Siavahda's Blog, page 88

WWW Wednesday: 28th May

I’ve decided that, at least for the foreseeable future, I’m going to be participating in WWW Wednesdays, which is a meme hosted over at Taking On a World of Words. To take part, you just answer the three questions below, and link back to TOaWoW! These posts are also where I include my State of the Sia update, which I’ll do my best to keep short.

State of the Sia update: What is there to say? I’ve been in a lot of pain this week, and it’s only Wednesday. But so it goes! I’ve also had a lot of cuddles from our kittens and Chihuahua, and my Cosma Visions oracle arrived yesterday, which I’m seriously excited to unbox.

Now, onto my reading!

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu
Representation: Nonbinary MC, nonbinary secondary characters
on 31st August 2021
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Goodreads

In the Watchful City explores borders, power, diaspora, and transformation in an Asian-inspired mosaic novella that melds the futurism of Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station with the magical wonder of Catherynne M. Valente’s Palimpsest.

The city of Ora uses a complex living network called the Gleaming to surveil its inhabitants and maintain harmony. Anima is one of the cloistered extrasensory humans tasked with watching over Ora's citizens. Although ær world is restricted to what æ can see and experience through the Gleaming, Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from all harm.

All that changes when a mysterious visitor enters the city carrying a cabinet of curiosities from around the world, with a story attached to each item. As Anima’s world expands beyond the borders of Ora to places—and possibilities—æ never before imagined to exist, æ finds ærself asking a question that throws into doubt ær entire purpose: What good is a city if it can’t protect its people?

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Listen, all you have to do is mention Catherynne Valente’s name and I am here for whatever it is you’re selling. So far, this is an absolutely wonderful book, with beautiful prose and absolutely fascinating worldbuilding. It’s not really like Palimpsest in any way other than also being about a magical city; it’s its own thing, and its own thing is stunning. I’m going to have a very hard time talking about this one in any way that isn’t just solid exclamation marks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Representation: Bisexual MC, lesbian secondary character
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 0593110358
Goodreads

A dark, twisty modern fairytale where three sisters discover they are not exactly all that they seem and evil things really do go bump in the night.
Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. Ever since they disappeared on a suburban street in Scotland as children only to return a month a later with no memory of what happened to them, odd, eerie occurrences seem to follow in their wake. And they’re changing. First, their dark hair turned white. Then, their blue eyes slowly turned black. They have insatiable appetites yet never gain weight. People find them disturbingly intoxicating, unbearably beautiful, and inexplicably dangerous.

But now, ten years later, seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow is doing all she can to fit in and graduate high school on time–something her two famously glamourous globe-trotting older sisters, Grey and Vivi, never managed to do. But when Grey goes missing without a trace, leaving behind bizarre clues as to what might have happened, Iris and Vivi are left to trace her last few days. They aren’t the only ones looking for her though. As they brush against the supernatural they realize that the story they’ve been told about their past is unraveling and the world that returned them seemingly unharmed ten years ago, might just be calling them home.

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Sutherland’s prose is absolutely gorgeous, and I love that the story managed to surprise me – I thought I had it all sussed out just from the blurb, but nope, Sutherland creates her own mythology rather than drawing from folklore. The ending left me feeling a bit raw, though. There’s quite a lot of horror elements, and it’s not a story that plays nice, but if that’s okay with you then this is a really beautiful book.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw
Representation: Queer MCs
on 17th August 2021
Genres: Sci Fi, Queer Protagonists
ISBN: 1645660206
Goodreads

A diverse team of broken, diminished former criminals get back together to solve the mystery of their last, disastrous mission and to rescue a missing and much-changed comrade... but they’re not the only ones in pursuit of the secret at the heart of the planet Dimmuborgir. The highly-evolved AI of the universe have their own agenda and will do whatever it takes to keep humans from ever controlling the universe again. This band of dangerous women, half-clone and half-machine, must battle their own traumas and a universe of sapient ageships who want them dead, in order to settle their affairs once and for all. 

Cassandra Khaw’s debut novel is a page-turning exploration of humans and machines that is perfect for readers of Ann Leckie, Ursula Le Guin, and Kameron Hurley.

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I think next up is going to be The All-Consuming World, which I only requested at all because Circe Moskowitz a) loved it and b) described the prose as beautiful – and promised that yes, it’s a heist story (which I normally don’t care for) but a pretty damn epic one.

Having taken a peek at the first few pages…I already know I’m going to adore it. The prose!!!

Here endeth the weekly check-in!

The post WWW Wednesday: 28th May appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #32!

SIX new SFF releases have caught my attention this week, ranging from the new Murderbot novella to Korean folklore and divine triplets!

Shadow of the City: A Rocío and Hala novel by R. Morgan
Representation: Cast of colour (presumably?)
on 27th April 2021
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy
Goodreads

A delightful fantasy of friendship and mystery in a setting reminiscent of Latin America, by a fresh new talent.

La Bene is a city poised on the edge of change, where automobiles mingle with horse-drawn trolleys and musicians rub shoulders with politicians in trendy cabarets. Every day brings new magical machines, new immigrants … and a new mystery to solve.

Detectives Rocío Díaz Rossi and Hala Haddad Sosa have investigated many crimes together, and Rocío’s intuition and Hala’s logic make them ideal partners. But this time they’re baffled by a newly discovered crypt in the subway, a missing choreographer, and reports of impossible magic.

As the clues pile up, they discover that they’re not working any ordinary kidnapping. Something darker and more sinister is taking root in the city, perhaps the return of a magic so destructive that no one dares to speak of it. If their suspicions are correct, they will have to face an opponent who threatens not only their commitment to justice, but everyone living in their beloved city.

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Rachel Neumeier, an author I adore, called this ‘A police procedural set in one of the snazziest fantasy settings ever’, so obviously I am here for this! Lady partner-detectives in a Latin-America-esque fantasy setting??? Yes please!

Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey
Representation: Bisexual rep
on 27th April 2021
Genres: Science Fantasy
ISBN: 0063020203
Goodreads

Two people. Infinite lifetimes. One impossible choice.

Thora and Santi are strangers in a foreign city when a chance encounter intertwines their fates. At once, they recognize in each other a kindred spirit—someone who shares their insatiable curiosity, who is longing for more in life than the cards they’ve been dealt. Only days later, though, a tragic accident cuts their story short.

But this is only one of the many connections they share. Like satellites trapped in orbit around each other, Thora and Santi are destined to meet again: as a teacher and prodigy student; a caretaker and dying patient; a cynic and a believer. In numerous lives they become friends, colleagues, lovers, and enemies. But as blurred memories and strange patterns compound, Thora and Santi come to a shocking revelation—they must discover the truth of their mysterious attachment before their many lives come to one, final end.

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I’ll be honest, the blurb had me rolling my eyes a little bit – I am very tired of the idea that people are always reincarnated as the same gender, which seems to be implied here – but some of the reviews I’ve seen claim this really is a deep and intricate story, with parallel universes and alternate selves coming into play, so I’m intrigued. There’s also supposed to be bisexual rep, although I’ve got no more details than that, so I don’t know how major a part of the story it’s going to be.

The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird
on 27th April 2021
Genres: Sci Fi
ISBN: 0593328132
Goodreads

Set in a world where a virus stalks our male population, The End of Men is an electrifying and unforgettable debut from a remarkable new talent that asks: what would our world truly look like without men?

Only men carry the virus. Only women can save us all.

The year is 2025, and a mysterious virus has broken out in Scotland--a lethal illness that seems to affect only men. When Dr. Amanda MacLean reports this phenomenon, she is dismissed as hysterical. By the time her warning is heeded, it is too late. The virus becomes a global pandemic--and a political one. The victims are all men. The world becomes alien--a women's world.

What follows is the immersive account of the women who have been left to deal with the virus's consequences, told through first-person narratives. Dr. MacLean; Catherine, a social historian determined to document the human stories behind the "male plague"; intelligence analyst Dawn, tasked with helping the government forge a new society; and Elizabeth, one of many scientists desperately working to develop a vaccine. Through these women and others, we see the uncountable ways the absence of men has changed society, from the personal--the loss of husbands and sons--to the political--the changes in the workforce, fertility, and the meaning of family.

In The End of Men, Christina Sweeney-Baird turns the unimaginable into the unforgettable.

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I feel a bit sorry for Sweeney-Baird – it can’t be fun having a book featuring a pandemic coming out, well, during an actual pandemic. But I’m cautiously interested. It might be that I can’t handle a pandemic plotline right now – we’ll have to see how dark/miserable it gets – and I’m really hoping Sweeney-Baird remembers to at least acknowledge trans and other genderqueer people, and cover how this virus affects them, too.

Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6) by Martha Wells
Representation: Agender asexual MC
on 27th April 2021
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
ISBN: 1250765374
Goodreads

No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!
Again!

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Come on, Murderbot doesn’t require an introduction at this point, does it?

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur
Representation: Korean-American MC
on 27th April 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Magical Realism
ISBN: 1645660168
Goodreads

A genre-defying, continents-spanning saga of Korean myth, scientific discovery, and the abiding love that binds even the most broken of families.

Elsa Park is a particle physicist at the top of her game, stationed at a neutrino observatory in the Antarctic, confident she's put enough distance between her ambitions and the family ghosts she's run from all her life. But it isn't long before her childhood imaginary friend—an achingly familiar, spectral woman in the snow—comes to claim her at last.

Years ago, Elsa's now-catatonic mother had warned her that the women of their line were doomed to repeat the narrative lives of their ancestors from Korean myth and legend. But beyond these ghosts, Elsa also faces a more earthly fate: the mental illness and generational trauma that run in her immigrant family, a sickness no less ravenous than the ancestral curse hunting her.

When her mother breaks her decade-long silence and tragedy strikes, Elsa must return to her childhood home in California. There, among family wrestling with their own demons, she unravels the secrets hidden in the handwritten pages of her mother’s dark stories: of women’s desire and fury; of magic suppressed, stolen, or punished; of the hunger for vengeance.

From Sparks Fellow, Tin House alumna, and Harvard graduate Angela Mi Young Hur, Folklorn is a wondrous and necessary exploration of the myths we inherit and those we fashion for ourselves.

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Folklorn has been hailed from one end of the internet to the other, and since I have so far loved everything Erewhon Books has published (bar one) I am immensely invested on getting my hands on this! I’m really not at all sure what to expect, since it seems to be one of those books that defies easy labels and descriptors, but the premise sounds wonderful and so many reviewers I trust have praised it to the skies. I’ll have to write a review of my own once I’ve read it!

