Category: Swords and Spaceships

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex with the Tuesday salvo of new releases! And yes, believe it or not, it’s the last Tuesday of the century we know as “April.” It’s going out on a strong selection of new books to read, at least. Stay safe out there, space pirates.

In things that I loved from the last few days that don’t get to be in the news section:

A non-SFF volunteer opportunity if you’re looking for something cool to do in your quarantine time: History Colorado is looking for help transcribing documents from suffragists.

Dr. Fauci said he’d like to be played by Brad Pitt. SNL has him covered.

New Releases

Ship of Fates by Caitlin Chung – During the California Gold Rush, a ship decorated with red paper lanterns sits at anchor on the Barbary Coast, welcoming gamblers and drinkers aboard. On board this ship, an ancient lighthouse keeper who wants only freedom has their fate tied to that of two young women.

The Human Son by Adrian J. Walker – The Erta, a species created to be hyper-intelligent and “unburdened” by human emotion, saved the Earth by removing what was killing it: humans. 500 years later, they consider if they should reintroduce this troubled species to the paradise they have built. They decide to start with a single human child and let the weight of his species’ damnation or salvation rest on his shoulders. But raising a child is more difficult than any of the Erta expected… and there’s more to human history than they’ve been told.

Incendiary by Zoraida Cordóva – Renata is a memory thief, someone who possesses the rarest and most feared kind of magic. She was kidnapped as a child and raised in the royal palace; under that influence she carried out the King’s Wrath, and in so doing, caused the death of thousands of her own people. Kidnapped again and brought to freedom by the rebel Whispers, she joins their cause despite the suspicion and hatred with which they regard her… and the overwhelming presence of the memories of the dead that haunt her. When a undercover mission takes her back to the palace, she has to maintain her cover and rein in her own thirst for vengeance as she uncovers secrets about her own past that will change the course of the war and her world.

If It Bleeds by Stephen King – A new collection of four novellas from Stephen King, whose best work has often been in this shortened form. The novellas are tantalizingly titled: Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat, and If It Bleeds

Critical Point by S.L. Huang – Cas Russell has a lot to think about; after stopping a shadowy organization from brainwashing the world, she’s discovered that her mathematical powers were artificially created and that someone deliberately erased her past. Her processing time is interrupted by a demolitions expert targeting her and her friends and a conspiracy from her past rearing its head. Soon, she’s in a race against time to save her best friend, with her past, present, and future on a collision course.

Firefly: The Ghost in the Machine by James Lovegrove – After Mal picks up a sealed crate that they’re supposed to take to Badger with no questions asked, River tries to convince him to space it because it’s filled with ghosts. Running desperately short on cash, the crew really doesn’t have a choice but to ignore her warnings… and then the mysterious crate begins causing hallucinations that drive everyone but River further and further from reality.

News and Views

To prepare us for Network Effect, ART and Murderbot had an Instragram Live AMA.

io9 has a sneak peek of S.A. Chakraborty’s The Empire of Gold.

Margaret Atwood’s lockdown diary

Science Fiction and Human Rights (also, if you want to actually see the Octavia E. Butler letter referenced, there’s a picture here.)

Actor Mary Neely has been reenacting short bits from her favorite musicals and they’re all great, but Beauty and the Beast is definitely her best work.

Sebastian Stan says Falcon and the Winter Soldier has the same feel as Captain America: The Winter Soldier and now I am a zillion times more excited.

New Doctor Who short, which offers a moment of mercy.

Just when you thought Dolly Parton couldn’t be more awesome, you find out that she was a producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In case you’d forgotten: space travel is really, really bad for humans and that’s a major challenge.

Geology/paleoclimate nerd moment: rapid sea level rise 14,650 years ago might have been due to the collaps Eurasian Ice Sheet.

On Book Riot

Last week’s SFF Yeah! podcast is about the Hugos and the Dune adaptation, among other things.

You can enter to win a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex with some tree-filled books and news for this end of the week. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I hope you’ve been getting more reading done than I have–to be honest, stress makes for a major lack of focus. (But I finally caught up on Project Runway, so that’s good, right?)

Probably my favorite video of the week: stunt people in quarantine

Very close runner up: baby rhino at the Denver Zoo!

