Elizabeth Fitzgerald's Blog: Earl Grey Editing, page 9

2019 Reading Challenges

If you’ve been following me for even a short time, you probably know I’m a sucker for a reading challenge. Some of the ones in which I participate are seasonal or only run for a short time. However, I usually sign up for a couple of year-long challenges, just to keep things interesting.

2018 Challenges Wrap-ups

First up, my personal goal for 2018 was to read 125 books. Honestly, I had a hard time trying to decide what seemed reasonable. 2016 & 2017 were both record years and I found it difficult to judge if they marked a permanent change in my reading or whether they are outliers. It seems it’s more of a permanent change, because I ended up hitting 155 books by the end of 2018.

For the annual Goodreads challenge, I was again aiming for 125 and hit 147.

You might think that with all that reading, I’d have managed to meet my goal of shrinking my Mt TBR down to 330 books. Not so. I finished the year at 442, so this goal was a definite failure. In the end, I discovered that I just didn’t care enough about this goal to make it happen. Reviewing makes it a bit of a challenge, and I just have too much fun with book clubs and awards reading. If I have a giant pile of books to read, so be it!

I’d signed up for the Beat the Backlist challenge, aiming to read 52 books published before 2018. I technically managed this, reaching 81 books published before 2018, but it wasn’t in any conscious way and still left the oldest books on Mt TBR untouched.

2019 Challenges

I’ve decided to increase my personal reading goal to 140 books this year. I was thinking about making it 150 books, but I have some rather hefty tomes I want to try and get to. Similarly, my Goodreads goal is 130, allowing space for books not listed on Goodreads.

Having determined that shrinking Mt TBR is just not a priority for me, I have decided to take a bit of a different angle to approaching the pile. This year, I want to tackle the 10 oldest books on the stack. These include:

Vanity Fair by William Thackery

Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsukoa

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

The Magical Toyshop by Angela Carter

Jigs and Reels by Joanne Harris

Creative Wisdom for Writers by Roland Fishman

Palace by Katherine Kerr and Mark Kreighbaum

Boy and Going Solo by Roald Dahl

Creative Mythology by Joseph Campbell

Added to these will be The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu and Black Wolves by Kate Elliot. Both authors are Guests of Honour at Continuum this year and I’d like to have read something of their work before seeing them.

What about you? What reading goals and challenges are you participating in this year?

Mt TBR Report: December 2018 & Yearly Wrap-up

Happy New Year! I hope those of you celebrating had wonderful holidays. I had a good break and was glad to spend some time with my family. The only down side was I didn’t get as much reading done as I would have liked.

Speaking of which, it’s time for me to take a good look at my reading stats for the year.

2018 reading stats

I read 155 books in 2018, my second-best year behind 181 in 2017 (I suspect that record is going to be hard for me to beat).

Fantasy remained my most popular genre, making up about 40% of my reading. I read less romance this year (which rather surprises me) and more science fiction and non-fiction.

Of the 155 books I read in 2018, 108 were written by women. I read 21 books written by authors of unknown, non-binary or multiple genders.

32% of the books I read were written by Australian authors. Considering all the Aurealis reading I did, I’m surprised it isn’t higher.

44% of the books I read were from authors I consider diverse. This is an improvement on 36% on last year. However, I feel I could be doing better in relation to books by PoC authors.

My consumption of e-books was a little over 50%, a figure that has remained more or less steady since 2015. I’m liking this balance.

71 of the books I read were published in 2018. The average age of the books I read was 3 years, which is more than twice what it was last year. It means I’m starting to get through some older works. The average tenure on Mt TBR was 78 days, another sign I’m getting to some older works, since last year’s figure was 59 days.

My mean rating (out of 5) was 3.4, which has held more or less steady over the last few years and suggests I’m still probably being a bit generous with my ratings… or sensible enough to ditch books that aren’t working for me.

These numbers probably don’t mean much to anyone else, but I have such fun keeping track of them throughout the year. I’m looking forward to seeing what 2019 brings.

Mt TBR Status

Mt TBR @ 1 January 2018: 351

Mt TBR @ 30 November 2018: 427

Mt TBR @ 31 December 2018: 442

Books Read

141. Blackwood by Pia Foxhall. Paranormal m/m romance. Wildlife photographer Braden Payne is good at concealing the fact he’s an omega shifter. However, things begin to unravel when he finds himself stranded in a remote forest in Western Australia. I’m really not one for shifter fiction–the whole macho alpha schtick really doesn’t do anything for me. Which is why I liked this book so much. It does a good job of pushing back at tropes around toxic masculinity and deals sensitively with sexual trauma.

