Author: Alex Acks

Ledge is a place of civilization in only the loosest sense; it’s a settlement trapped between a vast chasm and a sheer mountain face. The only way to leave is death. All they know of the outside world is the Glacians, winged creatures who bring them supplies in exchange for sacrifices. When Dawsyn is chosen as sacrifice, she knows only that her life has ended — until a half-Glacian named Ryon offers her escape. She must choose between the terrifying unknown of what waits on the other side of being sacrificed and trusting one of the creatures that have plagued her people.

After ending the Partisan War on Mars, Harris Alexander Pope wanted nothing more than to return to a life of solitude. But then he learns a terrible truth: war criminals have invaded the minds of others and are hiding there to escape justice. Harris teams up with other survivors in pursuit of justice, but soon begins to wonder if his memories of the war itself are even true.

Remy has left the kingdom to hunt a new kind of deadly vampire — never mind the rumors that he’s half-vampire himself. Along the way, though, he meets a vampire couple who claim to have the answers to the virus called Rot that’s spreading. As he grows closer to them, he begins to question everything he thought he knew about vampires.

Rose is living a dangerous deception — her name is actually Luna, she comes from a family of bruja, and she isn’t actually white. But the identity she hides behind lets her gain power as a bootlegger who deals with the criminal families of Kansas City as she works to get her own jazz club. But the perilous game is about to come to an end, and she’s going to have to learn to rely on her magic and her allies if she’s going to survive.

Roxanne, who is equal parts vampire and hot mess, resurrects her deceased friends. Of course it’s not that simple — she’s soon confronted by a Guardian of the Underworld who tells her she needs to replace them with three equally terrible monsters, or she will take their place instead. If she wants to save her friends and herself, they’re all going to need to team up and become monsters hunting monsters.

In an alternate Bronze Age, the people are merely trying to survive the capricious whims of a myriad of gods. But four god-touched mortals are about to be brought together, and they will launch a conspiracy to take down the corrupt and aging gods, who are already fighting a war on one front.

This isn’t actually fiction, but I think this is very relevant to our SFF interests. This is an anthology of personal essays by Black creatives about the film Black Panther and its impact on culture, society, and film.

Once every ten years, Sol’s power must be replenished to keep the Obsidian gods at bay. The ten most worthy semidióses are selected to compete in the Sunbearer Trials. The winner carries the light to all the temples of Reino del Sol… and the loser is sacrificed to refuel the Sun Stones that protect the world. Teo, a Jade semidiós and trans son of the goddess of birds, is mostly worried about his best friend Niya, who will definitely be selected. But when Teo is also put into the trials, against opponents he’s not nearly as strong or as well-trained as, he finds he needs to worry first for himself.

Every day, sixteen-year-old Koral and her older brother Emrik must capture monstrous maristags in the black sea around their island so their family won’t starve. But the maristags aren’t to eat — they’re to sell to the Landers, the elite family Koral and her relatives are indentured to, to be used in the Glory Race. But when Koral loses the last maristag of the year, the only solution she can find to saving her family from financial ruin and death is to cheat her way into the Glory Race. The race was already dangerous enough, but Koral’s competitors have no intention of letting a low-caste girl win.

Princess Shiori promised to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful place; now she must journey to the kingdom of dragons, and along the way navigate the politics of both humans and dragons — and fight off thieves who want the pearl for themselves. The pearl itself is a chaotic factor, aiding Shiori one moment and trying to destroy her relationships with all those she loves the next. Shiori must marshal all her strength to keep her promise, defend herself from the pearl, and maintain her appearance as the perfect princess while doing it.

When Bea Tanaka’s family comes to visit on her favorite holiday — Christmas — she couldn’t be happier. Her life seems to be going great, and everyone is ecstatic for her… too bad Bea feels adrift, between trying to figure out the long distance relationship with her boyfriend and her powers expanding toward something rather villainous again. When the holiday visit is cut short by monsters rising out of the ocean near Maui, Bea gets blasted back to the perfect Christmas in San Francisco during battle…and into the rom-com of her nightmares.

