Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex with a couple of fantasy new releases on the docket today and, since it’s now after Mother’s Day and in Colorado that means we can finally do our at-home planting— a couple of books that feature flowers! May your potted plants thrive (though perhaps less enthusiastically than my geranium, which is a monster) and your flower beds be beautiful! 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
24 Fantasy Book Paper Roses
This is a really cute decoration idea! Paper flowers made from the recycled pages of fantasy books. The sellers got a couple of different kinds of flowers, too! They’re pitched as great for weddings, but I think that looks like a cute decoration with a lot of possibilities…
New Releases
The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
The Midnight Merchant is a criminal who hunts and sells illegal magics— she’s also a woman named Loulie al-Nazari. She operates under the watchful eye of her jinn bodyguard and lives well… until she saves the life of a cowardly prince, which gains her the attention of the sultan, his father, and he blackmails her into an all important mission: find a magical lamp that will restore all magic to their barren land, though the cost will be the sacrifice of all jinn.
All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay
Two people are sent ashore from a small ship on a mission of assassination, an action that could tilt the power balance of the world irrevocably. One is a woman bent on revenge, who is trying to regain control of her life and self after having been sold into servitude for years. The other is a merchant child of exiles, haunted by the moment of loss of family, faith, and home. Together, they will affect the destinies of empires.
Riot Recommendations
In honor of us (goodness I hope) pasting the last hard frost of the spring, it’s time for flowers! So here are a couple of books that feature flowers in fantastical ways.
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Códova
When mysterious family matriarch Orquídea Divina passes on, she turns into a ceiba tree instead of having a proper funeral— and the mystery only begins there. Three of her grandchildren sprout living flowers— orchids, specifically— out of their bodies and other new gifts begin to manifest. Their magical heritage may grant them power, but it’s also something for which their family is being hunted.
The Forever Sea by Joshua Phillip Johnson
The seas are not water, but grass, and the ships that sail across them harvest flowers and other plants that power the magic that allows their crews— and the people of their island— to survive. But they must range further and further afield to make their harvest because they’ve over-harvested, while a war over water is just waiting to explode into full conflict.
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.