Martha Wells's Blog, page 50
July 16, 2019
Book Rec Tuesday
(If you've been following my book rec and new book listing posts for a while, you may have noticed this already, but while most book lists emphasize books by popular straight white men, this one emphasizes everybody else. I include books by straight white men, but in about the same percentage that other book lists include everybody else. I also try to highlight books that are less well known.)
(I only link to one retail outlet in the book's listing, but most books are available at multiple outlets, like Kobo, iBooks, international Amazons, Barnes & Noble, etc. The short stories are usually on free online magazines.)
* Short story For He Can Creep by Siobhan Carroll
* Novella The Border Keeper by Kerstin Hall
She lived where the railway tracks met the saltpan, on the Ahri side of the shadowline. In the old days, when people still talked about her, she was known as the end-of-the-line woman. Vasethe, a man with a troubled past, comes to seek a favor from a woman who is not what she seems, and must enter the nine hundred and ninety-nine realms of Mkalis, the world of spirits, where gods and demons wage endless war.
* Docile by K.M. Szpara
There is no consent under capitalism.
To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents' debts and buy your children's future.
Elisha Wilder’s family has been ruined by debt, handed down to them from previous generations. His mother never recovered from the Dociline she took during her term as a Docile, so when Elisha decides to try and erase the family’s debt himself, he swears he will never take the drug that took his mother from him. Too bad his contract has been purchased by Alexander Bishop III, whose ultra-rich family is the brains (and money) behind Dociline and the entire Office of Debt Resolution. When Elisha refuses Dociline, Alex refuses to believe that his family’s crowning achievement could have any negative side effects—and is determined to turn Elisha into the perfect Docile without it.
* The Last Supper Before Ragnarok by Cassandra Khaw
The gripping conclusion the smart, subversive urban fantasy series.
THE APOCALYPSE IS OLD NEWS.
Tanis Barlas, snake-woman assassin. Cason Cole, the killer of gods. Louie Fitzsimmons, the last known Prophet. And Rupert Wong, a chef who just wants to eat his instant noodles and stay home.
The Greek Pantheon has been obliterated, and gods and monsters across the globe are looking to fill the vacuum. But Rupert, Case, Fitz, and Tanis have bigger problems to deal with. It’s time to answer the biggest question of all:
Where did the father gods go?
* The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hossain
When the djinn king Melek Ahmar wakes up after millennia of imprisoned slumber, he finds a world vastly different from what he remembers. Arrogant and bombastic, he comes down the mountain expecting an easy conquest: the wealthy, spectacular city state of Kathmandu, ruled by the all-knowing, all-seeing tyrant AI Karma. To his surprise, he finds that Kathmandu is a cut-price paradise, where citizens want for nothing and even the dregs of society are distinctly unwilling to revolt.
Everyone seems happy, except for the old Gurkha soldier Bhan Gurung. Knife saint, recidivist, and mass murderer, he is an exile from Kathmandu, pursuing a forty-year-old vendetta that leads to the very heart of Karma. Pushed and prodded by Gurung, Melek Ahmer finds himself in ever deeper conflicts, until they finally face off against Karma and her forces. In the upheaval that follows, old crimes will come to light and the city itself will be forced to change.
* The Ascent to Godhood by JY Yang
For fifty years, the Protector ruled, reshaping her country in her image and driving her enemies to the corners of the map. For half a century the world turned around her as she built her armies, trained her Tensors, and grasped at the reins of fate itself. Now she is dead. Her followers will quiver, her enemies rejoice.
But in one tavern, deep in rebel territory, her greatest enemy drowns her sorrows. Lady Han raised a movement that sought the Protector's head, yet now she can only mourn her loss. She remembers how it all began, when the Protector was young, not yet crowned, and a desperate dancing girl dared to fall in love with her.
* Desdemona and the Deep by C.S.E. Cooney
In Desdemona and the Deep, the spoiled daughter of a rich mining family must retrieve the tithe of men her father promised to the world below. On the surface, her world is rife with industrial pollution that ruins the health of poor factory workers while the idle rich indulge themselves in unheard-of luxury. Below are goblins, mysterious kingdoms, and an entirely different hierarchy.
* Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.
Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.
comments
(I only link to one retail outlet in the book's listing, but most books are available at multiple outlets, like Kobo, iBooks, international Amazons, Barnes & Noble, etc. The short stories are usually on free online magazines.)
* Short story For He Can Creep by Siobhan Carroll
* Novella The Border Keeper by Kerstin Hall
She lived where the railway tracks met the saltpan, on the Ahri side of the shadowline. In the old days, when people still talked about her, she was known as the end-of-the-line woman. Vasethe, a man with a troubled past, comes to seek a favor from a woman who is not what she seems, and must enter the nine hundred and ninety-nine realms of Mkalis, the world of spirits, where gods and demons wage endless war.
* Docile by K.M. Szpara
There is no consent under capitalism.
To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents' debts and buy your children's future.
Elisha Wilder’s family has been ruined by debt, handed down to them from previous generations. His mother never recovered from the Dociline she took during her term as a Docile, so when Elisha decides to try and erase the family’s debt himself, he swears he will never take the drug that took his mother from him. Too bad his contract has been purchased by Alexander Bishop III, whose ultra-rich family is the brains (and money) behind Dociline and the entire Office of Debt Resolution. When Elisha refuses Dociline, Alex refuses to believe that his family’s crowning achievement could have any negative side effects—and is determined to turn Elisha into the perfect Docile without it.
* The Last Supper Before Ragnarok by Cassandra Khaw
The gripping conclusion the smart, subversive urban fantasy series.
THE APOCALYPSE IS OLD NEWS.
Tanis Barlas, snake-woman assassin. Cason Cole, the killer of gods. Louie Fitzsimmons, the last known Prophet. And Rupert Wong, a chef who just wants to eat his instant noodles and stay home.
The Greek Pantheon has been obliterated, and gods and monsters across the globe are looking to fill the vacuum. But Rupert, Case, Fitz, and Tanis have bigger problems to deal with. It’s time to answer the biggest question of all:
Where did the father gods go?
* The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hossain
When the djinn king Melek Ahmar wakes up after millennia of imprisoned slumber, he finds a world vastly different from what he remembers. Arrogant and bombastic, he comes down the mountain expecting an easy conquest: the wealthy, spectacular city state of Kathmandu, ruled by the all-knowing, all-seeing tyrant AI Karma. To his surprise, he finds that Kathmandu is a cut-price paradise, where citizens want for nothing and even the dregs of society are distinctly unwilling to revolt.
Everyone seems happy, except for the old Gurkha soldier Bhan Gurung. Knife saint, recidivist, and mass murderer, he is an exile from Kathmandu, pursuing a forty-year-old vendetta that leads to the very heart of Karma. Pushed and prodded by Gurung, Melek Ahmer finds himself in ever deeper conflicts, until they finally face off against Karma and her forces. In the upheaval that follows, old crimes will come to light and the city itself will be forced to change.
* The Ascent to Godhood by JY Yang
For fifty years, the Protector ruled, reshaping her country in her image and driving her enemies to the corners of the map. For half a century the world turned around her as she built her armies, trained her Tensors, and grasped at the reins of fate itself. Now she is dead. Her followers will quiver, her enemies rejoice.
But in one tavern, deep in rebel territory, her greatest enemy drowns her sorrows. Lady Han raised a movement that sought the Protector's head, yet now she can only mourn her loss. She remembers how it all began, when the Protector was young, not yet crowned, and a desperate dancing girl dared to fall in love with her.
* Desdemona and the Deep by C.S.E. Cooney
In Desdemona and the Deep, the spoiled daughter of a rich mining family must retrieve the tithe of men her father promised to the world below. On the surface, her world is rife with industrial pollution that ruins the health of poor factory workers while the idle rich indulge themselves in unheard-of luxury. Below are goblins, mysterious kingdoms, and an entirely different hierarchy.
* Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.
Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.
comments
Nebula Finalist Certificate
Yay, I got my Nebula finalist certificate and pin for Artificial Condition! I’m going to frame it and put it next to the other two.
Photos on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1151144655649693696
comments
Photos on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1151144655649693696
comments
July 15, 2019
Monday all over
The air conditioning company is squeezing us in this morning which is a huge relief, and also I probably won't get anything done for the next 2-4 hours. The unit isn't dead but it was thinking seriously about it, and they had to order a part last week.
And I was thinking about fanfic this morning, and how it makes it possible to do really deep dives into characterization, a writing experience that can carry over to your original work. I used to do a lot of "instead of that thing that happened in canon what would it be like if this happened instead" and playing with how that would change the characters and their relationships, and how that would play out over time. I was just realizing how helpful that kind of character work, which took a lot of thought, was to me in everything else I wrote.
comments
And I was thinking about fanfic this morning, and how it makes it possible to do really deep dives into characterization, a writing experience that can carry over to your original work. I used to do a lot of "instead of that thing that happened in canon what would it be like if this happened instead" and playing with how that would change the characters and their relationships, and how that would play out over time. I was just realizing how helpful that kind of character work, which took a lot of thought, was to me in everything else I wrote.
comments
July 14, 2019
BookTube Award
Yay, Artificial Condition won a BookTube Award for short fiction!
https://twitter.com/booktubesff/status/1150146024339640320
We're got a tiny bit of fallout from tropical storm Barry yesterday, mostly some wind and a rain squall in the afternoon, but that's been it so far. Though it looks like it might rain again this morning. Before it got horribly hot this morning I raked out the viney corner of the yard and trimmed some bushes off the sidewalk.
comments
https://twitter.com/booktubesff/status/1150146024339640320
We're got a tiny bit of fallout from tropical storm Barry yesterday, mostly some wind and a rain squall in the afternoon, but that's been it so far. Though it looks like it might rain again this morning. Before it got horribly hot this morning I raked out the viney corner of the yard and trimmed some bushes off the sidewalk.
comments
July 12, 2019
State of Me
There's a hurricane in the Gulf but it looks like it will miss us; as of now we don't have any rain scheduled. I'll have to water plants while a hurricane is going on, which always feels weird.
I was feeling kind of terrible at the end of last week and through the weekend, but hopefully it was just allergies. It seems to be mostly gone now :knock on wood:
Last night our friends who are moving to the Netherlands gave us their stand mixer, so that was an awesome unexpected gift. It was originally a wedding present to their daughter and her wife, (who are our goddaughter and goddaughter-in-law), but in the wedding gift frenzy they ended up with two. They've been using it to make pasta, which we may try to do, and my husband likes to bake, so it's pretty cool to have it. Plus it's blue which goes with the changes we made to our kitchen last year.
The new cat Max (the abandoned cat we found in our backyard) is still a sweet baby with all humans and a demonic monster with our other cats. So we're still working on that.
I did a revision of Network Effect, and it's scheduled for May 2020.
Oh, Artificial Condition is on sale for $2.99 in ebook as part of a Hugo Finalist promotion by publisher Tor.com:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/artificial-condition-martha-wells/1126552371?ean=9781250186935
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/artificial-condition-1
https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Condition-Murderbot-Diaries-Martha-ebook/dp/B075DGHHQL/
comments
I was feeling kind of terrible at the end of last week and through the weekend, but hopefully it was just allergies. It seems to be mostly gone now :knock on wood:
Last night our friends who are moving to the Netherlands gave us their stand mixer, so that was an awesome unexpected gift. It was originally a wedding present to their daughter and her wife, (who are our goddaughter and goddaughter-in-law), but in the wedding gift frenzy they ended up with two. They've been using it to make pasta, which we may try to do, and my husband likes to bake, so it's pretty cool to have it. Plus it's blue which goes with the changes we made to our kitchen last year.
The new cat Max (the abandoned cat we found in our backyard) is still a sweet baby with all humans and a demonic monster with our other cats. So we're still working on that.
