Hey!

This week I went overboard (there are almost 30 reviews, instead of my normal max of 25) because there were lots of reviews of big, anticipated titles. I would like to promise next week things will be more reasonable but…it’s Hugo season. There are lots of fun lists to go with the beginning of the month, plus updates to lots of fan columns. And this week, I didn’t lose my art recs (shoutout to Elizabeth Minkel for the tips).

It’s the newsletter’s birthday this month, too, but I saved all the emotions for the Outro. :)

A-Side

A Review of Trace Elements by Jo Walton and Ada Palmer
My struggle with SFF criticism and history is that I came at SFF from a very different direction, via Sailor Moon fandom to gaming/amine fandom, and then to the online communities that make up the many overlapping circles that give us the loose connections of “SFF fandom.” I love that Roseanna went into her review of this book with the knowledge that there is no one monolithic path into genre and pulled out even more fascinating thoughts about what it means to create an understanding of our shared spaces. Our world is so interconnected; almost everyone who connects to our genre in the 21st century will have come from a wildly different and diverse place.

In Space, No One Can Hear How Lonely You Are
Molly captured something in this essay that resonated with me. This part, especially: “Now I go online because I have to, and yet I’m still looking for that old internet, expecting it to appear between the cracks, slipping through the paid posts and the fake videos and the engagement bait Instagram drops into your feed just to try to get you to go yell at someone on Threads.” I write this newsletter every week looking at the internet and trying to find those joyous, magical pockets of the old internet recaptured, brought into the future to sparkle as a distraction from The Horrors(TM). Molly is on to something in seeing the themes of loneliness and isolation in stories that’s its own flavor of the emotions. I suspect once we’re no longer in the midst of our current moment and look back, we’re going to be shocked at how many of the stories we loved were us reaching for connection.

The Queersar not an award 2022
Eddie Clark is back with the 2022 iteration of his definitely-not-a-real-award project. I love this project so much and look forward to every new edition and Eddie’s commentary about the books. I’m going to be sad when we run out of years. This list had more books I was familiar with, plus several others I didn’t know were queer. As I told Eddie on Bluesky, I’ve had The Spear Cuts Through Water on my shelf for ages, but I’m so intimidated by it. It could be that 2026 is the year, though!

Voting is Open for the 2026 Hugo Awards
It’s time to start reading/watching/playing for the Hugo Awards! The voter packet is out and NomNom is open for first passes. I highly recommend first passes because once you have the ballot in front of you and you start ranking things, it can help give you an idea of what you might want to prioritize. You can grab your $50 WSFS membership via the registration page, get access to the Voter Packet, and have a great time. Obviously, I’m greedy and really want more people to vote in the fan categories. Have fun with the fiction, but remember us nerds! The Fancast and Fan Writer categories are really good this year. Voting closes on August 8, 2026, noon Pacific.

Reviews/Discussions

An Accident of Dragons by Cheri Radke (Elias @ Bar Cart Bookshelf)
Aicha by Soraya Bouazzaoui (Chris Kluwe @ Lightspeed)
Anti-State by Allen Stroud (Stewart Hotston @ Nerds of a Feather)
Chai and Charmcraft by Lynn Strong (Fiction Fans Podcast)
Cinder House by Freya Marske (Nick Hubble @ Prospective Cultures)
City by Clifford Simak (Hugos There Podcast)
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog)
The Faith of Beasts by James S. A. Corey (Narrated Podcast)
The Girl With a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean (Tammy @ Books, Bones, & Buffy)
The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe (Trish Matson @ Skiffy and Fanty)
The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (Dina @ SFF Book Reviews)
The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (Esmay Rosalyne @ Grimdark Magazine)
The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (Petrik Leo @ Novel Notions)
The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (Mark Yon @ SFF World)
The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (Becky’s Book Blog)
The Last Jager by S. Naomi Scott (Womble @ Runalong the Shelves)
A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo (Roseanna Pendlebury @ Nerds of a Feather)
Mojorhythm by Sheree Renée Thomas (Wole Talabi @ Locus)
Moongather by Jo Clayton (A Meal of Thorns Podcast)
Mortedant’s Peril by R. J. Barker (Ed Crocker @ Grimdark Magazine)
Platform Decay by Martha Wells (Tar Vol on)
Platform Decay by Martha Wells (SB Sarah @ Smart Bitches, Trashy Books)
Project Hanuman by Stewart Hotston (Cheryl Morgan @ Salon Futura)
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (geraniums-red)
The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed (Realms of My Mind)
The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed (Paul Weimer @ Skiffy and Fanty)
To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (Kristen @ Fantasy Cafe)

B-Side

Dina from SFF Book Reviews has her State of SFF column out for May. Roseanna shared a new weekly catchup column. She’s so prolific! I, of course, stalk her writing around the internet and never miss a thing, but others will find this useful!

