Siavahda's Blog, page 39

Must-Have Monday #155

Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.

TEN books this week!

(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)

Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Desi MCs
Published on: 25th September 2023
Goodreads

Myung and Laleh are keepers of the whale of babel. They roam within its cosmic chambers, speak folktales of themselves, and pray to an enigmatic figure they know only as 'Great Wisa'. To Laleh, this is everything. For Myung, it is not enough.

When Myung flees the whale, she stumbles into a new universe where shapeshifting islands and ancient maps hold sway. There, she sets off on an adventure that is both tragic and transformative, for her and Laleh. For at the heart of her quest lies a mystery that has confounded scholars for centuries: the truth about the mad sisters of Esi.

Fables, dreams and myths come together in this masterful work of fantasy by acclaimed author Tashan Mehta, sweeping across three landscapes, and featuring a museum of collective memory and a festival of madness. At its core, it asks: In the devastating chaos of this world, where all is in flux and the truth ever-changing, what will you choose to hold on to?

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This one seems to only be out in India…but damn, I’m willing to jump through the necessary hoops to get my hands on it! It sounds absolutely incredible, and I must have it!!!

The Pomegranate Gate (The Mirror Realm Cycle #1) by Ariel Kaplan
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sephardic Jewish MCs, queer Jewish MC, major queer character
Published on: 26th September 2023
Goodreads

Ariel Kaplan’s The Pomegranate Gate is the lyrical first installment of the Mirror Realm Cycle, a vibrant and heartfelt Inquisition-era Jewish epic fantasy in the vein of Naomi Novik, Katherine Arden, and Tasha Suri.

Toba Peres can speak, but not shout; she can walk, but not run. She can write with both hands, in different languages, but has not had a formal education. The only treasure Toba has dared to keep is a precious star sapphire, set in a necklace she must never take off.

Naftaly Cresques sees things that aren’t real, and dreams things that are. He is a well-trained tailor, but a middling one, and he is risking his life to smuggle a strange family heirloom: a centuries-old book he must never read, and must never lose.

The Queen of the Sefarad has ordered all Jews to convert, or be exiled with nothing. Toba, Naftaly, and thousands of others are forced to flee their homes. Toba, accidentally separated from their caravan of refugees, stumbles through a strange pomegranate grove into the magical realm of the Maziks: mythical, terrible beings with immense power. There, she discovers latent abilities that put her in the crosshairs of bloodthirsty immortals, but may be key to her survival. On the other side of the gate, Naftaly, intent on rescuing Toba, finds his new companions harbor dangerous secrets of their own.

Now, hunted by an Inquisition in both worlds, Toba and Naftaly must unravel ancient histories and ancient magics in order to understand the link between the two realms. More than their own lives might be at stake.

Brimming with folkloric wonder, The Pomegranate Gate weaves history, myth, and magic into an exquisite tale of fate, legacy, and friendship that will leave readers spellbound.

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Folx, I know for a fact that this one is something special. I got to read it early, and it took my breath away. It’s perfection. I have no critiques, there’s nothing to nitpick. It’s lush and unique and surprising and SUBLIME, and I will weep with pity for you if you miss out on it!

My review!

The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC with fibromyalgia, bisexual MC, brown sapphic MC, minor nonbinary and disabled characters
Published on: 26th September 2023
Goodreads

Be gay, solve crime, take naps—A witty and quirky fantasy murder mystery if a folkloric world of witches, faeries, vampires, trolls and ghosts, for fans of Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey and T. J. Klune's Under the Whispering Door.

A magical serial killer is stalking the Occult town of Wrackton. Hypnotic whistling causes victims to chew their own tongues off, leading to the killer being dubbed the Whistler (original, right?). But outside the lack of taste buds and the strange magical carvings on the victims’ torsos, the murderer leaves no evidence. No obvious clues. No reason – or so it seems.

Enter the Undetectables, a detective agency run by three witches and a ghost in a cat costume (don’t ask). They are hired to investigate the murders, but with their only case so far left unsolved, will they be up to the task? Mallory, the forensic science expert, is struggling with pain and fatigue from her recently diagnosed fibromyalgia. Cornelia, the team member most likely to go rogue and punch a police officer, is suddenly stirring all sorts of feelings in Mallory. Diana, the social butterfly of the group, is hitting up all of her ex-girlfriends for information. And not forgetting ghostly Theodore – deceased, dramatic, and also the agency’s first dead body and unsolved murder case.

With bodies stacking up and the case leading them to mysteries at the very heart of magical society, can the Undetectables find the Whistler before they become the killer’s next victims?

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This is exactly as much fun as the tagline – Be Gay. Solve Crimes. Take Naps. – sounds like it’s going to be! A really excellent friend-group where each member of the cast has something interesting and/or odd going for them, excellent fibro rep, and a story that manages to be a very easy, light read despite leaving room for all the grief that comes with a serial killer murder-mystery. It gets the Sia stamp of approval!

My review!

The Golem of Brooklyn: A Novel by Adam Mansbach
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Jewish MCs
Published on: 26th September 2023
Goodreads

In Ashkenazi Jewish folklore, a golem is a humanoid being created out of mud or clay and animated through secret prayers. Its sole purpose is to defend the Jewish people against the immediate threat of violence. It is always a rabbi who makes a golem, and always in a time of crisis.

But Len Bronstein is no rabbi—he’s a Brooklyn art teacher who steals a large quantity of clay from his school, gets extremely stoned, and manages to bring his creation to life despite knowing little about Judaism and even less about golems. Unable to communicate with his nine-foot-six, four hundred–pound, Yiddish-speaking guest, Len enlists a bodega clerk and ex-Hasid named Miri Apfelbaum to translate.

Eventually, the golem learns English by binge-watching Curb Your Enthusiasm after ingesting a massive amount of LSD and reveals that he is a creature with an ancestral memory; he recalls every previous iteration of himself, proving to be a repository of Jewish history and trauma. He demands to know what crisis has prompted his re-creation and whom he must destroy. When Miri shows him a video of white nationalists marching and chanting “Jews will not replace us,” the answer becomes clear.

The Golem of Brooklyn is an epic romp through Jewish history and the American present that wrestles with the deepest questions of our humanity—the conflicts between faith and skepticism, tribalism and interdependence, and vengeance and healing.

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This sounds both timely and hilarious in the best of ways, and I’ve been making grabby-hands at it since I heard about it. All the early reviews are glowing!

Shadow Speaker (The Desert Magician's Duology, #1) by Nnedi Okorafor
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Nigerian MC + setting
Published on: 26th September 2023
Goodreads

Niger, West Africa, 2074

It is an era of tainted technology and mysterious mysticism. A great change has happened all over the planet, and the laws of physics aren’t what they used to be.

Within all this, I introduce you to Ejii Ugabe, a child of the worst type of politician. Back when she was nine years old, she was there as her father met his end. Don’t waste your tears on him: this girl’s father would throw anyone under a bus to gain power. He was a cruel, cruel man, but even so, Ejii did not rejoice at his departure from the world. Children are still learning that some people don’t deserve their love.

Now 15 years old and manifesting the abilities given to her by the strange Earth, Ejii decides to go after the killer of her father. Is it for revenge or something else? You will have to find out by reading this book.

I am the Desert Magician, and this is a novel I have conjured for you, so I’m certainly not going to just tell you here.

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This is a new edition of a book that was originally released in (I think) 2007 – as far as I know there’s been no updating of the story or new content or anything, but still, if you’ve been wanting to get a hold of Okorafor’s backlist, snatch this up!

Navigating Fox by Christopher Rowe
Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 26th September 2023
Goodreads

Quintus Shu'al is the world's only navigating fox. He's also in disgrace after leading an expedition to its doom a year earlier, with dozens of lives lost. Now Quintus has a chance to redeem himself by leading a brand-new expedition to the gates of hell. In return, he is promised the eventual truth of his origins and his solitary existence.

Those who will accompany Quintus are the Holy Priest Scipio Aemilanus; scholar Octavia Delphina, whose sister was lost in the first expedition; the twin raccoon cartographers Loci and Foci; and the powerful bison ambassador Walks Along Woman.

As the journey grows more perilous and the agendas of its members more sinister, Quintus must make an impossible choice between obtaining the secret of his creation, or sacrificing that possibility forever in order to seize his destiny.

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This sounds…utterly bizarre, but maybe in a good way? Most of the reviews I’ve seen have been positive. I think the setting is Roman-inspired? I must confess, I can’t remember the last time I came across a book where the MC was a fox!

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Queer (Chinese-American?) MC
Published on: 26th September 2023
Goodreads

The award-winning author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold returns with a rapturous and revelatory novel about a young chef whose discovery of pleasure alters her life and, indirectly, the world

A smog has spread. Food crops are rapidly disappearing. A chef escapes her dying career in a dreary city to take a job at a decadent mountaintop colony seemingly free of the world’s troubles.

There, the sky is clear again. Rare ingredients abound. Her enigmatic employer and his visionary daughter have built a lush new life for the global elite, one that reawakens the chef to the pleasures of taste, touch, and her own body.

In this atmosphere of hidden wonders and cool, seductive violence, the chef’s boundaries undergo a thrilling erosion. Soon she is pushed to the center of a startling attempt to reshape the world far beyond the plate.

Sensuous and surprising, joyous and bitingly sharp, told in language as alluring as it is original, Land of Milk and Honey lays provocatively bare the ethics of seeking pleasure in a dying world. It is a daringly imaginative exploration of desire and deception, privilege and faith, and the roles we play to survive. Most of all, it is a love letter to food, to wild delight, and to the transformative power of a woman embracing her own appetite.

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I had trouble confirming whether or not the MC is BIPOC – I think she is, but I could be mistaken. Regardless, this is supposed to be a very sensual foodie book, which is the kind of thing I’m very into, but be prepared for climate change anxiety.

This Dark Descent (This Dark Descent, #1) by Kalyn Josephson
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Aroace MC, Jewish MC, Bisexual MC, queernorm world
Published on: 26th September 2023
Goodreads

The Shadows Between Us meets Six of Crows in this spellbinding new fantasy full of intrigue, romance, and pulse-pounding action, where the eldest daughter of a renowned family on the verge of ruin joins forces with a mysterious, rogue enchanter and a handsome, ambitious heir to win a deadly race.

Mikira Rusel’s family has long been famous for breeding enchanted horses, but their prestige is no match for their rising debts. To save her ranch, Mikira has only one option: she must win the Illinir, a treacherous horserace whose riders either finish maimed or murdered. Yet each year, competitors return, tempted by its alluring prize money and unparalleled prestige.

Mikira’s mission soon unites her with Arielle Kadar, an impressive yet illicit enchanter just beginning to come into her true power, and Damien Adair, a dashing young lord in the midst of a fierce succession battle. Both have hidden reasons of their own to help Mikira -- as well as their own blood feuds to avenge…

Steeped in Jewish folklore, This Dark Descent is a pulse-pounding new fantasy full of forbidden magic, sizzling romance, and epic stakes. In a world as dangerous as this, will the need for vengeance butcher Mikira’s chances of winning the Illinir … or will another rider’s dagger?

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I think the first time I heard about this, it was described as ‘Scorpio Races but Jewish and queer’, which is a premise I can really get behind! I mean, Jewish folklore and breeders of enchanted horses??? I’d be sold even without the race!

The Siren, the Song, and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 26th September 2023
Goodreads

In this second vibrant fantasy from Maggie Tokuda-Hall, companion to her best-selling debut, The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, a diverse resistance force fights to topple an empire in a story about freedom, identity, and decolonization.

By sinking a fleet of Imperial Warships, the Pirate Supreme and their resistance fighters have struck a massive blow against the Emperor. Now allies from across the empire are readying themselves, hoping against hope to bring about the end of the conquerors’ rule and the rebirth of the Sea. But trust and truth are hard to come by in this complex world of mermaids, spies, warriors, and aristocrats. Who will Genevieve—lavishly dressed but washed up, half-dead, on the Wariuta island shore—turn out to be? Is warrior Koa’s kindness toward her admirable, or is his sister Kaia’s sharp suspicion wiser? And back in the capital, will pirate-spy Alfie really betray the Imperials who have shown him affection, especially when a duplicitous senator reveals xe would like nothing better?

Meanwhile, the Sea is losing more and more of herself as her daughters continue to be brutally hunted, and the Empire continues to expand through profits made from their blood. The threads of time, a web of schemes, shifting loyalties, and blossoming identities converge in Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s remarkable companion to The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, as unlikely young allies work to forge a new and better world.

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As far as I can tell, this is not a sequel to The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea, but it is set in the same world, and I am always here for mermaids/sirens!

Into the Glittering Dark by Kelley York
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 1st October 2023
Goodreads

*How do you control something that cannot be tamed?*

As magi apprentices, Everis and Wren have led a relatively peaceful life. But when the king dies under suspicious circumstances and Everis foils an assassination attempt on the princess’ life, the pair are sent by their master to investigate the only lead they have. In a city far away ruled by the dead king’s brother, they need to find answers—fast.

As an unlikely group of allies forms around them in the chaos, the apprentices will have to tap into everything they’ve been taught while relying on the likes of assassins, an eccentric shopkeeper, and an otherworldly avian to go up against an enemy unlike any they’ve encountered before.

But nothing about this plot against the royal family is what it seems. There’s blood magic at the root of it, and its seductive pull is something Everis has struggled to resist since he was a child. A struggle which makes things complicated…and dangerous. Wren has always pulled him back from the edge when he’s needed it, but what happens when they need fire to fight fire, and Everis is forced to bring out his darkness and learn to tame the untamable?

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Reviews of this one are a little mixed – there seem to be differing opinions on whether or not the romance is a romance? I’m not sure what that means either, but I’ve had good experiences with York’s books before, and the blurb is more than interesting enough to make one want to check this one out.

Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #155 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Fundamentally Fun: The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth

The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC with fibromyalgia, major brown sapphic character, major bisexual character, major gay character, minor nonbinary characters, minor disability
PoV: Third-person, past-tense
Published on: 26th September 2023
ISBN: B0BR4VYZPX
Goodreads

Be gay, solve crime, take naps—A witty and quirky fantasy murder mystery if a folkloric world of witches, faeires, vampires, trolls and ghosts, for fans of Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey and T. J. Klune's Under the Whispering Door.

A magical serial killer is stalking the Occult town of Wrackton. Hypnotic whistling causes victims to chew their own tongues off, leading to the killer being dubbed the Whistler (original, right?). But outside the lack of taste buds and the strange magical carvings on the victims’ torsos, the murderer leaves no evidence. No obvious clues. No reason – or so it seems.

Enter the Undetectables, a detective agency run by three witches and a ghost in a cat costume (don’t ask). They are hired to investigate the murders, but with their only case so far left unsolved, will they be up to the task? Mallory, the forensic science expert, is struggling with pain and fatigue from her recently diagnosed fibromyalgia. Cornelia, the team member most likely to go rogue and punch a police officer, is suddenly stirring all sorts of feelings in Mallory. Diana, the social butterfly of the group, is hitting up all of her ex-girlfriends for information. And not forgetting ghostly Theodore – deceased, dramatic, and also the agency’s first dead body and unsolved murder case.

With bodies stacking up and the case leading them to mysteries at the very heart of magical society, can the Undetectables find the Whistler before they become the killer’s next victims?

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~glowy magic beetles
~fibro rep so good it hurts
~let’s invent magical forensics!!!
~so much snark
~friends to the end (and beyond)

I knew I was going to enjoy The Undetectables as soon as I saw the tagline Be Gay. Solve Crimes. Take naps., but I am delighted to be able to tell you that I did not just enjoy it, I freaking loved it.

THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN.

So let me get this straight. Or, should I say, gay.

It also made me want to cry a lot, because I’ve never read anything with a main character who has fibromyalgia before, and I was not expecting the representation to hit me so hard. Smyth has either done their homework incredibly well or has fibro themselves – obviously I hope for the former! – because Mallory’s struggles reflect my own painfully (hah) well. If you want a glimpse of what having fibro is like, well, The Undetectables has you covered: I can personally attest to the accuracy of the rep here.

Exercise was often touted as a cure, but Mallory couldn’t fathom how that was meant to work when she could barely stand up as it was.

(And if you claim it’s annoying or repetitive how often her pain or brain-fog comes up, I will straight-up BITE you. IT DOES SUCK HOW IT AFFECTS EVERY LITTLE THING, DOESN’T IT? NOW IMAGINE LIVING WITH IT.

Ahem.)

The Undetectables walks a very fine line with aplomb: people are dying horribly, which is serious and tragic and terrifying, but also, three witchy besties and their ghost buddy are being hilarious, clever, and single-handedly (…quadruple-handedly?) inventing the field of magical forensics with light-up beetles and Magic Magical Machines. I can’t imagine it’s easy to write a book that is simultaneously light-hearted and serious, that has that marvellous X factor that makes it easy to read but also leaves room for grief and fear – but Smyth pulls it off like an especially elegant spell, and yes, you can consider me enchanted.

The entire book feels like a magic trick, honestly, in how it manages to look like one thing while being another, making you watch one hand while the other brings a whole fluffle of jackalopes bounding out of the magician’s hat. Yes, it’s a murder mystery – but it’s also an exploration of how chronic illness affects friendships with those who aren’t ill, about tangled, thorny relationships and a few different takes on self-worth. It’s such a light, breezy read that you could almost miss how deep it is, how raw it gets, how honest – not just about fibromyalgia, but with regards grief, culture clashes, privilege, classism, how heavy the weight is when you’re trying to prevent more people from getting killed.

It has unexpected depths, is what I’m saying here.

But it is, fundamentally, utterly delightful.

tradition is just peer pressure from dead people,’

This is in large part due to the marvellous cast, their quirks and idiosyncrasies, and the dynamics between them all. Cornelia is massively into bugs; Diana makes murder dioramas; Theodore is Dramatic and also stuck with cat ears, since he died wearing them; and Mallory is Tired But Dammit, she’s going to invent magical forensics if it kills her. Anyone who’s ever been seriously ill or otherwise incapacitated – to say nothing of those of us with chronic illnesses or disabilities – will empathise with Mallory’s fragile uncertainty over whether she is Too Much for her friends, but that friendship is really what pulls the entire book together, is absolutely the heart of the story. These four made me laugh, made my heart ache, made me punch the air when they overcame a Thing – even when, maybe especially when, that Thing was their own feelings or hangups! THANK YOU YES, WE STAN HEALTHY LOVING FRIENDSHIPS HERE!

There was no single level nor astral plane where Mallory felt confident Cornelia could be described as a ‘mere mortal’.

Which is not to say that everything is rosy; Mallory in particular, as the main character, is realistically flawed – and to be honest, that made me really happy. Mallory has fibromyalgia; it does not make her a saint. She’s allowed to be ill/disabled and imperfect, and it made her so much more real to me – as well as making her mean so much more to me, as fibro warrior representation.

So: four friends, trying to solve a murder. And then there’s another murder, making it clear they have a serial killer on their hands. The Undetectables is pretty much equally about the killings as it is Getting The Gang Back Together, since Cornelia and Diana drifted away from Mallory after her diagnosis – understandable, but sad. I will admit, I didn’t care for the murder mystery part – but then, I generally don’t; the murder mystery part is incidental to why I wanted to read this book. THAT BEING SAID: when all the pieces come together at the end? It’s actually kind of amazing. I was dubious about the motivations for the murders, and a few other things, but when I finally got all of the explanation, it was PERFECT. And I really appreciated how in The Undetectables, so much room is given for grief, for loss. That’s something I haven’t encountered before in SFF murder-mysteries; it made the whole murder-mystery aspect less entertaining and more real, and while I absolutely get the appeal of ‘cosy’ murder-mysteries, I’m glad that the awfulness of the situation was recognised here.

And the Getting The Gang Back Together part of the story? *chef’s kiss* YES. So much yes! It’s not the easiest thing in the world, it is messy and complicated and there is thoughtlessness and resentment and guilt all tangled up together with the endless amount of love they all have for each other. That’s what makes it brilliant! All four of the main characters feel so real, so lifelike, that they could walk out of the page and into our world at any moment – and honestly, if they did, I’d like to think we’d be friends.

Diana wore entirely inappropriate shoes for the situation, but when asked, she said ‘I can use the heels to stab someone in the neck. I don’t see what the problem is.’

Mallory could not fault her logic.

Is the worldbuilding a little weak? By my standards (which, let’s remember, are very high – I like my worldbuildingly obsessively detailed) yes. Things are kept very simple, but sometimes that very simplicity is confusing; we have five magical races/species, only three of which really come up in this book (so why have five at all?), and each one is associated with a different material – carbon, iron, etc. These associations aren’t explained, and given that they’re actually plot-relevant, that really bugged me. The religion is also pretty hazy – we have a trio of ‘lesser’ goddesses or demi-goddesses whose origin no one is really clear on, but there seems to be another level of greater goddesses above them? Again, this is majorly plot-relevant, so I really would have wanted a clearer picture of what exactly Occultists believe and how they worship.

I was also left with no real idea of how Apparents (non-magical humans, and may I just say I love this term MUCH more than mundane or muggle or whatever mildly-to-strongly-patronising term most stories use) and Occultists feel about each other, given that the magical community seems to exist openly and not be in hiding. Do Apparent nightclubs hire troll bouncers too? Do witches sell their magical services to Apparents?? Are faeries sitting on the boards of otherwise-Apparent environmental charities??? Unknown.

HOWEVER: although we don’t get a lot of info on the different magical peoples, it’s made very clear that they all have their own cultures and traditions, and not just in big general ways, but in smaller day-to-day type things, which I really loved. It massively helps to make them feel distinct from each other. And the confusion around the goddesses is acknowledged in-text and is strongly implied to be a Thing Which Will Be Plot Relevant Later.

(I so hope we get a sequel. Preferably LOTS of sequels. I WANT AN UNDETECTABLES SERIES, IS THAT SO WRONG???)

And although, being me, I wanted more worldbuilding – we didn’t actually need much more than we got. It definitely wasn’t enough to affect how much I enjoyed this book – was which was, in case you didn’t pick up on it earlier, A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT.

An urban fantasy that feels light but has a lot of heart, with a fantabulous cast and oddly adorable glowing beetles, The Undetectables is my new favourite friendship-fantasy. I strongly advise you not to miss out on it!

The post Fundamentally Fun: The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…Him by Geoff Ryman

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Him by Geoff Ryman!

Him by Geoff Ryman
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Nonbinary/trans MC
Published on: 5th December 2023
Goodreads

“Women, of course, can not be sons of God.”

In the village of Nazareth, virgin Maryam and the wife of Yosef barLevi gives birth to a miracle: a little girl. She is named Avigayil, after her grandmother.

But as Avigayil grows, it’s clear she believes that she is destined to be someone greater than just the daughter of Maryam. From fighting with the village boys to challenging the priests in the temple, Avigayil is determined to find her way. And then comes the day when Avigayil declares that not only is she a boy, but she is also the Son of God.

Yeshu can work miracles. He can see futures. He can speak for God.

A gripping, thoughtful sci-fi novel, tackling family, the multiverse and the survival of love through immense change and crisis.

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I’m unabashedly fascinated by art that queers religion – we can probably lay the blame at the feet of my Catholic upbringing – and so of course I sat up and paid attention when I first heard about Ryman’s Him. I freely admit I’ve never heard of Ryman before this, although he’s apparently had a very award-studded career, but anything published by Angry Robot necessitates a close look – they routinely publish ‘genre-fluid’ books, stories that are hard to neatly categorise, that other publishers might consider ‘too difficult’ to sell.

I keep seeing this described as science fiction, which only makes it more interesting – I would have guessed a book with miracles and visions, as this is supposed to have, would get called fantasy instead. What, exactly, is the sci fi element going to be?

(Please don’t let it be aliens!)

For real though, even if Him wasn’t sci fi or fantasy, but just straight-up historical fiction or something, there’s no way I’m skipping a book featuring trans Jesus. Ryman’s not the first to write a trans Jesus (Roz Kaveney’s Rhapsody of Blood series immediately comes to mind) but that doesn’t mean I’m not massively interested (and invested) in seeing how Ryman pulls it off, and what he does with it.

I don’t think I know anything about nonbinary identities in Jesus’ part of the world at that point in history (although if you want to have a chat about them in pre-Abrahamic history, hit me up) and I really don’t want to be reading trans misery-porn, which I could see this story turning into in the wrong hands…but I do feel like Angry Robot probably wouldn’t publish something like that. I can’t find any early reviews yet, but I think we can be hopeful that the queerness will be handled okay.

But how will making Jesus trans affect narrative we already know? How will it change things? What does it add – or take away from – the story I grew up with? And what else does Ryman have up his sleeve, with those sci fi elements???

I don’t know, but I am VERY eager to find out!

The post I Can’t Wait For…Him by Geoff Ryman appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

10 Books I Must Get to This Autumn

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 prompt is books on your Autumn tbr, so here’s mine!

Menewood (The Light of the World Trilogy #2) by Nicola Griffith
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC
Published on: 3rd October 2023
Goodreads

In the much anticipated sequel to Hild, Nicola Griffith's Menewood transports readers back to seventh-century Britain, a land of rival kings and religions poised for epochal change.

Hild is no longer the bright child who made a place in Edwin Overking's court with her seemingly supernatural insight. She is eighteen, honed and tested, the formidable Lady of Elmet, now building her personal stronghold in the valley of Menewood.

But Edwin needs his most trusted advisor. Old alliances are fraying. Younger rivals are snapping at his heels. War is brewing--bitter war, winter war. Not knowing who to trust he becomes volatile and unpredictable. Hild begins to understand the true extent of the chaos ahead, and now she must navigate the turbulence and fight to protect both the kingdom and her own people.

Hild will face the losses and devastation of total war, and then she must find a new strength, the implacable determination to forge a radically different path for herself and her people. In the valley, her last redoubt, her community slowly takes root. She trains herself and her unexpected allies in new ways of thinking as she prepares for one last wager: risking all on a single throw for a better future...

In the last decade, Hild has become a beloved classic of epic storytelling. Menewood picks up where that journey left off, and exceeds it in every way.

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First up, is, of course, Menewood! Hild, the first book in this trilogy, is a DEEPLY BELOVED favourite of mine, which puts the sequel at the top of my tbr. Not to mention, the way nature is presented, and described, in this series somehow makes it feel very appropriate for the season – even though Hild (and presumably Menewood) is just as much about the other seasons too.

The Library of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Goodreads

A girl matches wits with a war god in this kaleidoscopic, epic tale of oppression and the cost of peace, where stories hide within other stories, and narrative has the power to heal… or to burn everything in its path.

In the winding underground tunnels of the Library, the great celestial peacekeeper of the three systems, a terrible secret lies buried.

As the daughter of a Library god, Freida has spent her whole life exploring the Library's ever-changing tunnels and communing with the gods. Her unparalleled access makes her unique – and dangerous.

When Freida meets Joshua, a mortal boy desperate to save his people, and Nergüi, a Disciple from a persecuted religious minority, Freida is compelled to break ranks with the gods and help them. But in order to do so, she will have to venture deeper into the Library than she has ever known. There she will discover the atrocities of the past, the truth of her origins, and the impossibility of her future…

With the world at the brink of war, Freida embarks on a journey to fulfill her destiny, one that pits her against an ancient war god. Her mission is straightforward: Destroy the god before he can rain hellfire upon thousands of innocent lives – if he doesn't destroy her first.