I did a revision of Network Effect, and it's scheduled for May 2020.
Oh, Artificial Condition is on sale for $2.99 in ebook as part of a Hugo Finalist promotion by publisher Tor.com:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/artificial-condition-martha-wells/1126552371?ean=9781250186935
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/artificial-condition-1
https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Condition-Murderbot-Diaries-Martha-ebook/dp/B075DGHHQL/
comments
July 11, 2019
Book Recs Thursday
(If you've been following my book rec and new book listing posts for a while, you may have noticed this already, but while most book lists emphasize books by popular straight white men, this one emphasizes everybody else. I include books by straight white men, but in about the same percentage that other book lists include everybody else. I also try to highlight books that are less well known.)
(I only link to one retail outlet in the book's listing, but most books are available at multiple outlets, like Kobo, iBooks, international Amazons, Barnes & Noble, etc. The short stories are usually on free online magazines.)
* Preorder: The Nebula Awards Showcase 2019 edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Nebula Awards Showcase is an anthology of the winners and nominees for the SFWA Nebula Awards. The anthology has been published continuously since 1966 and has featured the very best of science fiction and fantasy. This year's anthology includes stories from Nebula Winners Rebecca Roanhorse, Martha Wells, and Kelly Robson as well as finalists Vina Jie-Min Prasad, Richard Bowes, K.M. Szpara, Jonathan Brazee, Sarah Pinsker, Caroline M. Yoachim, Fran Wilde, Matthew Kressel, and Jamie Walls.
* Now available: The Writer's Book of Doubt by Aidan Doyle, illustrated by Kathleen Jennings
Impostor syndrome. Thinking that your writing sucks. Feeling targeted by the rejection cannon. Despairing that no one is ever going to read your stories. Lost in Submissionland. Overwhelmed by radioactive brain weasels. The Writer's Book of Doubt contains practical advice and inspiration for dealing with the problems of the writing life.
With essays from:
Aliette de Bodard, Delilah S. Dawson, Kate Dylan, Malon Edwards, Meg Elison, Kate Elliott, Lauren Herschel, S.L. Huang, Crystal Huff, Kameron Hurley, Matthew Kressel, R.F. Kuang, Fonda Lee, R. Lemberg, Likhain, Jeannette Ng, A. Merc Rustad, Mary Swangin, Bogi Takács, E. Catherine Tobler, Martha Wells and Isabel Yap. Additional illustrations and photos from Tom Gauld and Geert Weggen.
* Short Story Between the Dark and the Dark by Deji Bryce Olukotun
* Preorder: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense. Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.
* The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
When Gyre Price lied her way into this expedition, she thought she’d be mapping mineral deposits, and that her biggest problems would be cave collapses and gear malfunctions. She also thought that the fat paycheck—enough to get her off-planet and on the trail of her mother—meant she’d get a skilled surface team, monitoring her suit and environment, keeping her safe. Keeping her sane. Instead, she got Em. Em sees nothing wrong with controlling Gyre’s body with drugs or withholding critical information to “ensure the smooth operation” of her expedition. Em knows all about Gyre’s falsified credentials, and has no qualms using them as a leash—and a lash. And Em has secrets, too . . .
* Null Set by S.L. Huang
Math-genius mercenary Cas Russell has decided to Fight Crime(tm). After all, with her extraordinary mathematical ability, she can neuter bombs or out-shoot an army. And the recent outbreak of violence in the world’s cities is Cas’s fault—she’s the one who crushed the organization of telepaths keeping the world’s worst offenders under control.
* Heartwood Box by Ann Aguirre
When Araceli Flores Harper is sent to stay with her great-aunt Ottilie in her ramshackle Victorian home, the plan is simple. She’ll buckle down and get ready for college. Life won’t be exciting, but she’ll cope, right? Wrong. From the start, things are very, very wrong. Her great-aunt still leaves food for the husband who went missing twenty years ago, and local businesses are plastered with MISSING posters. There are unexplained lights in the woods and a mysterious lab just beyond the city limits that the locals don’t talk about. Ever. When she starts receiving mysterious letters that seem to be coming from the past, she suspects someone of pranking her or trying to drive her out of her mind.
