Siavahda's Blog, page 67

Sunday Soupçons #7

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!

Between the Firmaments by J.Y. Yang
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Achillean MC, nonbinary male love interest, M/M or M/NB
PoV: 1st Person, Past Tense
ISBN: B07JHRF288
Goodreads

In an occupied city controlled by oppressive off-worlders, Bariegh of the Jungle is a god living in hiding—toiling away day after monotonous day, hoping his godliness will go unnoticed by those who would harness it.

But then a beautiful, daring, godling man walks into his life without a care in the world, his divinity uncloaked, and Bariegh is utterly undone.

JY Yang’s Between the Firmaments is a secondary-world fantasy about a romance between two gods, set in an occupied city where being a god is illegal. It is beautiful, challenging, queer, slightly experimental, and 100% awesome.

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This was my second time reading Between the Firmaments, and it was just as wonderful the second time around. I love stories about gods and divine beings, about the nature of divinity and magic and the… the eco-system of gods. And Between is all of that, but it’s also a gorgeous love story, between a god-in-hiding and another whose origins are mysterious and secret. It’s unabashedly queer, and Yang’s prose and imagination are as brilliant and coruscating as ever, incisively examining colonialism and oppression alongside the luck of monkey godlings and the thrill of a hunt where the prey wants to be caught.

I really can’t believe how much Yang manages to fit in such a small space; Between the Firmaments feels like a whole and complete novel. I would gladly read more of these characters and/or their world, but the story is a small and exquisite thing, like the tiny treasure inside a Fabergé egg. It’s perfect exactly as it is, every word, every image, every detail. Not even a monkey trickster-god would want to mess with it!

And it does feel precious in some way I can’t quite articulate; maybe because it weaves together so many of the things I love; maybe because it feels so different and yet so warmly familiar at the same time; maybe because I have the sense it would fit perfectly in my cupped hands, soft and jewelled. Maybe that’s it, actually; the way it manages to be both incredibly tender and incredibly strong, with such perfect prose.

I think that’s it.

Begin the World Over by Kung Li Sun
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Black gay MC, Black achillean love interest, BIPOC cast
Published on: 3rd May 2022
ISBN: 9781849354721
Goodreads

Begin the World Over is a fictional alternate history of how the Founders’ greatest fear—that Black and indigenous people might join forces to undo the newly formed United States—comes true.

In 1793, as revolutionaries in the West Indies take up arms, James Hemings, has little interest in joining the fight for liberté —talented and favored, he is careful to protect his relative comforts as Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved chef. But when he meets Denmark Vesey, James is immediately smitten. The formidable first mate persuades James to board his ship, on its way to the revolt in St. Domingue. There and on the mainland they join forces with a diverse cast of characters, including a gender nonconforming prophetess, a formerly enslaved jockey, and a Muskogee horse trader. The resulting adventure masterfully mixes real historical figures and events with a riotous retelling of a possible history in which James must decide whether to return to his constrained but composed former life, or join the coalition of Black revolutionaries and Muskogee resistance to fight the American slavers and settlers.

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I received this book for free from the publisher via Edelweiss. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I didn’t finish this book, because the ARC was a PDF (I didn’t know that when I pounced on it) and for fibro reasons reading PDFs is extremely painful. But I wanted to write a kind of mini-review, because I DID make it to 28%, and that should tell you a lot – even though it physically hurt to deal with a PDF, the story and writing were so good I pushed through for over a quarter of the book!

Extrapolating from that first quarter, this is a book as moreish as James’ incredible cooking! I always enjoy books with foodie MCs, and this one happens to be a queer Black man who gets swept up mostly accidentally into another revolution, one looking to destroy slavery for good. It’s a bit more telling than showing, but in a way that’s weirdly relaxing considering the subject matter; this is incredibly readable and more than a little addictive. Sun doesn’t play down the horrors of slavery or the complexities of being or having been a slave, but also doesn’t dwell on them in any kind of gratuitous way.

And the food descriptions? Are literally *chef’s kiss*. Luscious and decadent and absolutely mouthwatering. I also loved how it was genuinely a part of the plot – opening the first restaurant in New Orleans is more vital to the revolution than you might think!

I can’t wait to read the rest of it come May, and will write up a proper review then!

What have you been reading this week?

The post Sunday Soupçons #7 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

The Birth of a New Genre: The Hourglass Throne by K.D. Edwards

The Hourglass Throne (The Tarot Sequence #3) by K.D. Edwards
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Gay MC, bi/pansexual love interest, M/M, asexual secondary character, Indigenous American secondary character, Indigenous American nonbinary secondary character, sapphic Black secondary character, minor wheelchair-bound character
PoV: 1st person, past tense
Published on: 17th May 2022
ISBN: B09RKTH4YP
Goodreads

As Rune Saint John grapples with the challenges of assuming the Sun Throne, a powerful barrier appears around New Atlantis’s famed rejuvenation center. But who could have created such formidable magic . . . what do they want from the immortality clinic . . . and what remains of the dozens trapped inside?

Though Rune and his lifelong bodyguard Brand are tasked with investigating the mysterious barrier, Rune is also busy settling into his new life at court. Claiming his father’s throne has irrevocably thrown him into the precarious world of political deception, and he must secure relationships with newfound allies in time to keep his growing found family safe. His relationship with his lover, Addam Saint Nicholas, raises additional political complications they must navigate. But he and Brand soon discover that the power behind the barrier holds a much more insidious, far-reaching threat to his family, to his people, and to the world.

Now, the rulers of New Atlantis must confront an enemy both new and ancient as the flow of time itself is drawn into the conflict. And as Rune finds himself inexorably drawn back to the fall of his father’s court and his own torture at the hands of masked conspirators, the secrets that he has long guarded will be dragged into the light—changing the Sun Throne, and New Atlantis, forever.

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I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Highlights

~dial the Feels up to 20
~the kids are all right
~don’t trust jade
~bystanders
~‘My guys’
~secrets within secrets
~game-changing world-changing

Do you remember, dear reader – for I presume that if you’re here, it’s because you’ve already read and loved the previous books in this series, and if you have not, then get you hence and read them before you read this review of book three! – do you remember, dear reader, when, in The Last Sun, Rune used a mass sigil for the first time?

This is like that.

We thought we were prepared for The Hourglass Throne, at least a little.

We weren’t. We really weren’t. But in the best way.

Somehow, impossibly, Edwards has managed to level up again. With The Hourglass Throne this series – which has only gotten better with every installment, which has been redefining the genre and its possibilities since the first words of the first page of the first book – has become something fucking mythic.

And I mean that in multiple ways. Because yes – oh gods, yes, it is cinematic and beautiful, epic and glorious, packed full of mystery and intrigue and battles fit to shake the stars from their moorings, strike Time from its course. But it’s also so heartbreakingly full of heart; not just romance – these books have never thought romantic love was the only kind that mattered – but platonic and familial. Who is reading this series and isn’t in love with Rune and Brand’s relationship? Who doesn’t adore Max and Quinn and Layne and Anna and Corbie; who isn’t willing to go toe to toe with a lich for them? Whose heart is not too full for words with all the love poured into these pages?

We saw the beginnings of a found family in The Last Sun, and we saw that family grow a fair bit bigger in The Hanged Man, but The Hourglass Throne is (outside of the extra novellas) the first time we actually get to see that family really being a family. And that is something special, in a world where most authors either don’t try or aren’t allowed to include slice-of-life moments in their action stories. But the Tarot Sequence has been the exception to every rule I can think of since day one – and like New Atlantis in the human world, this series has carved out its own space where nothing is as it seems and the expected never appears; where miracles go hand in hand with nightmares and there is a weight to every word.

As someone who gave up on the Urban Fantasy genre years ago after too many disappointments, I feel qualified to say that the Tarot Sequence really is groundbreaking, and that’s mainly in how it deals with toxic masculinity (defenstrating it) and family (embracing it); in how it deconstructs heroism and subverts everything we’ve been taught to expect, both in terms of plot and characters. And that’s never been clearer, or more the case, than it is in The Hourglass Throne, where we see Rune not about to become (as in Last Sun), or becoming (Hanged Man), but being the kind of hero we all should have expected him to be – Edwards has laid the groundwork for this from the first page of the first book – and yet that still manages to take us by surprise, even as it fills our hearts up to bursting.

Rune is not a conventional hero, but he is the hero we need, want, and deserve.

I have a sense, though, that there is a long conversation before us. Are you ready to have it?”

“I was until you said it would be a long conversation. I thought I’d just shout some bullet points and run.”

