Mary Soon Lee's Blog, page 7

July update

For those wondering what I've been up to, here's my latest newsletter update.

Rhysling + Dwarf Stars

I’m delighted to report that The 2024 Rhysling Anthology and Dwarf Stars 2024 have been published. The former contains my poems “Sphinx” (first published in Asimov’s Science Fiction) and “Dispatches from the Dragon’s Den” (first published in Star*Line). The latter contains my poems “Downlist” (first published in Radon Journal) and “What Ghosts Didn’t Do” (first published as the second-place dwarf-length poem in the 2023 SFPA Speculative Poetry Contest).

Favorite June Reads

My two favorite reads in June were:

- Thornhedge, a re-read of T. Kingfisher's lovely retold-fairytale

- Ribbon Dance, the new Liaden Universe book by Sharon Lee + Steve Miller: the Liaden Universe books have given me so much happiness over the years. (This one included norbears, which is always a Big Plus.)

I also very much liked C. J. Cherryh's Downbelow Station (1981, Hugo Award winner) though it was a markedly more stressful read, and a re-read of book 5 of Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series, Phoenix, still just as good on the second time round.

June update

For anyone curious about my recent writing/reading news, here's my latest newsletter.

Favorite May Reads

My three favorite reads in May were:

Taltos, by Steven Brust, a re-read, still good second time around, book four in his Taltos series.

Richard III, Shakespeare, not among my favorites of his, but still some of it sings.

And the hands-down, swept-me-away winner, Inda, plus the next two books in the tetralogy. I started the final book two days ago. I *love* Inda, and many of the other characters, and the storytelling, and how this builds and widens and deepens. I think about it when I'm not reading it, and already, before even finishing, I'm looking forward to when I read it again. (Which I will, though not immediately.)

Update

For anyone curious about my recent writing/reading news, here's my latest newsletter.

Favorite April Reads

My three favorite reads in April were:

Teckla, a re-read for me, book 3 of the Vlad Taltos series (Steven Brust), which I liked even better on this second time round.

Don Quixote, which I began back in December (!) It turned out to both funnier and lighter than its stature had led me to assume, though that still left room for sizable amounts of cruelty aimed at Don Quixote.... Sancho Panza, Quixote's squire, was wonderful.

Prince and Assassin, a gay prince fantasy romance that I am trying not to feel guilty for reading. I loved it to pieces.

Feel free to say what you liked reading in April!

Elgin nomination

I'm honored and delighted to report that How to Navigate Our Universe has been nominated for the 2024 Elgin Award :-) :-)

Penumbric interview

Jeff Georgeson of Penumbric kindly interviewed me, posing questions about cultural influences, The Sign of the Dragon, How to Navigate Our Universe, Zoom, and more.

You can read the interview at https://www.penumbric.com/currentissue/iLee.html.

Favorite March Reads

My three favorite reads in March were:

Yendi, by Steven Brust, book two of his Vlad Taltos series. I'm letting myself re-read the series, one book a month, and am loving it.

Untethered Sky, by Fonda Lee, which I read as part of my Nebula-reading efforts. I thought the final fifth of the novella was particuarly strong. N.B. I loved two of the other Nebula-nominated novellas but I read them before March: Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo and Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200 by R. S. A. Garcia, one of the short-story nominees for the Nebulas, and probably my favorite read of all in March....

Feel free to comment with stories you loved in March!