Author: Jenn Northington

Hello, fellow travelers. Today we’re going to talk about the life and works of Ursula K. Le Guin, one of the grandest dames of SF/F, who died on January 22, 2018.

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This newsletter is sponsored by The Night Market by Jonathan Moore.

A mind-bending, masterfully plotted novel that will captivate fans of Blake Crouch, China Miéville, and Lauren Beukes, The Night Market follows Inspector Ross Carver as he works to untangle a web of conspiracy that spans the entire nation. This near-future thriller from an author who consistently gives us “suspense that never stops,” (James Patterson) will make your most paranoid fantasies seem like child’s play.

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I first encountered Le Guin’s works by picking up a copy of The Dispossessed in my local bookstore at the age of 13, purely for the cover. Then a school friend asked me if I’d read the Earthsea books — the answer was no. I’ve been building my collection ever since.

My grief at her passing is not about her life — she lived a long, productive, and prolific one. It’s entirely for me. It’s about knowing that now, I will never meet her. Now, I’ll never get one of my many books signed. Now, there will never be another installment of words from a woman whose writing changed the way my brain works.

Some of you share my grief; others may only have heard of her. For all of you, here are a few links about her and her life:

– In 1987, Le Guin beautifully turned down blurbing an all-male anthology.

– John Scalzi wrote about encountering her work for the first time as a teenager.

– The NYT obit charts the arc of her career.

– Le Guin gave a prescient speech about art and profit at the National Book Awards in 2014.

– And this commencement address she gave at a women’s college in 1983 is about rejecting the language of masculinity (and made me cry).

The reason her works were so influential for me, so pivotal to my development as a person and a reader, is that many of them were my first exposure to concepts that now, as an adult and a citizen of the 21st century, we may take for granted. And she wasn’t subtle about it; I’ve heard from readers who came to Le Guin in recent years that they were annoyed by some of her more didactic prose (The Dispossessed is full of it). While it’s basically impossible to find any true “comps” for Le Guin, whose style was so uniquely her own, I offer you a few favorites alongside current writers who have played with those same concepts. May you read them with an open mind and in good health!

A story can explode your brain: The Lathe of Heaven
This is the one I’ve reread the most. In an alternate version of Portland, Oregon, a man named George Orr is convinced he can change the world with his dreams. Featuring a domineering psychiatrist, a love story, and turtle aliens (no really), this book took my brain places it could never have imagined, but that I’ve been revisiting ever since.
Current comp: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (I’m still picking up the pieces of my brain that this book exploded)

Gender is fluid: The Left Hand of Darkness
On the planet known as Winter, gender is intermittent and changeable. The humanoid inhabitants take on gender only when mating, in response to their partners’ and their own desires, and not necessarily the same gender every time. For interplanetary ambassador Genly Ai, this is puzzling enough; then he gets sucked into a political struggle involving warring nations.
Current comps: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (you try explaining gender markers to a sentient spaceship, see if you do any better)
The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley (high fantasy plus LOTS of varying gender structures plus LOTS OF BLOOD AND GUTS)

Our present social/political structure isn’t inevitable or unmutable: The Dispossessed
Shevek is a physicist living on an anarchist planet. When he discovers that his world is not as free as it seems, he begins a journey to the neighboring, consumerist/capitalist planet of Urras to try to find a balance.
Current comp: Infomocracy by Malka Older (could micro-democracy work?)
Gnomon by Nick Harkaway (a nesting-doll of a book that also meditates deeply on direct democracy and surveillance)

The nuclear family is not the only family: “Mountain Ways” (read it at Clarkesworld, also collected in The Birthday of the World and Other Stories)
On the planet O, marriages involve 4 people, two of whom you’re expected to have sex with and one of whom you’re not allowed. When Shahes and Enno fall in love, they must try to find a way to honor their traditions while honoring their hearts.
Current comp: The Long Way To a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (because found families can include people who are humans, aliens, AI, you name it)

