Hey!

Welcome to all the new subscribers in the last week. Thanks for being here! I hope you find something cool to read and a new book (or five) to add to your TBR list. :D

Above is what’s come through the door for me. I fear I will not get through all these library books before their due dates. I’m not conspiracy-minded, but doesn’t it feel like as soon as you lean in to putting holds down they all arrive at the same time? Also, my copy of The Tainted Cup took forever to arrive (two months), probably because the paperback has been out for a hot minute. My copies will match or else.

A-Side

The Queersar Not An Award 2020
Eddie says he’s not doing an award, but how does that fly when I’ve logged this link in my archive under “awards”? Checkmate, pal. This is a very interesting list of books, including one that I’d never heard of before, The Vanished Queen by Lisbeth Campbell. What I think this proves is that we clearly do need an award for this niche of queer books! Alas, despite my archive tags, this is still not an award, but I’m looking forward to what Eddie discovers in the others years he’s looking at.

Genre Shapes and Definitions, Again
There’s been a conversation bubbling up recently, starting with Why All Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Are Historians. In my corners, we were mostly like, “why are romantasy and other genres catching strays?” Roseanna responded on Bluesky in a thread, which I agree with as someone who enjoys both science fiction, literary fiction (in the right mood), and those that cross each other’s imaginary lines. Molly Templeton then offered Unfortunately I Am Wrestling With Genre Again, and I agree with her that I can’t define literary fiction, except I know it when I read it. It sounds and feels different to me. I don’t know how to explain why The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara is literary fiction, but The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson is literary science fiction, but The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes is only science fiction. And I know someone out there who is not me might go, "what do you mean The Space Between Worlds is literary science fiction?” I wish I could tell you! It feels right! And that’s the tough thing about genre. The answer is always, “it depends on who’s asking.” Nick Hubble also got in on the discussion with their essay, SFF as History as Social Science, which goes back to Palmer’s original essay to agree with her thesis. It was a wide-ranging debate, and all the different essays/threads are worth reading if you’re into SF criticism and splitting hairs about genre.

I'm Still Not Over Losing My Book Review Gig
Charlie Jane Anders discussed losing her WaPo review column. I had mused that maybe she would move her work to her newsletter, but as she outlines in this essay, it’s hard to do when it’s unpaid work that’s trapped in your own social networks. That’s the struggle of all writers right now: how do we reach new persuadable people in our messy, algorithmic hellscape? Charlie Jane talks a little about the struggle there, and I wish there were better answers for all of us.

Reviews/Discussions

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers (Fiction Fans Podcast)
This Brutal Moon by Bethany Jacobs (Roseanna Pendlebury @ Strange Horizons)
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (Tar Vol on)
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (Martin Cahill @ Reactor)
Half City by Kate Golden (Jared Shurin @ Reactor)
Hell’s Heart by Alexis Hall (Liz Bourke @ Locus)
Hell’s Heart by Alexis Hall (Cat Treadwell @ The Fantasy Hive)
The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard (Womble @ Runalong the Shelves)
The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard (Elias @ Bar Cart Bookshelf)
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh (Cheryl Morgan @ Salon Futura)
Jitterbug by Gareth Powell (Paul Weimer @ Skiffy and Fanty)
The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton (Sia @ Every Book a Doorway)
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny (Hugos There Podcast)
No Gods for Drowning by Hailey Piper (Robert Welbourn @ Ancillary Review of Books)
Nobody’s Baby by Olivia Waite (Christine D. Baker @ Nerds of a Feather)
Nobody’s Baby by Olivia Waite (Trish Matson @ Skiffy and Fanty)
Nobody’s Baby by Olivia Waite (Tammy @ Books, Bones, & Buffy)
Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman (Jake Casella Brookins @ Locus)
Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman (Marion Deeds @ FanLit)
Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman (Marlene Harris @ Reading Reality)
The Salt Oracle by Lorraine Wilson (Stewart Hotston @ Nerds of a Feather)
When There Are Wolves Again by E.J. Swift (Nick Hubble @ Prospective Cultures)
The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher (Kat Marsh @ The Fantasy Hive)

B-Side

My pal Maureen has a list of upcoming books (mostly, some are already out this week!) she’s looking forward to. I’m also hyped for The Republic of Memory. I read this rec list by Roseanna when it came out and probably linked it, but I’m reupping it because I’ve since read Notes from a Regicide and have better context. At Transfer Orbit, there’s a list of March releases to check out and at Reactor, Jo Walton shared her February 2026 reading list.