A despotic emperor and the Three Terrors, his monstrous sons, have ruled with an iron fist from the Moon Throne for centuries, oppressing the people beneath them with power they have stolen from a god locked under the palace. But with the aid of a guilt-ridden guard and an outcast, the god escapes the palace — and her own children, the previously mentioned Terrors. If she and her companions can complete a five-day pilgrimage, they may be able to end throw down the Moon Throne for good.

Raliel Dark-Smile is the daughter of the Emperor — and her best friend is a demon named Moon who lives in the palace. Moon is bound to the Emperor and his consorts, and when Raliel comes of age, she will in turn be bound to Moon, never to leave the palace again. But Raliel wishes more than anything to travel the empire, and Moon longs to break free to these arcane bonds. And when it is time to Raliel to take her first and last journey, her coming of age, she hatches a plan to take Moon with her, hidden — into danger neither of them could imagine.

The Banished Prince has returned to seize the dragon throne in Dàxi, aided in no small part by the mass poisonings that have rocked the populace. A young but powerful wielder of tea-making magic named Ning is one of Princess Zhen’s escorts to her exile, along with Zhen’s sister and bodyguard. Together, they must figure out to restore Zhen to the throne that’s been taken from her, but there is a far greater threat than deadly politics lurking on the horizon…

Mika Moon is one of the very few witches in Britain, and thus she knows it’s best to keep her powers secret — and part of that is avoiding other witches so they don’t draw attention. She’s also is an orphan who lost her parents at a young age; her one foray into rule breaking is an online account where she “pretends” to be a witch because she thinks no one will take her seriously… until someone does. Soon, she’s been recruited to go to Nowhere House to train three young witches… and her life only gets more complicated from there.

Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation is also known as Babel — and it’s what Robin Swift, a man orphaned by a cholera outbreak in Canton, has been studying for all his life. But Babel isn’t just for translation. It’s a center of silver working, a magic that’s made the British Empire an unparalleled world power. And soon, Robin must choose between the empire that he was raised in and the motherland he lost as a child.

The Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse, led by Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos, were never supposed to fight a war. They were trained to clean spaceships. But a war is what they’ve got on their hands, one with the xenocidal Prodryans, and its escalation might…also be their fault. But if they want to save humanity and ever have a chance to clean things up, they have to figure it out — and not go feral in the process.

Ari is a storyteller on the run, one hoping to disappear in obscurity in a small tavern. But the sins of their past are not ready to allow them to rest, or leave their story without a proper ending. For they have destroyed a village, killed a god, started a war, and been a monster.

A short story collection from the inimitable Eileen Gunn, including tales both darkly humorous and visionary, ones that bring together the very disparate realities of highly corporate technology and purely literary art. This is Gunn’s third short story collection and includes an in-depth interview with the author.

Armed with the prophecy of the nameless god and an army of loyal men, Malini has set her course: she will be the rightful empress of Parijatdvipa, but her brutal and malicious brother still stands in her way, and he will not let go of the throne while he lives. While Priya might long to stay at Malini’s side, the magic she carries and the fact that she is now a thrice-born priestess demand that she walk her own path if she will see her country free and the sickness that haunts it cured. But even as they are distant, the souls and fates of these two women remain intertwined — and soon they will realize that it is only together that they can save their lands.

Mars has been the lesser twin all his life, always overshadowed by his sister Caroline and barred from family traditions because of his genderfluidity. But when Caroline dies under terrible circumstances, he goes to see what he can learn about her at the prestigious (and political) Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy by attending in her place. He soon discovers a group of girls called the Honeys, once Caroline’s friends, who he is sure have something to do with her death. But with each passing day, his memories become less certain, and soon he realizes that something that can toy with his mind is hunting him in broad daylight…