Sponsored by Baen Books.
“BARD DESPERATE FOR APPRENTICE AND ROGUE WITH SIDELINE IN INSURANCE SEEK WORK. PREFERABLY AS GOOD GUYS.” Dragon Award-Nominated and Highly Acclaimed Author, D.J. Butler brings another intriguing tale. This time Butler’s fast-paced, humorous banter mixes with far-future tech in a space opera reminiscent of Star Wars’ Mos Eisley Cantina. It’s a space-opera with a buddy-cop feel. Fans of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden, Joe R. Lansdale’s Hap & Leonard, and Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd the Gray Mouser will all find much to like.
Happy Friday, shipmates! Hey, we made it through another week, and I’m proud of us all. Hopefully you’ll have a chance to do a little relaxing—and reading. It’s Alex, with some books by nonbinary writers for you, since it is still nonbinary week, and a few news items. Stay safe out there!
Thing that made me smile: This wholesome video on how to make chai is the start of an entire, wholesome thread.
Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project.
News and Views
Registration is now live for FIYAH’s online convention
(CW: Sexual assault) Authors, Customers Demand Borderlands Books Owner Divest From Store
Octavia E. Butler and racialized labor
Congratulations to the winners of the 2019 Shirley Jackson Awards!
Online Hugos voting is available. The deadline is July 22.
Sarah Gailey: Everything Is The Hunger Games Now
Library of Congress to honor Colson Whitehead
New short story from Seanan McGuire that is a side story to In an Absent Dream: Juice Like Wounds
Alex Brown’s list of must-read short SFF from June
Abigail Nussbaum on “The Political Hugo”
If you ever wondered how surgery in space would work…
On Book Riot
8 weird genre fiction books by diverse authors
The appeal of desert fantasy stories and Each of Us a Desert
Reading pathways: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Enter before the end of the month and you could win The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, a year of free books, or a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.
Free Association Friday: Nonbinary SFF Showcase!
July 14 is International Nonbinary People’s Day, if you didn’t realize. We’ve been officially celebrating for eight years—though trust me, we’ve been around waaaaaaaay longer than that. And it’s Nonbinary Week all this week, so what better time to talk about more fiction from nonbinary writers?
Neon Yang’s Tensorate novella series were actually the first books I ever read that had a nonbinary character who was also a love interest. I will always love them for that—plus it’s just a super fun fantasy world with dinosaurs! And magic! And anti-authoritarian rebels! Start with The Black Tides of Heaven. (Full disclosure: Neon and I have the same agent.)
Houses Under the Sea by Caitlín R. Kiernan – Caitlín has written a ton of short fiction, and this is just one of their collections–the Lovecraftian one.
The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis – Five girls who were sold to a “welcome house” as children and branded with cursed marking embark on a difficult journey to freedom and justice when one of their number accidentally kills a man.
Behold the Deep Never Seen by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor – Merc writes a ton of really good short fiction, and this one’s a place to start. If you’re looking for more short bites, check out their website.
Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender – The only survivor of a family massacred by colonizers sees her opportunity for revenge when the childless king of the islands declares that he will seek an heir among the nobles.
When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey – Accidental murder by magic! High school friends trying to make things right and only making things worse! (Full disclosure: Sarah and I have the same agent.)
Empire of Light by Alex Harrow – A hired killer gets his butt kicked by his mark, and in exchange for his life, she demands that he help out the revolution he was supposed to stop.
Depart, Depart! by Sim Kern – A Jewish trans man takes shelter in a basketball arena after a hurricane devastates Houston. As conditions in the shelter detereorate, he begins to see the ghost of his grandfather, who fled Nazi Germany as a boy.
Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore – In 1518, a strange sickness made women dance in the streets of Strasbourg until they died from exertion. Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes visit the same curse on an unlucky girl. Her only hope is the descendent of the family who was blamed for the deaths in Strasbourg.
Ariah by B.R. Sanders – Ariah’s just getting a handle on his dangerous magic–and having a romance with his mentor’s brother–when his education is cut short by an empire expanding its borders.
Feeder by Patrick Weekes – A monster hunter who uses an interdimensional creature to drag aliens into another dimension finds her life even more complicated after she stumbles across a group of super-powered, mutant teenagers being held captive by her employers.
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.