Siavahda's Blog, page 106

Books Coming Out in the 2nd Half of 2019 That Must Get In My Hands Immediately

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog!

This week’s theme is Most Anticipated Releases of the Second Half of 2019. I suspect we’re supposed to stick to ten, but… I make no promises. (Do you have any idea how many incredible books are coming out in the rest of this year??? DO YOU???)

HOW?

…Okay, look, I started drafting this post, and opening up Goodreads tabs so I would have the links ready when I started listing books, and I almost broke my browser. So I’m going to take a very deep breath, resist the urge to drown you in every book I’m excited about, and instead focus on books that you might not have heard of – ones that I have not seen mentioned often enough on other blogs, that are not getting the amount of hype I feel they deserve.

Which is the only reason books like Spin the Dawn, Gideon the Ninth, The Babysitters Coven, The Burning White, and Call Down the Hawk aren’t being featured here today. I’m dying to get to read all of them, but I think it’s safe to assume that they’re getting enough coverage elsewhere. If you’re following this blog you probably have similar tastes to me and know about Gideon & co already.

So let’s get into the books you might not have heard about!

The Black Veins (Dead Magic #1) Representation: Queer Protagonists, PoC
on July 17th 2019
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
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In a world where magic thrives in secret city corners, a group of magicians embark on a road trip—and it’s the "no-love-interest", found family adventure you’ve been searching for.

Sixteen-year-old Blythe is one of seven Guardians: magicians powerful enough to cause worldwide panic with a snap of their fingers. But Blythe spends her days pouring latte art at her family’s coffee shop, so why should she care about having apocalyptic abilities?

She’s given a reason when magician anarchists crash into said coffee shop and kidnap her family.

Heartbroken but determined, Blythe knows she can’t save them alone. A war is brewing between two magician governments and tensions are too high. So, she packs up her family’s bright yellow Volkswagen, puts on a playlist, and embarks on a road trip across the United States to enlist the help of six strangers whose abilities are unparalleled—the other Guardians.

This one far too few people have heard of, which is just not on. Queer witches of colour, magical anarchists, found-families, road-trips, and bonus coffee art???

AND no romance?!

IT WAS FORETOLD OKAY



Grimoire Noir by Vera Greentea, Yana Bogatch
Published by First Second on 23rd July 2019
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 288
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Bucky Orson is a bit gloomy, but who isn’t at fifteen?

His best friend left him to hang out with way cooler friends, his dad is the town sheriff, and wait for it―he lives in Blackwell, a town where all the girls are witches. But when his little sister is kidnapped because of her extraordinary power, Bucky has to get out of his own head and go on a strange journey to investigate the small town that gives him so much grief. And in the process he uncovers the town’s painful history and a conspiracy that will change it forever.

Beautiful, spooky, and utterly enchanting, Grimoire Noir is a charming graphic novel about coming to terms with your own flaws and working past them to protect those dear to you.

I have been waiting for this book for four years, ever since it was first revealed/teased on Tor.com back in 2016. (It was originally slated for a 2018 release, but things happen. I don’t know why the publication was pushed back, only that it was.) I generally avoid comics and graphic novels simply because I’m too fast a reader – when one issue of a comic costs as much as a full novel, and I’m done with a comic within 10 minutes, it’s just not cost-efficient for me. But occasionally I make exceptions – Monstress and The Wicked and the Divine among the most noteworthy – and both the beautiful art of Grimoire Noir and the premise hooked me instantly. I adore fictional matriarchies and actually can’t think of one off the top of my head that was based on one gender having magic and one not. I really hope there’s a place for genderqueer folks in the worldbuilding – are transwomen witches too? What about agender or genderfluid people? – but Tor has been publishing a lot of queer or queer-inclusive content in the last few years, so I’m crossing my fingers that the creators remembered that the world has a whole bunch more than just cis people in it.

Shatter the Sky (Shatter the Sky, #1) by Rebecca Kim Wells
on 30th July 2019
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A determined young woman sets out to rescue her kidnapped girlfriend by stealing a dragon from the corrupt emperor in this stunning fantasy debut that’s perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson, Rae Carson, and Rachel Hartman.

Raised among the ruins of a conquered mountain nation, Maren dreams only of sharing a quiet life with her girlfriend Kaia—until the day Kaia is abducted by the Aurati, prophetic agents of the emperor, and forced to join their ranks. Desperate to save her, Maren hatches a plan to steal one of the emperor’s coveted dragons and storm the Aurati stronghold.

If Maren is to have any hope of succeeding, she must become an apprentice to the Aromatory—the emperor’s mysterious dragon trainer. But Maren is unprepared for the dangerous secrets she uncovers: rumors of a lost prince, a brewing rebellion, and a prophecy that threatens to shatter the empire itself. Not to mention the strange dreams she’s been having about a beast deep underground…

With time running out, can Maren survive long enough to rescue Kaia from impending death? Or could it be that Maren is destined for something greater than she could have ever imagined?

To quote Anna of Reading Peaches; you had me at girlfriends and then you added dragons!

The Princess Who Flew With Dragons by Stephanie Burgis
on 8th August 2019
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Sofia isn’t the crown princess – that’s her perfect big sister, Katrin. Sofia is the other one. The disappointing one. So when disaster strikes, Sofia is certain she’s not a good enough princess to fix things. But she has to try. And maybe when you’re a failed princess with only a young dragon and a pack of rowdy goblins on your side, it’s time to try something wildly different...

From the author of The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart comes a magical third adventure about acceptance, family and friendship, perfect for fans of Cressida Cowell and Cornelia Funke.

This is the third instalment in Burgis’ Chocolate Heart series, Middle-Grade books about dragons, fierce and brilliant girls, and chocolate. The first book, Dragon With a Chocolate Heart, remains one of my favourite books of all time, and I’m actually in the process of reading book two now. It is not disappointing me, and I can’t wait to get to book three!

The Heart of the Circle by Keren Landsman
Representation: Queer Protagonists, PoC
on 13th August 2019
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
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Sorcerers fight for the right to exist and fall in love, in this extraordinary alternate world fantasy thriller by award-winning Israeli author Keren Landsman.

Throughout human history there have always been sorcerers, once idolised and now exploited for their powers. In Israel, the Sons of Simeon, a group of religious extremists, persecute sorcerers while the government turns a blind eye. After a march for equal rights ends in brutal murder, empath, moodifier and reluctant waiter Reed becomes the next target. While his sorcerous and normie friends seek out his future killers, Reed complicates everything by falling hopelessly in love. As the battle for survival grows ever more personal, can Reed protect himself and his friends as the Sons of Simeon close in around them?

File Under: Fantasy [ Love Squared | Stuck in the Margins | Emotional Injection | Fight the Power ]

This Israeli novel is FINALLY being translated into English – I’ve been pining after it ever since I first heard about it! – and, I mean. Queer sorcerers in Israel, with persecution of magic as a stand-in for LGBTQ+ persecution? (Or possibly alongside – I’ve not heard that the characters don’t have to deal with homophobia etc too, only that the plot’s focus is on the magic.) There’s no way you could spin that so I didn’t have to have it.

Bright Steel by Miles Cameron
Published by Orbit Pages: 640
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A young mage-in-training is unwittingly pulled into a violent political upheaval, in the third book of this epic fantasy trilogy by Miles Cameron, author of the Traitor Son Cycle.



Masters & MagesCold IronDark ForgeBright Steel

For more from Miles Cameron, check out:The Traitor Son CycleThe Red KnightThe Fell SwordThe Dread WyrmThe Plague of SwordsThe Fall of Dragons

I hesitated to include Bright Steel – the final book in Miles Cameron’s Masters & Mages trilogy – because Cameron seems to be reasonably well-known in certain corners of the fantasy world. Every now and then I come across a list of recommendations that include his Traitor Son cycle. But I honestly don’t know personally anyone who’s read any of his books, and I don’t see them mentioned on major book blogs very often. Cameron writes ‘hard’ fantasy – not as hard as Kameron Hurley, but Cameron is a Medieval reenactor, and it shows in his fighting scenes, which are some of the best I’ve ever read. The M&M trilogy is about Aranthur, the son of a widely-despised and mistrusted people (I couldn’t help but draw a lot of comparisons to how Rroma in our world are treated, and I think Cameron intended that) who nonetheless is studying at the greatest university in the world, learning magic, among other things. Possibly by accident and possibly not, he’s drawn into a secret struggle between those who want to take magic away from the common people, and those who oppose them – a struggle that won’t remain secret for much longer. The sides aren’t anywhere near as simple as good vs evil, and the characters pretty much jump off the page, grab you by the throat, and drag you into the story with them. Cameron’s books are always huge tomes, but I’m never able to put them down once they’re in my hands.

Bright Steel releases in the UK in August, but those in the USA will have to wait until December. I’m not sure it’s a bad idea to wait – Cameron’s UK publishers have been pretty awful at proofreading typos and things (although the M&M trilogy has been much better than the Traitor Son cycle was) and the US editions tend to be much cleaner – but you bet I’ll be curled up on August 22nd around the UK version anyway!

