Author: Alex Acks

ON EARTH AS IT IS ON TELEVISION

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 12, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and it’s time for a double dose of new releases for your summer reading pile. It was a cool and rainy weekend here in Denver, which I thoroughly enjoyed. This is my favorite time of year — it’s so green outside, which will not be the case once the summer heat really gets going. But right now, perfect for sitting under a tree and reading a book while catching some fresh air. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! 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’s somewhere to start: Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers impacted by the strikes.

Bookish Goods

UFO Bookmark by LittleBlackBats

There’s a fun-looking UFO book in this week’s new releases, and this bookmark is perfect for it. The bookmark is light, ink printed of “clear paper” and if you’d like to be abducted into a story with a different colored light beam, you can request it! $8

New Releases

Owlish by Dorothy Tse

Nevers is a mysterious city bound by mountains, and in its lives a literature professor known as “Q.” He’s uninterested in his own marriage, nearly as uninterested in his own career, and his only joy is his collection of antique dolls. One day, he receives the crowning glory of that collection: a music box ballerina doll named Aliss, who is alive in her own way. Q soon finds the passion he has lacked elsewhere in his life by embarking on an affair with Aliss.

On Earth as It Is on Television by Emily Jane

One day, quite without warning, massive UFOs show up in the skies above Earth, hovering undeniably and visible for all to see. Then they depart, as abruptly as they showed up, and without a word as to why they were here or what they might want. As first contacts go, it’s not the most earth-shattering, but it still throws humanity into disarray with the knowledge that we are not alone in the universe…and this novel follows the lives of a few such humans trying to grapple with a sudden reorientation of their place while still dealing with the weirdness of modern life.

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

Riot Recommendations

As is becoming my habit (and I hope you don’t mind!) I wanted to sneak in an extra round of new releases this beautiful Tuesday morning. There are just so many good books, and I can’t choose just a few!

Where Rivers Go to Die by Dilman Dila

Dilman Dila is a Ugandan Africanfuturist writer, and this new collection of eight short stories from him showcases both his talent and his delightful constructions with language, all with tales seated in Uganda’s myth, culture…and future. In these pages, British colonizers find Martians in Africa, a detective tries to stop a vengeful spirit from killing grooms before they can get married, and a warrior faces down both ancient horrors and his own elders to secure paradise for all his people.

Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara

Psyche is prophesied to defeat a monster even the gods fear; she decides to approach this by training with bow and blade, the traditions of society be damned. When she offends Aphrodite, the goddess sends her son Eros to teach her a lesson, though there’s nothing the young god wants less than to be involved in humanity’s affairs. But when he pricks his finger with one of his own arrows, he falls indelibly in love with Psyche. Fate brings them together as the Trojan War begins, and it’s for them to decide if they will allow war and the rest of the gods to tear them back apart.

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

Solidarity, Me Hearties

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 8, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with a couple more new releases for you, and some solidarity-with-labor-flavored SFF for you to check out. I might have missed May Day this year, but seeing the WGA stand up for its writers and with SAG-AFTRA voting to authorize a strike as well, I’ve never been more proud to be a member of a union. Solidarity, me hearties. Stay safe out there, have a great weekend, 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

Solidaritree Pin by TheArtOrchardByLucy

A very cool design that goes with the theme of solidarity this week…and you know how I love an enamel pin. I also love this description of the design: “The trunk of the tree is a fist of solidarity. The roots represent the intersecting causes of oppression, whilst the branches represent the solutions: the coming together of different marginalised groups, and their allies, to form a beautiful and powerful whole.” $15

New Releases

The Library of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson

The Library is the peacekeeper of three systems, its ever-shifting tunnels the home of the gods. Freida is the daughter of one of these gods, and she will be called on to unearth a terrible secret long-buried after she decides to help both a Tierran boy who wants to save his people and a disciple from a persecuted religion while their systems stand at the brink of war.

Relentless Melt by Jeremy P. Bushnell

Artie Quick is an ambitious and very inquisitive young woman in Boston who wants to be a detective. Unfortunately for her, it’s 1909, so she must disguise herself as a man to pursue her studies into Criminal Investigation, paying for it by being a department store salesgirl by day. Before her course of study is even finished, she’s ready to put her knowledge into practice and goes hunting for a mystery with her friend Theodore, who is studying magic. Together, they end up on the trail of a series of violent abductions, which will test their investigative and occult skills.