News and Views

Cover reveal for Nnedi Okorafor’s next novella from Tor.com!

I already squeed about the cover for C.L. Polk’s new novel, The Midnight Bargain, on Tuesday–but now you can build an online jigsaw puzzle of it!

The Smithsonian has Octavia Butler’s typewriter.

An amazing Twitter thread: David Bowie as ice lollies

Jim C. Hines is doing a Kickstarter for his new MG novel, Tamara Carter: Goblin Queen.

Lambda Literary is looking for some help to get through the pandemic crisis.

Grandmother Paradox is an essay that’s an in-depth look at Octavia Butler’s Kindred.

Essay: Will fantasy ever let Black boys like me be magic?

K.M. Szpara and N.K. Jemisin talk Docile, vampies, and Hanson fanfic

Tor.com has an interview with the artist for the Folio Society’s edition of A Clash of Kings.

Middle Earth temporarily bans fellowships of more than five.

Leslye Headland (creator of Russian Doll) has been signed on by Disney to make a new Star Wars TV show.

They’re going to make a movie from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

If you feel like getting punched in the heart by the Curiosity Rover, here you go.

LIGO/Virgo has detected binary black holes with unequal mass!

This is entirely true: geologists in lockdown

On Book Riot

3 Great Western-Inspired YA Novels

10 Books With Our Favorite Fictional Knights

Get Spellbound by These Magical Medieval Fantasy Books

Free Association Friday: Happy Tree Day!

Today is Arbor Day (which is also the earliest Arbor Day can be in April, fun fact), which is for planting trees! I guess this year, it’s planting trees that are small enough for one person to handle, at least six feet apart. Trees and forests make for settings and characters in SFF that vary from the life-affirming to mythic to utterly spooky. Here’s six (of many possible choices) that would make a good read under the branches of your favorite tree.

The forest is a major part of the setting for Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao, a background for Xifeng’s struggle with the evil inside her as she follows her ambition. It’s where she’s told she still has a choice in things and that her path to power will be dark, and then the book circles back to that at the end. Gorgeous, dark stuff.

In The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin, the tree is (haha) environmental; the entire setting is a city that has been overwhelmed by the exuberant (on a long time scale) roots and branches of a massive tree. It’s the second book in the series (read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms first; you won’t regret it) and the tree is a constant, living presence, the joyful revenge of life that has been too long kept in check by the false imposition of inflexible order.

The Trees by Ali Shaw is about an arboreal revolution; overnight, the trees grow with shocking speed, transforming an ordinary man’s world into a forest and leaving terrific destruction behind. The survivors begin to band together, and go forth into the new forest to discover if this is going to be an end to the world they know, or a renewal that leads to something new.

If you can find a copy, Walking the Tree by Kaaron Warren takes you to a fantastic continent dominated by a single, massive tree–and it’s a five year rite of passage for girls to completely walk around its base.

Sue Burke’s Semiosis gives us sentient, alien trees that occupy a world the humans thought they could safely colonize because they thought it would be the perfect home. It’s a character-driven first contact story with a vegetative twist.

An unspeakably ancient and terrifying forest fills Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock and its sequels. Ryhope Wood is an unspeakably ancient forest that’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside; it functions as a labyrinth in the most mythological sense. And it’s home to mythagos, “myth images,” beings formed from human memories that deteriorate and die if they leave the forest.

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! And it is, for certain, Tuesday. I promise. It’s Alex, with new releases and some fun links to hopefully brighten your day. Stay safe out there, space pirates!

But first, I can’t be the only one dreaming of taking advantage of this: you can invite a llama or a goat to your next Zoom meeting and help an animal sanctuary.

New Releases

Note: The lists of new releases I have access to didn’t include any authors of color this week.

Master Class by Christina Dalcher – In a strictly tiered education system where a child’s entire future is determined by their Q score, the high fliers go to elite institutions and the unsuitable are sent to federal boarding schools. Supposedly, it’s better for everyone; costs are down, teachers focus on the most promising students, and the parents are much happier. Elena is a teacher at one of the elite schools… until her daughter bombs one of her monthly assessments and disappears into the boarding school system. Now Elena must confront the monstrous system she has been part of as she tries to get her daughter back.

