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Swords and Spaceships

The Headless Stars of Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings Series

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got a few new releases for you in this second week of February–for some reason, not a lot of books were coming out today. Hopefully there’s still something to pique your interest in the selection available! Over this weekend, I had the pleasure of taking a dear friend to Convergence Station, an interactive art experience by Meow Wolf. This is my second trip there, and I love this intersection of art and speculative fiction. If you ever get a chance to go yourself, take it! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process


New Releases

Note: The new release lists I have access to weren’t as diverse as I would have liked this week.

Cover of Clean Air by Sarah Blake

Clean Air by Sarah Blake

The climate apocalypse isn’t rising sea levels or heatwaves; it comes with overgrown plant life filling the air with so much pollen that no one can breathe it. Izabel lives in a world with people living in a series of airtight domes, one where humanity is finally flourishing again and there is safety and prosperity. Then an unknown person begins slashing domes open, letting the outside air in to kill the residents–a new kind of serial killer. And Izabel’s daughter begins having strange sleep-conversations about the murders.

The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran

The titular book is a 17th century manual on sex magic, which just might be the most powerful occult book ever written… if it exists. Lily, a former novelist who has consigned herself to loneliness after suffering a tragedy, sets out to find this book under the promise of how much money she’ll be paid if she can. The world’s wealthiest people might wish to fulfill their desires with black magic… but it’s Lily’s desire to join their ranks.

Cover of Rise of the Mages by Scott Drakeford

Rise of the Mages by Scott Drakeford

Emrael Ire is an ordinary man who wants only to be a weapons master… but his final test becomes surviving an insurrection that ends with his brother enslaved. In so doing, he discovers a powerful, latent magic within himself, a skill he never wanted or imagined he might have. His one stroke of luck is his War Master tutor is also an undercover mage, and she might be able to teach him the skills he needs if he’s to rescue his brother and defeat the Fallen God.

Stan Lee’s The Devil’s Quintet: The Armageddon Code by Stan Lee and Jay Bonansinga

Five former Navy SEALS, each with a different background, are brought into a special ops unit and dispatched to the Caucasus to stop a terrorist threat. When their mission goes awry, they’re offered a bargain by the literal Devil, who offers them mystical powers that will allow them to send evil people directly to Hell for his enjoyment. But no gift from the Devil comes without strings, and each member of the the new Devil’s Quintet must struggle against the corruption of their powers or face damnation themselves.

Make sure to get your own Read Harder Book Journal from Book Riot to track your reading for the year!

News and Views

The Octavia Butler Novel for Our Times

The Horror Writers Association is running a Black Heritage interview series

A man in a Star Wars costume gives out free masks to travelers. Meet “The Maskalorian.”

File770 has chosen all 30 of its semifinalists for the Self-Published SF Competition 2021

Amazon Releases Lord of the Rings TV Show Character Photos With One Thing Missing

The Winterfell set from Game of Thrones got set on fire

A Riftwar Cycle series is one again in development

Bill Nighy Will Play David Bowie’s Role in The Man Who Fell to Earth Series on Showtime — unsure how to feel about this but… who could even follow in Bowie’s footsteps?

On Book Riot

Queer Retellings Coming Out in 2022

The World of YA Book Covers

Legendborn Series Is Being Adapted Into a TV Show

Back For More: 12 Exciting Sequels Coming in 2022

Fantasy Tiger Books to Read in the Year of the Tiger (ICYMI when it was in the newsletter!)

This month you can enter to win a year of tailored book recommendations, a $200 gift card to the Ripped Bodice, and $50 at your favorite indie bookstore.

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!


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.