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

Riot Recommendations

With the WGA on strike (solidarity!) and SAG-AFTRA voting to authorize a strike themselves, I wanted to highlight some science fiction that touches on solidarity and labor issues! There’s a lot more than you’d think, though not nearly enough, in my opinion.

The Wall by Gautam Bhatia

For the last two thousand years, the city of Sumer has been entirely enclosed by a wall, through which nothing leaves and nothing enters. Mithila is a young woman who hungers for new experiences in a place where any deviation from the rules is punished brutally. And she will try to cross the wall, though every power in the city will try to stop her — because breaking the rules will cause civilization to collapse, they say. This book leads into The Horizon, which follows an agricultural workers’ union that is trying to address the inequity of the society of Sumer.

The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott

Esther hasn’t been to the Beyond, the space between the worlds, since the Concilium banned her and her six-person traveling party for a decade. But when she discovers her adult son has been taken, she and her Hex are the only ones who can rescue him, ban be damned. Esther is basically a union organizer — and her union are the municipal workers who work under a dragon.

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

A Double Dose of New SFF!

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 5, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! We’re well into June now, huh? It’s Alex, with your first set of June new releases — a double dose because there were a lot of great-looking books coming out this week! (And I still didn’t have room to include them all.) Here in Colorado, it’s been a cool and very rainy start to June, which I’m really enjoying before the summer gets hot…even if it’s very weird for there to be humidity for once. You can tell it’s quite damp because even book pages feel different! I’m sure the “normal” will return soon, but until then, I’ll just do my best to ignore the weird things my hair is doing. 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.

Bookish Goods

Time Travel Clock by TomasStoreCo

There are a lot of books coming out this month that have a time travel component in them, so this eye-bending clock caught my eye immediately. It’s also got customization options! $46

New Releases

Translation State by Ann Leckie

In a new, standalone novel that takes place in the Imperial Radch universe, a missing translator brings three disparate people together; their actions will reverberate across the empire. Qven was created to learn human ways and serve as an intermediary between Presger and humans — but they want something else for their life, and that is non-“optimal” behavior that will get them eliminated. Enae is a diplomat on a hunt for a fugitive that’s been missing for over 200 years at the behest of their dead grandmaman. Reet is an adoptee who is desperate to learn of his origins. And coming at them all is the Conclave of the various species, which will decide if the treaty between humanity and the Presger continues.

The Moon Represents My Heart by Pim Wangtechawat

The great secret of the Wang family is that they have the ability to time travel, and do so regularly. But one day Joshua and Lily, the parents of the family, depart for the distant past and do not return, leaving their children Eva and Tommy to face the world alone and figure out how to live while dealing with the grief of their loss. Eva searches for answers in the present while Tommy begins to delve into the past…until he falls in love with a woman in the 1930s in London’s Chinatown.

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

Riot Recommendations

This is one of those weeks with so many good new releases that I’m giving you a double dose today!

The Grimoire of Grave Fates edited by Hanna Alkaf and Margaret Owen

The Galileo Academy for the Extraordinary is a prestigious institution that has recently reinvented itself as a school for all young magicians that welcomes any identity or culture. Sadly, there are those not happy with this positive change. And when Professor of Magical History Septimius Dropwort is murdered, everyone in the Academy becomes a suspect, and the students must solve the murder themselves.

The Endless Vessel by Charles Soule

In the near future of a world that could be ours, a “depression plague” ravages humanity without seeming rhyme or reason. Lily Barnes, a young scientist from Hong Kong, is trying to keep her own hopes alive in an increasingly grim world when she hears the calling of the Endless Vessel, which may be the key to returning happiness to herself and the world. She leaves her life behind and embarks on a journey across time and space to find out.

