Siavahda's Blog, page 62
June 29, 2022
I Can’t Wait For…A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
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 is A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys!
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Queernorm world, sapphic MC, F/F, major character with prosthetic limb, secondary trans characters, multiple neogenders
Published on: 26th July 2022
Goodreads
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On a warm March night in 2083, Judy Wallach-Stevens wakes to a warning of unknown pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. She heads out to check what she expects to be a false alarm--and stumbles upon the first alien visitors to Earth. These aliens have crossed the galaxy to save humanity, convinced that the people of Earth must leave their ecologically-ravaged planet behind and join them among the stars. And if humanity doesn't agree, they may need to be saved by force.
The watershed networks aren't ready to give up on Earth. Decades ago, they rose up to exile the last corporations to a few artificial islands, escape the dominance of nation-states, and reorganize humanity around the hope of keeping their world liveable. By sharing the burden of decision-making, they've started to heal the wounded planet.
But now corporations, nation-states, and networks all vie to represent humanity to these powerful new beings, and if any one accepts the aliens' offer, Earth may be lost. With everyone’s eyes turned skyward, everything hinges on the success of Judy's effort to create understanding, both within and beyond her own species.
“A Half-Built Garden deserves to be the first contact novel that defines a generation” is one a hell of a sell – and it’s being said by none other than Seanan McGuire, who’s not just one of my favourite authors, but one of the people I most admire.
So of course I’m interested in a book that got that kind of endorsement from her!
But I’m also genuinely in love with the premise – my love of worldbuilding naturally means I love seeing what authors do with aliens, but first-contact stories are often ‘hard’ sci-fi, which is rarely my jam. A Half-Built Garden takes place on Earth, though, which takes some of the things I rarely enjoy in first-contact stories – like humans exploring space – out of the picture. It’s a win/win! Actually, a win/win/win, because I’m dying to see Emrys’ future Earth – corporations exiled? Watershed networks? A world where humans (it sounds like) have finally got their act together??? I’m sure it won’t be a utopia, but I always love seeing what a hopeful future might look like.
(I also think it’s important – how are we supposed to build a better future if we can’t even imagine it? So imaginary better futures matter; they give us some of the building blocks to create real ones.)
Plus, I adore the idea of aliens coming to save humanity – by insisting humans leave Earth. That’s a twist I’ve never seen before, and I can’t wait to see how it plays out!
Also, I am unrepentantly in love with that cover. That title-font!!! I never thought I could be excited by title-font, BUT HERE WE ARE.
I’ve had this one preordered for ages – do you???
The post I Can’t Wait For…A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
June 27, 2022
Must-Have Monday #91
Fifteen new books to pounce on this week, ranging from cosplay to unicorns and ghost-seers!
The Clockwork Empire by Lucas J.W. Johnson Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Assorted queer and disabled MCs
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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It is the height of the industrial revolution, and the Roman Empire has stood for thousands of years. Airborne fortresses and mechanically remade soldiers guard against threats outside the empire's vast borders-even as it rots from the inside.
As an ambitious senator rises to power, and a mysterious agent plots the downfall of the gods, a motley crew of exiles assembles to stop the rising fascism of the state: an excommunicated Praetorian Guard, her remade muscle, a spy, a pilot, an ex-slave, and a noble boy disgraced, experimented on, and remade with a clockwork heart.
But smashing an authoritarian state is no simple fistfight in a taverna. Nor can one easily repair a machine that has been rusting for so long. As oppression takes hold across the Empire, the crew must find each other, find their fire, and find the agent known only as Servius-before he leads the world to destruction.
I only discovered The Clockwork Empire last-minute, but it immediately became a must-have – for one thing, I found out about it in Sarah Gailey’s newsletter, which is an endorsement that has me very interested right away. But then – found-family queers fighting fascism? Disabled rep? All The Clockwork??? Um, yes PLEASE??? (Plus, that cover is so pretty I had to include it in a larger size than usual – just look at it!)
You can read the prologue here!
Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances (Dragons and Blades, #2) by Aliette de Bodard Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer Vietnamese MC, M/M
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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From the author of the critically acclaimed Dominion of the Fallen trilogy comes a sparkling new romantic adventure full of kissing, sarcasm and stabbing.
It was supposed to be a holiday, with nothing more challenging than babysitting, navigating familial politics and arguing about the proper way to brew tea.
But when dragon prince Thuan and his ruthless husband Asmodeus find a corpse in a ruined shrine and a hungry ghost who is the only witness to the crime, their holiday goes from restful to high-pressure. Someone is trying to silence the ghost and everyone involved. Asmodeus wants revenge for the murder; Thuan would like everyone, including Asmodeus, to stay alive.
Chased by bloodthirsty paper charms and struggling to protect their family, Thuan and Asmodeus are going to need all the allies they can—and, as the cracks in their relationship widen, they'll have to face the scariest challenge of all: how to bring together their two vastly different ideas of their future...
A heartwarming standalone book set in a world of dark intrigue.
A Note on Chronology
Spinning off from the Dominion of the Fallen series, which features political intrigue in Gothic devastated Paris, this book stands alone, but chronologically follows Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders. It’s High Gothic meets C-drama in a Vietnamese inspired world—perfect for fans of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's Heaven Official's Blessing, KJ Charles, and Roshani Chokshi’s The Gilded Wolves.
This is the second book in Bodard’s Dragons and Blades series, a spin-off/sequel to the Dominion of the Fallen series! You don’t need to have read the Dominion books to enjoy these, but I do strongly recommend reading Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders (book one of this series) first!
An Accident of Stars (Manifold Worlds #1) by Foz Meadows Genres: Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC, Black asexual aromantic MC, MC with vitiligo, secondary trans characters, group marriage, matriarchy, queernorm world
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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When Saffron Coulter stumbles through a hole in reality, she finds herself trapped in Kena--a magical realm on the brink of civil war. It's there that her fate becomes intertwined with that of three very different women: Zech, the fast-thinking acolyte of a cunning, powerful exile; Viya, the spoiled, runaway consort of the empire-building ruler, Vex Leoden; and Gwen, an Earth-born worldwalker whose greatest regret is putting Leoden on the throne. But Leoden has allies, too, and chief among them is the Vex'Mara Kadeja, a dangerous ex-priestess who shares his dreams of conquest.
Pursued by Leoden and aided by the Shavaktiin--a secretive order of storytellers and mystics--the rebels flee to Veksh, a neighboring matriarchy ruled by the fearsome Council of Queens. Saffron is out of her world and out of her depth, but the further she travels, the more she finds herself bound to her friends with ties of blood and magic.
Can one girl--and an accidental worldwalker at that--really be the key to saving Kena? Or will she die trying?
This is a reissue of Meadows’ amazing portal fantasy An Accident of Stars, which is one of my all-time favourite books! An amazing portal fantasy where the secondary world is just beautifully done, and everything is so very queer and Other and wonderful. (By which I do not mean it’s a utopia, just that the worldbuilding is A++!) High fantasy politics! Religiously significant group marriage! Alien beasties people ride instead of horses! And absolutely no safety wheels – this is very much a book where adventures come with costs and the dangers are very real.
My guess is that with all the hype around A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, someone realised it would be smart to draw attention to Meadows’ other books. That being said, I would like to have strong words with whoever decided to replace the stunning Julie Dillon cover of the first edition with this generic monstrosity. Blegh!
Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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A locked room mystery in a near future world of politics and alien diplomacy.
Lydia works as translator for the Logi cultural attaché to Earth. They work well together, even if the act of translating his thoughts into English makes her somewhat wobbly on her feet. She's not the agency's best translator, but what else is she going to do? She has no qualifications, and no discernible talent in any other field.
So when tragedy strikes, and Lydia finds herself at the center of an intergalactic incident, her future employment prospects look dire--that is, if she can keep herself out of jail!
But Lydia soon discovers that help can appear from the most unexpected source...
There have been conflicting opinions on this one in my corner of the blogosphere – the reviewers I trust are split about 50/50 on whether this is marvellous or meh, so clearly I’ll have the read it and find out for myself!
Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Representation: Bisexual MC, minor gay character, sapphic love interest
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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Those who see the dead soon join them.
