Sponsored by Saga Press, the speculative fiction and horror imprint of Simon & Schuster.
Black Sun, the new epic fantasy novel from New York Timesbestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse, is made for readers who enjoyed the lush worldbuilding and beautiful prose of N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season and Marlon James’ Black Leopard, Red Wolf. Inspired by the indigenous civilizations of the Americas before European colonization, Black Su follows warring matriarchies, all vying for power in a world filled with celestial prophecies, political machinations, and forbidden magic.
Happy Friday, shipmates! Days are getting shorter, but the weather is sure getting hotter around here, in part because it’s wildfire season where I’m at. It’s Alex, with some Friday book suggestions for you (on a very hot theme) and some news items for your perusal as we head into the weekend. Stay safe, stay cool (if applicable in your place of residence), and I’ll see you on Tuesday!
Something that made me smile: the most adorably New York thing I have ever seen.
Also the best curbside library pickup commercial ever. Bless u, Harris County.
Looking for non-book things you can do to help? Lebanoncrisis.carrd.co
News and Views
A TV series is in development for Jade City by Fonda Lee.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia has been optioned.
P. Djèlí Clark: Will I live to see my utopia?
A great interview with R.F. Kuang
(TW for sexual assault) Lithub did a deep dive into what an utter pig Isaac Asimov was. If you brave the comments, former SFWA President Marta Randall recalls when he assaulted her.
Author Marina J. Lostletter (she of Noumenon) now has a YouTube channel. (Full disclosure: Marina and I have the same agent.)
Speaking of my agent, DongWon Song he had a lot of smart (and kind of angry) things to say about SF “canon.” (I know I don’t normally name drop, but it’s a good piece. Just tell substack that you want to read without subscribing and it’ll show you.)
The Dragon Awards ballot has been posted and there’s actually a bunch of good stuff on it this year.
Interesting interview with John Rhys-Davies and others, in which JRD talks about being an older actor during the pandemic.
This is an amazing thread about Hantu
A long-lost transcript from the Apollo 1 fire investigation has been published
8 Martian postcards to celebrate Curiosity’s landing anniversary
On Book Riot
9 YA folklore books from around the globe
This month you can enter to win $50 at your favorite indie bookstore and a 1-year Kindle Unlimited subscription.
Free Association Friday: Wildfire Season
It’s wildfire season in Colordo, which has announced itself with ever more beautiful pink and orange sunsets which, if you’re from here, are creepy as all heck because on no nomal day should you ever be able to look at the sun. My week started with the Grizzly Creek/120 fire bursting on the scene by burning up around I-70. (As I write this on Wednesday night, I-70 is still closed and the fire, now over 3700 acres, is 0% contained and burning through extremely rugged terrain.)
So yeah, that’s why I’ve got fire and ash-themed things on the brain right now. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin immediately springs to mind, with its apocalyptic, world destroying “seasons” that periodically try to consume the world with ash and fire.
Then there’s Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri, where the titular realm is a magical and haunting place where mortals can travel to find the echoes of their ancestors’ dreams. Arwa, widowed unnaturally early by a massacre, must brave the realm of ash with a disgraced prison, a journey that will take them out into the desert and offer them the salvation of an Empire they’re no longer certain is worth saving.
Ashlords by Scott Reintgen has phoenix horses. Let me repeat that: phoenix horses. The ashlords race these horses, which return to life every morning, and defend their bones at night during the races.
Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter has the fire of dragons, which are the weapon of last resort of the Omehi people as they fight a steadily losing battle to keep hold of the lands they invaded, cast from their home by other invaders in turn. In all that fire and blood, Tau sets out to get vengeance for the death of his father at the hands of a noble far above him in the rigid Omehi caste system.
Smoke Eaters by Sean Grigsby also has fire-breathing dragons that leave total devastation in their wake. But a few lucky humans are immune to the horrors of dragon smoke, and if you’re blessed (or cursed) with that skill, you get recruited into the Smoke Eaters, an elite dragon-fighting force, whether you like it or not.
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang – Look, I can’t actually tell you what the fire connection is here because it’s a giant spoiler, so you’re just going to have to trust me. And you should read this book anyway because it’s extremely good and extremely intense.
Jeweled Fire by Sharon Shinn – The most low-key about its fire of the bunch, but it’s about a disinherited princess who is personally ruled by the element of fire. She steals away to escape the political troubles in her homeland… and then just finds more political trouble where she ends up.
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.