The Seared Lands (The Dragon’s Legacy, #3) by Deborah A. Wolf
on 10th September 2019
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This book, while following the previous stories, focuses a great deal on the Illindrist, Aasah, and his apprentice Yaela, strange people with stranger powers who come from a land of salt and fire.

In the days of the Sundering, Quarabala--the Seared Lands--were cursed by Akari Sun Dragon and scorched beyond all recognition. Now a cruel place inhabited by nightmare beasts, the Seared Lands are home to a desperate few; and as fears of a second Sundering grow, these people look to greener lands. If no place is found for them, they will seize new lands from the soft hands of Those Who Dwell Above.

They have nowhere else to go, they have nothing to lose...

And this time, they are not alone.

I have to admit, sometimes I want to scream about the fact that no one seems to know this series??? I cried when book one ended; not because it was unbearably tragic, but because it was over, and I didn’t want it to be over. This series is wildly original, beautiful, raw, twisty, and very much ‘hard’ fantasy – Wolf expects you to hit the ground running as you enter the world she’s created, and I’ll admit it’s not easy; while her worldbuilding is phenomenal, it can be a bit dizzying until you adjust. But once you do – gods. It’s so worth it.

I have no idea if Seared Lands is supposed to be the last book or not. I haven’t been able to find out whether this series is going to be a trilogy, or if it will keep going. Wolf promised us ‘at least three’ books, but will it be only three? I don’t know how all the plotlines could be wrapped up in just one more book, but to be fair, if anyone could do it, Wolf could. So we’ll see – but I for one will be praying for more!

The Imaginary Corpse by Tyler Hayes
on 10th September 2019
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A dinosaur detective in the land of unwanted ideas battles trauma, anxiety, and the first serial killer of imaginary friends.

Most ideas fade away when we're done with them. Some we love enough to become Real. But what about the ones we love, and walk away from? Tippy the triceratops was once a little girl's imaginary friend, a dinosaur detective who could help her make sense of the world. But when her father died, Tippy fell into the Stillreal, the underbelly of the Imagination, where discarded ideas go when they're too Real to disappear. Now, he passes time doing detective work for other unwanted ideas - until Tippy runs into The Man in the Coat, a nightmare monster who can do the impossible: kill an idea permanently. Now Tippy must overcome his own trauma and solve the case, before there's nothing left but imaginary corpses.

File Unders: Fantasy [ Fuzzy Fiends - Death to Imagination - Hardboiled but Sweet - Not Barney ]

Look, I don’t have to actually say anything, right? You read the same premise I did? Then you should understand why I literally shrieked when I got approved for an ARC of it!

Expect a great deal more shrieking when I get to review it.

The Hanged Man (The Tarot Sequence, #2) by K.D. Edwards
on 17th September 2019
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The last member of a murdered House tries to protect his ward from forced marriage to a monster while uncovering clues to his own past.

The Tarot Sequence imagines a modern-day Atlantis off the coast of Massachusetts, governed by powerful Courts based on the traditional Tarot deck.

Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Throne, is backed into a fight of high court magic and political appetites in a desperate bid to protect his ward, Max, from a forced marital alliance with the Hanged Man.

Rune's resistance will take him to the island's dankest corners, including a red light district made of moored ghost ships; a surreal skyscraper farm; and the floor of the ruling Convocation, where a gathering of Arcana will change Rune's life forever.

The Last Sun, book one of the Tarot sequence, instantly became one of my joint-favourite books of all time when I read it last year. In the months since it’s gone from being ‘just’ a favourite to actually being incredibly important to me; not just because it’s an incredible book, but because its existence and execution are impossibly meaningful. The more I think about it, the more implications and revelations hit me; about the story and the characters, but about life and the world, too. Kushiel’s Dart will always be my formative queer novel, but The Last Sun feels like a book from the future – one where queerness has been completely normalised, and only dusty old historians might vaguely recognise the word ‘homophobia’. It’s an amazing story with characters I adore and worldbuilding that makes me swoon, but it’s more than that: it’s the promise that we’ll get to the future, bound up in paper and a gorgeous cover.

So you can bet your butt that Hanged Man is one of my most-anticipated releases of the decade.

Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner
on 8th October 2019
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A “brilliant and terrifically fun”* debut novel brings an enchanting new voice to fantasy.

Onna can write the parameters of a spell faster than any of the young men in her village school. But despite her incredible abilities, she’s denied a place at the nation’s premier arcane academy. Undaunted, she sails to the bustling city-state of Hexos, hoping to find a place at a university where they don’t think there’s anything untoward about providing a woman with a magical education. But as soon as Onna arrives, she’s drawn into the mysterious murder of four trolls.

Tsira is a troll who never quite fit into her clan, despite being the leader’s daughter. She decides to strike out on her own and look for work in a human city, but on her way she stumbles upon the body of a half-dead human soldier in the snow. As she slowly nurses him back to health, an unlikely bond forms between them, one that is tested when an unknown mage makes an attempt on Tsira’s life. Soon, unbeknownst to each other, Onna and Tsira both begin devoting their considerable talents to finding out who is targeting trolls, before their homeland is torn apart…

*Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians

I don’t remember where I discovered this one, but it must be somewhere secret indeed, because no one else seems to know about it either! But it’s being compared to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell, and we have been promised the tackling of sexuality and gender politics alongside found-families, troll gender roles, Sherlock Holmes-esque shenanigans, a lot of laughs and a lot of magic. Sign me the hell up!

The Name of All Things (A Chorus of Dragons #2) by Jenn Lyons
on 29th October 2019
, 

*I have elected to replace the blurb for this book with the official AO3-style tags the author assigned to book one of the series*

fantasy homophobia & misogyny, criticisms of fantasy homophobia & misogyny, fantasy nobody-gives-a-shit-about-whether-you’re-queer, my fantasy country is NOT set in Europe, unreliable narration, everyone has a dark secret, FOOTNOTES, secret cults, DRAGONS, demons, kraken, shapechangers, dinosaurs, my race is different (various), past lives, magic rocks, quantum magic, Bards Are Good Actually 2k19, chatty gods, sweet prophecies, ultimate disaster bisexual, telepathy, legendary objects, oh no my romantic rival is also quite hot, stabby boys, powerful women have no time for your shit, Xanatos Chess Master (yes, also a Magnificent Bastard), Training Montage, Tested on Humans, & EVUL undead necromancer.

And lastly, It’s the End of the World As We Know It & I Don’t Feel That Fine Actually

What you read above is not, in fact, the blurb for Name of All Things; that is because I’m still reading book one, and I don’t want to spoil myself OR anyone else who hasn’t read or finished it yet. What I present to you instead are the AO3 (archiveofourown.org)-style tags the author assigned to book one. (Trigger warnings for the book are also listed at the link). I have seen literally no one talking about this series and I have no idea why?! I mean, yes, it’s big epic fantasy, and it’s definitely not light reading. But it is amazing! I’m not sure I’ve come up against epic fantasy – the big kind, where each book is 500+ pages – that caught me this completely since Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel Universe. I was starting to think that kind of epic fantasy was dead.

IT’S NOT. IT’S REALLY REALLY NOT. IT’S JUST BEING REBORN THROUGH JENN LYONS’ PEN.

Look, if you want Lord of the Rings remade for the modern age? You’ve got it. Here it is. THIS SERIES RIGHT HERE.

FIGHT ME.

I WOULD DIE FOR MY DISASTER-BISEXUAL SON

Okay I’m going to stop there, but only because it’s technically no longer Tuesday where I am!

BUT YOU STILL NEED TO ADD ALL OF THESE TO YOUR PRE-ORDER LISTS, PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

Dragons Can’t Mitigate This Trainwreck: The Last Tsar’s Dragons by Jane Yolen & Adam Stemple

The Last Tsar's Dragons by Jane Yolen, Adam Stemple
Representation: Jewish Characters, Chronic Illness
Genres: Historical Fantasy
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It is the waning days of the Russian monarchy. A reckless man rules the land and his dragons rule the sky. Though the Tsar aims his dragons at his enemies—Jews and Bolsheviks—his entire country is catching fire. Conspiracies suffuse the royal court: bureaucrats jostle one another for power, the mad monk Rasputin schemes for the Tsar’s ear, and the desperate queen takes drastic measures to protect her family.

Revolution is in the air—and the Red Army is hatching its own weapons.

Discover Russia’s October Revolution reimagined in flight, brought to life by the acclaimed mother-and-son writing team of the Locus Award-winning novel, Pay the Piper, and the Seelie Wars series.

I received this E-ARC via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

I was really excited for The Last Tsar’s Dragons – who wouldn’t be, with a premise like it has? But I quickly found myself confused and then disappointed once I started reading. In an attempt to moderate my expectations, I took a break to see if I’d missed something and this book was aimed at a YA or even MG audience – I didn’t think so, but maybe I was wrong?

And maybe I’m still wrong, but as far as I can tell from Goodreads and various bookseller sites, this seems to have been aimed at adult readers, which means there’s really no excuse for how bizarrely simplistic the writing style and storytelling are here. Take my opinion with a pinch of salt – I DNF-ed this book at the 20% mark on my e-reader, 20% being my cut-off point for giving a book a chance to change a poor first impression – but… I read a fifth of this and couldn’t stand the idea of giving it any more of my time. 