And the plotting! The twists and reveals! These books are like glorious jewelled puzzle-boxes, and every word is a piece clicking into place. Nothing – nothing! – is insignificant, is not layered with deeper meaning. We’ve experienced this already with The Hanged Man, but in The Hourglass Throne even more of the story Edwards has been working on for decades comes together, coheres out of things even the most dedicated readers didn’t notice or fully understand into something–something–

Something unputdownable, and gorgeous, and blazing-bright. Something unexpected and brilliant and perfect.

The Tarot Sequence is not queer fantasy just because it features a queer cast in a queernorm culture; I mean that it’s fantasy that is queer; boundary-breaking, unconventional, redefining what Urban Fantasy means and looks like. Edwards is actively queering storytelling itself, the techniques and tropes and conventions we all know inside-out and backwards remade into something strange and gleaming and breathtaking. The plot-twists, the character dynamics, the dialogue, the emotion, the battle sequences – this is Something Else, something that’s only pretending to be Urban Fantasy to get in the door, but is so much more than we could ever have expected or dreamed of. It feels like the birth of a new genre.

Deep breath. Okay. Let me try and get back on track.

You can read the titles and covers of these first three books like tarot cards: The Last Sun is the Sun, the reminder of one’s divine place and gift, as Rune was reminded that the ‘normal’ life he’d been living was not his real life; The Hanged Man is the Hanged Man, the call to step up and claim your responsibilities, which Rune did by claiming his throne and his place on the Arcanum.

The Hourglass Throne is one big time’s up. Not just for Rune, but for New Atlantis, and by extension the world.

And by all the gods, for us readers too.

There’s so little that can be said without going into spoilers, and I refuse to do that; you need to go into The Hourglass Throne…not blind, but with only what the previous books have given you. With your eyes and hands and heart all open. Ready to hit the ground running, because The Hourglass Throne starts mid-sentence and that should say it all, really; that should be all the warning you need that this book will sweep you away as surely and inescapably as the flow of Time. Don’t start reading if you have to be up early the next morning; if you have exams to revise for; if you have a presentation to write. Because once you start, there is no stopping until the final page is turned.

(Which is not, after all, the final page. This isn’t the end. Or if it is, it’s only the end of Act I, and that gives everything a different flavour, doesn’t lessen the urgency but does temper it a little, because the end is not the end and that means, that means–)

What is it about these books that grabs our hearts so tightly, fiercely, completely? I can’t break it down into technical terms; I can only tell you that The Hourglass Throne is ablaze with it, that you will rage and weep and gasp and shriek and cheer and howl for Rune and Brand and Addam and Quinn and Layne and Anna and Corbie and Corinne. I can only tell you that if you think you’re already feral with love for them, then this book will make you rabid. The Hourglass Throne breaks through the bottom of your heart and opens up so much space in there, space to love these books and these characters even more, more than you ever thought you could, and dear gods the rush of it, the power in it – holding this book in your hands is like holding a mass sigil: you can’t help but shake and roar with the magic in it, with the magic coursing through you as you cast the spell by reading the words. It’s a supernova.

Edwards somehow manages to give us everything we wanted without ever once giving it to us in a form we expected; to assuage our deepest fears by presenting us with worse horrors; to soften the blows with incredible joys and lightning-strike laughter. These books have always been about queer joy and family and love, and The Hourglass Throne surpasses all that came before it, in that and every other way.

Are you scared? Nervous? You shouldn’t be. Some of it will hurt. Some of it will make you cry. But some of those tears will be tears of laughter; some of them will be tears of freakin’ DELIGHT. Because The Hourglass Throne is utterly perfect, and if this is the end of Act I, then folx, I can’t wait to see the rest of the play.

Run, don’t walk, to preorder The Hourglass Throne immediately.

The post The Birth of a New Genre: The Hourglass Throne by K.D. Edwards appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

SFF For Autism Acceptance Month!

As a proudly autistic reader, I’m always on the lookout for autistic characters in the books I read, and autistic authors whose work I can pounce on. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of my favourites!

(Also, petition to rename Autism Acceptance Month as Autism Appreciation Month, which is what I initially misread it as!)

Books with Autistic LeadsThe Outside (The Outside, #1) by Ada Hoffmann
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Sapphic autistic MC, F/F or wlw, genderfluid PoV character
Goodreads

Autistic scientist Yasira Shien has developed a radical new energy drive that could change the future of humanity. But when she activates it, reality warps, destroying the space station and everyone aboard. The AI Gods who rule the galaxy declare her work heretical, and Yasira is abducted by their agents. Instead of simply executing her, they offer mercy – if she’ll help them hunt down a bigger target: her own mysterious, vanished mentor. With her homeworld’s fate in the balance, Yasira must choose who to trust: the gods and their ruthless post-human angels, or the rebel scientist whose unorthodox mathematics could turn her world inside out.

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I’ve reviewed both of these, but the TL;DR version is that they’re a mashup of sci-fi and quantum physics and magic, and they’re amazing.

My review of The Outside!
My review of The Fallen!

A Rational Arrangement by L. Rowyn
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Autistic MC, bisexual MC, bisexual MC, M/M/F
Goodreads

“But these are vital aspects of marriage. If one cannot discuss them, what's the use in meeting at all? It's like trying to decide what you'll have for dinner without mentioning food.”

Wisteria Vasilver does wish to marry. Truly. But though she lives in Paradise, arranging a match is full of traps and pitfalls for the unwary ... or perhaps just for her.

Nikola Striker, Lord of Fireholt, expects he'll wed -- someday. But not now, and never to a rich icicle of a woman like Miss Vasilver. No matter how much his parents might want the match, or his house might need her dowry. Besides, he has his own problems -- most of them people who need his help as a mind-healer.

Lord Justin Comfrey, Viscount of Comfrey, would be more than happy to help Striker with his financial troubles, and not just to ensure that Miss Vasilver's dowry doesn't tempt Striker into marriage. If only he could find some way to make his proud, stubborn friend accept the money!

Can three people of such different temperaments ever find their way to a more perfect Paradise?

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This is a big, long slice-of-life + romance novel about an autistic woman becoming involved with two men who are already lovers – in a world where there are giant speaking cats, some people have psychic abilities, and humans are aware they come here from another planet. For all that it’s functionally a regency romance setting, as the cover suggests. It’s a lot of fun; it opens with the autistic character presenting her maybe-suitor with a proposed marriage contract that covers everything from household finances to extra-marital affairs – perfectly sensible, in my opinion!

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling
Genres: Fantasy, Horror
Representation: Autistic MC
Goodreads

Practical, unassuming Jane Shoringfield has done the calculations, and decided that the most secure path forward is this: a husband, in a marriage of convenience, who will allow her to remain independent and occupied with meaningful work. Her first choice, the dashing but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence, agrees to her proposal with only one condition: that she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town. Yet on their wedding night, an accident strands her at his door in a pitch-black rainstorm, and she finds him changed. Gone is the bold, courageous surgeon, and in his place is a terrified, paranoid man—one who cannot tell reality from nightmare, and fears Jane is an apparition, come to haunt him.

By morning, Augustine is himself again, but Jane knows something is deeply wrong at Lindridge Hall, and with the man she has so hastily bound her safety to. Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England, Starling crafts a new kind of gothic horror from the bones of the beloved canon. This Crimson Peak-inspired story assembles, then upends, every expectation set in place by Shirley Jackson and Rebecca, and will leave readers shaken, desperate to begin again as soon as they are finished.

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Gothic supernatural horror sound like your thing? Then The Death of Jane Lawrence should do nicely! This starts off as another ‘let’s get married in a reasonable manner’ story but rapidly becomes something…very much Else. I promise, whatever you’re expecting, this will surprise you!

Failure to Communicate (Xandri Corelel, #1) by Kaia Sønderby
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Bi/pansexual autistic MC
Goodreads

As one of the only remaining autistics in the universe, Xandri Corelel has faced a lot of hardship, and she's earned her place as the head of Xeno-Liaisons aboard the first contact ship Carpathia. But her skill at negotiating with alien species is about to be put to the ultimate test.

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

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

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ALIEN ANTHROPOLOGIST! Honestly, do you really need to hear anything else?! This is one of the first books I ever reviewed for Every Book a Doorway, and it’s still one of my favourites!

