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bonebrujeria · 2 years

Note

Hello, I saw in a comment section you were offering to make a rec list of queer adult fantasy. Any chance you happen to have that list handy? If not no worries, and thank you for your time

YOU GOT IT

Contemporary Adult Queer Fantasy

Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Geisbrecht (we do not talk about this book enough it's so good!! Read if you love Hannibal or Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon The Unbroken by CL Clark (ft. Sexy butch protagonist) The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri Master of Djinn by P Djeli Clark (+ his Djinn in Cairo novella series) Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh (read if you love Hozier) The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman (ft. Trans vampire protagonist) The City of Dusk by Tara Sim Burning Roses by S.L. Huang The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May Her Body & Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane (ft trans Achilles!) The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia (ft. Aroace protagonist) Spear by Nicola Griffith (Authuriana) Witchmark by C.L. Polk, or anything by C.L. Polk The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard (or anything by Aliette de Bodard) Sarahland by Sam Cohen House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune Lady Hotspur by Tessa Gratton Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliot (Alexander the Great retelling) The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke K.A. Doore's Chronicles of Ghadid series The Deep by Rivers Solomon Jenn Lyons' A Chorus of Dragons series Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera The Devourers by Indra Das (Indian shapeshifters!) The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (queer Gatsby retelling)

Adult Queer Fantasy that I know specifically feature on-page boning: Siren Queen by Nghi Vo (please read anything & everything by Nghi Vo) A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland She Who Became the Sun by Shelly Parker-Chan The Mercenary Librarians series by Kit Rocha (dystopian) KJ Charles' Magpie Lord series

Not fantasy but you should still read them: Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin (horror, trans cast, firmly anti-TERF) Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (science-fantasy, objectively a perfect novel) Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo (horror, gay yearning) The Seep by Chana Porter Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang (sci-fi Joan of Arc) Everything by Becky Chambers Everything by Rivers Solomon Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire

ALSO: author K.A. Doore keeps a running list of queer adult SFF published every year. I highly recommend going through those archives, which you can find here: https://kadoore.com/2022/05/23/2022-queer-adult-science-fiction-fantasy-books/

Tl;dr: SFF is extremely gay, almost everyone writing contemporary SFF is queer in some way, we are truly blessed and I don't want to hear anyone complaining about not being able to find stuff ever again, I love you all.

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the-dust-jacket · 2 years

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Do you have any recs for unhinged queer books, flavored vaguely similar to the locked tomb series?

Locked Tomb is so hard to comp, but I hope there are some sufficiently unhinged options here!

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps or A Taste of Honey, by Kai Ashante Wilson: for science and gods and magic, poetry and profanity and original, stylistically ambitious storytelling

The Darkness Outside Us, by Eliot Schrefer: for enemies-to-lovers, weird twists, YA space gothic

The Sunbearer Trials, by Aiden Thomas: YA and considerably more upbeat and wholesome considering it’s about teenagers battling it out over who gets sacrificed to the sun god for the greater good

The Captive Prince trilogy, by CS Pacat: completely unhinged in a very different way, although there are some similarities in the dynamic of the central ships

The Stars Are Legion, by Kameron Hurley: for giant biological space fleets, love and revenge and war and body horror, and dark, epic, generally bonkers space opera

Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao: YA mmf sci-fi/fantasy/historical reimagining/giant mecha action, fueled entirely by rage

This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal Al-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: chaotic, layered, lyrical, featuring an unlikely correspondence between two time traveling agents on opposite sides of a brutal war

The Monster of Elendhaven, by Jennifer Giesbrecht: dark romance for people who like the Ninth House aesthetic

Other authors to consider: Billy Martin (most books written as Poppy Z Brite), Tessa Gratton, Carmen Maria Machado

#Locked Tomb #sorry this took forever I'm sleepy #ask a bookseller

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qualitymoonsuit · 1 year

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Merry Christmas! The books I got this year are The Rise of the Dragon, by George R.R. Martin; The Maze Cutter, by James Dashner; Crown of Flames, by Sayantani DasGupta; Museum of Wonders, by Ransom Riggs; Tread of Angels, by Rebecca Roanhorse; Brotherband Chronicles, Book 9: The Stern Chase, by John Flanagan; Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue, Book 3: Blood on the Plains; Star Wars: The High Republic: Convergence, by Zoraida Cordova; Star Wars: The High Republic: Quest for the Hidden City, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland; I'm Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy; Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing up a Wizard, by Tom Felton; Lords of Night, by J.C. Cervantes; Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman, by Alan Rickman and Area 51 Interns,Book 2: Zoned Out, by James S. Murray and Carsen Smith. #christmaspresents #books https://www.instagram.com/p/CmmQL-XuIa4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#christmaspresents #books

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publishedtoday · 2 years

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August 30, 2022 Roundup

The Final Gambit - Jennifer Lynn Barnes - (The Inheritance Games #3)

Wildbound - Elayne Audrey Becker (Forestborn #2)

Over My Dead Body - Sweeney Boo ✊🏾🏳️‍🌈💥

Three Kisses, One Midnight - Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, Evelyn Skye ✊🏾

That’s Debatable - Jen Doll

Dead Flip - Sara Farizan

All of Our Demise - Amanda Foody, Christine Lynn Herman (All of Us Villains #2) 🏳️‍🌈

Belladona - Adalyn Grace (Belladonna #1)

Moon Dark Smile - Tessa Gratton (Night Shine #2) 🏳️‍🌈

The Dragon’s Promise - Elizabeth Lim (Six Crimson Cranes #2) ✊🏾

Bad at Love - Gabriela Martins ✊🏾🏳️‍🌈

Nothing More to Tell - Karen M. McManus

Lord of the Fly Fest - Goldy Moldavsky

The Liar’s Crown - Abigail Owen (Dominions #1)

The Man or the Monster - Aamna Qureshi (The Marghazar Trials #2) ✊🏾

Seton Girls - Charlene Thomas ①✨

How to Survive Your Murder - Danielle Valentine

✊🏾POC 🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ 💥Graphic Novel ① Debut ✨My Pick of the Week✨

#august 30 2022 #august 30 2022 roundup #roundup

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celiabowens · 4 years

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underrated SFF books (YA and Adult)

So uhm, since I keep seeing the same books on my dash all the time (and I like them too, just...there’s more! to read!) here’s a list of less popular SFF books, divided into YA and Adult. I’ve tried to mention when there is lgbt rep and the trigger warnings. Also, books written by poc will be in bold. Please point out any typo or mistake or if I’ve forgotten specific rep/tw mentions.

All of these are books that I’ve read and enjoyed (by enjoyed I mean anything from 3 stars and above), but if anyone wants to add titles please feel free to do so!!

YA:

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi: beautifully written, fairytale-like story rich in mythology (inspired by several Hindu myths. There’s a full list on goodreads indicated by the author herself). Roshani’s prose is gorgeous.

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi: it’s a companion novel to The Star-Touched Queen, but both can be read as a standalone. I liked this one more than its companion and I particularly loved how the romance was written (slow burn, but specifically, the author really highlights the mutual respect between the characters, we love to see it).

The Young Elites by Marie Lu: fantasy trilogy set in a world inspired by Renaissance Italy, in which children who survived a mysterious and deadly illness ended up with strange and dangerous powers. Secret societies and a female villain!

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu: historical fantasy following Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, a girl as talented as her brother, but afraid of being forgotten because of the lack of opportunities she has to be seen and heard. Nuanced sibling relationship, no romance.

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski: fantasy f/f romance! Both a coming of age story set in a society with a rigid class system and a slow burn f/f romance with a lot of banter. TW: abuse.