The content itself is horrifying, but in fairness, it’s absolutely meant to be – the story opens with the eponymous Tsar releasing his personal stable of dragons to go hunt and kill Jews; there’s no way we’re supposed to approve or find this light-hearted. That being said – while it can often be hard to read, good writers convey the horror of horrifying things. A reader’s difficulty in getting through a story can be – maybe even should be, in some ways – directly proportional to the writer’s skill, when the subjects include antisemitism, chillingly callous and unsubtle class-warfare, and the like. But I didn’t feel that that was the case here; these things were horrifying because they are objectively horrifying, and because I arrived at this book already feeling horror towards these topics, not because the writers conveyed that horror well or made me feel it. Honestly, the only thing this book made me feel was rapidly-mounting confusion – even with only an A-Level in History, which hardly makes me an expert, I know the conditions that led to the Russian Revolution were more complex than the simplistic and childish tone taken by The Last Tsar’s Dragons had any hope of conveying – which turned into frustration when the problems only worsened instead of getting better. 

Bluntly, the writing here seems like a bland mess. I’ve read Middle-Grade novels that portrayed their characters with more complexity than the two-dimensional depictions here, and for some inexplicable reason, the writers can’t seem to decide when their characters arethinking to themselves in first or third-person – info-dumping introspection randomly switched from first to third person as if the writers couldn’t manage the transition between their characters’ direct, personal thoughts and the de-individualised, generalised ‘overview’ thoughts that are typically conveyed via third-person. And while most of the characters were written in third-person, one was written in first-person, which wouldn’t have bothered me except that there was no special significance to this character and no apparent reason for making him stand out in this way. The writers also utilised, for this same character, one of the tropes I absolutely despise, which is having a character think their (politically sensitive and dangerous) inner monologue out loud. That the character in this case openly acknowledged that this was basically suicide given the time and place he lives and works in only made me even more annoyed. I’m honestly unclear on whether I was supposed to be questioning his mental stability, given his grating, rambling, zig-zagging train of thought; on the one hand, I hope not, because if so it’s truly awful mental illness representation – but on the other hand, if I wasn’t supposed to be questioning the character’s mental health, then it’s extremely poor writing that led me directly to the conclusion that this was a man in desperate need of good mental health care. 

There’s so. Much. Info-dumping. So much telling-instead-of-showing. The Last Tsar’s Dragons was always going to have an uphill battle – after the success of Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, which also utilised the idea of historical fiction + dragons, Tsar’s was going to have to do more than just be set in a different historical time period to stand against the inevitable comparisons between the two. Based on what I could bring myself to read, it doesn’t come close to succeeding. Novik did it better, and even if it didn’t have the Temeraire series to compete with, Tsar’s wouldn’t be a good book.

Tl;dr – a great concept taken out back and shot by terrible execution.

(Pun unintended, but unrepentantly cherished as the one bit of entertainment provided by this book.)

Neurodiversity and Alien Anthropology: Failure to Communicate by Kaia Sønderby

Failure to Communicate (Xandri Corelel #1) by Kaia Sønderby
Representation: Neurodiversity (Autistic), Queer Protagonists (Bi/pansexual), PoC
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
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As one of the only remaining autistics in the universe, Xandri Corelel has faced a lot of hardship, and she's earned her place as the head of Xeno-Liaisons aboard the first contact ship Carpathia. But her skill at negotiating with alien species is about to be put to the ultimate test.

The Anmerilli, a notoriously reticent and xenophobic people, have invented a powerful weapon that will irrevocably change the face of space combat. Now the Starsystems Alliance has called in Xandri and the crew of the Carpathia to mediate. The Alliance won't risk the weapon falling into enemy hands, and if Xandri can't bring the Anmerilli into the fold, the consequences will be dire.

Amidst sabotage, assassination attempts, and rampant cronyism, Xandri struggles to convince the doubtful and ornery Anmerilli. Worse, she's beginning to suspect that not everyone on her side is really working to make the alliance a success. As tensions rise and tempers threaten to boil over, Xandri must focus all her energy into understanding the one species that has always been beyond her: her own.

*Deep breath* Okay. I’m okay.

Wow.

I’ve seen people raving about this book for quite a while now; many trusted sources from all over the place. I even picked it up at some point, but I didn’t get past the first few pages. I must have been in a weird headspace or something, because as well as being objectively a fan-freaking-tastic book, it includes so many of my favourite things that it’s kind of like Sønderby wrote it for me personally!

Suffice to say, I love this book. I bought the sequel and prequel – and Sønderby’s YA book Damsel to the Rescue – before I even finished it. I knew by the time I hit the halfway mark that I was going to have to devour everything by this author!

Xandri is a first-contact specialist in the far future; living and working on the spaceship Carpathia, she and her team of xeno-biologists discover new worlds, new sapient species, and figure out the best way for the intergalactic Alliance to reach out them. Part anthropologist and part biologist, she’s the very best the Alliance has – despite the fact that she doesn’t actually work for the Alliance, strictly speaking. Carpathia is owned and run by Chui, an ex-military human captain who has made it her mission in life to make first-contact as peaceful and painless as a process as possible for as many sapients as she and her crew can discover. However, their missions aren’t always 100% by the book, and so when the Alliance summons Carpathia to more-or-less conscript Xandri, Chui has to answer. It’s understood that this is the price they pay for the Alliance looking the other way on how the Carpathia manages their business.

Now, though, a non-Alliance species, the Anmerilli, has made a break-through that means they must become allies – because if they choose to side with the Alliance’s enemies, instead, all sapients everywhere would be in unspeakable danger. It’s up to Xandri to figure out how to convince the xenophobic Anmerilli to do what they’ve spent the last six years refusing to even consider – join the Alliance – and avert the threat of either a devastating galactic war, or genocide.

No pressure, or anything.

I love intricate worldbuilding, properly-alien aliens, and anthropology, so Failure to Communicate was just one check mark after another for me. It would have been a well-written, fascinating, and compellingly addictive book anyway – Sønderby really knows what she’s doing – but the fact is that Xandri is also autistic. And as someone still coming to the terms with being diagnosed as on the spectrum, that made her story far more personal than it might have been otherwise. Although Xandri and I aren’t identical, I recognised a lot of the struggles she dealt with every day, and while some made me laugh, and others plucked at my heart-strings, more than a few punched me in the gut. This is an #ownvoices book, so Sønderby knows exactly what she’s writing about, and it shows. In the hands of a lesser writer, even being #ownvoices wouldn’t have made this book so powerful, but Sønderby is, as I’ve said, an incredible writer. Several of my most-loved tropes make their way into Failure to Communicate, but it’s not the tropes themselves that made me stay up until 4am – it’s the execution. To take an example: it’s not the found-family trope that made me tear up, but how Sønderby used it, creating a wonderful cast of characters gathered around one of my favourite protagnists ever.

I was also surprised and delighted to discover that not only is Xandri queer (bi- or pansexual, I couldn’t say, but she experiences attraction to human men and women) but Failure to Communicate chronicles, among other things, the delicate development of a fledgeling polyamorous romance between her and two other characters. Polyamory has become a norm in some human sectors in the future, apparently. Yay!

Unfortunately, humanity has become much less liberal in other ways. Xandri is autistic, yes – but only because of a brief fashion that saw a generation of humans conceived and born without the pre-natal screening that would typically catch and detect ‘flaws’ like autism. (Whether the screening process would have involved ‘correcting’ the autism or aborting the ‘defective’ fetus wasn’t explicitly clear). The results of that fashion-trend so horrified, not just humanity, but all the Alliance, that in the aftermath it has become illegal to not use such pre-natal screenings. This means that Xandri is one of only a handful of autistic people in the Alliance – and likely that handful will be the last, at least for the foreseeable future. Much of the stigma Xandri faces for her autism relies on ‘Ancient Earth’ beliefs, cruel bs about how autistic people don’t understand or care about emotions and the like. It was simultaneously painful and validating to read about – even as a much more ‘higher-functioning’ individual than Xandri, I recognised a lot of the prejudices and misunderstandings she had to deal with – including well-intentioned gestures that aren’t nice or comforting at all for an autistic person.

Luckily, Xandri has a small cadre of people around her who understand, and work to develop that understanding when they occasionally make mistakes. Even if they hadn’t been fierce supporters of hers in other ways as well, that alone made me adore them – including her pet birds Marble and Cake, who brought a light-hearted adorableness to every scene they appeared in, often just when I as a reader most needed it!

The plot itself isn’t dull, but it is a little familiar; that’s not a detraction, though. Xandri’s autism makes the situations she finds herself in complicated enough that the plot doesn’t feel predictable or easily resolved at all – the first-person narration was an excellent choice in adding that layer to the story. A storyline that might have bored me in the hands of another author had my attention by the throat here – and judging from all the high-starred ratings, I don’t think it’s just that her thoughts and choices made so much sense to me as a fellow autistic person. I think she’s just an amazing character, and Sønderby is an amazing author, and honestly, it’s almost physically painful to sit here writing out a review when the sequel is waiting for me right by my elbow!

Tl:dr; neurodiversity, alien anthropology, and found-families combine with high-stakes sci-fi politicking for a read I couldn’t put down. Go and buy a copy already!