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 Reality Controller of Delhi

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date June 1, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, here to sneak in two last May new releases for you and offer a couple recommendations for SFF by Indian authors. I had a lot of fun over the long weekend, thanks to running a garage sale with my best friend. (Really!) I had to make myself thin out my paper book collection a bit, but the great part was seeing those old books find new homes with people who were utterly delighted to find them! For all that I tend more toward ebooks these days just because that way no one knows how enormous my to-read list is, they’re not nearly as easy to pass on to happy new homes. 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: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.

Bookish Goods

Mini Scifi Book Nook by WickedBotany

If you have a little gap in your shelves, here’s a cool, light-up decoration for it! It can add a bit of sci-fi flare among the spines. This shop also has some larger “book nooks” that look pretty darn cool. $33

New Releases

The Light at the End of the World by Siddhartha Deb

Four different timelines (near future, 1984, 1947, and 1859) interweave and interconnect as a low-ranking paper pusher named Bibi is assigned by the global consulting firm he works for to find a man thought to be dead, who might actually be alive — and worse, the source of a lot of documents that reveal secrets about the Indian government that they would rather keep buried, including detention centers, bioengineered diseases, and alien wreckage.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

The Kalotay family has long been charged with guarding a collection of books that are rare, ancient — and magically dangerous. Half-sisters Joanna and Esther were raised to be the next caretakers, but they have been separated and estranged for years. Esther has hidden herself away in Antarctica in an attempt to escape the fate that took her mother’s life, and Joanna has become a veritable shut-in within the family’s home in Vermont, devoting herself to studying the books. But when their father suddenly dies as he reads a book completely new to Joanna, she and Esther will need to reunite to save their family legacy — and learn long-hidden secrets.

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

Riot Recommendations

Siddhartha Deb’s novel has inspired me to recommend some other SFF written by Indian authors and set in India.

The City Inside by Samit Basu

In near-future Delhi, Joey works as a Reality Controller, which means she supervises multi-reality livestreams. Her current client is, unfortunately, Indi, her college ex. Rudra is estranged from his wealthy family, only reluctantly communicating with them again after his father’s death, but Joey has his gratitude for offering him a job and letting him once again escape the clutches of his family. When the two somehow end up tangled in multiple conspiracies, they must find their own way in the mess of dysfunctional relationships, corporate loyalty (or lack thereof) and the multi-faceted monster that is surveillance capitalism.

The Rakta Queen by Shweta Taneja

Anantya Tantrist is an unofficial consultant for the Central Bureau of Investigation in Delhi. Her expertise is the dangerous and the occult. When she’s called on to investigate two cases, one a Kaula tantrik murdered by his chandaali slave, and the other a group of university students performing an orchestrated orgy in front of a metro station, she’ll have to navigate her way past a murderous sorcerer, jinn out to scam her, and even more dangerous enemies. (And there are two more books in the series! The Matsya Curse and Cult of Chaos!)

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

Orpheus, Eurydice, and the Social Media Panopticon

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date May 30, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with your last new releases for May (how is it the end of May?) and more books from those authors because I adore them both. I hope everyone had an excellent weekend; I did a yard sale with a friend, which meant I got to see some of my old books go to new homes! I always love looking through books at yard sales. (And at used book stores. And at new book stores. And…) Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

BookRiot.com co-founder Jeff O’Neal explores the wide bookish world with interviews, lists, rankings, retrospectives, recommendations, and much more, featuring people who know and love books. Subscribe to First Edition on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcatcher of choice.

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.

Bookish Goods

Orpheus and Eurydice Tote Bag by BrainNudes

I was thinking Orpheus and Eurydice because of one of the books this week and I found this tote bag. It made me utter such a cackle so I am sharing it with all of you. $20

New Releases

More Perfect by Temi Oh

In a near future London where people can use technological implants to connect directly to the Panopticon for the ultimate social media experience of the minds and dreams of others, Moremi had hopes this technology would save her from her depression. Instead, she meets Orpheus, a man raised by a Neo-luddite to question everything, including the government’s promise that the Panopticon will end human suffering. Together, they uncover the dark side of the technology. (This has been pitched to me as a sci-fi story that jumps off from the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and I am fascinated.)

Witch King by Martha Wells

Kai has been dead for a long time; being murdered and having his consciousness imprisoned in the timeless space of a water trap was merely a pause for him, however. When a lesser mage wakes him by trying to steal his power, Kai takes his opportunity to investigate his own death and imprisonment.