Dream Country by Ashaye Brown
Representation: Cast of colour
on 27th April 2021
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads

A sibling rivalry to fuel your worst nightmares.

The dysfunctional triplet gods of Sleep, Dreams and Nightmares are kept separate by the deadly Gates of Horn and Ivory. Only one fact keeps them tightly bound: each of them is a suspect in their mother’s murder. Their knife-edge feud worsens when a mortal enters the world with astounding abilities that threaten to change the game for them all.

In this thrilling young adult fantasy, Ashaye Brown brings to life a visionary world infused with Kenyan, Brazilian, Caribbean, and Grecian cultural references. A story like no other with stakes as high as they come.

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In contrast to Folklorn, there seems to have been very little talk of Dream Country pre-release – at least around my usual watering holes. But I’ve been excited by this premise since I first stumbled across it on Goodreads, and I really want to give it a go!

That’s it for this week! Will you be reading any of these? Let me know in the comments!

The post Must-Have Monday #32! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Alas, Not For Me: Another Round of DNFs

I’ve had another fibromyalgia flare-up, which is why it’s been quiet around here. Take heart; I have been reading many brilliant books during my convalescence, and fully intend to write reviews for many of them! These are just some quick thoughts on my most recent rounds of DNFs.

The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox
Genres: Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 0593296737
Goodreads

Taryn Cornick believes that the past--her sister's violent death, and her own ill-conceived revenge--is behind her, and she can get on with her life. She has written a successful book about the things that threaten libraries: insects, damp, light, fire, carelessness and uncaring . . . but not all of the attention it brings her is good.

A policeman, Jacob Berger, questions her about a cold case. Then there are questions about a fire in the library at her grandparents' house and an ancient scroll box known as the Firestarter, as well as threatening phone calls and a mysterious illness. Finally a shadowy young man named Shift appears, forcing Taryn and Jacob toward a reckoning felt in more than one world.

The Absolute Book is epic, action-packed fantasy in which hidden treasures are recovered, wicked things resurface, birds can talk, and dead sisters are a living force. It is a book of journeys and returns, from contemporary England to Auckland, New Zealand; from a magical fairyland to Purgatory. Above all, it is a declaration of love for stories and the ways in which they shape our worlds and create gods out of morals.

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I have tried to read this four times now, and I keep DNF-ing it. You know the books they make you read in school, the ones you didn’t enjoy – or the books that I kind of want to call White Literature, where college professors have affairs with their students and ponder the meaningless of life in the most dull and pretentious way? (Is there a name for those???) That’s what the beginning of The Absolute Book reads like to me. Taryn’s sister is killed/murdered, she never gets over it, she allows the killer to be killed, there are many flashbacks to her childhood, she never opens up to her husband about any of it… This is the first 15% or so of the book. But this time, I did actually struggle my way through the beginning, and make it to the point where the fantasy elements start being introduced…and they’re good, is the thing! They were worth the wait! I forgave this book for its beginning the moment Huginn and Muninn were revealed to be lady-crows, okay?

But there is just something about this book that numbs my brain and puts me to sleep. Literally, I have fallen asleep while reading this book. And I don’t know why! I love the premise, set-up, and the magic; I applaud the wry tone of the more ‘mundane’ characters; I enjoy the careful precision of Knox’s writing. I have loved all of her other books! But I can’t read this one.

I consider it a personal failing. And I will probably give it a fifth attempt at some point in the future, because I’m stubborn like that.

Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley
Representation: F/F, queernorm world
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
ISBN: 1534453857
Goodreads

In this charming debut fantasy perfect for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and Girls of Paper and Fire, a witch cursed to never love meets a girl hiding her own dangerous magic, and the two strike a dangerous bargain to save their queendom.

Tamsin is the most powerful witch of her generation. But after committing the worst magical sin, she’s exiled by the ruling Coven and cursed with the inability to love. The only way she can get those feelings back—even for just a little while—is to steal love from others.

Wren is a source—a rare kind of person who is made of magic, despite being unable to use it herself. Sources are required to train with the Coven as soon as they discover their abilities, but Wren—the only caretaker to her ailing father—has spent her life hiding her secret.

When a magical plague ravages the queendom, Wren’s father falls victim. To save him, Wren proposes a bargain: if Tamsin will help her catch the dark witch responsible for creating the plague, then Wren will give Tamsin her love for her father.

Of course, love bargains are a tricky thing, and these two have a long, perilous journey ahead of them—that is, if they don't kill each other first..

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I really, really, really approve of what this story does with its character arcs, and especially with Wren’s personal growth and the struggle that is learning to be healthily selfish. But after the first few chapters – which were lovely and languid – when things started Happening, I got bored. The prose is pretty by YA standards, I guess, but Tooley is no Sarah McCarry, so it wasn’t enough to hold my interest when every plot bump felt overly simplified, too easy. I get that the action is not really intended to be the focus here, but it irritated me, and the prose wasn’t lovely enough to overcome that.

For me. I don’t think this is a bad book; it was just a bad fit for me personally. I encourage you to pick it up if you’re looking for a quietly subversive, sapphic story with nicer-than-usual prose, because in that case it will be an excellent fit for you.

Stars Without Brightness (Heaven Moves Without You #1) Representation: Filipino cast
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads

War erupts, and the Archipelago boils. In the midst of it all is a group of young warriors whose destinies have been inextricably intertwined.

When young warrior Nami offers to help Bitoon in the final step of their training as a spirit medium, they must survive a forest that harbors something more dangerous than steel and sorcery: the sins of their fathers.

When the Insane Child Patak is accused of killing the one that took care of him, the peerless swordsman Pak-an Gabii and the last survivor of the Butchering of Datu Warayrito's village, Inday, are told to hunt him down to finish the job. Soon they will find themselves in doubt of their orders, and of their lives.

STARS WITHOUT BRIGHTNESS is a Fantasy novel set in a setting inspired by Late Porcelain Period Philippines mired in war, and follows a skilled spirit medium, a hotheaded warrior, a rebellious prince, a princess turned flesh-eater, a revived swordsman, and a passionate monster in their quest to fulfill orders and duty, facing the truth of war and violence.

This novel is the first book in the HEAVEN MOVES WITHOUT YOU Fantasy series.

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This is another personal failing, because I know damn well that one of the reasons I struggled with this book was the use of Filipino terms and names. I would like to defend myself by pointing out that I can’t handle faux-Medieval-Europe fantasy that drowns me in fantasy-terms and unfamiliar-sounding-to-me names in the opening pages either…and that’s true. But. I still feel like I shouldn’t have struggled as much as I did.

That aside, I did feel that there was a lot of info-dumping/telling-not-showing going on, and the dialogue sounded very stilted (but something about it makes me think that’s deliberate, that it might be something to do with the rules of Filipino courtesy, so I don’t know). I also wasn’t expecting the violence to be that graphic, but that’s a personal taste issue, not a flaw of the book. What was a flaw was that the description sometimes got pretty muddled, so that I didn’t know what I was supposed to be picturing as I read.

I think books like this desperately need to be written, and I hope this one gets read by many, many people. I’m picky as hell and I struggle with foreign languages (I have studied seven languages and failed my exams in all of them, okay?) Don’t take my inability to enjoy it as proof that you won’t either. It is for sale here (not an affiliate link), and if you’re looking for a unique fantasy, please consider giving it a go.

The post Alas, Not For Me: Another Round of DNFs appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #31!

This week presents us with FIVE new releases I want to draw your attention to, ranging from grounded spaceships to Russian fairytales!

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers, #4) by Becky Chambers
Representation: Secondary nonbinary character, queernorm world
on 20th April 2021
Genres: Sci Fi
ISBN: 0062936042
Goodreads

With no water, no air, and no native life, the planet Gora is unremarkable. The only thing it has going for it is a chance proximity to more popular worlds, making it a decent stopover for ships traveling between the wormholes that keep the Galactic Commons connected. If deep space is a highway, Gora is just your average truck stop.

At the Five-Hop One-Stop, long-haul spacers can stretch their legs (if they have legs, that is), and get fuel, transit permits, and assorted supplies. The Five-Hop is run by an enterprising alien and her sometimes helpful child, who work hard to provide a little piece of home to everyone passing through.

When a freak technological failure halts all traffic to and from Gora, three strangers—all different species with different aims—are thrown together at the Five-Hop. Grounded, with nothing to do but wait, the trio—an exiled artist with an appointment to keep, a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, and a mysterious individual doing her best to help those on the fringes—are compelled to confront where they’ve been, where they might go, and what they are, or could be, to each other.

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It’s time for The Galaxy, and the Ground Within to hit the US! Becky Chambers needs no introduction, and although you can read my full review of the book here, the tl;dr version is that it’s soft and sweet and an absolutely perfect ending to a perfect series.

Lodestone by Katherine Forrister
on 20th April 2021
Goodreads

Lodestone-peddler Melaine is desperate to stop hustling her raw magic for a tuppence. Her rare gift of infusing her magic into a lodestone to sell for another's use and never keeping any for herself is nothing but a degrading path to an early grave.

Yearning for a better life, Melaine turns to her unconventional childhood idol, the powerful but sinister Overlord, sorcerer-ruler of Centara. When she achieves an audience and arrives at his reclusive retreat of ancient Highstrong Keep, she finds that the compelling, handsome man who conquered a kingdom by the age of twenty is now a weak, shadowed husk, and he needs her lodestones to give him strength. In exchange, he will take her on as his apprentice.

Trapped in Highstrong with a half-crazed prisoner, a strict servant, and the Overlord, Melaine learns that they may all be prey to far more malevolent forces than the Overlord's black-magic experiments. Faced with menacing apparitions, ancient curses, and an even greater horror that could threaten the entire kingdom if unleashed, Melaine's penchant for survival is contested by her growing feelings for the Overlord and her path toward finding a deeper meaning to life than the pure power she once craved.

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I have heard almost nothing about this book, but between that synopsis and that cover, I’m intrigued!

Witches Steeped in Gold (Witches Steeped in Gold, #1) by Ciannon Smart
on 20th April 2021
ISBN: 006294598X
Goodreads

Divided by their order. United by their vengeance.
Iraya has spent her life in a cell, but every day brings her closer to freedom - and vengeance.
Jazmyne is the Queen’s daughter, but unlike her sister before her, she has no intention of dying to strengthen her mother’s power.
Sworn enemies, these two witches enter a precarious alliance to take down a mutual threat. But power is intoxicating, revenge is a bloody pursuit, and nothing is certain - except the lengths they will go to win this game.
This Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut about two enemy witches who must enter into a deadly alliance to take down a common enemy has the twisted cat-and-mouse of Killing Eve with the richly imagined fantasy world of Furyborn and Ember in the Ashes.

