Sponsored by The audiobook edition of Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis, read by Stephanie Willis and Oliver Thorn.
The alternate history first contact adventure Axiom’s End is an extraordinary debut from Hugo finalist and video essayist Lindsay Ellis. A well-timed leak has revealed that the US government might have engaged in first contact. Cora Sabino is doing everything she can to avoid the whole mess, since the force driving the controversy is her whistleblower father. She wants nothing to do with him—until she learns just how deeply entrenched her family is in the cover-up, and that an extraterrestrial presence has been on Earth for decades.
Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and it must be time for some new releases and a few bits of genre news. It’s almost time for WorldCon, which means I’ve been doing a lot of Zoom time in preparation. This’ll actually be my first virtual convention, so I’ll let you know how it goes! (And this also means the Hugos are coming, though they won’t be done in time for Friday news.) Stay safe out there, and I’ll catch you on Tuesday!
Thing I’m screaming about right now: HALO INFINITE
Non-SFF thing: Alyssa Cole’s Spring Fling 2020 Keynote is really worth reading.
Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project.
New Releases
Note: There appear to be almost no authors of color on the new SFF release lists for this week that I have access to.
Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline – Joan’s husband Victor goes missing a few hours after they have their first truly serious argument as a couple. She searches for him in vain and has almost given up when she hears Victor’s voice coming from inside a revival tent. The man preaching there says his name is Reverend Wolff, but Joan sees her husband, somehow struck with amnesia, in him—and a darker power as well, something old and very dangerous. She turns to her Métis family and their traditions to uncover the truth.
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: Stories by Laura van den Berg – A collection of short stories about women on the emotional edge, fighting misogyny, America’s ridiculous economics, and violence. Ranging in tone from fairy tales to ghost stories, they are both haunting and unflinching.
The Worst of All Possible Worlds by Alex White – Drawn by rumors of humanity’s fabled birth place, the Origin, the crew of the Capricious go searching for the first colony ship—and a power that could rival a god’s. Too bad this crew seems to leave a trail of destruction in their wake and always sets a course for danger, whether they want it or not. With their enemies on their tail and their home planet in serious need of their help, they’d better hope they can pull this mission off.
Automatic Reload by Ferret Steinmetz – Mat and Silvia don’t have a normal meet-cute. Mat is a disabled verteran-turned-mercenary who has crafted his body into a perfect weapon by replacing all of his limbs with an interchangeable roster of cybernetic weapons. Silvia is a woman who had her debt called in by an untrustworthy corporation that decided the best way for her to repay was by genetically engineering her into a perfect killing machine. But even when they’re running from the aforementioned shady corporation, which is intent on killing them, they can’t escape their very real chemistry.
Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings – Bettina Scott is a woman deserted by her family in the burning heat of a small west Queensland town; her father has left and her brothers vanished. But then she receives a note from one of those supposedly-disappeared brothers, one that has her questioning the circumstances of departure of the men in her family, and she embarks on a search for the truth. The heat, dust, and sun of interior Queensland makes a bright backdrop for a decidedly gothic and dangerous journey.
Deal With the Devil by Kit Rocha – An information broker and her team of mercenary librarians cross paths with a squad of AWOL supersoldiers in a crumbling America. They can either fight each other, and destroy what’s left of their country in the process… or they can team up and just maybe save it all.
News and Views
Jeannette Ng on The Inescapable Whiteness of Avatar: The Legend of Korra, and its Uncomfortable Implications
Read an excerpt from Every Bone a Prayer.
Lovecraft Country sneak peek from Comic-Con!
Comic-Con panel: What makes epic fantasy “epic”?
Dune publishing reveals from Comic-Con
Charlize Theron on her career thus far with highlights transcribed here. And here’s a clip about the training regime for The Old Guard
On Book Riot
8 new epic fantasy debuts for 2020
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.
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.