A fantasy world can grow and change with you: The Earthsea Cycle
A Wizard of Earthsea is a deeply male book — men have real magic, women are witches, men who want magic can’t sleep with women, also there’s a coming-of-age story. But with each successive book in the cycle, which now contains five novels and a short story collection, Le Guin unpacked more and more of this sexist trope, and expanded her world to offer new vistas and new opportunities.
Current comp: The World of Riverside, by Ellen Kushner and now many others (Swordspoint has a lot of very satisfying, vaguely European men who love each other and also occasionally stab each other with swords; each new addition brings more diversity and representation to the story, which is still growing)

Short stories can be just as satisfying as a novel: The Wind’s Twelve Quarters
This collection contains short stories playing in her Hainish worlds, Earthsea, and lots of others that only exist for the space of the story. I cannot tell you how many times I read my copy; enough that it fell apart beyond repair.
Current comp: The Djinn Falls In Love and Other Stories, edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin (which maybe one day I will stop talking about, but that day is not today)

And that’s a wrap. You can (and should!) enter our very exciting library cart giveaway right here. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. If you’re interested in more science fiction and fantasy talk, you can catch me and my co-host Sharifah on the SFF Yeah! podcast. For many many more book recommendations you can find me on the Get Booked podcast with the inimitable Amanda.

Your fellow booknerd,
Jenn

Happy Friday, warlocks, witches, and warring automata! This week we’re talking about The Clockwork Dynasty and Practical Magic, awards news, folklore, LEGOs, and more.

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This newsletter is sponsored by Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings.

An action-packed thrill ride of adventure, intrigue and steamy star-crossed romance! Book one in The Androma Saga, from #1 New York Times bestselling authors Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings.

Known as the Bloody Baroness, Captain Androma Racella and her motley crew roam the Mirabel galaxy on the starship Marauder taking whatever mercenary work they can find.

But when a routine job goes awry, the Marauder’s all-girl crew find themselves at the mercy of a dangerous bounty hunter from Andi’s past. Coerced into a life-threatening mission, and straight into the path of a shadowy ruler bent on revenge, Andi and her crew will either restore order to the ship—or start a war that will devour worlds.

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The nominees are in! The 2018 Philip K. Dick Award’s nominees have been announced. Of the seven I’ve only read one, Six Wakes; must get on these.

Supernatural YA, check: Tor has rounded up the new SF/F YA you’ll want to keep an eye out for. Sharifah talked about The Hazel Wood on the SFF Yeah! podcast recently, and I cannot wait to dig into The Belles.

Previously on The Magicians: Lev Grossman’s novels-turned-wildly popular TV show (at least amongst the nerds of my acquaintance) is back for a third season, and if you’ve lost track of what has happened on the show vs. the books, SyFy Wire has a 2-minute, spoiler-tastic catch-up video.

Fuzz and folklore: Dana found herself reading a string of folklore-based fantasies with animal protagonists this winter. This is a sub-genre I am definitely here for.

Need more short reads in your life? Alex has some suggestions as to where you can find great SF/F magazines and podcasts, plus links to stories you need in your eyeballs ASAP.

Favorite book death-match: That’s probably not what PBS is doing with their Great American Read show, but it’s hard for me not to envision it that way. Especially since SF/F greats Margaret Atwood (do they know she’s Canadian?) and George R.R. Martin are involved now!

WHERE ARE MY LEGOS: Make your own Millenium Falcon.

In today’s reviews, we’ve got historical technology and contemporary witchcraft.

The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson

This was my first experience reading Wilson (who some of you might know from the Robopocalypse books), and what a ride. The story kicks off with an anthropologist on location, studying a three-hundred year old mechanical doll in a monastery. It’s an important lead in her research, which has been stymied by artifacts disappearing right before she’s supposed to study them. When Jane is subsequently attacked in her hotel room for the family heirloom that started her interest in automata, she discovers that there is much, much more to her field of interest than meets the eye. Sentient machines exist, they’re at war with each other, and she’s just been drafted.