* Novella The Survival of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson
Molly Southbourne is alive. If she wants to survive, she'll need to run, hide, and be ready to fight. There are people who remember her, who know what she is and what she's done. Some want her alive, some want her dead, and all hold a piece to the puzzles in her head. Can Molly escape them, or will she confront the bloody history that made her?
* Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she'll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There's just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.
* The Toll by Cherie Priest
Take a road trip into a Southern gothic horror novel. Titus and Melanie Bell are on their honeymoon and have reservations in the Okefenokee Swamp cabins for a canoeing trip. But shortly before they reach their destination, the road narrows into a rickety bridge with old stone pilings, with room for only one car. Much later, Titus wakes up lying in the middle of the road, no bridge in sight. Melanie is missing. When he calls the police, they tell him there is no such bridge on Route 177 . . .
* Preorder The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang
Three times throughout its history, Nikan has fought for its survival in the bloody Poppy Wars. Though the third battle has just ended, shaman and warrior Rin cannot forget the atrocity she committed to save her people. Now she is on the run from her guilt, the opium addiction that holds her like a vice, and the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix—the vengeful god who has blessed Rin with her fearsome power.
comments
(I only link to one retail outlet in the book's listing, but most books are available at multiple outlets, like Kobo, iBooks, international Amazons, Barnes & Noble, etc. The short stories are usually on free online magazines.)
* Preorder: The Nebula Awards Showcase 2019 edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Nebula Awards Showcase is an anthology of the winners and nominees for the SFWA Nebula Awards. The anthology has been published continuously since 1966 and has featured the very best of science fiction and fantasy. This year's anthology includes stories from Nebula Winners Rebecca Roanhorse, Martha Wells, and Kelly Robson as well as finalists Vina Jie-Min Prasad, Richard Bowes, K.M. Szpara, Jonathan Brazee, Sarah Pinsker, Caroline M. Yoachim, Fran Wilde, Matthew Kressel, and Jamie Walls.
* Now available: The Writer's Book of Doubt by Aidan Doyle, illustrated by Kathleen Jennings
Impostor syndrome. Thinking that your writing sucks. Feeling targeted by the rejection cannon. Despairing that no one is ever going to read your stories. Lost in Submissionland. Overwhelmed by radioactive brain weasels. The Writer's Book of Doubt contains practical advice and inspiration for dealing with the problems of the writing life.
With essays from:
Aliette de Bodard, Delilah S. Dawson, Kate Dylan, Malon Edwards, Meg Elison, Kate Elliott, Lauren Herschel, S.L. Huang, Crystal Huff, Kameron Hurley, Matthew Kressel, R.F. Kuang, Fonda Lee, R. Lemberg, Likhain, Jeannette Ng, A. Merc Rustad, Mary Swangin, Bogi Takács, E. Catherine Tobler, Martha Wells and Isabel Yap. Additional illustrations and photos from Tom Gauld and Geert Weggen.
* Short Story Between the Dark and the Dark by Deji Bryce Olukotun
* Preorder: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense. Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.
* The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
When Gyre Price lied her way into this expedition, she thought she’d be mapping mineral deposits, and that her biggest problems would be cave collapses and gear malfunctions. She also thought that the fat paycheck—enough to get her off-planet and on the trail of her mother—meant she’d get a skilled surface team, monitoring her suit and environment, keeping her safe. Keeping her sane. Instead, she got Em. Em sees nothing wrong with controlling Gyre’s body with drugs or withholding critical information to “ensure the smooth operation” of her expedition. Em knows all about Gyre’s falsified credentials, and has no qualms using them as a leash—and a lash. And Em has secrets, too . . .
* Null Set by S.L. Huang
Math-genius mercenary Cas Russell has decided to Fight Crime(tm). After all, with her extraordinary mathematical ability, she can neuter bombs or out-shoot an army. And the recent outbreak of violence in the world’s cities is Cas’s fault—she’s the one who crushed the organization of telepaths keeping the world’s worst offenders under control.