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Now this is a cover that makes me swoon. Jamaican-inspired fantasy featuring witches – do you really need to hear more than that?! Whether you do or you don’t, you can read an excerpt from the book over here, which I think gives us a pretty good idea of what we’re getting into!

These Feathered Flames (These Feathered Flames, #1) by Alexandra Overy
Representation: Lesbian MC, lesbian love interest
on 20th April 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
ISBN: 1335147969
Goodreads

A queer retelling of “The Firebird,” a Russian folktale.

When twin heirs are born in Tourin, their fates are decided at a young age. While Izaveta remained at court to learn the skills she’d need as the future queen, Asya was taken away to train with her aunt, the mysterious Firebird, who ensured magic remained balanced in the realm.

But before Asya’s training is completed, the ancient power blooms inside her, which can mean only one thing: the queen is dead, and a new ruler must be crowned.

As the princesses come to understand everything their roles entail, they’ll discover who they can trust, who they can love—and who killed their mother.

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If ‘F/F Firebird retelling’ somehow doesn’t sell you, These Feathered Flames also has an excerpt up online for you to peruse: over here! I adore the story of the Firebird, and I’ve been waiting ages to see what Overy plans to do with it. Just one more day now!

In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens
Representation: M/M, love interest of colour
on 20th April 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
ISBN: 1534480528
Goodreads

A young prince must rely on a mysterious stranger to save him when he is kidnapped during his coming-of-age tour in this swoony adventure that is The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue meets Pirates of the Caribbean.

Prince Tal has long awaited his coming-of-age tour. After spending most of his life cloistered behind palace walls as he learns to keep his forbidden magic secret, he can finally see his family’s kingdom for the first time. His first taste of adventure comes just two days into the journey, when their crew discovers a mysterious prisoner on a burning derelict vessel.

Tasked with watching over the prisoner, Tal is surprised to feel an intense connection with the roguish Athlen. So when Athlen leaps overboard and disappears, Tal feels responsible and heartbroken, knowing Athlen could not have survived in the open ocean.

That is, until Tal runs into Athlen days later on dry land, very much alive, and as charming—and secretive—as ever. But before they can pursue anything further, Tal is kidnapped by pirates and held ransom in a plot to reveal his rumored powers and instigate a war. Tal must escape if he hopes to save his family and the kingdom. And Athlen might just be his only hope…

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Until April 30th, you can read a longer excerpt from In Deeper Waters over here (although it does require you to sign up for the Riveted newsletter). Alternatively, there’s a shorter excerpt over at Tor.com. But basically, this seems like it should be a lot of sweet fun wrapped up in an adventure.

That’s all I’ve got! Did I miss any? Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #31! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

WWW Wednesday: 14th April

I’ve decided that, at least for the foreseeable future, I’m going to be participating in WWW Wednesdays, which is a meme hosted over at Taking On a World of Words. To take part, you just answer the three questions below, and link back to TOaWoW!

First, a State of the Sia update: my mood’s up and my fibro continues to not-suck! Woo! I’ve even been able to walk more as the weather here in Helsinki improves (I am not nearly hardcore enough to do any proper walking during Finnish winter, even if I have finally figured out ice cleats). I’m seven books behind on my Goodreads challenge, but I’ve had a lot of good days this week, mentally and physically. YAY!

But now, onto my reading!

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads

"Travel Light is the story of Halla, a girl born to a king but cast out onto the hills to die. She lives among bears; she lives among dragons. But the time of dragons is passing, and Odin All-Father offers Halla a choice: Will she stay dragonish and hoard wealth and possessions, or will she travel light?"
—Amal El-Mohtar, NPR, You Must Read This

A wonderful story that will transport you into Halla’s world where a basilisk might be met in the desert, heroes are taken to Valhalla by Valkyries, and a fortune might be made with a word to the right horse.

This short and fabulous book transports the reader from a cave in the forest to a dragon’s lair to the wonders of early Constantinople. It’s dense yet light, happy, deep, sad, amazing, and short enough that once it’s read all at once you’ll have time to read it again.

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I think I saw this one mentioned on twitter, probably by Amal El-Mohtar, whose recommendations I take as gospel. With my head being all over the place lately, I wanted something a bit simpler but still wonderful – and Travel Light is absolutely it!!! It’s more detailed than a fairytale but in that kind of style, wry and clever and poignant and imaginative all at once. I am so, so in love with this incredible little book!

WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?Gifting Fire (Stealing Thunder, #2) by Alina Boyden
Representation: South Asian cast, Hijra/third gender MC, multiple major and minor hijra characters
Genres: High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

The battle has been won, but the war is just beginning.

Although at long last Razia Khan has found peace with herself and love with her prince, Arjun, her trials are far from over. In order to save her prince and his city from certain destruction, Razia made a deal with the devil--her father, the Sultan of Nizam. Now the bill has come due.

Razia must secure the province of Zindh, a land surrounded by enemies, and loyal to a rebel queen who has survived her father's purge. But when her old tormentor Prince Karim invades her new home and forces her into a marriage alliance, Razia finds herself trapped in the women's quarters of a foreign palace, with her beloved Prince Arjun exiled from her side.

Now, in order to free herself, and her province, from Karim's clutches, she must call upon all of her training as a royal princess, a cunning courtesan, and a daring thief to summon new allies and old friends for a battle that will decide her fate, and the fate of an empire.

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I finished this just in time to write a review for its release yesterday, which you can read here – but the TL;DR version is that I FREAKING LOVED IT!!! It’s High Fantasy that celebrates and features hijras (within the context of this series, best understood as trans women) including the main character Razia. I loved how much of this story was about the kind of strength men – and plenty of cis women – don’t understand, and the prose is so beautiful, and there’s so much gorgeous jewelry, and did I mention the feathered-dragon creatures??? That breathe lightning??? Go read this immediately!

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
Representation: Trans MCs
on 28th September 2021
Genres: Science Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in this defiantly joyful adventure set in California's San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.

Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.

When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate.

But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.

As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.

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Sometimes – um, quite often – I get too excited about a book, and can’t actually bring myself to start reading it. I’ve been staring at this arc in awe since I was approved for it, but I keep telling myself it’s not the right moment to start it. Like I have to wait until I’m not in pain, not feeling down or foggy or fizzy (why yes, those are all technical terms) etc, but also, the weather and the pets and the alignment of the stars must all be perfect too. But I don’t know what The Perfect Moment is supposed to look like, and there’s no such thing, anyway. So…this is the book I want to read next.

If I can bring myself to!

Here endeth the weekly check-in!

The post WWW Wednesday: 14th April appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

A Hijra Princess Who Changes the World: Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden

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.

Gifting Fire (Stealing Thunder, #2) by Alina Boyden
Representation: Cast of colour, hijra/trans woman MC, multiple hijra secondary characters
on 13th April 2021
Genres: High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
ISBN: 1984805487
Goodreads

The battle has been won, but the war is just beginning.

Although at long last Razia Khan has found peace with herself and love with her prince, Arjun, her trials are far from over. In order to save her prince and his city from certain destruction, Razia made a deal with the devil--her father, the Sultan of Nizam. Now the bill has come due.

Razia must secure the province of Zindh, a land surrounded by enemies, and loyal to a rebel queen who has survived her father's purge. But when her old tormentor Prince Karim invades her new home and forces her into a marriage alliance, Razia finds herself trapped in the women's quarters of a foreign palace, with her beloved Prince Arjun exiled from her side.

Now, in order to free herself, and her province, from Karim's clutches, she must call upon all of her training as a royal princess, a cunning courtesan, and a daring thief to summon new allies and old friends for a battle that will decide her fate, and the fate of an empire.

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~skirts are scarier than swords (no joke)
~ridiculously beautiful jewelry everywhere
~real men love strong, smart women
~fight for your family
~do what it takes to survive
~Don’t ever think you can outsmart a princess

:A note – Razia is a hijra, which is a nonbinary gender identity from South Asia. It is often understood by Westerners as the equivalent of being a trans woman, but not all hijra agree with that. For the purposes of this review, Razia is referred to as a woman or a hijra, as that is how she refers to herself in the books.:

Gifting Fire is the sequel to last year’s Stealing Thunder, and if you haven’t read that, stop now and hit the back button. And go read Stealing Thunder, because it’s awesome.

Then come back, because Gifting Fire is even better.

The book starts where Stealing Thunder ended; Razia is now subahdar (provincial governor) of the province of Zindh as part of her father’s empire. But the situation is made very clear very quickly: Zindh is such a mess after the events of the previous book, and with the various factions taking advantage of those events, that Razia is all but guaranteed to lose control of the province – if she can even get it under control to begin with. Making her subahdar is a kind of back-handed compliment from her father; when asked why on earth he’s doing it, he says

“It occurred to me then,” my father continued, “that if anyone in Daryastan could save Zindh, it would be the girl who had pulled herself out of the gutter to become a princess.”

He expects her to fail. But…

“I don’t think you’re clever enough to save Zindh, but I’d have to be a fool to underestimate a courtesan who somehow orchestrated the worst defeat Nizam has suffered in my twenty-seven-year reign.”

It’s heady praise, especially when Razia has never had anything but condemnation from her father.

It’s somehow worse, then, when he undercuts it all by placing Sikander – her childhood bodyguard, which translated to the one who beat her ‘for your own good’ for most of her childhood – in charge of the soldiers he leaves behind with her. It’s almost darkly ironic: even knowing that she’s brilliant, he can’t bring himself to give her a real chance. Even now, he has to undermine her. It doesn’t matter how smart Razia is with strategy and tactics if her own soldiers won’t follow her orders.

It’s definitely worse when her father returns almost immediately after leaving, declaring that Razia is to marry Karim – the prince who raped her as a child and is still every bit as disgusting and awful as he was then.

I think it’s fair to describe Stealing Thunder as Razia’s rise; she starts the book a lowly courtesan, but through a fair bit of luck and a lot of skill and smarts, by the time the book ends, she is something close to the princess she always wanted to be. Gifting Fire, then, is at least partly her realisation that being a princess…at least, the kind of princess the world wants her to be…is kind of awful. Princesses have almost no autonomy, and are mostly moved around as playing pieces by their male family members. They belong to their husbands very much like property, and have no real recourse if those husbands abuse them. That’s not to say that royal women don’t have power, because they do, but it’s generally a quiet kind that depends on either the permissiveness or blindness of the men around them.

