Hey!

This week we have: book recs! It’s a mixed list, so maybe you’ll find your next read! It’s been quiet over here as I’ve put my nose down to focus on my Hugo reading (time’s running out!), so it’s a heavier on video/audio and stuff from my (frankly, bursting at the seams) archive this week.

Also, I finished my all my Hugo reading for the Best Novel category! Now to sit down and decide my ranking, which will inevitably change 74529402 times before the deadline.

A-Side

Why Do Tech Bros Always Learn The Wrong Thing From Sci-Fi?
This video essay was full of a lot of things I already knew, but of course if we’re going to make fun of billionaires I’m ready and willing to watch your Youtube video. What was more fun was seeing authors and resources I love quoted. Ancillary Review of Books domination! Anyway, now I want to read the papers this video cited.

Cassandra Khaw Books, Ranked By How Clearly I Understood Why the Characters Were Eating Human Flesh; or, Gobbets Tomorrow and Gobbets Yesterday But Never Jam Today
Because my brain has been kind of bzzzzzt due to all the new reading I’ve been doing, I’ve been revisiting essays from the past that I love. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading this essay from Jenny, which the title handily sums, please take the time to read it! Jenny’s humor is excellent, but it’s also a great guide to which Cassandra Khaw book might work for you. I know there are fans of moist fiction reading this newsletter.

Organized labour in science fiction
This list by the folks at the Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog is a great resource. At this point I’ve probably saved every book in my Zotero in various categories for later perusal. Truth: if I ever do write a fun space opera it’s going to be about local politics and labor issues, because I am me (but I probably have too much ADHD for a novel, I tend to crash out around 30k). They take suggestions so if you know of any SFF books that fit the brief, please suggest them (so I can then add them to my Zotero).

Some thoughts on tribute collections as legitimized fanworks
This prompt from Bailey asking about the line between fanfic as we know it right now and collections of stories written to honor a specific author came across my FYP this morning and had me immediately thinking of the authors I would love to see this done for: Amal El-Mohtar, Kate Elliott, and Martha Wells, to name a few. The comments had several good suggestions, too.

Reviews/Discussions

Afterparty by Daryl Gregory (Wizards Vs. Lesbians)
Anti-State by Allen Stroud (Gabino Iglesias @ Locus)
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman (Grady Shelton @ SFF Insiders)
Daedalus is Dead by Seamus Sullivan (Elias @ Bar Cart Bookshelf)
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami (Womble @ Runalong the Shelves)
The Eye of Leviathan by M.A. Carrick (Esmay Rosalyne @ Grimdark Magazine)
The Feywild Job by C. L. Polk (Eddie Clark @ Nerds of a Feather)
The Franchise by Thomas Elrod (Ian Mond @ Locus)
The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean (Becky’s Book Blog)
The Halfling’s Gem by R.A. Salvatore (Sean Guynes @ Genre Fantasies)
Kill All Wizards by Jedediah Berry (Tobias Carroll @ Reactor)
The Language of Knives by Haralambi Markov (A.C. Wise)
Light by M. John Harrison (Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy)
Luminous by Silvia Park (Stewart Hotston)
Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta (Niall Harrison @ Locus)
Moon Over Brendle by Jeff Noon (Adam Roberts @ Locus)
The Mulai by Munir Hachemi, translated by Julia Sanches (Roseanna Pendlebury @ Ancillary Review of Books)
Muñeca by Cynthia Gómez (Alex Brown @ Locus)
Network Effect by Martha Wells (lexi aka newlynova)
No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull (Dina @ SFF Book Reviews)
Null Entity by Seth Haddon (Marlene Harris @ Reading Reality)
Plastic, Prism, Void by Violet Allen (Abigail Nussbaum @ Locus)
The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays by Andrea Hairston (Maya C. James @ Locus)
Ring Shout on Saturn by Sheree Renée Thomas (Wole Talabi @ Locus)
The Sixth Nik by Daniel Kraus (Tammy @ Books, Bones, & Buffy)
The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe (Anne @ The Lunar Flaneur)
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (Niko’s Book Reviews)
The West Passage by Jared Pechaček (Tar Vol on)

B-Side

Via Sandstone, Kobo has a promo for their version of Kindle Unlimited. As Amazon is my enemy and there’s a fun list of SFF on the service, I’m alerting anyone who might be interested/want to make the switch. Niko’s Book Reviews has his favorite books of the year so far. Dina has the books she’s looking forward to for the rest of the year. Jo Walton shared her reading lists for May and June.

The Hugo Award voting deadline approaches! If you’re registered, you can log in and get your initial ballot locked down. Folks are still reading/reviewing and it’s not too late to start! Kathryn Adams at Pixelated Geek reviewed The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow. Womble covered three of the novella finalists: Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite, Cinder House by Freya Marske, and The Summer War by Naomi Novik. Nick Hubble over at Prospective Cultures also reviewed The Summer War. The folks at the Narrated Podcast (plus special guest Christine from the Hugo History podcast) discussed the Best Series category and did their rankings. Christine then did a whole essay on Nerds of a Feather about the category, too. Camestros Felapton did Seven Days of Fan Writers, covering all the finalists for the category: Jay Brantner (Tar Vol), Alex Brown, James Davis Nicoll, Roseanna Pendlebury, Jason Sanford, Örjan Westin. I love this so much. Fan Writer is a category I really value and I want to keep it alive in These genAI Hellscape Times, so please check all the writers out and vote if you can. :)