* Heartwood Box by Ann Aguirre
When Araceli Flores Harper is sent to stay with her great-aunt Ottilie in her ramshackle Victorian home, the plan is simple. She’ll buckle down and get ready for college. Life won’t be exciting, but she’ll cope, right? Wrong. From the start, things are very, very wrong. Her great-aunt still leaves food for the husband who went missing twenty years ago, and local businesses are plastered with MISSING posters. There are unexplained lights in the woods and a mysterious lab just beyond the city limits that the locals don’t talk about. Ever. When she starts receiving mysterious letters that seem to be coming from the past, she suspects someone of pranking her or trying to drive her out of her mind.
* Novella The Survival of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson
Molly Southbourne is alive. If she wants to survive, she'll need to run, hide, and be ready to fight. There are people who remember her, who know what she is and what she's done. Some want her alive, some want her dead, and all hold a piece to the puzzles in her head. Can Molly escape them, or will she confront the bloody history that made her?
* Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she'll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There's just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.
* The Toll by Cherie Priest
Take a road trip into a Southern gothic horror novel. Titus and Melanie Bell are on their honeymoon and have reservations in the Okefenokee Swamp cabins for a canoeing trip. But shortly before they reach their destination, the road narrows into a rickety bridge with old stone pilings, with room for only one car. Much later, Titus wakes up lying in the middle of the road, no bridge in sight. Melanie is missing. When he calls the police, they tell him there is no such bridge on Route 177 . . .
* Preorder The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang
Three times throughout its history, Nikan has fought for its survival in the bloody Poppy Wars. Though the third battle has just ended, shaman and warrior Rin cannot forget the atrocity she committed to save her people. Now she is on the run from her guilt, the opium addiction that holds her like a vice, and the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix—the vengeful god who has blessed Rin with her fearsome power.
comments
July 8, 2019
Authors for Families Auction for RAICES
Authors, illustrators, and other publishing professionals are banding together and saying NO MORE to the detainment camps at the US border, by donating the following biddable items and more:
- Artwork / Illustrations
- Books (ARCs and finished copies)
- Book Swag
- Consultation
- Marketing
- Page critiques
- Query critiques
- Synopsis critiques
- Sensitivity reads
- Translation services
100% of the proceeds from this charity auction will go to RAICES, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees. You can read more about them here: https://www.raicestexas.org/about/
https://www.32auctions.com/AuthorsForFamilies2019
The auctions run from today until July 22.
My item, an autographed hardcover of all four novellas in The Murderbot Diaries is here: https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/54005/auctions/67164/auction_items/1835425
comments
- Artwork / Illustrations
- Books (ARCs and finished copies)
- Book Swag
- Consultation
- Marketing
- Page critiques
- Query critiques
- Synopsis critiques
- Sensitivity reads
- Translation services
100% of the proceeds from this charity auction will go to RAICES, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees. You can read more about them here: https://www.raicestexas.org/about/
https://www.32auctions.com/AuthorsForFamilies2019
The auctions run from today until July 22.
My item, an autographed hardcover of all four novellas in The Murderbot Diaries is here: https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/54005/auctions/67164/auction_items/1835425
comments
July 3, 2019
Upcoming
Upcoming Conventions
* August 2-4, 2019. I'll be Special Guest at ArmadilloCon in Austin, TX.
http://armadillocon.org/d41/
* August 15-19, 2019. I'll be a panelist at WorldCon Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.
https://dublin2019.com/ (And if you're going to be at WorldCon, check out the Raksura Colony Tree project: https://raksuracolonytree.home.blog/blog/
* October 4-5, 2019. I'll be a guest at the Brown County Library ComicCon at Central Library in Green Bay, WI.
https://www.browncountylibrary.org/comic-con/
* October 18-20, 2019. I'll be a guest of honor at Capclave in Rockville, MD.