So it’s many, many kinds of painful to see the situation Razia is put in, simply because anyone with functioning empathy should be horrified by the idea of it and bitterly sympathetic towards the reality of her helplessness. But there’s something extra-awful, extra-cruel, in revealing that the reality of Razia’s dream is actually a nightmare.

“…you told me that if I’d just treated you like a woman, you never would have shamed me, you would have been the perfect little princess. …And now, I have recognised you as a princess, and you are going to shame me again by refusing to act the part? Maybe the problem wasn’t how you were born. Maybe the problem is you.”

You cannot even imagine how badly I want this bastard to die!

…But at the same time, he has a point. That’s what makes it so extra-horrible. By marrying Karim, Razia will prevent a war and seal a powerful alliance for her father, and that is what princesses do. Far too many women throughout history have been in Razia’s position, or worse ones. Razia could easily have ended up in this or a very similar situation if she’d been born a cis woman, and it makes me want to cry. It’s so unfair. It’s unfair because it’s true. This is how a real princess gets treated.

Although no, asshole, the problem isn’t Razia. The problem is your fucked-up patriarchy and gender-roles, thanks very much.

There’s a lot of things that make Gifting Fire special, but for me, one of them was the intelligence of Razia’s enemies. It’s not very often that I read a story where the bad guys are able to throw more than one, maybe two spanners into the heroine’s plans, and Stealing Thunder has already established Razia as an incredibly intelligent woman with a special talent for politics and strategy. I was expecting her to find a way out of the problem, a way out of marrying Karim – but she couldn’t. Her counter-move – offering her father a different strategy – was denied. She’s out-outmaneuvered and there’s nothing she can do about it, at least not in that moment. And although I won’t go into details to avoid spoilers…this is not the only time it happens. Razia – and her allies – make their plans, but Boyden has written villains and semi-villains who are smart. Because I love Razia and her chosen family, I wanted to wave a magic wand and make it all better, or at least make the villains into bumbling idiots she could run rings around – but there’s no denying that smart villains make for a much more intense reading experience. I was on the edge of my seat from the fifth chapter to the last page, and I could not put the book down, because I was terrified that at any moment Razia’s brilliance was going to be parried and it was all going to fall apart.

Even after thinking hard, I can only think of a few stories where the heroes are outsmarted this many times by the villains. Which is not to say that Razia isn’t smart, because she is – and if she had the tools that would be her right in a better world, no one would have a chance against her. But her situation is desperate; she has almost no resources, and the few allies she has have little power to help. And her prison-wardens are smart.

I know I keep repeating that. But it really is unusual, and it really does raise the stakes so much higher than I was expecting them to be. Gifting Fire made me anxious and flat-out scared for Razia and her loved ones, and most books don’t do that to me. Most books, you know it’s all going to end well, so you never need to be really scared. The heroes are never in any real danger, even if the author does their best to make you think they are. I mean, how often do even secondary characters die, in most books? Not often at all. And when was the last time you saw a main character die, or end the book fully defeated? Outside of the Grimdark genre?

Boyden had me scared. And I take my hat off to her for that. I’m hugely impressed by how the narrative feels like a swordfight; move and counter-move and disaster only ever one misstep away. Every time I thought things were safe, they weren’t. Every time I thought I could relax, there’d been a twist, a carpet ripped out from under me, the villains coming up with something new and awful and too.fucking.clever.

What I’m saying is: make sure you have a stress ball handy when you start reading, okay?

None of this detracts from the book’s fundamental beauty. Boyden’s prose is descriptive and lush, unstinting in its glory, a treasure chest of jewels and colours. And let’s be real here: one of the reasons I fell into Fantasy was for the intricate, lovingly-described clothes and jewelry, and Gifting Fire has some of the most gorgeous, over-the-top ornate clothes and jewelry I’ve seen in ages. Sure, it’s shallow of me, but good luck getting me not to highlight every passage featuring a new necklace or dupatta. In that, Gifting Fire hearkens back to baby!Sia’s ideas of what Fantasy is supposed to be: glittering and gilded even when things get dark. I don’t know how to put it into words properly: this duology has unashamedly revelled in its (and Razia’s, and my!) enjoyment of all things beautiful from day one, and there’s something…something joyful about it. Celebratory. It feels as if Boyden enjoys writing about beautiful things as much as I enjoy reading about them.

And I guess you could analyse this with regards Razia’s femininity, with her being allowed, finally, to embrace all things feminine as she couldn’t as a child. There’s something to the idea that so many trans women – and, I’m sure, hijra – are at best denied feminine things by those who refuse to acknowledge their true gender, and at worst punished for wanting them, at some point in their lives. So there’s something…defiant, about all the jewels and glitter. Something very powerful. It’s armour in so many ways, it’s proof that they are who they say they are, it’s a celebration of their true selves…and it’s a fuck-you to everyone who once said they weren’t allowed to be feminine.

(Which is not, of course, to say that all trans women are hyper feminine or into ‘girly’ things; and I don’t know much about hijra, but there are probably hijra, too, who don’t want to be fairytale princesses. But I don’t think that takes away from the quiet, powerful message Boyden is sending with all these gems and silks.)

There’s probably also something to the fact that all the zahaks we meet are female. I don’t remember if it was mentioned in the previous book – maybe female zahaks are larger or stronger than male ones – but I don’t think it’s an accident that these beautiful, powerful creatures – animals whose allegiance shifts the power dynamics of empires – are all female. Emperors, kings, princes: they all ride female zahaks, and those zahaks are, at their core, the foundation of every prince’s power.

Oh, gods, I want to write a whole essay about the zahaks! I love them so much, and the amount of thought and detail Boyden has put into their creation, their size, abilities…it makes me want to swoon. I can only assume that she studied a lot of birds in order to figure out how the different breeds of zahaks would work, would fly, because it’s simply amazing. This breed is bigger, but can’t fly as quickly as some others; that breed has a wing-shape that allows for more maneuverability in the air… They feel so much like real creatures, so naturally and perfectly woven into the world Boyden has crafted that, even with their incredible abilities, it’s hard to remember that they’re not real. The way they influence politics, fashion, war…the way they affect and alter every aspect of this world…

*swoons*

And WE FINALLY HAVE A PICTURE OF A ZAHAK! I mean, have you seen that cover?!

I’m so happy I finally know how to picture them properly! And can we have some major applause for the cover artist, Tommy Arnold, please?!

I could keep going on about this book for weeks, but what I most want to say is this: Stealing Thunder was Razia’s rise from courtesan to princess. Gifting Fire, then, is her becoming a princess, a true princess – or maybe making it clear that she always was one. Razia is a brilliantly intelligent woman, but it’s more than that; she would not be as great as she is, and certainly wouldn’t be able to save herself or her people, if she wasn’t who she is. If she was not compassionate, was not kind, did not greet others with respect, did not honour her allies and duties and commitments – she wouldn’t survive. She is the ideal princess, forging unbreakable alliances not through marriage, but through love and friendship and mutual respect, and in weaving so many threads together she is so much more powerful than she ever could be alone. The theme of Found Family is intrinsic to the concept of hijra and well-established in Stealing Thunder, and Razia’s only grows – so unspeakably beautifully – through this second book. So many times, it’s that sisterhood that saves her, those friendships, those alliances, those loves. And it’s with them – with all those people beside her, behind her – that she changes the entire shape of the world.

Don’t get me wrong: Razia is brilliant, beyond brilliant. She’s strong in ways heroes never have to be, ruthless when necessary, as fierce as her zahak Sultana. Breathtakingly brave.

It’s just that her heart is as brilliant as her mind. And that only makes me adore her more.

(But Sultana remains my favourite!)

Gifting Fire is out today. And you will be missing out on a masterpiece if you don’t buy it immediately.

The post A Hijra Princess Who Changes the World: Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #30!

There’s SEVEN new releases-of-interest this week, featuring so many of my favourite things – unique worldbuilding, trans princesses, aliens, and even a F/F Sleeping Beauty!

The Helm of Midnight (The Five Penalties, #1) by Marina J. Lostetter
Representation: MC of colour, queernorm world, minor nonbinary characters
on 13th April 2021
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy
ISBN: 1250757053
Goodreads

A legendary serial killer stalks the streets of a fantastical city in The Helm of Midnight, the stunning first novel in a new trilogy from acclaimed author Marina Lostetter.In a daring and deadly heist, thieves have made away with an artifact of terrible power--the death mask of Louis Charbon. Made by a master craftsman, it is imbued with the spirit of a monster from history, a serial murderer who terrorized the city with a series of gruesome murders.

Now Charbon is loose once more, killing from beyond the grave. But these murders are different from before, not simply random but the work of a deliberate mind probing for answers to a sinister question.

It is up to Krona Hirvath and her fellow Regulators to enter the mind of madness to stop this insatiable killer while facing the terrible truths left in his wake.

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I got to read an arc of this one, and can promise that it’s absolutely bloody brilliant. You can read my full review over here, but the short version is that Lostetter has created a beautifully strange and unique world, and set a story in it that is far more about gods and monsters than it is about a mask.

Gifting Fire (Stealing Thunder, #2) by Alina Boyden
Representation: Cast of colour, hijra/trans woman MC, major multiple hijra secondary characters
on 13th April 2021
Genres: Queer Protagonists, High Fantasy
ISBN: 1984805487
Goodreads

The battle has been won, but the war is just beginning.

Although at long last Razia Khan has found peace with herself and love with her prince, Arjun, her trials are far from over. In order to save her prince and his city from certain destruction, Razia made a deal with the devil--her father, the Sultan of Nizam. Now the bill has come due.

Razia must secure the province of Zindh, a land surrounded by enemies, and loyal to a rebel queen who has survived her father's purge. But when her old tormentor Prince Karim invades her new home and forces her into a marriage alliance, Razia finds herself trapped in the women's quarters of a foreign palace, with her beloved Prince Arjun exiled from her side.

Now, in order to free herself, and her province, from Karim's clutches, she must call upon all of her training as a royal princess, a cunning courtesan, and a daring thief to summon new allies and old friends for a battle that will decide her fate, and the fate of an empire.

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Gifting Fire is the sequel to last year’s Stealing Thunder, and my review will be going up tomorrow on release day! You absolutely cannot start this book before reading book one, but this is a lush, beautiful duology set in a fantasy-India, featuring a hijra (trans woman) main character and enormous feathered dragon-creatures that determine the fates of kingdoms – I can’t recommend it enough! And if you have read Stealing Thunder, then I’m delighted to be able to tell you that Gifting Fire is even better!

