Must-Have Monday #94
SIX new SFF releases on my radar this week!
The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary spouse, F/NB
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads
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A gripping sci-fi mystery wrapped in an LGBTQIA love story that bends space, time, myth and science.
Lumi is an Earth-born healer whose Mars-born spouse Sol disappears unexpectedly on a work trip. As Lumi begins her quest to find Sol, she delves gradually deeper into Sol’s secrets – and her own.
While recalling her own path to becoming a healer under the guidance of her mysterious teacher Vivian, she discovers an underground environmental group called Stoneturners, which may have something to do with Sol’s disappearance. Lumi’s search takes her from the wealthy colonies of Mars to Earth that has been left a shadow of its former self due to vast environmental destruction. Gradually, she begins to understand that Sol’s fate may have been connected to her own for much longer than she thought.
Part space-age epistolary, part eco-thriller, The Moonday Letters is also a love story between two individuals from very different worlds.
Originally published in Finnish but now being released in English, The Moonday Letters is a surprising but beautiful combination of far-future sci-fi and Finnish shamanism. I loved it, and suspect a lot of others will too!
You can read my review here!
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: Mexican cast
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a dreamy reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico.
Carlota Moreau: a young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of either a genius, or a madman.
Montgomery Laughton: a melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his scientific experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.
The hybrids: the fruits of the Doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.
All of them living in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction.
For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.
THE DAUGHTER OF DOCTOR MOREAU is both a dazzling historical novel and a daring science fiction journey.
This sounds like a really wonderful reimagining of the classic – and Garcia has promised Daughter does not involve vivisection, which The Island of Doctor Moreau did. I am extremely grateful and much less nervous about reading it now!
The Stone Road by Trent Jamieson Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads
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On the day Jean was born, the dead howled. A thin scratch of black smoke began to rise behind the hills west of town: Furnace had been lit, and soon its siren call began to draw the people of Casement Rise to it, never to return.
Casement Rise is a dusty town at the end of days, a harsh world of grit and arcane dangers. Jean’s stern, overprotective Nan has always kept Casement Rise safe from monsters, but she may have waited too long to teach Jean how to face those demons on her own. On Jean’s twelfth birthday, a mysterious graceful man appears, an ethereal and terrifying being connected to the family secrets Nan has hidden from Jean in an effort to keep her safe.
Now Nan must rush Jean’s education in monsters, magic, and the breaking of the world in ages past. If Jean is to combat the graceful man and finally understand the ancient evil powering Furnace, she will have to embrace her legacy, endure her Nan’s lessons, and learn all she can—before Furnace burns everything down.
With the lyrical cadence of The Last Unicorn and intense imagery of A Wizard of Earthsea, The Stone Road is a timeless story of hope, belonging, and growing into your power.
So, I actually DNF-ed my ARC of this, but, that was for something I’m hoping was just a formatting-type issue with the ARC, and that therefore won’t be present in the final copy. If I’m right about it. I’ll let you all know how that goes!
The Tea Dragon Society Box Set by Kay O'Neill Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F, M/M, queernorm world
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads
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"This book is wonderfully inclusive, and depicts a distinct and expressive cast of LGBTQIA characters and people of color." — School Library Journal
In the bewitching Tea Dragon Society series, two-time Eisner Award-winning creator K. O’Neill offers three stories featuring the enchanting world of Tea Dragons. Now collected in a beautiful box set with brand-new box cover art, readers can experience The Tea Dragon Society, The Tea Dragon Festival, and The Tea Dragon Tapestry from start to finish. This charming and peaceful trilogy is heartwarming, inclusive, and absolutely magical.
The Tea Dragon Society
After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon caretaking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.
The Tea Dragon Festival
Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village, but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep... But Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.
The Tea Dragon Tapestry Join Greta and Minette once more for the heartwarming conclusion of the award-winning Tea Dragon series! Over a year since being entrusted with Ginseng's care, Greta still can't chase away the cloud of mourning that hangs over the timid Tea Dragon. Meanwhile, Minette receives a surprise package from the monastery where she was once training to be a prophetess. Told with the same care and charm as the previous installments of the Tea Dragon series, The Tea Dragon Tapestry welcomes old friends and new into a heartfelt story of purpose, love, and growth.
These are, no word of a lie, some of the sweetest and loveliest stories ever, and if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading them yet, the boxset is out tomorrow! It’s the perfect time to fall in love with the gorgeous little tea dragons!
Heat Wave (The Extraordinaries, #3) by T.J. Klune Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: M/M, MC with ADHD, Black sapphic secondary character
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads
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The explosive finale to the Extraordinaries trilogy by New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune.
School's out for the summer and a raging heat wave has blanketed Nova City. Still, Nick's life is pretty much perfect, as he finally gets to team up with his superhero boyfriend to bring justice, protection, and disaster energy to the world.
Meanwhile, Seth, Jazz, and Gibby are setting up headquarters for Lighthouse, their hero team, Nick's dad's private investigation agency is taking off, and Nick's mother, the superhero known as TK, is right there at Nick's side. Where she's always been. Hasn't she?
But something's off. It's not just Simon Burke campaigning to 'cure' Extraordinaries. And it's not the rumours of Nick's ex-boyfriend and villain-in-the-making's escape. Something isn't right and Nick will need all his loved ones together to uncover the truth - a truth that will reveal a traitor in their midst and burn through their lives like a wild fire.
I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS TRILOGY IS ABOUT TO BE OVER! But at the same time, I can’t wait to see how Klune will wrap up this story. EEE!
Youngblood by Sasha Laurens Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads
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For fans of Vampire Diaries and dark academia, two queer teen bloodsuckers at an elite vampire-only boarding school must go up against all of Vampirdom when they uncover a frightening conspiracy on campus.
Kat Finn and her mother can barely make ends meet living among humans. Like all vampires, they must drink Hema, an expensive synthetic blood substitute, to survive, as nearly all of humanity has been infected by a virus that’s fatal to vampires. Kat isn’t looking forward to an immortal life of barely scraping by, but when she learns she’s been accepted to the Harcote School, a prestigious prep school that’s secretly vampires-only, she knows her fortune is about to change.
Taylor Sanger has grown up in the wealthy vampire world, but she’s tired of its backward, conservative values—especially when it comes to sexuality, since she’s an out-and-proud lesbian. She only has to suffer through a two more years of Harcote before she’s free. But when she discovers her new roommate is Kat Finn, she’s horrified. Because she and Kat used to be best friends, a long time ago, and it didn’t end well.
When Taylor stumbles upon the dead body of a vampire, and Kat makes a shocking discovery in the school’s archives, the two realize that there are deep secrets at Harcote—secrets that link them to the most powerful figures in Vampirdom and to the synthetic blood they all rely on.
I’m not sure I want to deal with queerphobic vampires, so I may or may not end up reading it, but queer vamps definitely get feature-spots in my posts!
Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!
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