142. Fleshers by Alison Croggan and Daniel Keene. Read for the Aurealis Awards. A YA cyberpunk. Dez has an amazing gene-spliced talent for hacking, but even that might not be enough to save her when she kills a cop invading her home.

143. Flight of the Fantail by Steph Matuku. A busload of teenagers crashes in a remote part of New Zealand. This is a YA thriller with supernatural elements, which I won’t talk about so as not to spoil the story. It is an impressive debut, well paced and tense.

144. Messenger by K.S. Nikakis. Read for the Aurealis Awards. Severine is adopted, raised in a world where women are scarce. Chance leads her to meet her father, which in turn sets her on an adventure she could never have imagined.

145. The Shadow by Marianne Curley. Read for the Aurealis Awards. Fourth book in the Guardians of Time series. YA fantasy. The Guards have won the war but are finding it hard to move on, especially Ethan, who has lost the love of his life. However, it turns out the war might not be as finished as they thought.

146. Alpha Minor by Simon Haynes. Read for the Aurealis Awards. Second of the Harriet Walsh books. YA sci-fi. Harriet is mistaken for her adopted sister and kidnapped by treasure hunters.

147. Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal by Alexandra Johnson. Non-fiction, pretty much what it says on the label. I didn’t find the offered exercises to be all that useful (in part because I’m a seasoned journaleer and partly because they just weren’t my style), but I found some inspiration in the way the author wrote about journaling and unpacked the different kinds of journals.

148. Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone. Contemporary thriller. Jane is a sociopath who returns to her hometown in order to seek revenge. This book was a Christmas gift to a family member. I dipped into it just to make sure it was appropriate for them, then whoops! I finished the whole thing in one sitting.

149. Neverland by Margo McGoven. Read for the Aurealis Awards. YA magic realism. After a suicide attempt, Kit returns to the island where she grew up in order to be committed at the psychiatric hospital her uncle runs.

150. Sierra Bravo by Simon Haynes. Read for the Aurealis Awards. Third of the Harriet Walsh books. YA sci-fi. A criminal gang moves into the next town over. It is up to Harriet and the Peace Force to bring them to justice.

151. His Name Was Walter by Emily Rodda. Read for the Aurealis Awards. Part contemporary horror, part fairy tale. When their bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere on a school excursion, four students and their teacher take refuge in an old house. There they discover an old manuscript telling a fairy tale.

152. Guardians of the Round Table: Dexterity Fail by Avril Sabine, Storm Petersen and Rhys Petersen. Read for the Aurealis Awards. Portal fantasy. Four teenagers find themselves in the world of the video game they’re attempting to play.

153. Shadows Wake by Aiki Flinthart. Read for the Aurealis Awards. First book of the Ruadhan Sidhe series. YA urban fantasy. Rowan is constantly on the run, hiding a mysterious darkness within her from those who would use it for their own ends. When she accidentally reveals herself, she finds that she might not be as alone as she thought.

154. The Fallen Sun by David R. Grigg. Read for the Aurealis Awards. YA science fiction. In the far future on a distant and barren planet, society has regressed to the Middle Ages. Three teenagers find themselves pushing back against the prohibitions.

155. Shadows Bane by Aiki Flinthart. Read for the Aurealis Awards. Second book of the Ruadhan Sidhe series. YA urban fantasy. In order to rescue her mum, Rowan must continue to ally with those that betrayed her.

Books Acquired

Lady Helen and the Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman

Once Upon A Winter’s Eve by Tessa Dare

Tea and Sympathetic Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Flight of the Fantail by Steph Matuku

A Dream Passage by J.D.E Savill

Getting Wilde by Jenn Stark

Wilde Card by Jenn Stark

Born to be Wilde by Jenn Stark

Hive by A.J. Betts

The Buried Ark by James Bradley

Aurum edited by Russell B. Farr

Aurora: Aurizun by Amanda Bridgeman

Realms of the Fae 4: An Unexpected Betrayal by Avril Sabine

Demon Hunters 6: Feud by Avril Sabine

Dragon Blood Chronicles 2: Betrayed by Avril Sabine

Assassins of the Dead 3: Society Against Vampires by Avril Sabine

Guardians of the Round Table 1: Dexterity Fail by Avril Sabine, Storm Petersen and Rhys Petersen