Malice by Heather Walter
Representation: F/F or wlw
on 13th April 2021
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Fantasy
ISBN: 1529101271
Goodreads

The princess isn't supposed to fall for an evil sorceress. But in this darkly magical retelling of Sleeping Beauty, true love is more complicated than a simple fairy tale. Perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Holly Black.

"Malice is the dark and wicked heart of a fairytale carved into a book. This story is beautiful, vicious magic." Tasha Suri, author of Empire of Sand

"A truly original and clever retelling of a classic that had me racing to the end - you'll never look at Sleeping Beauty the same again." S.A. Chakraborty, author of City of Brass

Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who cursed a line of princesses to die, and could only be broken by true love's kiss. You've heard this before, haven't you? The handsome prince. The happily-ever-after.

Utter nonsense.

Let me tell you, no one actually cares about what happens to our princesses. I thought I didn't care, either. Until I met her.

Princess Aurora. The last heir to the throne. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn't bothered that I am the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she . . . cares for me. Even though it was a power like mine that was responsible for her curse.

But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating - and she can't stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it's what can lift it. Perhaps, together, we could forge a new world.

Nonsense again. Because we all know how this story ends, don't we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I-

I am the villain.

"The story grows deliciously darker at every turn . . . Fairy tale lovers of all ages will be thrilled' Publishers Weekly, starred review

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Queer Sleeping Beauty, anyone??? I mean, seriously, do you really need to hear anything else???

The Light of the Midnight Stars by Rena Rossner
Representation: Jewish cast, F/F or wlw
on 13th April 2021
Genres: Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
ISBN: 031648346X
Goodreads

An evocative combination of fantasy, history, and Jewish folklore, The Light of the Midnight Stars is fairytale-inspired novel from the author of The Sisters of the Winter Wood.

Deep in the Hungarian woods, the sacred magic of King Solomon lives on in his descendants. Gathering under the midnight stars, they pray, sing and perform small miracles - and none are more gifted than the great Rabbi Isaac and his three daughters. Each one is blessed with a unique talent - whether it be coaxing plants to grow, or predicting the future by reading the path of the stars.

When a fateful decision to help an outsider ends in an accusation of witchcraft, fire blazes through their village. Rabbi Isaac and his family are forced to flee, to abandon their magic and settle into a new way of life. But a dark fog is making its way across Europe and will, in the end, reach even those who thought they could run from it. Each of the sisters will have to make a choice - and change the future of their family forever.

For more from Rena Rossner, check out The Sisters of the Winter Wood.

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This sounds like it’s going to be absolutely breathtaking, incorporating so much folklore that people like me typically never come across – and there’s a girl who falls in love with a star! I’m really excited for this one and can’t wait to finally get to read it!

Victories Greater Than Death (Universal Expansion #1) by Charlie Jane Anders
Representation: Bisexual MC, minor nonbinary characters, secondary PoC characters
on 13th April 2021
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
ISBN: 1250317312
Goodreads

A thrilling adventure set against an intergalactic war with international bestselling author Charlie Jane Anders at the helm in her YA debut—think Star Wars meets Doctor Who, and buckle your seatbelts.

Tina has always known her destiny is outside the norm—after all, she is the human clone of the most brilliant alien commander in all the galaxies (even if the rest of the world is still deciding whether aliens exist). But she is tired of waiting for her life to begin.

And then it does—and maybe Tina should have been more prepared. At least she has a crew around her that she can trust—and her best friend at her side. Now, they just have to save the world.

From internationally bestselling author Charlie Jane Anders (All the Birds in the Sky) comes a thrilling adventure set against an intergalactic war—Anders’s long-awaited YA debut.

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Fans of Anders should be warned that Victories is very different from her previous novels in tone – it’s a first-person YA that feels YA – but it has a brilliantly diverse cast and some quiet but fantastic worldbuilding (the variety of the aliens!!! the technology!!! the space uniforms!!!) I feel that as long as you go in knowing this is YA, and don’t expect it to be like All the Birds in the Sky or City in the Middle of the Night, you’ll really enjoy it.

Love in Color: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola
Representation: Cast of colour, queerness
on 13th April 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 006307849X
Goodreads

A high-born Nigerian goddess, who has been beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover, longs to be truly seen.

A young businesswoman attempts a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life.

A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether she should uphold her family’s politics or be true to her heart.

In her debut collection, internationally acclaimed writer Bolu Babalola retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology with incredible new detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places.

With an eye towards decolonizing tropes inherent in our favorite tales of love, Babalola has created captivating stories that traverse across perspectives, continents, and genres.

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I featured this book in a Must-Have Monday way back, but I have to include it again now it’s being released in the US!

We Are Watching Eliza Bright by A.E. Osworth
on 13th April 2021
ISBN: 1538717638
Goodreads

Eliza Bright was living the dream as an elite video game coder at Fancy Dog Games when her private life suddenly became public. But is Eliza Bright a brilliant, self-taught coder bravely calling out the toxic masculinity and chauvinism that pervades her workplace and industry? Or, is Eliza Bright a woman who needs to be destroyed to protect "the sanctity of gaming culture"? It depends on who you ask...
When Eliza reports an incident of workplace harassment that is quickly dismissed, she's forced to take her frustrations to a journalist who blasts her story across the Internet. She's fired and doxed, and becomes a rallying figure for women across America. But she's also enraged the beast that is male gamers on 4Chan and Reddit, whose collective, unreliable voice narrates our story. Soon Eliza is in the cross-hairs of the gaming community, threatened and stalked as they monitor her every move online and across New York City.
As the violent power of an angry male collective descends upon everyone in Eliza's life, it becomes increasingly difficult to know who to trust, even when she's eventually taken in and protected by an under-the-radar Collective known as the Sixsterhood. The violence moves from cyberspace to the real world, as a vicious male super-fan known only as The Ghost is determined to exact his revenge on behalf of men everywhere. We watch alongside the Sixsterhood and subreddit incels as this dramatic cat-and-mouse game plays out to reach its violent and inevitable conclusion.
This is an extraordinary, unputdownable novel that explores the dark recesses of the Internet and male rage, and the fragile line between the online world and real life. It's a thrilling story of female resilience and survival, packed with a powerful feminist message.

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Strictly speaking this isn’t SFF, but it pinged on my radar anyway, especially because it’s supposed to be structured in the form of blog posts and emails and so on, rather than being traditional prose. It’s also written by a trans journalist who covered the #Gamergate that is the obvious inspiration for the novel, and that feels like an important perspective on the whole thing. I’m a bit wary that it’s going to be too dark for me to handle at the moment, but it sounds intensely interesting and I really want to give it a try.

That’s it! Have I missed anything coming out this week? Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #30! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Reading it Once, Reviewing it Thrice: A Ferry of Bones & Gold by Hailey Turner

A Ferry of Bones & Gold (Soulbound #1) by Hailey Turner
Representation: Gay MC, M/M or mlm, minor characters of colour
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 1726398897
Goodreads

When the gods come calling, you don’t get to say no.

Patrick Collins is three years into a career as a special agent for the Supernatural Operations Agency when the gods come calling to collect a soul debt he owes them. An immortal has gone missing in New York City and bodies are showing up in the wake of demon-led ritual killings that Patrick recognizes all too easily from his nightmares.

Unable to walk away, Patrick finds himself once again facing off against mercenary magic users belonging to the Dominion Sect. Standing his ground alone has never been a winning option in Patrick’s experience, but it’s been years since he’s had a partner he could trust.

Looking for allies in all the wrong places, Patrick discovers the Dominion Sect’s next target is the same werewolf the Fates themselves have thrown into his path. Patrick has been inexplicably attracted to the man from their first meeting, but desire has no place in war. That doesn’t stop Patrick from wanting what he shouldn’t have. Jonothon de Vere is gorgeous, dangerous, and nothing but trouble—to the case, to the fight against every hell, and ultimately, to Patrick’s heart and soul.
In the end, all debts must be paid, and Patrick can only do what he does best—cheat death.

A Ferry of Bones & Gold is a 115k word m/m urban fantasy with a gay romantic subplot and a HFN ending.

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This book requires me to write three different reviews. If you read and enjoy a lot of urban fantasy, and are familiar and happy with the usual tropes etc, then you should probably read the first. If you are looking for the literary equivalent of a Marvel film, ie, cinematic, action-packed fun that doesn’t ask a lot of the audience, you should probably read the first review. No judgement.

If you’re looking for interesting and well-done worldbuilding, a story that makes sense when you think about it for more than two seconds, or an author who doesn’t lecture you, then you should probably skip down to the second version of my review.

And if you’ve been exposed to KD Edwards’ Tarot Sequence, then just head straight to the Ferry of Bones & Gold vs The Last Sun section at the end.

Review #1Highlights

~The sexy werewolf has neon eyes
~The gods are jackasses
~Magical FBI
~Vampires are not your friends

Ferry is a fast-paced story with lots of explosions and flashy magic. The prose is light on description and heavy on action, and there’s a sexy semi-romance plotline woven throughout the main storyline. Ferry doesn’t require any heavy lifting on the part of the reader; if you want something that’s fairly light, if you’re not up to dealing with something super complicated and just want to have some brainless fun, then this is pretty perfect. I started reading while full of anxiety in a doctor’s office, and Ferry sucked me in and made the time pass in a blink, when I wasn’t able to concentrate on any of my usual reads (all of which demand a lot more attention). That’s some major points in its favour.

It has a very generic urban fantasy feel, but that’s not a con if you’re a fan of the genre and the common tropes. As long as you’re comfortable not dissecting the worldbuilding, and happy to just be swept along by the story, Ferry of Bones & Gold is a perfectly fun way to spend an afternoon or two.

Review #2Highlights

~No
~No
~No
~Kill it with fire

What in the actual fuck did I just read, and how much brain-bleach do I need to scrub all memory of it from my consciousness???

It’s been a while since I read action-y urban fantasy, and Ferry of Bones & Gold is the perfect reminder of why the fuck I avoid it. Let’s break it down, shall we?