You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce – Cassandra Tipp, a notoriously reclusive novelist with a bloody past that includes a disemboweled husband and an infamous acquittal at trial, might be dead. Or she might not be. Dead or alive, she has a story to tell, about what really happened… if the listener is willing to pay the price.

The Heron Kings by Eric Lewis – Sister Alessia leaves her cloister after she learns of her parents’ death at the hands of a warlord. While outwardly she seeks to heal other victims of an increasingly brutal conflict, she struggles with the rage she feels over their deaths. When she uncovers evidence of a foreign conspiracy behind the conflict, she must risk the lives of those she saved to try to end the war.

Repo Virtual by Corey J. White – Neo Songdo is the ultimate smart city, a place meant to be viewed through augmented reality that hides many layers of starvation and desperation under a facade of corporate perfection. By night, the stars are hidden behind a virtual space war conducted by millions of players online. Enter a repoman and thief who is tasked with liberating one small item from a tech billionare. A job that already wasn’t easy gets a thousand times more complicated when he realizes he’s stolen the world’s first sentient AI.

Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst – Kehok are monsters, the reincarnated souls of people whose lives were so dark, they could find no redemption. Those who wish to change their fates can join the Races, where people ride kehok in an attempt to win a better life for themselves. A beaten-down former professional trainer and a new rider desperate to escape her domestic situation join forces to tame a new, strange kehok in the hopes that they can change their destinies.

The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence – Yaz is born into a people where being different means being cast off. She is thrown into the Pit of the Missing, and fights to survive in the tunnels of ice that branch from it. Her journey takes her to communities of the lost, people who were judged to be broken, and brings her to dangers lurking under the ice. She learns that there are many kinds of strength, and the seemingly logical calculation of survival her people have made for countless years is not the only way–and deserves to be challenged.

News and Views

Check out the long list for the 2020 Nommo Awards!

Cover reveal for C.L. Polk’s forthcoming fantasy novel, which I need injected directly into my veins: The Midnight Bargain

Marlon James on winning the Ray Bradbury Prize for Black Leopard, Red Wolf in our current times.

Real aliens be like… (an amazing TikTok)

10 of the best birds in fantasy

Alex Brown has whipped up a list of must-read short fiction from March.

Demolition Man‘s writer wasn’t trying to be prescient, he just wanted to make a funny movie.

The second issue of Imaginary Papers is available.

ConZealand now has registration information for attending memberships to the now-virtual convention.

Scientists develop a new enzyme for breaking down plastic bottles in hours.

Harry Potter buses are transporting NHS staff now.

Cate Blanchett shows off her movie props to Stephen Colbert.

On Book Riot

5 dystopian reads that remind us things could be worse

Bitpunk Books: Your guide to this 80s-tastic genre

Quiz: Which Hogwarts professor from Harry Potter are you?

You can enter to win a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with a little bit of news, and a dive into the not-a-Hugo nominees for this year, which encompasses two really exciting categories. Stay safe out there, space pirates!

News and Views

Naomi Kritzer on the weirdness of basically living through a story she wrote five years ago.

Fantasy Cafe is running a whole series: Women in SF&F Month

Tochi Onyebuchi wrote a crossword puzzle answer! (spoiler: Riot Baby)

Introductions to the women of Dune… and it looks like Dr. Liet Kynes will be joining their ranks in the newest movies. Here’s some more first-look stills from the film. Prepare yourself, because there’s a shot of Oscar Isaac that’s having an amazing effect on purportedly heterosexual men.

DC Comics has some awesome free Zoom backgrounds for you.

Lavie Tidhar curated the Best of British SFF storybundle.

A really cool Twitter thread about a mind-blowingly huge siphonophore recorded in the deep ocean.

On Book Riot

Cover Reveal: On Fragile Waves by E. Lily Yu

10 high fantasy novels by women

20 must-read feel-good science fiction books

How horror and erotica intertwine in Angela Carter’s feminist fairytales

You have until 11:45 PM tonight to enter to win a bundle of Once & Future and Sword in the Stars.

You can enter to win a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card

Free Association Friday: Not-a-Hugo Nominees!