From the author of the critically-acclaimed Blackwing trilogy comes Ed McDonald's Daughter of Redwinter, the first of a brilliant fantasy series about how one choice can change a universe.
Raine can see--and more importantly, speak--to the dead. It's a wretched gift with a death sentence that has her doing many dubious things to save her skin. Seeking refuge with a deluded cult is her latest bad, survival-related decision. But her rare act of kindness--rescuing an injured woman in the snow--is even worse.
Because the woman has escaped from Redwinter, the fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, warrior magicians who answer to no king and who will stop at nothing to retrieve what she's stolen. A battle, a betrayal, and a horrific revelation forces Raine to enter Redwinter. It becomes clear that her ability might save an entire nation.
Pity she might have to die for that to happen...
Daughter of Redwinter surprised me in all the best ways and is officially on my best-of-2022 list! A very unique heroine and a story that refused to do anything I expected: I loved it!
The Origin of Storms (Lotus Kingdoms, #3) by Elizabeth Bear Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Representation: Third-sex/trans MC, disabled MC, South Asian-coded setting and cast
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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Hugo Award-winning author Elizabeth Bear returns to conclude her acclaimed epic fantasy trilogy of the Lotus Kingdoms which began with The Stone in the Skull and The Red-Stained Wings, bringing it all to brings a surprising, satisfying climax.
The Lotus Kingdoms are at war, with four claimants to the sorcerous throne of the Alchemical Emperor, fielding three armies between them. Alliances are made, and broken, many times over—but in the end, only one can sit on the throne. And that one must have not only the power, but the rightful claim.
The finale of the Lotus Kingdoms trilogy! This is my favourite world of Bear’s, and although I found the climax of this last book a bit disappointing, fans of the series definitelyneed to know how it all wraps up!
The Path of Thorns by A.G. Slatter Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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A gorgeous dark gothic fairy tale from award-winning author Angela Slatter. Should delight readers of Naomi Novik and Erin Morgenstern.
Asher Todd comes to live with the mysterious Morwood family as a governess to their children. Asher knows little about being a governess but she is skilled in botany and herbcraft, and perhaps more than that. And she has secrets of her own, dark and terrible - and Morwood is a house that eats secrets. With a monstrous revenge in mind, Asher plans to make it choke. However, she becomes fond of her charges, of the people of the Tarn, and she begins to wonder if she will be able to execute her plan - and who will suffer most if she does. But as the ghosts of her past become harder to control, Asher realises she has no choice.
Dark magic, retribution and twisted family secrets combine to weave a bewitching and beautifully written gothic fairy tale.
Slatter and…werewolves??? YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION SIR!
Locklands (The Founders Trilogy, #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC, F/F
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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Sancia, Clef, and Berenice have gone up against plenty of long odds in the past. But the war they’re fighting now is one even they can’t win.
This time, they’re not facing robber-baron elites, or even an immortal hierophant, but an entity whose intelligence is spread over half the globe—a ghost in the machine that uses the magic of scriving to possess and control not just objects, but human minds.
To fight it, they’ve used scriving technology to transform themselves and their allies into an army—a society—that’s like nothing humanity has seen before. With its strength at their backs, they’ve freed a handful of their enemy’s hosts from servitude, even brought down some of its fearsome, reality-altering dreadnaughts. Yet despite their efforts, their enemy marches on—implacable. Unstoppable.
Now, as their opponent closes in on its true prize—an ancient doorway, long buried, that leads to the chambers at the center of creation itself—Sancia and her friends glimpse a chance at reaching it first, and with it, a last desperate opportunity to stop this unbeatable foe. But to do so, they’ll have to unlock the centuries-old mystery of scriving’s origins, embark on a desperate mission into the heart of their enemy’s power, and pull off the most daring heist they’ve ever attempted.
And as if that weren’t enough, their adversary might just have a spy in their ranks—and a last trick up its sleeve.
A god wages war—using all of humanity as its pawns—in the unforgettable conclusion to the Founders trilogy.
Another finale, Locklands wraps up Bennett’s fascinating Founders trilogy! If you haven’t checked these books out yet, now you have no excuse!
X by Davey Davis Genres: Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Nonbinary MC
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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The world is ending, and down-and-out sadist Lee spends their days working for a big corporation and their nights wandering the streets of Brooklyn listening to true crime podcasts. But everything changes when Lee is dragged to a warehouse party by their best friend, where they find themself in the clutches of the seductive and bloodthirsty X. When Lee seeks her out again, she’s nowhere to be found.
Amid the steady constriction of civil rights and the purging of migrants and refugees, the U.S. government has recently begun encouraging the semi-voluntary “exporting” of undesirable citizens—the radicalized, the dissident, and the ungovernable. Word has it that X may be among those leaving. If Lee doesn’t track her down soon, she may be gone forever.
Early reviews have been full of praise for X, but I confess I’m probably not going to read it right away – I’m not even a little bit in the mood for dystopias right now. It does sound fascinating, though.
Like Silk Breathing by Camille Duplessis Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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When Tom Apollyon returns to Cromer to help oversee his uncle's pub, it's a difficult adjustment. Overwhelmed by his born ability to sense auras, Tom relies on constant drinking and drifting to function normally. Coming back is too much to handle and one night, he decides to end it all. He just doesn't expect to encounter a bewitching stranger when he tries.
While on an annual seaside holiday with his lover, Theo Harper takes a solitary evening stroll near the water. He thinks it's just the thing a landlocked selkie needs, yet instead of being soothed, he stops a troubled man from drowning. The earnest good deed sparks a romance that makes Tom and Theo hope for a happier, gentler life together.
While both need to decide to trust themselves and each other, they're not daunted until an alarming problem presents itself. Theo's skin - which can definitely be used to capture or kill him, to Tom's horror - has gone missing.
To build the future they want, they have to get the skin back...
Selkies! :DDD You can get me to read just about anything if you put selkies in it, and this sounds like a very sweet historical fantasy romance. Will definitely be checking it out!
Our Crooked Hearts: A Novel by Melissa Albert Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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The NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE HAZEL WOOD returns with a darkly gripping, contemporary fantasy novel full of secrets, lies, mystery, and witchcraft
The suburbs, right now . . .Ivy’s summer break kicks off with an accident, a punishment, and a mystery: a stranger whose appearance in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night, heralds a string of increasingly unsettling events. As the days pass, Ivy grapples with eerie offerings, corroded memories, and a burning question: What if there's more to her mother than meets the eye?
The city, back then . . .Dana has always been perceptive. And the summer she turns sixteen, with the help of her best friend and an ambitious older girl, her gifts bloom into a heady fling with the supernatural. As the trio’s aspirations darken, they find themselves speeding toward a violent breaking point.
Years after it began, Ivy and Dana's shared story will come down to a reckoning among a daughter, a mother, and the dark forces they never should’ve messed with.
I really enjoyed Albert’s The Hazel Wood, and although Our Crooked Hearts sounds very different, it sounds very different in excellent ways! Mother/daughter relationships are FraughtTM for me, but I fell so in love with the excerpt published on Paste that I really can’t wait to start reading this. Eee!
Cosplay: A History: The Builders, Fans, and Makers Who Bring Your Favorite Stories to Life by Andrew Liptak Published on: 28th June 2022
Goodreads
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A history of the colorful and complex kingdom of cosplay and fandom fashion by Andrew Liptak, journalist, historian, and member of the legendary fan-based Star Wars organization the 501st Legion.
In recent years, cosplay—the practice of dressing up in costume as a character—has exploded, becoming a mainstream cultural phenomenon. But what are the circumstances that made its rise possible?
Andrew Liptak—a member of the legendary 501st Legion, an international fan-based organization dedicated to the dark side of Star Wars—delves into the origins and culture of cosplay to answer this question. Cosplay: A History looks at the practice’s ever-growing fandom and conventions, its roots in 15th-century costuming, the relationship between franchises and the cosplayers they inspire, and the technology that brings even the most intricate details in these costumes to life.
Cosplay veterans and newcomers alike will find much to relish in this rich and comprehensive history.
