.

– In further Tolkien news, J.R.R. himself is getting a movie! A biopic, to be precise. Here I thought I knew a lot about the man (I once memorably won an argument with my 6th grade teacher about whether or not “philologist” was an actual word), but I learned four new things about him from this announcement alone, so I’m on board.

– Apparently Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame is a huge Patrick Rothfuss fan!? And is going to be the creative producer for both a Kingkiller Chronicles feature film and a TV series?! And maybe even a stage play!!? Is this the real life?!? (I can’t tell if this is better or worse for my dream that someone will someday adapt Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series for the screen.)

– I was going to save Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek: Discovery casting news as “best for last,” but then I saw that while she is playing a captain she is not playing the captain. I have big love for the Kelvin-verse movie franchise (well, at least the first and third installments), but I haven’t watched Star Trek on TV since Voyager. I’m psyched that Yeoh will have some role, but until we get some actual news about the major players, I will remain skeptical.

– Parker Posey to is going to play Dr. Smith in Netflix’s Lost In Space remake, LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS. Because I come from a long line of nerds whose only compatible interests are nerd-things, we went to see the 1998 Gary Oldman/Matt LeBlanc remake in the theaters. (Yes, there were other people in that movie. No, I don’t remember anything about their performances.) In both the original TV series and the movie remake, Smith is a saboteur stuck in outer space with a sometimes obnoxiously good-natured family of scientists and a robot that shouts DANGER! The original concept is already a remake of the Swiss Family Robinson concept (another childhood favorite). So what I am saying is, I was already here for this. And now we’ve got a female saboteur with stellar comic timing, which leads me to believe that Netflix intends for this to retain at least some of the light-heartedness of the original. Put me down officially as “REALLY EXCITED.”

It’s almost like I planned a “space” theme; let’s not waste this segue and go to our first recommendation.

Radiance by Catherynne Valente
Recently out in paperback, Valente’s latest is an intergalactic opus and a love letter to cinema. Set in an alternate universe in which the Solar System was colonized via space cannon starting in the late 1800s (think A Journey to the Moon) and silent film retained a hold on the film industry well into the 20th century, it’s both incredibly elaborate and very simple.

The plot is the simple part: a young woman named Severin Unck, daughter of a famous filmmaker and documentarian in her own right, goes to shoot a vanished town on Venus. She disappears, is presumed dead. The elaborate part is the prose and structure of the novel. The book talks to you the reader and/or you the viewer, interweaves transcripts and script excerpts and diary entries and monologues. It is profoundly performative, and not what I would call an “easy” read. You have to pay attention to follow the many characters and viewpoints, the jumps back and forth in time and space (literally). It’s a book that teaches you how to read it as you go along; it winks at you, elbows you in the ribs, then spins you around to face in a new direction. You can get a little dizzy in the process, but I enjoyed every twist and turn.

Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Ben Krueger
Bailey Chen is whip-smart and has the college degree, the steel-trap mind, and the ambition to prove it. What she doesn’t have is a job. Or rather, a “real” job — currently, she’s the barback at her high school friend’s bar, living with her parents, and failing at networking her way into a better gig. This is her biggest concern until the day she discovers that not only are monsters real, but that an elite cadre of bartenders fights them with magical booze.

There’s no time like the holidays for a page-turning adventure story about cocktails, am I right? Krueger’s got a sometimes wry, sometimes slapstick sense of humor and a knack for creating entertaining characters who eat clichés for breakfast. Indeed, every time I expected the plot to go one way it turned another. Recipes are interspersed between chapters, so one can add it to the mixology shelf as well as fiction. Fun, rompy, and a great book to have in your pocket for the boozehounds on your gift list.

 

Speaking of gifts, the next installment of Swords and Spaceships will skip news so that there’s more room for a Gift Guide for Nerd Pals. See you then!

Hello again, nerd-friends and fellow geeks.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Book Riot’s newsletters!

We’re giving away a brand-new, top-of-the-line Kindle Voyage. Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click on the image below.

During his acceptance speech last night at the National Book Awards, Colson Whitehead confessed that he had been struggling with what to say to people about the election as he toured for The Underground Railroad. What he finally came up with was (and I am paraphrasing slightly):

“BMF: Be kind to everyone. Make art. Fight the power… Remember, ‘They can’t break me, because I’m a Bad Mother F$#@!er.'”

Set this side by side with a quote from Ursula Le Guin’s speech at last year’s National Book Awards:

“Hard times are coming, when we’ll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope. We’ll need writers who can remember freedom – poets, visionaries – realists of a larger reality.”

A final quote for you, this time from comics artist Valentine De Landro at Book Riot Live last weekend:

“We want Bitch Planet to be speculative fiction.”

Us too, De Landro. Us too.