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The Library of Broken Worlds was one of my most anticipated books of the YEAR – and I dove right in when it arrived on my ereader. But – and this does NOT happen to me often – the worldbuilding is so unique that I actually had trouble understanding it all. At this point, I think I need to start it over, and give it my undivided attention this time (as opposed to reading a bunch of books at once, which is my usual M.O).

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig
Goodreads

For readers of Outlawed, Piranesi, and The Night Tiger, a riveting, roaring adventure novel about a legendary Chinese pirate queen, her fight to save her fleet from the forces allied against them, and the dangerous price of power.

When Shek Yeung sees a Portuguese sailor slay her husband, a feared pirate, she knows she must act swiftly or die. Instead of mourning, Shek Yeung launches a new plan: immediately marrying her husband's second-in-command, and agreeing to bear him a son and heir, in order to retain power over her half of the fleet.

But as Shek Yeung vies for control over the army she knows she was born to lead, larger threats loom. The Chinese Emperor has charged a brutal, crafty nobleman with ridding the South China Seas of pirates, and the Europeans-tired of losing ships, men, and money to Shek Yeung's alliance-have new plans for the area. Even worse, Shek Yeung's cutthroat retributions create problems all their own. As Shek Yeung navigates new motherhood and the crises of leadership, she must decide how long she is willing to fight, and at what price, or risk losing her fleet, her new family, and even her life.

A book of salt and grit, blood and sweat, Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is an unmissable portrait of a woman who leads with the courage and ruthlessness of our darkest and most beloved heroes.

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This is a book I was SO EXCITED for…but somehow never quite got to, and I desperately want to! Come on, what part of that premise doesn’t sound amazing???

Ice Song by Kirsten Imani Kasai
Genres: Sci Fi
Goodreads

“Reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin’s paradigm-shattering The Left Hand of Darkness , this piercingly moving story belongs in most fantasy collections.” — Library Journal

There are secrets beneath her skin.

Sorykah Minuit is a scholar, an engineer, and the sole woman aboard an ice-drilling submarine in the frozen land of the Sigue. What no one knows is that she is also a one who can switch genders suddenly, a rare corporeal deviance universally met with fascination and superstition and all too often punished by harassment or death.

Sorykah’s infant twins, Leander and Ayeda, have inherited their mother’s Trader genes. When a wealthy, reclusive madman known as the Collector abducts the babies to use in his dreadful experiments, Sorykah and her male alter-ego, Soryk, must cross icy wastes and a primeval forest to get them back. Complicating the dangerous journey is the fact that Sorykah and Soryk do not share memories: Each disorienting transformation is like awakening with a jolt from a deep and dreamless sleep.

The world through which the alternating lives of Sorykah and Soryk travel is both familiar and surreal. Environmental degradation and genetic mutation run amok; humans have been distorted into animals and animal bodies cloak a wild humanity. But it is also a world of unexpected beauty and wonder, where kindness and love endure amid the ruins. Alluring, intense, and gorgeously rendered, Ice Song is a remarkable debut by a fiercely original new writer.

Praise for Ice Song

“A stunning debut fantasy about love and the ties of blood.” —Armchair Interviews

“Kasai’s debut is a boldly adventurous tale depicting a richly detailed world. The aspect of Traders shifting gender brings Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness to mind, while the activities on Chen’s island are more reminiscent of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Meredith Gentry novels.” — Booklist

“ Ice Song is definitely a compelling read, largely due to the fact that Sorykah is such a well-developed character. She has an equally intense and complex sense of love and resentment for her children. And the fact that she exists between the world of humans and the mutants is also a source of conflict for her character . . . Ice Song is a near-perfect combination of fantasy, great storytelling and social commentary.” — Philadelphia Gay News

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Ice Song has been on my tbr for years and years – in hindsight, I think it was one of the books I reached out for when I started having Feelings about my own gender. But I think those feelings also put pressure on the book, and I was scared to read it in case…something. Well, I don’t need fiction to help me figure out my gender any more, and now I just want to read it because I love shapeshifters who change gender/sex, and I am HERE for mothers going to the ends of the earth for their kids. Plus, I’m fascinated by what the relationship between Sorykah and Soryk must be like.

We Are the Crisis (Convergence Saga #2) by Cadwell Turnbull
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Published on: 7th November 2023
Goodreads

In We Are the Crisis—the second book in the Convergence Saga from award-winning author Cadwell Turnbull—humans and monsters come into conflict in a magical and dangerous world as civil rights collide with preternatural forces.

In this highly anticipated sequel, set a few years after No Gods, No Monsters, humanity continues to grapple with the revelation that supernatural beings exist. A werewolf pack investigates the strange disappearances of former members and ends up unraveling a greater conspiracy, while back on St. Thomas, a hurricane approaches and a political debate over monster’s rights ignites tensions in the local community.

Meanwhile, New Era—a pro-monster activist group—works to build a network between monsters and humans, but their mission is threatened by hate crimes perpetrated by a human-supremacist group known as the Black Hand. And beneath it all two ancient orders escalate their conflict, revealing dangerous secrets about the gods and the very origins of magic in the universe.

Told backward and forward in time as events escalate and unravel, We Are the Crisis is a brilliant contemporary fantasy that takes readers on an immersive and thrilling journey.

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No Gods No Monsters left me confused as hell – but in a great way??? That does mean I really have no idea what to expect from the sequel, though. HOPEFULLY SOME ANSWERS??? One can only hope!

The Seep by Chana Porter
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Sapphic trans MC
Goodreads

Trina Goldberg-Oneka is a trans woman whose life is irreversibly altered in the wake of a gentle—but nonetheless world-changing—invasion by an alien entity calling itself The Seep. Through The Seep, everything is connected. Capitalism falls, hierarchies and barriers are broken down; if something can be imagined, it is possible.

Trina and her wife, Deeba, live blissfully under The Seep’s utopian influence—until Deeba begins to imagine what it might be like to be reborn as a baby, which will give her the chance at an even better life. Using Seep-tech to make this dream a reality, Deeba moves on to a new existence, leaving Trina devastated.

Heartbroken and deep into an alcoholic binge, Trina chases after a young boy she encounters, embarking on an unexpected quest. In her attempt to save him from The Seep, she will confront not only one of its most avid devotees, but the terrifying void that Deeba has left behind.

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After adoring Porter’s sophomore novel, The Thick and the Lean, of course I want to pounce on Seep! I’ve heard nothing but love for it, and the premise itself sounds right up my alley.

Blood Debts (Blood Debts, #1) by Terry J. Benton-Walker
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Gay Black MC, Black MCs
Goodreads

Thirty years ago, a young woman was murdered, a family was lynched, and New Orleans saw the greatest magical massacre in its history. In the days that followed, a throne was stolen from a queen.

On the anniversary of these brutal events, Clement and Cristina Trudeau—the sixteen-year-old twin heirs to the powerful, magical, dethroned family—are mourning their father and caring for their sick mother. Until, by chance, they discover their mother isn’t sick—she’s cursed. Cursed by someone on the very magic council their family used to rule. Someone who will come for them next.

Cristina, once a talented and dedicated practitioner of Generational magic, has given up magic for good. An ancient spell is what killed their father and she was the one who cast it. For Clement, magic is his lifeline. A distraction from his anger and pain. Even better than the random guys he hooks up with.

Cristina and Clement used to be each other’s most trusted confidant and friend, now they barely speak. But if they have any hope of discovering who is coming after their family, they’ll have to find a way to trust each other and their family's magic, all while solving the decades-old murder that sparked the still-rising tensions between the city’s magical and non-magical communities. And if they don't succeed, New Orleans may see another massacre. Or worse.

Terry J. Benton-Walker's contemporary fantasy debut, Blood Debts, with powerful magical families, intergenerational curses, and deadly drama in New Orleans.

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I started reading this when it came out earlier this year, but kind of drifted away from it. (That’s not a reflection of the book, I just do that sometimes, no matter how good a book is.) Now I want to knuckle down and read it properly, all the way through, because what I remember of it I really like! Plus, seems like an excellent Halloween-season read.

Celestial Matters by Richard Garfinkle
Goodreads

In the world of Celestial Matters, Ptolemaic astronomy and Aristotelian physics are valid scientific models of the surrounding world and cosmos. The Earth lies at the center of the universe, surrounded by crystal spheres which hold each of the planets, the sun and the moon, all enclosed in the sphere of the fixed stars. Earthly matter, composed of the classical four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, naturally moves in straight lines. Heavenly matter naturally rises and moves in circles. This is the universe as understood by the ancient Greeks.

The science of the ancient Chinese also applies, but as the novel is told from the perspective of the Greeks, it is less well understood. Xi, the Chinese notion of spirit and flow, can be manipulated to move objects and energy. The Chinese five elements of earth, metal, water, wood, and fire are transmuted one into the other. Part of the central theme of the book is the two system's mutual misunderstanding and bafflement of each other.

In this world, the Delian League (Greeks) and Middle Kingdom (Chinese) have been fighting a war for nearly a thousand years, ever since the time of Alexander the Great when the warrior-culture of Sparta and the Athenian Akademe were fused into a half-world conquering force. Their technologies are locked together, however, and neither empire can gain the upper hand. Each side secretly despairs of its chances and has come to consider desperate measures.

The story is narrated by Aias of Tyre, a scientist of the Delian League, who is preparing to embark on Project Sunthief as scientific commander. This project is an audacious and desperate mission to sail a spaceship carved out of a piece of the moon herself out through the spheres, to catch a piece of the sun and bring it back to earth to annihilate the Middler capital city. This, the league hopes, will finally end the war and give it victory.

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This has been on my tbr for years, and I was recently going through some of those books – the ones that have been buried at the bottom of my tbr forever – and the first few pages of this just hooked me so hard. Plus, what I glimpsed of the worldbuilding is just really fun – which is what you’d expect of a setting where Ptolemaic astronomy and Aristotelian physics are actually correct!

The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Representation: Genderqueer/nonbinary Latine MC
Goodreads

From one of the leading lights of contemporary Latin American literature—a lush, lyrical, deeply moving story of a young woman whose passion for the early sounds of tango becomes a force of profound and unexpected change.

February 1913: seventeen-year-old Leda, carrying only a small trunk and her father’s cherished violin, leaves her Italian village for a new home, and a new husband, in Argentina. Arriving in Buenos Aires, she discovers that he has been killed, but she remains: living in a tenement, without friends or family, on the brink of destitution. Still, she is seduced by the music that underscores life in the city: tango, born from lower-class immigrant voices, now the illicit, scandalous dance of brothels and cabarets. Leda eventually acts on a long-held desire to master the violin, knowing that she can never play in public as a woman. She cuts off her hair, binds her breasts, and becomes “Dante,” a young man who joins a troupe of tango musicians bent on conquering the salons of high society. Now, gradually, the lines between Leda and Dante begin to blur, and feelings that she has long kept suppressed reveal themselves, jeopardizing not only her musical career, but her life.

Richly evocative of place and time, its prose suffused with the rhythms of the tango, its narrative at once resonant and gripping, this is De Robertis’s most accomplished novel yet.

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I only just discovered Robertis’ pub deal for Palace of Eros, a book I am FERAL to get my hands on – which alas, I cannot do, because it’s not out yet! Thus, checking out Robertis’ backlist. Gods of Tango in particular leapt out at me, so that’s the one I’m starting with!

Traitor of Redwinter (Redwinter Chronicles #2) by Ed McDonald
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC
Published on: 24th October 2023
Goodreads

The second in Ed McDonald’s Chronicles of Redwinter, full of shady politics, militant monks, ancient powers... and a young woman navigating a world in which no one is quite what they seem.

The power of the Sixth Gate grows stronger within Raine each day—to control it, she needs lessons no living Draoihn can teach her. Her fledgling friendships are tested to breaking point as she tries to face what she has become, and her master Ulovar is struck by a mysterious sickness that slowly saps the vitality from his body, leaving Raine to face her growing darkness alone. There’s only one chance to turn the tide of power surging within her—to learn the secrets the Draoihn themselves purged from the world

The book can teach her. She doesn’t know where she found it, or when exactly, but its ever changing pages whisper power that has lain untouched for centuries.

As the king’s health fails and the north suffers in the grip of famine, rebellious lords hunger for the power of the Crown, backed by powers that would see the Crowns undone. Amidst this growing threat, Raine’s former friend Ovitus brings a powerful new alliance, raising his status and power of his own. He professes support for the heir to the throne even as others would see him take it for himself, and desperately craves Raine’s forgiveness—or her submission.

But the grandmaster has her own plans for Raine, and the deadly training she has been given has not been conducted carelessly. In Raine she seeks to craft a weapon to launch right into her enemy’s heart, as Redwinter seeks to hold onto power.

Amidst threats old and new, Raine must learn the secrets promised by the book, magic promised by a queen with a crown of feathers. A queen to whom Raine has promised more than she can afford to give…

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Daughter of Redwinter, the first book in this series, surprised me by subverting most of my expectations and giving us a really unique heroine. However, what made her special (to me) was fixed (and it really was a fixing – what made her the way she was was a wound) at the end of the first book, so I’m not sure what I’ll think of her in the sequel. But I’m excited to find out!

What will you be reading this Fall?

The post 10 Books I Must Get to This Autumn appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

10 Books I Must Get to This Autumn

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 prompt is books on your Autumn tbr, so here’s mine!

Menewood (The Light of the World Trilogy #2) by Nicola Griffith
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC
Published on: 3rd October 2023
Goodreads

In the much anticipated sequel to Hild, Nicola Griffith's Menewood transports readers back to seventh-century Britain, a land of rival kings and religions poised for epochal change.

Hild is no longer the bright child who made a place in Edwin Overking's court with her seemingly supernatural insight. She is eighteen, honed and tested, the formidable Lady of Elmet, now building her personal stronghold in the valley of Menewood.

But Edwin needs his most trusted advisor. Old alliances are fraying. Younger rivals are snapping at his heels. War is brewing--bitter war, winter war. Not knowing who to trust he becomes volatile and unpredictable. Hild begins to understand the true extent of the chaos ahead, and now she must navigate the turbulence and fight to protect both the kingdom and her own people.

