Author: Alex Acks

SFF Summer Camp Scares

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date July 20, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got two more new releases for you this week, and a bit of a summer camp theme. Which I will admit has more to do with me being sweaty and cranky and mosquito-bitten all week than any kind of fond summer memories of the great outdoors. That might also be why the books are all a bit on the…dark side this newsletter. But they’re all still good reads, I promise. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and stay cool! I’ll see you on Tuesday if I haven’t melted under the unforgiving glare of the July sun.

What do S.A. Cosby, Khaled Hosseini, Sarah Bakewell, and Yahdon Israel have in common? They’ve been guests on Book Riot’s newest podcast, First Edition, where BookRiot.com co-founder Jeff O’Neal explores the wide bookish world. Subscribe to hear them and stay to hear Book Riot’s editors pick the “it” book of the month.

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: 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

Learn to Canoe Because Zombies Can’t Swim Patch by AresDesignCo

Going with the summery/summer camp theme this newsletter seems to have taken on, here’s a great camp badge — with a very true statement. We’ve seen and read about slow zombies, fast zombies…but no swimming zombies. Yet. $6

New Releases

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

In ’90s Mexico City, the film industry is very much a boys’ club, and Monserrat is excluded despite her brilliance as a sound editor. Then her oblivious crush Tristán, a fading soap opera star, discovers their new neighbor is a cult horror director, one who claims to be cursed by never having finished shooting a film using stock imbued with Nazi occultist magic. He asks Montserrat and Tristán to help him shoot the missing scenes to lift the curse, but soon the two sense a dark presence closing in on them…

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Neverton, Montana is the home to a deeply religious community that insists it operates with a heart of gold — and one of its gems is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed “most effective” gay conversion camp in existence. But while the community touts its holiness, the camp’s secrets — and its successes — are anything but…

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

My AC unit has been broken since the weekend, and my house is only slightly cooler than the outside, meaning I’ve been hot and sweaty and cranky all week. Which is to say, it feels like summer camp to me, so here are a couple of darkly fantastic summer camp novels that fit my current state.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

Mars has been struggling in his politically-connected family; his genderfluidity means he keeps getting excluded from the activities of his politically active and well-connected family while his much more socially acceptable sister Caroline gets all the attention. But when Caroline dies horrifically, Mars sets out to find everything he can about her, which means going to the Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy in her place and discovering a dark fairy tale that runs on old-fashioned gender roles and toxic preparatory, rich-person nonsense. Then he finds his sister’s old friends, a group called the Honeys, and things start getting darker, with even his memories starting to give way…

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

This was supposed to be Charity’s dream summer job, testing her acting chops by playing the final girl at a slasher-themed interactive attraction that recreates parts of a classic horror film, The Curse of Camp Silver Lake. But then her co-workers start disappearing…and one of them winds up dead. Soon, if Charity and her best friend Bezi want a chance to survive the night, they’ll have to survive the actual history of Camp Mirror Lake.

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.

Swords and Spaceships

Reality is Broken

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date July 17, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases for you, and some SFF-adjacent nonfiction since that’s a thing I like to do occasionally. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend…and you all managed to stay cool since summer is in full swing, and it’s hitting some places extra hard for even mid-July. Keep hydrated, solidarity with workers everywhere — but this week especially the writers and actors that have brought our eyeballs so much SFF goodness — and stay safe out there, space pirates. I’ll see you on Friday.

What do S.A. Cosby, Khaled Hosseini, Sarah Bakewell, and Yahdon Israel have in common? They’ve been guests on Book Riot’s newest podcast, First Edition where BookRiot.com co-founder Jeff O’Neal explores the wide bookish world. Subscribe to hear them and stay to hear Book Riot’s editors pick the “it” book of the month.

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers impacted by the strikes.

Bookish Goods

Replica Doom Eternal Helmet by Vegvizir

I was in a Doom mood (haha a palindrome), as you will see later on, inspired by one of the new releases. And there are a surprising number of really great-looking Doom cosplay replicas on Etsy, but this one comes with a version that can be safely worn while playing airsoft, which is just bonkers. $95

New Releases

The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem

It’s been a decade since Jasad was taken over by Nizahl, its magic outlawed and its royal family murdered…except for the heir, Sylvia, who has been in hiding. But when Arin, the Nizahl heir, attacks a group of rebels at her village, Sylvia lashes out in anger and reveals her magic. If she wants to survive past her mistake, she will have to make a deal with Arin to help him hunt the rebels to save her own life.