Over a week later, I’m still totally geeked about this year’s Hugos. Or rather, I want to gush about the not-a-Hugos today. For arcane reasons that I can go into with you if you ever feeling like attending a World Science Fiction Society Business Meeting, there are awards that are Hugo-adjacent but not actually Hugos. Namely, the Lodestar, which is an award for YA novels, and the Astounding Award, which is something new writers can win–but only for the first two years they’re publishing professionally. And these are some great categories this year.

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book

Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer – Steph’s only constant community is online, a place called CatNet–where unbeknownst to her, the admin is actually an AI. When the AI’s existence is discovered by outsiders, Steph has to unite with her online friends to save their community and its beloved admin.

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge – 15-year-old Hark finds the beating heart of a terrifying god, the surviving remnant of the time decades ago when the gods suddenly tore each other apart. He tries to use the heart to save his best friend, only to find it transforms him slowly into a monster.

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee – Min comes from a long line of fox spirits, but she’s not allowed to use their magic or give any hint that they exist; she has to pretend to be human at all times. Her older brother is accused of deserting his post on a Space Forces battle cruiser, and she embarks on a quest to clear his name–and maybe find the mystical Dragon Pearl.

Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher – Oliver is a minor mage who knows only three spells, one of which helps him with his allergy to armadillos. Unfortunately, he’s all his people have.

Riverland by Fran Wilde – Two sisters have a secret hiding place under the bed, where they go when their father gets angry. But one day, he breaks an heirloom witch ball, a river suddenly appears in their hiding place and sweeps them away.

The Wicked King by Holly Black – To protect her younger brother, Jude has bound the wicked king to herself and thus become the power behind the throne. She has to navigate the ever-shifting politics of Faerie while the king undermines her at every turn.

Astounding Award for Best New Writer

Sam Hawke – Start exploring Sam’s work with City of Lies, about an expert in poisons who has to save his besieged city-state when the Chancellor dies… to poison.

R.F. Kuang – If you haven’t read The Poppy War yet, you are seriously missing out. It’s the start of a fantasy alternate history series inspired by 20th century China’s bloody history that will grab you by the throat and not let go.

Jenn Lyons – Start with The Ruin of Kings, about a long-lost prince who isn’t destined to save the world–no, he’s going to destroy it.

Nibedita Sen – A wild short story writer appears! You should definitely read Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island, considering it’s been nominated for Yes-a-Hugo for short story. And you can find the rest of her writing on her website.

Tasha Suri – You must have read Empire of Sand already. I’ve yelled about it enough, right? Empire, magic, gods, and disaster heteros. What more could you want?

Emily Tesh – Take a look at Silver in the Wood, which my housemate has described as “an exploration of the Green Man of the Woods, and also very, very gay.”

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy third week of April, shipmates! It’s Alex, and… I don’t know about you, but we celebrated getting midway through the first month of spring here with… let me check my notes… a snow storm. I hope everyone is staying safe (and warm, where applicable) and here are some brand new books to help brighten your day, as well as some fun news!

But first, the best fashion show I’ve ever seen.

And while I’m not big into poetry, this is some amazing work: The First Lines of Emails I’ve Received While Quarantining

New Releases

The Conductors by Nicole Glover – After the Civil War, former Underground Railroad conductor Hetty has settled in Philadelphia with her husband Benjy. The two of them work to solve mysteries and deaths that the white authorities of the city would rather ignore. When they find one of their friends dead in an alleyway, they must embark on a dangerous search for truth so deep and ugly that will take all their wits–and magic–to face.

Simantov by Asaf Ashery, translated by Marganit Weinberger-Rotman – Two detectives head a team of mystic agents tasked with solving otherworldly crime scenes and bizarre clues. They realize that their newest case, a series of strange abductions, is pointing directly toward an oncoming apocalypse, brought on by a war between factions of angels. But while the angels fight it out over who will have access to heaven, neither side has accounted for the weight of human free will in their battle plans.

Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu – After the civil war between Earth and Mars, a group of young people travels from Mars to Earth in an attempt to heal the rift between the two. But on Earth, the Martian youth find themselves without welcome or friends, bereft of the beauty and culture they’re familiar with from their home.