We’ll start with the main character, Patrick, who is a red-headed mass of cliches and toxic masculinity. The only thing that makes him stand out from legions of other angsty ~heroes~ is that he’s gay and has no hang-ups about the fact that he likes to be fucked. Cool, yay. I require more than that from my main characters, Karen. Like maybe…one single shred of personality that is not angst or manly pain. Patrick is macho and badass and prefers drinking to talking about his feelings. He curses. He went through literal hell during his time in the magic military, but the only thing that’s really left him with are scars on his magic that supposedly cut him off from most of his old power and make it painful to work major magics. I say ‘supposedly’ because we never once see Patrick have to think outside the box or use his power in an economic, strategic way to save his strength: whenever something comes up, he throws power at it and pulls off whatever it is he’s trying to do. The scars are something for him to angst about, but don’t seem to actually slow him down or place any real limitations on his capabilities, even though we are constantly reminded that he isn’t the mage he used to be.

And that’s thing number 2: the telling-not-showing. Ferry is a semi-constant stream of clunky info-dumps, and I’m not sure if it’s because Turner thinks her readers are too stupid to keep up, or if she’s just too bad a writer to integrate the information into the narrative more smoothly. I don’t need or want four paragraphs on the history of the werewolf virus, and if you’re so excited about your worldbuilding that you want to show it off, find a way to make it a natural part of the story.

But if you’re going to lecture me, at least tell me things that make sense. The worldbuilding here is a lot of superficially cool concepts stuck together with craft glue: it all falls apart the second you poke at it. For example: magic is fueled by your soul. Souls exist! They empirically exist! But this has not affected people’s views of death, the afterlife, or religion in any visible way. Nor is it clear what effects, if any, drawing from your soul has on your soul; oh, a magic-user will get tired, and feel pain if they draw too much, but…does this have any affect on your sense of self? Your ability to make it to an afterlife, if there is one? If souls empirically exist you need to explain to me what they are, and Turner most certainly does not do that. Also, why do magic users make a ball of glowy light and filter their spells through that??? How does that ‘focus’ anything? What???

Way, way worse is the entire concept of the Immortals, beings who live on the other side of the Veil and who were, or maybe are, gods. They are divine, but their ‘godhead’ can be separated from them. They draw power from being worshiped, but they are still fundamentally immortal and therefore not really dependent on human worship. But even though more worship, and therefore more power, would be cool, the gods are living on the down-low rather than the limelight. They haven’t made themselves into celebrities, which you’d think would be a good way to utilise the modern world if you wanted worship. They just…drift in and out, pop in to be mysterious and sometimes threatening, and can never do The Thing themselves because…Reasons.

That all aside from the fact that Ferry decided to build a story around the Greek gods, which is so fucking done and tired, and ignore all the myths ever to cast Hades as one of the bad guys. Because he’s a god of death, I guess, and death is scary and bad and evil. Despite the fact that there are…literally no myths of him being a bad guy, other than, arguably, the abduction of Persephone. Zeus is the major, major dick in the myths, but in Ferry he’s the one in need – and deserving of – rescue.

Also, the Big Bad, who is working to strip the godhead out of a god so he can become a god himself? Is being helped. By. Other gods.

…Someone please sit me down and explain to me why any pantheon would ever help humans figure out how to steal their divinity. Surely the stupidest of stupid gods could see that that is not going to end well???

And when you’re done, go tell Turner that dramatically revealing completely new mysteries with no warning and then solving them three pages later is not Good Writing. Don’t drop huge, game-changing revelations on me unless you’ve been building up to it throughout the book. Urgh, there is so much here that is just because Drama, or just because Plot, or just to give the characters a moment to show how badass they are. There are quips and one-liners that don’t make any fucking sense, but they sound cool, right? And there is so much dick-waving. Too many of the major characters are the worst kind of Alpha Males, with all the posturing and swearing and threatening to prove that they’re the baddest in the room.

And please do not get me started on the love interest Jono. He of the Neon Blue Eyes and Nice Ass. He’s actually not a dickhead, and his chemistry with Patrick was one of the only things that felt genuine in this book – there are good reasons the two of them are thrown/forced together, and everyone is very clear on the difference between physical attraction and falling in love, so I’m good with all of that. But he’s supposedly an ex-Londoner, and, just.

I grew up in London. That is not how anyone speaks. Turner sprinkles in awkward Briticisms throughout Jono’s dialogue and internal monologue, and it’s terrible. Please make it stop.

Nothing makes sense. Jono is constantly referred to as an alpha werewolf, but he doesn’t have a pack, so I have no idea what that means. (If I find out that Turner’s werecreatures are divided up into alphas/betas/omegas like Teen Wolf or something, I will scream.) Random gold coins, because reasons! Let’s rescue the hero by pulling him into an underworld, where time moves differently so he loses a vital 24 hours because There Wasn’t Enough Plot To Fill Those Hours, I Guess! Let’s not tell the agent you sent into the field who you’re sending him as backup, because it makes for a more dramatic reveal that way, right? Feel free to use military slang that I as a civilian have never come across before, and don’t bother to explain it, even though your context doesn’t come close to giving me a clue (the first time the term ‘sitrep’ comes up, I thought it must be some kind of painkiller. Spoiler: it isn’t!) Etc, etc.

You know the concept of hate-sex? By the halfway mark, this was rage-reading. I just wanted to be finished with it and done.

And the worst part is acknowledging that Ferry of Bones & Gold is not a bad example of its kind. Info-dumps aside, it’s very readable. The pace moves along. It’s very typical urban fantasy, with all that entails. I can see why it has so many positive ratings; I can see why a lot of people enjoy it. I do wonder if it would piss me off as much if I hadn’t read the Tarot Sequence by KD Edwards and Ferry was recommended to me on the basis of me liking the Tarot Sequence. As if the two could ever compare.

It’s not just the Tarot Sequence, though. Everything that Ferry of Bones & Gold does, I have seen done so much better by other writers and other stories. I might have enjoyed this book a decade ago, although the poor worldbuilding would still have bothered me, but it wouldn’t have made me angry. Reading it in 2021 made me angry. I’ve read better, and I deserve better. We all do.

So thanks, but no fucking thanks.

Ferry of Bones & Gold vs The Last SunHighlights

~Rune > Patrick
~Addam > Jono
~New Atlantis > this trainwreck
~Brand > everybody

Various algorithms and fellow readers alike recommended Ferry of Bones & Gold to me on the basis that I love The Tarot Sequence by KD Edwards. So from the moment I opened up Ferry, I was comparing the two. Maybe if I hadn’t been, I would have enjoyed Ferry a bit more.

I can see why the algorithms recommended it: Ferry and The Last Sun both utilise a fair number of the same tropes. Both have (male) main characters who are queer with complicated and fucked-up pasts. Both have relatively simplistic magic-systems. Both have a ‘police case’ plot which unfolds into something bigger and nastier. Patrick (Ferry) and Rune (The Last Sun) are both extremely badass, but both have to bow their heads to bigger super-powered characters. Both get a male love-interest.

The difference is that Ferry of Bones & Gold is pyrite – fool’s gold – and The Last Sun is 24-carats of the good stuff.

Rune and Patrick are both magically handicapped; Rune because he only has a handful of sigils, meaning he only has five or six spells available at any time, and Patrick because he can’t draw on the amount of power he once could. But over and over again, we get to see Rune thinking outside of the box, utilising the spells he has in unconventional ways to achieve the desired effect; he chooses the spells that go into his sigils extremely carefully, strategically, to have as versatile a selection as possible. He routinely uses less-powerful spells in smart ways that make them as if not more effective than more powerful ones – like choosing a camouflage spell instead of an invisibility one, or levitation over flight. Patrick, on the other hand, never seems hindered by his supposed limitations: whenever he needs to throw power at something, he does so, and manages just fine. We never see him going for brains over brawn when it comes to his magic, or being strategic or economic with his power. The end result is that his ‘scars’ have no effect on the plot at all; if they do anything, it’s only make Patrick look like a complete fucking idiot, since he’d rather suffer pain than be smart with his magic. It doesn’t make me sympathetic, or impressed, as I felt for Rune; I ended up just wanting to slap Patrick upside the back of his head for always being so full of idiotic macho bullshit.

Rune is completely lacking in toxic masculinity, which is incredibly refreshing and makes for a much more interesting and likable character. He knows his limits and works within them; he doesn’t need everyone in the room to acknowledge him as the biggest badass in it, and doesn’t feel threatened when he’s in the presence of a bigger badass. Patrick, on the other hand, spends most of Ferry throwing his weight around, establishing dominance over most of those he comes into contact with. Some of this is because he’s FBI and many of the other characters are either civilians or from local law enforcement, so he does outrank them; but despite the multiple references made to the need for diplomacy, it doesn’t actually show in his dialogue or actions. And far from making his peace with the dynamics between himself and the gods he has to interact with, he’s a mass of anger, hate, and resentment. I think it’s all justified, but it makes for a very different reading experience. We also get repeated references to the fact that Patrick doesn’t talk to his therapist properly, keeping things from him, and is extremely closed-off emotionally; whereas Rune is emotionally close to and open with the people around him, not pretending to be okay when he isn’t and unafraid of asking for help or support.

Which brings me to the Found Family trope. It makes sense that Patrick isn’t especially close to most of the characters in Ferry; he’s known most of them for less than a week. But we’re told, repeatedly, that he misses his team from his military days…and yet when some of them make an appearance in the second half of the book, the dynamics between them feel more like a business relationship than anything else. It couldn’t be more different to the relationship Rune has with Brand, his Companion, a role which embodies best friend, bodyguard, and (non-romantic) partner. And although both Patrick and Rune have past trauma that could make connecting to new people difficult, Rune is at least carefully open to the idea, and does form important bonds with people new to him in The Last Sun. The Found Family doesn’t completely coalesce until book two, The Hanged Man, but it’s very much developing in The Last Sun, and the equivalent just isn’t there in Ferry.

But you don’t have to embrace the Found Family trope to have a decent cast of secondary characters. You can have interesting, fully-fleshed-out characters who don’t become siblings-without-blood with your main character. And yet, wherever characters like those might be, it isn’t in Ferry. Despite being an incredibly powerful and ostensibly important seer, Marek’s personality seems to consist entirely of ignoring Patrick’s requests to stay safe, and none of the other characters stand out for more than a couple of seconds, better characterised by their species or abilities than their personalities. They blur together in a way that’s frankly embarrassing. Even characters who don’t have names in The Last Sun – like the bartender who spikes Max’s drink – have more personality, more motivation, are just more real than the cardboard cut-outs that stand-in for characters in Ferry.

That. Is. Embarrassing.

And that’s to say nothing of the fact that Patrick is a loner – there’s a ‘lone wolf’ joke in there somewhere, but I’m too tired to find it – which means there’s no one but him to focus our interest on. Brand, Rune’s Companion in The Last Sun, is objectively one of the best things about the Tarot Sequence, but there’s no equivalent partner character in Ferry. There’s no one for Patrick to play off of, no contrast, no break from his constant and unmitigated angst. And that was a choice Turner made in writing the story the way she did.