Guardians of the Round Table 2: Goblin Boots by Avril Sabine, Storm Petersen and Rhys Petersen

Guardians of the Round Table 3: Singed Feathers by Avril Sabine, Storm Petersen and Rhys Petersen

Time Warper by Cheree Peters

Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds by Jeremy Lauchlan

The Wrong Foot by Stephanie Burgis

Wraith by Shane and Alex Smithers

Eve of Eridu by Alannah Adams

The Chateau by Tiffany Reisz

A Midwinter Night’s Dream by Tiffany Reisz

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Green Man’s Heir by Juliet McKenna

Online Reading

The Man on the Train by makeit_takeit. A Generation Kill au. Brad and Nate get to know each other on the train to work every day.

Harbor by sanguinity. A collection of trope-heavy short stories featuring Joan Watson and Marcus Bell from Elementary.

Foundations by sanguinity. A canon divergence from S2 of Elementary in which Marcus never quite heals and takes a different life path.

Reading Plans

I’ve got a post on reading challenges lined up for the end of the week, so stay tuned for that. Aside from official challenges, I’ve decided to shake up the way I do things a little bit. I’ve not previously been one for mini TBR piles, but I found they’ve been helping to keep me focused in recent months. So, I thought I might try setting myself some monthly ones this year.

January’s pile consists of a whole lot of books for the Aurealis Awards, which I won’t bother listing here. In addition, I’ll also be tackling:

Aurora: Aurizon by Amanda Bridgeman. For review at EGE.

Tides of the Titans by Thoraiya Dyer. For review at EGE.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He. For review at Skiffy & Fanty.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Book club pick for February. This might get pushed back to February if I end up getting swamped (which is looking likely).

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. Book club pick for March. My library hold came in way quicker than I was expecting.

Should keep me out of trouble, don’t you think?

My Favourite Reads of 2018

With Christmas now just a couple of days away, Earl Grey Editing is shutting down for the year. I’ll be on holiday as of today until 7 January, making this my last post of 2018.

Before I go, I thought I’d share my favourite reads from this year. These are not books that were necessarily published this year, just read by me this year. In no particular order:

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty. Nahiri is a con-woman with a talent for magic she doesn’t believe in. When she accidentally summons a djinn, she gets swept into a world of magical creatures and political intrigue. It’s a brilliant start to a new series. You can see more of my thoughts in my review.

It was a year for cities. Also on my list is City of Lies by Sam Hawke. This impressive debut novel is basically a locked-room murder mystery in which the locked room is actually a city under siege. It follows Kalina and Jovan, siblings whose uncle is murdered along with the Chancellor of the city. As a proofer, or poison tester, Jovan has the task of trying to keep the new Chancellor alive long enough to figure out who the traitor in their midst is. Kalina assists by putting her spycraft to good use, though is occasionally hampered by her chronic illness. It’s an enthralling novel that subverts fantasy tropes to examine issues of family and class. You can see more of my thoughts in my review.

In addition to being a fantastic writer, Sam also has impeccable taste in books. I read The Divine Cities by Robert Jackson Bennett partly at her recommendation and partly because it was on the Hugo ballot for Best Series. The first book is City of Stairs and is about a foreign spy with an infamous past who comes to an occupied city to investigate the death of an academic friend. An Eastern European-inspired fantasy with a complex political landscape, an interesting magic system and a protagonist who drinks as much tea as I do. Thoughtfully written and engaging.

While it might not have the word “city” in its title, An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard is a thoroughly urban story. The Turning has come and the elite magic Houses of New York City have come to vie for a place in the new order. It is told from a number of perspectives and deals with the themes of the abuse of women and the cost of power. I found it a dark and atmospheric contemporary fantasy that incorporates thriller elements and had me glued to the page. You can see more of my thoughts in my review.

Getting away from the city and into the frontier, we have The Ghost Wolves duology by Alex Wells. This is space fantasy Western at its finest. In the first book,Hunger Makes the Wolf, Hob is a gang member on a mining planet owned by an important corporation. When the corporation kills her gang leader’s brother and kidnaps his niece, Hob starts poking around in some dangerous places. It was delightful to see strong relationships between women playing an important role. You can see more of my thoughts in my review.