The Unsuitable by Molly Pohlig – Iseult is a woman who, by Victorian standards, is on the edge of irretrievable spinsterhood, and her terrible father is determined to marry her off. She has little trouble frightening away the suitors her father finds… until he brings up a man who has been turned silver by odd medical treatments. Even if Iseult might be all right with this courtship, there’s another problem–her mother, who died in childbirth, lives in a scar on Iseult’s neck and has some very negative opinions about all of this, and she’s not afraid to express them strongly.

Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost – In the midst of being torn by the winds of the Dust Bowl, the respectable, god-fearing town of Elysium, Oklahoma is chosen by the sisters Life and Death, to be used in a gambling game. The town has ten years to prove itself worthy, or have all its citizens slain by Dust Soldiers. With the ten years almost expired, it will be up to a band of girls exiled to the Desert of Dust and Steel to join forces and save the people who cast them out.

The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey – In a post-apocalyptic world, the small village of Mythen Rood is surrounded by a hostile landscape populated by murderous plant life. Koli has lived in the village all his life, and firmly believes that in order to survive, he must stay in the village walls. All that is about to change.

News and Views

N.K. Jemisin has a Twitter thread if you’re not sure which of her series to read first.

A great #DontRushChallenge done by some awesome ladies in publishing. Look for guest appearances by Bruja Born, Mexican Gothic, and A Phoenix First Must Burn.

Patrick Stewart reads Sonnet 25.

Station Eleven, Mr. Burns, and (Re)Telling Stories to Survive 

I Am Using My Free Time to Not Write a Novel (I feel so personally attacked.)

Imagining an Indigenous science-fiction festival for the stay-home era

An Alien facehugger mask. YIKES.

Want to help NASA do some science and save coral reefs? There’s an app for that.

It’s that time of year again: peep in a vacuum flask

On Book Riot

The horror and speculative fiction I’ve been reading to distract myself from IRL horror

10 lovely fantasies to remind you there’s beauty in the world

8 great portal fantasies for YA readers

You can enter to win a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s new release day, the most wonderful time of the week. (For me, it’s also Geeks Who Drink day, since the wonderful people at GWD have taken their quiz into streaming so my trivia team still has an excuse to hang out, if virtually.) C’est Alex, with a selection of the new books coming out this week and a few bits of news that will hopefully be entertaining.

A couple of non-SFF things that made me smile–and will hopefully work for you too!

Episode 2 of Some Good News was really good if you love Hamilton

Bagpipes meet bhangra in the snowy Canadian wilds

New Releases

The Immortals of Tehran by Ali Araghi – Ahmad listens raptly to the stories of his seemingly immortal great-great-great-great-grandfather. And on the day his father dies, the story is about a family curse, and Ahmad’s role in it. Ahmad’s life goes through constant transformation and reinvention as he tries to keep his family safe through the decades of famine, violence, and social disruption that happen around the Revolution.

Now, Then, and Everywhen by Rysa Walker – When the paths of two time-traveling historians cross, their timelines go horribly awry. Madison founds CHRONOS in the 22nd century, determined to investigate the past of her own family. But when she returns from that fateful trip, millions of lives have been erased from her timeline. Tyson is a CHRONOS agent from the 24th century, sent to study the 20th century civil rights movement… and he finds that history isn’t happening as it should now. They must work together to figure out which of them–or some other nefarious force–broke the timeline.

A Tale of Truths by Berit Ellingsen – An unlikely band made of an elf who created himself from pure thought, a dissident scientist, and the scientist’s granddaughter are on a quest to convince their world that the planet orbits around their sun rather than the other way around. Their journey takes them to a massive vertical conch that houses a tiered city. But traveling is far simpler than convincing anyone to change their world view…

Shadows of the Short Days by Alexander Dan Vilhjalmsson – Watched over by a flying fortress, Reykjavík is a city whose people do as they’re told, follow the rules, and keep their heads down… because if they don’t, they’ll end up in the dungeons of the Nine. A student of magic and an outcast artist unite to ask more of their beloved home city–and they’re willing to fight the police and legions of masked sorcerers to change their home forever.

The Glass Magician by Caroline Stevemer – Thalia is a stage magician, trying to make a living in Gilded Age New York City, performing her breathtaking tricks for dazzled audiences… until one of those tricks goes horribly wrong and to save herself, she discovers she has the ability to shapeshift. In the aftermath, she finds it’s also an ability that could unlock her way into the upper echelons of society–if she can learn to control it.