Non-fic, but how could I not include a book about the history of cosplay?! I have been promised many glossy photographs and I am excited!!!
Unicorn Shifter Academy by J.R. Thorn Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 30th June 2022
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There are three rules at Unicorn Shifter Academy.
1. Keep unicorns a secret.
2. Never compare horn sizes.
3. No girls allowed.
Whoopsie. I broke all three.
You’d think that unicorn shifters would be chicks, right? Yeah, me too, but turns out unicorns are always males.
Until me, that is.
I’ve never shown a drop of magic in my life, even though I’m from a family of powerful witches. Well, my parents had the grand idea of performing an awakening ceremony courtesy of Fortune Academy’s best and brightest… and I think it worked a bit too well. Imagine their surprise when I sprouted a horn. A FREAKING HORN.
Not. Cool.
Turns out there was some serious rainbow hanky-panky in my family history and now the unicorn shifters are pissed off I’m in on their secret community.
Seriously, spilling the magic beans is the least of my worries.
Being a unicorn means bonding with seven other shifters for life—a life I never asked for. And since I’m the first girl in a male-only tradition, I expect this could cause some serious problems, especially because these guys are obsessed with me right off the bat. Like overly protective to the extreme. A girl can take care of herself, you know?
Thing is, we better get our act together because this Academy isn’t just for show. Unicorns are the only creatures who stand between good and evil on a cosmic scale. A monster lurks in a terrifying pit in the center of the Enchanted Forest.
And it looks like somebody let it out.
The clock starts now to trap the beast before it eats my home realm as a snack. I’ve got my big girl panties on—even if they are rainbow-colored.
Unicorn Shifter Academy is a Paranormal Shifter Romance novel with mature scenes and all the rainbow glitter unicorn shifter, uh… horns… a girl could possibly want—no choosing required. Since this is a series, book one ends in a cliffhanger.
Don’t judge me; it’s basically impossible to find books about unicorns, so yes, when one appears I jump on it! Even if it’s outside my usual comfort-zone. Maybe that’ll be a good thing!
And I unrepentantly love that cover. YAY RAINBOWS!
Fate in Suspension (Horn & Haven #1) by Archer Kay Leah Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Gay MC, pansexual MC, M/M
Published on: 30th June 2022
Goodreads
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Quiet. That's how he likes life, no drama to clean up...
Tai Xen-Vorsy leads a straightforward life: work, time at the local clubs where shapeshifters like him can play without fear, and the comforts of home with a cat that's more than half attitude. After breaking up with his last submissive, he's even taking a break from Dom duties.
Meeting Gates changes everything, and when Tai's childhood home is destroyed, his simple life goes up in flames.
The Callensdale haven was his refuge as an orphan, a hideaway that saved his life. Now it's time to return the favour. Bringing in the Fluff Brigade Brotherhood would make all the difference... if he could just get them back together. Tai won't give up—he's not that kind of unicorn. But can he reunite the brotherhood and keep his new relationship with Gates kindled at the same time?
The darkness is dragging him into the shadows, one case at a time...
Helping others is all Gates Colfaethe wants to do, being mostly unicorn shifter with a splash of Faerie. But years as an agent on trafficking cases leave him fearing just how far he'll lose himself in the job before he burns out completely.
A random hookup with Tai might be the very change he needs. A new Dom means new rules and the chance to create safe distance from work—until his worlds collide in a twist Gates should leave well enough alone. What he knows is bad enough, but running headlong into danger could kill him.
Horn & Haven is an MM+ romance series featuring a found family of unicorn shifters brought together by tragic circumstances. Friends out to save a magical world in trouble. Family fighting to protect those they love. Lovers falling for the kinkiest unicorns this side of their universe... Welcome to the Fluff Brigade Brotherhood.
See above: if it has unicorns, I’ll take it!
Queer Square Mile: Queer Short Stories from Wales by Kirsti Bohata, Mihangel Morgan, Huw Osborne Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 30th June 2022
Goodreads
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I featured Queer Square Mile last year when it was released in the UK, but this week it comes out in the US! About time!
Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!
The post Must-Have Monday #91 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
June 26, 2022
Sunday Souçons #15
soupçon/ˈsuːpsɒn,ˈsuːpsɒ̃/ noun
1. a very small quantity of something; a slight trace, as of a particular taste or flavor
Sunday Soupçons is where I scribble mini-reviews for books I don’t have the brainspace/eloquence/smarts to write about in depth – or if I just don’t have anything interesting to say beyond I LIKED IT AND YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO!
I’ve been ill and in a lot of pain this week, and both these books proved to be metaphorical lifesavers on that front. I needed immersive, well-written stories that didn’t ask too much of me, and that’s exactly what I got.
Our Child of the Stars by Stephen Cox Genres: Sci Fi
ISBN: B07B4FJF1K
Goodreads
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A lost child, the family who try to protect him and the secret that refuses to stay hidden . . .
Molly and Gene Myers were happy, until tragedy blighted their hopes of children. During the years of darkness and despair, they each put their marriage in jeopardy, but now they are starting to rebuild their fragile bond.
This is the year of Woodstock and the moon landings; war is raging in Vietnam and the superpowers are threatening each other with annihilation.
Then the Meteor crashes into Amber Grove, devastating the small New England town - and changing their lives for ever. Molly, a nurse, caught up in the thick of the disaster, is given care of a desperately ill patient rescued from the wreckage: a sick boy with a remarkable appearance, an orphan who needs a mother.
And soon the whole world will be looking for him.
Cory's arrival has changed everything. And the Myers will do anything to keep him safe.
A remarkable story of warmth, tenacity and generosity of spirit, set against the backdrop of a fast-changing, terrifying decade.
I meant to read this ages ago, and it got bumped up my tbr when the sequel was published a little earlier this year; in a lot of pain and feeling pretty miserable, I reached for it, thinking it would be…easier than the big complex fantasies I usually read.
And it was! Not in a boring way, or even a very predictable way; the word that comes to mind when I want to describe Our Child of the Stars is soft. It felt soft to my brain, gentle and tender even when dramatic and/or frightening things were happening. This book had me biting my nails with tension – and cursing out some absolutely dickheaded characters! – but the overall impression for me is still…softness.
It seems like it should be a simple enough story – aliens crash into Earth, and a human couple adopts the surviving child, who they name Cory, and who has to be kept (obviously) completely secret from everyone. But Cox infuses every character with so much depth and emotion that they all shone, a gleaming constellation around Cory himself, who is very much the sun of this solar system of a cast. Cory was a pure DELIGHT, both as a character and as an alien, and as a means of showing us Earth through an outsider’s perspective – I defy anyone to not adore him utterly!
Cox’s prose impressed me – it felt like something special, with that X factor readability but a little more beautiful, evocative, sensual, than sci-fi with minimal sci-fi elements usually is. It felt soothing; I fell into it and read the whole book in under 24 hours. There’s this really lovely balance of old-school suburbia, the difficulties and joys of raising an alien, and the high-stakes last third of the book when things become dangerous and urgent.
I loved the glimpses we got of Cory’s homeworld, his memories and what he conveys of the culture of ‘the purples’ – and I have to admit at laughing out loud at how this liberal 1960s couple had no idea how to process aliens who can change sex or be nonbinary, or how they assumed Cory wasn’t being literal when he said he had two dads as well as a mother. Hah!
So yeah. I loved this a lot, and I’m really looking forward to diving into the sequel!
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: M/M
ISBN: B0879GHMW7
Goodreads
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Ancillary Justice meets Red, White & Royal Blue in Everina Maxwell's exciting debut.
While the Iskat Empire has long dominated the system through treaties and political alliances, several planets, including Thea, have begun to chafe under Iskat's rule. When tragedy befalls Imperial Prince Taam, his Thean widower, Jainan, is rushed into an arranged marriage with Taam's cousin, the disreputable Kiem, in a bid to keep the rising hostilities between the two worlds under control.
But when it comes to light that Prince Taam's death may not have been an accident, and that Jainan himself may be a suspect, the unlikely pair must overcome their misgivings and learn to trust one another as they navigate the perils of the Iskat court, try to solve a murder, and prevent an interplanetary war... all while dealing with their growing feelings for each other.