The Empress of Timbra (Hidden Histories, #1) by Karen Healey, Robyn Fleming
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Autistic MC
Goodreads

Fourteen-year-old Taver didn't know he was a nobleman's bastard until his real father died. Eleven-year-old Elaku has always known she was the bastard daughter of the same nobleman - and the Empress's Witch. When the two siblings meet in the Empress of Timbra's palace, neither is aware that treachery and war threaten their home - and that they must rely on their magic, their wits, and each other to have any chance of victory.

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Empress of Timbra made it onto my Best of the Decade list, which should tell you everything you need to know, really. Don’t be put off my the age of the MCs; this is one of those books self-publishing exists for, because it doesn’t fit neatly into an age-range at all. I can attest that grown-ups will absolutely adore this as well as younger readers – it’s much more complex than it looks at first!

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Autistic, intersex Black MC
Goodreads

Odd-mannered, obsessive, withdrawn, Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She's used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, as they accuse, she'd be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remained of her world, save for stories told around the cookfire.

Aster lives in the low-deck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, the Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster, who they consider to be less than human.

When the autopsy of Matilda's sovereign reveals a surprising link between his death and her mother's suicide some quarter-century before, Aster retraces her mother's footsteps. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer and sowing the seeds of civil war, Aster learns there may be a way off the ship if she's willing to fight for it.

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An Unkindness of Ghosts does not play nice, but it’s unquestionably a masterpiece that greatly rewards those who can stomach the horrific cruelties inflicted upon Astra and her people.

The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Autistic Black sapphic MC
Goodreads

The water-breathing descendants of African slave women tossed overboard have built their own underwater society—and must reclaim the memories of their past to shape their future in this brilliantly imaginative novella inspired by the Hugo Award nominated song “The Deep” from Daveed Diggs’ rap group Clipping.

Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.

Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.

Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.

Inspired by a song produced by the rap group Clipping for the This American Life episode “We Are In The Future,” The Deep is vividly original and uniquely affecting.

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Another one by Rivers Solomon, but I couldn’t possibly exclude it! This is a shorter novel about merpeople descended from the pregnant Africans thrown overboard by slavers, and it just gets better after that already-amazing premise.

A Tyranny of Queens (Manifold Worlds, #2) by Foz Meadows
Genres: Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Autistic POV character, asexual aromantic brown MC, sapphic MC, secondary trans characters, F/F
Goodreads

Saffron Coulter is back on Earth, but even so, nothing is easy. Struggling with the victimising expectations of her friends and family and threatened with a stay in psychiatric care, Saffron has to make a choice: to forget about Kena and fit back into the life she s outgrown, or pit herself against everything she s ever known and everyone she loves. Meanwhile in Kena, Gwen is increasingly troubled by Leoden s absence and his plans for the captive worldwalkers, while Yena, still in Veksh, must confront the deposed Kadeja. What is their endgame? Who can they trust? And what happens when Leoden returns?

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This is the second book in a duology and you should definitely read book one first, although the autistic character is only a PoV in Tyranny. This is portal fantasy for those who want their portal fantasies racially and sexually diverse, not straight and white and Christian; the wouldbuilding is phenomenal, and Tyranny is actually even better than the first book, An Accident of Stars. Not to be missed!

[image error]Heart of Stone by Johannes T. Evans
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Achillean MC with ADHD, autistic achillean MC
Goodreads

The year is 1764, and following a glowing recommendation from his last employer, Henry Coffey, vampire, takes on a new personal secretary: young Theophilus Essex.
The man is quite unlike any secretary - or any man, for that matter - that Henry has ever met.
---
'Heart of Stone' is a slowly unfolding period romance between a vampire and his inimitably devoted clerk: lushly depicted in flowing, lovingly appended prose, we follow the slow understanding these two men grasp of one another, and the cross of their two worlds into each other's.

Henry Coffey, immortal and ever-oscillating between periods of delighted focus upon his current passion project, is charming, witty, and seems utterly incapable of closing his mouth for more than a few moments; in contrast, Theophilus Essex is quiet and keenly focused, adopting an ever-flat affect, but as time goes on, he relaxes in his employer's presence.

Craving resounding intimacy but with an ever aware of the polite boundaries for their situation, Coffey and Essex perform a slow dance as they grow closer to one another, and find themselves entangled.

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Heart of Stone is a low-stakes, slow-burn romance between a vampire with ADHD and his autistic secretary, and it’s absolutely perfect – especially if you’re looking for something sweet, slow and soothing, rather than a the-fate-of-the-world-is-at-stake story!

Into the Drowning Deep (Rolling in the Deep, #1) by Mira Grant
Genres: Horror, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic autistic MC, bisexual MC, Hawaiian, Deaf, Latine POV characters, character with chronic pain
Goodreads

Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.

Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.

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One of the leads in Mira Grant’s mermaid-horror novel is autistic – and there’s a ton of other rep too. I love how casual Grant (aka, Seanan McGuire) is about diversity, how she writes stories that just naturally happen to have all kinds of people in them. This one is definitely horror, but it’s ridiculously good and clever and inclusive horror!

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White
Genres: Horror, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Gay trans MC, gay autistic MC, secondary BIPOC + queer cast
Published on: 7th June 2022
Goodreads

Prepare to die. His kingdom is near.

Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.

But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.

Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.

A furious, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors. Perfect for fans of Gideon the Ninth and Annihilation.

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One of the main characters in Hell Followed With Us is an autistic sharpshooter who bucks so many of the stereotypes that I Cannot Even. He’s both the maybe-love interest and the only character other than Benji to have PoV chapters, and I love him.

Hell Followed With Us isn’t out yet, but you can read my review here to learn more about it!

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Brown cast, gay MC, bisexual/demisexual autistic-coded MC, secondary pansexual character, secondary asexual nonbinary character, tertiary nonbinary characters, queernorm world
Published on: 30th August 2022
Goodreads

“A delicious tangle of romance, fealty, and dangerous politics.”—Tasha Suri
The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century" in Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire.
Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court—the body-father of the queen's new child—in an altercation which results in his humiliation.
To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing and bring about its ruin.

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Again, A Taste of Gold and Iron hasn’t been released yet, but you definitely need to preorder it because it’s literally perfect. And although I’ve not heard anything official on this, I read Evemer as being on the spectrum, which is truly awesome because I’ve never come across an autistic character in a fantasy like this before!

Books By Autistic Authors

(Other than those already mentioned!)

The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Trans MCs
Goodreads

Wind: To match one's body with one's heart
Sand: To take the bearer where they wish
Song: In praise of the goddess Bird
Bone: To move unheard in the night

The Surun' do not speak of the master weaver, Benesret, who creates the cloth of bone for assassins in the Great Burri Desert. But Uiziya now seeks her aunt Benesret in order to learn the final weave, although the price for knowledge may be far too dear to pay.
Among the Khana, women travel in caravans to trade, while men remain in the inner quarter as scholars. A nameless man struggles to embody Khana masculinity, after many years of performing the life of a woman, trader, wife, and grandmother.

As the past catches up to the nameless man, he must choose between the life he dreamed of and Uiziya, and Uiziya must discover how to challenge a tyrant, and weave from deaths that matter.

Set in R. B. Lemberg's beloved Birdverse.

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You really need to check out all of the Birdverse stories, but this is the first book in the series and a pretty wonderful opening. Two trans elders go on the same quest with different goals, in a world where you can transition with magic and weave flying carpets (if you know the right profound weave)! I’d recommend reading the short story Grandmother-nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds first, because it directly precedes the events of Four Profound Weaves, but you can read it online for free here!

The Fox's Tower and Other Tales: A Collection of Magical Short Stories by Yoon Ha Lee
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: BIPOC + queer cast
Goodreads

“Locus Award winner Lee (Phoenix Extravagant) takes on the folktale form in a collection of 25 gorgeous, magical stories, tiny jewels of worldbuilding that tap into mythic themes to feel somehow both ancient and delightfully fresh… The result is breathtaking in its playful grace." —Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review

Enter a world of magic and myth, where foxes fall in love and robots build their own dragons. In The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales, New York Times bestselling author Yoon Ha Lee crafts together short and moving stories of love, adventure, magic, and nature. With poetic language and intricate world building, readers will be whisked away to a different adventure with every new story. Full of fascinating creatures and LGBT+ romances, this flash fiction collection combines the classic with the contemporary in Yoon’s captivating style.

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This is a truly exquisite collection of tiny but breathtaking stories, many of them queer and all of them delightful. Dragons, witches, and even unicorns abound, and it’s quickly become one of my go-to books when I’m feeling down. One of my very favourites.