https://www.capclave.org/capclave/capclave19/
Upcoming Publications
* July 10, 2019 "The Ups and Downs of a Long Career" The Writer's Book of Doubt edited by Aidan Doyle, illustrated by Kathleen Jennings.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-writers-book-of-doubt-aidan-doyle/1131928481?ean=9780648334224
* August 6, 2019 "All Systems Red" Nebula Awards Showcase 2019 edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
https://www.amazon.com/Nebula-Awards-Showcase-Martha-Wells/dp/1733811974/
* November 5, 2019 The Cloud Roads mass market paperback reprint.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cloud-roads-martha-wells/1130887140?ean=9781949102185
* May 2020 Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel
comments
* August 2-4, 2019. I'll be Special Guest at ArmadilloCon in Austin, TX.
http://armadillocon.org/d41/
* August 15-19, 2019. I'll be a panelist at WorldCon Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.
https://dublin2019.com/ (And if you're going to be at WorldCon, check out the Raksura Colony Tree project: https://raksuracolonytree.home.blog/blog/
* October 4-5, 2019. I'll be a guest at the Brown County Library ComicCon at Central Library in Green Bay, WI.
https://www.browncountylibrary.org/comic-con/
* October 18-20, 2019. I'll be a guest of honor at Capclave in Rockville, MD.
https://www.capclave.org/capclave/capclave19/
Upcoming Publications
* July 10, 2019 "The Ups and Downs of a Long Career" The Writer's Book of Doubt edited by Aidan Doyle, illustrated by Kathleen Jennings.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-writers-book-of-doubt-aidan-doyle/1131928481?ean=9780648334224
* August 6, 2019 "All Systems Red" Nebula Awards Showcase 2019 edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
https://www.amazon.com/Nebula-Awards-Showcase-Martha-Wells/dp/1733811974/
* November 5, 2019 The Cloud Roads mass market paperback reprint.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cloud-roads-martha-wells/1130887140?ean=9781949102185
* May 2020 Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel
comments
July 2, 2019
Book Recs
(If you've been following my book rec and new book listing posts for a while, you may have noticed this already, but while most book lists emphasize books by popular straight white men, this one emphasizes everybody else. I include books by straight white men, but in about the same percentage that other book lists include everybody else. I also try to highlight books that are less well known.)
(I only link to one retail outlet in the book's listing, but most books are available at multiple outlets, like Kobo, iBooks, international Amazons, Barnes & Noble, etc. The short stories are usually on free online magazines.)
* David Mogo, Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
The gods have fallen to earth in their thousands, and chaos reigns. Though broken and leaderless, the city endures. David Mogo, demigod and godhunter, has one task: capture two of the most powerful gods in the city and deliver them to the wizard gangster Lukmon Ajala. No problem, right?
* Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee
From the incredible imagination of Hugo- and Arthur C. Clarke-nominated author Yoon Ha Lee comes a collection of stories set in the world of the best-selling Ninefox Gambit. Showcasing Lee’s extraordinary imagination, this collection takes you to the very beginnings of the hexarchate’s history and reveals new never-before-seen stories.
* The Outcast Hours edited by Mahvesh Murad & Jared Shurin
The Outcast Hours gathers over two dozen brand-new stories from award-winning writers across genres and continents, including bold new fiction from Marina Warner, Frances Hardinge, China Miéville, Sami Shah, Omar Robert Hamilton, Kuzhali Manickavel, Will Hill, Indrapramit Das, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Jeffrey Alan Love, Maha Khan Phillips, and many, many more.
* This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandment finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, becomes something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.
* The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost two hundred years. Their society has been built around war and only war. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine. Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He's going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn't get the chance.
* Broken Places & Outer Spaces by Nnedi Okorafor
A powerful journey from star athlete to sudden paralysis to creative awakening, award-winning science fiction writer Nnedi Okorafor shows that what we think are our limitations have the potential to become our greatest strengths.
* Novella Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads. When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past—both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart.