I read an early version of this back when it was posted online, so I didn’t have much interest in reading the polished-and-expanded trad-published version. But again, mentions of a sequel (well, not a direct sequel, but another book set in the same universe) nudged me to pick up the first book…
And I’m glad I did; this was another addictive read that I finished in less than a day. The prose felt simple but the storyline was plenty complicated enough to make up for it – there’s politics, miscommunications, and a conspiracy to unravel, to say nothing of all the normal complications of being abruptly thrown into an arranged marriage! I liked both Kiem and Jainan very much, and while I normally hate miscommunication plots…this one was extremely believable and painfully realistic. I wanted to give them both so many hugs!
The story really was expanded a lot from the version I read, and between that and how long it’s been since I read the original (…ten years maybe?) there was plenty to surprise me and keep me on my toes.
I wasn’t in love with the worldbuilding, but it’s the kind of story where you have to suspend your disbelief and just roll with it, and since the book is very upfront about being that kind of book, I don’t think it’s a problem. The characters, their various relationships, the politics, those were all done extremely well, and I can see why so many people love Winter’s Orbit so passionately. It’s not going on my favourites shelf, but I massively enjoyed it and strongly recommend it to anyone looking for some easily readable queer sci-fi.
What have you been reading this week?
The post Sunday Souçons #15 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
June 23, 2022
Shamanistic Sci-Fi: The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta
The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary spouse, mentions of polyamory
Published on: 5th July 2022
Goodreads
A gripping sci-fi mystery wrapped in an LGBTQIA love story that bends space, time, myth and science
Lumi is an Earth-born healer whose Mars-born spouse Sol disappears unexpectedly on a work trip. As Lumi begins her quest to find Sol, she delves gradually deeper into Sol’s secrets – and her own.
While recalling her own path to becoming a healer under the guidance of her mysterious teacher Vivian, she discovers an underground environmental group called Stoneturners, which may have something to do with Sol’s disappearance. Lumi’s search takes her from the wealthy colonies of Mars to Earth that has been left a shadow of its former self due to vast environmental destruction. Gradually, she begins to understand that Sol’s fate may have been connected to her own for much longer than she thought.
Part space-age epistolary, part eco-thriller, The Moonday Letters is also a love story between two individuals from very different worlds.
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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~“Have you considered…FLEAS?”
~Earth is a holiday resort now
~Martians are the new 1%
~lichens are the key to everything
The Moonday Letters is as beautifully strange, and as strangely beautiful, as all of Itäranta’s books so far, and I’m so happy that it was translated into English so I could read it!
Itäranta takes the bare bones of a story we’ve seen many times – one spouse uncovering, bit by bit, the other’s very unexpected secrets – and frames it within a distant but all-too-plausible future; one where Earth is ruined, scraping by as a holiday destination for the wealthy of Mars and various space-cities. Planet Earth has been reduced to little more than a series of theme parks and holiday resorts, such as Winterland, where those born off-planet can visit to experience snow and reindeer. (A few subtle clues make it clear that Winterland is almost certainly an amalgamation of Finland and Lapland post-climate change.)
But the story doesn’t start there; it starts on Mars, where Lumi, born on Earth but a recipient of a more-precious-than-gold visa, is travelling to meet her spouse Sol. The two of them are often apart for weeks or months, so Lumi keeps a kind of diary which she shares with Sol whenever she finishes a notebook. The Moonday Letters opens with Lumi beginning a new notebook, and this journal – which could also be considered a very long letter, written in first-person and directed at Sol – makes up the bulk of the book, although there are also articles, excerpts from fictional books, and emails between various characters included.
ANYWAY.
Sol isn’t at the rendezvous they and Lumi arranged; nor the next one; nor the one after that. At which point enough red flags have appeared that Lumi starts digging into Sol’s current work and past. What she finds has implications for the entire solar system and the future of humanity.
I don’t think it’s quite correct to label this an ‘eco-thriller’, simply because The Moonday Letters feels much more soothing than edge-of-your-seat. There are no high-speed chases, heists, daring rescues, or the like. It’s measured, calm, a slow and careful unfolding, question and answer following one after another like someone delicately placing the pieces of a puzzle on a table, one after another.
And I think that was exactly the right way to tell this story, where all the characters feel so immensely, completely human, messy flaws and all. The Moonday Letters may be set a few hundred years in our future, but I had no trouble at all believing in every character – they all felt so real, even the frustrating or unlikeable ones. For example, although I despise the manufactured drama of characters-not-talking-to-each-other, I wholeheartedly believed that Sol really was the kind of person who would keep these secrets from their wife. It didn’t feel manufactured; it felt like the kind of idiotic decision real humans make every day.
(In this context, that’s a compliment!)
That realism – that sense of it all being so real – is even more impressive when you consider the setting and staging of this story. Itäranta has created a far-future, post-planet-Earth society as sci-fi as you could possibly wish…but Lumi herself is a shamanistic healer, who routinely travels to other worlds with the help of her soul-animal to retrieve the lost pieces of her patients’ souls.
???
It shouldn’t work, but it does; there’s no dissonance between space travel and astral travel here. Lumi talks about her work and experiences in a matter-of-fact way that doesn’t leave room for disbelief, never mind scoffing or mockery, and it serves as a ribbon of quiet spirituality that’s fundamental to the story, beautifully intertwining with the book’s environmental themes.
The only thing I didn’t like about The Moonday Letters was Sol themself, who in no way deserves the awesome Lumi, as far as I’m concerned. There were many points where I would have liked to tell Lumi to quit searching and let Sol disappear, if that was what Sol wanted to do; Lumi can do better than this patronising cheese-rind of a spouse (Sol’s take on Lumi’s work made me fume!) I completely failed to understand their marriage, even if I very much believed in Lumi’s love and her need to make sure Sol was okay.
SOL YOU DO NOT DESERVE YOUR AMAZING WIFE!
Ahem.
I’m not sure I’d call this a fun book, exactly, but it’s a very good one, and I loved how quiet and meditative it felt. It pulled at my heartstrings, but gently. I loved the message that we don’t have to give up spirituality and magic as we go forward into the future…and that we should never forget where we came from, no matter how far from Earth we end up going.
Another beautiful work from Itäranta that you definitely shouldn’t miss.
The post Shamanistic Sci-Fi: The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
June 22, 2022
I Can’t Wait For…Thief Mage Beggar Mage by Cat Hellisen
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 is Thief Mage Beggar Mage by Cat Hellisen!
Thief Mage Beggar Mage by Cat Hellisen Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Published on: 13th September 2022
Goodreads
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Tet is no longer a priest-mage; thrown out from his temple and cursed by his gods to return a stolen relic. With every passing year, the curse works deeper into his flesh, breaking and twisting him until finally, driven by pain, Tet makes a drastic play to escape the gods.
His luck turns sour, and the escape costs him his soul, drawing his death even closer when he is captured by the despotic White Prince. In order to escape the prince, retrieve his soul and break the curse, Tet must form a fragile alliance with a man he cannot trust. An alliance made brittle by lies and deception; one that may take his heart as well as his soul.
Thief Mage, Beggar Mage is a lush, queer reimagining of Andersen’s The Tinderbox, embroidered with dreams, secret identities, stolen magic, giant spectral dogs, clockwork monsters, prophetic dragons, and the grand games of gods and humans.
Occasionally, on bad days, I ask myself wtf I’m doing running a book blog. Why even be a book blogger, really???
Then someone like Cat Hellisen announces that they’ve written a lush queer fantasy that happens to be a Tinderbox retelling with mages and dragons and anyone interested in ARCs should get in contact, and it’s like
OH
RIGHT
THIS IS WHY
Hellisen has been on my auto-buy list since their strange and beautiful debut When the Sea is Rising Red in 2012, and I swear they outdo themself with every new book. So I kinda had to scream into a pillow when they introduced Thief Mage Beggar Mage in their newsletter not long ago.
I MEAN
!!!
A) We all know I am 111% here for queer fantasy
B) Lush prose is my kryptonite
C) Tinderbox is one of my very favourite fairy tales
D) IT’S CAT HELLISEN
SO YEAH, I THINK IT’S FAIR TO SAY I CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS ONE!
