Categories
Swords and Spaceships

The Cozy Fantasy Hearth/Backpack Spectrum

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with your last round of new releases for January. And if there are any typos in this, please forgive me because I’m trying to type around a large tabby cat sprawled in my lap. He’s an old man now (17 years old) so I have a hard time saying no to him even when he’s being really helpful. Stay safe out there, space pirates, give your kitties a kiss for me, 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

Cover of Light Years From Home by Mike Chen

Light Years from Home by Mike Chen

Kass and Evie haven’t been on speaking terms since the incident… which involved their dad and brother disappear on a camping trip. Dad was found wandering around a few days later, lost and claiming he’d been abducted by aliens; their brother never showed back up at all. Evie has dedicated herself to finding Jakob and become a UFO conspiracy nut, while Kass has given up on him as a runaway burnout. And then Jakob suddenly returns, talking about an intergalactic war…

The Broken Tower by Kelley Braffet

Judah finds herself wandering in an unknown forest beyond the Wall after leaping from the top of the castle tower, choosing freedom and possible death over betrayal. Alone for the first time in her life, she has a chance to try to figure out who she is and what she wants… but she won’t be free for long. Within her lies the key to unlocking the power long trapped in the world, and there are many who wish to find her and use her.

cover of Goliath

Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi

In the 2050s, those with privilege and means have left the Earth behind for the comfortable orbiting space colonies. Those left behind must struggle to survive in a world where, one piece at a time, everything good they could call their own is being sent up to the colonies, one piece at a time.

Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar

A new retelling of The Nutcracker, in which a young woman named Marietta Stelle wishes only to be a ballerina, but will have to give up that dream to marry at the behest of her family. But when Dr. Drosselmeier, a mysterious toymaker, moves into the townhouse nextdoor, he brings hope and dark magic in equal measure. He builds her a set for her final performance that will lead her to a realm she could never have imagined.

Cover of Obsidian by Sarah J. Daley

Obsidian by Sarah J. Daley

Shade Nox is a lone witch among wizards, branded an abomination and a criminal by the Brotherhood church. In defiance, she wields her obsidian blades and wears her tattoos openly as she protects her fellow outcasts. With the land around them growing ever more unstable, she resolves to raise a Veil to protect her people, something no one’s been able to do in the last century. And the church swears to destroy her before she has a chance to complete her spell.

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

News and Views

The preliminary ballot for the 2021 Bram Stoker Awards has been released

Too Many Books and No Bad Books?

When Does The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Take Place?

Children of Blood & Bone’s Paramount Shift Happened Because of Star Wars

The real story of how Daft Punk became the robots

This is one of the most jaw-droppingly ridiculous things I’ve read about this month. Basically, some cryptobros wanted to make their own Dune and… don’t understand how rights work?

The Hearth/Backpack Spectrum (this is about cozy fantasy)

My Anthology Problem

Robot vacuum cleaner escapes from Cambridge Travelodge

New PenguinCam Takes You on a Chaotic Sardine Hunt

On Book Riot

Why I Gave Up Reading The Wheel of Time

Something’s Amiss: 12 of the Best Gothic YA Books

I Left You Favorite Book Off That List on Purpose

Middle Grad Books About Time Loops…Middle Grade Books About Time Loops

This month you can enter to win a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card and a Nook Glowlight Plus. Canadian readers can enter to win a waterproof Kobo.

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.