* Judith Tarr's historical fantasy series Three Queens is being re-released in ebook: Throne of Isis, The Eagle's Daughter, Queen of Swords
* Audiobook: Echo in Onyx by Sharon Shinn
Brianna loves her new job as maid to Lady Marguerite. Like many high nobles, Marguerite is attended by echoes, silent creatures who look exactly like her and move in perfect synchronicity. News soon comes that Marguerite has been invited to the royal city as a potential bride for the crown prince. Brianna is delighted to accompany Marguerite to the city - and perhaps get a chance to continue her own flirtation with Nico, one of the king’s inquisitors.
* Historical mystery The Paper Bark Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
Su Lin is doing her dream job: assistant at Singapore's brand new detective agency. Until Bald Bernie decides a 'local girl' can't be trusted with private investigations, and replaces her with a new secretary - pretty, privileged, and white. So Su Lin's not the only person finding it hard to mourn Bernie after he's found dead in the filing room. And when her best friend's dad is accused, she gets up to some sleuthing work of her own in a bid to clear his name. (This is one of my favorite mystery series)
comments
(I only link to one retail outlet in the book's listing, but most books are available at multiple outlets, like Kobo, iBooks, international Amazons, Barnes & Noble, etc. The short stories are usually on free online magazines.)
* David Mogo, Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
The gods have fallen to earth in their thousands, and chaos reigns. Though broken and leaderless, the city endures. David Mogo, demigod and godhunter, has one task: capture two of the most powerful gods in the city and deliver them to the wizard gangster Lukmon Ajala. No problem, right?
* Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee
From the incredible imagination of Hugo- and Arthur C. Clarke-nominated author Yoon Ha Lee comes a collection of stories set in the world of the best-selling Ninefox Gambit. Showcasing Lee’s extraordinary imagination, this collection takes you to the very beginnings of the hexarchate’s history and reveals new never-before-seen stories.
* The Outcast Hours edited by Mahvesh Murad & Jared Shurin
The Outcast Hours gathers over two dozen brand-new stories from award-winning writers across genres and continents, including bold new fiction from Marina Warner, Frances Hardinge, China Miéville, Sami Shah, Omar Robert Hamilton, Kuzhali Manickavel, Will Hill, Indrapramit Das, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Jeffrey Alan Love, Maha Khan Phillips, and many, many more.
* This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandment finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, becomes something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.
* The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost two hundred years. Their society has been built around war and only war. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine. Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He's going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn't get the chance.
* Broken Places & Outer Spaces by Nnedi Okorafor
A powerful journey from star athlete to sudden paralysis to creative awakening, award-winning science fiction writer Nnedi Okorafor shows that what we think are our limitations have the potential to become our greatest strengths.
* Novella Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads. When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past—both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart.
* Judith Tarr's historical fantasy series Three Queens is being re-released in ebook: Throne of Isis, The Eagle's Daughter, Queen of Swords
* Audiobook: Echo in Onyx by Sharon Shinn
Brianna loves her new job as maid to Lady Marguerite. Like many high nobles, Marguerite is attended by echoes, silent creatures who look exactly like her and move in perfect synchronicity. News soon comes that Marguerite has been invited to the royal city as a potential bride for the crown prince. Brianna is delighted to accompany Marguerite to the city - and perhaps get a chance to continue her own flirtation with Nico, one of the king’s inquisitors.
* Historical mystery The Paper Bark Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
Su Lin is doing her dream job: assistant at Singapore's brand new detective agency. Until Bald Bernie decides a 'local girl' can't be trusted with private investigations, and replaces her with a new secretary - pretty, privileged, and white. So Su Lin's not the only person finding it hard to mourn Bernie after he's found dead in the filing room. And when her best friend's dad is accused, she gets up to some sleuthing work of her own in a bid to clear his name. (This is one of my favorite mystery series)
comments
June 29, 2019
Locus Awards
The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition won the Locus Award for Best Novella!!!
https://www.tor.com/2019/06/29/announcing-the-2019-locus-award-winners/
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https://www.tor.com/2019/06/29/announcing-the-2019-locus-award-winners/
comments