Review: The Fifth Gender by G.L. Carriger

The 5th Gender: A Tinkered Stars Mystery by G.L. Carriger
Representation: Genderqueer, Gay, Non-Binary
on 18th May 2019
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
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A species that has no word for murder, has a murderer aboard their spaceship.

ALIEN

Tristol lives in exile. But he’s built a life for himself aboard a human space station. He’s even begun to understand the complex nuances of human courting rituals.

Detective Hastion is finally flirting back!

MURDER

Except that Tristol’s beloved space station is unexpectedly contacted by the galoi – a xenophobic species with five genders, purple skin, and serious attitude. They need the help of a human detective because there’s a murderer aboard their spaceship. Murder is so rare, the galoi don’t even have a word for it.

Tristol knows this because he is galoi.

ROMANCE

Which means that he and Detective Hastion are on the case… together.

Delicate Sensibilities?

Contains men who love other men in graphic detail, regardless of gender, biology, or skin color... and lots of emotively sexy tentacle hair.

New York Times best selling author Gail Carriger (writing as G.L. Carriger) brings you a light-hearted romantic cozy mystery featuring an adorable lavender alien and his human crush.

This is a wonderful little book – I pre-ordered it on a whim, mainly because I’ve found Carriger’s writing entertaining before and I’m always interested to see takes on alien gender and sexuality. I didn’t expect it to be as sweet and adorable as it in fact was, and despite a few tragic revelations it made for wonderful fluff-reading – exactly what you want after a rough day at work when the 600-page-epic-fantasy-tome just feels like more work, and uncomplicated escapism is a nice warm bubble-bath.

If anything, 5th Gender is slightly too simplistic to be ideal (at least for me), but it’s entertaining enough for me to forgive it for that. It’s more of a romance than a murder mystery, but to be honest that was a relief, since I’m not great with investigative stories; and if the romance was maybe not the most realistic, well – it does make much more sense within the context of the story, and it’s cute and sweet enough that I was willing to suspend my disbelief and go with it.

Tris is – biologically at least; we’ll get to that – a male loga, which in human terms means he presents as male, has a male-analogous form, and uses male pronouns; he is, however, capable of becoming pregnant, which is hugely relevant to the story in the sense that reproductive capability is of supreme importance to the galoi, the alien race to which he belongs. And he is super adorable. If you imagine a Labrador puppy turned into a purple humanoid, you’ve pretty much got the idea; Tris is sweet, kind, curious about everything, quick to joy, and pretty hyper. He’s kept from being an annoying cliche, though, by the flashes of fascinating anger, moments of intense introspection, and complicated feelings towards the world that exiled him. The first bit of the book, before we learn why he was exiled, is kind of puzzling, in that I at least spent quite a while wondering what on Earth someone like this could have done to deserve total and permanent exile. Usually that kind of thing is reserved for the worst kind of crimes, right? And this is a guy who always forgets his chopsticks and is convinced the space station janitors are priests of a secret and sacred cult. To repeat: he’s adorable. What could he have done?

Drey, aka Detective Hastion (whom Tris is totally crushing on) is a human security/police officer in a far-future space station. He, like everyone else, also finds Tris adorable, and is in fact crushing on Tris right back (not, of course, that either of them realise the feeling’s mutual. Dorks.) But as far as he knows, galoi are promiscuous and polyamorous, and he knows he’s not up to sharing. So a secret his feelings will remain!

Except not, obviously.

The two are brought into close contact (ahem) when a galoi ship seeks permission to dock and request the services of a detective – someone has been murdered on their ship, but the thing is, galoi don’t kill each other. They do not, as the blurb points out, even have a word for murder. Hence why they need human assistance – despite the fact that they’re the most xenophobic aliens anyone has ever heard of, and this kind of contact between galoi and ‘outsiders’ is unprecedented. Obviously, Drey’s going to need a cultural translator.

The thing is – Tris is zyga. This is somehow connected to his exile – it’s the surname all galoi exiles take when they leave the homeworld, not that there’s many of them who leave. And among other things, it means that the galoi on the ship won’t even acknowledge that he exists.

So there’s a murder mystery, which mostly serves as a reason to push Tris and Drey together while exploring and explaining galoi culture. Functionally, it reads as an m/m romance, with some alien-biology tropes that makes the sex go more smoothly (and for those wondering, Drey is extremely relieved to discover that he cannot get Tris pregnant.) Carriger makes full, unapologetic use of the Alien card to justify all the sex, all the cuddliness, and even Tris’ sweet nature, and I have no bones with any of that. Loga evolved to be super tactile, extra-adorable, and have high sex-drives, you say? Then I can only respond with: bravo. Take your tropes and run with ’em!

It’s not all fluffy feels and smexing, though. Deep and complicated emotions are at the heart of this story, giving it a poignancy that will ensure I remember this one for a long time, and that make it stand out from the crowd. There’s also some incredibly interesting world-building – while I found the galoi utterly fascinating, I was also impressed by how sneakily Carriger managed to drop hints about how humanity’s been faring since they left the ‘Hu-Core’, aka little ol’ Earth. Even if I wasn’t eager to see more of Tris and Drey, I’d hope for more books just to explore this galaxy Carriger’s created.

I do hope any future books are a bit better edited, however. There were more than a few cases of accidental homophone usage, which made me wince. I also didn’t especially enjoy the sex scenes, but that I think is down to personal preference; I’m sure there are plenty of other readers who enjoyed (or will enjoy) them a lot.

And while I can’t say too much without spoilers, I think Carriger did an excellent job of creating – and conveying – zyga as an identity; the eponymous 5th gender of the title. It’s incredibly important to Tris, the story, and his culture, and I found it deeply moving. It’s a really beautiful concept/identity, one that hearkens to the roles queer people have held in many different cultures, and especially the minor revelation of the last few pages just took my breath away. Of all the reasons I’d love to read more books in this universe, the major one is that I dearly want to follow Tris in his journey as zyga.

And somehow, I don’t think Drey will have too much trouble keeping up with him!

My First ARCs!

Despite the fact that I created a NetGalley account back in 2011, I’m definitely what I call a baby blogger. I have tried book blogging before, and even dabbled at book vlogging for a while, but I never stuck with it. There’s a bunch of reasons for that, not least my chronic lack of commitment to long-term projects – but this isn’t a me blog, it’s a book blog, so.

If you don’t know, an ARC is an Advanced Reader’s Copy; literally a copy of an unpublished book that gets sent to libraries, literary magazines, and book bloggers before the official release date. The idea is that more readers are going to pre-order the book if they can read reviews of it – ARCs drive up hype, basically. And that’s important, because pre-orders contribute to release-week sales, which are what get a book on the bestseller lists. I’m not sure when the publishing industry realised it would be smart to start sending ARCs to ‘civilian readers’ running their own blogs, but they did, and now it’s pretty standard.

Not everybody gets ARCs, though. Although there are some conventions where reviewers and bloggers can physically pick up available ARCs – and some publishers will send un-asked-for ARCs to bloggers with especially big followings – typically, reviewers have to reach out and ask for them. And the most common way to do that is through NetGalley, a website where you post your credentials, whatever they may be, and request ARCs of books that take their fancy in much the same way you might send a bunch of friend requests on FB all at once.

And publishers will say no sometimes. I have no idea how often, but suffice to say, bloggers with larger followings, an established history of book reviewing, and, best of all, a high rate of leaving feedback/reviews of ARCs in the past are more likely to have their requests approved. Makes total sense.

My blog’s brand-new. I doubt I have a single subscriber yet. So, although I put in a bunch of requests over the weekend, I really wasn’t expecting any approvals. I just had fun going through the available ARCs (and noting down the titles of cool-sounding books I hadn’t heard of before!)

AND YET.

Today? I received FIVE digital ARCs!

*deep breath*

The gif about sums it up.

None of them are ‘major’ releases, but I don’t care. I’m ridiculously happy, feeling far more validated than I probably should be, and I’m super excited to pounce on my very first ARCs!

Must-Have Monday!

As someone too fond of both alliteration and scouring publisher’s catalogs, Monday is the day I list some of the upcoming books I’m most looking forward to! And it being Pride Month, these will be skewed even more heavily than usual in the direction of queer lit.

Thus!

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
Representation: Queer Protagonists
on 18th June 2019
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
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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.

Tor seem to be publishing more and more queer titles in the last few years, and I couldn’t be more delighted. Silver in the Wood first came to my attention when it was included in the Tor.com Publishing 2019 Debut Sampler. I picked up the sampler because it included excerpts of a few titles I was already interested in – Gideon the Ninth and Monster of Elendhaven are two I’m particularly pining for – and of course I took the chance to check out the other titles. Silver in the Wood grabbed me immediately as a uniquely beautiful story, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

All of Us with Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil
Representation: PoC, Queer Protagonists
on 18th June 2019
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
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Michelle Ruiz Keil's #OwnVoices debut is a literary YA fantasy about love, found family, and healing--an ode to post-punk San Francisco through the eyes of a Mexican American girl.

Seventeen-year-old Xochi is on her own in San Francisco, running from a painful past. On a visit to Golden Gate Park, she meets Pallas, a precocious twelve-year-old with a rockstar family that lives in one of the city's storybook Victorian mansions. Xochi accepts a position as Pallas's live-in governess and quickly becomes part of the band's household, fascinated by their free-love philosophy and the happy calm that balances out their glamorous music personas.