Charming by Jade Linwood

Prince Jean-Marc Charming Arundel (AKA “Prince Charming”) is a dream come true who shows up when a princess needs rescuing. Actually, he’s a con man who pretends to accede to betrothal so he can take a shot at the royal treasure before escaping. Little does he know that three of his victims have met up…and have made a plan.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

It’s occasionally fun to read books that are sci-fi adjacent nonfiction, and this week, with Doom Guy coming out, I wanted to draw attention to that and another nonfiction book about video games!

Doom Guy: Life in First Person by John Romero

John Romero was one of the duo behind DOOM and Quake, hugely influential first-person shooters that definitely lived in the SFF space. This is a personal memoir on his part, starting with his childhood and going on the full journey of his career to making a game (haha) changer.

Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal

Jane McGonigal is a game designer who wants to push video games beyond escapism and use them to address real-world social and societal problems, including depression and poverty.

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.

Swords and Spaceships

Do You Dare Pass Through the Bright Doors?

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date July 13, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with even more new releases for you for the week. That’s it, new releases. It was an absolute downpour of fresh books. It’s been an “exciting” (exhausting) week for me as a cat parent; my old man tabby Loki was sick over the weekend (don’t worry! He’s okay now!) and had to get an ultrasound, which made for a night afterward of following him around the house as he drunkenly staggered about. But there was also a lot of quality time on the couch with him and his newly-naked tummy, so it could have been worse. Have a wonderful weekend, space pirates. Stay safe, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers impacted by the strikes.

Bookish Goods

Fantasy Book Shelf Map by MagicRowan

Now this is a cool idea if you’re looking for reading list suggestions! All of the books on the shelf are titled, and the idea is you color each one in as you read it. There are two more parts to this book shelf, and they also have a sci-fi/dystopia one! It’s a digital download, so you can just print at home. $5.50

New Releases

Ebony Gate by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle

Emiko Soong was the Blade of her clan, one of the eight most powerful magical families in the world. She had no need for magic, however, only violence at her hand. When killing became too much, she retired early to a quiet life in San Francisco as an importer of antiques…until a shinigami comes calling with her family’s blood debt in hand, and a demand: Recover the Ebony Gate that holds back the ghosts of the underworld, or forfeit her soul as its new anchor.

Thief Liar Lady by D.L. Soria

A twist on the classical tale of Cinderella has this sad stepdaughter in league with her sisters, all of them conspiring together to use their wits and training to secure the wealth and power that their society has made dependent upon men. With some highly illegal magic at her beck and call, she’s out to become a princess and get them all set up for life… but of course, things don’t quite go according to plan.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

As promised (threatened?) on Tuesday, he’s a second-second round of new releases, the only way I could deal with the absolute deluge of new books coming out this week.

The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

Fetter has a god-touched destiny in a world where divine fates are a dime a dozen. He was raised to kill his own father, walked among devils and anti-gods, lost his shadow, and gained sorcery. It’s given him a lot to talk about in group therapy once he escaped his small hometown and made it to the city…except group therapy is actually a recruitment tool for revolutionaries, and any doorway might disguise a Bright Door, through which a cold wind blows — and who knows what else.

Stars, Hide Your Fires by Jessica Mary Best

Cass might be from a minor moon, but she’s an expert thief, and she has what she thinks is a foolproof plan: she’s going to travel to the capital of the empire, sneak into the emperor’s ball, and steal everything that isn’t nailed down. Too bad the emperor is found dead at his own party, making everyone on the grounds a suspect — including Cass. And worse, it looks like someone is setting her up to take the fall.

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.

Swords and Spaceships

All Aboard the Space Elevator

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date July 10, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s time to kick off the first full week of July, are you ready? This is Alex, and I’m here to tell you that there is a bananapants amount of new releases this week — I guess the publishers were keeping their powder dry over the holiday. So coming at you this week will be a double-double dose of new releases because there are so many books I do not want you to miss. I hope you are staying cool in the heat that’s baking most of the world. Be careful, drink water, and stay safe space pirates! I will see you on Friday.

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers impacted by the strikes.