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore: magical realism. The book follows two families of traveling performers that have been locked in a feud for over a generation. This was the author’s debut and I remember getting an arc of it and being impressed by both the prose and how the forbidden love trope was handled.

When the Moon was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore: another magical realism novel. One of the main characters is a trans boy and the book focuses on issues of racism and gender. One of my favorite YA!

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton: fantasy romance set in a village that periodically sacrifices a young man in order to keep a deal with the devil that ensures their prosperity. Also, polyamorous and non-binary rep.

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee: first book in a duology following avatar Kyoshi’s life. It explores the political and cultural aspect of the Earth Kingdom and Kyoshi’s past. Bisexual rep.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He: sort of a murder mystery fantasy, as the main character finds herself suddenly thrust into power once her father has been murdered. The story has a slow build up to a last part full of twists and machinations and it features lots of court intrigue. Warning: the ending is quite open and afaik there isn’t a sequel planned as of now.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones: a quite unique take on zombies influenced by Welsh mythology (it’s super cool). The novel follows Ryn and their siblings, as they try to get by after their parents’ death by working as gravediggers. Only well, the dead don’t always stay dead. The characters read a bit younger than they are imo. There is chronic pain rep.

The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas: retelling of the original ballad of Mulan. The book follows Mulan, who’s trained her whole life to win a duel for a priceless heirloom, as she joins the army. There’s a lot of political and historical details, which I really appreciated. Do not go into it expecting a fun adventure though. The descriptions of war aren’t extremely graphic, but be aware of the fact that most of the book is set during a conflict.

The Candle and The Flame by Nafiza Azad: standalone fantasy set in a city on the Silk Road! It’s a quite slow-paced tale about love, family and politics. It has lush descriptions of landscapes and cultures (and FOOD, there are some really great descriptions of food). It’s a very atmospheric book and while I struggled a bit with the pace I’d still recommend it.

Forest of a Thousand Lanters by Julie C. Dao: sort of an East Asian inspired retelling of Snow White, but following the Evil Queen before she became Snow White’s stepmother. I honestly haven’t read its sequel (which should focus on Snow White herself), but I do think this can be read and enjoyed as a standalone too.

The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner: it’s hard to point out exactly what this series is about because it has evolved so much with time. It starts out as classic quest/adventure series with The Thief (which may seem a classic and simple book, but is actually full of foreshadowing and has a really clever set up), but develops into a complex and intriguing political fantasy in The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia (and then goes back to the quest theme in book 5, Thick as Thieves).

Adult:

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong: I’m cheating with this one because it’s technically a short story but I love Alyssa Wong’s stories so I’m putting it here anyway. It can be read for free and you should just...read it.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang: grimdark fantasy (TW: abuse, self harm, rape, drug abuse), inspired by Chinese history. It’s adult, but follows younger MCs and the unique blend of different historical periods/inspirations makes it extremely interesting. The characters are extremely fucked up in the best possible way, plus the use of shamanism is awesome. Please make sure you check all the TW before reading.

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang: a Japanese-inspired militaristic fantasy, with elemental magic, a badass housewife dealing with her past and hiding a sword in her kitchen’s floor. It has interesting and nuanced family dynamics and a great reflection on propaganda and the use of narratives.

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri: first book in an epic fantasy duology inspired by Mughal India (TW: abuse, slavery). I really liked both Empire of Sand and its companion and I find them pretty underrated. Both books have great slow burn romance (with a focus on mutual trust and respect) and focus on culture, religion, self acceptance and politics.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: a fantasy bildungsroman set in Mexico during the Jazz age. It’s a great approach to adult SFF as it follows a young girl on a life changing adventure. It features Mayan mythology and a god slowly becoming human (this trope is everything!).

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden: a coming of age story inspired by Russian folklore. The trilogy as a whole has one of the best arcs I’ve ever seen: each book is perfectly self-contained and has its own arc, but also fits perfectly in the bigger picture of the trilogy. The atmosphere is amazing, the cast of characters is extremely well developed. Also frost demons are better than men.

The Binding by Bridget Collins: historical fantasy, but with very minimal fantasy elements. It’s set in a world vaguely reminiscent of 19th century England. I’d say this book is about humans and self discovery. It’s about cowardice and the lies we tell ourselves and those we wish we could tell ourselves. Gay rep. (TW: abuse, sexual assault, pretty graphic suicide scene).

The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett: starting with City of Stairs, it follows a female diplomat and spymaster(!!). The whole trilogy features an interesting discussion about godhood, religion, fanatism, politics, without ever being boring or preachy. It has complex and rich world building and a pretty compelling mystery.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett: heist fantasy following a thief as she’s hired to steal a powerful artifact that may change magical technology as she knows it. Set in a Venice-like merchant city. Also, slow burn f/f romance.

Jade City by Fonda Lee: sort of a gangster urban fantasy, heavily inspired by wuxia and set in an Asian-inspired metropolis. It follows a pretty big cast of characters, each with their own journey and development. It features nuanced family dynamics and a lot of political and economical subplots. Not extremely prominent, but book 2 features m/m side rep.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse: inspired by Native American culture and specifically by the idea of subsequent worlds. It has a kickass MC and a good mix of original elements and typical UF tropes. TW: the book isn’t extremely violent but there is death and some gore.

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine: space opera inspired by the Mexica and middle period Byzantium. It focuses on topics like colonialism and the power of narratives and language. It has one of the best descriptions of what it’s like to live in between spaces I’ve ever read. Also very interesting political intrigue and has a slow burn f/f romance (and a poly relationship recalled through flashbacks). I ranted a lot about it already.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee: a Korean-inspired space opera with a magic system based on math. It’s honestly quite convoluted and difficult to follow, but it also features some of the best political intrigue I’ve ever read. Plenty of lying, backstabbing and mind games. It also features lesbian and bisexual rep and an aroace side character (TW: mass shooting, sexual assault, abuse). I also really recommend Yoon Ha Lee’s short-story collection Conservation of Shadows.

The long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers: character driven space opera featuring a found family journeying through space. A fun read, that also deals with topics such as sexuality and race. Quite easy to go through, as the world building and plot aren’t particularly complex themselves. f/f romance.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo: an Asian-inspired fantasy novella that gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric (non binary rep) as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life. It focuses on bonds between women and the power that lies in being unnoticed. f/f side rep.

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark: an urban fantasy novella, based on Orisha mythology and set in an alternate, sort of steampunk, New Orleans. I really like how creative Clark’s worlds are and how good he is at writing female characters (which rarely happens with male authors).

The haunting of tram car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark: novella set in an alternate steampunk Cairo populated by supernatural entities. It’s set in the same world of a Dead Djinn in Cairo, which is a short story you can read for free.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: epistolary novella set during a time-travel war. It has gorgeous writing and an amazing f/f romance. As a novella, it’s quite short but it’s beautifully crafted and so complex for such a short book!

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard: a novella set in the Xuya universe (a series of novellas/short stories set in a timeline where Asia became dominant, and where the space age has empires of Vietnamese and Chinese inspiration), but can be read as a standalone. It’s a space opera featuring a disappeared citadel and the complex relationship between the empress and her daughter as war threatens her empire.

One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake: self-published urban fantasy following two rival families in New York. Sort of a Romeo and Juliette retelling but with gangster families and magic. Honestly recommend all of her books, I love how Olivie writes and especially how she writes female characters.

