Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and…where the heck did November go? How is this the last newsletter of the month? Where am I? Who am I? Well, existential crisis about linear time aside, I bring you the last edition of Sequelvember and two dark fantasy short story collections to check out. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, whether it was a holiday weekend or not! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!
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Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.
Bookish Goods
Book Page Wreath by NeenasCraftCorner
I just bought a holiday wreath to hang on my front door, but this is such a cool idea for an indoor wreath — upcycled book pages. You can custom order size and contact the shop owner to request pages from a specific book! $33+
New Releases
Like Thunder by Nnedi Okorafor
Sequel to Shadow Speaker.
It’s 2077 in Niger, and we join the story of the Desert Magician, already in progress. He brings water where there is none…and now he’s losing his mind because he’s figured out that his epic journey with the Ejii Ubaid, the Shadow Speaker, never actually ended.
Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon
All, I lied that this was all Sequelvember…a number one of a series has snuck in! I really loved the author’s other series (start with The Witch King), so…
A nonbinary Seminole teen, Gem Echols, plays queer godparent for many of their fellows but is an absolute mess underneath it all. But now the strange new girl in town somehow knows of Gem’s dreams, which they’ve never shared with anyone. When they’re attacked by a stranger who claims to be the Goddess of Death, it turns out they may well be the reincarnation of an old god — a god who wasn’t always benevolent.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
I’m in for another doozy of a couple weeks, so I’m thinking quick little bites of fiction that are still very filling is the order of the day.
Drinking from Graveyard Wells: Stories by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu
This short story collection engages with African women’s history, the personal to the generation, the bleak to the joyful. A question asked always in undercurrent is, “Even in death, who has ownership over Black women’s bodies?”
Skin Thief: Stories by Suzan Palumbo
This 12-story collection (one of which is an all-new novelette) uses dark fantasy and Trinidadian folklore to grapple with identity, homophobia, racism, oppression, immigration, and other topics.
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.