Hild will face the losses and devastation of total war, and then she must find a new strength, the implacable determination to forge a radically different path for herself and her people. In the valley, her last redoubt, her community slowly takes root. She trains herself and her unexpected allies in new ways of thinking as she prepares for one last wager: risking all on a single throw for a better future...

In the last decade, Hild has become a beloved classic of epic storytelling. Menewood picks up where that journey left off, and exceeds it in every way.

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First up, is, of course, Menewood! Hild, the first book in this trilogy, is a DEEPLY BELOVED favourite of mine, which puts the sequel at the top of my tbr. Not to mention, the way nature is presented, and described, in this series somehow makes it feel very appropriate for the season – even though Hild (and presumably Menewood) is just as much about the other seasons too.

The Library of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Goodreads

A girl matches wits with a war god in this kaleidoscopic, epic tale of oppression and the cost of peace, where stories hide within other stories, and narrative has the power to heal… or to burn everything in its path.

In the winding underground tunnels of the Library, the great celestial peacekeeper of the three systems, a terrible secret lies buried.

As the daughter of a Library god, Freida has spent her whole life exploring the Library's ever-changing tunnels and communing with the gods. Her unparalleled access makes her unique – and dangerous.

When Freida meets Joshua, a mortal boy desperate to save his people, and Nergüi, a Disciple from a persecuted religious minority, Freida is compelled to break ranks with the gods and help them. But in order to do so, she will have to venture deeper into the Library than she has ever known. There she will discover the atrocities of the past, the truth of her origins, and the impossibility of her future…

With the world at the brink of war, Freida embarks on a journey to fulfill her destiny, one that pits her against an ancient war god. Her mission is straightforward: Destroy the god before he can rain hellfire upon thousands of innocent lives – if he doesn't destroy her first.

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The Library of Broken Worlds was one of my most anticipated books of the YEAR – and I dove right in when it arrived on my ereader. But – and this does NOT happen to me often – the worldbuilding is so unique that I actually had trouble understanding it all. At this point, I think I need to start it over, and give it my undivided attention this time (as opposed to reading a bunch of books at once, which is my usual M.O).

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig
Goodreads

For readers of Outlawed, Piranesi, and The Night Tiger, a riveting, roaring adventure novel about a legendary Chinese pirate queen, her fight to save her fleet from the forces allied against them, and the dangerous price of power.

When Shek Yeung sees a Portuguese sailor slay her husband, a feared pirate, she knows she must act swiftly or die. Instead of mourning, Shek Yeung launches a new plan: immediately marrying her husband's second-in-command, and agreeing to bear him a son and heir, in order to retain power over her half of the fleet.

But as Shek Yeung vies for control over the army she knows she was born to lead, larger threats loom. The Chinese Emperor has charged a brutal, crafty nobleman with ridding the South China Seas of pirates, and the Europeans-tired of losing ships, men, and money to Shek Yeung's alliance-have new plans for the area. Even worse, Shek Yeung's cutthroat retributions create problems all their own. As Shek Yeung navigates new motherhood and the crises of leadership, she must decide how long she is willing to fight, and at what price, or risk losing her fleet, her new family, and even her life.

A book of salt and grit, blood and sweat, Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is an unmissable portrait of a woman who leads with the courage and ruthlessness of our darkest and most beloved heroes.

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This is a book I was SO EXCITED for…but somehow never quite got to, and I desperately want to! Come on, what part of that premise doesn’t sound amazing???

Ice Song by Kirsten Imani Kasai
Genres: Sci Fi
Goodreads

“Reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin’s paradigm-shattering The Left Hand of Darkness , this piercingly moving story belongs in most fantasy collections.” — Library Journal

There are secrets beneath her skin.

Sorykah Minuit is a scholar, an engineer, and the sole woman aboard an ice-drilling submarine in the frozen land of the Sigue. What no one knows is that she is also a one who can switch genders suddenly, a rare corporeal deviance universally met with fascination and superstition and all too often punished by harassment or death.

Sorykah’s infant twins, Leander and Ayeda, have inherited their mother’s Trader genes. When a wealthy, reclusive madman known as the Collector abducts the babies to use in his dreadful experiments, Sorykah and her male alter-ego, Soryk, must cross icy wastes and a primeval forest to get them back. Complicating the dangerous journey is the fact that Sorykah and Soryk do not share memories: Each disorienting transformation is like awakening with a jolt from a deep and dreamless sleep.

The world through which the alternating lives of Sorykah and Soryk travel is both familiar and surreal. Environmental degradation and genetic mutation run amok; humans have been distorted into animals and animal bodies cloak a wild humanity. But it is also a world of unexpected beauty and wonder, where kindness and love endure amid the ruins. Alluring, intense, and gorgeously rendered, Ice Song is a remarkable debut by a fiercely original new writer.

Praise for Ice Song

“A stunning debut fantasy about love and the ties of blood.” —Armchair Interviews

“Kasai’s debut is a boldly adventurous tale depicting a richly detailed world. The aspect of Traders shifting gender brings Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness to mind, while the activities on Chen’s island are more reminiscent of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Meredith Gentry novels.” — Booklist

“ Ice Song is definitely a compelling read, largely due to the fact that Sorykah is such a well-developed character. She has an equally intense and complex sense of love and resentment for her children. And the fact that she exists between the world of humans and the mutants is also a source of conflict for her character . . . Ice Song is a near-perfect combination of fantasy, great storytelling and social commentary.” — Philadelphia Gay News

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Ice Song has been on my tbr for years and years – in hindsight, I think it was one of the books I reached out for when I started having Feelings about my own gender. But I think those feelings also put pressure on the book, and I was scared to read it in case…something. Well, I don’t need fiction to help me figure out my gender any more, and now I just want to read it because I love shapeshifters who change gender/sex, and I am HERE for mothers going to the ends of the earth for their kids. Plus, I’m fascinated by what the relationship between Sorykah and Soryk must be like.

We Are the Crisis (Convergence Saga #2) by Cadwell Turnbull
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Published on: 7th November 2023
Goodreads

In We Are the Crisis—the second book in the Convergence Saga from award-winning author Cadwell Turnbull—humans and monsters come into conflict in a magical and dangerous world as civil rights collide with preternatural forces.

In this highly anticipated sequel, set a few years after No Gods, No Monsters, humanity continues to grapple with the revelation that supernatural beings exist. A werewolf pack investigates the strange disappearances of former members and ends up unraveling a greater conspiracy, while back on St. Thomas, a hurricane approaches and a political debate over monster’s rights ignites tensions in the local community.

Meanwhile, New Era—a pro-monster activist group—works to build a network between monsters and humans, but their mission is threatened by hate crimes perpetrated by a human-supremacist group known as the Black Hand. And beneath it all two ancient orders escalate their conflict, revealing dangerous secrets about the gods and the very origins of magic in the universe.

Told backward and forward in time as events escalate and unravel, We Are the Crisis is a brilliant contemporary fantasy that takes readers on an immersive and thrilling journey.

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No Gods No Monsters left me confused as hell – but in a great way??? That does mean I really have no idea what to expect from the sequel, though. HOPEFULLY SOME ANSWERS??? One can only hope!

The Seep by Chana Porter
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Sapphic trans MC
Goodreads

Trina Goldberg-Oneka is a trans woman whose life is irreversibly altered in the wake of a gentle—but nonetheless world-changing—invasion by an alien entity calling itself The Seep. Through The Seep, everything is connected. Capitalism falls, hierarchies and barriers are broken down; if something can be imagined, it is possible.

Trina and her wife, Deeba, live blissfully under The Seep’s utopian influence—until Deeba begins to imagine what it might be like to be reborn as a baby, which will give her the chance at an even better life. Using Seep-tech to make this dream a reality, Deeba moves on to a new existence, leaving Trina devastated.

Heartbroken and deep into an alcoholic binge, Trina chases after a young boy she encounters, embarking on an unexpected quest. In her attempt to save him from The Seep, she will confront not only one of its most avid devotees, but the terrifying void that Deeba has left behind.

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After adoring Porter’s sophomore novel, The Thick and the Lean, of course I want to pounce on Seep! I’ve heard nothing but love for it, and the premise itself sounds right up my alley.

Blood Debts (Blood Debts, #1) by Terry J. Benton-Walker
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Gay Black MC, Black MCs
Goodreads

Thirty years ago, a young woman was murdered, a family was lynched, and New Orleans saw the greatest magical massacre in its history. In the days that followed, a throne was stolen from a queen.

On the anniversary of these brutal events, Clement and Cristina Trudeau—the sixteen-year-old twin heirs to the powerful, magical, dethroned family—are mourning their father and caring for their sick mother. Until, by chance, they discover their mother isn’t sick—she’s cursed. Cursed by someone on the very magic council their family used to rule. Someone who will come for them next.

Cristina, once a talented and dedicated practitioner of Generational magic, has given up magic for good. An ancient spell is what killed their father and she was the one who cast it. For Clement, magic is his lifeline. A distraction from his anger and pain. Even better than the random guys he hooks up with.

Cristina and Clement used to be each other’s most trusted confidant and friend, now they barely speak. But if they have any hope of discovering who is coming after their family, they’ll have to find a way to trust each other and their family's magic, all while solving the decades-old murder that sparked the still-rising tensions between the city’s magical and non-magical communities. And if they don't succeed, New Orleans may see another massacre. Or worse.

Terry J. Benton-Walker's contemporary fantasy debut, Blood Debts, with powerful magical families, intergenerational curses, and deadly drama in New Orleans.

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I started reading this when it came out earlier this year, but kind of drifted away from it. (That’s not a reflection of the book, I just do that sometimes, no matter how good a book is.) Now I want to knuckle down and read it properly, all the way through, because what I remember of it I really like! Plus, seems like an excellent Halloween-season read.

Celestial Matters by Richard Garfinkle
Goodreads

In the world of Celestial Matters, Ptolemaic astronomy and Aristotelian physics are valid scientific models of the surrounding world and cosmos. The Earth lies at the center of the universe, surrounded by crystal spheres which hold each of the planets, the sun and the moon, all enclosed in the sphere of the fixed stars. Earthly matter, composed of the classical four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, naturally moves in straight lines. Heavenly matter naturally rises and moves in circles. This is the universe as understood by the ancient Greeks.

The science of the ancient Chinese also applies, but as the novel is told from the perspective of the Greeks, it is less well understood. Xi, the Chinese notion of spirit and flow, can be manipulated to move objects and energy. The Chinese five elements of earth, metal, water, wood, and fire are transmuted one into the other. Part of the central theme of the book is the two system's mutual misunderstanding and bafflement of each other.

In this world, the Delian League (Greeks) and Middle Kingdom (Chinese) have been fighting a war for nearly a thousand years, ever since the time of Alexander the Great when the warrior-culture of Sparta and the Athenian Akademe were fused into a half-world conquering force. Their technologies are locked together, however, and neither empire can gain the upper hand. Each side secretly despairs of its chances and has come to consider desperate measures.

The story is narrated by Aias of Tyre, a scientist of the Delian League, who is preparing to embark on Project Sunthief as scientific commander. This project is an audacious and desperate mission to sail a spaceship carved out of a piece of the moon herself out through the spheres, to catch a piece of the sun and bring it back to earth to annihilate the Middler capital city. This, the league hopes, will finally end the war and give it victory.

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This has been on my tbr for years, and I was recently going through some of those books – the ones that have been buried at the bottom of my tbr forever – and the first few pages of this just hooked me so hard. Plus, what I glimpsed of the worldbuilding is just really fun – which is what you’d expect of a setting where Ptolemaic astronomy and Aristotelian physics are actually correct!

The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Representation: Genderqueer/nonbinary Latine MC
Goodreads

From one of the leading lights of contemporary Latin American literature—a lush, lyrical, deeply moving story of a young woman whose passion for the early sounds of tango becomes a force of profound and unexpected change.

February 1913: seventeen-year-old Leda, carrying only a small trunk and her father’s cherished violin, leaves her Italian village for a new home, and a new husband, in Argentina. Arriving in Buenos Aires, she discovers that he has been killed, but she remains: living in a tenement, without friends or family, on the brink of destitution. Still, she is seduced by the music that underscores life in the city: tango, born from lower-class immigrant voices, now the illicit, scandalous dance of brothels and cabarets. Leda eventually acts on a long-held desire to master the violin, knowing that she can never play in public as a woman. She cuts off her hair, binds her breasts, and becomes “Dante,” a young man who joins a troupe of tango musicians bent on conquering the salons of high society. Now, gradually, the lines between Leda and Dante begin to blur, and feelings that she has long kept suppressed reveal themselves, jeopardizing not only her musical career, but her life.

Richly evocative of place and time, its prose suffused with the rhythms of the tango, its narrative at once resonant and gripping, this is De Robertis’s most accomplished novel yet.

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I only just discovered Robertis’ pub deal for Palace of Eros, a book I am FERAL to get my hands on – which alas, I cannot do, because it’s not out yet! Thus, checking out Robertis’ backlist. Gods of Tango in particular leapt out at me, so that’s the one I’m starting with!

Traitor of Redwinter (Redwinter Chronicles #2) by Ed McDonald
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC
Published on: 24th October 2023
Goodreads

The second in Ed McDonald’s Chronicles of Redwinter, full of shady politics, militant monks, ancient powers... and a young woman navigating a world in which no one is quite what they seem.

The power of the Sixth Gate grows stronger within Raine each day—to control it, she needs lessons no living Draoihn can teach her. Her fledgling friendships are tested to breaking point as she tries to face what she has become, and her master Ulovar is struck by a mysterious sickness that slowly saps the vitality from his body, leaving Raine to face her growing darkness alone. There’s only one chance to turn the tide of power surging within her—to learn the secrets the Draoihn themselves purged from the world

The book can teach her. She doesn’t know where she found it, or when exactly, but its ever changing pages whisper power that has lain untouched for centuries.