#book recs #book recommendations #adult sff #ya literature #lgbt fiction #litblr #listen this doesn't show in tags i'm DONE #done with this tagging system lol #also if there are mistakes please tell me!!#book rec

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princelymlm · 5 years

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Gotta Be LGBT+

This is a list of just some of the LGBT+ content out there. Anything on this list was contains LGBT+ characters or was made by LGBT+ creators. All entries on this list were sent in by followers and have not been confirmed by the mod. (Entries with ‘rep not given’ next to them mean that the suggestion did not include what kind of representation is in the content)

Put everything under the cut since this list started getting really long

Books/Comics

They Both Die At The End - Adam Silvera (mlm)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire-Saénz (mlm)

Symptoms of Being Human (genderfluid)

Lily and Dunkin - Donna Gephart (trans/trans woman)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid (wlw/bi)

The Gentleman’s Guide To Vice and Virtue - Mackenzie Lee (mlm/gay/bi)

Been Here All Along - Sandy Hall (gay/bi)

History Is All You Left Me - Adam Silvera (mlm/gay)

Blue Is The Warmest Color - Julie Maroh (wlw/bi/lesbian)

Mask of Shadows - Linsey Miller (bi/genderfluid)

Once and Future - Cori McCarthy (wlw/mlm/gay/bi/nonbinary)

Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda - Beck Albertalli (mlm/gay)

Leah on the Offbeat - Becky Albertalli (wlw/bi)

Grasshopper Jungle - Andrew Smith (questioning/mlm)

The Rest of Us Just Live Here - Patrick Ness (mlm/gay)

Flying Tips For Flightless Birds - Kelly McCaughrain (mlm/gay)

I’ll Give You The Sun - Jandy Nelson (mlm)

Point Pleasant - Jen Archer Wood (mlm)

True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - Gerard Way (mlm/wlw)

The Wayfarers Series - Becky Chambers (wlw/aro/trans man/nonbinary/genderfluid)

Vesuvius Club - Mark Gatiss (bi)

The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller (mlm)

Radio Silence - Alice Oseman (bi/mlm/demi/gay/pan/wlw/lesbian)

Of Fire and Stars - Audrey Coulthurst (wlw/lesbian)

Magnus Chase Series - Rick Riordan (genderfluid)

Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan (gay)

This Is Kind of An Epic Love Story - Kheyrn Callender (mlm/wlw)

Gracefully Grayson - Ami Polonsky (trans woman)

If I Was Your Girl - Meredith Russon (trans woman)

Call Me By Your Name - Andre Aciman (mlm)

Red, White, and Royal Blue - Casey McQuinston (mlm)

I Wish You All The Best - Mason Deaver (nonbinary)

Dreadnaught + Sovereign - April Daniels (wlw/trans woman)

The Art of Being Normal - Lisa Williamson (trans)

The Gone Series - Michael Grant (mlm/wlw)

One Of Us Is Lying - Karen McManus (mlm)

Six Of Crows - Leigh Bardugo (mlm)

Crooked Kingdom - Leigh Bardugo (rep not given)

The Last Sun - Author Not Provided (rep not given)

Romeo and/or Juliet - Ryan North (rep not given)

American Gods - Neil Gaiman (mlm/gay/bi)

The Mage Wars Series - Mercedes Lackey (gay)

Scott Pilgrim vs The World - Bryan Lee O’Malley (mlm/gay/wlw)

Boyfriends With Girlfriends - Alex Sánchez (mlm/wlw/bi/gay)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson - David Levithan & John Green (mlm)

This Is Where It Ends -Marieke Nijkamp (lesbian/wlw)

Carry On - Rainbow Rowell (mlm)

Stranger Than Fanfiction - Chris Colfer (mlm/trans man/gay)

The Reader Trilogy (The Reader, The Speaker, The Storyteller) - Traci Chee (mlm/wlw/nonbinary)

I Was Born For This - Alice Oseman (trans)

Heartstopper - Alice Oseman (mlm)

The Broken Earth Trilogy - MK Jemisin (trans woman/poly/pan/mlm

A Boy Worth Knowing - Jennifer Cosgrove (mlm/bi/gay)

The Rifter - Author Not Provided (mlm)

Snapdragon - Author Not Provided (wlw/ trans woman)

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon (wlw/lesbian/mlm/gay)

Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters (wlw/lesbian)

Fingersmith - Sarah Waters (wlw/lesbian)

The Paying Guests - Sarah Waters (wlw/lesbian)

I Am J - Cris Beam (trans man)

Little And Lion - Brandy Colbert (bi)

Autoboyography - Christina Lauren (bi)

Felix Ever After - Kacen Callender (trans)

Birthday - Meredith Russo (trans)

Stay Gold - Tobly McSmith (trans)

You Should See Me In A Crown - Leah Johnson (lesbian)

Girls of Paper and Fire - Natasha Ngan (lesbian)

The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar (lesbian)

Let's Talk About Love - Claire Kann (ace)

The Lady's Guide To Petticoats and Piracy - Mackenzi Lee (ace/aro)

The Vanishers' Place - Aliette De Bodard (wlw)

Ash - Malinda Lo (wlw/bi)

The Little Homo Sapiens Scientist - S. L. Huang (wlw)

Everfair - Nisi Shawl (wlw)

Dread Nation: Risse Up - Justina Ireland (wlw/bi/ace)

The Gilda Stories - Jewelle Gomez (wlw/lesbian)

The True Queen - Zen Cho (wlw)

The Devourers - Indra Das (genderfluid/bi)

We Set The Dark On Fire - Tehlor Kay Mejia (wlw)

Smoketown - Tenea D. Johnson (wlw/lesbian)

Falling In Love With Hominids - Nalo Hopkinson (wlw)

The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales - Yoon Ha Lee (nonbinary)

Her Body and Other Parties - Carmen Maria Machado (wlw)

Beneath the Citadel - Destiny Soria (mlm/gay/bi/ace)

Witchmark - C.L Polk (mlm/gay)

The Prey of Gods - Nicky Drayden (trans/bi)

An Unkindness of Ghosts - Rivers Solomon (wlw/trans/nonbinary/intersex)

The Root - Na’amen Gobert Tilahun (mlm/gay)

Gods & Monsters: Snake Eyes - Hillary Monohan (wlw)

Labyrinth Lost - Zoraida Cordova (wlw/bi)

The Winged Histories - Sofia Samatar (wlw)

The Weight of Stars - K. Ancrum (wlw)

Huntress - Malinda Lo (wlw)

Will Do Magic For Small Change - Andrea Hairston (bi/pan/nonbinary)

The Last Chronomancer - Reilyn J Hardy (aro/ace/genderfluid/lesbian)

A Taste of Honey - Kai Ashante Wilson (mlm/bi)

Deadline - Stephanie Ahn (wlw/lesbian)

The Read Threads of Fortune - JY Yang (wlw/bi)

Not Your Sidekick - C.B. Lee (wlw/bi)

Timekeeper - Tara Sim (mlm)

Ascension - Jacqueline Koyangi (wlw)

When The Moon Was Ours - Anna-Marie McLemore (trans)

Amberlough - Lara Elena Donnelly (mlm/gay)

The Perfect Assassin - K.A Doore (gay/ace/mlm)

Afterparty - Daryl Gregory (wlw/lesbian)

Borderline - Mishell Baker (wlw/bi)

The Cloud Roads - Martha Wells (bi)

An Accident of Stars - Foz Meadows (wlw/bi/aro/trans)

The Last 8 - Laura Pohl (aro/bi)

Failure to Communicate - Kaia Sonderby (wlw/bi)

The Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling (wlw)

The Wrong Stars - Tim Pratt (wlw)

Full Fathom Five - Max Gladstone (trans)

A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine (wlw)

Silver In the Wood - Emily Tesh (mlm)

The Raven Tower - Ann Leckie (mlm/bi/trans)