Bookish Goods

Space Elevator Poster by chopshopstore

This is a cool-looking poster (available in two sizes) that represents the space elevator that gets written about so often in science fiction. And it immediately caught my eye as relevant to one of the new releases this week…$29

New Releases

Counterweight by Djuna, translated by Anton Hur

The Korean conglomerate LK is building a space elevator on the island of Patusan, turning a once-resort into a travel hub that has the native residents more than upset. But the junk acting as the counterweight to the elevator is an even bigger deal: hidden inside it is a memory fragment of LK’s former CEO, which holds information that could affect the future of the entire world. A wide array of people, from the grand to the humble to the deeply strange, race to find that fragment first and take control of humanity’s future.

The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

The surrender of the last emperor in the wake of a failed war of conquest might be a big deal to politicians and nobility, but to a minor scribe like Enitan, it’s barely a blip. All she would like is to get out of being a scribe and run her tea business full-time. But then her lover is assassinated and her sibling is kidnapped by soldiers of the Empire, making all of the politics very much her problem. Armed with a tea tray, she will soon learn of herself what she will do for vengeance, for rescuing her sibling — and for freeing her homeland.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

As mentioned in my intro, the number of new releases this week is an absolute deluge, so here are two more must-sees.

The Judas Blossom by Stephen Aryan

In Persia, the year 1260, the Mongol Empire covers much of the world, but Hulagu Khan, would see its borders expand further — using violence. When this fails, he gives his youngest son, Temujin, a chance to prove himself. But more powerful forces than simple blood and death are stirring. One of Hulagu’s wives seeks her own path to power; a Persian rebel has an opportunity to destroy the empire from within if only he can set his personal feelings aside. And an empire will rise or fall through all of their actions.

A Song of Salvation by Alechia Dow

Zaira is the reincarnation of the god Indigo, whose song created the universe and banished the god of destruction, Ozvios. So of course, an emperor would like to sacrifice her to honor Ozvios; her only chance of survival is to escape and find a boy named Wesley, who per prophecy is supposed to help her truly defeat Ozvios and the empire. No one asked Wesley if he wanted that fate; he’s a pilot and would-be smuggler who wants to finish his biggest payday yet, smuggling a celebrity wanted by the empire to a backwater planet called Earth. But when fate comes knocking, he’s not going to be able to smuggle any of them out of this…

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.

Swords and Spaceships

Merciful Crows and Fireflies

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date July 6, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got your new releases for the week and a couple of fiery recommendations. I hope everyone in the ol’ US of A had a good (and safe) holiday, and that those of you not in a place where your neighbors spend the entire week setting off fireworks at all hours and scaring your pets have had a generally good week. We’ve had a lot of thunderstorms here, so it’s been very cool, but July and fireworks still have me thinking about fire, and that’s what got me picking out the two recommendations. I hope y’all have a great weekend! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers impacted by the strikes.

Bookish Goods

Fireflies Page & Pocket Book Sleeve by PAGEandPOCKET

This handmade book keeper comes in three sizes (better to fit your book) and I just love the fabric pattern used here. Fireflies are very summery! There are quite a few other designs as well. $17

New Releases

Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty

In a world reimagined from Vedic India, the Magadhan Empire has all but battered the Mathuran Republic into oblivion. Senator Krishna and his third wife Sayabhama are trying to keep their beloved country from destruction with plots internal and external, but they find out soon that neither money nor alliances last forever, and they are not the only ones engaged in deadly political games.

Shaken Loose by Ilana DeBare

Annie Maple, a total underachiever from San Francisco who hasn’t really done much bad — or much good — in her life, dies at age 29. And then gets sent to Hell, the classic Christian one, with devils and pitchforks and sulfur. The systems governing Hell are starting to break down, however, giving her a chance to escape. On that perilous journey she learns that it’s a place host not to just the truly evil, but billions of people who simply didn’t happen to be Christian. Soon she finds herself trying to choose between returning to life for a second chance, or staying dead and challenging the entire system.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

We’re well into summer now, and coming down off the 4th of July, so of course I’ve got fire on the brain. Here are a couple of books that have magical fire in their pages!

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

Thanh was sent away as a hostage to Ephteria as a child, a way to secure the questionable freedom of her mother’s country from colonization rather than simply being under Ephteria’s thumb. She returns as a teenager, haunted by memories of her first, abusive romance, and of the magical fire that destroyed Ephteria’s palace. As it turns out, both of these “ghosts” have followed her home.