In the Dark Spaces by Cally Black takes us into the depths of space. This is a sci-fi YA about a young girl who is taken prisoner when aliens attack the freighter on which she’s stowed away. In the Dark Places stomped all over my feelings. It is about grief, trauma, capitalism, family and belonging. It also does an excellent job of making the aliens seem both alien and relatable. You can see more of my thoughts in my review.

Keeping to space, we have Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers.The third of the Wayfarers series. This is basically a book about a fleet of generation ships who have arrived at their destination and the descendants of those who chose to continue living on board. Told from multiple perspectives, it’s really a story about community. In that sense, it rather reminded me of New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson, albeit with better character work. It was kind, heartbreaking and aware of nuance.

Space meets mountineering in Stephanie Gunn’s novella Icefall. A former priestess and mountaineer goes to support her wife’s bid to become the first person to summit the tallest mountain on a new planet. The story blends hard science fiction with spirituality, then packs the cast full of diverse women and puts some compelling relationships at the heart of it all. You can see more of my thoughts in my review.

From f/f to m/m, For Real by Alexis Hall is a contemporary romance featuring BDSM. Laurie is almost forty, a submissive, and–six years on–still hasn’t quite recovered from the break-up of a long-term relationship. Then he meets Toby, a nineteen-year-old dom who just wants a chance to learn but is shut out of the community by his youth. Oh, my heart, this book. There is so much tenderness and the language is fantastic. The 20-year age gap and the explicit erotica will make this a difficult book for some, but I totally loved it.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan takes a more YA approach to queer relationships. This was another book I read because it was shortlisted for the Hugos. Elliot is a snarky, bisexual teen who is abducted to a training camp for defending the wall between our world and the magic Borderlands. Once there he meets Serene–elf and queen of his heart–and Luke, his rival for her affection. It satirises some of the tropes of high fantasy–both sexist and otherwise–while telling a gorgeous story of friendship and romance. I loved it to pieces.

And lastly is Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis, an alternate-history-infused fantasy romance. Four months after losing her magic, Cassandra finds herself at a house party with her ex-fiance. The pair are thrown together when they’re called upon to rescue some fellow house guests. Charming and exactly what I needed. It had a nice balance between the fantasy and romance elements, as well as doing some interesting things with gender and worldbuilding. Special mention must also go to Stephanie’s novelette The Disastrous Debute of Agatha Tremain. In the same vein as Snowspelled, this is a delightful story about a young woman who lives for the unladylike study of magic. One day, Agatha’s overbearing aunt arrives and whisks her away, determined to see Agatha debut and marry well. This was such a charming story. I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoiling it, but I highly recommend it.

Those are my top picks for this year. What’s on your list?

I hope those of you who are celebrating have a wonderful holiday. May the new year bring you an abundance of tea and books. I look forward to seeing you in 2019.

Beautiful Dystopias

Since the launch of The Belles earlier this year, Dhonielle Clayton has been very open about taking inspiration from Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Today I’m over at the Skiffy and Fanty Show, taking a look at the way these two books form an interesting dialogue, with The Belles building on the foundation formed by Uglies while bringing a somewhat more nuanced and feminine perspective.

My Favourite Photos of 2018

In recent times, I’ve started a tradition of sorting through my photos for the year and posting some of my favourites here on the blog. I enjoy being able to share another side of my creativity and some of the memories that come up. Looking back on 2018 left me feeling like this year has been a million miles long. I’m guessing I’m not the only one.

As usual, the photos have been sorted into two categories. The photos for my blog were all taken using my phone (a Samsung Galaxy S7, for the curious). The personal photos are mixed, with some taken using my phone, and some taken with a Nikon D7000 camera.

Earl Grey Editing

Personal

While I feel it has been a reasonably lacklustre year for my blog photography, it’s a different story when it comes to the personal. Indeed, I had a hard time culling them down.

Ophidiophobes may want to skip the last photo.

 

 

The sapphire below is 478 carats and is part of the Cartier exhibition that toured at the National Gallery of Australia earlier this year.

The next photo was taken while showing around GUFF delegate Marcin Klak. I wasn’t fond of it at first, since the focus is on the reeds at the front rather than the platypus in the background, but it has grown on me over the intervening months.