(And I did, in fact, get an ARC and it is, in fact, even more awesome than expected. !!!)
The post I Can’t Wait For…Thief Mage Beggar Mage by Cat Hellisen appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
June 20, 2022
Must-Have Monday #90
Magical glass, goblins, and of course New Orleans are just three of this week’s nine new books!
Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 21st June 2022
Goodreads
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From highly acclaimed bestselling author Ava Reid comes a gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, set in another time and place within the world of The Wolf and the Woodsman, where a young witch seeks to discover her identity and escape the domination of her wizard father, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Catherynne M. Valente.
A gruesome curse. A city in upheaval. A monster with unquenchable appetites.
Marlinchen and her two sisters live with their wizard father in a city shifting from magic to industry. As Oblya’s last true witches, she and her sisters are little more than a tourist trap as they treat their clients with archaic remedies and beguile them with nostalgic charm. Marlinchen spends her days divining secrets in exchange for rubles and trying to placate her tyrannical, xenophobic father, who keeps his daughters sequestered from the outside world. But at night, Marlinchen and her sisters sneak out to enjoy the city’s amenities and revel in its thrills, particularly the recently established ballet theater, where Marlinchen meets a dancer who quickly captures her heart.
As Marlinchen’s late-night trysts grow more fervent and frequent, so does the threat of her father’s rage and magic. And while Oblya flourishes with culture and bustles with enterprise, a monster lurks in its midst, borne of intolerance and resentment and suffused with old-world power. Caught between history and progress and blood and desire, Marlinchen must draw upon her own magic to keep her city safe and find her place within it.
We’ve been warned that Juniper and Thorn is going to be much darker than Reid’s debut The Wolf and the Woodsman – but I don’t think that’s going to stop me from reading it! It just sounds so interesting, and I loved the excerpt (which you can read by checking out the hardcover edition of the book on Amazon). Plus a comp to Catherynne Valente?! Yep, definitely going to let this one traumatise me!
In the Shadow of Lightning (Glass Immortals #1) by Brian McClellan Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 21st June 2022
Goodreads
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Magic is a finite resource—and it’s running out.
Demir Grappo is an outcast—he fled a life of wealth and power, abandoning his responsibilities as a general, a governor, and a son. Now he will live out his days as a grifter, rootless, and alone. But when his mother is brutally murdered, Demir must return from exile to claim his seat at the head of the family and uncover the truth that got her killed: the very power that keeps civilization turning, godglass, is running out.
Now, Demir must find allies, old friends and rivals alike, confront the powerful guild-families who are only interested in making the most of the scraps left at the table and uncover the invisible hand that threatens the Empire. A war is coming, a war unlike any other. And Demir and his ragtag group of outcasts are the only thing that stands in the way of the end of life as the world knows it.
It’s been a while since I read McClellan, but I’m ready to start again! I read the sneak peek of this one and enjoyed it a lot, and I adore the premise of magic running out (even if it also sounds horrifying – I suspect that’s the point). Looking forward to seeing how this one goes!
The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black cast, Black trans MC
Published on: 21st June 2022
Goodreads
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In a fantastical version of New Orleans where music is magic, a battle for the city’s soul brews between two young mages, a vengeful wraith, and one powerful song in this vibrant and imaginative debut.
Nola is a city full of wonders. A place of sky trolleys and dead cabs, where haints dance the night away and Wise Women keep the order, and where songs walk, talk and keep the spirit of the city alive. To those from Far Away, Nola might seem strange. To failed magician, Perilous Graves, it’s simply home. Then the rhythm stutters.
Nine songs of power have escaped from the magical piano that maintains the city’s beat and without them, Nola will fail. Unexpectedly, Perry and his sister, Brendy, are tasked with saving the city. But a storm is brewing and the Haint of All Haints is awake. Even if they capture the songs, Nola’s time might be coming to an end.
New Orleans is always the perfect setting for anything magical! I got to read this one early, and I loved the magical NOLA – Jennings’ imagination is amazing.
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black cast, F/F
Published on: 21st June 2022
Goodreads
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In the first book of a visionary African and Arabian-inspired fantasy trilogy, three women band together against a cruel Empire that divides people by blood.
Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.
Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.
Clear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible.
Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the Empire from the red-blooded ruling classes' tyranny. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.
Anoor has been told she's nothing, no one, a disappointment by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the Empire. But dust always rises in a storm.
Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution.
As the Empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.
There has been much hype for The Final Strife, and I’m definitely curious to see if the book can live up to it!
Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 21st June 2022
Goodreads
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‘Salem’s Lot meets The Darkest Part of the Forest in this horror-fantasy retelling of Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market.”
Seventeen years ago, May and Laura Wickett fought their way out of the goblin market but the scars will never fade from May’s heart. After all, the market was more than the sum of the bodies it left behind: it was also the home of her first love. But when the price of freedom is blood and marrow, some heartbreaks are better left buried.
In present-day Boston, Louisa Wickett-Stevens does not believe in magic, despite Mom’s and Aunt May’s superstitions. But after Lou’s teenage aunt, Neela, goes missing, Lou realizes that their superstitions have been handed down to protect them from York’s bloodthirsty goblin market. It’s up to Lou, Mom, and May to infiltrate the market and steal Neela back before the goblins disappear. But the market has its fair share of secrets, and this time, the goblins do not only want death: they seek vengeance.
I’ve always loved stories about the Goblin Market, and I’ve been excited for this one since the pub deal was announced! It’s another one we’ve been warned about, though – apparently it’s going to have some INTENSE horror vibes…
The Loophole by Naz Kutub Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer Indian-Muslim MC
Published on: 21st June 2022
Goodreads
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Your wish is granted! This YA debut is equal parts broken-hearted love story, epic myth retelling, and a world-journey romp to find home.
Sy is a timid seventeen-year-old queer Indian-Muslim boy who placed all his bets at happiness on his boyfriend Farouk...who then left him to try and "fix the world." Sy was too chicken to take the plunge and travel with him and is now stuck in a dead-end coffee shop job. All Sy can do is wish for another chance.... Although he never expects his wish to be granted.
When a mysterious girl slams into (and slides down, streaks of make-up in her wake) the front entrance of the coffee shop, Sy helps her up and on her way. But then the girl offers him three wishes in exchange for his help, and after proving she can grant at least one wish with a funds transfer of a million dollars into Sy's pitifully struggling bank account, a whole new world of possibility opens up. Is she magic? Or just rich? And when his father kicks him out after he is outed, does Sy have the courage to make his way from L. A., across the Atlantic Ocean, to lands he'd never even dreamed he could ever visit? Led by his potentially otherworldly new friend, can he track down his missing Farouk for one last, desperate chance at rebuilding his life and re-finding love?
This sounds super sweet and fun, and I can’t wait to give it a go!
Against All Gods by Miles Cameron Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Published on: 23rd June 2022
Goodreads
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The gods play their games, looking down on the mortal realm and moving men as pawns. Sacrificing lives, towns, even civilisations as they make moves against each other, oblivious to and uncaring of the suffering it causes.
They are above it all: worshipped, emulated and admired.
Yet there is one among them who exists to sow chaos, to challenge the way of things, and to stir up trouble. One who sees the gods growing indolent and contented and selfish . . . and who is ready to meddle in the world of men. Not as part of the immortal game, but because they believe it's possible for men to challenge . . . and even topple . . . the gods themselves.
An epic which draws on the Greek mythology of gods and heroes, this new trilogy is a must read for fans of Dan Simmons and Madeline Miller alike.
I loved Cameron’s previous book Artifact Space, but I’m DELIGHTED to be getting Fantasy from him again! This is one of the books I’ve been most excited about this year – I can’t wait!
Driftwood Orphans by Paul Krueger Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 23rd June 2022
Goodreads
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Before she was betrayed and left for dead, Tenny was many things: prodigal daughter of the Driftwood City underworld. Leader of the Thorn Orphans, the gang fighting for a better tomorrow. City shaman, able to bend her home's boroughs to her will. Partner-in-crime to Cole, the runaway rich boy with powers just like hers.
But that was all before.