As the king’s health fails and the north suffers in the grip of famine, rebellious lords hunger for the power of the Crown, backed by powers that would see the Crowns undone. Amidst this growing threat, Raine’s former friend Ovitus brings a powerful new alliance, raising his status and power of his own. He professes support for the heir to the throne even as others would see him take it for himself, and desperately craves Raine’s forgiveness—or her submission.

But the grandmaster has her own plans for Raine, and the deadly training she has been given has not been conducted carelessly. In Raine she seeks to craft a weapon to launch right into her enemy’s heart, as Redwinter seeks to hold onto power.

Amidst threats old and new, Raine must learn the secrets promised by the book, magic promised by a queen with a crown of feathers. A queen to whom Raine has promised more than she can afford to give…

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Daughter of Redwinter, the first book in this series, surprised me by subverting most of my expectations and giving us a really unique heroine. However, what made her special (to me) was fixed (and it really was a fixing – what made her the way she was was a wound) at the end of the first book, so I’m not sure what I’ll think of her in the sequel. But I’m excited to find out!

What will you be reading this Fall?

The post  10 Books I Must Get to This Autumn appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #154

Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.

EIGHT books this week!

(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)

Silver Helix by Xan van Rooyen
Genres: Science Fantasy
Representation: Nonbinary MC
Published on: 19th September 2023
Goodreads

On the surface, the city of HelsInc appears to have recovered from the war waged between humans and Ethereals, but beneath the scars, the city seethes. The remains of magic festers, causing mutations in human DNA which could give humans Ethereal power—not that the HelsInc government would ever let that happen. The Legion resists, ripping out their neurochips and protesting the mandatory gene therapy for humans with cryptomine in their DNA.

At only 19 years old, Omyn Talvinen isn’t ready to play parent to her kid brother, but with her mom in prison on trumped up charges and her deadbeat dad AWOL, she’s left with little choice. Forced to risk her freedom to pay the rent, Omyn finds herself at the mercy of a pair of cyborg soldiers when they catch her red-handed stealing nanites from a cyberware Salon. But the synths’ powers don’t work on Omyn, and they discover they all share a common memory that they must get to the root of.

Wanted dead by the government, Omyn and the renegade soldiers turn to a rebel Legion group with dreams of resuscitating dead magic for help. With the clock-ticking for the synths, Zee-Five and Omyn are forced to confront the secrets of their past and a dark conspiracy that’ll shake the blood-soaked foundations of the city.

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Science Fantasy in future!Finland! I’ve enjoyed Rooyen’s YA, and I think this is their Adult debut. I’m a quarter of the way through it right now and can happily say it’s not quite like anything I’ve come across before.

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., Stephen Graham Jones, Norris Black, Amber Blaeser-Wardzala, Phoenix Boudreau, Cherie Dimaline, Carson Faust, Kelli Jo Ford, Kate Hart, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Brandon Hobson, Darcie Little Badger, Conley Lyons, Nick Medina, Tiffany Morris, Tommy Orange, Mona Susan Power, Marcie R. Rendon, Waubgeshig Rice, Rebecca Roanhorse, Andrea L. Rogers, Morgan Talty, D.H. Trujillo, Richard Van Camp, Royce Young Wolf, Mathilda Zeller
Genres: Horror
Representation: Indigenous MCs
Published on: 19th September 2023
Goodreads

A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: “Are you ready to be un-settled?”

Featuring stories by: Norris Black • Amber Blaeser-Wardzala • Phoenix Boudreau • Cherie Dimaline • Carson Faust • Kelli Jo Ford • Kate Hart • Shane Hawk • Brandon Hobson • Darcie Little Badger • Conley Lyons • Nick Medina • Tiffany Morris • Tommy Orange • Mona Susan Power • Marcie R. Rendon • Waubgeshig Rice • Rebecca Roanhorse • Andrea L. Rogers • Morgan Talty • D.H. Trujillo • Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. • Richard Van Camp • David Heska Wanbli Weiden • Royce Young Wolf • Mathilda Zeller

Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home.

These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.

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This sounds incredible, albeit definitely something I will be reading with the lights on!!! But I’m always excited for exposure to mythologies I know little about, and this sounds like it will give me that in spades!

Tea Leaves by Jacob Budenz
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 19th September 2023
Goodreads

Tea Leaves is an astonishing collection of fables for our time by a young writer of tremendous power and promise.

Tea Leaves presents 17 speculative short stories that place queer characters in larger-than-life situations to emphasize the surreal experience of marginalization. A queer romance spans multiple incarnations, but only in doomed cities. A gay medieval scholar must testify for his life to the otherworldly octopus who traps him in a cafe bathroom. Ignoring their better judgment, a witch brings their mortal partner on a hunt for a dangerous sorcerer and must cope with the dire consequences.

Each of the stories within Tea Leaves explores the urgency of modern queer life in encounters between the otherworldly and the queer other. In juxtaposing queer narratives with new, larger-than-life myths, Tea Leaves both exalts and lampoons the queer experience while examining the sometimes surreal obstacles of marginalization.

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Beautiful queer weirdness is kind of my jam, so obviously I’ve been intrigued by Budenz’s Tea Leaves since I first heard about it! I mean, look at that blurb – can you blame me?!

Dark Park (Dark Factory) by Kathe Koja
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: M/M
Published on: 19th September 2023
Goodreads

The only thing wilder than a night at the club is the morning after, in Paradise...DARK FACTORY opened the doors to a reality-bending dance club, an online immersive portal, and the feeling that the whole world is on the brink of something new. DARK PARK takes you there.

DARK PARK follows documentary filmmaker Sergey Kendricks as he tracks Ari Regon and Felix the DJ through the fever and chaos of stardom and celebrity culture, while Max Caspar quests deeper into the unstable gaming landscape of Birds of pursued and idolized by fans, acolytes, haters, and schemers, all dazed by beauty and searching for the end of the end of the world. Immerse yourself at DARKFACTORY club.

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This is the sequel to Koja’s Dark Factory, which I adored – speculative fiction set in a near-future Germany, where a small handful of artists are learning how to…I don’t know how to properly describe it: reshape reality??? Kinda??? Like the first book, Dark Park is a mixed media experiment – which doesn’t mean it’s written in letters and dialogue scripts, but that video, music, and pictures are woven into the reading experience. You’re definitely going to need to read Dark Factory first, but this is going to be another you won’t want to miss!

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel (The Doomsday Books, #2) by K.J. Charles
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 19th September 2023
Goodreads

Major Rufus d'Aumesty has unexpectedly become the Earl of Oxney, master of a remote Norman manor on the edge of the infamous Romney Marsh. There he's beset on all sides, his position contested both by his greedy uncle and by Luke Doomsday, son of a notorious smuggling clan.

The earl and the smuggler should be natural enemies, but cocksure, enragingly competent Luke is a trained secretary and expert schemer—exactly the sort of man Rufus needs by his side. Before long, Luke becomes an unexpected ally...and the lover Rufus had never hoped to find.

But Luke came to Stone Manor with an ulterior motive, one he's desperate to keep hidden even from the lord he can't resist. As the lies accumulate and family secrets threaten to destroy everything they hold dear, master and man find themselves forced to decide whose side they're really on...and what they're willing to do for love.

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I am far from the only one who was completely charmed by everything KJ Charles has ever written The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, the first book in the Doomsday Books series. (Which has nothing to do with the apocalypse; the Doomsday or Domesday Book is, according to the Oxford Dictionary, ‘a comprehensive record of the extent, value, ownership, and liabilities of land in England, made in 1086 by order of William I.’ It’s a historical reference, not an end-of-the-world situation!) I suspect you can read Seducing a Scoundrel as a standalone if you wish – one of the main characters was a very minor character in the previous book, but the events of each book sound very separate – but why would you deny yourself the joys of Country Gentlemen, if you haven’t read that yet???

Either way, I’m willing to bet this will be another extremely delightful, extremely fun historical romance from Charles!

A Crown So Cursed (The Nightmare-Verse, #3) by L.L. McKinney
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black bi/pansexual MC, secondary F/F
Published on: 19th September 2023
Goodreads

Alice is doing her best to recover from her last boss battle, but members of her crew start having these... dreams. And they’re all the same dream: visions of a dark past―and an even darker future. It seems the evil in Wonderland may not be as defeated as they’d hoped.

When word spreads of an encroaching army of Nightmares unlike any ever seen, Alice finds she may have to step between the coming darkness and the mortal world once more. But this time is different. This time, the monsters aren’t waiting for her on the other side of the Veil.
They're in her own back yard.

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The third book in McKinney’s much-praised Alice in Wonderland-retold series! Making it an excellent time to dive in if you’ve not read these yet.

A Prayer for Vengeance by Leanne Schwartz
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Autistic MC, fat MC
Goodreads

An orphan out to find the truth within a warped religion turns his poetry into prayer―a prayer that awakens a cursed girl hungry for revenge.

Centuries after a miracle vanquished Tresttato’s monsters and turned the soldiers fighting them to stone, Milo lovingly tends to the statues of those who protected the city. Raised with devout templars and scholars, autistic temple ward Milo wants nothing more than to be accepted into their ranks. When his prayers admiring her heroic sacrifice accidentally free Gia from stone, she wakes with a fury to kill the man Milo owes his life to, Primo Sanct Ennio.

Gia claims that the immortal holy leader Milo lives to serve is the same man who betrayed her and transformed her into a statue―and what Milo always believed was a miracle was actually a curse that Gia will stop at nothing to break. Even if she has to kill his followers to do it. Even if she must kill the boy who woke her.

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There is nothing about this premise that I do not adore. Plus-sized girls out to kill? Autistic sweetheart boys?? Horrific history buried under lying religions??? Um, HELLS YES! Really hoping this one pulls absolutely none of its punches!

Shadow Coven (The Witchery, #2) by S. Isabelle
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black MCs, Black sapphic MC, minor nonbinary character
Published on: 19th September 2023
Goodreads

The Haunting Season has ended, but dark magic lingers in the shadows.

After defeating the Wolves, Jailah, Logan, Iris, and Thalia want nothing more than a summer of fun and relaxation. But there is no rest for the wicked, especially when Death comes for Iris. She is to become a Reaper, tasked with banishing souls who refuse to cross over. But Iris suspects there’s something more ominous going on when Mathew’s role as her tether grows sinister.

Logan and Thalia are ready to prove themselves as witches. Except Logan still hears the howling Wolves and realizes that the Haunting Season may have awakened more than just her magic. And while Thalia wants to spend her days cleansing the Swamp for good, she finds herself heading to a place she swore she’d never go again: home. Witches have started going missing near Annex, and Thalia is convinced that her father is behind the disappearances. With the help of Logan and Trent, Thalia returns to stop him.

Meanwhile, Jailah is focused on her internship with the Haelsford Witchery Council until she discovers a treacherous magic hidden beneath Mesmortes, and there are those who will go to great lengths to keep it buried. So, she turns to the only person who understands, even if it’s the one witch who hates her most.

Separated by distance, the coven is surrounded by magical and mundane threats that must be defeated before they lose their witchery--and each other--forever...

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Another sequel, and a witchy book just in time for spooky season! I’m curious about where this is going to go, after how the first book went down…

Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #154 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Too Full of Scat: Sandymancer by David Edison

Sandymancer by David Edison
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi, Science Fantasy
Representation: Major bi/pansexual character
Published on: 19th September 2023
ISBN: 1466869216
Goodreads

A wild girl with sand magic in her bones and a mad god who is trying to fix the world he broke come together in SANDYMANCER, a genre-warping mashup of weird fantasy and hard science fiction.

All Caralee Vinnet has ever known is dust. Her whole world is made up of the stuff; water is the most precious thing in the cosmos. A privileged few control what elements remain. But the world was not always a dust bowl and the green is not all lost.

Caralee has a secret—she has magic in her bones and can draw up power from the sand beneath her feet to do her bidding. But when she does she winds up summoning a monster: the former god-king who broke the world 800 years ago and has stolen the body of her best friend.

Caralee will risk the whole world to take back what she’s lost. If her new companion doesn’t kill her first.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~the sky is broken
~the metal people broke it
~sci fi masquerading as fantasy
~I really wish this had been a different book

Sandymancer is one of those books where you watch the remaining page count get smaller and smaller, with a sinking certainty that there isn’t enough room left for everything that needs dealing with to get dealt with.

And that sinking feeling is completely correct.

As far as I can tell, everything about Sandymancer promised it was a standalone. It’s not. It’s the start of a series – or at least, it had better be, because Sandymancer is all set-up with no pay-off, and the book ends with almost every thread we started with still left hanging.

And the thing is, if it had been presented to me as the start of a series, I would have gone in with completely different expectations. My entire reading experience would have been very different. There are things that are huge no-nos for a standalone that are acceptable, or even great, in a series-opener…and because I thought this was a standalone, they landed wrong for me. Sandymancer didn’t leave me excited to see what happens next; it left me frustrated as hell with all my unanswered questions, and a pretty pathetic milk-sop of an ending.

To be honest, it worries me GREATLY that I can find no mention online of Sandymancer being a series, of there being a sequel planned. Because you know how there are books that could stand alone just fine, but also leave room for the author to come back and write a sequel if they want and are able to? Sandymancer is not that book. Sandymancer does not stand alone in any way, shape or form. It is incomplete.

I have not encountered this particular kind of set-up many times, but it’s familiar enough: a post-apocalyptic world that looks back on the civilisation before the Fall/Rending/insert-your-term-of-choice here as mythically perfect. When inhabitants of this world encounter workings of the ancients, they call them magic, but they’re not magic, just very advanced science. This is Caralee’s world, and it is dry and dusty and pretty dead, because eons before the Son of the Vine ruined it all.

And then Caralee meets the Son of the Vine. Who is still around – in a manner of speaking. And who, inscrutably, decides to try teaching Caralee rather than killing her with a wave of his hand, as he could absolutely do. She will accompany him on his mission to do…things.

