Sponsored by THE LOST DREAMER by Lizz Huerta, with Fierce Reads.
A stunning novel inspired by ancient Mesoamerica, this gripping debut introduces us to a lineage of seers defiantly resisting the shifting patriarchal state that would see them destroyed—perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi and Sabaa Tahir. With a detailed, supernaturally-charged setting and topical themes of patriarchal power and female strength, The Lost Dreamer brings an ancient world to life, mirroring the challenges of our modern one.
Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with your first round of new releases for March! We’ve got a strong start for fantasy this month, that’s for sure. I write to you from the tail end of my glorious staycation, during which I ate many cookies and played many hours of video games while listening to audiobooks, and honestly? I’m feeling refreshed. I hope you have an opportunity soon to relax and do fun things, too. 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
A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee
Miuko is the ordinary, very human daughter of an innkeeper in the realm of Awara, where gods and monsters walk. When a curse is laid on her, she begins to transform into a demon, one who can kill with a single touch. She must embark on a dangerous quest to find a cure for this condition… except as she travels, she finds a freedom she never thought possible.
Stars and Bones by Gareth L. Powell
Seventy-five years from now, humanity flees a dying planet on a fleet of massive arks, each ship developing its own unique culture. One ship receives an alien distress call, and the crew sent to respond to it disappears. One of the missing is Eryn’s sister, and she joins the crew to search for them… but what they find is a terrifying and deadly threat that will follow them back home.
Gallant by V.E. Schwab
Olivia has spent what feels like all her life at the Merilance School for Girls, with her only memento of home her mother’s journal, a book that unravels into madness. Then she is invited back home to Gallant by a mysterious letter that no one at the house will admit to having known about. Even with no welcome from her family, Olivia feels more at home at Gallant than she ever has anywhere else, even after seeing ghouls in the hallways. There are secrets in the old house, and she will unravel them all.
Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin
Noor is psychologist who works at a memory removal clinic in London; while she spends her days helping people forget their worst moments, she has difficult connecting emotionally with others. Worse, she begins to suspect her boss, Louise, is engaged in some very shady business. Her life touches upon a series of customers, each of them wanting to forget a terrible moment in their lives… but then they must grapple with its absence afterward.
Make sure to get your own Read Harder Book Journal from Book Riot to track your reading for the year!
News and Views
Cora Buhlert’s roundup of indie speculative fiction for February 2022
Here are the candidates for the 2022 Rhysling Award
Reading Sword-and-Sorcery to Make the Present Less Real
Unseen JRR Tolkien paintings, photographs, and video clips released
Black History Month: How Octavia Butler’s legacy was born out of a bad science fiction movie
What I Learned from Breaking Up With D&D
On Book Riot
Morally Grey Heroines in Fantasy
Get Me Out of This Day! 10 Time Loop Books to Make You Glad Tomorrow’s Coming
The Best Books You’ve Never Heard of (Winter 2022)
7 of the Most Anticipated Middle Grade Fantasy Retellings
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.