Ariah - B.R. Sanders (mlm/bi/nonbinary)

The Raven and the Reindeer - T. Kingfisher (wlw)

Planetfall - Emma Newman (bi)

Black Wings Beating - Alex London (ace/gay/mlm)

The Scorpion Rule - Erin Bow (bi)

Inkmistress - Audrey Coulthurst (bi)

Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant (wlw/bi/lesbian)

Vengeful - V.E Schwab (ace)

Blackfish City - Sam J Miller (nonbinary)

Daughter of Mystery - Heather Rose Jones (wlw/lesbian)

Stranger Grace - Tessa Gratton (bi/pan)

The Brilliant Death - Amy Rose Capetta (nonbinary)

Chameleon Moon - RoAnna Sylver (wlw/trans/ace)

19 Love Stories - David Levithan (trans/queer)

It’s Not Like It’s A Secret - Author Not Given (wlw)

Picture Us In The Light - Author Not Given (mlm)

Two Can Keep A Secret - Author Not Given (mlm/bi)

Death Sets Sail - Author Not Given (wlw)

Becoming Dinah - Author Not Given (rep not provided)

Witch Wolf series - Winter Pennington (wlw, lesbian, bisexual)

Underrealm series - Garrett Robinson (wlw, mlm, nonbinary, trans man trans woman, trans, pansexual, bisexual)

A Cloak of Red - Brenna Gawain (wlw, lesbian)

Blood Canticles - Naomi Clark (wlw)

Podcasts

Welcome to Night Vale (mlm/gay/wlw/nonbinary)

Dreamboy (mlm/gay)

Alice Isn’t Dead (wlw/lesbian)

The Penumbra Podcast (mlm/bi/genderfluid/nonbinary)

My Favorite Podcast (trans men)

Within the Wires (wlw)

The Adventure Zone (mlm/wlw/trans/gnc/nonbinary)

Limetown (wlw/lesbian)

Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness (nblm/nonbinary)

Friends at the Table (mlm/wlw/nonbinary)

LezHangOut (wlw)

Bright Sessions (mlm/demi/ace)

Queer As Fact (historical lgbt)

History Is Gay (historical lgbt)

Always Here (historical lgbt)

And That’s Why We Drink (nonbinary)

Magnus Archives (mlm/ace)

The Two Princes (mlm/gay/bi)

Girl-ish (trans women)

The Bright Sessions (gay/ace)

TV Shows/Movies/ETC

One Day At A Time (Remake) (wlw/lesbian/nonbinary)

Love, Simon (mlm/gay)

A Single Man (mlm/gay)

Brokeback Mountain (mlm/gay)

In The Flesh (mlm/gay)

Weekend (mlm)

RWBY (wlw/trans)

Jessica Jones (wlw/lesbian)

Critical Role (mlm/gay/bi/wlw/lesbian/nonbinary/genderfluid)

Pose (trans women/gay)

Schitt’s Creek (pan/mlm)

White Collar (wlw)

Lucifer (bi)

Umbrella Academy (mlm/wlw)

Call Me By Your Name (mlm)

Brooklyn Nine Nine (mlm/gay/bi)

Steven Universe (nonbinary)

Sailor Moon (wlw)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (wlw)

Sense8 (mlm/gay/wlw/lesbian/trans woman)

Doom Patrol (?/rep not given)

Good Omens (nonbinary)

Gentleman Jack (wlw)

American Gods (mlm/gay/bi/two-spirit)

Orange Is The New Black (wlw/trans)

Blue Is The Warmest Color (wlw)

Shameless (mlm/trans)

Euphoria (wlw/trans woman)

Modern Family (mlm/gay)

Daisy Brown ARG (wlw/lesbian)

Deadpool (pan)

Deadpool 2 (pan/wlw)

Alex Strangelove (mlm/gay)

Wynonna Earp (lesbian/gay/wlw)

She-Ra (wlw/mlm/gay/bi/lesbian/nonbinary/trans man)

SKAM (rep not provided)

Gotham (bi)

The Haunting of Hill House (wlw)

The Haunting of Bly Manor (wlw)

Kipo and the Wonderbeasts (mlm/gay/nonbinary)

Billie and Emma (wlw)

Carmen & Lola (wlw)

Carol (wlw)

Disobedience (wlw)

Elisa & Marcela (wlw)

Good Manners (wlw)

The Handmaiden (wlw)

Heart Beat Loud (wlw)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (wlw)

Rafiki (wlw)

Stranger Things (wlw)

Handsome Devil (mlm)

Pride (wlw/mlm)

Musicals

The Prom (wlw/lesbian)

Be More Chill (mlm/bi)

Fun Home (wlw)

Spring Awakening (mlm)

A New Brain (mlm)

Falsettos (mlm/wlw)

Rent (mlm/wlw)

Firebringer (wlw/bi)

A Very Potter Musical (mlm/gay)

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals (wlw)

Bare: A Pop Opera (mlm)

Everybody’s Talking About Jaime (mlm/gay)

Yank! The Musical (mlm)

Octet (wlw)

Ghost Quartet (wlw)

Spies Are Forever (mlm/gay)

Willow: A New Musical (wlw)

Over And Out: A New Musical (nblw/nonbinary)

Video Games

Fallout: New Vegas (mlm/gay/wlw/lesbian)

When The Night Comes (mlm/nonbinary)

The Arcana (nonbinary)

Dream Daddy (mlm/gay/bi/pan/trans)

Dragon Age (mlm/wlw/gay/lesbian/trans/pan/bi)

Smile For Me (wlw)

Undertale (trans/nonbinary/wlw/mlm)

Monster Prom (nonbinary)

Cookie Run (nonbinary/mlm/wlw/bi/pan)

The Missing (wlw/trans woman)

Fable 2 & 3 (wlw/mlm)

Borderlands 2 (mlm/wlw/bi/gay/lesbian)

Gone Home (wlw)

Prey (wlw)

Dishonored 2 (nonbinary/wlw)

Deus Ex Mankind Divided System Rift (rep not given)

Assassins Creed Series (mlm/wlw/gay/lesbian/trans)

The Last of Us (wlw/lesbian)

Mass Effect Series (mlm/wlw/gay/lesbian/bi)

Life Is Strange (wlw)

Overwatch (mlm/gay/wlw/lesbian)

Animal Crossing (pan)

Night In The Woods (pan/mlm/trans woman)

The Elder Scrolls (trans/wlw/lesbian)

Dreamfall Chapters (mlm/gay)

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (wlw)

In the Outer Worlds (wlw/ace)

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (mlm/wlw)

Fallout 4 (wlw/mlm)

Hades (mlm/bi)

Obviously this list is far from complete so feel free to add to it or let me know of anything else and I’ll edit the post to add it as long as you include the category it belongs to! Be sure to include what representation it has though otherwise I can’t add it!

#lgbt #mlm #wlw #bi #gay #lesbian #trans #nb #nblm #nblnb #nblw #lgbt recs

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rockislandadultreads · 4 years

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Short Story Collections: Horror edition

In the Shadow of Frankenstein: Tales of the Modern Prometheus by Stephen Jones, Neil Gaiman

Frankenstein... His very name conjures up images of plundered graves, secret laboratories, electrical experiments, and reviving the dead.

Within these pages, the maddest doctor of them all and his demented disciples once again delve into the Secrets of Life, as science fiction meets horror when the world's most famous creature lives again.