The Unclear and Present Danger Podcast discussed one my favorite Bad Disaster Films, Armageddon. If you’ve never listened before, this is the podcast with Jamelle Bouie and John Ganz, where they situate a military/political film from the 90s during its historical period. Bouie knows so much about U.S. political history, so it’s always a fascinating listen. The Octothorpe folks went deep on various cons and agendas for Business Meetings, if you like that kind of nerdery (which I do). However, I challenged John to a duel re: his comments about Arkansas. The challenge is actually still open (my foam sword is purple), because there are lots of reasons to visit Arkansas other than coffee. 😜 More importantly: if I ever, ever, ever try to chair a Worldcon at all, but especially in the U.S. South in August please just stuff me in a rocket and launch me into the sun. It’ll be cooler and more peaceful there.

Will I be able to handle Clayface? I thought no, but after the full trailer: maybe. After finishing Clair Obscur, I might just run to the open arms of horror because it’s more comforting there than this fantasy RPG world which is molded out of pure emotional damage. Spoilers everywhere, but I watched this video essay via a rec from my pal Adri after my partner and I disagreed about the ending of the game. I have my theories re: why the division is so stark, but ultimately agreed with the video essay! However, I will continue to obsess about it for months. Meanwhile, to punish my partner for disagreeing with me, I have been sending him increasingly depressing fan edits on TikTok, like (SPOILERS EVERYWHERE) this one (ow), this one (auuuuugh), or this one (fatality).

Over in short fiction, A.C Wise reviewed Volume 4 of Tales and Feathers and the April edition of Clarkesworld. Maria Haskins reviewed stories from issues of GigaNotoSaurus, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Lightspeed. Tar Vol on has reviews of the July issues of Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus. The Locus Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume 1 has 14 days left on the Kickstarter campaign, and they’re only around $5k from paying the editor. They’re pretty close, so I hope they make it.

There are a few Big Idea columns I’ve read recently from Haralambi Markov, Nisi Shawl on behalf of Vonda N. McIntyre, and John Wiswell. Kameron Hurley has a cover for her new book, These Savage Stars, and it can be preordered. I knew nothing about this until recently when I learned it was set in the same universe as The Stars Are Legion and I’m hoping it’s…a little less moist? I’m a wimp. Paul Semel has interviews with Meg Elison and Emma Osborne. Arley Sorg has a wide-ranging interview with Meg Elison in Clarkesworld as well. The Nerd Daily has a Q&A with the authors behind M.A. Carrick. Gautam Bhatia will be chairing the Otherwise Award jury, which also features Abigail Nussbaum and Akankshya Abismruta, plus some jurors to be named later. Anyone can submit recommendations for the award to the jury. Finally, Reactor has an excerpt of The Felicity Complex by august clarke.

If you’re still on the hunt for SFF links, check out Wombling Along!

Art recs: cute animal mugs by Kness; my forever girl by c-dra; I love you Jimothy by Aubo; what if it all works out? by Susie Esse; COW AND CAT by Jessica Elena; piggies! by Joy; fantastical log by LindenShieldART; Vengeful by Corey Brickley

Book Recs

We have a grab bag of four book recs! 🥹 Thanks to everyone who submitted a book they love. The rec form has been reset to zero, so toss your book recs in any time.

Sister Wake by Dave Rudden
Summary: The island of Croi is rising in rebellion against their colonisers. Their gods are furious, and the colonisers are about to get everything they deserve.
Rec: An imaginative, speculative what-if of Ireland against the British. The female leads (on both sides) are strong, wonderfully rendered. The landscape descriptions are gorgeous, and the horror is deftly handled.
From: Crystal

Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher
Summary: An awkward woman escapes a bad relationship with her dog to the small town where her aunt, remaining only relative, lives in the US Southwest. There she discovers that spirits are real and finds community, while dealing with a dark secret her aunt didn't want to share with anyone.
Rec: I loved Selena, the main character, who had a lot of self-doubt and was very neurodivergent coded, and the fact that she brought her dog with her, which is important to the plot outcome. The story takes place in a near-future setting that isn't over-explained. Kingfisher creates a cast of small town characters who might be considered outcasts, but here they are family. She writes the kind of horror that keeps me reading, but doesn't keep me up at night.
From: Liz

The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature by Charlie English
Summary: In honor of the activists jailed for having their own printing press, enjoy this tale of how the CIA supported book smugglers and underground publishers to bring banned works to the Polish people under Communist rule.
Rec: It's a tale of derring-do where the book-reading good guys win! Half history of the Polish resistance, half about the logistics of underground publishing and book distribution. And now I want to read a spy novel set at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which was apparently crawling with spies in the Cold War years.
From: Anonymous

Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung, tr. by Anton Hur
Summary: Connected short stories about a trainee night shift worker in an Institute of haunted and cursed objects.
Rec: Each story is framed as word-of-mouth, frequently told second-or third hand to the main character; the whole book feels like being at a sleepover in middle school in the best possible way. Perfectly chilling, incisively feminist, and surprisingly moving. Reading it curled up in bed felt like sinking into an eerie dream, and that feeling has stayed with me.
From: Rachel

Outro

That’s it for this week! If you’re in the path of any heat waves, stay hydrated and cool! — Renay

Recent Reading:

(Last) Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
(Now) Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
(Next) Warchild by Karin Lowachee