Thus begins a good long trek across a fairly dead landscape, where we hear about various critters and monsters but don’t see them, encounter several Rather Alarming mysteries that do not get resolved, and endure a whole lot of telling-not-showing. Often literally, since the Son is given to lecturing.

There’s probably a name for stories that are basically just people travelling from point A to B to C – where the moving is the only real plot – and I don’t know what it is, but you can slap that label on Sandymancer. There are a few tiny sub-plots that delight – like the carpet, and the memory-songs, and I thought Caralee drawing everything she thinks into her miraculous-to-her notebook was quite sweet. But mostly, things are encountered, and then the characters move on, without anything really happening. The sky is broken! There are metal people! The world-sustaining Vine is dead! All of that is touched on, and then the narrative sort of…wanders off from the point. We don’t get to sink our teeth into any of the potentially Very Interesting bits, and it’s maddening.

The part of the book I adored, though, were those chapters written from the Son’s point of view, where he’s looking back on the world he knew and the events that led up to him doing what he did. Those were powerful, full of intrigue and emotion and magic (if you can make plants grow out of your head, dude, I’m calling it magic), with the hints of a truly glorious, strange, and wonderful world sketched in around the edges. I wanted more of that so bad. To the point where I pretty quickly came to resent the main story, because the main story was one I didn’t care about; I wanted the Son’s story, and specifically the world he grew up in. I think, for Sandymancer, keeping Caralee as the main character and making the Son’s chapters few and short was the right choice – but I wish we hadn’t had Sandymancer at all, but a different book entirely, one set in that past. That I would have been glued to.

Caralee…there’s a little bit of comedy – or something, comedy doesn’t seem like the right word, but I don’t know what else to call it – in how limited Caralee’s understanding of things like biology and physics are, at the very beginning of the book. But that effect – comedic, or charming, or whatever it is – runs out fast, and then it just becomes kind of tiring. I liked Caralee as a character a lot – I loved how determined she was, and how hungry for knowledge, and how few fucks she had to give for anyone trying to scare her or make her feel small. But the smallness of the story is made even smaller through her perspective on it, and not in an interesting Unreliable Narrator kind of way.

The Son was my favourite kind of villain, right up until he wasn’t. Seriously, the whole Thing of the ending was so pastel and perfect and Friendship Is Magic that I just Cannot, okay? I Cannot.

I will not.

Final point: I recognise that I am a prude, and I want my SFF to be pretty. I’m shallow like that. But what is the obsession with faeces here??? It’s one thing to replace ‘shit’ with ‘scat’ as a curseword; that’s fine, whatever. But it’s everywhere – as a curse, it feels like it’s every third word out of Caralee’s mouth, and hi, her laughing while the giant bugs who eat scat are ‘licking’ all over her face is disgusting. Way, WAY too much of that, did not need it, did not want it, do not care if you call me a prude for it. Just: nope. Stop. Why???

I adored Edison’s debut, The Waking Engine, and I will pounce on future works of his – but probably not any sequels to Sandymancer, if we do in fact get any. There were so many great individual bits and pieces here, but they were lost and overwhelmed by what I can only call the vagueness of the story. It fails as a standalone, and honestly, it doesn’t impress as a series-opener either.

Skip it and read something else.

The post Too Full of Scat: Sandymancer by David Edison appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #153

Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.

FIFTEEN books this week!

(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)

Cursebreakers by Madeleine Nakamura
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC with bipolar disorder
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

Adrien Desfourneaux, professor of magic, must survive his own failing mental health and a tenuous partnership with a dangerous ally in order to save the city of Astrum from a spreading curse.

Adrien Desfourneaux, professor of magic and disgraced ex-physician, has discovered a conspiracy. Someone is inflicting magical comas on the inhabitants of the massive city of Astrum, and no one knows how or why. Caught between a faction of scheming magical academics and an explosive schism in the ranks of Astrum’s power-hungry military, Adrien is swallowed by the growing chaos. Alongside Gennady, an unruly, damaged young soldier, and Malise, a brilliant healer and Adrien’s best friend, Adrien searches for a way to stop the spreading curse before the city implodes. He must survive his own bipolar disorder, his self-destructive tendencies, and his entanglement with the man who doesn’t love him back.

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I have been WILD to get my hands on Cursebreakers since I first heard about it, and I’m vibrating with excitement at having just one more day to wait! AHHHHHH SIA NEEDS!!!

Mammoths at the Gates (The Singing Hills Cycle, #4) by Nghi Vo
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary MC, East Asian-coded cast & setting
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

The Hugo and Crawford Award-Winning Series!

The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest.

Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass--and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather’s body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor’s chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve.

But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien’s own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate. . .

The novellas of The Singing Hills Cycle are linked by the cleric Chih, but may be read in any order, with each story serving as an entrypoint.

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Nghi Vo probably needs no introduction! I have yet to encounter a book of hers that I did not ADORE, and the Singing Hills series has had a special place in my heart since book one. (What can I say, I vibe with the story-collecting nonbinary monk!)

The Free People's Village by Sim Kern
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

In an alternate 2020 timeline, Al Gore won the 2000 election and declared a War on Climate Change rather than a War on Terror. For twenty years, Democrats have controlled all three branches of government, enacting carbon-cutting schemes that never made it to a vote in our world. Green infrastructure projects have transformed U.S. cities into lush paradises (for the wealthy, white neighborhoods, at least), and the Bureau of Carbon Regulation levies carbon taxes on every financial transaction.

English teacher by day, Maddie Ryan spends her nights and weekends as the rhythm guitarist of Bunny Bloodlust, a queer punk band living in a warehouse-turned-venue called "The Lab" in Houston's Eighth Ward. When Maddie learns that the Eighth Ward is to be sacrificed for a new electromagnetic hyperway out to the wealthy, white suburbs, she joins "Save the Eighth," a Black-led organizing movement fighting for the neighborhood. At first, she's only focused on keeping her band together and getting closer to Red, their reckless and enigmatic lead guitarist. But working with Save the Eighth forces Maddie to reckon with the harm she has already done to the neighborhood—both as a resident of the gentrifying Lab and as a white teacher in a predominantly Black school.

When police respond to Save the Eighth protests with violence, the Lab becomes the epicenter of “The Free People’s Village”—an occupation that promises to be the birthplace of an anti-capitalist revolution. As the movement spreads across the U.S., Maddie dreams of a queer, liberated future with Red. But the Village is beset on all sides—by infighting, police brutality, corporate-owned media, and rising ecofascism. Maddie’s found family is increasingly at risk from state violence, and she must decide if she’s willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of justice.

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Yeahhhhhhh, this sounds awesome. I may need to be in the right headspace to tackle it, but I am MASSIVELY looking forward to it!

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC, secondary F/F, queernorm setting
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

“Godkiller will have you in its grasp from the first pages. . . An extraordinary journey.” — Samantha Shannon, New York Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree

"Beautifully imagined and intensely felt . . . Godkiller is a bone-rattling fantasy thriller that flies by in a breathtaking rush." — Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Locke & Key

Enter a land of gods and monsters, soldiers and mercenaries, secrets and wishes—the explosive #1 internationally bestselling fantasy debut in a new trilogy for fans of The Witcher and Gideon the Ninth

Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren. Formed by human desires and fed by their worship, there are countless gods in the world—but after a great war, the new king outlawed them and now pays “godkillers” to destroy any who try to rise from the shadows.

As a child, Kissen saw her family murdered by a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing them and enjoys it. But all this changes when Kissen is tasked with helping a young noble girl with a god problem. The child’s soul is bonded to a tiny god of white lies, and Kissen can’t kill it without ending the girl’s life too.

Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, the unlikely group must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favor. Pursued by assassins and demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning. Something is rotting at the heart of their world, and they are the only ones who can stop it.

"Epic and intimate, tender and sharp, Godkiller is a triumph of storytelling." — Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf

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Godkiller was released in the UK back in January, where it received a LOT of love – and absolutely deserved it. This is another of my favourites of the year – I could have written an ESSAY on the very first line alone!

The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

A lyrical, queer sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet as a locked-room thriller

Hayden Lichfield’s life is ripped apart when he finds his father murdered in their lab, and the camera logs erased. The killer can only have been after one thing: the Sisyphus Formula the two of them developed together, which might one day reverse death itself. Hoping to lure the killer into the open, Hayden steals the research. In the process, he uncovers a recording his father made in the days before his death, and a dying wish: Avenge me…

With the lab on lockdown, Hayden is trapped with four other people—his uncle Charles, lab technician Gabriel Rasmussen, research intern Felicia Xia and their head of security, Felicia’s father Paul—one of whom must be the killer. His only sure ally is the lab’s resident artificial intelligence, Horatio, who has been his dear friend and companion since its creation. With his world collapsing, Hayden must navigate the building’s secrets, uncover his father’s lies, and push the boundaries of sanity in the pursuit of revenge.

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I adored Liu’s debut novella If Found Return to Hell, and have heard nothing but good things about their first novel! Although I really couldn’t care less about Shakespeare, I’ve had some very good times with SFF retellings of Hamlet specifically, so my hopes are high!

A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M, secondary nonbinary character, secondary brown character
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

Enter the bazaar of the bizarre where fate and fortunes are for sale in this high-stakes magical adventure across a London not quite like our own, perfect for fans of Neverwhere and The Night Circus.

Below Covent Garden lies the Untermarkt, where anything and everything has a price: a lover’s first blush, a month of honesty, a wisp of fortune. As a child, Deri was sold to one of the Market’s most powerful merchants. Now, after years of watchful servitude, Deri finally spots a chance to buy not only his freedom but also his place amongst the Market’s elite when he stumbles into the path of a runaway princess desperate to sell her royal destiny.

But news of the missing princess and her wayward destiny spreads. Royal enforcers and Master Merchants alike are after it. Outmanoeuvring them all would all be hard enough had Deri not just also met the love of his life, a young man called Owain, whose employers are using the Market for their own nefarious schemes.

Deri soon finds that the price of selling the royal destiny, making a name for himself, and saving the man he loves is dear. The cost of it all might just change the destiny of London forever.

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Galey has created one of my favourite magical markets EVER, the kind where you can buy intangible, impossible things like promises and gossip – and, of course, dreams and destinies. I didn’t quite click with the writing style, but I still think this is an objectively excellent book, whose worldbuilding and magic absolutely delighted me. And I’m pretty sure most readers are going to be head-over-heels for the mcs!

Talonsister by Jen Williams
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Achillean MC
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

Uncover a magical past that refuses to be forgotten in a world of mythical creatures and ruthless religion in this brand-new duology from the multi-award winning author of The Ninth Rain, perfect for fans of John Gwynne and Andrea Stewart.

Leven has no memory of her life before she was a soldier. The process of turning her into a Herald – a magical killing machine – was traumatic enough that it wiped her mind clean. Now, with the war won and the Imperium satisfied, she finds herself unemployed and facing a bleak future. Her fellow Heralds are disappearing, and her own mind seems to be coming apart at the seams. Strange visions, memories she shouldn’t have, are resurfacing, and none of them make any sense. They show her Brittletain, the ancient and mysterious island that the Imperium was never able to tame. Leven resolves to go to this place of magic and warring queens, with the hope of finding who she really is.

Envoy Kaeto has done a number of important little jobs for the Imperium, most of them nasty, all of them in the shadows. His newest assignment is to escort the bone-crafter Gynid Tyleigh as she travels across the Imperium – as the woman responsible for creating the Heralds, his employers owe her a great deal. But Tyleigh’s ambition alarms even Kaeto, and her conviction that she has found a new source of Titan bones, buried deep in the earth, could lead to another, even bloodier war.

Ynis was raised by the griffins, and has never seen another human face. She lives wild, as they do, eating her meat raw and flying with her talon-sister, T’rook. The griffins fiercely protect their isolation – the piles of skulls that litter the mountains of Brittletain are testament to that – but the magic they guard will always make them a target for the greed of men. By choosing not to kill Ynis when she was just a baby, the griffins may have doomed themselves – because the girl’s past is coming for her, and it carries a lethal blade.

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Williams is a fantasy master, and Talonsister continues her streak of epically awesome novels. I think I was in just the wrong headspace when I picked this up – I had to put it aside, but I fully intend to come back and give it another go, because it is seriously fabulous. Warriors given wings and impossible strength by the bones of (sentient D:) magical creatures! A wildwood queendom ruled by a fantasy-version of Boudica, with forests patrolled by horned wood-walkers! An empire of stars! GRIFFINS! If this isn’t a hit the system is rigged, okay?

A Sword of Bronze and Ashes by Anna Smith Spark
Genres: Fantasy, Horror
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

Readers of Shauna Lawless and Thilde Kold Holdt will love this Celtic-inflected adventure by critically acclaimed, grimdark epic fantasy novelist, Anna Smith Spark.

A Sword of Bronze and Ashes combines the fierce beauty of Celtic myth with grimdark battle violence. It's a lyrical, folk horror high fantasy.

Kanda has a good life until shadows from her past return threatening everything she loves. And Kanda, like any parent, has things in her past she does not want her children to know. Red war is pursued by an ancient evil, Kanda must call upon all her strength to protect her family. But how can she keep her children safe, if they want to stand as warriors beside her when the light fades and darkness rises?

FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. Learn more about Flame Tree Press at www.flametreepress.com and connect on social media @FlameTreePress

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Okay, we all know I SUCK at reading grimdark. So I probably won’t manage to read this. But I really want to give it a try anyway; I’m fascinated by mothers in fantasy – we see them so rarely! – and this premise intrigues me as much as it alarms me. I just need a running start…

The Collector by Laura Kat Young
Genres: Sci Fi
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

A frightening dystopian horror novel where grief is forbidden and purged from the mind – a nightmarish mix of 1984 and Never Let Me Go

The Bureau has your best interests in mind

Some people kill themselves first. Dev is the Collector of the month. His job is to record memories of grief for the Bureau’s catalogue before the person is Reset. After all, sorrow is unproductive, inefficient. 