Ascension (Tangled Axon, #1) by Jacqueline Koyanagi
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Black sapphic MC with chronic pain, polyamory, F/F
Goodreads

Alana Quick is the best damned sky surgeon in Heliodor City, but repairing starship engines barely pays the bills. When the desperate crew of a cargo vessel stops by her shipyard looking for her spiritually advanced sister Nova, Alana stows away. Maybe her boldness will land her a long-term gig on the crew. But the Tangled Axon proves to be more than star-watching and plasma coils. The chief engineer thinks he's a wolf. The pilot fades in and out of existence. The captain is all blond hair, boots, and ego . . . and Alana can't keep her eyes off her. But there's little time for romance: Nova's in danger and someone will do anything--even destroying planets--to get their hands on her.

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Another favourite is Ascension, in which a Black woman with a chronic illness stows away on a spaceship and is drawn into a world-ending conspiracy. Koyanagi’s writing is fabulous, and it’s hard not to love the mix of fantasy with sci-fi!

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (The Salvagers, #1) by Alex White
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: F/F, queernorm world
Goodreads

Boots Elsworth was a famous treasure hunter in another life, but now she’s washed up. She makes her meager living faking salvage legends and selling them to the highest bidder, but this time she might have stumbled on something real–the story of the Harrow, a famous warship, capable of untold destruction.

Nilah Brio is the top driver in the Pan Galactic Racing Federation and the darling of the racing world–until she witnesses the murder of a fellow racer. Framed for the murder and on the hunt to clear her name, Nilah only has one lead: the killer also hunts a woman named Boots.

On the wrong side of the law, the two women board a smuggler’s ship that will take them on a quest for fame, for riches, and for justice.

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What if you could have spaceships and magic? That’s basically the premise of this incredible trilogy where a ragtag band of misfits have to work together to prevent a conspiracy that would turn some truly monstrous people into gods. These books are some of my top faves and I recommend them every chance I get – and regret nothing!

I hope you found something new to love in this list, and feel free to drop recs of your own in the comments!

The post SFF For Autism Acceptance Month! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Reach For the Stars: When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC, F/F, secondary polyamory
PoV: 1st person, past tense
Published on: 3rd May 2022
ISBN: 0385548222
Goodreads

Learn about the Mass Dragoning of 1955 in which 300,000 women spontaneously transform into dragons...and change the world.

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours. But this version of 1950's America is characterized by a significant event: The Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales and talons, left a trail of fiery destruction in their path, and took to the skies. Seemingly for good. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex's beloved Aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn't know. It's taboo to speak of, even more so than her crush on Sonja, her schoolmate.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of dragons: a mother more protective than ever; a father growing increasingly distant; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and a new "sister" obsessed with dragons far beyond propriety. Through loss, rage, and self-discovery, this story follows Alex's journey as she deals with the events leading up to and beyond the Mass Dragoning, and her connection with the phenomenon itself.

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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~femme rage (and joy) is draconic
~(but boys and trans people can be dragons too)
~too many grown-ups that should fall off a cliff
~suspicious knotwork
~scientists happy to be wrong
~dragons in space

Books that make you feel things are precious, and When Women Were Dragons made me feel so many things.

A lot of rage. (Not at the book!) A lot of joy. (Definitely at the book.)

In Barnhill’s world, women have a long history – stretching back into ancient times – of transforming into dragons when they are either capital-d Done, or filled with too much joy for a human body to contain. By the time the book starts, though, dragons are creatures of myth and legend, and surrounded by powerful taboos – they’re not to be spoken of, at all, by anyone, ever. And anyway, they’re definitely not real.

The Mass Dragoning of 1955 kind of blows that out of the water.

Or, well – you’d think it would. But the USA (and presumably other countries, although we don’t get much info on how the rest of the world reacts) just comes down harder on any mention of dragons, blacklisting scientists who try to study them, bringing journalists and news stations who try to report on them up on deviancy charges, and dragging activists in front of the Un-American Committee. It’s simultaneously extremely odd and extremely believable – on the one hand, it’s difficult to believe an entire country would work so hard, mostly successfully, to ignore the fact that thousands of people turned into dragons; on the other hand, it’s not hard to imagine why they’d want to. Facing the fact that the gender you subjugate could turn into dragons at any moment and flat-out EAT you??? I can see why that would make a lot of people very uncomfortable. And again and again throughout the book, talk of dragons is obliquely likened to talking about menstruation; it’s seen as a super feminine, somehow shameful, somehow gross thing that cis men are allowed to be horrified by. And thinking about how difficult it is to talk about periods even with a doctor…yep, I get it.

So I’m comfortable accepting this premise and moving on.

The Mass Dragoning doesn’t affect Alex the way it does some children – her mother doesn’t turn into a dragon, and doesn’t set fire to or eat her husband, so she doesn’t lose either of her parents. In fact, she gains a sister – Beatrice, the daughter of her aunt Marla (who did become a dragon) who is subsequently adopted by Alex’s parents. From then on Alex’s life revolves around Beatrice, whom she adores, and Math, the only thing she loves as much as her new sister.

It’s very hard to talk about the plot any more than that without getting into spoiler territory, but wow did this book make me feel things!!! Mostly rage, directed at virtually every grown-up in Alex’s life, because the way she’s treated is despicable. Some of it is good old sexism, like her school telling her to let the boys have the spotlight; some of it is horrific parenting; some of it is just not being there, or being useless, when a young girl desperately needs help.

But I also felt complete and utter delight, particularly in the between-chapters snippets discussing dragons in the past (I will never not be a sucker for fabulous worldbuilding) and the struggles of scientists and others who want to study dragons and the dragoning, and are punished harshly for it. Barnhill manages a very good balance between Alex’s story and the story going on in the world, and her dragons are properly magical and inexplicable, if not very clearly described visually. And any wishes I might have had for more dragons were more than granted by the last third or quarter of the book, when the pages become absolutely packed with them!

(Speaking of the worldbuilding, I’m delighted to be able to assure you that Barnhill has not forgotten that sex, gender and dragons are complicated, and both trans women and cis men are specifically referenced as being able to turn into dragons as well, even though society treats it as a cis women-only thing.)

The ending felt a tiny bit rushed to me, but it wrapped up every thread and subverted a few big expectations, which I generally approve of and approved of here! The ending is also satisfyingly perfect – as in, so packed full of wish-fulfillment it’s almost a happily ever after – after the anguish of Alex’s early life. SHE DESERVES NICE THINGS, OKAY? NICE THINGS AND NICE MATHS. In another book it might have felt cheesy; here, it works.

All in all, this is a deeply feminist work about the power in joy and rage, specifically feminine joy and rage, and how a patriarchy works to suppress that power. Conflating the feminine with dragons is a metaphor that will always work for me, and I think it’ll be a long time before I forget the image of women turning into dragons and flying to space to study the stars.

When Women Were Dragons is definitely one of this year’s knock-outs, and you would be very foolish indeed to miss it!

The post Reach For the Stars: When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco

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 Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco!

Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MCs, polyamory
Published on: 13th September 2022
Goodreads

Full of court intrigue, queer romance, and terrifying monsters—this gothic epic fantasy will appeal to fans of Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree and the adult animated series Castlevania.

Remy Pendergast is many things: the only son of the Duke of Valenbonne (though his father might wish otherwise), an elite bounty hunter of rogue vampires, and an outcast among his fellow Reapers. His mother was the subject of gossip even before she eloped with a vampire, giving rise to the rumors that Remy is half-vampire himself. Though the kingdom of Aluria barely tolerates him, Remy’s father has been shaping him into a weapon to fight for the kingdom at any cost.

When a terrifying new breed of vampire is sighted outside of the city, Remy prepares to investigate alone. But then he encounters the shockingly warmhearted vampire heiress Xiaodan Song and her infuriatingly arrogant fiancé, vampire lord Zidan Malekh, who may hold the key to defeating the creatures—though he knows associating with them won’t do his reputation any favors. When he’s offered a spot alongside them to find the truth about the mutating virus Rot that’s plaguing the kingdom, Remy faces a choice.

It’s one he’s certain he’ll regret.

But as the three face dangerous hardships during their journey, Remy develops fond and complicated feelings for the couple. He begins to question what he holds true about vampires, as well as the story behind his own family legacy. As the Rot continues to spread across the kingdom, Remy must decide where his loyalties lie: with his father and the kingdom he’s been trained all his life to defend or the vampires who might just be the death of him.

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Excuse me?! EXCUSE ME?! EXCUSE ME?!?!?!

You’re telling me that Rin Chupeco – the author whose gorgeous prose and incredible worldbuilding consistently makes me swoon – is bestowing upon us a vampire hunter/vampires THROUPLE – and I had to find out for myself?!