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

Riot Recommendations

I’m SO EXCITED that we’re getting a new book from Temi Oh and a new book from Martha Wells, all in the same week. So I’m going to take this opportunity to advertise a second book for each of them!

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh

It’s been a hundred years since an astronomer discovered an earth-like planet near — in the grand scale of space — ours. It will take a mission 23 years to reach this new world, but at last it’s happening. Ten veteran astronauts and six teenagers are being sent to this new world to build the first outpost — but first they have to get there.

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

Moon is an orphan who has been adopted by the tribes of the river valley, but only because he’s tried very hard to hide his nature as a shapeshifter — a decision that’s kept him nominally safe and fed, but also meant the skies are forbidden to him since he must hide his wings. But when he’s once again cast out, he meets another shapeshifter who seems to know who he is…but doesn’t bother to tell Moon that his lineage heralds a shift in the balance of power and that his people face extinction.

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

Frankenstein, Restitched

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date May 25, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got a couple of new books from this month for you to check out and some Frankenstein-inspired recommendations. Looking through all the Frankenstein-related stuff also makes me want to watch Young Frankenstein — that was one of my dad’s favorite movies, and it’s still funny as heck thanks to Gene Wilder’s gleeful gnawing of the scenery. We’re heading into a long weekend in the U.S., so I hope you have a good and relaxing one! 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: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.

Bookish Goods

Frankenstein’s Student ID Card by LiteraryCraftParlour

This is advertised as a bookmark, which you could definitely use it as, but honestly it’s just a cool little cosplay object or decoration. The attention to detail on it is just fantastic. $4

New Releases

Allah’s Spacious Earth by Omar Sayfo translated by Paul Olchávry

In a future where anti-Muslim sentiment has become so poisonous that Muslims have been isolated from the world in enclaves like the Zone, a young man named Nasim struggles with the restrictions placed on him from without and the expectations placed on him from within.

Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill

The 1850s in London are a wild time of science and debate, when the dinosaur sculptures have just wowed the world from their installation in the Crystal Palace. Mary, the great-niece of Victor Frankenstein, wants to make her own mark in the scientific milieu. She’s making no headway until she discovers the truth behind her great uncle’s past and disappearance. This truth takes her and her geologist husband, Henry, on a wild, gothic adventure into the wilds of Scotland, all while someone pursues them, intent on acquiring these scientific secrets for themself.

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

Riot Recommendations

Mary Shelley’s work has been an inspiration for a lot of authors! Here’s a couple more to consider if Our Hideous Progeny above piqued your interest.

Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai

Plum is a queer, biracial Chinese intern at an embryology lab; she runs away from home with the intention of being with her girlfriend and finds herself alone instead. Dr. Frank is a queer, biracial, Indonesian scientist whose ambition is to achieve procreation without needing sperm or egg. But the nonbinary being she creates is quickly abandoned due to complications at birth. Dr. Frank recruits Plum for her next project, but it soon becomes a question of what all of them are willing to risk.

This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

Written as a prequel to Mary Shelley’s novel, this story follows the adventures of 16-year-old Victor Frankenstein who is determined to save the life of his ill twin, Konrad. With no ideas, he sets his sights on the Elixir of Life and takes his cousin Elizabeth and his best friend Henry on a dangerous adventure to search for the ingredients that will hopefully cure his brother.

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

Modern Arthurian Retellings

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date May 22, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’m coming at you with your new releases for the day and some modern (and gritty) Arthurian retellings. We just had a big thunderstorm here and man, there is really nothing like the smell you get in a garden after a storm. It’s an invitation to sit by an open window, listen to the windchimes, and maybe read a book (or do the crossword, I’m not your boss). I hope everyone had a great weekend. We’re going to kick this week’s butt. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!

BookRiot.com co-founder Jeff O’Neal explores the wide bookish world. Interviews, lists, rankings, retrospectives, recommendations, and much more, featuring people who know and love books. Subscribe to First Edition on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcatcher of choice.

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.

