Sponsored by NINE DAYS, Now Playing NY & LA, Everywhere Friday.
Will (Winston Duke) spends his days in a remote outpost watching the live Point of View on TV’s of people going about their lives, until one subject perishes, leaving a vacancy for new life on earth. Soon, several candidates — unborn souls — arrive at Will’s to undergo tests determining their fitness, facing oblivion when they are deemed unsuitable. Will soon faces his own existential challenge in the form of Emma (Zazie Beetz), a candidate who is unlike the others, forcing him to reckon with his past. Fueled by unexpected power, he discovers a bold new path forward in his own life.
Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex with a selection of new releases for you this week, and some links for your perusal. On Friday, I mentioned I was going to see The Green Knight… and I’m here to report that it is amazing. Weird, stylish, gorgeous, and wall to wall excellent performances, though of course Dev Patel is the king in more ways than one. I cannot recommend this movie enough. While I love garbage franchise action movies probably a lot more than the next person, this one is still a desperately needed breath of fresh air for the genre in film. I hope you get a chance to see it! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you again on Friday.
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ and anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co
New Releases
Monkey Around by Jadie Jang
Maya McQueen is a barista, activist, and… were-monkey, and she’s just trying to figure herself out in modern San Francisco. But with Occupy Wall Street coming home to roost in the Bay Area and disappearances of supernatural people and murders of shapeshifter shaking up her world, she needs to prioritize her most urgent problems and get them solved. Now. Before it’s too late. The good news is, solutions don’t have to be neat, which suits a monkey just fine.
The Hand of the Sun King by J.T. Greathouse
Wen Alder is torn between two legacies. On his father’s side, he’s expected to pass the Imperial exams, learn magic, and serve the Sienese Emperor by rising to become the Hand of the Emperor. On his mother’s side, there’s wild, uncontrolled magic and resistance to the empire, and his introduction comes from his rebellious grandmother. Faced with the choice between rebellion and obedience, he soon comes to realize that this war is not just for the humans, but the heavens as well, and he may be the key to victory.
The Great Destroyers by Caroline Tung Richmond
Jo Linden lives in an alternate world where the nuclear bomb was never invented — and now wars are decided by giant, mechanical soldiers. The Cold War rages, and the USSR and US posture at each other at the Pax Games, which pits young mecha pilots against each other. After losing every competition since 1963, the US is desperate for a win, and this is the year to do it, with the President of the United States and the Premier of the USSR about to meet in peace talks. Jo, the child of a mecha mechanic, didn’t ever expect to compete at this level, but when she’s recruited at the last moment, she can’t say no. When the Pax Games turn deadly, she must unravel a political plot if she wants to save herself — and stave off world-ending war.
Holdout by Jeffrey Kluger
Model astronaut Walli Beckwith mystifies her colleagues and infuriates ground control when she refuses to leave the International Space Station in the wake of an accident that forces the evacuation of all her colleagues. But this is a matter too important for her to worry about the risk to her career; she sees the incident for what it is, and knows only she can save both a forgotten part of Earth and the person she loves most.
Saving Proxima by Travis S. Taylor and Les Johnson
In 2072, Earth finally receives the signal that SETI has been searching for — a broadcast from Proxima Centauri. While nations across Earth debate how to go about first contact — if they respond at all — humanity learns that the Proximans are about to be killed by an extinction-level event. With an entire alien civilization at stake, humanity must figure out how to send help — and how to get there in time.
The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad
The Wild Ones are girls who have seen the words of the world, girls who have gained access to the place of pure magic called the Between, girls who refuse to be silenced. Together, they will rescue Taraana, a boy with stars in his eyes who helped them gain their magic.
News and Views
July roundup of Indie Speculative Fiction
Exploring Nnedi Okorafor’s Africanfuturist Universe
A great interview with LeVar Burton (who is an SFF author, too! see: Aftermath)
Playing favorites with favorites, or, what we talk about when we talk about our favorite books
Pioneering sci-fi writer Octavia Butler joins a pantheon of futurists
Thoughts on fertility issues in science fiction
A horse by any other name: Anne McCaffrey’s dragons
Vintage ad for SFF books in the 40s & 50s
The Fantasy Hive has its week 4 wrap up for Women in SFF
A response to the backlash against the Tolkien Society Summer Seminar including diversity as a topic
What sci-fi novels can teach us about uncertainty
This Shimmering Black Rock Is a 2,000-Year-Old Exploded Brain
On Book Riot
You should also check out 12 LGBTQIA YA Audiobooks to Listen to in the 2nd Half of 2021 — there are some SFF selections on there!
See you, space pirates. 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.