I’m behind on awards discussion, but I saw that a series I’m fully expecting to be part of the awards conversation this year, The Sworn Soldier by T. Kingfisher, is getting a SubPress collected edition. I hope fans have robust savings accounts! While Hugo Award nominations are happening now, there’s a sheet for 2027 (media released this year), and so I updated the master list of Hugo Spreadsheets of Doom. All of the old sheets are there, too, in read-only mode. Watching the project grow gets me all emotional; I love fans. Finally, Nicholas Whyte did a deep dive on the BSFA short lists. This is another chance for me to look at U.S. publishing and go

I recovered from my Murderbot Diaries hyperfixation, but Amy from Hugo, Girl! was on Picture Me Coding to discuss the series, and I can feel the temptation for a reread approaching… Meanwhile, I need to correct the record re: more Finder Chronicles books. Authors should take all the breaks and work on other things! They deserve time for their ideas to cook. I’m jaded and cynical after the Black Wolves incident of 2015 and now assume every big publisher is a dastardly villain waiting to kill every series I love, so I made bad assumptions. Sorry, DAW Books; please don’t reject me for ARC requests in the future!

The new Disclosure Day trailer looks exciting. I’m intriguied by the teaser for Backrooms, but I don’t know what they’re going to make the film about. At Nerds of a Feather, Arturo Serrano discussed Hoppers, confirming that one of my fears about it is true, because I didn’t like Avatar at all. At least I got a cool ringtone out of it (yes, I turned the lizard-lizard-lizard sound into a ringtone, because I’m a normal person). Also, because I decided my mental health was already busy with the Reality Tilt-a-Whirl years ago, I never watched The Handmaid’s Tale adaptation. The trailer for The Testaments makes me suspect that was a good decision, because that looks very depressing! On the subject of adaptations, Alex Brown shared a list of books that deserve one, and I’m wholeheartedly agreed re: Everfair. More diverse steampunk!

In short fiction, I happened across a rec list by someone on Tumblr for February 2026, and then sleuthed my way back in time to their January rec list, too. These are incredible recs! Emmie Christie has another spotlight out, this time on P.A. Cornell, author of “Shoeshine Boy & Cigarette Girl”, with a bonus interview. Cornell was also interviewed by Paul Semel. SFF Remembrance has a review of “The Fate of the Poseidonia” by Clare Winger Harris. Tar Vol on reviewed issues of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus from March; A.C. Wise reviewed and recommended the November/December issue of Analog; Maria Haskins reviewed and recommended stories from Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Lightspeed, Small Wonders, and Bourbon Penn.

One of the books I’m most excited for this year is The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu, and you can read an excerpt at Reactor! There are also excerpts of The Lighthouse at the End of the World by Philip A. Suggars and Daughter of Crows by Mark Lawrence. The Fantasy Hive has the cover reveal for The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher. Garth Nix also did a cover reveal for his new adult SF novel, Massif, on Bluesky.

I read interviews from Christopher Buehlman, author of Between Two Fires; T.R. Moore, author of The Gods Must Burn; Makana Yamamoto, author of The Obake Code; Jared Poon, author of City of Others; and Rebecca Roanhorse, author of Black Sun. I uncovered two older interviews with Isaac Fellman, author of Notes from a Regicide, at Ancillary Review of Books and The Nerd Daily. And while it’s not an interview in the traditional sense, Fellman was at Largehearted Boy to do a music playlist for Notes from a Regicide last year, which I saw but only remembered once I finished the book and was on the search for more commentary.

For more SFF commentary and links, SFF Book Reviews shared The State of SFF for March 2026. Wow! Signal is out for March 2026. FanLit has a link round-up, too, and don’t miss Wombling Along.

Art recs: Capybara Bath 01 by N*Kim; Daily sketch by LK; Snail Meow by Tokyo Sexwhale; Cat and goldfish by John Ramsey; some cats from 2023 by Emily L'Orange; A Creek in the Woods by Aled Thompson; Green Tea by SimzArt

Outro

“Renay,” you ask, “why is this issue unofficially dedicated to Notes from a Regicide?” It’s because I recently collected some thoughts about the book into a quasi-review after finishing it. I read both the audiobook and the hardcover; I usually end up with a preference but this time I loved both. Then I went on a Internet Hunt for more thoughts about it and from the author, and this newsletter is the beneficiary of my sudden hyperfocus.

That’s all from me! Have a great weekend and forward this email to anyone who loves literary science fiction like Notes from a Regicide. — Renay