So This is Love: A Twisted Tale by Elizabeth Lim – In a what-if fairy tale world, Cinderella never tried on the glass slipper and was never found by the prince. Instead, in desperation she finally escapes her wicked stepmother and becomes a seamstress at the palace. Only she’s drawn back into the world she thought she escaped when she bears witness to a conspiracy to take the king–and the prince–out of power.

News and Views

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Kitschies!

• The Red Tentacle for Novel: The Fire Starters by Jan Carson
• The Golden Tentacle for Debut Novel: Jelly by Clare Reese
• The Inky Tentacle for Cover Art: The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

The Hugo Award nominees for this year will be announced… today. Which means I can’t tell you about them until Friday. But if you want to see it live instead of waiting for the newsletter, keep an eye on the ConZealand twitter account. Looks like they’re planning a YouTube livestream. In the lead up, they’ve announced who will be designing the awards!

You can download one free Doctor Who story a week from Big Finish now.

Cathy Yan is plotting the Birds of Prey sequel and hold onto your butts, people… Poison Ivy is involved

There are a few SFF adjacent shows in this collection of 35 TV writers on how they’d do a coronavirus episode for their show

Moment of cute: penguins getting their weigh in

On Book Riot

5 books in which space isn’t all its cracked up to be

7 books about magic schools for every reader

6 YA series featuring dragons

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Friday, space pirates! It is now… let me check my notes… April! We survive that March decade pretty well, didn’t we? It’s Alex, with some news and some rip roarin’ SFF. (Please forgive me for that pun.) But before we get started, a small musical interlude that brightened my day and will hopefully brighten yours.

Hedgehog: a micropiece for 9 isolated musicans

Or if you’re in my age demographic, how about I Want It That Way? Finally, the originals have challenged the best Brooklyn 99 cold open ever.

News and Views

SFWA has (re)announced the now-virtual 55th Annual Nebula Conference.

Essay of the week: Our fascination with canon is killing the way we value stories

Ted Chiang Explains the Disaster Novel We All Suddenly Live In (and if you haven’t picked up Exhalation: Stories yet, I encourage you to do so.)

Ken Liu did an AMA about writing, translating, and what’s next for his series (which starts with The Grace of Kings). Highlights here.

R.F. Kuang talks about her next novel, The Burning God.

If the vampire Lestat was your boyfriend…

Queering SFF: What’s Changed in the Last Ten Years

Marina Sirtis gets a happy birthday from her best friends

Sonnet 10 from Patrick Stewart

George Takei will be the final torch-carrier for the Tokyo Olympics (now postponed to 2021).

I am a giant sucker for time loops, so I must watch all of these TV episodes immediately.

An astrophycist got magnets stuck up his nose while working on a device that would help people stop touching their faces. This earned him the place as the limerick of the day for March 30.

On Book Riot

What if the Little Mermaid learned Sign Language? Thoughts about fairy tales and disability

New Fairy Tales, New Graphic Novels

Why Reading Pandemic Lit Gives Me Hope

Free Association Friday

Well, here’s a cheerful thing for April 3: in 1888, the first of the Whitechapel murders occured, starting off the serial-killing career of the still mysterious figure of Jack the Ripper. But hey, it’s not pandemic-related! So how about five works of SFF that feature that infamous figure?

Note: I was unable to find SFF titles for this topic by authors of color. If you know of any, shout them out!

Though first, I would very much like to step out of my wheelhouse and recommend a non-fiction book: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold. It’s immensely good (I listened to the audiobook) and Hallie actively works to defeat a problem a lot of true crime writers run up against, which is placing the emphasis on the victims who had their lives cut short rather than spotlighting the monster that took them. Also, there are some really uncomfortable echoes of Victorian British attitudes we can scope out still in modern America, but that’s a whole other topic.

The Strange Case fo the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss is what I’d call the very definition of a literaray “romp.” It’s a giant, multi-layered pastiche of public domain characters (or their maligned female relatives) getting together to solve mysteries and become a family. The mystery here is nominally the Jack the Ripper killings, but all is not what it seems… and Sherlock Holmes is also on the case, along with the Monstrous Gentlewomen.