Like many others right now, I am searching for explanation, illumination, inspiration, motivation. The fact that I turn to books and writers for these things is, well, why I’m writing a newsletter about genre fiction — and, I imagine, why you’re reading one. Science fiction and fantasy have always been the first and last place I turn. They are the cloudy mirror, the escape, the wake-up call, the great what-if. And now more than ever, we need the capacity to ask, “What if?”

Every book does this, of course, but some ask a bigger and stranger “What if?” than others. Since this question has never felt more relevant or urgent, I give you a list of 11 novels of science fiction and fantasy that have asked questions that pulled me out of myself, sparked my mind, and changed me as a reader and citizen.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl: What if the victims of the Belgian Congo had had better technology?

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin: What if gender was both variable and sporadic?

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin: What if the oppressed used their power to fight back?

Infomocracy by Malka Older: What if government was no longer tied to geography?

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: What if everything we put our faith in was made manifest?

Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine de Landro: What if unruly women were sent to prison?

Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Gorodischer: What if we could watch the arc and fall of an empire through its stories?

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples: What if two people found love amidst war?

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes: What if our crimes were made manifest for all to see?

The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier: What if our pain was made visible and impossible to hide?

Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter: What if we reconsidered what it means to be human?

 

Next installment we’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming; until then, I wish you good books and fruitful thoughts.

Happy Friday, nerd-friends and fellow geeks.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by All the Books!

Keep up with the most exciting new books coming out each week with our All the Books! Podcast. YA, sci-fi, non-fiction, you name it, we cover it all.

Let’s talk some headlines, shall we?

If you’ve been wanting the full Hogwarts experience, you’ll want to keep an eye on the sorcerers of Mimbulus Mimbletonia. Next May, you could be practicing your wandwork and potion-making en français at their 4-day wizarding school. If only I had stuck with my high-school French! Which then leads me to wonder, does the language of magic have accents? What does a Beauxbaton levitation spell sound like? If anyone attends/has relevant information, please advise.

We are getting a new Middle-Earth story, and I have questions. But first, the actual news: It’s a previously unpublished novel about the adventures of Beren and Lúthien, written by J.R.R. and not Christopher. Now for my questions: Where has it been? We have had so much posthumous publishing from the Tolkien estate, it’s hard for me to believe that it’s taken this long for a full novel to come to light. I really want it to have been found in a secret compartment in his old writing desk, or perhaps a newly discovered wall-safe? As someone who did read The Silmarrillion (but not Unfinished Tales or Children of Húrin) and found it rough going, I’m also torn on whether or not to preorder a copy. What we already know about Beren and Lúthien is pretty great as backstories go — do I actually want more? Especially if it’s a (who knows how actually-finished) novel? This is something we all must decide for ourselves, I suppose. Regardless, it’s probably not going to be a good pick-up point for someone introducing themselves to Tolkien’s oeuvre.

What do we talk about when we talk about Turkish delight? That is not actually the title of this article but a girl can dream. JSTOR Daily offers us a lovely piece on why exactly Edmund would find Turkish delight the most compelling and wish-worthy of treats in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I spent most of my childhood believing it was some kind of pastry, who knows why.

And now, we need to talk about Dirk Gently. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and Long Dark Teatime of the Soul are my 2nd and 3rd favorite Douglas Adams novels (1st is Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 4th is Last Chance to See, in case you were wondering). With this in mind, I was originally very disheartened by the casting for HBO’s new series — while Samuel Barnett is very photogenic, he is neither portly, short, nor wearing a giant flappy hat. I tried to put that aside and give the pilot a chance; perhaps, like the movie, they’d capture the spirit rather than the letter. I am here to report that I tend to agree more with Vulture on this one after seeing the first episode, but the AV Club is holding out more hope (and has seen the first three eps). HBO did nod to the books but also made it clear that previous knowledge of the character and series is not required; your mileage may vary, but I recommend you proceed with caution.

Alright, onto this week’s reviews.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Oh, friends. If you have not read these two books yet, can I just say how jealous I am of you? And if you have only read Long Way, I am so delighted for you to read the sequel! Which is available RIGHT NOW in ebook (but not in print until March 14, 2017). In Long Way we meet the crew of the spaceship Wayfarer, a motley group of humans and aliens who just want to dig wormholes and be left to their own devices. Yes, you read that correctly: in Chambers’ world, people travel across the universe via wormholes and they can be manufactured. And while the world-building (universe-building?) is solid and enjoyable, this is a character-driven story at its heart. Where the various crew members came from, what they’re doing out in the black, and how they stand working with each other fill up the bulk of the plot.

Some of them we find out more than others, and some we’re left wanting more — enter A Closed and Common Orbit! It picks up where the previous book leaves off, but we’re no longer on Wayfarer; instead, we’re taking off with two minor characters for a fringe community of hackers, modders. Chambers is asking big questions about both technology and personhood — cloning and artificial intelligence and the logical extensions thereof come under close scrutiny.

