Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with your last new releases for May (how is it the end of May?) and more books from those authors because I adore them both. I hope everyone had an excellent weekend; I did a yard sale with a friend, which meant I got to see some of my old books go to new homes! I always love looking through books at yard sales. (And at used book stores. And at new book stores. And…) Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!
BookRiot.com co-founder Jeff O’Neal explores the wide bookish world with interviews, lists, rankings, retrospectives, recommendations, and much more, featuring people who know and love books. Subscribe to First Edition on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcatcher of choice.
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.
Bookish Goods
Orpheus and Eurydice Tote Bag by BrainNudes
I was thinking Orpheus and Eurydice because of one of the books this week and I found this tote bag. It made me utter such a cackle so I am sharing it with all of you. $20
New Releases
More Perfect by Temi Oh
In a near future London where people can use technological implants to connect directly to the Panopticon for the ultimate social media experience of the minds and dreams of others, Moremi had hopes this technology would save her from her depression. Instead, she meets Orpheus, a man raised by a Neo-luddite to question everything, including the government’s promise that the Panopticon will end human suffering. Together, they uncover the dark side of the technology. (This has been pitched to me as a sci-fi story that jumps off from the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and I am fascinated.)
Witch King by Martha Wells
Kai has been dead for a long time; being murdered and having his consciousness imprisoned in the timeless space of a water trap was merely a pause for him, however. When a lesser mage wakes him by trying to steal his power, Kai takes his opportunity to investigate his own death and imprisonment.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
I’m SO EXCITED that we’re getting a new book from Temi Oh and a new book from Martha Wells, all in the same week. So I’m going to take this opportunity to advertise a second book for each of them!
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
It’s been a hundred years since an astronomer discovered an earth-like planet near — in the grand scale of space — ours. It will take a mission 23 years to reach this new world, but at last it’s happening. Ten veteran astronauts and six teenagers are being sent to this new world to build the first outpost — but first they have to get there.
The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
Moon is an orphan who has been adopted by the tribes of the river valley, but only because he’s tried very hard to hide his nature as a shapeshifter — a decision that’s kept him nominally safe and fed, but also meant the skies are forbidden to him since he must hide his wings. But when he’s once again cast out, he meets another shapeshifter who seems to know who he is…but doesn’t bother to tell Moon that his lineage heralds a shift in the balance of power and that his people face extinction.
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.