But after Dev records the memory donations, he returns home and secretly preserves them for himself in a notebook, kept hidden behind a wall in his tiny apartment. But the Bureau is always watching. And Dev’s small transgression leads to a terrible betrayal from which there is no way back.

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I’m not gonna lie, I can see the appeal of a world without grief. But this is a dystopian novel, not a utopian one, so clearly it’s more nightmarish than not… I’m intrigued.

This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

Fake dating gets a magical twist in this enchanting queer romantic comedy where a witch worries that the real feelings brewing between her and her crush were sparked by an accidental love potion, and the only way out of the disastrous spell is a healthy dose of the truth--drink up, witches.

Potion maker and self-proclaimed "messy witch" Morgan Greenwood is sure she was hexed at birth. Not only did she drunkenly offer to fake date the woman of her dreams during the biennial New England Witches' festival, but Rory Sandler, spellcasting champion and brilliant elemental witch--for reasons known only to the Goddess--accepted. It's like every good luck spell Morgan ever cast came through at once, and it doesn't take a crystal ball to predict this charade will end with a broken heart.

Or is the magic between them real? As Morgan and Rory prepare to fool everyone at the festival, their relationship starts to feel a whole lot less fake--right until Morgan realizes she might have screwed up the common relaxation potion she made for Rory and given her a love potion instead, breaking one of the most sacred Witch Council Laws.

To fulfill her promise to Rory, Morgan must somehow keep playing pretend while under the watchful eyes of Rory's family and legion of fans. But to break the love potion, she'll also have to prove how incompatible she and Rory really are. For a screwup like her, ruining their relationship should be easy--except every day, Morgan is becoming more bewitched by Rory herself.

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This sounds like lovely, fluffy fun! I’m a sucker for witchy romances with punny titles, so yes, this is going on my tbr for sure, for the next time I need something heartwarming.

Monstrous by Jessica Lewis
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Horror, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black sapphic MC
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

Forced to spend her summer in her aunt's strange small town, a teen girl discovers dark secrets hidden in the woods. From the author of Bad Witch Burning comes another pulse-pounding novel perfect for fans of Supernatural and Lovecraft Country.
Don't go outside past dark. Come straight home after church. And above all—never, ever, go into Red Wood.

These are the rules Latavia’s aunt tells her as soon as she arrives in Sanctum, Alabama for the summer. Weird, but Latavia isn’t here to solve any scary small town mysteries; she’s here for six weeks and six weeks only, and then she’s off to college and won’t look back. Still, Sanctum has its perks—mainly, the cute girl who works at the local ice cream shop.

But Latavia can’t ignore how strange her aunt’s tiny town is. The residents are suspicious of her and at times hostile, and it’s clear she’s some kind of outsider. That’s proven when Latavia is dragged out of her house in the dead of night, into the forbidden Red Wood, and presented as a human sacrifice to an ancient monster.

Latavia won’t be eaten without a fight. She’ll do whatever she has to do to survive—even if that includes making a deal with the monster, endangering her crush and family, and even risk turning into a monster herself.

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I am ALL FOR girls making deals with monsters, especially if it involves becoming a monster themselves. MORE MONSTROUS GIRLS, YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU!

A Hundred Vicious Turns (The Broken Tower, #1) by Lee Paige O'Brien
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary MC, major trans character
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

The heir to an arcane bloodline must outwit their ambitious rival to stop a ruthless magical adversary in a YA fantasy debut perfect for fans of A Lesson in Vengeance and Hell Followed With Us   

Rat Evans, nonbinary heir to one of the oldest magical bloodlines in New York, doesn’t cast spells anymore. For as long as Rat can remember, they’ve been surrounded by doorways no one else sees and corridors that aren’t on any map. Then one day, they opened a passage and found a broken tower in a field of weeds—and something followed them back.  

When Rat is accepted into Bellamy Arts, all they want is a place to hide and to make sure they never open another passageway again. But when the only other person who knows what really happened last year—Harker Blakely, the dangerously gifted trans boy who used to be Rat’s closest friend—turns up on campus, Rat begins to realize that Bellamy Arts might not be as safe as they’d thought. And the tower might not be through with them yet.  

Soon, Rat finds themself caught in a web of secrets and long-buried magic, with their friend-turned-enemy at their throat. But the closer they come to uncovering the truth about the tower, the further they’re drawn toward the unsettling powers that threaten to swallow them whole.

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This book didn’t quite work for me, but if you go into it NOT expecting a Magic School story – despite the setting – you might have a better time with it?

Goddess Crown by Shade Lapite
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Black MC
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

In this thrilling Afro-fantasy, the first set in the lush, opulent kingdom of Galla, a girl raised in secret must leave her sheltered rural home for the subtle dangers of the royal court, where she becomes caught up in deadly power struggles and romantic intrigue.

Kalothia has grown up in the shadows of her kingdom, hidden away in the forested East after her parents were outed as enemies of the king. Raised in a woodland idyll by a few kindly adult caretakers, Kalothia can hunt and fish and fend for herself but knows little of the outside world. When assassins attack her home on her sixteenth birthday, she must flee to the king's court in the West--a beautiful but lethal nest of poison, plots, and danger, overseen by an entrenched patriarchy. Guided by the Goddess herself, can Kalothia navigate this most worldly of places to find her own role? What if she must choose between her country and her heart? Excitement, romance, and a charismatic heroine shine in this first book set in the unforgettable kingdom of Galla.

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I’ve been very tired of awesome girls vs the patriarchy stories for a while, but I might have to make an exception for Goddess Crown – I want to know about Kalothia’s goddess, especially since it kind of sounds like the aforementioned patriarchy might not survive the encounter intact!

The Meadows by Stephanie Oakes
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

"A story of pain, injustice, love, resistance, and hope, this glorious book will lodge inside you and make you feel everything.” —Helena Fox, award-winning author of How It Feels to Float

A queer, YA Handmaid’s Tale meets Never Let Me Go about a dystopian society bent on relentless conformity, and the struggle of one girl to save herself and those she loves from a life of lies

Everyone hopes for a letter—to attend the Estuary, the Glades, the Meadows. These are the special places where only the best and brightest go to burn even brighter.

When Eleanor is accepted at the Meadows, it means escape from her hardscrabble life by the sea, in a country ravaged by climate disaster. But despite its luminous facilities, endless fields, and pretty things, the Meadows keeps dark secrets: its purpose is to reform students, to condition them against their attractions, to show them that one way of life is the only way to survive. And maybe Eleanor would believe them, except then she meets Rose.

Four years later, Eleanor and her friends seem free of the Meadows, changed but not as they’d hoped. Eleanor is an adjudicator, her job to ensure her former classmates don’t stray from the lives they’ve been trained to live. But Eleanor can’t escape her past . . . or thoughts of the girl she once loved. As secrets unfurl, Eleanor must wage a dangerous battle for her own identity and the truth of what happened to the girl she lost, knowing, if she’s not careful, Rose’s fate could be her own.

A raw and timely masterwork of speculative fiction, The Meadows will sink its roots into you. This is a novel for our times and for always—not to be missed.

"Evocative prose and worldbuilding shot through with equal parts melancholy and hope" —PW (starred review)

“Timely and gripping, [with] a new revelation always around the corner” —Kirkus Reviews

"Atmospheric and unsettling . . . Belongs in every collection" —Natalie C. Parker, author of the Seafire series

“Extraordinary” —Helena Fox, author of How It Feels to Float

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There’s been so much love for this one that I definitely need to give it a try – although I still recommend The Women Could Fly for anyone looking for a queer Handmaid’s Tale!

Captive (Invictus #1) by Rachel Neumeier
Genres: Sci Fi
Published on: 15th September 2023
Goodreads

Every soldier knows there are endless ways to die.Every Ubezhishche soldier knows there are far worse fates than death.

Sevastien one zero two four, S line third modification, has survived the destruction of his own ship and an enemy station. But he was rescued by the wrong side -- by Nalyn Ila, captain of the Elysian destroyer Invictus. Now he's facing a difficult problem: How to persuade Captain Ila and her people that he is not an enemy combatant. That if there was an act of war, it was committed by her people, not his own.

Sevastien is almost certain he was an innocent bystander of disaster ... unless his own people set him up, aiming to get him aboard Invictus for reasons he can't yet understand. Maybe they did. It's just the kind of thing Ubezhishche Command might do.

Nalyn Ila is almost certain Sevastien is an enemy agent, placed aboard her ship by Ubezhishche Command. But no one, not her own people nor the enemy nor Sevastien himself, can possibly guess what use she might actually have for an Ubezhishche soldier. Even if he actually is an innocent bystander, she may be able to use him in her private long-laid plans. And if he's actually an enemy agent ... that might be even better.

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Neumeier’s enchanted me with her fantasy books over and over, so it only seems fair to give her a chance to wow me with sci fi, too!

Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #153 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…Cursebreakers by Madeleine Nakamura

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Cursebreakers by Madeleine Nakamura!

Cursebreakers by Madeleine Nakamura
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Achillean MC with bipolar disorder
Published on: 12th September 2023
Goodreads

Adrien Desfourneaux, professor of magic, must survive his own failing mental health and a tenuous partnership with a dangerous ally in order to save the city of Astrum from a spreading curse.

Adrien Desfourneaux, professor of magic and disgraced ex-physician, has discovered a conspiracy. Someone is inflicting magical comas on the inhabitants of the massive city of Astrum, and no one knows how or why. Caught between a faction of scheming magical academics and an explosive schism in the ranks of Astrum’s power-hungry military, Adrien is swallowed by the growing chaos. Alongside Gennady, an unruly, damaged young soldier, and Malise, a brilliant healer and Adrien’s best friend, Adrien searches for a way to stop the spreading curse before the city implodes. He must survive his own bipolar disorder, his self-destructive tendencies, and his entanglement with the man who doesn’t love him back.

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I’ve been excited for Cursebreakers ever since I first heard about it – when on EARTH did you last see a main character in a fantasy novel with bipolar disorder? Because I don’t think I ever have.

(For the record, the story is set in a secondary world, so bipolar disorder has another, fantasy-land name, but that’s still what it is.)

I’ve very rarely seen mental health interact with magic in fiction, full stop – and in most secondary-world settings, what we do get is generally not recognised or named by the characters as an illness or disorder; it’s coded. So the fact that Nakamura not just included it, but also named it, is a) a big deal and b) makes me VERY interested to see her worldbuilding! A fantasy setting that recognises something like bipolar disorder??? I want to know what else Nakamura has woven into her world, what impact things like bipolar disorder have on the fantastical elements of the story and world. Is there medication for Adrien, and if so, who makes it? What’s it made of? Where does it come from? Does his bipolar disorder affect his magic? It would make sense, given that from what I know (and two of the most important people in my life have and had it) bipolar disorder affects everything else about your life.

I’ve not read too many reviews, because I don’t want spoilers, but I have seen a lot of people waxing poetic over the worldbuilding, so yes, I’m excited! I mean, even Katherine Addison was impressed;

“Adrien’s narration was vivid, prickly, and compelling, and I loved the world she built around him, especially the beautiful names and terms, but also the institutional history of Pharmakeia and Curia (and Chirurgeonate), with the occasional, tantalizing glimpses of the wider world. And I admired the way she hung the plot together on the dual armatures of that institutional history and Adrien’s deeply flawed character.”

—Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor

Do you remember the incredibly detailed worldbuilding of Goblin Emperor??? Because I do, and if Addison approves of Nakamura’s, I think it’s safe to say we are in for a GREAT TIME.

(Plus, ‘deeply flawed character’? Oh, yes PLEASE! Gimme all the tormented, complicated, flawed characters – squeaky clean ones are just dull at this point.)

Also, in case it’s not clear from the blurb: it seems Cursebreakers is, among other things, a bit of a magic school story – from the perspective of one of the teachers. Which is something I’ve never seen before, and is objectively an amazing idea. I can’t wait to see what Nakamura does with it!

I have my copy pre-ordered – you have a week to do the same!

The post I Can’t Wait For…Cursebreakers by Madeleine Nakamura appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

10 Books That Defied My Expectations

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 prompt was submitted by yours truly, so of course I couldn’t miss it!!! Still so delighted that it was accepted, and I can’t wait to see what all my favourite bloggers do with it!

Here’s my own take!

The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC, Indigenous MC, secondary asexual character, minor disabled Indigenous character
Goodreads

In Lambda Award finalist Chana Porter’s highly anticipated new novel, an aspiring chef, a cyberthief, and a kitchen maid each break free of a society that wants to constrain them.

In the quaint religious town of Seagate, abstaining from food brings one closer to God.

But Beatrice Bolano is hungry. She craves the forbidden: butter, flambé, marzipan. As Seagate takes increasingly extreme measures to regulate every calorie its citizens consume, Beatrice must make a choice: give up her secret passion for cooking or leave the only community she has known.

Elsewhere, Reiko Rimando has left her modest roots for a college tech scholarship in the big city. A flawless student, she is set up for success...until her school pulls her funding, leaving her to face either a mountain of debt or a humiliating return home. But Reiko is done being at the mercy of the system. She forges a third path—outside of the law.

With the guidance of a mysterious cookbook written by a kitchen maid centuries ago, Beatrice and Reiko each grasp for a life of freedom—something more easily imagined than achieved in a world dominated by catastrophic corporate greed.

A startling fable of the entwined perils of capitalism, body politics, and the stigmas women face for appetites of every kind, Chana Porter’s profound new novel explores the reclamation of pleasure as a revolutionary act.

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I honestly had no idea this was SFF! Nor did I realise this was written by the author of The Seep – which I haven’t read yet, but it is HIGH on my tbr, as I’ve heard nothing but love for it. But that means The Thick and the Lean took me COMPLETELY by surprise when it in fact turned out to be set in a world with two moons, zeppelins, and a morbidly fascinating dominant religion that is super sex-positive, but comes close to outright demonising eating!