Four years later, Tenny is an exile, sleepwalking through life and waiting to die. But a chance encounter puts her on a bloody path back to the life she left behind. Friendless and powerless, she returns to Driftwood City, only to find a world where the Thorn Orphans have finally won. A better tomorrow, today.
And all that progress tethered to the heartbeat of the friend who ordered her death.
Her city. Her vengeance. It's an impossible choice.
But if Tenny wants to survive, she'll have to choose one.
I read Krueger’s Steel Crow Saga very late, but I loved it, and I love the sound of this new book! City shamanism? Sign me up!
The Godbreaker (The God-King Chronicles, #3) by Mike Brooks Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Gay MC, nonbinary MCs, queernorm cultures
Published on: 23rd June 2022
Goodreads
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Two armies will clash - led by two fearsome generals. Rumour claims one is a demon, and the other is a god reborn...
In the West, Marin and Alazar are in the army of the Godsworn following Tyrun, who claims to be Nari Reborn. In the East, the demon known as The Golden lands with Tjakorsha at its back, looking to slay a god. In the City of Islands, Jeya and Bulang try to survive as factions seek to use Bulang's ancestry for their own gain. In the South, Daimon and Saana fight to keep the peace they brokered alive amid the onset of war. And in amongst it all is Tila Narida, the Divine Princess, who has always turned chaos to her own advantage...
The legacy of Narida's God-Kings spans a continent, and will end in blood.
Experience the battle-filled finale to the God-King Chronicles, an epic fantasy series by Mike Brooks.
I was really disappointed by book two of this trilogy, so I’m not sure I’ll pick up the third book – at least not any time soon. But it does warrant featuring here for those who want to finish the series!
Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!
The post Must-Have Monday #90 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
June 17, 2022
An Unexpected New Favourite: Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald
Daughter of Redwinter (The Redwinter Chronicles, #1) by Ed McDonald Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual MC, secondary sapphic character, minor gay character, minor POC characters
Published on: 28th June 2022
ISBN: B09C4G1C8P
Goodreads
Those who see the dead soon join them.
From the author of the critically-acclaimed Blackwing trilogy comes Ed McDonald's Daughter of Redwinter, the first of a brilliant fantasy series about how one choice can change a universe.
Raine can see—and more importantly, speak—to the dead. It’s a wretched gift with a death sentence that has her doing many dubious things to save her skin. Seeking refuge with a deluded cult is her latest bad, survival-related decision. But her rare act of kindness—rescuing an injured woman in the snow—is even worse.
Because the woman has escaped from Redwinter, the fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, warrior magicians who answer to no king and who will stop at nothing to retrieve what she’s stolen. A battle, a betrayal, and a horrific revelation forces Raine to enter Redwinter. It becomes clear that her ability might save an entire nation.
Pity she might have to die for that to happen…
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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~but That is not a ghost
~unexpectedly queer
~much-appreciated exploration of trauma
~can you hear the beats?
I’m still not sure what made me pick up Daughter of Redwinter; at first glance, this looked like a book that couldn’t possibly be for me. I’ve hated stories about people who see ghosts since before I hit puberty; the author’s previous series has been described as grimdark, so there were even odds that this would be too; and there’s nothing in the blurb that hints at a diverse cast or especially interesting worldbuilding.
But something hooked me. I really can’t say what. Maybe I just trusted Tor/Forge (the publisher, of whom I’m quite fond) not to let me down? I can’t say. But I downloaded the sneak peek, just to try it out, and before I’d finished it I requested an ARC of the full book via Netgalley. Which I pounced on the moment I was approved.
That should give you some idea of how incredibly compelling McDonald’s writing is; of how completely it swept me away. It’s instantly immersive, and from the first page, I simply couldn’t put it down.
Raine ran away from a mother left crippled by her birth to join a harmless religious sect – one which follows ‘the colours’ with dancing and crystals and new-age-esque positivity. But the book opens with the group under siege, because a moment of kindness from Raine has led the local noble to believe the sect harbours those who can see ghosts – and in this world, anyone who can see ghosts is put to death. Thousands of years of history have engrained the idea that seeing the dead inevitably leads a person down a path of evil sorcery; it’s everyone’s duty to make sure ghost-seers are put down.
Raine has no interest at all in doing harm; she’s just trying to find a way to get her friends out of the fort they’re trapped in. But when she rescues a dying woman, she accidentally becomes tangled up in an act of immense dark magic and falls under the aegis of the Draoihn, unstoppable warrior-sorcerers whose mission is to protect the world from just this kind of magic. They sweep Raine away to their headquarters, a compound called Redwinter, where Raine has to build a new life for herself amidst the magic and politics all around.
So far, this doesn’t sound terribly unique – we’ve all seen something like this story-arc before. But there are several aspects of Daughter of Redwinter that stand out.
You can never trust a cobbler. Anyone who spends that much time thinking about feet has something wrong with them.
The first is Raine herself, who I adore without reservation. First-person narration is usually a huge no-no for me, but Raine’s voice is clear and incisive. I really loved how she never let herself get away with anything; she sees herself, and everyone around her, very clearly, almost to the point of mercilessness sometimes.
Part of this is definitely the fact that Raine experiences magically-induced emotional numbing after the opening events of the book. Emotional numbing is a rarely-discussed symptom of trauma, including PTSD and CPTSD, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: sufferers effectively shut-down emotionally, becoming detached and cut-off from most emotion, and often from their body as well. To put it in practical terms, where most trauma survivors struggle to talk about their trauma, someone experiencing emotional numbing is able to talk about it in a very matter-of-fact, blunt way, to the point that inexperienced listeners may think the person isn’t traumatised at all.
Emotional numbing is relatively rare and less well-known, much less common than the more visible, typical trauma symptoms like temper issues or panic attacks or risk-engaging behaviour. After being in and out of psych offices since I was two years old and across multiple countries, it wasn’t until I was 29 that someone finally recognised my own emotional numbing and was able to explain it to me. It’s just not talked about.
So I have no idea if it was McDonald’s intent to mimic a real mental health issue, but that’s what he did, and it’s one major reason Raine, and Daughter of Redwinter in general, means so much to me. It’s part validation, part recognition, part relief to see a character who shares this with me, a character I viscerally get in a way I don’t very emotional characters. It’s not the same as psychopathy (or rather, antisocial personality disorder, aka ASPD), and although Raine’s is magically induced by one of the Draoihn, I can’t help hoping this book might raise awareness a little.
Whether it does or not, the emotional numbing is an excellent plot device, and makes Raine very distinct from other heroines I’ve come across in similar story-arcs.
Which brings me to the second thing that makes Daughter of Redwinter stand out: although the general outline of this story looks familiar? In practice, it actually twists and turns in unexpected directions throughout, subverting and challenging both classic tropes and the expectations of the reader. I took it for granted that A Certain Thing was going to happen – it always happens! – but reader, it did not happen. And I delight in being surprised like that. Just as much as I adore a story that questions its own foundational premises – are ghost-seers destined for evil? Or a story that double-bluffs us – we’re braced for the Draoihn to be unreasonably fanatic, but what if their fanaticism is justified? And so on. I massively appreciated McDonald’s tricksiness, all the ways in which a story that has been marketed as Not For Me turned out to be, in fact, exactly for me.
Then there’s the worldbuilding; although McDonald doesn’t drown us in detail, there’s a very weighty sense to the world he’s created, with the effect that it all feels very real. Raine’s world has gone through multiple Ages and has some kind of record or understanding of several thousand years of history, and it’s not often I come across a story where that really feels legit; where a fictional world has that weight of fictional history behind it in a way that’s not overpowering, or lecturing, or info-dumping, but just…very organic.
And I’m not gonna lie, I liked the Scottish Highland influences visible in Raine’s part of the world. How often do we see that?!
The magic system manages to be both very simple – at least to explain – and really interesting; practitioners study until they reach/pass through/can access ‘gates’, with each gate conferring different abilities. The First Gate is, of course, the easiest to reach and use, and it gets progressively more difficult from there. But there’s clearly a lot more going on: over the course of the book, we encounter enchanted objects and witness magical events that don’t neatly fit into any of the Gate categories as they’ve been explained to us, and there are references to things like rituals, which, I have no idea how those are supposed to work.