Here are collected together for the first time twenty-four electrifying tales of cursed creation that are guaranteed to spark your interest—with classics from the pulp magazines by Robert Bloch and Manly Wade Wellman, modern masterpieces from Ramsey Campbell, Dennis Etchison, Karl Edward Wagner, David J. Schow, and R. Chetwynd-Hayes, and new contributions from Graham Masterton, Basil Copper, John Brunner, Guy N. Smith, Kim Newman, Paul J. McAuley, Roberta Lannes, Michael Marshall Smith, Daniel Fox, Adrian Cole, Nancy Kilpatrick, Brian Mooney and Lisa Morton.

Plus, you're sure to get a charge from three complete novels: The Hound of Frankenstein by Peter Tremayne, The Dead End by David Case, and Mary W. Shelley's original masterpiece Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

As an electrical storm rages overhead, the generators are charged up, and beneath the sheet a cold form awaits its miraculous rebirth. Now it's time to throw that switch and discover all that Man Was Never Meant to Know.

She Said Destroy by Nadia Bulkin

A dictator craves love--and horrifying sacrifice--from his subjects; a mother raised in a decaying warren fights to reclaim her stolen daughter; a ghost haunts a luxury hotel in a bloodstained land; a new babysitter uncovers a family curse; a final girl confronts a broken-winged monster... Word Horde presents the debut collection from critically-acclaimed Weird Fiction author Nadia Bulkin. Dreamlike, poignant, and unabashedly socio-political, She Said Destroy includes three stories nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award, four included in Year's Best anthologies, and one original tale, with an Introduction by Paul Tremblay.

His Hideous Heart by Dahlia Adler, Kendare Blake, Rin Chupeco, Lamar Giles, Tessa Gratton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Stephanie Kuehn, Amanda Lovelace, Marieke Nijkamp, Emily Lloyd-Jones, Hillary Monahan, Caleb Roehrig, Fran Wilde

Thirteen of YA’s most celebrated names reimagine Edgar Allan Poe’s most surprising, unsettling, and popular tales for a new generation.

Edgar Allan Poe may be a hundred and fifty years beyond this world, but the themes of his beloved works have much in common with modern young adult fiction. Whether the stories are familiar to readers or discovered for the first time, readers will revel in Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tales, and how they’ve been brought to life in 13 unique and unforgettable ways.

The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror by Joyce Carol Oates

From one of our most important contemporary writers, The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror is a bold, haunting collection of six stories.

In the title story, a young boy becomes obsessed with his cousin’s doll after she tragically passes away from leukemia. As he grows older, he begins to collect “found dolls” from the surrounding neighborhoods and stores his treasures in the abandoned carriage house on his family's estate. But just what kind of dolls are they? In “Gun Accident,” a teenage girl is thrilled when her favorite teacher asks her to house-sit, even on short notice. But when an intruder forces his way into the house while the girl is there, the fate of more than one life is changed forever. In “Equatorial,” set in the exotic Galapagos, an affluent American wife experiences disorienting assaults upon her sense of who her charismatic husband really is, and what his plans may be for her.

In The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror, Joyce Carol Oates evokes the “fascination of the abomination” that is at the core of the most profound, the most unsettling, and the most memorable of dark mystery fiction.

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

"I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger..." writes Wilfred Leland James in the early pages of the riveting confession that makes up "1922." the first in this pitch-black quartet of mesmerizing tales from Stephen King. For James, that stranger is awakened when his wife, Arlette, proposes selling off the family homestead and moving to Omaha, setting in motion a gruesome train of murder and madness.

In "Big Driver," a cozy-mystery writer named Tess encounters the stranger along a back road in Massachusetts when she takes a shortcut home after a book-club engagement. Violated and left for dead, Tess plots a revenge that will bring her face-to-face with another stranger: the one inside herself.

"Fair Extension," the shortest of these tales, is perhaps the nastiest and certainly the funniest. Making a deal with the devil not only saves Dave Streeter from a fatal cancer but provides rich recompense for a lifetime of resentment.

When her husband of more than twenty years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson looks for batteries in the garage. Her toe knocks up against a box under a worktable and she discovers the stranger inside her husband. It's a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitely ends a good marriage.

Like Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight, which generated such enduring films as The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me, Full Dark, No Stars proves Stephen King a master of the long story form.

The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories by Jeff VanderMeer, Ann VanderMeer, George R.R. Martin, Bob Leman, Haruki Murakami, Mervyn Peake, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, Franz Kafka, Stephen King, Kelly Link

From Lovecraft to Borges to Gaiman, a century of intrepid literary experimentation has created a corpus of dark and strange stories that transcend all known genre boundaries. Together these stories form The Weird, and its practitioners include some of the greatest names in twentieth and twenty-first century literature.

Exotic and esoteric, The Weird plunges you into dark domains and brings you face to face with surreal monstrosities. You won't find any elves or wizards here...but you will find the biggest, boldest, and downright most peculiar stories from the last hundred years bound together in the biggest Weird collection ever assembled. The Weird features 110 stories by an all-star cast, from literary legends to international bestsellers to Booker Prize winners: including William Gibson, George R. R. Martin, Stephen King, Angela Carter, Kelly Link, Franz Kafka, China Miéville, Clive Barker, Haruki Murakami, M. R. James, Neil Gaiman, Mervyn Peake, and Michael Chabon.

#horror #short stories #horror stories #reading recs #book recs #reading recommendations #Book Recommendations #library #public library #reading list #tbr #currently reading #booklist #booklr #scary stories

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spaceexp · 4 years

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Astronomers May Have Captured the First Ever Image of Nearby Exoplanet Proxima C

ESO - European Southern Observatory logo. April 21, 2020 It could be an unprecedented view of a world in the closest planetary system to our own, but uncertainties aplenty remain.

Image above: View of the Alpha Centauri system. The bright binary star Alpha Centauri AB lies at the upper left. The much fainter red dwarf star Proxima Centauri is barely discernible towards the lower right of the picture. Image Credits: Digitized Sky Survey 2; Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin and Mahdi Zamani. Little is more enticing than the prospect of seeing alien worlds around other stars—and perhaps one day even closely studying their atmosphere and mapping their surface. Such observations are exceedingly difficult, of course. Although more than 4,000 exoplanets are now known, the vast majority of them are too distant and dim for our best telescopes to discern against the glare of their host star. Exoplanets near our solar system provide easier imaging opportunities, however. And no worlds are nearer to us than those thought to orbit the cool, faint red dwarf Proxima Centauri—the closest star to our sun at 4.2 light-years away. In 2016 astronomers discovered the first known planet in this system: the roughly Earth-sized Proxima b. But because of its star-hugging 11-day orbit around Proxima Centauri, Proxima b is a poor candidate for imaging. Proxima c, by contrast, offers much better chances. Announced in 2019, based on somewhat circumstantial evidence, the planet remains unconfirmed. If real, it is estimated to be several times more massive than Earth—a so-called super Earth or mini Neptune—and to orbit Proxima Centauri at about 1.5 times the span between Earth and the sun. Its size and distance from its star make the world a tempting target for current and near-future exoplanet-imaging projects. Now, in a new preprint paper accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, some astronomers say they might—just might— have managed to see Proxima c for the first time. “This planet is extremely interesting because Proxima is a star very close to the sun,” says Raffaele Gratton of the Astronomical Observatory of Padova in Italy, who is the study’s lead author. “The idea was that since this planet is [far] from the star, it is possible that it can be observed in direct imaging. We found a reasonable candidate that looks like we have really detected the planet.”