But on the night of the Vernal Equinox, as a concert afterparty rages in the house below, Xochi and Pallas perform a pagan ritual that unintentionally summons a pair of ancient creatures devoted to righting the wrongs of Xochi's adolescence. She'd do anything to preserve her new life, but the nightmares of her past are never far behind: the mother who abandoned her, the man who betrayed her, and the loving grandmother whose death left Xochi alone in the world.

With the creatures determined to exact vengeance on those who've hurt her, no one in Xochi's life is safe--not the family she's chosen, nor the one she left behind.

I have been waiting for this book for – a year? AT LEAST. It sounds reminiscent of Francesca Lia Block’s Weetzie Bat books, except with a bisexual Latinx main character and even more magic! I mean, come on. How can you not be coveting this???

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall
Representation: Queer Protagonists
on 18th June 2019
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Secondary World Fantasy
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
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In this charming, witty, and weird fantasy novel, Alexis Hall pays homage to Sherlock Holmes with a new twist on those renowned characters.

Upon returning to the city of Khelathra-Ven after five years fighting a war in another universe, Captain John Wyndham finds himself looking for somewhere to live, and expediency forces him to take lodgings at 221b Martyrs Walk. His new housemate is Ms. Shaharazad Haas, a consulting sorceress of mercurial temperament and dark reputation.

When Ms. Haas is enlisted to solve a case of blackmail against one of her former lovers, Miss Eirene Viola, Captain Wyndham finds himself drawn into a mystery that leads him from the salons of the literary set to the drowned back-alleys of Ven and even to a prison cell in lost Carcosa. Along the way he is beset by criminals, menaced by pirates, molested by vampires, almost devoured by mad gods, and called upon to punch a shark.

But the further the companions go in pursuit of the elusive blackmailer, the more impossible the case appears. Then again, in Khelathra-Ven reality is flexible, and the impossible is Ms. Haas' stock-in-trade.

This one sounds like an incredible amount of fun, with plenty of weirdness to keep things interesting. I’m pretty indifferent to Sherlock and the various re-imaginings of him, but this doesn’t sound very Arthur Conan Doyle to me – wars with other universes? Vampires? Shark-punching?! Even if the mystery doesn’t hook me, I think everything else about it will!

That’s it for now! (I mean, I could go on, but if I share every book on my dying-to-read list, what would I post about next week?) Do you have any of these pre-ordered? What other books are you most looking forward to?

Review: The City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp

The City of Lost Fortunes (Crescent City #1) by Bryan Camp
Representation: Bisexual, PoC
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
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The fate of New Orleans rests in the hands of a wayward grifter in this novel of gods, games, and monsters.

The post–Katrina New Orleans of The City of Lost Fortunes is a place haunted by its history and by the hurricane’s destruction, a place that is hoping to survive the rebuilding of its present long enough to ensure that it has a future. Street magician Jude Dubuisson is likewise burdened by his past and by the consequences of the storm, because he has a secret: the magical ability to find lost things, a gift passed down to him by the father he has never known—a father who just happens to be more than human.

Jude has been lying low since the storm, which caused so many things to be lost that it played havoc with his magic, and he is hiding from his own power, his divine former employer, and a debt owed to the Fortune god of New Orleans. But his six-year retirement ends abruptly when the Fortune god is murdered and Jude is drawn back into the world he tried so desperately to leave behind. A world full of magic, monsters, and miracles. A world where he must find out who is responsible for the Fortune god’s death, uncover the plot that threatens the city’s soul, and discover what his talent for lost things has always been trying to show him: what it means to be his father’s son.

This was a book I picked up and set down again almost at once – right up until Kathy’s glowing review of the sequel over at Pages of the Vaulted Sky. Being a completest, I wasn’t going to read the sequel first, so I tracked down City of Lost Fortunes and sat down to give it another go.

I am so glad that I did!

This book is amazing! I can see why I didn’t get into it last time, though – the opening reads like a very typical urban fantasy, right down to the meeting with a long-avoided acquaintance in a run-down bar. Jude, our main character, is Cynical and Long-Suffering, and his unique ability – the magical power to find things which are lost – wasn’t close to enough to hold my interest in the face of that. I was braced to DNF the book again, expecting another male-matyr-dragged-reluctantly-back-to-magic plotline, probably with a whodunnit angle I would have no reason to care about.

And technically, that is what CoLF is – Jude has been out of the life since Hurricane Katrina screwed up his magic almost as badly as it hit his beloved city of New Orleans (the setting – we’ll get back to that), is confronted by an ex-friend who’s more than pissed that he’s been deliberately MIA for so long, and given a message by said ex-friend from someone he can’t ignore – a message that does indeed force him back into the magical scene.

But. But, but, but.

Look, I’m a total worldbuilding addict. But I also adore lush, descriptive writing, up to and including flamboyantly purple prose; I can’t stand a good story that’s been badly written, but I have read and greatly enjoyed meh stories whose authors have beautiful writing styles. I can put up with a lot if the writing is pretty, is what I’m saying. And Camps is nowhere near purple prose – don’t worry! – but it is rich and descriptive, which feels not just appropriate but actually necessary, given the subject matter and the setting: who wants to read about myths and terrors and wonders in that bare-bones bestseller-y writing style? (Darren Brown, James Patterson, I am looking at you.) How can you make New Orleans feel like New Orleans if you don’t worship the city with your words? New Orleans has grime, crime, and poverty – but its very name summons up images of decadence and sensuality, hedonism galore, and a long history of magic which thrills or terrifies, according to your own leanings. (Maybe both, if you’re sensible). Blunt, action-focused writing is not going to cut it when it’s New Orleans you’re writing about.

And that’s not what Camps gives us. His writing is gorgeous, his turns of phrase and eye for details a constant delight. Every sentence is like music, no matter what that sentence is actually about, and that’s what carried me through the standard-trope opening.

Which is all it needs to do, because once you’re past those first few pages, there’s no going back. For Jude or the reader.

Jude is summoned to, of all things, a poker game. A very private, very exclusive poker game. It’s not money, status, or charm that gets you a seat at this table –

It’s divinity.

CoLF has been compared to American Gods. I object to that: CoLF is so much better than AG. My issues with AG can wait for another day, but suffice to say that where AG is, at least superficially, about the conflict between the old gods and the new, CoLF is about the evolution of the divine – about the very nature of gods and magic, and how both change over time, and should change, need to change. AG feels like the chronicling of the death of an era; in CoLF, magic is alive and kicking, fierce and wondrous, and you’d better believe that the old gods aren’t going anywhere.

There’s so much I’d love to say about this aspect of the book, but I don’t think I can without spoiling too much, and really, discovering it for yourself is going to be so much better than any description or explanation I could give you. I do want to say that as a pagan and a total myth-geek, I wanted to hug this book to my chest and SHRIEK with happiness, not just at the portrayal of the various gods and supernatural creatures, but at what Camp says and does with the…the nature of mythology. That changeability I was talking about earlier. The inter-connectedness of myths and pantheons from all over the world. Divine archetypes and sharing names and swapping masks and roles. It’s wonderful.

(One reveal near the very end – one I saw coming, because of aforementioned myth-geekiness – actually struck very close to my heart. As mentioned above, I’m neopagan, and over the last few years I’ve been defining what I believe more and more. I can’t explain a lot of it here because it definitely constitutes a spoiler, but suffice to say, I saw my own ideas of the sacred reflected, and even directly portrayed, in this book. And that made me incredibly happy. I guess that’s something that won’t be relevant for most readers, but what is relevant is: even if you’re neopagan, you don’t need to be side-eyeing this book. All the gods and beings are portrayed well – I don’t mean that they’re all good; I mean that Bryan Camp has done his research, is clearly respectful of how meaningful so much of his subject matter has been to people in the past and still is to many people today, and infuses them with real wonder. I’ve never read another book with deities as characters that does it half so well.)

CoLF is, superficially, a whodunnit: a god has been murdered, and Jude has to find out the who and how and why. But it’s the why that is the focus of the book, that spirals out and out into something enormous and breath-taking and mesmerising. The murder itself is only the smallest part of the story, really; far more important are the layers and layers of intrigue, myth, and magic that underscore it. The motive is the story, because it’s not about the death, it’s about why someone thought that death was necessary. The game is so much bigger than poker – even one with souls and fates as the stakes – and is inextricably tied to the city, to the magical factions and politics within it, and to the nature of godhood. Camp’s magic feels like magic – this isn’t Rothfuss or Sanderson, whose magic is about as wondrous as a Maths equation*; there’s a price to every spell (often really inventive but appropriate ones!), and some things have rules, but this is the opposite of mundane. It’s mystical, otherworldly, taps into that spirit of magic most of us lost after childhood. And yet it’s modernised, too – Camp’s world is an incredible blending of the ancient and the new; there’s poker, but it’s played with tarot cards; hearts are weighed against feathers, but the realm of the dead is reached via streetcar; angels old as Creation convey messages from the Lord – via bluetooth.

It’s awesome.