It’s not Hard SciFi or anything – we’re not talking space travel and origamiing (real word!) the laws of physics – but it was unexpected and delightful to find spec-fic where I wasn’t looking for it!

A Restless Truth (Last Binding #2) by Freya Marske
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F, secondary achillean characters
Goodreads

Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance! The second entry in Freya Marske's beloved The Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light

The most interesting things in Maud Blyth's life have happened to her brother Robin, but she's ready to join any cause, especially if it involves magical secrets that may threaten the whole of the British Isles. Bound for New York on the R.M.S. Lyric, she's ready for an adventure.

What she actually finds is a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and a beautiful stranger in Violet Debenham, who is everything—a magician, an actress, a scandal—Maud has been trained to fear and has learned to desire. Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of loathsome, aristocratic suspects, they must solve a murder and untangle a conspiracy that began generations before them.

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I enjoyed the first book in this series, Marvellous Light…but in that way that fades more the further you get away from the book, you know? So Restless Truth lingered on my tbr until I was looking for something fun and light, something I could pick up and put down easily.

Yeah, spoiler: Restless Truth is not easy to put down. It is fun and light, but it’s also absolutely dazzling; it was the first book in a long while that gave me that glittery-bubbles-fireworks feeling in my chest, and you could not have pried me away from the pages with a crowbar! I was completely swept off my feet, fell head-over-heels for every one of the characters and their should-have-been-ridiculous shenanigans on a great big BOAT, and I still don’t understand how it managed to feel like joy in text form. BUT I MASSIVELY APPROVE!

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual biracial/latina MC, F/F, bisexual MC
Goodreads

In this spellbinding debut novel, two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family's library of magical books must work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection--a tale of familial loyalty and betrayal, and the pursuit of magic and power.

For generations, the Kalotay family has guarded a collection of ancient and rare books. Books that let a person walk through walls or manipulate the elements--books of magic that half-sisters Joanna and Esther have been raised to revere and protect.

All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna's isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy. In the process, they'll uncover a world of magic far bigger and more dangerous than they ever imagined, and all the secrets their parents kept hidden; secrets that span centuries, continents, and even other libraries . . .

In the great tradition of Ninth House, The Magicians, and Practical Magic, this is a suspenseful and richly atmospheric novel that draws readers into a vast world filled with mystery and magic, romance, and intrigue--and marks the debut of an extraordinary new voice in speculative fiction.

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I picked this up on a whim – a complete whim! – because I was intrigued by the sound of magical books…and it turned out to be one of my favourite reads of the year, easily. The magical books aren’t just cool; the entire magic system is bloody brilliant, and I adored the sneaky, unexpectedly-complicated plot. The characters nicked my heart when I wasn’t looking, and there is a wonderful dog and an equally wonderful cat! What more could you ask for?

You can read my full review here!

If Found, Return to Hell by Em X. Liu
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary MC, Chinese cast and setting
Goodreads

Being an intern at One Wizard sounds magical on the page, but in practice mostly means getting yelled at by senior mages and angry clients alike. And so, after receiving a frantic call from a young man who’s awoken to a talisman on his bedroom wall—and no memory of how it got there—Journeyman Wen jumps at the chance to escape call-center duty and actually help someone for once.

But the case ends up being more complicated than Wen could ever have anticipated. The client has been possessed by a demon prince from Hell, and he’s not interested in leaving.

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I was expecting this to be a romance – and I thought (assumed, really) that the MC was a cis guy. Neither of those things are true, and it is SO GREAT! As someone who’s worked Customer Support for tech, my heart went out to our MC, who really just wants to help just one person for real…and ends up with a ridiculously adorable prince of hell to babysit. And maybe the beginnings of a pretty awesome found-family.

Also, the scene with the vacuum cleaner made me laugh until I cried.

The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue, #1) by Christopher Buehlman
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads

Kinch Na Shannack owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, which includes (but is not limited to) lock-picking, knife-fighting, wall-scaling, fall-breaking, lie-weaving, trap-making, plus a few small magics. His debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveler that crosses his path.

But today, Kinch Na Shannack has picked the wrong mark.

Galva is a knight, a survivor of the brutal goblin wars, and handmaiden of the goddess of death. She is searching for her queen, missing since a distant northern city fell to giants.

Unsuccessful in his robbery and lucky to escape with his life, Kinch now finds his fate entangled with Galva's. Common enemies and uncommon dangers force thief and knight on an epic journey where goblins hunger for human flesh, krakens hunt in dark waters, and honor is a luxury few can afford.

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I initially passed right by this – I mean, that cover? That colour scheme? That style of illustration? On a book with Thief in the title? Clearly the kind of gritty macho grimdark that I really can’t stand.

(For one thing, I have far too weak a stomach.)

Well, it is a bit gritty, but it’s definitely not grimdark – it’s a snarky, delightful adventure in a world that’s become matriarchal by default (because most men were killed in the goblin wars) and has no horses (also because of the wars), and our black-tongued thief has a heart of gold, more curiousity than a cat, and an amazing voice (the book’s written in first-person and that was EXACTLY the right choice!) The prequel we’re getting next year is one of my most-anticipated books of 2024! Pretty good for a book I thought wasn’t for me at all!

No Gods, No Monsters (Convergence Saga #1) by Cadwell Turnbull
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black bi mc, Puerto Rican American sapphic mc, biracial bi ace trans mc, nonbinary side character, Black bi side character, Black side characters
Goodreads

Named a BEST BOOK OF 2021 by the New York Times , NPR, the New York Public Library, Audible, Tor. com, Book Riot , Library Journal , and Kirkus ! Longlisted for the 2022 PEN Open Book Award

“Riveting…[A] tender, ferocious book.”— New York Times

“Beautifully fantastical.”—NPR

“Masterful.”— Chicago Tribune

One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother has been shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it. As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend’s trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters. At the center is a mystery no one thinks to Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark? The world will soon find out.

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I thought this was going to be a really epic, incisive, brilliant contemporary fantasy that would grab all these big complex issues in its teeth… And it is! But it’s ALSO this sprawling multiversal (is that a word?) tangle…no, ‘tangle’ implies it’s out of control, and Turnbull definitely has it all under control…labyrinth of interconnected plotlines and characters and philosophies – one that doesn’t give you (m)any answers, by the way; presumably we’ll get at least SOME in book two (out in November, I think).

I never would have expected, if I’d been asked, that I could enjoy so much a book that embodies the term organised chaos, a book that raises so many questions it does not in fact answer. But I really, REALLY did!

My review!

The Velocity of Revolution by Marshall Ryan Maresca
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Cast of colour, oppressed minorities, bi/pansexual cast, secondary asexual character, secondary F/F relationship, polyamory
Goodreads

From the author of the Maradaine saga comes a new steampunk fantasy novel that explores a chaotic city on the verge of revolution.

Ziaparr: a city being rebuilt after years of mechanized and magical warfare, the capital of a ravaged nation on the verge of renewal and self-rule. But unrest foments as undercaste cycle gangs raid supply trucks, agitate the populace and vandalize the city. A revolution is brewing in the slums and shantytowns against the occupying government, led by a voice on the radio, connected through forbidden magic.

Wenthi Tungét, a talented cycle rider and a loyal officer in the city patrol, is assigned to infiltrate the cycle gangs. For his mission against the insurgents, Wenthi must use their magic, connecting his mind to Nália, a recently captured rebel, using her knowledge to find his way into the heart of the rebellion.

Wenthi's skill on a cycle makes him valuable to the resistance cell he joins, but he discovers that the magic enhances with speed. Every ride intensifies his connection, drawing him closer to the gang he must betray, and strengthens Nália's presence as she haunts his mind.

Wenthi is torn between justice and duty, and the wrong choice will light a spark in a city on the verge of combustion.

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I thought that dieselpunk sounded interesting, but I was NOT expecting a sex-positive, queernormative setting, where group sex is very common and the food sounds so good it gave me actual hunger pangs! Nor was I expecting mushroom magic, or the complexity of the colonialist themes, or how engines could be so intrinsic to a form of spirituality. (Magic system? Belief system? I’m not sure what the right term is here.) I’m still shocked at how much Maresca managed to pack into a standalone, without making any element feel rushed or underdeveloped. I can’t believe this book hasn’t gotten so much more attention!

My review!

In the Eyes of Mr Fury by Philip Ridley
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Goodreads

On the day Concord Webster turned eighteen, the Devil died. The Devil's real name was Judge Martin, but Concord's mother called him the Devil. She said he boiled babies for dinner and made lampshades out of human skin. So why did she, who hated him so venomously, have a key to his house?

The key will unlock more than just Judge's front door. It will also unlock a multitude of stories - where magic children talk to crows, men disappear in piles of leaves, and James Dean lookalikes kiss in dark alleys - and reveal a secret history that will change Concord's life forever.

Philip Ridley's second novel (following the sexually charged tour de force Crocodilia) was an instant cult classic when originally published in 1989. Now, for this new edition, Ridley has reimagined the story, expanding the original novel into the world's first LGBT magical realist epic. A vast, labyrinthine, hall-of-mirrors saga, its breathtaking imagery and stunning plot twists - covering over a hundred years - reveal Ridley to be one of the most distinctive and innovative voices in contemporary fiction.

'Philip Ridley's stories compel attention.' - The Times (London)

'Ridley is the master of modern myth.' - The Guardian

'Ridley is a visionary.' - Rolling Stone

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The first time I heard about this book, it was in a conversation where we were talking about our first times encountering queerness in fiction. A coworker waxed poetic about In the Eyes of Mr Fury, how they’d read it to raggedness as a library book in childhood and had never seen it again. Well, one of my superpowers is tracking down books, and I LOVE arranging surprise gifts, and it turned out the book was back in print. I even found them a signed copy!

…And then I was curious. I mean, at first glance, and hearing my coworker talk about it, it didn’t sound very impressive, or like my kind of book at all. But why not check out the first few pages? Maybe my coworker was just bad at describing books.

TURNS OUT, THEY’RE REALLY BAD AT DESCRIBING BOOKS.

In the Eyes of Mr Fury is closer to straight-up contemporary fantasy than it is magical realism, but it exists in the liminal space between both, where memories can be played on a film projector and birds deliver babies in flying cradles to would-be parents. It’s queer and a very good breakdown of how awful people can be about queerness, but I consider it a book about queer joy, not queer suffering. This is a book that should never have been out of print, and needs to be on everyone’s tbr, seriously!

A Matter of Oaths by Helen S. Wright
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Brown cast, M/M
Goodreads

'A compelling, mind-bending future that's finally come home to the present' – Becky Chambers, author of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

When Commander Rallya of the patrol ship Bhattya hires Rafe as their new Web officer, she knows she is taking a risk. As an oath breaker, Rafe has suffered the ultimate punishment – identity wipe – but luckily for him, there's no one else around qualified for the job. Shunned by his previous shipmates, Rafe is ready to keep his head down and do his job, but his competence quickly earns him respect, admiration, and, in one particular case, love.

It's difficult to maintain the glow of acceptance however, when his past is chasing him across the galaxy in the shape of an assassin, intent on dealing once and for all with Rafe, whatever the cost.

Originally published in 1988, A Matter of Oaths is a space opera with heart, intergalactic intrigue and epic space battle.

With a new introduction by Becky Chambers, author of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

'Fast paced and inventive ... it held my attention to the end' – C. J. Cherryh

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The fact that this was on my tbr strongly suggests that at some point, I was aware that this is a queer, brown, wildly original sci fi…but it was on my tbr for so long that I forgot what it was doing there. And when I idly glanced at it a while back, for whatever reason I got the idea it was the kind of dry bland 80s stuff I didn’t care about.

(What the hell, past!Sia??? How?!)

But something nudged me towards it again recently – I honestly don’t remember what – and WOW. WOW!!! Instant full-immersion, instantly fascinated by the sci fi elements (spaceships are controlled by being hooked up to peoples’ NERVOUS SYSTEMS, how cool is that?!), instantly delighted by the diversity and sheer brilliance of the cast. I couldn’t put it down, and I couldn’t get anything else done until I’d devoured the whole thing. Hands down one of the best sci fi novels I’ve ever read in my LIFE!

The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Brown secondary character
Goodreads

Aventurine is a brave young dragon ready to explore the world outside of her family's mountain cave . . . if only they'd let her leave it. Her family thinks she's too young to fly on her own, but she's determined to prove them wrong by capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human.

But when that human tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, she's transformed into a puny human without any sharp teeth, fire breath, or claws. Still, she's the fiercest creature in these mountains--and now she's found her true passion: chocolate. All she has to do is get to the human city to find herself an apprenticeship (whatever that is) in a chocolate house (which sounds delicious), and she'll be conquering new territory in no time . . . won't she?

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I – quite naturally, I think – assumed a book about dragons and chocolate was going to be cute and sweet and fun. I had no idea that it would, or even could, also explore – in an age-appropriate but still very deftly and meaningful way – Real Issues as well, like families that don’t see you and adults/bosses who will take advantage of you (NOT the lovely people at the chocolate shop, fyi) and, I would argue, something very close to depression, in the saddest part of the story. It’s never grim or overly heavy, but Dragon With a Chocolate Heart was the book that made me realise that Middle Grade did not – does not – automatically mean that a book is simplistic, that it has nothing of substance to say, that it has no teeth. That, in fact, a whole lot of Middle Grade is just as powerful as the best kinds of YA or Adult fiction. It’s not about the intended age of the audience; it’s about authors (and stories) that don’t talk down to their readers.

Dragon With a Chocolate Heart is cute and sweet and fun. But it’s not a fluff-piece, and I didn’t see that coming.

And that makes 10! Have you read any of these? What are some books that defied YOUR expectations???

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