Image above: Artist concept of a lightsail craft approaching the potentially habitable exoplanet Proxima b. Image Credits: PHL @ UPR Arecibo. Last year Gratton and his team were first alerted to the possibility of imaging the planet by Mario Damasso of the Astrophysical Observatory of Turin in Italy, who was the lead author of the original paper on Proxima c’s possible discovery. Damasso and his colleagues had presented evidence for Proxima c’s existence based on its star’s telltale wobbling, which they inferred was caused by the pull of an unseen orbiting planet. Confirming a world’s existence in this way requires seeing the same wobble occur again—and again—in a process that often takes many months or even years. Damasso wondered if there might be another way. Thus, he asked Gratton and his team to look through data from the SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-Contrast Exoplanet Research) instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to see if they could actually see the planet. “As soon as our paper on Proxima c was considered for publication, I contacted [Gratton] to discuss the possibility of pushing SPHERE to its limits,” Damasso says. “The [planetary] system is potentially so cool that it is worthy to try other techniques.” If you squint a bit while staring at the SPHERE data, a picture of the mysterious planet seems to swim into view. By focusing on Proxima c’s predicted position and separation from its star within multiple, stacked infrared images from SPHERE, Gratton and his colleagues were able to pick out 19 potential appearances of the planet across several years of routine observations. Of these candidate detections, one stood out as being particularly enticing: it appeared in the images about six times brighter than their “noise”—that is, unwanted light from artifacts or background stars. “It’s a possible candidate that has a low probability of being a false alarm,” says Emily Rickman of the Geneva Observatory, who is a co-author of the paper. If that detection is genuine, it poses intriguing questions. The object believed to be the planet would be at least seven times the mass of Earth—large enough to place it firmly beyond the super Earth category. “This would definitely be some kind of mini Neptune,” says Sara Seager, a professor of planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was not involved in the new paper. The object also appears to be 10 to 100 times brighter than a planet of its mass should be. This luminosity, the study authors reason, could arise from a large amount of dust surrounding the planet, perhaps in a vast ring system that is three to four times larger than that of Saturn. To some, that situation seems too strange to be true.

Image above: The exoplanet HIP 65426b – the first to be seen by the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image Credit: ESO. “It would be a huge ring system around a relatively old star,” says astrophysicist Bruce Macintosh of Stanford University, who also was not part of the work. “It’s certainly possible for things like this to exist. But for your first detection of something like this to have that massive ring system, you’d have to postulate a universe in which most Neptune-sized planets have massive ring systems enormously bigger than Saturn’s. And that seems like an unlikely universe to live in.” If genuine, this detection—this image—would have profound implications for our understanding of our nearest neighboring planetary system. It would give us definitive proof of the existence of Proxima c and also provide the angle at which the planet orbits its star, relative to our own—something that watching a star’s wobbles alone cannot provide. The detection would also all but ensure that we could soon study the planet’s atmosphere with a new generation of powerful observatories, such as the upcoming European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) and NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).

Image above: Three images of the fast-moving wave-like features in the dusty disc around the nearby star AU Microscopii. Image Credits: ESO/NASA/ESA. Perhaps more importantly, pinning down Proxima c would also likely reveal the orbital angle of Proxima b, because planets would be expected to orbit in the same plane like those in our solar system do. This information, coupled with the wobbles Proxima b raises on its star, would tell us that world must be somewhere between 1.5 and 1.8 times the mass of Earth, which would let us refine theories about its characteristics. Such a mass would “strongly point to the fact [that Proxima b] is rocky,” says Elizabeth Tasker, an exoplanet scientist at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, who was not involved in the study. In addition to our knowledge that Proxima b orbits in its star’s habitable zone, where liquid water and thus life as we know it can exist, proof that the world is rocky would catapult it to the top of any astrobiologist’s list of promising exoplanets. Such spectacular possibilities, however, call for steely-eyed skepticism. Indeed, the new paper’s authors acknowledge there is a decent chance their image is not actually a planet at all but rather just random noise in the data. They also note that the apparent motion of their putative planet conflicts with earlier estimates of Proxima c’s position, based on observations of its star made by the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft. Thus, other astronomers are treating the potential finding with a considerable amount of caution. “It’s tough for me to conclude that [this] is a decisive detection,” says Thayne Currie, an exoplanet scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, who was also not part of the work.

Image above: Labeled version of four of the twenty disks that comprise ALMA’s highest resolution survey of nearby protoplanetary disks. Image Credits: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) S. Andrews et al.; NRAO/AUI/NSF, S. Dagnello. Unfortunately, the ongoing global shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic means that the result cannot be checked for the time being, because most of the world’s observatories—including the VLT—are not operational. “It could be [confirmed or refuted] tomorrow, but the observatories are closed,” says astronomer Guillem Anglada-Escudé, who led the discovery of Proxima b in 2016 and was not involved in the new study. Time is running out for an immediate follow-up: in July Proxima Centauri will pass out of view behind our sun until February 2021. So for now, the prospect of Proxima c having been seen for the first time remains an enticing but elusive possibility. Even if it proves to be a mirage—an astronomical false alarm—this potential detection is unlikely to dampen enthusiasm for further studies. Other teams will try again with upcoming instruments, more advanced than SPHERE, operating on supersized telescopes such as the E-ELT. But if the detection is real, which Gratton says he is “two thirds” confident about, it would be a historic initial glimpse of a planet orbiting the closest start to our own. “If this is true, it’s very exciting,” says Anglada-Escudé. Related links: Spectro-Polarimetric High-Contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE): https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/sphere/ European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT): https://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/eelt/ Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST): https://wfirst.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: ESO/NASA/Scientific American/Jonathan O'Callaghan. Best regards, Orbiter.ch Full article

#space #science

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dustedmagazine · 3 years

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Population II — À La Ô Terre (Castleface)

Photo by Laurence Martin

À la Ô Terre by POPULATION II

Population II, from Quebec, spews a fiery, lucid psychedelia, floating eerie blues-haunted vocals over long drones of organ, then exploding into squalling guitar pyrotechnics. Their sound hews close to Amon Düül II or, more recently, Om, building tension into quiet ritual pulses and letting it out in screaming overload.

À La Ô Terre is the first album for Population II, and the band’s three members — Tristan Lacombe on guitar/organ, Pierre-Luc Gratton on vocals/drums & Sébastien Provençal on bass— seem not to have established much of a track record yet in other projects. That makes this very accomplished, engrossing debut all the more impressive. They jump right into this headfirst and come up swimming.

That’s true of the album, too, which starts in a very strong way with “Introspection,” a looming, foreboding, wide angle groove which arcs out over a foreboding bass line and chant-sung vocals into tumultuous free-for-all spates of guitar solo-ry. Gratton’s voice is surrounded by lots of echo, so that it seems to rattle around in large, high vaulted sonic space, a smoke-wispy, blues-rock-ish presence among wild frenzies of instrumental free for all. For “C’est Ne Réve,” Lacombe switches to organ, laying an eerie drone under Gratton’s whispery vocals. The cut is initially rather subdued, but it breaks out into squalling reeling bursts of keyboard and carpet bombing onslaughts of drums. There’s a big guitar solo at the end, and a saxophone solo, so the band ends in a swirl and a ferment of loud intoxicating sound.

The cuts alternate between subterranean menace and wigged out extremities of sound, and “Il Eut un Silence dans le Ciel” is perhaps the most consistently balls-out of these tracks. But even it pulls in its guns periodically in a precisely paced, ritual interval that shifts its weight from side to side like a very large person attempting to dance.

All of these songs were built out of improvisation, and threads of melody sometimes carry over from one track into the next. Still, while there’s definitely a wild energy, none of the tracks feel excessive or undisciplined. They push the boundaries of what a song is, as most long-form psych does, but they don’t entirely leave it behind.