Featuring centuries-old automata, lots of action sequences, political shenanigans in the court of Peter the Great, and hidden temples in China, this is a whirlwind adventure story. I confess that I found the pacing a bit frustrating: the chapters are very short and switch POV between present-day Jane and one of the automata during different historical periods, which meant that just when I was getting into something the book switched gears (ahem). Ultimately the characters and the plot were more than worth it, especially if you’re a fan of ancient technology, secret societies, and anthropologist characters (all of which are my catnip).

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

It took a shockingly long time for my library hold on Practical Magic to come in. Is it because of the recent release of the prequel, The Rules of Magic? Is it because this book is a classic of the modern witch genre? Perhaps it’s both; first published in 1995, adapted into the (very charming and surprisingly eerie) movie in 1998, this book holds up.

Sisters Gillian and Sally are the latest in the long line of Owens women. Orphaned at a young age and raised by their eccentric (and witchy) aunts, they’ve taken very different paths in life. Gillian, always the spunky, daring, beautiful one, left home early and has jumped from relationship to relationship, job to job, state to state ever since. Sally, who wants nothing more than a regular life, got married, had kids, and thought that she’d finally found her best life. When her husband dies, that shatters, and she moves her family away from their hometown and settles into pretending that Everything Is Fine And Completely Normal, even though it’s far from. When Sally shows up in the middle of the night with her abusive boyfriend dead in the backseat, it sets off a string of events that will change how three generations of women — Sally and Gillian, Sally’s daughters, and the aunts — relate to each other and their relationship with the powers that they’ve inherited. Oh, and there are a couple love stories too.

The book and movie have been described as the Dixie Chick’s “Goodbye Earl” but with magic, and that’s not far off. Whereas the movie takes the spirit of the book and spins it into a modern fable about women and solidarity in general, the original text is about women and family — how we repeat family patterns, what we believe about ourselves, what we want for our children, and what we allow ourselves to want, what we allow ourselves to deserve. TL;DR: it got me all over again, right in the feels.

And that’s a wrap! You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. If you’re interested in more science fiction and fantasy talk, you can catch me and my co-host Sharifah on the SFF Yeah! podcast. For many many more book recommendations you can find me on the Get Booked podcast with the inimitable Amanda.

Live long and prosper,
Jenn

Happy Friday, sky captains and sorcerers! Today we’ve got reviews of Gnomon, Swordspoint, and Tremontaine, plus lots of adaptation news, some genre definitions, secret Harry Potter drinks, and more.

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This newsletter is sponsored by Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.

Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft in space! An epic sci-fi adventure, the first in a duology, from the New York Times best-selling authors of the Starbound trilogy. When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution humanity has been waiting for. The Undying’s advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and their message leads to the planet Gaia, a treasure trove waiting to be explored.

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Let’s get some of the TV news done first, shall we?
– Vulture reviews Electric Dreams, a show based on Philip K. Dick’s short stories. (How did I not know that this was a thing?)
– The Snowpiercer TV show is finally in motion, and includes headliners Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs.
– The Runaways, which just aired its Season One finale, has been renewed for a second season. (Yes, I did a happy dance when I heard.)

What to look for in 2018: The Verge has some suggestions. New Becky Chambers and Cixin Liu!!

What is space opera, exactly? Not just fantasy in space, says Emily over at Tor.com.

What fictional magical object do you wish you’d gotten for the holidays? I picked a magic carpet, and of course a time turner showed up on this round-up.

Go get yourself some butterbeer: Or rather, a butterbeer latte. Starbucks has a whole HP secret menu, apparently.

When the future looks a lot like the past: I deeply appreciate this review of novels that look to history for what the future might hold (including a shout-out to An Unkindness of Ghosts, which I loved).

And now, on to today’s very heft reviews section!

Gnomon by Nick Harkaway

I have read every book Nick Harkaway has written, and this is by far his most complex, mind-boggling, and genre-exploding work yet. Which is saying something for a man whose debut novel, The Gone-Away World, took a philosophical concept and turned it into a bomb.