 

2018 Awards Eligibility

With 2018 almost done, awards season is once again gearing up. Which means it’s time for my obligatory eligibility post.

Work I’ve Reviewed
The Ditmar Awards

The Ditmars are Australia’s popularly-voted awards for SFF. Traditionally, they’re presented at NatCon. In 2019 that will be Continuum 15, held in Melbourne 7-10 June.

Works I’ve reviewed that are eligible for the Ditmars:

Best Novel

The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross

City of Lies by Sam Hawke

Echoes of Understorey by Thoraiya Dyer

Ice Wolves by Amie Kaufman

Ironheart by Jodi McAlister

Restoration by Angela Slatter

Best Novelette/Novella

Icefall by Stephanie Gunn

Hugo Awards

The Hugos are the international popularly-voted awards for SFF. Traditionally, they’re presented at Worldcon. In 2019 that will be held in Dublin, Ireland, on 15-19 August.

In addition to the material above, the following works I’ve reviewed are eligible for the Hugos:

Best Novel

Baker Thief by Claudie Arseneault

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Blood Binds the Pack by Alex Wells

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan

Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra

The Sisters Mederos by Patrice Sarath

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

Twice Dead by Caitlin Seal

Best Novella

Accelerants by Lena Wilson

A Glimmer of Silver by Juliet Kemp

Angela Slatter’s Verity Fassbinder trilogy is also eligible for Best Series.

Not-Hugos
The Lodestar Award

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan

Ironheart by Jodi McAlister

Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

Twice Dead by Caitlin Seal

Campbell Award

Sam Hawke

Rati Mehrotra

Leife Shallcross

Work I’ve Created

I am eligible for fan writing categories for these reviews.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show, where I write reviews and conduct interviews, is eligible for the Hugos in the categories of Best Fanzine and Best Fancast. My fellow reviewers are also eligible for Best Fan Writer.

My story New Berth, published in Mother of Invention, is eligible for Best Short Story, with the anthology eligible for the Ditmars in Best Collected Work. Since the story is my first pro sale, I get to take a crack at the Campbell Award, as well.

Happy nominating, everyone! If you have recommendations, I’d love to hear them!

Mt TBR Report: November 2018

As I’ve mentioned before, my reading stats tend to be down in November. I generally manage 6-8 books, so I was pleased that I managed the higher end of that range this year. I reviewed two collections of short stories this month, which slowed me down. The stop-start of short story anthologies is more difficult for me than simply sinking into a novel.

November also marks the last of my reviewing commitments for the year. Next month, I anticipate sinking into reading for the 2018 Aurealis Awards.

Mt TBR Status

Mt TBR @ 1 January 2018: 351

Mt TBR @ 31 October 2018: 415

Mt TBR @ 30 November 2018: 427

Books Read

133. Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. A non-fiction discussion of vulnerability which arose out of the author’s popular TED talk. Food for thought.

134. For Real by Alexis Hall. Contemporary m/m BDSM. Laurie is almost forty, a submissive, and–six years on–still hasn’t quite recovered from the break-up of a long-term relationship. Then he meets Toby, a nineteen-year-old dom who just wants a chance to learn but is shut out of the community by his youth. Oh, my heart, this book. There is so much tenderness and the language is fantastic. The 20-year age gap and the explicit erotica will make this a difficult book for some, but I totally loved it. It made a surprisingly apt follow-up to Daring Greatly. Thank you to Chelsea of Not Now I’m Reading and Pia both for recommending this book.

135. How to Fracture a Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen. Reviewed here.

136. Knight Errant by K.D. Sarge. Sci-fi m/m romance.Taro is a former con artist trying to go the straight and narrow to make his adopted sister proud. Unfortunately, Rafe, his sister’s new passenger and old flame, is making that difficult. When Taro tries to get rid of Rafe, the two end up getting captured, then crash land on a deserted planet where everything is trying to kill them. Of course, shenanigans ensue. A decent enough read, but I don’t think it successfully managed to straddle the line between genres.

137. Sweet Poison Wine by Seanan McGuire. Short story in theInCryptid series.Jonathan and Frances Healey head to Chicago for their honeymoon. This was a lot of fun and I’m a sucker for secret hotels.

138. Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) edited by Catherine Lundoff. Reviewed here.

139. Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan. Middle grade fantasy. When Mup’s Auntie dies and her father is kidnapped, she and her family cross into the magical world her mother comes from in order to save him. It deals with some big issues, like trust between adults and children, and standing up for what is right under oppressive conditions. Highly recommended.

140. Peace Force by Simon Haynes. Read for the Aurealis Awards.YA sci-fi. Harriet Walsh is a terrible candidate for the Peace Force, but she’s broke and about to be evicted. When she answers a recruitment letter, she discovers the Peace Force need her help more than she thought.

Books Acquired

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Nothing Like Paris by Amy Jo Cousins

Columbine’s Tale by Rachel Nightingale

Lightning Tracks by Alethea Kinsela

Deception by Teri Terry

Power and Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts

The Shattered City by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Reign of Beasts by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Benevolent Passion by Amanda Pillar

Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan

Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein

Shine Mountain by Julie Hunt

A Different Boy by Paul Jennings

What the Woods Keep by Katya de Becerra

Undying by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Imposters by Scott Westerfeld

Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff

Blackwood by Pia Foxhall

The Way Home by Julian Barr

We Are Omega by Justin Woolley

Online Reading

None.

Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) edited by Catherine Lundoff

Published: December 2018 by Queen of Swords Press

Format reviewed: E-book (epub)

Genres: Fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction, LGBTQIA

Source: Publisher

Available: Publisher (print and electronic) ~ Amazon (AU, CA, UK, US) ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository ~ Booktopia~ Indiebound ~ Kobo ~ Smashwords

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Outlaws. Lovers. Heroes. Villains.

With their peg legs, their parrots and the skull and crossbones flying from the mastheads of their ships, classic pirates are some of the worlds best-known and easily recognizable outlaws. Or are they? These fifteen stories spin new tales of pirates crossing dimensional barriers for revenge, fighting terrible foes in outer space and building new lives after the Trojan War. Travel to the South China Sea, then on to New York City after a climate apocalypse, then roam the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy and voyage to distant and fantastical worlds. Go with them as they seek treasure, redemption, love, revenge and more. Raise the Jolly Roger and sharpen your cutlass (or recharge your raygun) and climb aboard for some unforgettable journeys.

Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) is a wonderfully varied anthology of short stories that was a delight to read. As the title suggests, it covers a range of time periods and genres, from ancient history through to future Earth and into entirely different worlds. Overall, it leaned towards fantasy and pirates of the sea, but there was enough of a mix to prevent boredom.

Queen of Swords Press has historically been very supportive of diverse work, and it shows in this anthology. A number of stories featured f/f romantic elements and one particularly memorable story (Serpent’s Tale by Mhari West) features a poly triad set in Viking times. It also includes characters from a range of backgrounds, with some of the real-world stories being set in the Caribbean, South-east Asia and Colorado. This inclusivity not only reflects the state of the world, but served to keep the stories interesting.

In addition to the variety of settings, there was also a reasonable variety of tone. It ranged from the fun and wacky to darker stories of revenge and those that embraced the grimmer parts of pirate history. However, on the whole it tends towards the lighter end of the spectrum and threats of sexual violence are distant where present.

One trope that I saw a little more often than I would have liked was the exceptional woman–the one woman on an otherwise all-male crew. By and large, it was handled well, but it was an uncomfortable default, particularly in stories with fantasy settings.

I was unsatisfied by a few stories that felt like a chunk of a larger story and lacked proper closure. This is something of a personal bugbear and will not be true for all readers. However, other stories in the collection also felt like they were part of a larger story but still managed to give proper closure to the tale they were telling. A particularly good example of this was the closing story Search for the Heart of the Ocean by A.J. Fitzwater, in which Captain Cinrak the Dapper, capybara pirate extraordinaire, goes on a quest to retrieve a jewel to replace the one she set free from the Queen’s tiara in a previous story.

The overall quality of the stories was good, though there were one or two that weren’t at the same standard as the others. A couple of my favourites were the opening story Treasured Island by Ginn Hale, in which a pirate is marooned on a sentient island and finds peace in living close to nature, and Andromache’s War by Elliott Dunstan, which tells of what happens to Hector’s wife after the sack of Troy–a fierce story about a woman no longer willing to be powerless in the face of men’s war.

All in all, Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) is an anthology with heart and was a welcome read in stressful times.