Jennifer Kelly

#population II #a la o terre #castleface #jennifer kelly #albumreview #dusted magazine #krautrock #drone #amon duul #quebec

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veliseraptor · 4 years

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since it came up with @my-lady-knight and all the cool websites are doing it, I thought I’d go ahead and share my

Most Anticipated SFF of 2020

(it’s a lot of sequels, but not all sequels.)

Lady Hotspur by Tessa Gratton. I loved her take on King Lear in The Queens of Innis Lear; I’m very interested in seeing what she does with a genderswapped Hotspur in this one. (January 7, 2020)

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett. The sequel to Foundryside, aka the book where I spent the first third grumpily comparing it to the Divine Cities series (unfair of me) and then promptly went “oh shit this is actually really good” and slammed through the rest of it and then went looking under the book for the rest. Suffice to say that I’m very excited. (January 21, 2020)

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood. This one comes highly recommended, for me, personally - the basic conceit (”an orc priestess destined to be a sacrifice turned wizard's assassin”) had me listening, but I hear there are also empires involved, and a queer relationship. I have an early copy sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read - I plan to make it one of my January books. (February 11, 2020)

The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso. This is one of the ones in the first half of the year I’m really holding my breath for. The jacket copy includes what I’m guessing is the first line: “They called me the Bitch Queen, the she-wolf, because I murdered a man and exiled my king the night before they crowned me.” Hello there, I’m listening. (February 18, 2020)

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Yes, I know I know this came out this year (2019) but I couldn’t manage carrying that hardcover brick and the ebook from the library hasn’t yet arrived, so I’m putting it on here for the paperback which I am planning to buy. (February 18, 2020)

Docile by K.M. Sparza. I actually have this one sitting on a stack in my apartment waiting for me to read it - I just need to get around to it. It’s been pitched to me as in concept looking at consent under capitalism. (March 3, 2020)

The Poet King by Ilana C. Myer. This is the third in a series I don’t talk about much, mostly because the first one (Last Song Before Night) didn’t impress me that much; the second one (Fire Dance) a great deal more. I’m looking forward to seeing how this one compares to both; it’s definitely a very original world and concept, which gives it credit in and of itself. (March 24, 2020)

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo. Tor.com tends to publish novellas that I either love or am distressingly indifferent to - but they’re almost always fascinating in concept (and the cover designs are spectacular). The keynote for this one mentions “empire” and “storytelling” (gotcha, Lise!) and it’s East Asian fantasy (inspired by imperial China) so there’s three points that have my interest right off the bat. (March 24, 2020)

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. It’s a new N.K. Jemisin book; of course I’m here for it. I’ll probably be here for anything she writes from here on out. (March 24, 2020)

The Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth. I am a sucker for “what happens after” stories, and this one - pitched as being about five teenagers who fought and defeated an Evil Overlord, but after, when they’re all fucked up - sounds right up my alley. Enough that I’m not letting ‘author of the Divergent series’ turn me off. (April 7, 2020)

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. The sequel to Gideon the Ninth is coming out this year and I already have a standing request with my book hookup at the publisher to get me an advance copy as soon as they land. (June 2, 2020)

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. This is one of those books where when it comes out I’m going to drop everything I’m reading at the time to pick it up, because this is a series I am so deeply attached to. Even if I didn’t like The Monster Baru Cormorant as much as the first one (a very high bar), I’m holding my breath to see where this one goes. (June 9, 2020)

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho. I have loved Zen Cho’s other books (particularly Sorcerer to the Crown) and this one (”found family wuxia fantasy” sounds very promising. (June 23, 2020)

The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty. I believe this is the finale? to the trilogy begun with City of Brass and continued in The Kingdom of Copper. I loved the first two - the second I think even more than the first. I look forward to seeing if Chakraborty can continue that crescendo and finish strong. (June 30, 2020)

Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler. This is an author I’ve been circling around for a while - I read the first book in his YA series (and will probably read the second), and the first in the series he’s most well known for (and probably want to read the rest at some point), but this book at least by description sounds very much up my alley. Siblings in conflict! There’s an empire involved! It’s published by Orbit (which isn’t a guarantee of quality but they have been acquiring a lot of good shit lately)! Yeah, I’m there. (July 21, 2020)

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine. Another sequel, this one to A Memory Called Empire, which was among my favorite books of the year in 2019. I don’t read a lot of science fiction, but that book hit a lot of the same buttons as the Imperial Radch series, mixed with Embassytown by China Mieville. (September 15, 2020)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. We don’t know much about this one yet, but it’s the first book in over a decade from the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (which I loved) so that alone is a selling point. What we knows so far (it’s about a man in a seemingly endless labyrinth who starts to realize that there may be in fact a world outside his walls) doesn’t have me grabbed in terms of concept, but neither did Jonathan Strange - I’m willing to let Susanna Clarke take me for a ride anyway. (September 15, 2020)

#sometimes i read things #only through september because that's as far out as the catalogs i've seen go

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hope-for-olicity · 4 years

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September Bookish Bingo card! Only four books this month but two were anthologies - You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, A Rogue of One's Own by Evie Dunmore ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, Tycoon by Joanna Shupe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, Naughty Brits by Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, Louisa Edwards, Tessa Gratton and Sierra Simone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (would have been 5 stars but one story wasn't my cup of tea) and Love All Year: A Holidays Anthology by Stacey Agdern, Hallie Alexander, Savannah J. Frierson, Felicia Grossman, Farah Heron, Celestine Martin, Ekaterine Xia and Elizabeth Kahn ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (I LOVED Farah Heron's story, the rest I enjoyed, one I skipped).

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foreverlostinliterature · 4 years

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12/4 Book Deals

Happy Wednesday, everyone! There seem to be a bunch of great books on sale again today, so definitely have a look. :) I highly recommend A Secret History of Witches, Empire of Sand, Torn, and The Queens of Innis Lear! I loved all of them so much and really think they deserve more love. Anyway, I hope you’re all making it through the week alright and that you have a wonderful day today! Happy reading!

Find past book deals here–many of which are still on sale!

Today’s Deals:

A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan - https://amzn.to/2PjeElQ

Naturally Tan: A Memoir by Tan France - https://amzn.to/2DHhNX9

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine - https://amzn.to/34PPGRu

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi - https://amzn.to/2RhkMNM

Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter - https://amzn.to/2Pgto4V

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton - https://amzn.to/363g3Dw

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri - https://amzn.to/2Pcwy9F

Torn by Rowenna Miller - https://amzn.to/366Rvd3

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker - https://amzn.to/2sFH0yM

The Eye of the Reindeer by Eva Weaver - https://amzn.to/386fT03

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore - https://amzn.to/2RqtNnI

The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett - https://amzn.to/2Rmqf66

The Selection by Kiera Cass - https://amzn.to/2rhmR1A

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sarahworm · 4 years

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I read 68 books in 2019, here is a very belated list of my favorites

I have had this in my drafts since JANUARY and I almost trashed it, but I’m trying to be productive in quarantine and this is something easy to knock off my list. Plus every time I look at it I get all happy about some of these books all over again.

As with last year, I tracked the books I read throughout the year and have now grouped them into categories and done my best to rank them.

One of my resolutions last year was to achieve better variety in my reading. I am very happy to have achieved this. I read about half the number of science fiction/fantasy this year as I did last year, but I loved so many of those books that a much higher proportion of them are ranked this year.

Science Fiction & Fantasy (out of 21)

1. This Is How You Lose The Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

I cannot get over the absolute poetry that was this book. It’s such a perfect little time travel/multiverse story, the kind of book that seems just the right size for itself - it’s contained and short, with absolutely no extra plot or vestigial pieces hanging around, but also gloriously deep and emotional.