INTERNET YOU HAVE FAILED ME

Only I guess not really, because I did find out in time to preorder this no-doubt-MASTERPIECE and hi, I’m pretty sure they heard my delighted shrieking on Mars!

WHAT EVEN

WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE THIS? Someone tell me so I can make sure it happens again and again!

I just. I CANNOT EVEN. Rin Chupeco. I’d be excited no matter who was writing this premise, but…RIN CHUPECO?! That’s…

I CANNOT EVEN.

What I can do is urge you all to preorder it immediately so the publisher and everyone else knows we want this and want more like it!!!

The post I Can’t Wait For…Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Fantasy Bingo 2021-2022 Wrap-Up!

I’m late, again – what’re you gonna do? But I did complete my bingo card this year, and I have the receipts to prove it!

Links go to my reviews where applicable!

Five Short Stories – The Fox’s Tower by Yoon Ha Lee

This was one of my favourite reads of the entire year! Such incredibly beautiful, very short stories – like snippets of dreams. Very queer, very magical, with gorgeous prose and imagination. A genuinely perfect book.

Set in Asia – Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

A solid three stars book: I didn’t love it, but it’s objectively quite good and I definitely see why it’s so beloved.

A Selection From the A-Z Genre Guide – The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards

The r/Fantasy bingo allows you onereread, and I spent mine on The Last Sun, because of course I did!

Found Family – The Sunken Mall by K.D. Edwards

Feel free to be appalled it took one so long to get to The Sunken Mall – I am! This is a fantastic addition to the series, and personally I consider it necessary reading – there are some conversations, and emotional development, here that are vital if you want to get everything out of, and fully appreciate, The Hanged Man.

Plus it’s just ridiculously fun and funny??? And the plot is literally ‘how do we convince the teenager we accidentally adopted that we want him here?’ so it nails the Found Family prompt!

First Person POV – In The Eyes Of Mr Fury by Philip Ridley

This is an odd one that became very precious to me; a kind of urban fantasy/magical realism mix about a young man discovering the history of the street he lives on and his own sexuality – except there are also magic crows, ghost biscuits, and impossible movie reels! I ended up unexpectedly adoring this one.

Book Club or Readalong Book – The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

I reviewed this one! Very, very clever and sharp, with a cast you can’t help but fall in love with and wonderful worldbuilding. Plus a haunted mouse skeleton!

New To You Author – The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach

I bought my copy just days before it was unpublished so it could be readied for a trad publishing deal – talk about cutting it close! But it’s SO outside-the-box, strange and wonderful and one of the most unique books I’ve ever read. I’m incredibly excited for the new (and expanded!) edition!

Gothic Fantasy – Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

A queer Dracula reimagining from the perspective of one of his wives??? This is decadent and delicious and I adored it so much!

Backlist Book – Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison

This has a beautiful fairytale vibe – the main character is a princess who is raised by bears, and then by dragons – but it was also very clever and thoughtful, and I enjoyed it immensely. I’m only sorry it took me so long to hear about this author!

Revenge-Seeking Character – Blackheart Knights by Laure Eve

King Arthur reimagining with knights on motorbikes??? Sign me the HELL up!!! This was even more excellent than it sounds, and surprised me by also being queer. The blend of magic and technology was wonderful.

Mystery Plot – The Helm of Midnight by Marina Lostetter

Definitely some of the most original, and interesting, magic I’ve seen in a while – like storing emotions in gemstones, and memories+skills of the dead in masks that can confer those skills to the wearer. Plus, untrustworthy narrators not in the sense that the characters are lying to you, but that they are the ones being lied to. Which is a twist I don’t see often and massively appreciated. I can’t wait for book two!

Comfort Read – Three Twins at the Crater School by Chaz Brenchley

Another one I reviewed! Cozy British boarding school-esque story, but set on Mars with some really cool worldbuilding. Much love!

Published in 2021 – The Unbroken by C. L. Clark

I found The Unbroken massively compelling, but I’m still not sure if I enjoyed it? The worldbuilding was a bit simplistic for my tastes, although the take on colonialism was amazingly apt and powerful. Clark’s prose is a bit dry and blunt for me, I guess. I’d still recommend it, though.

Cat Squasher (500+ pages) – The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard

Pure perfection. I hope I can carve out time this year to reread it, because I want to try and take proper notes this time so I can review it. Which I have not managed to do so far, because it is genuinely beyond the power of words to describe.

SFF-Related Nonfiction – Eating Authors by Lawrence M. Schoen

As a literary foodie, I absolutely loved this – it was a lot of fun, and I loved how incredibly wide-ranging the authors’ most memorable meals were!

Latinx or Latin American Author – And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed

I didn’t feel like this lived up to the beautiful cover, but it’s more a case of me and it not getting on, rather than this being objectively bad. You know?

Self Published – Heart of Stone by Johannes T. Evans[image error]

Another super-sweet, cozy read! This is another one I hope I can review properly at some point; it’s a M/M slow-burn between a vampire with ADHD and an autistic secretary, and I loved every second of it. Although I do feel like it was unfair that Evans sprung some seriously incredible worldbuilding on us in the final pages! I hope we get more stories in this setting some day.

Forest Setting – Bee Sting Cake by Victoria Goddard

Bee Sting Cake is all about Jemis claiming his inheritance, which very much involves a very important forest, and also some bees. This whole series is like sinking into a warm bath, honestly – one with some fizzy, glittering bath-bomb!

Genre Mashup – The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin

Cinderella after the marriage! Only it slowly changed from obvious fantasy to contemporary fiction? It was weird, but personally I adored it, especially the long footnotes about the lives of Cinderella’s mice-friends!

Has Chapter Titles – The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

The Last Graduate took all the bleakness of book one and turned it into hopepunk, which I was absolutely not expecting, but massively appreciated! Although the ending made me SHRIEK, and I need book three immediately!

Title: _ of _ – The Library of the Dead by T. L. Huchu

This surprised me in all sorts of ways that utterly delighted me, and is a very good start to what I suspect is going to be one of my favourite urban fantasy series!

First Contact – Artifact Space by Miles Cameron

Squid-aliens who live in ammonia! And make incredible glass that the whole human economy relies on! Like most of Cameron’s books, this is technically quite slow and very obsessed with logistics, but for some reason I always find it really soothing and enjoyable??? I don’t know, but I loved it.

Trans or Nonbinary Character – Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden

I really enjoyed book one of this duology; I freaking loved Gifting Fire!!! It had me on the edge of the seat every single second, damn it, and I regret none of it!

Debut Author – The Councillor by E. J. Beaton

*happy sigh* This hit pretty much all of my buttons; political intrigue, beautiful worldbuilding, queerness all over the place, magic, and the value of books and knowledge. Perfection!

Witches – The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

This was lovely, though once again Jasinska frustrated me by not really wrapping things up by the ending. I still hold out hope for a sequel for Dark Tide.

Now it’s just making sure my r/Fantasy bingo reads for 2022 overlap as much as possible with the Subjective Chaos Awards!

Have you read any of these? Do you want to? Let me know!

The post Fantasy Bingo 2021-2022 Wrap-Up! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #81

TEN books this week, with necromancers, ghosts, and vampires galore!

A Crown of Blood (The Deimachy #1) by Lincoln Law
Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 11th April 2022
Goodreads

A bloodthirsty army. A long forgotten god. A power believed lost.

Roisin Latenda is a Groundformer Acolyte in training, a person with the ability to manipulate the earth. Long ago—before the people rose up, killed their Gods, and fashioned their corpses into weapons—these powers could move mountains, form cities, shift countries. Now with the Gods dead, the powers are weaker, but humanity controls it. And wrestling power from the gods was always about autonomy.

When a powerful army arrives in Roisin’s small village, supported by an unknown god named the Soulmonger, all is sent into chaos. They ravage the village, killing many, and force Roisin to choose between those she loves, and her duty to her Groundformer training.

But Roisin’s life isn’t the only one to be horrifically transformed by the Soulmongers’ arrival. Piritta, the political aspirant, will find her drive for power warped in the most terrible way. Bree, the apprentice cartographer, will have to face her past; a past bathed in blood. And Kaori, whose porcelain mask hides many secrets, will seize the vengeance she seeks for a world which wronged her.

These four young women find their fates intertwined. If they make the right decisions, three of them may save the world from this new and deadly force. And should they fail, one will destroy it.

A dark and epic tale about friendship, power and the cost of war begins in A Crown of Blood, the first book of the Deimachy Trilogy.