CoLF is also a surprisingly queer book. Although the initial reveal of Jude’s bisexuality is so quick and subtle you’ll miss it if you blink, fluid sexuality and gender are defining themes of Jude’s personal arc, especially in the second half of the book. Jude is half-Trickster, and Camp emphasises over and over again that Tricksters give the finger to binaries of all kinds – right and wrong, black and white, male and female, straight and gay. Again, I can’t go into details without major spoilers, but my jaw dropped when A Thing happened in the last second/third of the book. It’s a major exploration of genderfluidity/genderqueerness, and Jude reacts in a way I’ve never seen a male character react – hells, I’ve never met a real-life man who would react as Jude does! And it’s a queer-positive reaction, btw, for anyone who might be concerned. It’s also not preachy: Camp’s commentary on gender, and Jude’s especially, and that of Tricksters in general, is there on the page – but shown instead of told. There’s no lectures to detract from the action. It’s just…wow. I loved it!

Speaking of action: this book does not stop. Without feeling rushed, there is just so much going on. At one point, I glanced at my e-reader, noticed I was only 37% through the book, and demanded (of the ether) what the hell else can happen?!

A lot. A LOT can happen! 37% of CoLF is packed full of more punch than most authors manage in a whole series of books.

I also appreciated the diversity of the cast. Jude himself has a white mother and passes for a Black man (he’s referred to as Black by most of the cast) but doesn’t actually have a clue what ethnicity he got from his (divine, remember) father. Most if not all of the major characters are Black, and race is important – one particular conversation stands out in my memory, when someone points out to Jude (as evidence of his inherited powers) you’re the only Black man I’ve ever seen who never gets stopped by the police. I’m paraphrasing – I seem to have forgotten to highlight the line on my reader; clearly I’m still a book-blogging newbie! – but it punched me in the gut. While racism isn’t very present – Jude’s magic gives him cover and the other characters are a bit too focused on the murdered god to be swapping stories about police harassment – race is, and it’s integral to each of the characters (as it should be). I can’t comment to the accuracy – I’m white – but it read powerfully to me.

Tl:dr: GO BUY THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY. You won’t regret it!

*I know there are people who do find wonder in Maths, but most of us don’t – and forgive the pun, but Maths doesn’t have the indefinable x-factor of magic. Magic is beyond definition, defies explanation. That why it’s magic. Maths is all about definition and explanation. There’s beauty in that, if you’re the kind of person who can see it – I’m not – but it’s not magic.

Review: The Starfighter Invitation by Andrea K. Höst

The Starfighter Invitation by Andrea K. Höst
Representation: PoC
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
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The only thing bigger than the world's first full virtual reality game is the mystery surrounding its origins. Who is behind Ryzonart Games? How was such a huge advance in technology achieved?Taia de Haas loves having her own virtual spaceship, and wants nothing more than to visit every planet in the solar system. But she cannot ignore the question of whether such a magnificent gift comes with strings attached. Is the game a trick, a trap, a subtle invasion? Or an opportunity to step up and fight for her own planet?Caught in a tangle of riddles and lies, Taia can't resist trying to win answers from Ryzonart's mysterious administrators. But will finding the truth cost her the Singularity Game?

So…this was an odd one.

Höst is one of my favourite authors in all the world; she’s entirely self-published (except for the Book Smugglers editions of her Touchstone trilogy, copies of which I want so bad), so she’s criminally under-known. I’m pretty sure I stumbled across her via a Book Smugglers review; otherwise, I might never have discovered her, and that would have been a tragedy. I strongly urge you to go and snatch up her books, especially Touchstone, Medair, and All the Stars.

(Pyramids of London is also a fave of mine, but it’s probably not the best place to start. Unless you’re addicted to heavy worldbuilding, like me!)

The Starfighter Invitation is a book I would not have read if it had been written by anyone else; I have no interest in gaming, except as a social phenomenon, so a book that is literally just about playing one? Not my thing. But it was Höst, so I did read it, and I’m happy to say it blasts Ready Player One out of the water.

(Not that that’s a high bar…)

Starfighter functions a lot like a slow-paced, futuristic sci-fi – it actually reminded me of the Wayfarer books in tone, with that same kind of pleasantly lazy, low-stakes, just-enjoy-yourself feel – given that the vast majority of the book takes place inside The Game, where players must master the use of lan (think of something like soul-energy crossed with will, resulting in something similar to telekenesis) to earn their own spaceship and explore the galaxy. The conceit of the game is that it’s set in the future of our world, when most of Earth was drowned by unnamed perpetrators (finding out who they are is, in fact, another of the game’s goals) and humanity has now been ‘claimed’, more or less, by cycorgs, AIs that appear as glowing balls of light. Far from any kind of dystopia, what’s resulted is very much a utopian symbiotic relationship – basically all human suffering has been erased, and humans use their lan to assist cycorgs move through space (cycorgs having none of their own and lan being necessary for long-distance space-travel).

Taia, our main character, enters this world as a player, aware that none of it’s real but delighting in it anyway. The groundbreaking technology of the game’s virtual reality means one hour of real-world time equates to five in-game hours, allowing for practically unlimited access to the wonders of space-travel and the thousands of different games inside the Game. There’s something for everyone – you can compete to be the first to unlock the cycorg’s secrets, or you can go play magic school, or spend a day being a cat. There’s no driving force or overarching plot to the Game – everyone can do as they please. Taia, though, is determined to reach space, and devotes most of her time to that, alongside working to get answers out of Dio, the cycorg she ‘belongs’ to.

The Game is, of course, controversial, and it was a lot of fun to follow the players speculate whether this could possibly be seriously advanced, top-secret modern tech, or if it had been provided by aliens or time-travel. I also liked that one of Taia’s immediate concerns was that, capitalism being what it is, corporations would try to take advantage of the new tech to get more work out of their employees – put on one of the virtual reality cowls, and your 8-hour workday suddenly becomes a 40 hour one! – and the various, quiet explorations of the ramifications the technology had for different kinds of people. Players generally aren’t all that impressed to find that they ‘belong’ to AIs now, even in a game, either! Even if the cycorgs are really just human employees somewhere, when they’re not running on NPC mode…

Höst generally avoids writing ‘chosen one’ types, and Taia is not a rising star with her lan or the various game challenges. She reads and feels like a completely normal teenager; not the first to break new ground in the Game, nor the first to unlock new rewards or ‘levels’ – not even in the first wave of top-level players. She’s…normal, which is not to say boring – she has an intense curiosity that was perfect for conveying this particular setting, she’s thoughtful, stubborn, and has a capacity for wonder that humbled me; I’d very much like to be friends, if she were real! But being normal makes her relatable in a way the super-talented, chosen-one-type characters generally aren’t – I ached for her flash of vicious jealousy when she discovered that a particular person had beaten her lan level despite having started much later, and she’s honest with herself about those feelings. I think we’ve all been there – we all have something we love dearly, which makes us envious or jealous of those who are better at the thing even though they don’t love it. It was definitely one of the moments that made Taia feel most real to me.

I never see Höst’s twists and turns coming, but this ending in particular seemed to strike completely out of the left field. I think it speaks well of the book, though, that it left me feeling genuinely shaken and upset – not with the book; it’s not a bad ending, or a bad book. More that the upsetting thing is meant to be upsetting, and it succeeds. But I have to admit that part of that might be the shock-factor. I get so immersed in a story that I rarely see even the most predictable plot-twists coming, but even in hindsight it doesn’t feel like there were enough clues leading to the ‘big reveal’. On the other hand, within the story’s conceit, that’s deliberate – although there are tiny, easily-misinterpreted hints here and there, the players (and, thus, the reader) aren’t supposed to figure out the Big Secret before it’s revealed.

So it’s a twisty one, and it’s left me with plenty to think about re: storytelling techniques and how some typical writerly no-nos can be entirely justified within a particular story’s context. I will, of course, be snatching up the sequel when it’s ready, but I will be doing so gingerly. I suspect an emotionally turbulent beginning to book 2!

Must-Have Monday!

Hopefully I’ll eventually have a pretty graphic for this, but since I’m obsessed with upcoming releases (and alliteration) I figured it would be fun to have a regular post featuring some as-yet-unpublished books that I, for one, am coveting dearly.

And since it’s Pride, this month I’ll be focusing on books which have promised us queer main characters! (Bear in mind, though, that I won’t always be able to tag for specific rep. Sometimes the publishers/authors only tell us there will be queer themes, not whether the characters will be bi or ace or nb specifically. When I know, I’ll tag for it!)

Thus!

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
Representation: Queer Protagonists, Genderqueer Author
on 4th June 2019
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Secondary World Fantasy
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

Sharp, mainstream fantasy meets compelling thrills of investigative noir in this fantasy debut by rising star Sarah Gailey.

Ivy Gamble has never wanted to be magic. She is perfectly happy with her life—she has an almost-sustainable career as a private investigator, and an empty apartment, and a slight drinking problem. It's a great life and she doesn't wish she was like her estranged sister, the magically gifted professor Tabitha.

But when Ivy is hired to investigate the gruesome murder of a faculty member at Tabitha’s private academy, the stalwart detective starts to lose herself in the case, the life she could have had, and the answer to the mystery that seems just out of her reach.