SciFiMonth 2018

PHOTO by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash. QUOTE from The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

November was SciFiMonth, a reading/media challenge run by Imyril of x+1 and Lisa of Dear Geek Place. The idea is to use the occasion as an excuse to consume all the science fiction you’ve been meaning to get to. Since I did so well with the RIP XIII reading challenge over September and October, I thought I’d keep the ball rolling with SciFiMonth.

Except it didn’t work out that way at all. It turns out that while my reading on any given month varies wildly from year to year, November is the one month I consistently read less. I’m still not entirely sure why that is; NaNoWriMo isn’t something I engage in regularly (and didn’t do this year). At a guess, I would say it had to do with Christmas preparations and the headlong race to the end of the year.

Whatever the case, I didn’t end up reading much for the month of November and only a small portion of it was science fiction:

Knight Errant by KD Sarge. Really a m/m romance in a sci-fi setting. Taro is a former con artist trying to go the straight and narrow to make his adopted sister proud. Unfortunately, Rafe, his sister’s new passenger and old flame, is making that difficult. When Taro tries to get rid of Rafe, the two end up getting captured, then crash land on a deserted planet where everything is trying to kill them. Of course, shenanigans ensue. A decent enough read, but I don’t think it successfully managed to straddle the line between genres.

Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) edited by Catherine Lundoff. An anthology of pirate stories. A lot of these were fantasy, but there were definitely some space pirates. Review forthcoming.

Peace Force by Simon Haynes. A YA sci-fi. Harriet Walsh is a terrible candidate for the Peace Force, but she’s broke and about to be evicted. When she answers a recruitment letter, she discovers the Peace Force need her help more than she thought. Read for the Aurealis Awards, so I won’t be giving any further thoughts.

I also reviewed Icefall by Stephanie Gunn, a story about mountineering in space that I highly recommend.

All in all, not the most inspired of efforts. I think that in the future I’ll avoid reading challenges for the month of November.

 

Loose-leaf Links #71

Loose-leaf Links is a feature where I gather together the interesting bits and pieces on sci-fi, fantasy and romance I’ve come across and share them with you over tea. Today’s tea is Afternoon Tea from Lupicia. Despite the colour, it doesn’t taste strongly of tannin, thanks to the blend of Darjeeling and Assam. It is delightful to drink at any time of day.

Awards News

Entries for the 2019 Norma K. Hemming Awards are now open. The Normas are an Australian honour recognising excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, sexuality, class or disability in a published speculative fiction work.

The British Science Fiction Association are taking nominations from members for next year’s awards.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have made some changes to the rules for the Nebula Awards. Associate members are now eligible to vote and a game writing category has been added.

And the Self Published Fantasy Blog-Off is entering its final stages, with judges in the process of scoring the finalists.

Community and Conventions

WorldCon 77 has a call out for academic papers and posters until 22 February. The convention will take place in Dublin next year.

On Equity

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has been less than impressed with the very white line-up of guests for World Fantasy Con 2019.

The Australian Inclusive Publishing Initiative recently met to discuss increasing the accessibility of reading material.

Over at Book Riot, Rah Froemming-Carter recommends some trans SFF for Transgender Day of Remembrance.

For Writers

Lackington’s will be open for submissions from 15 December and are looking for stories 1.5-5K on the theme of Voyages.

Glittercats Fine Amusements are looking for expansion pitches for their Laser Kittens RPG.

Don’t forget to check out SFWA’s market report for November for further opportunities.

Diana M. Pho discusses what writing fanfic taught her as an editor.

Over on the SFWA blog, KJ Kabza highlights four mistakes not to make when a publisher approaches youand Tobias Buckell ponders on when to trunk a story.

Cameron Johnson talks about the use of swords in fantasy as part of a guest post for The Fantasy Inn.

For Readers

Stephanie Burgis has announced there will be a third book in her middle grade series Tales from the Chocolate Heart. Called The Princess Who Flew with Dragons, it is expected out mid 2019.

Entangled Publishing have launched a new category romance imprint focused on heroines in their 30s and 40s.

Book Riot have had some great posts recently. Abby Hargreaves discusses reading while chronically ill. Simone Jung has some suggestions on how to ease into reading really big books. And in this difficult year, Laura Diaz de Arce has thrown out “should reads” in favour of stress binge-reading romance.

The reviewers at Tor.com share their favourite SFF books of 2018, as do their counterparts at Barnes and Noble.

And readers can get a look at what’s coming out from Tor.com in early 2019.