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I know almost nothing about this book, but between the blurb and the cover I’m definitely going to be giving it a go!

Saint Death's Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary love interest, queerplatonic-coded F/F
Published on: 12th April 2022
Goodreads

Fun, froofy and glorious: a coming-of-age story in a new trilogy from World Fantasy Award-winning author C.S.E. Cooney.

Nothing complicates life like Death.

Lanie Stones, the daughter of the Royal Assassin and Chief Executioner of Liriat, has never led a normal life. Born with a gift for necromancy and a literal allergy to violence, she was raised in isolation in the family’s crumbling mansion by her oldest friend, the ancient revenant Goody Graves.

When her parents are murdered, it falls on Lanie and her cheerfully psychotic sister Nita to settle their extensive debts or lose their ancestral home—and Goody with it. Appeals to Liriat's ruler to protect them fall on indifferent ears… until she, too, is murdered, throwing the nation's future into doubt.

Hunted by Liriat’s enemies, hounded by her family’s creditors and terrorised by the ghost of her great-grandfather, Lanie will need more than luck to get through the next few months—but when the goddess of Death is on your side, anything is possible.

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What if Gormenghast was pink and also had more knives? That maybe gives you a starting point for the book I called a cross between Catherynne Valente and NK Jemisin! And also, the most perfect book to ever book. Read it and find out why!

The Lawless: A Triptych by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor
Genres: Sci Fi
Published on: 12th April 2022

TRUST IN THE LAW
A Good Citizen follows all the Laws set forth by the benevolent Government. Trust the authority of the State. Questions are against the law.

BELIEVE IN THE LAW
The Government cares about you. The Government wants you to be happy. Do not deviate from the Government's prescribed conditions of happiness.

OBEY ONLY THE LAW
Never question the Law, for that leads to anarchy. Always obey, lest you be found undesirable. Undesirables do not deserve life. And you, Good Citizen, want to live, don't you?

----

THE LAWLESS: A Triptych collects three tales of near future America, and the people who fight against the totalitarian regime that wants to destroy them — plus a bonus story about resistance in a dystopian nightmare.

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I love Wolfmoor’s writing, so you bet I’m pouncing on this collection! I believe all of these have been previously published, but I haven’t read them, so I’m grateful they’re being gathered into one volume!

Blood to Poison by Mary Watson
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Black South African MC and cast
Published on: 14th April 2022
Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Savannah is cursed. It's a sinister family heirloom; passed down through the bloodline for hundreds of years, with one woman in every generation destined to die young. The family call them Hella's girls, named for their ancestor Hella; the enslaved woman with whom it all began. Hella's girls are always angry, especially in the months before they die.

The anger is bursting from Savannah - at the men who cat-call her in the street, at her mother's disingenuous fiancé, even at her own loving family. Each fit of rage is bringing her closer to the edge and now Savannah has to act to save herself. Or die trying. Because the key to survival lies in the underbelly of Cape Town, where the sinister veilwitches are waiting for just such a girl.

Blood to Poison is a furious and mesmerising story about discovering magic, historical rage and love in all its guises.

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This has had somewhat mixed reviews, but I’m just in love with any story that combines fantasy and femme rage, so I’m here for it!

[image error]Sanctuary by Andi C. Buchanan
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Autistic MC, queer BIPOC nuerodiverse cast
Published on: 12th April 2022
Goodreads

Morgan’s home is a sanctuary for ghosts.

The once-grand, now dilapidated old house they live in has become a refuge for their found family. From Morgan’s partner Araminta, an artist with excellent dress sense, to Theo, a ten-year-old with an excess of energy, to quiet telekinesthetic pensioner Denny, all of them consider this haunted house their home. In a world that wasn’t built for their queer, neurodivergent selves, they’ve made it into a place they belong.

Together they welcome not just the ghosts of the house’s former inhabitants, but any who need somewhere to belong. Both the living and the dead can find themselves in need of a sanctuary.

When a collection of ghosts trapped in old bottles are delivered to their door, something from the past is unleashed. A man who once collected ghosts – a man who should have died centuries before – suddenly has the house under his control. Morgan must trust their own abilities, and their hard-won sense of self, to save their home, their family, and the woman they love.

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Super, super diverse, super soft, very gentle. It didn’t quite work for me, but it’s one of those books where I’m happy it exists, you know? If you’re looking for a gentler story that mixes slice-of-life with diversity and a little bit of magic, I recommend Sanctuary!

Amongst Our Weapons (Rivers of London, #9) by Ben Aaronovitch
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Biracial Black MC, Black love interest/partner
Published on: 12th April 2022
Goodreads

The ninth novel of the bestselling Rivers of London urban fantasy series returns to the adventures of Peter Grant, detective and apprentice wizard, as he solves magical crimes in the city of London.

There is a world hidden underneath this great city.

The London Silver Vaults–for well over a century, the largest collection of silver for sale in the world. It has more locks than the Bank of England and more cameras than a celebrity punch-up. Not somewhere you can murder someone and vanish without a trace–only that’s what happened.

The disappearing act, the reports of a blinding flash of light and memory loss amongst the witnesses all make this a case for Detective Constable Peter Grant and the Special Assessment Unit.

Alongside their boss DCI Thomas Nightingale, the SAU find themselves embroiled in a mystery that encompasses London’s tangled history, foreign lands and, most terrifying of all, the North!

And Peter must solve this case soon because back home his partner Beverley is expecting twins any day now. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s about to encounter something–and somebody–that nobody ever expects…

Effortlessly original, endlessly inventive and hugely entertaining–step into the world of the much-loved, Number One bestselling Rivers of London series.

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The US release!

Chef's Kiss by Jarrett Melendez, Danica Brine, Hank Jones, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Achillean MC
Published on: 12th April 2022
Goodreads

Watch things start to really heat up in the kitchen in this sweet, queer, new adult graphic novel! 

Now that college is over, English graduate Ben Cook is on the job hunt looking for something…anything…related to his passion for reading and writing. But interview after interview, hiring committee after hiring committee, Ben soon learns getting the dream job won’t be as easy as he thought. Proofreading? Journalism? Copywriting? Not enough experience. It turns out he doesn’t even have enough experience to be a garbage collector! But when Ben stumbles upon a “Now Hiring—No Experience Necessary” sign outside a restaurant, he jumps at the chance to land his first job. Plus, he can keep looking for a writing job in the meantime. He’s actually not so bad in the kitchen, but he will have to pass a series of cooking tests to prove he’s got the culinary skills to stay on full-time. But it’s only temporary…right? 

When Ben begins developing a crush on Liam, one of the other super dreamy chefs at the restaurant, and when he starts ditching his old college friends and his old writing job plans, his career path starts to become much less clear. 

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This looks like a super sweet graphic novel, and given that he talks to some kind of fairy creatures (possibly imaginary?) I’m willing to call it SFF and include it! Plus, who doesn’t love queer stories with food???

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 12th April 2022
Goodreads

A biracial half-human, half-vampire must find a way to balance her mixed heritage, her bottomless hunger, and her life in this stunning debut novel from a writer-to-watch.

Lydia is hungry. She's always wanted to try Japanese food. Sashimi, ramen, onigiri with sour plum stuffed inside - the food her Japanese father liked to eat. And then there is bubble tea and iced-coffee, ice cream and cake, and foraged herbs and plants, and the vegetables grown by the other young artists at the London studio space she is secretly squatting in. But, Lydia can't eat any of these things. Her body doesn't work like those of other people. The only thing she can digest is blood, and it turns out that sourcing fresh pigs' blood in London--where she is living away from her vampire mother for the first time - is much more difficult than she'd anticipated.

Then there are the humans--the other artists at the studio space, the people at the gallery she interns at, the strange men that follow her after dark, and Ben, a boyish, goofy-grinned artist she is developing feelings for. Lydia knows that they are her natural prey, but she can't bring herself to feed on them. In her windowless studio, where she paints and studies the work of other artists, binge-watches Buffy the Vampire Slayer and videos of people eating food on YouTube and Instagram, Lydia considers her place in the world. She has many of the things humans wish for--perpetual youth, near-invulnerability, immortality--but, she is miserable; she is lonely; and she is hungry--always hungry.

As Lydia develops as a woman and an artist, she will learn that she must reconcile the conflicts within her--between her demon and human sides, her mixed ethnic heritage, and her relationship with food, and, in turn, humans if she is to find a way to exist in the world. Before any of this, however, she must eat.

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Another book that had its UK debut a little while ago, and releases in the USA this week!