It’s a hard book to sum up, partly because the plot is so twisty and partly because there are so many potential spoilers. It takes place in an England in which surveillance is ubiquitous and democratized. If you don’t consent to surveillance, then the system can legally bring you in to read your mind anyway. This is what happens to dissenter Diana Hunter, who dies during the procedure — which is supposed to be harmless, if not actually good for your brain. Investigator Mielikki Neith is assigned to review Hunter’s files to find out what went wrong, and the story unfolds from there. It includes: the stock market; sharks; a priestess and scholar from the time of St. Augustine; an Ethiopian artist; video games; alien life-forms; and that’s just the top level.

If you love twisty, turny, wibbly wobbly plots, then this one is for you. I highly recommend reading it when you have some time to really dive in, partly because it’s a book that teaches you to read it as you go and partly because it really hits its stride (and reveals some of its secrets) after the first third. I started out bemused but along for the ride, and ended it shouting at the pages (in the good way).

Self-promotional note: you can see Nick Harkaway in conversation with me about Gnomon next Tuesday, January 10, at Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn!

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner and Tremontaine by Ellen Kushner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Malinda Lo, Joel Derfner, Racheline Maltese, Patty Bryant, and Paul Witcover

I read Swordspoint for the first time over the December holidays, which is a “finally!” moment for me because it was published in 1987 and people have been recommending it to me for actual years. Which was perfect timing, because I also happened to have the collected Tremontaine Season 1!

Swordspoint takes place in an unnamed city, in which the aristocracy is engaged in both physical and political skulduggery. While they duel verbally with each other on government councils and in drawing rooms, they also occasionally hire swordsmen to duel on their behalf, to settle matters of honor. The story follows several characters including a young, shallow nobleman named Michael, an expert swordsman named Richard St. Vier, and Diane, the ambitious Duchess of Tremontaine. When St. Vier is offered a mysterious job, he is also drawn into a web of betrayals and power struggles. Michael, in the meantime, decides to become a swordsman on a whim and starts to see his life in a new light. Diane, in the meantime, is manipulating events towards her own end: but what is her goal? It’s a queer, violent, page-turner of a book, and huge fun. It also gives just the barest glimpse into the world that St. Vier and Michael inhabit. There are two sequels, The Privilege of the Sword and The Fall of the Kings; and now, there is the prequel: Tremontaine.

Tremontaine comes out of Serial Box, which offers story installments in 10-16 week installments. The contributing author line-up is stellar (Alaya Dawn Johnson! Malinda Lo!!!), and the stories begin 15 years before Swordspoint. Where Swordspoint itself is sorely lacking in characters of color and female characters, Season One more than delivers. The characters include Diane, as one might guess from the title, as well as the young foreign trader/spy Kaab, and Micah, a mathematical genius heavily implied to be on the Autism spectrum. There are many more, but those are just my favorites. The writers stick close to the established style of the original material with occasional flourishes, and the expanded world is delightful and engrossing. A definite must-read for fans of swordplay, pre-Industrial settings, and political shenanigans.

And that’s a wrap! You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. If you’re interested in more science fiction and fantasy talk, you can catch me and my co-host Sharifah on the SFF Yeah! podcast. For many many more book recommendations you can find me on the Get Booked podcast with the inimitable Amanda.

May the odds be ever in your favor,
Jenn

Happy Friday, vampire hunters and Vogons! This week I’m reviewing Rebel Seoul and Sunshine, and talking hard sci-fi, new books to watch for, historical sf/f, and more.

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This newsletter is sponsored by Through a Dark Glass by Barb Hendee, the first of the Dark Glass series from Rebel Base Books.

In the first of the Dark Glass novels, New York Times bestseller Barb Hendee, author of the Mist-Torn Witch series, the Dead Seekers, and the Noble Dead Saga, spins a brand new high fantasy adventure. When Megan of Chaumont is sold into a political marriage, her only choice is which son to marry – Rolf, ambitious and loyal, Sebastian, sly and sympathetic, or Kai, brooding and proud? An enchanted mirror gives her the opportunity to see the consequences of her choice as she lives through each of the three options…and ultimately has to choose just one fate.