Nor is it clear how exactly ghosts work – or whether all of the things Raine sees are actually ghosts. Threaded throughout Daughter of Redwinter is a subtle but powerful promise that capital-t Things are going on where we can’t see; that McDonald is only giving us a glimpse of the small picture, not the bigger one. Daughter of Redwinter is engaging and interesting in its own right – it’s not just setting the stage for a much bigger story to come. But it is setting the stage as well as being an excellent book on its own. We don’t have all the pieces yet, and we don’t know all the players, but by the end of the book we have some sense of…of the shape of what’s coming. And I’m pretty sure it’s going to be epic; epic as in awesome, and epic as in world-changing.
I’ve decided that what drew me to Daughter of Midwinter was my queerdar pinging – you would not believe how much I cackled when it became clear that Raine is bi; yay for discovering unexpectedly queer fantasy! – and I’m really glad it did. This is going on my favourites-of-2022 list, and I love McDonald’s writing and imagination so much I’ve even started reading his previous trilogy – even though it’s grimdark, and I don’t read grimdark. (And you know what? I’m enjoying it so far!)
This is an incredible fantasy that subverts the reader’s expectations every chance it gets, and I can’t recommend it strongly enough.
The post An Unexpected New Favourite: Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
June 15, 2022
I Can’t Wait For…My Name Is Magic by Xan Van Rooyen
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 is My Name Is Magic by Xan Van Rooyen!
My Name Is Magic by Xan van Rooyen Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary MC
Published on: 27th September 2022
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Taika Turunen has no magic.
Despite coming from a long line of powerful Finnish mages, and their name literally meaning magic, Taika can’t perform the simplest of spells.
Forced to attend Myrskyjärvi International School for the Magically Gifted on account of their mom being principal, Taika has a hard time fitting in. Sometimes, they wonder if not having magic has something to do with the fact they’re neither a girl nor a boy and if they’re fated to be Taika the Talentless forever.
Life goes from bad to worse when Taika sees a liekkiö and recognizes the spirit's voice begging for help as that of their former BFF and major crush, Natalie Khumalo, whose recent absence from class hadn’t gone unnoticed. When more students go missing, Taika must take the lead in a race against time to save friends old and new before a powerful cabal of chaos mages can unleash the legendary Sampo, an artifact capable of either renewing the world’s waning magic or destroying everything Taika holds dear.
To rescue Natalie, Taika will have to journey to the liminal space between worlds where they’ll be forced to battle mythical monsters and their own flagging self-esteem. In doing so, Taika might just discover that magic—and love—comes in many different forms.
For fans of witchcraft and wizardry looking for a new, inclusive story, My Name Is Magic is a story about finding strength from within and potential where you least expected it.
How could I NOT be excited for a magic school story set in Finland?! I’ve been interested in Finnish folklore and magic for years now, and I can’t BELIEVE our luck in actually getting a Finnish magic school story!!! And it does sound like, from the description, Rooyen intends to draw on Finnish mythology and influences, which potentially means introducing readers to magic systems and beasties they’ve never seen before. YAYNESS!
Also??? The Finnish schooling system is dramatically different from the typical global model of education, so I have my fingers crossed that Rooyen might draw from that as well. That would be extremely cool.
So I would be swooning for this book anyway – but we get a nonbinary MC as well?! Who is literally named Magic?!
DOES ANYONE HAVE A TIME MACHINE I COULD BORROW TO SKIP TO SEPTEMBER???
Also-also, don’t think I missed the anarchist symbol on the cover! How is that going to be worked into the story? I don’t know, but I am VIBRATING with excitement!
You can preorder My Name Is Magic now, and you absolutely should!
The post appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
June 13, 2022
Must-Have Monday #89
SIX marvellous SFF releases this week, ranging from mushroom cities to secret Nigerian schools for super-powered kids!!!
The Dawnhounds (Against the Quiet, #1) by Sascha Stronach Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Brown cast, bisexual MC, F/F, secondary trans character
Published on: 14th June 2022
Goodreads
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Gideon the Ninth meets Black Sun in this queer, Māori-inspired debut fantasy about a police officer who is murdered, brought back to life with a mysterious new power, and tasked with protecting her city from an insidious evil threatening to destroy it.
The port city of Hainak is alive: its buildings, its fashion, even its weapons. But, after a devastating war and a sweeping biotech revolution, all its inhabitants want is peace, no one more so than Yat Jyn-Hok a reformed-thief-turned-cop who patrols the streets at night.
Yat has recently been demoted on the force due to “lifestyle choices” after being caught at a gay club. She’s barely holding it together, haunted by memories of a lover who vanished and voices that float in and out of her head like radio signals. When she stumbles across a dead body on her patrol, two fellow officers gruesomely murder her and dump her into the harbor. Unfortunately for them, she wakes up.
Resurrected by an ancient power, she finds herself with the new ability to manipulate life force. Quickly falling in with the pirate crew who has found her, she must race against time to stop a plague from being unleashed by the evil that has taken root in Hainak.
I’ve loved Dawnhounds since the first, micropress-edition was published; this trad-published edition is EXPANDED from that one, and even queerer and weirder! And I do mean WEIRD: this is set in a city where the houses are giant mushrooms and there are drugs that make you telepathic. BUT IT’S AWESOME I PROMISE!
The Grief of Stones (The Goblin Emperor, #3) by Katherine Addison Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Gay MC
Published on: 14th June 2022
Goodreads
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In The Grief of Stones, Katherine Addison returns to the world of The Goblin Emperor with a direct sequel to The Witness For The Dead...
Celehar’s life as the Witness for the Dead of Amalo grows less isolated as his circle of friends grows larger. He has been given an apprentice to teach, and he has stumbled over a scandal of the city—the foundling girls. Orphans with no family to claim them and no funds to buy an apprenticeship. Foundling boys go to the Prelacies; foundling girls are sold into service, or worse.
At once touching and shattering, Celehar’s witnessing for one of these girls will lead him into the depths of his own losses. The love of his friends will lead him out again.
This is the direct sequel to last year’s wonderful Witness For the Dead, set in the same world as The Goblin Emperor. I’m so looking forward to reading about Celehar again!
Boys, Beasts & Men by Sam J. Miller, Amal El-Mohtar Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 14th June 2022
Goodreads
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In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection, featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar, queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and brutal revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously crafted worlds can destroy readers, yet leave them wanting more.
“Miller’s sheer talent shines through in abundance . . . Boys, Beasts & Men is an outrageous journey which skillfully blends genres and will haunt you with its original, poetic voices as much as its victims, villains, and treasure trove of leading actors.”—Grimdark Magazine
Despite his ability to control the ambient digital cloud, a foster teen falls for a clever con-man. Luring bullies to a quarry, a boy takes clearly enumerated revenge through unnatural powers of suggestion. In the aftermath of a shapeshifting alien invasion, a survivor fears that he brought something out of the Arctic to infect the rest of the world. A rebellious group of queer artists create a new identity that transcends even the anonymity of death.
Sam J. Miller (Blackfish City, The Art of Starving) shows his savage wit, unrelenting candor, and lush imagery in this essential career retrospective collection, taking his place alongside legends of the short-fiction form such as Carmen Maria Machado, Carson McCullers, and Jeff VanderMeer.
Miller is the author of several of my favourite standalones, and this is his debut short story collection! Expect a great deal of queerness.
January Fifteenth by Rachel Swirsky Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: F/F
Published on: 14th June 2022
Goodreads
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“One of the best speculative writers of the last decade.”—John Scalzi
January Fifteenth—the day all Americans receive their annual Universal Basic Income payment.
For Hannah, a middle-aged mother, today is the anniversary of the day she took her two children and fled her abusive ex-wife.
For Janelle, a young, broke journalist, today is another mind-numbing day interviewing passersby about the very policy she once opposed.
For Olivia, a wealthy college freshman, today is “Waste Day”, when rich kids across the country compete to see who can most obscenely squander the government’s money.
For Sarah, a pregnant teen, today is the day she’ll journey alongside her sister-wives to pick up the payments that undergird their community—and perhaps embark on a new journey altogether.