The romances just…can’t be compared. Although I appreciate that Ferry makes it clear that Patrick and Jono are not in love with each other – they haven’t known each other long enough – after hooking up, both start to have Feelings. The issue is that…I have no idea what they’re based on. Chemistry, sure, I get that; they’re physically attractive to each other, fine. But given that neither character displays any personality, I don’t know where the Feelings are coming from. By the end of the book, the major emotion Patrick seems to feel for Jono – other than attraction, if that’s an emotion – is guilt. Whereas Rune and Addam, in The Last Sun, both give each other plenty of reasons to appreciate the other as a person – Addam’s optimism and determination to be good, Rune’s selflessness and honour and his unconventional (in his culture) views on privilege and responsibility. Etc. But the blandness of the secondary characters of Ferry extends even to the gods-damned love interest, and I just – how am I supposed to care about any of these characters?

And so much of this – if not all of it – is a writing choice, and that’s the final bullet in the chamber. Reading The Last Sun, I had the wonderful sensation of knowing I was reading the work of someone as smart or smarter than I was. Usually, when I snatch at a shiny new piece of worldbuilding like the manic magpie that I am, it crumples like a sweet wrapper. It doesn’t hold up. Whereas with The Last Sun, Edwards has gotten there ahead of me; any inference I draw from a piece of worldbuilding is already worked in; any implication has already been followed through on. I think I’ve already made it clear that Ferry is nothing like that; Turner has introduced various ideas and concepts, but hasn’t followed any of them to their logical conclusions. Edwards’ worldbuilding recognises that every new item introduced has ripple effects, altering many other aspects of the fictional world; changing the lines on the map. Turner has cut out pretty pictures and used craft glue to stick them onto a map of our world, as if introducing magic or gods doesn’t change the whole shape of literally everything.

Reading Ferry is like picking up a box wrapped in shiny paper, and finding that beneath the paper, the box is empty. Reading The Last Sun is like picking up a Fabergé egg; not only is it gorgeous on the outside, when you open it up, there’s just more treasure for the reader to delight in.

It goes beyond worldbuilding: Turner is constantly lecturing the reader, explaining things we don’t need to know in unreasonable, confusing amounts of detail. Whereas Edwards expects the reader to be smart enough to keep up…or to enjoy the surprise when the pieces come together. Reading Ferry felt like listening to someone talk to me as though I were five years old and needed everything laid out in single-syllable words; there is no putting the puzzle together on your own, because the pieces are being thrown at you, hard, in the face. And even if you try, you don’t have all the pieces, because big, important reveals happen at the last second with nothing leading up to them. Meaning there’s no way to enjoy the surprise, either, because it feels a lot more like whiplash.

I could go on: I wrote five pages of notes on how badly Ferry fails when held up against The Last Sun (both of which came out in 2018, by the way, so it’s not even as though Ferry has the excuse of simply aging badly). But there’s only so long even I can rant about a book without feeling Tired.

The simple fact of the matter is that The Last Sun raised the bar for urban fantasy, and while I don’t know if there are any other books that can meet that bar? Ferry of Bones & Gold most definitely does not.

:I edited this review after publishing it to cut a metaphor that was unintentionally condescending. My genuine apologies for my fuck-up.:

The post Reading it Once, Reviewing it Thrice: A Ferry of Bones & Gold by Hailey Turner appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

WWW Wednesday: 7th April

I’ve decided that, at least for the foreseeable future, I’m going to be participating in WWW Wednesdays, which is a meme hosted over at Taking On a World of Words. To take part, you just answer the three questions below, and link back to TOaWoW!

State of the Sia update: Today was doctors and blood tests and I am Tired. I’ve spent a lot more time watching Schitt’s Creek with the hubby (we only just discovered the show) than I have reading lately, and I feel vaguely guilty but also Tired. (Also, the show is awesome and not Tired in the least.) My fibro is slowly starting to behave itself again though, which I’m deeply grateful for.

So now let’s talk about the reading I have been doing!

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?A Ferry of Bones & Gold (Soulbound #1) by Hailey Turner
Representation: Gay MC, secondary characters of colour, M/M or mlm
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

When the gods come calling, you don’t get to say no.

Patrick Collins is three years into a career as a special agent for the Supernatural Operations Agency when the gods come calling to collect a soul debt he owes them. An immortal has gone missing in New York City and bodies are showing up in the wake of demon-led ritual killings that Patrick recognizes all too easily from his nightmares.

Unable to walk away, Patrick finds himself once again facing off against mercenary magic users belonging to the Dominion Sect. Standing his ground alone has never been a winning option in Patrick’s experience, but it’s been years since he’s had a partner he could trust.

Looking for allies in all the wrong places, Patrick discovers the Dominion Sect’s next target is the same werewolf the Fates themselves have thrown into his path. Patrick has been inexplicably attracted to the man from their first meeting, but desire has no place in war. That doesn’t stop Patrick from wanting what he shouldn’t have. Jonothon de Vere is gorgeous, dangerous, and nothing but trouble—to the case, to the fight against every hell, and ultimately, to Patrick’s heart and soul.

In the end, all debts must be paid, and Patrick can only do what he does best—cheat death.

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This has been recced to me dozens of times on the basis that I love KD Edwards’ Tarot Sequence, but I’d picked it up and put it down at least thrice. But today I listened to a sample of the audiobook while waiting at the doctor’s office…and just kept going. I definitely see where the comparisons to the Tarot books come from, but Turner does a lot more telling than showing and Patrick is no Rune. (And is distinctly lacking a Brand.) That said, it’s very readable fun and I’m not sorry I finally got into it. I suspect once all the telling-not-showing is done and the stage is set, the worldbuilding is going to be a lot more interesting than most urban fantasies. So yay!

WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1) by Shannon Hale
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award nominee for Children's Literature 2010 (The Books of Bayern series).

She was born with her eyes closed and a word on her tongue, a word she could not taste. Her name was Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she spent the first years of her life listening to her aunt’s stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. And when she was older, she watched as a colt was born, and she heard the first word on his tongue, his name, Falada.

From the Grimm's fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original, and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can lead the people she has made her own.

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I picked this up on a whim…and inhaled the entire thing in less than 12 hours. I still remember when I first discovered Goose Girl, way back when in Picadilly’s Waterstones, and how magical the rich paper of the book was. Turns out it’s every bit as beautiful as I remembered, even as an ebook. Hale manages to stick very close to the original fairytale – I think all of the elements are there, from the golden cup to the horse’s head – while massively expanding upon it in gorgeous and original ways, like the magics of the three kinds of Speaking. It’s deft and graceful without being simplistic, intricate without being complicated, and I know that makes no sense, but you’ll just have to read it for yourself to see what I mean.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?First, Become Ashes by K.M. Szpara
Representation: Gay MC, Nonbinary MC, M/M or mlm
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Urban Fantasy
Goodreads

The Fellowship raised Lark to kill monsters.
His partner betrayed them to the Feds.
But Lark knows his magic is real, and he'll do anything to complete his quest.

K. M. Szpara follows Docile, one of the most anticipated science fiction novels of 2020, with First, Become Ashes, a fantastic standalone adventure that blends pain and pleasure and will make readers question what is real, and what is magical.

Lark spent the first twenty-four years, nine months, and three days of his life training for a righteous quest: to rid the world of monsters. Alongside his partner Kane, he wore the cage and endured the scourge in order to develop his innate magic. He never thought that when Kane left, he'd next see him in the company of FBI agents and a SWAT team. He never dreamed that the leader of the Fellowship of the Anointed would be brought up on charges of abuse and assault.

He never expected the government would tell him that the monsters aren't real--that there is no magic, and all the pain was for nothing.

Lark isn't ready to give up. He is determined to fulfill his quest, to defeat the monsters he was promised. Along the way he will grapple with the past, confront love, and discover his long-buried truth.

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I should really be diving hard into Alina Boyden’s Gifting Fire, but – First, Become Ashes!!! I am so excited for this book and can’t believe it’s FINALLY waiting for me on my ereader!!! LOOK AT ALL THESE EXCLAMATION MARKS, THAT IS HOW EXCITED I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thus endeth the weekly check-in! How’s everyone else doing?

The post WWW Wednesday: 7th April appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

SFF Recs for International Asexuality Day!

Asexual Pride dragon by Kaenith!

It’s the first ever International Asexuality Day, and how else is an ace bookworm supposed to celebrate than by making a rec list? So here are some of my favourite fantasy (and a few sci-fi) books featuring characters on the ace spectrum!

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire
Representation: Asexual MC, trans love interest, secondary characters of colour
Goodreads

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children

No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

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

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

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

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

No matter the cost.

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No list of ace recs would be complete without Every Heart a Doorway, the first book in the Wayward Children series and the first book I ever read where the word ‘asexual’ was used on-page. An asexual girl who just wants to get back to her personal Narnia – which isn’t a country with a talking lion, but a serene underworld realm – ends up at a boarding school for kids and teens who have been to other words…and kicked back to Earth again. The novella is a quick but powerful read that will make your heart ache, but it’s so, so beautiful. (And yes, I named my blog in its honour!)

Banner of the Damned by Sherwood Smith
Representation: Asexual MC, queernorm world
Goodreads

Princess Lasva is about to be named heir to her childless sister, the queen. But, when the queen finally bears an heir, Lasva's future is shattered. Grief-stricken, she leaves her country of Colend and falls into the arms of Prince Ivandred of Marloven Hesea. His people are utterly different-with their expertise in riding, weaponry, and magic- and the two soon marry.When the sensational news makes its way to Lasva's sister, the queen worries for Lasva at the hands of the Marlovens, whose king's mage is in league with the magical land of Norsunder-considered by Colendi to be their enemy. The queen orders Emras, a scribe, to guard Lasva.But it may be too late-Lasva is already deeply involved with the Marlovens and their magic. War wages on, and all are forced to redefine love, loyalty, and power...

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Don’t worry if you’re intimidated by the hefty Indra series; you don’t need to have read it to enjoy Banner of the Damned, even if they’re set in the same world. This is a big High Fantasy standalone, with a main character who is asexual (but not aromantic) in a world where that’s recognised and accepted. If you want lots of politicking on an epic scale, this one’s for you!