2. The Raven Tower, by Ann Leckie

A book narrated by a god, all about the relationships between gods and gods and humanity, is one of the coolest concepts I’ve come across in fantasy in a while. I think I might be rereading this in 2020 because it was such a great and encompassing atmosphere to live in.

3. A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine

I loved this book and it immediately shot up to near the top of the list of my favorite space operas. The solar system-spanning empire is such a fascinatingly enduring concept in science fiction and this is such a lovely and thoughtful take on it.

4. The Privilege of the Sword, by Ellen Kushner

I also read and really liked Swordspoint, but I have to give this spot to this sequel because I just went absolutely starry-eyed over it. I wished I could have reached back in time and given this book to my 17-year-old self, because I would have adored it and its heroine even more then.

5. Tremontaine (books 1 and 2), by Ellen Kushner et al.

How...is this not a series I was aware of while it was publishing? I feel like it would be popular in the section of tumblr that I live in and I’m surprised I’ve hardly ever seen it mentioned. Anyway, I have two more books of this which I’ve been saving for this year because I didn’t want to burn through them too fast and I’m excited to go back.

6. Circe, by Madeline Miller

This was a good read! I thought it did such a good job of stretching out time like an immortal would experience it, and weaving together myths that are well known with ones that aren’t, or with the author’s additional narrative.

7. Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel

Immediately post-apocalyptic fiction makes me squirm a little bit because I am a baby and easily scared, but this was worth it and I really liked the temporal structure of this book. I also thought that it struck a sweet note right in the middle of cynical and hopeful, in the end.

8. The Memory Police, by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder

This was one of those speculative fiction books that lives sort of between science fiction and fairy tale. Looking back at the description, I find it interesting that it focuses on the plot elements of this book, when what really stuck with me months later was all of the examinations of the core concept and the emotions that went along with that.

9. Strange Grace, by Tessa Gratton

I’m such an absolute sucker for any kind of fairy tale, especially the original ones. I wanted to swim in this book and the rules of its world, and I loved the relationship dynamics between the three main characters.

10. The Luminous Dead, by Caitlin Starling

A suspenseful book about cave diving! This one was really fun to read, and much like the first book on this list, works so well because it’s just about the two main characters. Also it has a great cover.

Honorable Mentions:

The Monster of Elendhaven, by Jennifer Giesbrecht

A super short and creepy story. I almost couldn’t decide if I liked it, but it certainly hooked me, and that was enough.

Vita Nostra, by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, translated by Julia Meitov Hersey

I felt a little lukewarm on this book when I finished it, because I didn’t really like the ending, but the images and concepts from earlier in the book just kept lingering months later. Also, just now when I looked back at this on goodreads, I realized that there are sequels that haven’t been published in English yet? Hmm. I would be interested if they came out.

Sequels:

I decided to keep the sequels off of this year’s list because I wanted to have space for new names and series, and it’s not that interesting to rank things I knew I would love going in. But if these were on this list, they’d all be ranked highly.

Provenance, by Ann Leckie

Okay, so it’s barely a sequel and really should probably have its own spot, but I was trying to make room for as many books as possible! Regardless, I enjoyed this just as much as the trilogy that came before it and I would like Ann Leckie to never stop writing, please.

The Swan Riders, by Erin Bow

I held off on reading this for a while because I loved The Scorpion Rules soooo much. But I’m glad I finally did, because while this book was somewhat tougher to love, it went to some super interesting places and this duology continues to be my absolute favorite YA dystopia ever and one of my favorite AI-centered science fiction stories.

The Winter of the Witch, by Katherine Arden

I was such a big fan of the previous books in this trilogy and this one was a great end. Also, I died over the little mushroom god he was so cute.

Fiction (out of 20)

I can’t really decide if the fact that I ranked fewer fiction books than the speculative fiction means that I am pickier with this genre, or I am worse at picking books to read? Probably both, tbh.

1. Freshwater, by Akwaeke Emezi

I read this at the beginning of the year and knew all year that it would be at the top of the list. It has a unique perspective that was unlike anything I’ve read before and I’d recommend it (with trigger warnings) to just about anybody.

2. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

It’s a classic for a reason, obviously; Toni Morrison is one of the authors I should have actually started reading years ago, and I intend to continue rectifying this in 2020.

3. House of Names, by Colm Toibin

I read this probably a full year ago, and what sticks with me most in 2020 were the settings. The scenery, especially the titular house with people moving about in the dark or in grief, is integral to this book and fitting for an adaption of a play.

4. Claire of the Sea Light, by Edwidge Danticat

I didn’t realize when I started this boo that it would feel more like a short story collection than a novel, because each chapter is about a different character. I loved the structure and the way all of these characters brushed against each other in their community.

5. The Wind That Lays Waste, by Selva Almada, translated by Chris Andrews

The descriptions in this book were so good, drawing a full portrait of four people over just one day. I think I read a review in the paper of it which caused me to pick it up, and I’m glad I did, because I don’t know if I would have selected it otherwise but it was lovely to read.

6. Clearing Out: A Novel, by Helene Uri, translated by Barbara Sjohelm

This was an interesting book which I understand is partially memoir/autobiography. Given that the description is mostly about the main character’s discovery about and relationship with her grandfather’s heritage, I was surprised to find that a lot of it was actually about her relationship with her mother in a way that I found quite moving.

7. Disappearing Earth, by Julia Phillips

Like #4 on my list, I found this book most interesting as a collection of stories about characters who overlapped in sometimes small and sometimes big ways, so much so that I was shocked when the main plot had an actual resolution!

Honorable Mentions:

Blood Water Paint, by Joy McCullough

Novels written in verse is a subgenre that I tend to enjoy, even if I don’t read them that often.

Fall on Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald

Oh, this book made me sad! It was hard to put down, but it also made me think about this particular subgenre, about family tragedy and women, that I feel like I have encountered a fair amount in this type of fiction.

Nonfiction (out of 6)

1. Artemisia Gentileschi, by Mary D. Garrard

So, I ordered this because it was recommended at the back of Blood Water Paint, and did not realize it would be basically an art history textbook? I think? It took me weeks and weeks to get through, but it was super rewarding. I have never taken an art history class or anything, so even just reading the way the author talked about identifying paintings was really interesting and totally new to me.

2. Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger, by Rebecca Traister

Yeah, it was cathartic.

Honorable Mentions:

Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff

This was a great biography - above all I thought it did such a good job of describing the things we don’t know as much as the things we do know about Cleopatra.

The Wives of Henry VIII, by Antonia Fraser

One of my favorite things about this biography was how it explicitly discussed various inaccuracies and myths built up around these women.

Romance (out of 9)

I decided to deliberately read more romance this year because I’d super enjoyed the one I read the year before. It was a good decision.

1. Beauty and Cruelty, by Meredith Katz

I struggled with whether to put this in the fantasy or romance sections, but I think when I got it from the publisher it was categorized as romance. Anyway, the concepts in this book were so fun! Combining Schrodinger’s cat with an old folktale - GENIUS.

2. Slightly Married, by Mary Balogh

Marriage of convenience is a favorite trope of mine and this is peak That.

3. The Heiress Effect, by Courtney Milan

I loved the heroine in this book and have been slowly chewing my way through the other books in the series since.

4. Backwards to Oregon, by Jae

This book reawakened the Oregon trail fascination I had as a kid that I had sort of forgotten about. Except this time, gayer and with more pining.

Honorable Mention:

Ripples of Smoke and Water, by Lotus Oakes

Another sweet fairy tale romance, because I am predictable.

#ah. this got so long #but anyway its out of my drafts now! I can stop feeling guilty!#i don't have a resolution for 2020 because i mostly just want to dig out of my want-to-read backlog #reviews

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