Bookish Goods

Merlin and Arthur Earrings by BellBookAndScandal

These earrings are made from snippets of recycled book pages, naming an excellent combo of characters. The seller has a lot of similar earrings but for different book couples! $12.

New Releases

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee

Sir Kay, brother of King Arthur, has been reborn again and again as an immortal defender of the realm, and after clawing his way up from the grave one too many times, he’s not terribly excited about it. Particularly not in this new, modern Britain he finds himself in, where a simple war would be welcome because at least it would have an easy solution. Instead, he’s faced with a realm that’s wracked by climate change, privatization, and a truly awful government…and no idea how to handle any of it.

No One Will Come Back for Us by Premee Mohamed

Premee Mohamed’s debut short story collection, you will get stories of cosmic horror and dark fantasy, and so many monsters — from deep space, from the abyss of the ocean, and hiding in plain sight while dressed in human skin.

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

Riot Recommendations

One Arthurian re-imagining deserves another!

King Maker by Maurice Broaddus

In Indianapolis, a street hustler named King tries to unite drug dealers and other criminals as rival gangs gear up for war. A unique reimagining of the Arthurian legend that mixes the myth into modernity with a distinct edge and Maurice’s trademark rich prose.

Blackheart Knights by Laure Eve

In a dark city where magic is illegal yet practiced everywhere, knights are celebrities who joust on motorcycles and fight for the entertainment of the masses. A magic-touched bastard named Mordred rises, shockingly, to be a king — and a sets her path to become a knight to gain not fame, but vengeance.

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 OTHER Three Laws of Robotics

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date May 18, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! Greetings from beautiful Boise, where the weather has been lovely and the jumping spiders are both large and shockingly friendly. This is Alex, and I’ve got your second set of new releases for the week, and a couple of recommendations for reads about AI, since we’re looking at friendly(ish) AI who aren’t there to be used as tools by greedy capitalists to render artists obsolete. I hope you all have a lovely 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: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.

Bookish Goods

The OTHER Three Laws of Robotics Mug by SnarkyTeesAndMugs

In going with our little AI theme, here’s a mug with the three Laws of Robotics that the robots really don’t want us to know about. $20

New Releases

Transmogrify!: 14 Fantastical Tales of Trans Magic edited by g. haron davis

This anthology of 14 short stories showcases tales where magic and adventure is for everyone, but especially for characters who experience and express their gender in a wide range of ways. Includes stories from Sonora Reyes, Ayida Shonibar, and Cam Montgomery.

Dual Memory by Sue Burke

Pirates have taken everything from Antonio Moro and left him isolated in a city on an Arctic island, where he tries to realize his dreams as an artist while continuing the fight against piracy. But he makes an unlikely ally — Par Augustus, his new and not-entirely-legal AI personal assistant, who is insolent, extroverted, moody, and also not a fan of pirates. Together, they will recruit like-minded people to fight both capitalist pirates and ideological pirates who share the common evil of utter, violent entitlement.

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

Riot Recommendations

Inspired by our new release with a major character who is an AI, here’s a couple more novels that center characters who were made, rather than born!

“The Lifecycle of Software Objects” in Exhalation by Ted Chiang

This entire collection is filled with lovely stories by Ted Chiang, but “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” fits our theme in particular, since it’s about a former zookeeper who is hired by a software company to help “raise” and train digital creatures who have a learning capacity similar to human children.

Rupetta by N.A. Sulway

Rupetta is a rather steampunk version of AI, where in an alternate 1619, a woman named Eloise builds another woman from brass, leather, and wood and raises her to consciousness. Over 400 years, the automaton Rupetta develops her identity as a person and explores her relationships with her Wynders, who keep her alive by winding her clockwork heart.

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

Moms Saving the World

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date May 15, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with your next round of new releases (a novel and a short story collection) and recommendations that are two of my mom’s favorite SFF books. Because my mom has truly awesome taste. I wish a happy belated Mother’s Day to the equally awesome moms out there! (And to those with more complicated and fraught relationships, I see you, and I’m sending you love.) 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.