The Devil in the Dust by Chaz Brenchley
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 14th April 2022
Goodreads

Outremer—a harsh and barren kingdom born of blood and at war with the world around it.

For forty years, the Order of the Knights Ransomer has been the sword-arm and conscience of the kingdom. Their stronghold, the Roq de Rançon, is the key to Outremer’s defence. But nomadic tribes on the kingdom’s borders threaten to reclaim this land that was once theirs.

Marron, a young man training to be a Ransomer, and Julianne, a noble-born girl betrothed to a man she’s never met, are journeying to the Roq. There each of them will be put to the test, as they become inextricably bound up in the coming upheaval that will decide the fate of Outremer.

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Chaz Brenchley’s Outremer series has been out of print for TWENTY YEARS – but now it’s becoming available again! I’ve had this preordered since I saw the announcement in the Book Cafe newsletter, and I seriously cannot wait to read it!

The Language of Roses by Heather Rose Jones
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Asexual aromantic MC, F/F
Published on: 14th April 2022
Goodreads

A Beauty. A Beast. A Curse. This is not the story you know.

Join author Heather Rose Jones on a new and magical journey into the heart of a familiar fairytale. Meet Alys, eldest daughter of a merchant, a merchant who foolishly plucks a rose from a briar as he flees from the home of a terrifying fay Beast and his seemingly icy sister. Now Alys must pay the price to save his life and allow the Beast, the once handsome Philippe, to pay court to her.

But Alys has never fallen in love with anyone; how can she love a Beast? The fairy Peronelle, waiting in the woods to see the culmination of her curse, is sure that she will fail. Yet, if she does, Philippe’s sister Grace and her beloved Eglantine, trapped in an enchanted briar in the garden, will pay a terrible price. Unless Alys can find another way…

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Beauty and the Beast…but make it asexual and aromantic! Um, yes please??!

Will you be reading any of these? Did I miss any books I should know about? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #81 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Sunday Soupçons #6

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!

Waiting on a Bright Moon by J.Y. Yang
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Chinese-coded cast, sapphic MCs, F/F
Goodreads

Xin is an ansible, using her song magic to connect the originworld of the Imperial Authority and its far-flung colonies— a role that is forced upon magically-gifted women “of a certain closeness”. When a dead body comes through her portal at a time of growing rebellion, Xin is drawn deep into a station-wide conspiracy along with Ouyang Suqing, one of the station’s mysterious, high-ranking starmages.

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I think what impresses me most about Waiting on a Bright Moon is how perfectly it fits its length. I’m not always a fan of short stories, or novellas, because I am greedy and always want more of stories I enjoy, but every now and then I come across one where I have to grudgingly concede that, even if I would enjoy more, the author has completely justified the choice to write the story as a short story rather than a novel. And Yang has absolutely done that here. Kudos!

But I was also impressed by how quickly and deftly Yang immersed us in this new and reasonably strange world, and made us care about it. I guess that’s a necessary skill for someone who writes short stories or novellas, but that doesn’t make it less impressive!

The Stone in the Skull (Lotus Kingdoms, #1) by Elizabeth Bear
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Third-gender/trans MC
Goodreads

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

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

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

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This was my third time reading Stone in the Skull, and I remember adoring it the previous two times, so I’m assuming the problem is me. Because the overwhelming impression I was left with this time around was heaviness. Reading it was just exhausting, even with the wonderful worldbuilding and decadent description. (… I actually didn’t mean to alliterate there, but sure, let’s roll with it.) It also struck me as very slow, which is not something that usually bothers me, and only occurred to me after I finished reading – probably because it ends just as things start to really happen.

I do really adore this world of Bear’s, and I’m surprised I struggled so much with this reread. Even with all the beautiful descriptions of beautiful clothes and jewelry, which I, shallow Sia that I am, always enjoy very much.

I’m putting this one down to the fact that I was reading it while on new meds that were messing me up, and which I’m no longer taking. Fingers crossed the reread of book two goes much better!

The Thousand Eyes (The Serpent Gates, #2) by A.K. Larkwood
Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F, M/M, major nonbinary character, queernorm world
ISBN: 1250238935
Goodreads

The sequel to A. K. Larkwood's stunning debut fantasy, The Unspoken Name. The Thousand Eyes continues The Serpent Gates series—perfect for fans of Jenn Lyons, Joe Abercrombie, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Just when they thought they were out...

Two years after defying the wizard Belthandros Sethennai and escaping into the great unknown, Csorwe and Shuthmili have made a new life for themselves, hunting for secrets among the ruins of an ancient snake empire.

Along for the ride is Tal Charossa, determined to leave the humiliation and heartbreak of his hometown far behind him, even if it means enduring the company of his old rival and her insufferable girlfriend.

All three of them would be quite happy never to see Sethennai again. But when a routine expedition goes off the rails and a terrifying imperial relic awakens, they find that a common enemy may be all it takes to bring them back into his orbit.

"I cannot recommend this series enough." -- Tamsyn Muir, New York Times bestselling author of Gideon the Ninth

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I loved this so much!!! I always thought The Unspoken One, the first book, was meant to be a standalone, but I’m so glad Larkwood wrote a sequel because it’s even better then the first one! No second-book syndrome here, my friends!

Larkwood subverted absolutely every expectation I had, and I love her for it. This felt like very Grownup Fantasy, too – the story set after the story, the tale of what happens when the adventure is over. (The tale being, in this case, another series of adventures oh fuck this isn’t fun any more HOW DARE)

(I’m kidding, it’s a lot of fun. But I did also shriek a few times because I couldn’t believe Larkwood went there.

Repeatedly!)

It’s not that The Unspoken One was simplistic (because it wasn’t) but Thousand Eyes somehow felt more complex and adult – maybe because it went hard on OH NO YOU DIDN’T plot twists, but also in facing some of the more grim realities of adventuring and growing up, getting your heart broken and your hands dirty, the costs of oppression and doing what’s necessary and gathering power.

Which is not, either, to say that it’s grimdark or anything – although I do think a big chunk of it is somewhat heavier in tone than a lot of The Unspoken One. But it doesn’t go near grimdark, in my opinion. Because there’s also a lot of hope, and a lot of humour, and a lot of love (all different kinds of love) and it’s pretty damn wonderful.

If you enjoyed Unspoken One, you definitely can’t miss Thousand Eyes! And if you haven’t read Unspoken One at all, I very much recommend it.

What have you been reading this week?

The post Sunday Soupçons #6 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

A Merchants of Knowledge & Magic Interview!

When I first heard the title Merchants of Knowledge and Magic, I immediately perked up – just the idea of that, of people who trade in knowledge and magic, already had my attention. And the more I heard, the better it sounded! So when there was an opportunity to take part in a blog tour, I jumped at the chance to interview the author Erika McCorkle about her incredibly unique, incredibly diverse fantasy!

Interview

Me: so why this genre? Why fantasy?

McCorkle: Basically, I didn’t start off wanting to write a fantasy novel. I was just creating stuff for my own amusement, and writing it as a book was the only option I had as a child. At no point did I ever sit down and say “I want to write books. Now, what genre will I write?” No, rather, it was like “Well, I have this world inside me. Guess I’m going to make a novel series out of it.”

Me: I think that’s both sensible and beautiful. Next question: why did you choose to write about non-human characters? I ask as someone who is always delighted to read about sapient non-humans! But what kind of work went into that?

McCorkle: The nonhuman species of my world started as ‘Pokemon’, literally. I was a child and had gotten into the Pokemon anime. I was intrigued by the cool monster designs, so I went about making my own. A slew of other ‘monster-raising’ anime came out around the same time, including Digimon and Monster Rancher. The monsters in those two are more like ‘citizens’ in their own society/world, rather than pets. I liked the idea of a world where the people are a variety of monster species, so I decided to make my own. The first stories I wrote about the Pentagonal Dominion were isekai/portal fantasy about humans coming to the PD. They were shameless rip-offs of Digimon and Monster Rancher, honestly, including one iteration where each human had an Aloutian “partner.” Oh, that’s another thing. Originally, I used the term “Aloutian” to refer to the nonhumans. Only gradually did Aloutia go from being the entire world to just one of the planes, and with those changes, the Aloutians went from being all nonhumans to being just the citizens of one country.

As for writing nonhuman characters? It’s great fun! But you have to keep their biology in mind when you write. Often when I write, the scene will initially be a skeleton—just the bare bones. Sometimes it’s nothing but dialogue and simple actions. Later, when I edit the meat onto the skeleton, I add references to their nonhuman anatomy either in how the characters gesture, or in describing furniture, or to aid them in whatever they’re doing. While I wouldn’t say I forgot Calinthe had wings, I occasionally went several chapters without referencing them. When I went back to revise those chapters, I included more mentions of them.

