New Books Spotlight

Welcome to another edition of the New Books Spotlight, where each month or so we curate a selection of 6 new and forthcoming books we find notable, interesting, and intriguing. It gives us the opportunity to shine a brief spotlight on some stuff we're itching to get our hands on.

What are you looking forward to? Anything you want to argue with us about?

 

de Bodard, Aliette. Seven of Infinities [Subterranean]
Publisher's Description

Vân is a scholar from a poor background, eking out a living in the orbitals of the Scattered Pearls Belt as a tutor to a rich family, while hiding the illegal artificial mem-implant she manufactured as a student.

Sunless Woods is a mindship—and not just any mindship, but a notorious thief and a master of disguise. She’s come to the Belt to retire, but is drawn to Vân’s resolute integrity.

When a mysterious corpse is found in the quarters of Vân’s student, Vân and Sunless Woods find themselves following a trail of greed and murder that will lead them from teahouses and ascetic havens to the wreck of a mindship--and to the devastating secrets they’ve kept from each other.

Why We Want It: de Bodard's Xuya stories are consistently excellent and novella length is a sweet spot and always leaves us wanting more.

Drayden, Nicky. Escaping Exodus: Symbiosis [Harper Voyager]
Publisher's Description

The Compton Crook Award-winning author weaves her trademark blend of science fiction and dark humor in this dazzling story that continues the imaginative saga begun in Escaping Exodus, in which a society lives in the belly of a beast—and an entire civilization's survival depends on a pair of uneasy allies who must come together for one epic battle.

Nearly a thousand years removed from Earth, the remnants of humanity cling to existence inside giant, space faring creatures known as the Zenzee. Abused and exploited by humans for generations, these majestic animals nearly went extinct, but under the command of its newly minted ruler, Doka Kaleigh, life in the Parados I has flourished. Thanks to careful oversight and sacrifice by all of its crew, they are now on the brink of utopia, and yet Doka’s rivals feel threatened by that success.

The Senate allowed Doka to lead their people believing he’d fail spectacularly—a disaster that would cement the legitimacy of their long-standing matriarchy. Despite vocal opposition and blatant attacks on his authority, Doka has continued to handle his position with grace and intelligence; he knows a single misstep means disaster. When a cataclysmic event on another Zenzee world forces Doka and his people to accept thousands of refugees, a culture clash erupts, revealing secrets from the past that could endanger their future. For Doka, the stakes are bigger and more personal than ever before—and could cost him his reign and his heart.

He has fallen for the one woman he is forbidden to love: his wife, Seske. Doka and Seske must work closely together to sway the other Zenzee worlds to stop their cycles of destruction. But when they stumble upon a discovery that can transform their world, they know they must prepare to fight a battle where there can be no winners, only survivors.

Why We Want It: We love Nicky Drayden's novels around these parts. Each one is a wild ride as different from each other as can be. Escaping Exodus: Symbiosis is the first sequel from Drayden, following 2019's Escaping Exodus (Adri's review) and I loved that book at least as much as Adri, if not more.

Martin, George R.R. and Gardner Dozois. Songs of Love and Death [Saga]
Publisher's Description

From epic fantasy, post-apocalyptic America, to faerie-haunted rural fields in 18th-century England, to an intergalactic empire, join star-crossed lovers as they struggle against the forces of magic and fate.

A star-studded cross-genre anthology Songs of Love and Death features all-original tales from seventeen of the most prestigious names in romance, fantasy, and science fiction.

Why We Want It: Is this the last Gardner Dozois anthology? Regardless, even though I haven't read them all, I know that any anthology from GRRM and Gardner Dozois is a top notch anthology.

Robson, Justina (editor). Tales of Catt and Fisher [Solaris]
Publisher's Description

A brand-new collection of stand-alone stories featuring the return of two fan-favourite characters from the world of the critically acclaimed Redemption’s Blade and Salvation’s Fire novels.

Four new tales of Doctors Catt and Fisher…

Scholars, shopkeepers, collectors… aficionados. Obtainers of rare antiquities; relic hunters who can’t resist a lead, even when it takes them into terrible danger. There’s always an opportunity to be found amid the confusion, in the wake of the terrible Kinslayer War. There’s always a deal to be done, a tomb to open, a precious thing to… obtain.

From encounters with the monstrous Vathesk to exploring new worlds; from wielding great power to do great good, to unearthing dark things best left lost. If you need the experts, if you can find your way to their Cherivell shop, maybe you can hire Doctors Catt and Fisher.

Why We Want It: I've read the five volumes of Robson's Quantum Gravity, but I've only dipped my toes in the rest of her catalog. Somehow, up until the time I was putting together this article I was under the assumption that this was a collection of Robson's stories - but as you can see from the description above, it is not. With that said, I've been interested in the After the War world since it was announced so while I may not be dipping my toes into  more of Robson's fiction maybe this is the time to dip into After the War.

Vo, Nghi. When the Tiger Comes Down the Mountain [Tor.com Publishing]
Publisher's Description

"Dangerous, subtle, unexpected and familiar, angry and ferocious and hopeful. . . . The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a remarkable accomplishment of storytelling."—NPR

The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover—a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty—and discover how truth can survive becoming history.