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

The Crow are a caste of undertakers and mercy-killers, looked down upon always by others. But when one of their number, Fie, is called upon to collect dead from the royal family, she’s hoping it will finally be a massive payout for her caste. Unfortunately, it turns out that the dead royal isn’t dead…he just faked his own death, and now he’s made it her problem.

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.

Swords and Spaceships

Hapless Alien Abductions

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 29, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! And happy just-about-to-be-a-holiday-weekend to my fellow USians! It’s Alex, and I’ve got your last new releases for June on board, and a couple silly sci-fi books extra — one that involve aliens. We’re well into the summer now, huh? I could do without the [illegal in Colorado] fireworks going off, and the heat, but I can’t say no to barbecue weather all the same. I hope my fellow Americans out there have a good holiday coming at you. And a reminder: since it’s a holiday here, no newsletter on Tuesday. You’ll get all your new releases on Friday next week instead. Stay safe — I mean it! — out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you next Friday.

Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more drawn from our collective experience as power readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and bookish professionals? Subscribe to The Deep Dive, a biweekly newsletter to inform and inspire readers, delivered to your inbox! Your first read (The Power Reader’s Guide to Reading Logs & Trackers) is on the house. Check out all the details and choose your membership level at bookriot.substack.com.

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers impacted by the strikes.

Bookish Goods

Alien Riding a Unicorn T-Shirt by Shirtmandude

Look, given the rather silly mood Connie Willis’s new book (see below) has put me in, this T-shirt seems VERY appropriate. I think the cowboy hat is a nice touch. $19

New Releases

The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade

Casey’s sister has gone missing, and it’s the worst thing to happen to her family. Casey is also furious because Sutton is a deeply manipulative person, and her family does nothing but sing her praises…a necessity when no one goes looking for Black (or half-Black) girls unless they’re thought to be perfect angels. But when Sutton reappears as mysteriously as she vanished and remembers nothing of her disappearance, Casey knows something is seriously wrong. Did she ever really know her sister? And what happened to the other girls who have disappeared?

The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis

Francie never believed in supernatural nonsense, an umbrella that definitely covers aliens as well. When she goes to Roswell for an alien-themed wedding, the last thing she expects is to be abducted by one — and one that looks nothing like popular media would have us believe. She’s also not the only abductee — probably just the least oddball of the lot. And soon, she realizes that the alien might actually be in trouble and in need of all their help…

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Connie Willis’s new book has me thinking of other books where ET is a bit hapless…

The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu

On morning, out-of-shape IT guy Roen wakes up to a voice in his head. He immediately and naturally assumes he’s lost his marbles. But no, it’s just an ancient alien named Tao who has taken up residence in his brain, and needs him to become an ultimate secret agent and warrior to save all of humanity. No big deal.

Space Unicorn Blues by T.J. Berry

Magical creatures have become resources to be exploited, and half-unicorn Gary desperately wants to escape it all — preferably before his horn gets ground to powder to fuel FTL travel. But when he tries to make his escape in a stone ship once flown by his ancestors, Captain Jenny Perata steals it out from under him. They have a…complicated history that involves murder, and that’s just the start. This is a book about some serious subjects (slavery, exploitation) that doesn’t shy away from also being very silly at times.

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.

Swords and Spaceships

The Only Thing Cooler Than a Mech

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 26, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases for you, as well as some recommendations for novels about mecha…because who doesn’t love giant robots? (If you don’t love giant robots, please let me continue to live in ignorant bliss, because my inner 10-year-old knows there is absolutely nothing cooler that exists in the entire human imagination.) I hope everyone is having an utterly wonderful week so far, and will keep it going!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers impacted by the strikes.

Bookish Goods

Mecha Headphones by matchanicho

These are some fancy bluetooth headphones, but I cannot resist the aesthetic of them, which feels perfect for several of the books I mention below. The only thing cooler than a mech, after all, is a mech with wings. $149

New Releases

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon

In a world where AI are gods, one going off kilter can wreak unimaginable destruction. Khuon Mo killed its priests and wiped its own city from the map…but as it died, it brought Sunai, its favorite child, back to life. For 17 years, Sunai has been unable to age, die, or forget the horror of what Khuon Mo did, though he has tried to lose himself in the throes of drugs and sex. But when he wakes up in the bed of a man he never should have gone home with, he’s once more drawn back into the world of the machine-gods.