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Before we get started! You’ve got about a week left to enter our Top 20 of 2017 book giveaway, right here.

What should you watch for in January? Swapna has some suggestions; I cosign Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra, which I’ll be reviewing later this month!

What is hard sci-fi, anyway? I really love this guide, which goes beyond the classics to include diverse options as well. Doesn’t hurt that my beloved authors Yoon Ha Lee and Ann Leckie are on it…

Did we all miss that the Pentagon has real concerns about aliens? No, really!

Want to get historical with your s/f? Yash has a few on her own stack that she’s excited about. City of Brass is on my list as well, and we’ve talked about my love of Everfair before. Get reading!

Cuban speculative fiction is real and it’s here. While there are still lots of untranslated works, Rachel rounds up a few you can get right now.

For your earholes: the BBC has released their full radio adaptation of Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, and you can listen for free! Not sure how long this’ll be up, so go sooner rather than later.

Treat yo bookshelf! January’s ebook deals include three books worth having, all for $1.99: Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill, gushed over by Joe Hill on our Recommended podcast; An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King, which has been making the rounds here at Book Riot; and Fortune’s Pawn by Rachel Bach, the first in a rompy military space adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed.

In today’s reviews, we’ve got future teen super-soldiers and magical bakers. My interests, they range widely.

Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh

I picked this one up because it was the only book NK Jemisin liked in one of her recent columns (ouch). She called it “moody, explodey fun” and I completely concur.

Set in a future in which there are no more nations, but rather a coalition of regions, it follows high-school student Lee Jaewon, who is scrapping and scraping his way through a prestigious academy in hopes of moving out of the Old Seoul slums and into the domed, pristine, wealthy Neo Seoul. When a fellow student named Alex drafts him for a team evaluation that goes sideways, Jaewon finds himself part of a government project breeding super-soldiers — who also happen to be teenage girls.

What makes this book so fun is the way it plays with the tropes of dystopia and YA fiction. No love triangles here, and much less brooding than I’ve come to expect — Jaewon isn’t exactly a ray of sunshine, but his pragmatic skepticism comes from a place of experience. The parallel love stories were sweet and made actual emotional sense, the action sequences were well-written and varied, and the ending definitely has me ready for the next installment (although it’s currently unclear whether or not we’re getting one).

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Part of my New Year’s Eve celebration includes allowing myself a reread (something I don’t often have time for), and this year’s was Sunshine. Why is this my favorite vampire novel? Let me count the ways.

The world-building: it takes place in a tweaked version of our own present. Magic is real, humanity lives side by side (albeit not peacefully) with demons and vampires and sprites and whatnot, and all our main character Rae wants to do is make cinnamon rolls for her family’s coffeehouse. Having a main character who not only excels at but loves her mundane, non-magical job is such a delight! Plus the bakery scenes always leave me drooling.

The cast of characters: The story is first-person and therefore sticks close to Rae, but the supporting characters get a (wonderful) load of page-time. From her unlikely vampire ally Constantine to her biker boyfriend Mel to her stepdad Charlie to the coffeehouse regulars, you can see how her social world works and exactly how disruptive getting kidnapped by a bunch of vampires is.

I go back and forth on how original the actual plot is — if you’ve read much Robin McKinley, it fits her personal formula pretty closely. Human woman gets kidnapped by vampires, develops a relationship with a Very Special one, they fight the bad guy, The End. It’s certainly not as subversive as my second favorite, Fledgling by Octavia Butler. But McKinley always balances compassion, humor, and high stakes well, and I find this book hugely satisfying. If you’re looking for a non-sparkly, non-YA, slightly kooky take on vampires that will make you so hungry for baked goods, add this one to your TBR.

And that’s a wrap! You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. If you’re interested in more science fiction and fantasy talk, you can catch me and my co-host Sharifah on the SFF Yeah! podcast. For many many more book recommendations you can find me on the Get Booked podcast with the inimitable Amanda.

Your fellow booknerd,
Jenn