Magic for Liars has to be first, not only because it’s being published tomorrow, but because it’s Sarah Gailey. You know, the amazingly talented, genderqueer author who blew up the reading world with their incredible River of Teeth, the alternate-history novella about an America populated by both wild and domesticated hippos, and peopled by a truly amazing cast of characters. Honestly, Gailey went straight onto my auto-buy list of authors after RoT, so even if Magic for Liars didn’t sound amazing (which it totally does) I’d be picking it up on faith anyway!

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante
Representation: Queer Protagonist, PoC
on 11th June 2019
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Marisol Morales and her little sister Gabi are detainees of the United States government. They were caught crossing the U.S. border, to escape the gang violence in their country after their brother was murdered. When Marisol learns that the old family friend who had offered them refuge in America has died and they are going to be sent home, they flee.

They hitchhike, snagging a ride with an unassuming woman who agrees to drive them to New Jersey, but when Marisol wakes up in D.C. she learns the woman is actually a government agent. Indranie Patel has a proposal for Marisol: she wants Marisol to be a Grief Keeper, someone who will take another's grief into their body. It's a dangerous experimental study, but if Marisol agrees she and Gabi will be allowed to stay in the United States. If the experiment fails the girls will be sent home, which is a death sentence. Things become more complicated when Marisol meets Rey, the wealthy daughter of a D.C. Senator, and the girl she's helping to heal. Marisol likes Rey's short hair and sarcastic attitude. But she didn't expect the connection from their shared grief to erupt into a powerful love.

Suddenly being forced from the United States isn't just a matter of life and death, but a matter of the heart.

Grief Keeper doesn’t seem to fit neatly into any one genre – I’ve seen it being described as contemporary, sci-fi, magical realism, and science-fantasy by different sources – but it’s definitely spec-fic, given that it’s a book about a young woman of colour literally taking on another person’s grief as part of an experiment. There’s a not-so-subtle metaphor there, given how often women of colour are expected to bear up the emotions of others, and the book also deals with immigration and refugee issues, with a f/f romance that will hopefully get a happy ending! Only have to wait one more week for this one!

Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone
Representation: Queer Protagonist
on 18th June 2019
Genres: Sci Fi, Queer Protagonists
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

A feminist Guardians of the Galaxy—a smart, swashbuckling, wildly imaginative adventure of a rag-tag team of brilliant misfits, dangerous renegades, and enhanced outlaws in a war-torn future.

A wildly successful innovator to rival Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, Vivian Liao is prone to radical thinking, quick decision-making, and reckless action. On the eve of her greatest achievement, she's trying to outrun those who are trying to steal her success.

In the chilly darkness of a Boston server farm, Viv sets her ultimate plan into motion. A terrifying instant later, Vivian Liao is catapulted through space and time to a far future where she confronts a destiny stranger and more deadly than she could ever imagine.

The end of time is ruled by an ancient, powerful Empress who blesses or blasts entire planets with a single thought. Rebellion is literally impossible to consider--until Vivian arrives. Trapped between the Pride, a ravening horde of sentient machines, and a fanatical sect of warrior monks who call themselves the Mirrorfaith, Viv must rally a strange group of allies to confront the Empress and find a way back to the world and life she left behind.

A magnificent work of vivid imagination and universe-spanning action, Empress of Forever is a feminist Guardians of the Galaxy crossed with Star Wars and spiced with the sensibility and spirit of Iain M. Banks and William Gibson.

Maybe sci-fi, maybe fantasy, maybe a mash-up of both – who cares, it’s Max Gladstone and has a queer femme lead! Gladstone is another of my auto-buy authors (if you haven’t read his Craft Sequence yet, you need to), so I had this pre-ordered before they even released the synopsis, but seriously – check out that blurb and tell me you don’t want to hit the pre-order button. Go on. I dare yah.

I have more, but if I want to be doing these all month, I’ve got to save some for later! Do you have any of these pre-ordered? Or know of any I’ve missed? Comment below to let me know!

Queer Recs to Kickstart Pride Month!

Greetings! And okay, I know the blog looks, uh, unfinished at the moment. But I very much wanted my first post to go live on the first day of Pride, so – I promise I’ll have things looking more professional around here soon! But I see no need to wait on pretty graphics to showcase 11 amazing works of queer spec fic that you definitely need to read!

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1) by Seanan McGuire
Representation: Asexual, Transgender, PoC
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward ChildrenNo SolicitationsNo VisitorsNo Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

The book that inspired the title of the blog! Honestly, the fact that I shamelessly borrowed the title for my blog should tell you exactly how much this little book means to me. Every Heart a Doorway sent shockwaves throughout the SFF world when it was published in 2016, and with good reason: besides exploring one of the biggest questions most fantasy fans grew up with (namely, ‘what happens to the kids sent home when the portal fantasy is over?’) it was also the first time many of us saw a main character declare herself asexual – not implied or hinted at, but right there in black and white on the page.

The entire series is great on diversity (as is virtually any work of McGuire’s), and the central concept – a boarding school for those who’ve visited other worlds, and want nothing more than to go back – is so utterly brilliant (and brilliantly executed) that I challenge anyone not to fall in love with them!

The Stone in the Skull (Lotus Kingdoms, #1) by Elizabeth Bear
Representation: PoC, Transgender
Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

The Stone in the Skull, the first volume in her new trilogy, takes readers over the dangerous mountain passes of the Steles of the Sky and south into the Lotus Kingdoms.

The Gage is a brass automaton created by a wizard of Messaline around the core of a human being. His wizard is long dead, and he works as a mercenary. He is carrying a message from a the most powerful sorcerer of Messaline to the Rajni of the Lotus Kingdom. With him is The Dead Man, a bitter survivor of the body guard of the deposed Uthman Caliphate, protecting the message and the Gage. They are friends, of a peculiar sort.

They are walking into a dynastic war between the rulers of the shattered bits of a once great Empire.

The Lotus Kingdoms series (book two was just released at the end of May) is a sort-of sequel to Bear’s Eternal Sky trilogy. I do recommend the Eternal Sky – think the traditional tropes of Epic Fantasy, but transplanted to Asia and spun through with Bear’s unique imagination – but it’s absolutely not necessary to read ES to enjoy the Lotus books.

In a world where every kingdom has its own sky, the Lotus Kingdoms are lit by a river of stars. Cousin-queens Sayeh and Mrithuri both face their own challenges in holding on to their thrones – Mrithuri is unmarried and heirless, and while Sayeh has a son, she is a transwoman (considered ‘third-gendered’ in her culture), which some consider a bad omen. Into this struggle comes the Gage, a sentient automaton, and the Dead Man, who together carry a priceless message that cannot wait…

Amberlough (The Amberlough Dossier, #1) by Lara Elena Donnelly
Representation: Gay, PoC
Genres: Secondary World No Magic, Queer Protagonists
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

Le Carré meets Cabaret in this debut spy thriller as a gay double-agent schemes to protect his smuggler lover during the rise of a fascist government coup

Welcome to Amberlough City, the illustrious but corrupt cosmopolitan beacon of Gedda. The radical One State Party—nicknamed the Ospies—is gaining popular support to unite Gedda's four municipal governments under an ironclad, socially conservative vision.

Not everyone agrees with the Ospies' philosophy, including master spy Cyril DePaul and his lover Aristide Makricosta, smuggler and emcee at the popular Bumble Bee Cabaret. When Cyril's cover is blown on a mission, however, he must become a turncoat in exchange for his life. Returning to Amberlough under the Ospies' watchful eye, Cyril enters a complex game of deception. One of his concerns is safeguarding Aristide, who refuses to let anyone—the crooked city police or the homophobic Ospies—dictate his life.

Enter streetwise Cordelia Lehane, top dancer at the Bee and Aristide’s runner, who could be the key to Cyril’s plans—if she can be trusted. As the twinkling lights of nightclub marquees yield to the rising flames of a fascist revolution, these three will struggle to survive using whatever means—and people—necessary. Including each other.

Amberlough – the first in the now-complete Amberlough Dossier – is a fantasy without magic; it’s set in a world that has plenty of similarities to our own 1920s, but is very definitely not our world. For one thing, Amberlough is packed full of racial and sexual diversity – although that doesn’t make it a utopia, unfortunately. This is a deliciously lush firecracker of a book, where none of the main characters are ones we’d typically call ‘good’, but you’ll find yourself rooting for all of them anyway.

Well, most of them, at least.

It’s also a not-especially-subtle examination of modern politics, re the rise of neo-fascism, but it’s never preachy. Not something to pick up if you’re looking for a happy book, but if you want some grit in there with your queerness, you should definitely check this out.

Mr. Big Empty by Gregory Ashe
Representation: Gay, Bisexual, Mental Health
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

Vie Eliot arrives in the small town of Vehpese, Wyoming with little more than the clothes--and scars--on his back. Determined to make a new life for himself after escaping his abusive mother, he finds that living with his estranged father brings its own problems.

Then Samantha Oates, the girl with blue hair, goes missing, and Vie might be the only one who can find her. His ability to read emotions and gain insight into other people’s darkest secrets makes him the perfect investigator, with only one small problem: he wants nothing to do with his gift.