Gods of the Wyrdwood by RJ Barker

The only ones who can navigate the dangers of the Deepforest are the foresters — and Cahan du Nahare, who once belonged to the god of fire, is one such forester. He will guide Udinny, a servant of the goddess of the lost, when she ventures into the Deepforest to search for a lost child. In that search, Cahan must choose between the forest and the fire — the choice he makes will set the course for his entire world.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

I love me a giant robot story, and we have one this week with The Archive Undying. Here’s two more!

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

Misery Nomaki knows they’re a fraud; they hear the voice of an angel telling them they are the chosen warrior who will lead their people to victory in a holy war, and that voice is obviously a delusion brought on by too much space exposure in their ancestry. But if they want to survive, they must master piloting a holy mech and convince the Emperor of the Faithful of what they do not themself believe…until they begin to wonder if they’re not a fraud after all, and an angel truly is speaking to them.

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White

Earth is doomed, and jazz pianist Gus Kitko intends to spend his final moments playing humanity’s swan song at the most off-the-hook goodbye party of all time as he waits for the alien Vanguard mecha to land and start the destruction. But instead, the Vanguard that busts into the party saves Gus instead of ending him — and he finds out he’s been chosen to join a small resistance group of Vanguard traitors and their pilots.

Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday! 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.

Swords and Spaceships

Hop On the Korean SFF Wave!

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 22, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got a couple new releases for you, and a bit of a Korean theme thanks to one of the new releases. (And also, I will admit, because a Bonchon franchise just opened a short walk from my house and its Korean fried chicken has changed my life.) I hope you’ve had a lovely week, possibly with some delicious fried chicken in it as well (if that’s something you like). Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers impacted by the strikes.

Bookish Goods

Gumiho Enamel Pins by Linai

With the Korean SFF-theme that evolved in this newsletter (just keep reading), I of course also thought about Kat Cho’s Wicked Fox. The nine-tailed fox appears in a lot of east Asian mythology and well, you know I love an enamel pin. This is one of the designs in a set of three. $15

New Releases

And Break the Pretty Kings by Lena Jeong

Mirae’s destiny was always to be queen, but the ceremony that was to end with her on her throne instead is cut short by terror and death — and the awakening of a magic power within her. In the chaos, her older brother is taken, and Mirae must master her new magic to rescue him and save her queendom from an ancient, monstrous enemy.

Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool

Marlow Briggs once lived in the gilded cage called Evergarden; she’s now made a name for herself in the Marshes as the best cursebreaker around. Yet no matter how many people she helps and how many mysteries she solves as she rends curses asunder, she cannot escape the haunting mystery of her mother’s disappearance. When an old friend who is also the scion of a wealthy family comes to her for help with a curse, Marlow is reluctant to accept — there’s too much emotional baggage between them. But with him comes a new lead in her mother’s case.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

With And Break the Pretty Kings coming out this week (and dang, is that not a COOL title?) how about a couple more novels rooted in Korea and its mythology?

Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh

Over a century and a half from now, East Asia is in ruins after a massive war. Neo Seoul is a brutal place ruled by combat, ad Lee Jaewon is an ex-gang member who has found success as a pilot in the academy — it’s his best chance to escape his past. His ambitions for military glory become complicated when he meets Tera, a test subject in a supersoldier project, destined to pilot a God Machine in a never-ending war.

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur

Many years ago, Elsa’s mother warned her that the women in their family are destined — and doomed — to repeat the narratives of their ancestors. Elsa sees a far more realistic problem: mental illness and generational trauma carried by her immigrant family. When she spots her imaginary childhood friend, a spectral woman waiting for her in the snow outside the neutrino observatory in Antarctica, and when her mother wakes from her catatonic state and speaks, she knows there is no more running from her family and their past.

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.

Swords and Spaceships

We’re All Stories In the End

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 19, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex with a dose of new releases…and then a couple more for good measure because I just cannot make myself choose sometimes, and this is one of those weeks. It’s been a rainy weekend in Colorado, nice and cool, and it’s still my favorite kind of weather. It’s been a great opportunity to sit down with Matt Wallace’s Savage Crowns, and witness a series I’ve loved wrap up. There’s no feeling quite like it, eh? Hope y’all had a great weekend! 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: Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers impacted by the strikes.