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman – Another pastiche-o-rama, which asks what if Dracula had won? And then he went ahead and converted Queen Victoria and quite a few citizens of London to vampirism. He’s made becoming a vampire a trendy thing, which quite a few people–and notably some vampires, utterly disgusted. Enter Jack the Ripper, who has turned his murderous talents to thinning out the swelling ranks of the vampires.

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny – How about a book from the viewpoint of Jack the Ripper’s dog? His name is Snuff, and he’s accompanying his master into Whitechapel on “collecting” expeditions, during October, when the borders of reality thin and “Openers” secretly compete with “Closers” to see if the pathways to a decidedly chthonic plane of great old ones will stay open or closed.

Ripper by Amy Carol Reeves – After her mother’s sudden death, Abbie ends up living with her grandmother in London… and volunteering at the Whitechapel hospital. Convinced she’s found her calling, helping the poor and abused, she takes it very personally when the very women she’s trying to help begin turning up murdered… and then she begins experiencing visions of the Ripper luring them to their deaths. Using this knowledge, she’s determined to use all of her courage and intelligence to hunt this criminal down… and finds a wider, more horrifying conspiracy than she could have imagined.

Cruel… and Unusual by D. Michelle Gent – Awooo, werewolves of London! The Wolf Society has a problem–there’s a real nasty piece of (human) work wandering around in Whitechapel, brutally killing women. And they’re deeply concerned that the unwanted attention he’s bringing in will cause the werewolves to be discovered, which could be a real issue. They’ve got to decide if they’re going to hunt down this menace themselves, or risk letting the human police force see to it.

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

It’s Tuesday, Lemons and Lemonades! (I promise, that made sense in my head.) It’s Alex, with some new releases for this extra Tuesday of March, and some news that will hopefully brighten your day. By the way, I just started watching The Ghost Bride on Netflix, and if you want a non-book thing to cheer you up, it’s wonderful fun. Or if you’re a person of a certain age group (mine), in case you didn’t know, Nine Inch Nails just released two new albums… for free.

A couple of other great things!

The National Theatre will have plays from its archive available online.

Also, you can now get Girlscout Cookies online.

New Releases

The Sisters Grimm by Menna van Praag – Four half sisters, each connected to one of the four elements, dreamed of a strange other world called the Everwhere when they were children. When they were thirteen, they were torn from the Everwhere and separated; five years later, they’re fighting to come back together and rediscover the magic they lost. Thirty-three days before their eighteenth birthday, they must prepare for an upcoming gladiatorial fight they must survive and a choice their father will force on them… and they don’t know it’s coming.

Anthropocene Rag by Alex Irvine – In a future United States shaped by climate disaster and humanity’s indelible touch, the wasteland teems with monsters and emergent AI who share myths about their long-ago human creators. Prospector Ed is one such AI, so dedicated to learning the truth about the humans that he assembles a band to search out the legendary Monument City.

Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa – Yumeko the kitsune shapeshifter was forced to give up the final piece of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers in order to save the lives of her loved ones. Assassin Kage Tatsumi has made a deal with the literal demon inside of him to share control of his body and help Yumeko in her desperate quest to stop the Master of Demons from summoning the great dragon god. The battle for the scroll–and survival–is far from over.

Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi – Ella now knows who Juliette is–and why she was created, to be a weapon. The reestablishment hasn’t been deafeated; its day of reckoning is coming. Ella must unravel the past that haunts her and the uncertain future–and her relationship with Juliette. The time is coming to pick a side, but Ella might not get a choice after all.

Providence by Max Barry – Humanity learns that it isn’t alone in the universe in the most terrifying way possible–via a video. Suddenly, space doesn’t seem like a final frontier just waiting to be explored any more. Instead, humans build a massive warship, the Providence, and launch it to protect the Earth against the threat the video showed them. There’s only a crew of four, there to monitor the ship’s functions… and report back to Earth’s global audience via social media. Suddenly, their communications are cut, their ship becomes increasingly unreliable, and they’re on their own to face a fight they didn’t expect.

News and Views

Science Fiction author Matt Wallace has a special recipe for you: Quarantined French Toast

Stephen Colbert puts his face back on (wait for it).