At Book Riot, K.W. Colyard shared a list of new SFF by AAPI authors. Two of these were new to me! Gizmodo has the big list of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all the subgenres you can shake a stick at out in May. Andrew Liptak has another list of May SFF. There are some overlaps with the Gizmodo list, but his list has a few different things. I was shocked Gizmodo didn’t have new Ann Leckie’s book, Radiant Star, and wonder if it’s sliding under the radar because of all the standalone/first books out in May. Alex Brown compiled their regular list of the most anticipated YA SFF and Horror for May over at Reactor. Maureen has a list of the May middle grade SFF.

The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, and Angel Down by Daniel Kraus won for fiction. That is 100% a speculative fiction book winning the Pulitzer, so I’m shocked. Nicholas Whyte already dived into Hugo discussion with some commentary/ranking of the Best Poem category. The crew at Hugo, Girl! recorded a special finalist announcement episode. The Hardcover Podcast discussed the Best Novel finalists.

Wyrd and Wonder started at the beginning of May. It’s a fantasy project to discuss and examine fantasy stories on blogs/social media, and they collect all the surveys/essays/lists together every week. They have a spreadsheet and everything—it’s so organized! If you like fantasy, it’s a great way to see what people are thinking about the genre. Nick Hubble shared We Need to Have the Conversation, which covers a lot of topics: reviewing, critique, as well as some discussion of various books, including When There Are Wolves Again and Trace Elements. It was very wide-ranging! Abigail Nussbaum continued her Tolkien Reread with Frodo’s arrival at Rivendell. Joshua Mbonu at The Cosmic Circus reviewed The Sheep Detectives positively. It makes me excited, because I loved the book so much. I know it’s less SFF and more mystery, but the sheep talk and solve mysteries, so I’m still claiming it, secondarily, for the SFF crew. Over at the newly relaunched Fansplaining, Morgan Leigh Davies looks at the book, the film, and the fandom around it. Speaking of Fansplaining, they’re still in their launch period and you can sign up any time.

At Ancillary Review of Books, there’s a lot happening! Jeremy Brett published his SFF Librarian Reviews column. The crew reached their fundraising goal and their first stretch goal, so support them before the campaign closes! They published their Calls for Reviews & Essays for media dropping in August, so if something catches your eye, pitch them! Plus, Jake Casella Brookins shared his Wow! Signal column, which links to critical writing and essays.

In short fiction, the May Table of Contents column is out at Transfer Orbit, and the April column has been updated with more links. If you like SFF short fiction or want to explore more of it, this resource is invaluable! At Tar Vol on, there are reviews of a selection of stories from Asimov’s, Kaleidotrope, Podcastle, Strange Horizons, and Uncanny. He also shared some short fiction recs in his monthly roundup. V. Astor Solomon has two short fiction recs. There was a new issue of THE WYRMHOLE, with recs from H.H. Pak. Yes, you should subscribe to the HOLE. The HOLE beckons. Be not afraid.

Marissa Lingen has a new book coming out in September, A Dubious Clamor. I’ve always been really impressed with her short fiction, so I’m excited! In the new issue of Clarkesworld, there are interviews with Ray Nayler and Martha Wells. Wells was also interviewed by Gryftkin on Youtube. Justin C. Key took part in an Author Spotlight at Lightspeed. Anton Hur was on The Functional Nerds to talk about his translation of If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light by Kim Cho-yeop. Paul Semel interviewed Nghi Vo and Fonda Lee. T.K. Rex was interviewed by Myna Chang. Also, the cover of Rex’s book, The Wildcraft Drones, is awesome. Finally, Shannon Chakraborty has an interview over at The Fantasy Hive.

For more SFF links, check out Wombling Along from our resident Professional Book Tempter.

Art recs: Quick sketch of cat getting ready to torment other cat by Brooke; THE COUNCIL WILL NOW DECIDE YOUR FATE & crocodile dragon by Emily L'Orange; Dreamy Cloud by kali; respite by sang; dragon tree by Mike Z; contemplating time by Devin Elle Kurtz; Oops! You accidentally forgot about your tea for too long by Mali; a curious tiger by Katria Raden; space rounds by Sara Felix; Omnomnom by Natalia Zaitseva; Prickly by greybriar.

Outro

Happy birthday to Intergalactic Mixtape! My little newsletter is one year old. Thanks to everyone who has supported IGMX: all the folks who welcome me into your email inbox every week, people who see the issues via RSS, everyone who shares each newsletter link on social media, and in their own newsletters/pods/blogs, as well as my Patreon supporters. So many of my patrons were my first subscribers! Thanks to my partner for being the Silent Editor and Crushing Doubt Support Hotline. And of course, thanks to my friends at Sparkle Rocket. You all make me a better writer, a stronger person, and a more critical thinker. This newsletter would literally not exist without you. :) — Renay