Bookish Goods

We’re All Just Stories in the End Bracelet by TheTwinklingTalisman

In honor of one of the books this week definitely not being about a mysterious guy called the Doctor under a different name, here’s a pretty bracelet inspired by our favorite Timelord. $24

New Releases

A Crooked Mark by Linda Kao

Matt has spent his young life rootless, moving from town to town with his dad as they hunt for people marked by the Devil himself — and eliminate them. When he meets Rae, the survivor of a car accident that killed her father, he’s at first certain she must be so marked. But as he gets to know her and they become friends (and perhaps more) he begins to question his entire mission…and the existence of the Devil’s mark to begin with.

Citadel by C.M. Alongi

The people of Citadel, the only city on the planet Edalide, have long been told it is their holy mission to exterminate the unholy, vicious demons of the Flooded Forest. Then Olivia, a 19-year-old, nonverbal autistic woman, meets one such “demon” and recognizes that they are not animals nor vicious except in their own desperate defense, but sentient people. She embarks on a hazardous journey into the forest to try to stop this war and prevent anyone else from losing a loved one.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Hello there, shipmates! As is my wont, I didn’t want to choose between new releases this week, so here’s a couple more I wanted to tell you about!

The Infinite Miles by Hannah Fergesen

Harper Starling is lost in a dead-end job and a fruitless life, grieving for her best friend Peggy, who went missing three years ago. All she has for comfort is her favorite science fiction television show, Infinite Voyage. But then Peggy returns unexpectedly, only to demand to be taken to the Argonaut…the fictional hero of the show. And then the Argonaut himself shows up and whisks Harper away across time, claiming that Peggy used to travel with him but is now being controlled by hostile aliens. And then, as if that’s not already too much for a body to handle, he ditches her in 1971…

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

At a summer attraction that lets fans relive scenes from a classic slasher film, The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake, Charity plays the final girl, and she’s having the time of her life. But the last weekend before the season ends, Charity’s coworkers start disappearing…and she’s almost able to convince herself there’s nothing behind it until one of them turns up dead. Suddenly, the movie they’re recreating is far too real, and if Charity wants to survive the night and keep her best friend alive, they need to unravel mysteries far deeper than they could have imagined.

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.

Swords and Spaceships

Let’s Travel the Multiverse

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 15, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’m coming at you with new releases and a little multiverse theme. I hope that no matter what universe you live in, you had a most excellent week. Maybe even one that involved cake, since I firmly believe that cake is S-tier in every universe. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers impacted by the strikes.

Bookish Goods

Multiverse Anniversary Card by KraftStreetPaperCo

Since I’m on a bit of a multiverse kick, that’s what I went looking for on Etsy…and I cannot get over how cute this nerdy little anniversary card is. And it’s printed on recycled cardstock! $6

New Releases

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni

Mike Brink was once a rising star in football until a trumatic brain injury that caused him to acquire a rare savant syndrome. This gave him the ability to solve puzzles in ways no other can understand — and construct them as well. This skill causes him to be called on by the psychiatrist of murderer Jess Price, who hasn’t spoken for five years, but has drawn a strange puzzle. Mike is drawn into first the cipher, then the far more dangerous mysteries behind it, deeper than a simple murder.

Many Worlds: Or, the Simulacra edited by Cadwell Turnbull and Josh Eure

This anthology is a collection of stories by authors building a shared multiverse together. The tales are strange, transformational, subversive, and transgressive, ranging from the depths of internet conspiracy forums that might be on to something to interstellar telepaths touching on unknowable cosmic forces.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Multiverses are not as common in fiction as I would have thought — though they might be making a major commercial start thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who knows. But there are still some other good books with multiverse stories!

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Am I going to take this opportunity to once again plug the absolute best book I’ve read in the last decade? You bet your butts I will. In a dystopian world wracked by climate disasters and worse, multiverse travel has been discovered — and it’s used by the corporation that owns it to steal data and inventions from other worlds. One wrinkle of the travel is that if you travel to a world where your doppelganger is alive, it’ll kill one or both of you. So Cara, who is for some reason dead in almost every other universe, is an invaluable employee. But Cara has her own secrets, which implicate even darker things than just the underlying corruption of a corporate oligarchy.

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Marguerite’s parents created the Firebird, an invention that allows people to jump into multiple universe. But then her father is murdered by, shockingly, his assistant Paul, who escapes into another universe before he can be caught by the police. Unwilling to give up on bringing Paul to justice, Marguerite pursues him through the multiverse, meeting alternate versions of people she knows…and discovering the motivations behind and cause of her father’s death might not be as clear cut as they seem.

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.