Jason Sanford has collected a list of resources to help out people in the SFF community during the pandemic.

Chris Evans reading a children’s book.

Neil Gaiman has given LeVar Burton blanket permission to read his stories online.

Sonnet Number 6.

No comment.

The first episode of Vagrant Queen is on youtube.

What a rocket launch looks like from space.

Meerkats meet a large pig. And what happens when sports announcers get bored.

On Book Riot

Book Riot’s hub of ongoing COVID-19 coverage

In Defense of Druhástrana, the Nightmare Country of GINGERBREAD

5 Urban Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels to Add to Your 2020 TBR

All That Glitters: The Fantasy Cities You Don’t Want to Live in

7 Captivating and Unique Magical Cities

Unique Magical Cities You Might Want to Visit

10 Queer Romance YA-Friendly Fantasy Books

8 of the Best Magical Cities in YA Books

New York City in Children’s and Young Adult SFF

Magical Cities in Great Middle Grade Series (That Aren’t Harry Potter)

6 Magical Cities and Their Real World Inspirations

Quiz: Which Magical City Should You Live In?

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Happy Friday, my fellow social distancers! I have it on good authority that we should keep at least 8 books (laid end-to-end, not stacked) away from others at all times. It’s Alex, with some news and a little bookish free association to take you into the weekend.

A thing that made me smile: the only acceptable way for grandma to come down with the sickness.

News and Views

Excited about N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became? Join in the Spoiler Book Club Discussion on March 28!

ConZealand has decided it will be the first WorldCon to be virtual, as a solution to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While it’s sad if you were planning to use this as an excuse to see New Zealand, this could make the World Science Fiction Convention much more accessible internationally!

The Aurealis Awards have announced the finalists!

The Thirteenth Doctor has an important message for you. There’s also a short story you can read about her over at the BBC.

K.M. Szpara on being a quitter.

Patrick Stewart has more sonnets for you. Also, if you want to watch Picard and don’t have CBS All Access, he’s got you covered there, too. What a good.

You can watch Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem adapted as a Minecraft-esque animated series.

If the Witcher had a black cat…

The Winchester Mystery House is offering virtual tours.

Astronaut Scott Kelly has some advice about isolation.

On Book Riot

5 Standout YA Fabulism Books

Happening Right Now: The Harry Potter Alliance is Hosting a Virtual Con

Pennsylvania Library Creates a Hogwarts Digital Escape Room

We’re doing a couple giveaways of Barnes and Noble gift cards: $50 and $250!

Free Association Friday: Silver Friday

March 27 of 1980 became known as “Silver Thursday” when the three Hunt brothers tried to corner the market in silver and apparently really hecked things up into a panic for everyone. So here’s five books I found that have Silver in the title and absolutely nothing else to do with perturbing the futures market–but everything to do with a good story.

On the Silver Globe by Jerzy Żuławski, translated by S. Goar – Starting off with some Polish science fiction! This is the first of Żuławski’s Lunar Trilogy (written between 1901 and 1911) and tells the story, in the form of a diary, of a crew of human astronauts who found a colony on the Moon after they are stranded.

Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee – Jane is a shallow, pampered child of privilege on an Earth that’s been radically remade by natural disasters, with wealth and class disparities only deepened. Then she meets a robot minstrel who captures her heart, and she follows him into the worst slums of her city, consumed by a love that borders on madness.

Inside a Silver Box by Walter Mosley – A horrific tragedy brings two people together, and they are united by the powers of the mysterious Silver Box. The most powerful and destructive tool in the universe, the Silver Box has its own designs, and will use or destroy humanity if that means escape from its former master and the aliens known as the Laz.

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh – A scholar goes into the woods, looking for answers regarding the myth of the Green Man, and finds far more than he bargained. Per my housemate, this book is “extremely gay.”

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – Miryem is the daughter of a money lender who is very bad at asking for his money back; tired of her family being poor and mistreated, she takes over collecting and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. Unfortunately, this gets the attention of the King of the Staryk, leader of a race of icy fey that are encroaching on the kingdom with ever longer winters. Miryem must use all of her cleverness and heart to find a way to save herself, and not one but two kingdoms.

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.