In this near-future science fiction novella by Nebula Award-winning author Rachel Swirsky, the fifteenth of January is another day of the status quo, and another chance at making lasting change.
I’m a very big proponent of universal income, so I’m in love with this premise and excited to see how Swirsky has it all play out!
Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tọlá Okogwu Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: British Nigerian MC, Nigerian cast
Published on: 14th June 2022
Goodreads
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Black Panther
meets X-Men in this action-packed and empowering middle grade adventure about a British Nigerian girl who learns that her Afro hair has psychokinetic powers—perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers, The Marvellers, and Rick Riordan!
Onyeka has a lot of hair—the kind that makes strangers stop in the street and her peers whisper behind her back. At least she has Cheyenne, her best friend, who couldn’t care less what other people think. Still, Onyeka has always felt insecure about her vibrant curls…until the day Cheyenne almost drowns and Onyeka’s hair takes on a life of its own, inexplicably pulling Cheyenne from the water.
At home, Onyeka’s mother tells her the shocking truth: Onyeka’s psycho-kinetic powers make her a Solari, one of a secret group of people with super powers unique to Nigeria. Her mother quickly whisks her off to the Academy of the Sun, a school in Nigeria where Solari are trained. But Onyeka and her new friends at the academy soon have to put their powers to the test as they find themselves embroiled in a momentous battle between truth and lies…
This was released in the UK last week, but it comes out in the USA tomorrow! And HI, I AM IN LOVE WITH ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. Including that incredible cover!!!
The Grace of Sorcerers (Those Who Break Chains, #1) by Maria Ying Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F
Published on: 16th June 2022
Goodreads
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To be a warlock in this age is to trade in powers and promises and poisons, to bind demons and men to your will, to break them as you see fit...
Viveca Hua is the warlock of her era, and she has finally obtained her enemy’s greatest weapon—the demon Yves, an entity powerful beyond imagining... and far more alluring than any mortal woman.
But each ritual has a price. Yves has her own past, one brutally intertwined with the nemesis that killed Viveca’s mother. Her secrets will make or break the hunt.
Whatever the risk to her heart or her soul, Viveca is sure of one thing: she will have victory at any cost.
The Grace of Sorcerers is a lesbian urban fantasy of smoldering shapeshifters, brooding demons, and the bloodthirsty mages who engage their services in both vengeance and lust.
Maria Ying is the penname for collaborating duo Devi Lacroix, who I do not know, and Benjanun Sriduangkaew, whose prose is always breathtaking. So I have high hopes for this one!
Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!
The post Must-Have Monday #89 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
June 12, 2022
Sunday Soupçons #14
soupçon/ˈsuːpsɒn,ˈsuːpsɒ̃/ noun
1. a very small quantity of something; a slight trace, as of a particular taste or flavor
Sunday Soupçons is where I scribble mini-reviews for books I don’t have the brainspace/eloquence/smarts to write about in depth – or if I just don’t have anything interesting to say beyond I LIKED IT AND YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO!
Two pretty different books this week!
In the Heart of Hidden Things by Kit Whitfield Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Neurodiverse MC, neurodiverse secondary characters
ISBN: B09B1TR92P
Goodreads
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The inhabitants of the village of Gyrford live mostly in harmony with their neighbours in the Forest, and that is in large part down to the fairy-smiths, Jedediah, his son Matthew and grandson Johnny, for only fairy-smiths can intercede with the People when a problem arises - like when one of the fae - who, in fairness, does looks a lot like a thornbush with a blackberry for a head - is dug up and transplanted by someone who didn't know any better and is now determined to wreak vengeance on anyone it can.
That's not the only problem, for there's a skinflint landlord determined to sell the mill and kick out the family who've run it for untold generations. And a young boy who was clearly damaged by the People at birth is spending most of his time trying to get into the Forest, which is forbidden territory for all but a very few men.
There's even a rumour that Black Hal has been seen running - fire strikes from the great hound's heels, they said, and his eyes are the red of coals.
So one way or another, the Smiths have got a lot on their plate, and a lot of people depending on them . . .
I loved both Whitfield’s previous books, especially In Great Waters, her historical fantasy that worked mermaids into the royal houses of Europe. In the Heart of Hidden Things is a much smaller-scale story, revolving around one village family and the county they look after, but I read the entire book in a day, which should tell you all you need to know about my ability to put it down!
It’s a very easy-to-read book, which is impressive because Whitfield touches on some heavy topics and lets us see plenty of very human moments that make us want to flinch on the characters’ behalves. But it never feels heavy or overdone. I’ll admit, I was disappointed at first – I thought In the Heart of Hidden Things would reimagine the Fae as Whitfield’s earlier books reimagined werewolves and mermaids, and that’s not the case; the Fae (or simply the People, which is how they’re usually referred to in the book, it being rude and unwise to call the Fae’s attention by using the F word) here are quite traditional, depicted much as they are in the folklore of the British Isles – but the smaller, ‘common’ Fae, rather than the cold, graceful immortals with kings and queens and courts.
But Whitfield embraces the sheer wacky weirdness of the Fae wholeheartedly, which made me feel better. And really, this is much more a book about human people than the People, and once I made that adjustment in my expectations, Hidden Things and I got on fine. I absolutely adored John, the faerie-smith-in-training with his grand sense of pride, and his father, Matthew, and grandfather, Jedidiah – practising faerie-smiths – were both wonderful characters as well. The book mainly revolves around these three, and the small and not-so-small ‘adventures’ they face in the course of doing their jobs. Matthew’s wife is another quite fabulous character – I don’t know if we’d be friends in real life, but she delighted me in the book – really everyone, bar the ‘villains’, were wonderfully-drawn characters.
I loved how the faerie smiths were in many ways outside the hierarchy of power among humans, and how they used that position to protect normal people from the rich. Honestly there was more of that going on than protecting people from the People, which I had no objection to. I also really liked the careful exploration of people who were ‘touched’ – what we’d now call neurodiverse – and the different attitudes people had towards those who were Different. (Spoiler: everyone we like thought kindness and live-and-let-live was the correct response, which, correct!)
A less weighty book than I was expecting, but still a really great read!
Aspects by John M. Ford Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Secondary BIPOC characters, minor F/F
ISBN: B0927DL7Z2
Goodreads
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"The best writer in America, bar none."—Robert Jordan
At last, the final work of John M. Ford—one of the greatest SF and fantasy authors of his time.
Enter the halls of Parliament with Varic, Coron of the Corvaric Coast.
Visit Strange House with the Archmage Birch.
Explore the mountains of Lady Longlight alongside the Palion Silvern, Sorcerer.
In the years before his unexpected death, John M. Ford wrote a novel of fantasy and magic unlike any other. Politics and abdicated kings, swords and sorcerous machine guns, divination and ancient empires—finally, Aspects is here.
“A great writer who is really fucking brilliant.”—Neil Gaiman
The first thing you need to know is that Aspects is not a finished novel. It cuts off one page into chapter 8. Poor Ford died before it could be completed… And it was published as-is.
I would have less mixed feelings about this if there was anyway to know, from picking up the book, that it’s incomplete. But there isn’t; the book’s description only states that Aspects is being published posthumously. I presumed that meant it was finished before he died, or maybe completed after his death by another writer, like Diana Wynne Jones’ Islands of Chaldea.
But no. And… I don’t think that’s very cool. I think it should have stated in the description that it was unfinished. I’m not very impressed with the decision to not make that immediately clear to a potential reader.
That being said, this is one of the most exquisite, beautiful books I’ve ever read, and I’m devastated that there isn’t more. Apparently it was meant to be the start of a series, and we don’t even have the whole first book, and that hurts so much. Part of me wishes they hadn’t published it – it feels cruel to dangle such an incredible might-have-been before us! – but I’m not surprised that they did. If there was ever a book that was so perfect it needed to be shared, even incomplete, then Aspects is that book.
It’s rich and slow and gorgeous, a book to be savoured rather than devoured. I’m glad I got to read it. But I’ll be mourning that could-have-been for a very long time.
What have you been reading this week?
The post Sunday Soupçons #14 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