Bookish Goods

Book Wizard Mom T-shirt by nfiniti

For the book-loving mom out there (whether in possession of a library science degree or not; are we not all librarians of our own collection?) who is also a legend. Lots of styles and colors to choose from! $14

New Releases

Saint Juniper’s Folly by Alex Crespo

Three teens are drawn together in the Vermont town of Saint Juniper, by the strange, haunted house hidden in its woods — Saint Juniper’s Folly. Jaime, after years in foster care, disappears into the house and becomes trapped. Theo, worried about being stuck in the claustrophobic small town, is the one who finds him. And Taylor, a young witch forbidden by her father from practicing magic after the death of her mother, is the one with a chance to free him.

Girl Country by Jacqueline Vogtman

This is a collection of new short fiction that centers working class women, ranging from fantasy towards science fiction, from medieval Belgium to the near future midwest. Jacqueline Vogtman tackles themes of motherhood, family, and environment.

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

Riot Recommendations

Hey, since it was just Mother’s Day in the U.S. (and I’m actually writing this on Mother’s Day, in my mom’s house), I figured I’d recommend two of my mom’s favorite SFF books! She has good taste, as you can see.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

This is the start of the Broken Earth trilogy, which is an utter modern classic if you’ve somehow missed mention of it before now. In a world racked by occasional, deadly “fifth seasons” that herald disaster and massive death, a woman searches for her missing children while hiding her secret magic that is somehow connected to the disaster.

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

This history of the future imagines how deadly, climate-change-driven disasters could push global politics into a direction of addressing environmental disaster and trying to find a way to a more just world in which we can survive and thrive. It’s a difficult but hope-filled book.

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

Portals and Plot Twists

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date May 11, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got two more new releases for you and a couple of portal fantasy recommendations, just because that’s the kind of mood I’m in as we head into the weekend. I’ll be traveling for a bit (though I will still be writing the newsletters, you won’t be rid of me that easily!) and boy, that makes me grateful that I can carry around a lot of my library on my phone or my iPad. Though one of my big airport traditions is to hit the little Tattered Cover at DIA and grab an actual paper book to start reading on the airplane. I’m excited to see what will call to me from the shelves. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I will see you on Tuesday!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.

Bookish Goods

Keyhole 3D Wall Decal by DecalBaby

Maybe it’s just me, but I think this would be a hecka cool decoration for a library that’s already filled with SFF. The seller’s got a lot of options to go in these decal frames, all of them magical and whimsical. (Also, grade school age me would have killed for this.) $20

New Releases

If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude

(TW: suicidal ideation)

Avery is a woman burdened with being secretly in love with her best friend Cass. She also has undiagnosed clinical depression, which has led her to plan to drown herself in the river near her college campus. But that morning, news breaks that an asteroid is going to collide with Earth and everyone only has nine days left to live. Not wanting to cause her nearest and dearest extra grief, Avery shelves her plan and tries to make it through the next nine days. As doom approaches, Avery finds something unexpected in the impending disaster: hope.

A Shadow Crown by Melissa Blair

In this sequel to A Broken Blade, Keera the king’s Blade, a spy and assassin. But in secret, she’s plotting to kill a tyrant king with Prince Killian and Riven, his shadow. However good her intentions may be now, Keera cannot escape the crimes of her past, and she becomes suspect number one when it’s revealed there is a tratior in their midst.

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Riot Recommendations

For no reason whatsoever (truly, no reason, I just feel like it!) here’s a couple of portal fantasy books that cannot be recommended enough. Because who doesn’t love a bit of portal fantasy?

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

Liesl grew up on stories of the dangerous — and beautiful — Goblin King. At 18, it’s time for her to help run her family’s inn and give up her dreams of composing music and her childhood fantasies…until the Goblin King takes her own sister. Liesl has no choice but to journey to his kingdom in the Underground on a rescue mission, where she must find her sister — and herself.

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease since her infancy, which makes it increasingly difficult for her to speak and breathe, until now she feels like she’s drowning in air. One day, she spots a ship in the sky; her family dismisses it as a side effect of her medication, but she heard someone on the ship call her name. But when she falls through a portal into the world of these magical trading ships, Magonia, she discovers a place where she is no longer dying, where she can breathe and actually has immense power. But there is a war coming between Magonia and Earth, and she will have to decide which world will have her loyalty.

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.