If authors like NK Jemisin are busy ripping our hearts out (in the good way), Becky Chambers’ work is more likely to put it back into your chest and fill it with warmth (also, obviously, in the good way). These two books are the perfect escape from the tensions and stresses of this year: enough action to drive the plot along, and a ton of characters to root for.

The Chimes by Anna Smaill
The Chimes recently beat out a truly amazing roster of novels (including personal favorites The Fifth Season and Uprooted) for the 2016 World Fantasy Award, so of course I had to pick it up. After reading it, I am somewhat astonished no one shoved it at me in the last year because it’s exactly in my wheelhouse. It takes place primarily in a London that could be our dystopian future, or an alternate timeline, where music is the primary metaphor and memories must be captured externally to be kept. It takes some getting used to the language of the novel: things happen subito instead of suddenly, or lento instead of slowly. If you’re a classically trained musician (like the author) you’ll be fine; if not (like me), you’ll pick it up through context sooner or later. Our young narrator, Simon, finds himself in London on a half-remembered mission from his dying mother without friends, resources, or a plan. It’s especially hard to have a mission or a plan when your memories are wiped clean every day. But the mission finds Simon via his new-found ally Lucien, and he begins to unravel the truth about his own life and his world.

Smaill’s achievement lies in creating a dystopia that feels completely new — I don’t remember ever reading about the beauty and dangers of sound in the ways she lays them out. Simon is a wonderful narrator, and I got attached to the supporting cast as well. This is an absorbing, compelling read, and one that very well could change the way you think about your playlists, the whine of your refrigerator, that song stuck in your head.

 

See you two Fridays from now, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

Welcome back, nerd-friends and fellow geeks, to our second installment of Swords and Spaceships!

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Tourist by Robert Dickinson.

“A seductively intriguing work of speculative fiction.”―Kirkus

It was supposed to be an ordinary tour of the 21st century. A bus would take them to the mall. They’d have an hour or so to look around. Perhaps try the food.

A traffic accident on the way back to the resort provided some additional interest – but the tour rep had no reason to expect any trouble.

Until he noticed one of his party was missing. Which, according to the records from the future, is impossible.

She is the Tourist, and her disappearance could change the past and the future forever.

Let’s start off with some linky goodness.

If you live in San Francisco, you can train to be a Jedi Knight. This looks a little hardcore for my taste (ForceFit? CrossSaber?), but competitive lightsabering probably sounds great to at least some of you.

Remember how much I love Ted Chiang? You can read a short story of his for free at Electric Literature! If you ever wondered what parrots thought about humanity’s obsession with extraterrestrial life, wonder no more.

Our President and Nerd-in-Chief Barack Obama has some thoughts about AI in this excellent interview with MIT’s Joi Ito. I had not previously considered the moral dilemmas involved in programming self-driving cars, or the ways in which cybersecurity is like epidemic prevention. It’s a long read, but a good one.

Kim Stanley Robinson has some words for Elon Musk and the rest of us about Mars colonization (plus a zinger on sustainability).

Carmilla is getting a movie! Even though I have never actually watched this modern lesbian vampire love story, I have seen enough GIFs as a Tumblr user that I am already fond of it, and now I’ve got a reason to finally sit down and catch up. Let’s all watch together, shall we?

Here are this week’s books I strongly (SO STRONGLY) encourage you to add to your TBR pile:

Infomocracy by Malka Older
This is the election-year book you didn’t know you wanted, and I need you all to read it so that we can talk about Democracy In The Future! After finishing it, I felt a little bit better about the garbage fire that is this election season, although I couldn’t tell you exactly why. Perhaps it’s the way that Older is so thoughtful about the issue of democracy itself, and the different ways her characters relate to it. Perhaps it was the high-wire fight sequences (actual wires occasionally involved! Plus much stabbing) balanced with Very Important data-crunching (we’re talking world-saving data crunching here). Perhaps it was the characters themselves, who range from campaign staff to covert agents to punk dissenters to combinations-thereof. Probably it was all of these things, and the brio that marks Older’s writing. If you can’t stop thinking about politics but need a new way to think about them, pick this up ASAP.

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
I would recommend (and have been recommending) this to you regardless, but it is our very first #RiotRead book club pick! Find out exactly what that means right here. As to why you should read it, I have so many reasons. It’s a more diverse, more light-hearted (and way less footnoted) comp to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, if English Magic is your bag; if you love Historical Ladies Doing It For Themselves, it has that and then some; if you have always wanted a magical familiar, you will be delighted with this new take on the theme. And if you really, really, really need something delightful and distracting, I cannot recommend a better fantasy novel. The only caveat I have, so that you can’t say I didn’t warn you, is that it’s the first in a series and the new book isn’t out until July of 2017. WOE. Read it anyway.