In the book I’m currently writing, Merchants of Light and Bone, the main character has a ball of lightning on the end of his tail which can serve as a light source. I have occasionally had him stumbling in the dark, only for me to realize a chapter later—duh! He can just use his tail as a flashlight!

Me: I mean, I was already invested in checking out the next Merchants book, but a character with a flashlight-tail??? That delights me!

There are so many different species in your book that figuring out everyone’s biology can’t have happened overnight! How long have you had some iteration of the Pentagonal Dominion taking up space in your brain?

McCorkle: The initial spark of the Pentagonal Dominion came to me on August 20th, 1999. I started drawing my own original Pokemon that day. I called them Aloutians, though, and then gave them their own world.

Me: The idea of merchants of knowledge a) is amazing and b) reminds me a very little of the Steerswomen in the Rosemary Kirstein series – although they sound pretty different. But it makes me wonder, what books or authors would you consider influences on your work?

McCorkle: I didn’t read much when I was younger. I was (and still am) a very visual person, so I preferred my stories to have something I could see besides the words. I played a lot of video games and watched anime to get my fix for fantasy stories. Pokemon was the first and probably the biggest overall influence, but I was also inspired by other anime that were airing on American TV at the time. That includes Digimon, Monster Rancher, Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon, and Dragonball Z. Video games that influenced my works include many RPG series, notably Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Zelda, Elder Scrolls, Grandia, Lunar, Breath of Fire, Suikoden, Disgaea, and Skies of Arcadia.

As for books? The only books I recall reading when I was younger and enjoying were the Wheel of Time series (which I’m currently rereading!) I’m not sure how influential it was on me, though. Other than the fact that both my series and that one have a lot of deep worldbuilding, there aren’t many similarities.

In a different way, one author who influenced my writing was the Japanese visual novel author who goes by the pen name Ryukishi07. He wrote Higurashi and Umineko no Naku Koro ni, the former being my favorite anime, and the latter being my favorite work of fiction. While his writing isn’t the best overall (I’ve only read translations, but I hear the original Japanese isn’t spectacular, either), the emotion and sense of fear/urgency/panic his characters experience inspired me to write intense 1st-person narratives where we are inside a character’s mind as they go through horrendous torture.

Me: I didn’t play video games or watch much anime as a kid, despite spending part of my childhood in Japan, so it amuses me how many of my favourite authors have been so influenced by both! I shall ponder that later.

But are there any books you’d recommend for people who love Merchants of Knowledge and Magic, and want to read more like it? Beyond the other forthcoming books in the Pentagonal Dominion, of course.

McCorkle: Honestly? Video games and anime, or indie books where the inspiration is video games and/or anime. You won’t find the kind of stuff I’m writing in traditional published books. They’re playing it safe. They want short books for maximum profits (meaning you won’t get the detail of worldbuilding I have to offer). They also don’t want books that push boundaries or offend conservatives, so you aren’t going to see much queer or diverse content. For that, you have to look into indie and self-published books. For box with similar vibes as mine, I would recommend The 13th Zodiac by L. Krauch, The Keeper’s Codex by A.D. Wills, and The Alvertaen Axiom by Jessica Moon and Mandy Russell.

Me: *scribbles notes* Uh huh, uh huh. Adding them all to my tbr!

But okay, serious question time. Merchants of Knowledge and Magic stands apart as pretty unique, both in terms of worldbuilding and queer rep. As a queer worldbuilding-addict, those are two of my favourite things! But why so far outside the usual box? How did you end up so far outside the box?

McCorkle: It was a gradual process over two the course of two decades. It also helps that the ‘box’ I started in wasn’t full of the same ol’ Western (‘West’ as in America, Europe, etc. not as in cowboys) fantasy worldbuilding tropes many other authors start in. My box was full of Japanese anime/video game tropes and I slowly stepped out of the box by adding in aspects of my own experiences. I took inspiration from everything, from studying biology to being asked weird hypothetical questions. An example of the latter, the idea for the Gods’ Blessing system first came about when someone on the internet asked the age old question ‘An apartment is on fire and you can save only one: a stranger’s baby or your own dog. Which do you save?’ It made me question the very nature of my world. I wondered ‘why would the Fire God even allow a baby or dog to burn to death?’ So I explored the possibility of Gods who grant protections to people right away, and why they might want to take those protections away later.

So ‘how’ I got so far out of the box was largely due to time, critical thinking, philosophy, and inspiration from sources most Western authors scoff at.

Me: now for the most important question of all: if someone offered you a portal leading into the world of the Pentagonal Dominion…would you step through?

McCorkle: I wouldn’t even wait to say goodbye to people on Earth.

Me: I can’t think of a better endorsement for a book than that! Thank you so much for your time, and for the wonderful book!

Merchants of Knowledge and Magic (The Pentagonal Dominion #1) by Erika McCorkle
Published on: 8th April 2022
Goodreads

On one of the many planes of the Pentagonal Dominion, priestess Calinthe trades in information, collecting valuable secrets for her demonic employer. Calinthe has a secret of her own: she’s intersex, making her a target for the matriarchal slavers of the Ophidian Plane whose territory she must cross in her search for hidden knowledge. But thanks to her friend Zakuro’s illusions, Calinthe presents as a woman- a comfortable, if furtive, existence in a world determined to bring her to heel.
But when, instead of a mere secret, the priestess uncovers an incalculably powerful artifact, Calinthe finds herself in a high-stakes negotiation with the same matriarchs who sought to enslave her. On the table: Calinthe’s discovery, a charm powerful enough to transform a mortal into a god… against a secret so deadly it could quell all life on every plane of the dominion. If Calinthe plays her cards perfectly, she and Zakuro could escape Ophidia wealthier than either of them ever dreamed possible.
But if she plays them wrong…
…she’ll learn slavery in her pursuers’ hands is a fate far worse than death.

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Most Anticipated Reads of 2022: Q2

Tammy at Books Bones and Buffy shared the books she’s most excited for in the year’s second quarter – and I’m always looking for an excuse to make a new book list!

But Sia! you cry. You already have your enormous Unmissable SFF of 2022 list!!!

That is true, dear reader, and you are welcome to peruse it. However, it is very long. Here I’m listing just the top three books I’m most excited for in April, May and June!

April

Three releases from three of my favourite authors?! April is BLESSED!

I’ve already read Saint Death’s Daughter (and reviewed it) but that in no way makes me less excited for the official release date (NEXT WEEK)! Imagine if Gormenghast was pink and froofy and you’re on the right track for the book I described as a mash-up of Catherynne Valente and NK Jemisin!

Spear comes out one week later, and it’s Nicola Griffith. It’s NICOLA. GRIFFITH. What more needs saying???

And on the last Tuesday of the month we get Osmo Unknown and the Eightpenny Woods, which is a gender-flipped Persephone story that pulls from Finnish folklore and honestly I didn’t need to know any of that, it’s CATHERYNNE VALENTE, but also, THIS SOUNDS FREAKING AMAZING.

May

Book three in the Tarot Sequence knocked my fool socks off when I read the ARC, and I will be rereading it again in an effort to translate my shrieking delight and very, VERY passionate Feels into something legible (although I don’t know if I can do it more justice than Kathy’s amazing review.)

Nghi Vo is another automatic-buy author; I will gleefully pounce on anything she chooses to write, and this life decision has yet to let me down.

Darknesses is a bit of a Dracula retelling, and a bit of an answer to Dracula, only it’s sapphic and has Black vampires and if this is sounding as interesting to you as it does to me, you can read the prologue and first chapter here!

June

Kit Whitfield is criminally unknown, when by rights she should be a huge name that everyone instantly recognises. Her worldbuilding is without compare – she’s taken on werewolves and mermaids in previous books, and In the Heart of Hidden Things is her take on the fae! I CAN’T WAIT.

I adored The Dawnhounds when it was first published, but it has been expanded for its trad-publish release in June and I am excited. Apparently it’s gotten even weirder and queerer. EXCELLENT.

At this point Wrath Goddess Sing should need no introduction, but if it somehow didn’t ping your radar, it’s a retelling of the Illiad featuring a trans woman Achilles. No, you didn’t read that wrong, and yes, it’s exactly as epic as it sounds!

What books are you most excited for in the next few months???

The post Most Anticipated Reads of 2022: Q2 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.