Flesh and Fire (Vineart War #1) by Laura Anne Gilman
Representation: Asexual MC
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

From acclaimed bestselling author Laura Anne Gilman comes a unique and enthralling new story of fantasy and adventure, wine and magic, danger and hope....

Once, all power in the Vin Lands was held by the prince-mages, who alone could craft spellwines, and selfishly used them to increase their own wealth and influence. But their abuse of power caused a demigod to break the Vine, shattering the power of the mages. Now, fourteen centuries later, it is the humble Vinearts who hold the secret of crafting spells from wines, the source of magic, and they are prohibited from holding power.

But now rumors come of a new darkness rising in the vineyards. Strange, terrifying creatures, sudden plagues, and mysterious disappearances threaten the land. Only one Vineart senses the danger, and he has only one weapon to use against it: a young slave. His name is Jerzy, and his origins are unknown, even to him. Yet his uncanny sense of the Vinearts' craft offers a hint of greater magics within — magics that his Master, the Vineart Malech, must cultivate and grow. But time is running out. If Malech cannot teach his new apprentice the secrets of the spellwines, and if Jerzy cannot master his own untapped powers, the Vin Lands shall surely be destroyed.

In Flesh and Fire, first in a spellbinding new trilogy, Laura Anne Gilman conjures a story as powerful as magic itself, as intoxicating as the finest of wines, and as timeless as the greatest legends ever told.

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The Vineart War is a trilogy where the all-important magical wines can only be created by asexual people, although if I remember correctly that’s not something that’s known outside the vintner community. The writing and worldbuilding are wonderful, and the magic of the wines is both interesting in and of itself, and utilised very cleverly by the characters and their culture. It’s been a while since I read the trilogy, but I remember I inhaled all three books in a week!

An Accident of Stars (Manifold Worlds, #1) by Foz Meadows
Representation: Asexual Aroace MC of colour, F/F, secondary trans character, queernorm world, polyamory
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Book I of the Manifold Worlds from Hugo-nominated author Foz Meadows.

When Saffron Coulter stumbles through a hole in reality, she finds herself trapped in Kena, a magical realm on the brink of civil war.

There, 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, chief among them 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 - an accidental worldwalker - really be the key to saving Kena? Or will she just die trying?

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I absolutely adore this duology, not just for its brilliant characters but for the intricate details of its worldbuilding. The books shift between POV characters, and one we’re introduced to almost immediately in book one is ace – and happily married, thank you very much! (I believe she’s also aromantic, but it’s been a while so don’t hold me to that.) It’s very queer and very brown and there’s so much magic and politics and adventuring! This is what portal fantasy looks like when it’s not written by old straight white dudes, okay?

Beyond the Black Door by A.M. Strickland, AdriAnne Strickland
Representation: Asexual MC, Genderqueer love interest
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Secondary World Fantasy
Goodreads

Kamai was warned never to open the black door, but she didn't listen ...

Everyone has a soul. Some are beautiful gardens, others are frightening dungeons. Soulwalkers―like Kamai and her mother―can journey into other people's souls while they sleep.

But no matter where Kamai visits, she sees the black door. It follows her into every soul, and her mother has told her to never, ever open it.
When Kamai touches the door, it is warm and beating, like it has a pulse. When she puts her ear to it, she hears her own name whispered from the other side. And when tragedy strikes, Kamai does the unthinkable: she opens the door.

A.M. Strickland's imaginative dark fantasy features court intrigue and romance, a main character coming to terms with her asexuality, and twists and turns as a seductive mystery unfolds that endangers not just Kamai's own soul, but the entire kingdom ...

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An elegant standalone, Beyond the Black Door is, as the blurb says, about a young woman who can travel within the souls of others…despite seeming to not have a soul of her own. The prose is lush and gorgeous, and there’s just the right amount of worldbuilding (just wait until you discover the spectrum of moons that illustrates gender and sexuality! So cool!) It’s all politicking and secret guilds and a seductive probably-a-monster-no-really, all tied up with blasphemous and treason… It’s excellent!!! (And confirmed #ownvoices re the asexuality, if that matters to you.)

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
Representation: Black asexual MC, F/F or wlw
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Urban Fantasy
Goodreads

Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep.
He’ll follow you home, and he won’t let you sleep.

Who are the Sawkill Girls?

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

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

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

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

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

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Sawkill Girls isn’t just one of my favourite ace books; it’s one of my favourite books ever. It’s another standalone, and it’s fierce and magical, poetic and brutal. I didn’t find the horror elements too much (and I’m a total horror wimp) but do bear in mind that they’re there. It’s very much a book about girl-power, about setting fire to the patriarchy and burning it to the ground, about not letting anyone take away your magic or dictate how you should use it. This is one of those books that is beautiful, not pretty. You’ve been warned!

The Perfect Assassin (Chronicles of Ghadid, #1) by K.A. Doore
Representation: Cast of colour, homoromantic asexual MC, M/M or mlm
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Secondary World Fantasy
Goodreads

A novice assassin is on the hunt for someone killing their own in K. A. Doore's The Perfect Assassin, a breakout high fantasy beginning the Chronicles of Ghadid series.

Divine justice is written in blood.

Or so Amastan has been taught. As a new assassin in the Basbowen family, he’s already having second thoughts about taking a life. A scarcity of contracts ends up being just what he needs.

Until, unexpectedly, Amastan finds the body of a very important drum chief. Until, impossibly, Basbowen’s finest start showing up dead, with their murderous jaan running wild in the dusty streets of Ghadid. Until, inevitably, Amastan is ordered to solve these murders, before the family gets blamed.

Every life has its price, but when the tables are turned, Amastan must find this perfect assassin or be their next target.

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The Perfect Assassin does work as a standalone, but I’d recommend you continue and read the rest of the trilogy once you’ve finished it. It’s about a ridiculous cinnamon-roll who’s been trained as an assassin but isn’t all that sure about killing people, and that could have turned into a predictable, tropy mess, but it’s anything but. The worldbuilding is phenomenal – a desert city where water is both currency and magic – and I loved it.

Hopefully you will too, and then you can read the sequels!

Stranger (The Change Book 1) by Rachel Manija Brown, Sherwood Smith
Representation: Demisexual MC of colour, Gay MC of colour, M/M or mlm, queernorm world
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Goodreads

Many generations ago, a mysterious cataclysm struck the world. Governments collapsed and people scattered, to rebuild where they could. A mutation, "the Change,” arose, granting some people unique powers. Though the area once called Los Angeles retains its cultural diversity, its technological marvels have faded into legend. "Las Anclas" now resembles a Wild West frontier town… where the Sheriff possesses superhuman strength, the doctor can warp time to heal his patients, and the distant ruins of an ancient city bristle with deadly crystalline trees that take their jewel-like colors from the clothes of the people they killed.

Teenage prospector Ross Juarez’s best find ever – an ancient book he doesn’t know how to read – nearly costs him his life when a bounty hunter is set on him to kill him and steal the book. Ross barely makes it to Las Anclas, bringing with him a precious artifact, a power no one has ever had before, and a whole lot of trouble.

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The Change series features a demisexual character, though that word isn’t used – but I think almost everyone on the spectrum will recognise and sympathise with her confusion about and struggles with sex and FEELINGS. Aside from that, this is a fantastic series set in a very unique post-apocalyptic world – but the series is fundamentally optimistic, not grim (although not everyone in this world is nice, and the cast do have to fight for their way of life against some pretty messed-up people). The worldbuilding is strange and delightful – the animals and plants that have been Changed, and the way the world works now that the technology you and I take for granted is completely gone. It’s stunning and so much fun and hopeful and fierce, and I can’t encourage you enough to give this series a go!

A Pale Light in the Black (NeoG #1) by K.B. Wagers
Representation: Asexual, Bisexual, Nonbinary, Characters of Colour, Pansexual, F/F
Goodreads

The rollicking first entry in a unique science fiction series that introduces the Near-Earth Orbital Guard—NeoG—a military force patrolling and protecting space inspired by the real-life mission of the U.S. Coast Guard.

For the past year, their close loss in the annual Boarding Games has haunted Interceptor Team: Zuma’s Ghost. With this year’s competition looming, they’re looking forward to some payback—until an unexpected personnel change leaves them reeling. Their best swordsman has been transferred, and a new lieutenant has been assigned in his place.

Maxine Carmichael is trying to carve a place in the world on her own—away from the pressure and influence of her powerful family. The last thing she wants is to cause trouble at her command on Jupiter Station. With her new team in turmoil, Max must overcome her self-doubt and win their trust if she’s going to succeed. Failing is not an option—and would only prove her parents right.

But Max and the team must learn to work together quickly. A routine mission to retrieve a missing ship has suddenly turned dangerous, and now their lives are on the line. Someone is targeting members of Zuma’s Ghost, a mysterious opponent willing to kill to safeguard a secret that could shake society to its core . . . a secret that could lead to their deaths and kill thousands more unless Max and her new team stop them.

Rescue those in danger, find the bad guys, win the Games. It’s all in a day’s work at the NeoG.

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A Pale Light in the Black was one of my favourite books of 2020, a hopepunk sci-fi that is fun as hell and queer as fuck; the ace MC is only one queer character of many. It’s huge on the found-family trope, and seriously, the entire cast is beyond wonderful. There’s a little bit of a policing plot – which is interesting and handled really well – but most of the book is about character relationships and also The Games, where the different arms of the military compete against each other in intense but friendly rivalry. It’s all just so much FUN.

And also, there’s a robot dog. Sold yet?

Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1) by Ann Leckie
Representation: Asexual agender MC, queernorm world
Genres: Sci Fi, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.

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The main character of the Imperial Radch trilogy is an AI, so…asexual and aromantic by default. This is hardcore sci-fi, with jaw-droppingly amazing worldbuilding and a main character I challenge you not to adore. There’s also a ton of sneaky politicking surrounding the emperor, utilising light-speed and multi-bodied technology. Seriously, it’s so beyond fabulous, Leckie is simply incredible. If you haven’t read these yet, you really do have to.

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) by Martha Wells
Representation: Asexual aromantic agender MC
Genres: Sci Fi, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid—a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot." Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

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What asexual rec list would be complete without the beloved Murderbot?! Not an AI this time but a cyborg – one who is designed to be an unstoppable killing machine, but just wants to be left alone to watch its favourite TV shows. I mean, relatable, anyone??? Most of the series is made up of elegantly clever and tricksy novellas, but I think we’re getting the first Murderbot novel later this year!

Happy International Asexuality Day, everybody! Feel free to drop your own recs in the comments!

The post SFF Recs for International Asexuality Day! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.