When the killer begins contacting Vie through a series of strange cards, though, Vie is forced to hone his ability, because Samantha was not the killer’s only target.

And, as Vie learns, he is not the only psychic in town.

First in the mindblowing Hollow Folk quartet, Mr Big Empty is fantasy like you’ve never seen it before. I’m not even going to try to put my love for these books into words: instead, I’m going to shamelessly link to Kathy of Pages Below the Vaulted Sky, who is the only one who’s come close to capturing how epic these books are. Go check out her review immediately!

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
Representation: Asexual, F/F
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep.

He’ll follow you home, and he won’t let you sleep.

Who are the Sawkill Girls?

Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.

Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.

Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires.

Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now.

Sawkill Girls is a wonderful, raw, powerful standalone novel of dark magic, harsh choices, and female friendship. It’s absolutely incredible, and beautifully written: after the first few pages I was glued to my seat. This book is a battle-cry and a howl of triumph for girls everywhere – especially queer girls! – and it needs to be so much more famous than it is.

Wake of Vultures (The Shadow, #1) by Lila Bowen
Representation: Genderqueer, PoC
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
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A rich, dark fantasy of destiny, death and the supernatural world hiding beneath the surface.

Nettie Lonesome lives in a land of hard people and hard ground dusted with sand. She's a half-breed who dresses like a boy, raised by folks who don't call her a slave but use her like one. She knows of nothing else. That is, until the day a stranger attacks her. When nothing, not even a sickle to the eye can stop him, Nettie stabs him through the heart with a chunk of wood and he turns to black sand.

And just like that, Nettie can see.

But her newfound sight is a blessing and a curse. Even if she doesn't understand what's under her own skin, she can sense what everyone else is hiding—at least physically. The world is full of evil, and now she knows the source of all the sand in the desert. Haunted by the spirits, Nettie has no choice but to set out on a quest that might lead her to find her true kin . . . if the monsters along the way don't kill her first.

I’ve been slowly making my way through Bowen’s Shadow series – I’m still on book two, in fact, and I picked up Wake of Vultures and put it back down several times. But once I made it beyond the first few chapters, it sank its claws in and did not let go. Superficially, it fits a number of tropes we’ve seen before – mixed-race, abused young woman runs away to make her fortune, encounters the supernatural hiding beneath the ‘real world’ – but honestly, it defies every convention you try to throw at it. The setting is Western – cowboy-type western – with vampires and coyote shapeshifters and an evil child-eating owl all running around, and I really can’t slot it neatly under any genre label except ‘fantasy’. Which, given the themes at the heart of the story, is only too appropriate.

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (The Salvagers #1) by Alex White
Representation: F/F, Disability
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

Furious and fun, the first book in this bold, new science fiction adventure series follows a ragtag group of adventurers as they try to find a legendary ship that just might be the key to clearing their name and saving the universe.

Boots Elsworth was a famous treasure hunter in another life, but now she's washed up. She makes her meager living faking salvage legends and selling them to the highest bidder, but this time she got something real--the story of the Harrow, a famous warship, capable of untold destruction. Nilah Brio is the top driver in the Pan Galactic Racing Federation and the darling of the racing world--until she witnesses Mother murder a fellow racer. Framed for the murder and on the hunt to clear her name, Nilah has only one lead: the killer also hunts Boots.On the wrong side of the law, the two women board a smuggler's ship that will take them on a quest for fame, for riches, and for justice.

The Salvagers trilogy (book three out next year!) is a ridiculously delightful series. It’s also a Science Fantasy trilogy, set in a future where interplanetary travel is commonplace but where everyone (well – almost everyone) is born with magic, and a specific magical skill at that. I’d never really seen magic and sci-fi mixed up together before these books, but White does it brilliantly, and for that alone I’d encourage people to give it a try. Superficially it starts out as a sort of heist/treasure-hunt plot, except that there are murdering gods and magical NASCAR racing and jeez, just go and grab book one already!

Starless by Jacqueline Carey
Representation: Genderqueer, PoC, Disability
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Epic Fantasy
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

Jacqueline Carey is back with an amazing adventure not seen since her New York Times bestselling Kushiel’s Legacy series. Lush and sensual, Starless introduces us to an epic world where exiled gods live among us, and a hero whose journey will resonate long after the last page is turned.

Let your mind be like the eye of the hawk…Destined from birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, Khai is trained in the arts of killing and stealth by a warrior sect in the deep desert; yet there is one profound truth that has been withheld from him.

In the court of the Sun-Blessed, Khai must learn to navigate deadly intrigue and his own conflicted identity…but in the far reaches of the western seas, the dark god Miasmus is rising, intent on nothing less than wholesale destruction.

If Khai is to keep his soul’s twin Zariya alive, their only hope lies with an unlikely crew of prophecy-seekers on a journey that will take them farther beneath the starless skies than anyone can imagine.

Starless is not my favourite of Carey’s works – I hope that sometime soon I can write a gushing review for her Kushiel series – but it’s still amazing and deserves more recognition. It’s a standalone Epic Fantasy, which I thought couldn’t be done, but after so many years as a Carey fan I really should know better than to doubt her, because of course she pulls it off beautifully. Set in a world where the night sky is starless because the gods – the stars – fell to earth long ago and now lay claim to terrestrial territories, it’s the story of Kai – a warrior trained by desert monks – and Zariya – youngest daughter of a family of immortal mortals – and the incredible, divine-wrought bond they share. Facing challenges from the relatively small – gender roles and royal etiquette – to the epic – the threat of the end of the world – they, and their friends, have to cross realms of incredible magic in order to save the gods and humankind alike.

Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Magical Realism
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
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The biggest lie of all is the story you think you already know.

The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals, Blanca as obedient and graceful as Roja is vicious and manipulative. They know that, because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. They know that, one day, the swans will pull them into a dangerous game that will leave one of them a girl, and trap the other in the body of a swan.

But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swans’ spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them. Blanca & Roja is the captivating story of sisters, friendship, love, hatred, and the price we pay to protect our hearts.

Every single one of McLemore’s books are exquisite, and all but Weight of Feathers feature diverse sexualities and gender identities. (And Feathers was a while ago – maybe there’s queerness in there and I’ve just forgotten). Blanca & Rosa is her most recent novel, a modern and magically realist take on the fairytale Rose White and Rose Red, complete with bear. Besides being an incredibly well-written book for its own sake, Blanca & Rosa also features a depiction of genderqueerness that even allies may struggle to wrap their minds around – which is good; there’s far more than one way to be genderqueer, and we need more examples from across the spectrum.

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

IN SPACE EVERYONE CAN HEAR YOU SING

A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented-something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding.

Once every cycle, the civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix - part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Instead of competing in orbital combat, the powerful species that survived face off in a competition of song, dance, or whatever can be physically performed in an intergalactic talent show. The stakes are high for this new game, and everyone is forced to compete.

This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny - they must sing.

A one-hit-wonder band of human musicians, dancers and roadies from London - Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes - have been chosen to represent Earth on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of their species lies in their ability to rock.

I’m not sure where you’ve been if you’ve missed out on Space Opera, but gods are you in for a treat! Famously described as ‘Eurovision in Space’, Space Opera is – well, Eurovision in space! Except with even more glitter.

In short, aliens show up and declare that to prove themselves self-aware/worthy-of-existence, humans must compete in space Eurovision – which is how aliens sort out their enmities, don’tcha know? No more galactic wars, no: it’s all very civilised now.

The problem? If humanity doesn’t make it to second-last place or higher, they’ll be exterminated. And the band the aliens recommend for the job is, uh – not exactly the Beatles.

In fact, one of the band-members is actually dead.

It’s an epic, hilarious, queer-as-fuck, glittery gorgeous book, fiercely hopepunk and beautifully strange, and I envy you if you’re about to read it for the first time, I really do. You are in for an experience!

The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence, #1) by K.D. Edwards
Representation: Gay, Bisexual, Neurodivergent
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Buy on Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads

Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Judgment's missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island city where the Atlanteans moved after ordinary humans destroyed their original home.

With his companion and bodyguard, Brand, he questions Addam's relatives and business contacts through the highest ranks of the nobles of New Atlantis. But as they investigate, they uncover more than a missing man: a legendary creature connected to the secret of the massacre of Rune's Court. In looking for Addam, can Rune find the truth behind his family's death and the torments of his past?

Ah, Last Sun, how I do love thee. Let me count the ways… No, for real, LS shot right up to the top of my favourites list when I read it last year (although I will admit it shares that top spot with a few other incredible books), and it doesn’t look to be giving up its place any time soon. It’s one of many books on this list that I want to sit down and write a proper review for, but in short, it’s an unapologetically queer urban fantasy that for once feels genuinely magical, like I could just step into the pages into a world that’s just waiting for me between the lines. The worldbuilding is incredible, the relationships made me hug my e-reader to my chest, I laughed out loud and I cried – I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. If you’ve been searching for magic that truly feels magical – as in, strange and wondrous and beautiful and terrible – if you want normalised queerness and platonic bonds worth more than gold, if you want to crack up and be on the edge of your seat – then darlings, I have just the book for you.

I’ll be posting about queer books throughout Pride (and, let’s be honest, afterwards as well), so until next time, dear readers!