Nghi Vo returns to the empire of Ahn and The Singing Hills Cycle in When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain, a mesmerizing, lush standalone follow-up to The Empress of Salt and Fortune.

Why We Want It: One of two books on this spotlight where I haven't read the preceding book, I've been excited to read The Empress of Salt and Fortune since it was first announced. 2020 has been a heck of a year and many of my reading goals and expectations have not quite come through - so my everlasting to-read pile is now one book deeper because the follow up to one of my more anticipated books of the year is naturally also highly anticipated.

Winter, Evan. The Fires of Vengeance [Orbit]
Publisher's Description

In order to reclaim her throne and save her people, an ousted queen must join forces with a young warrior in the second book of this”relentlessly gripping, brilliant” epic fantasy series from a breakout author (James Islington).

Tau and his Queen, desperate to delay the impending attack on the capital by the indigenous people of Xidda, craft a dangerous plan. If Tau succeeds, the Queen will have the time she needs to assemble her forces and launch an all out assault on her own capital city, where her sister is being propped up as the ‘true’ Queen of the Omehi.

If the city can be taken, if Tsiora can reclaim her throne, and if she can reunite her people then the Omehi have a chance to survive the onslaught.

Why We Want It: One of the most buzzed about books from 2019 which I haven't read is Evan Winter's The Rage of Dragons. I own it, I just still need to read the book. Regardless of that, this is shaping up to be an incredible fantasy series and the publication of the second volume should be all the inspiration I need to read the first. It's also the only book I haven't read off of my 2020 Summer Reading List.

POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 4x Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Minnesotan. He / Him.

Microreview [Book]: Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

Strap in, Nerds: it's time for LESBIANS IN SPACE WHALES

Nicky Drayden is a favourite of ours around these parts, given her track record of delivering wild and weird forays into science fiction and fantasy (often simultaneously). Now, in Escaping Exodus, we get a take on space opera that feels totally Nicky Drayden, while also being very different from both her previous novels. As you'd expect, its a novel of unexpected twists and sudden escalations, with some ridiculous-in-the-best way worldbuilding and characters who are far from blameless in the disasters unfolding around them. It's probably the only story you'll read this year which squeezes in both a stuffy, politically intricate coming-out ball and a plot-relevant episode of tasteful alien void sex (yes, there are tentacles) without ever making one or the other feel out of place. It is, in short, a trip. Expect no less.

Escaping Exodus follows Seske, a member of the ruling elite who is destined to take over the beast's matriarchal society, and her friend Adalla, a beastworker whose family perform the manual labour required to keep their spaceship running. And when I say spaceship, I mean "gigantic, ineffable space beast with enough room for a human-sized city inside its body", because that's what this society are building their home in. Its supposed to be a new model, after the death of their old beast: an apparently regular occurrence which requires the transportation of their homes and people, and the meticulous recreation of the city layout and structures they've build over centuries. However, things start going wrong more quickly than anticipated after the move, and Seske and Adalla find themselves taking different paths to the same realisation about how unsustainable and damaging their way of life has become - and how few options they have to genuinely change it. For Seske, this means trying to prove once and for all to her Matris that it is she, and not her Matris' very very taboo second daughter, who has what it takes to take over as leader and to find some appropriate spouses to go with it. For Adalla, living up to her Ama's expectations as a heartworker - one of the most prestigious but dangerous of tasks for a beastworker - would be challenge enough, without adding in the complication of a young, mute worker who inexplicably has her father's eyes. Seeking out a friendship with the Grisette leads to secrets about the Beast's maintenance which Adalla finds it impossible to overlook, and takes her into the less privileged side of Beastworker life.

Societally, Escaping Exodus offers a matriarchal and matrilineal system, upheld by the tradition of "motherlines" and a complex system of marriage that gives Ursula K. Le Guin's four-person Sedoretu a serious run for its money, and further divided between a ruling "Contour" class and everyone else. That a system in which marriage is between six women, three men and a single child would create an exponential decline on a cubic scale doesn't really get addressed, but it adds to the overall feeling of a decaying society trying to maintain some semblance of itself while potentially engineering its own downfall. (I should note that trans people exist in Escaping Exodus, but they are in a society that's prejudiced against men and highly fixated on appropriate social roles - so be warned for some blunt prejudice from characters when it comes up). Like a lot of stories that open on a world of alien injustices, one of the most constant niggles in Escaping Exodus' plot is the fact that both Seske and Adalla, despite being dissatisfied in different ways, are fundamentally ignorant of the exploitation that allows their society to function, but are very quick to get upset when it gets conveniently pointed out. To be fair, both have some pretty significant events to act as turning points, which staves off some of the worst of the character whiplash. There's also secondary characters like Doka, a match made during Seske's super fun coming out ball experience, who feel injustice in different ways again to Seske and Adalla and seek to rectify what seems most urgent to their own experiences, making the world of Escaping Exodus feel richer in the process.

For a lot of the book, its this richness of worldbuilding that proves the main draw of Escaping Exodus, with a plot that, despite its twists, doesn't have a lot of clear forward direction. Both Seske and Adalla vacilate between worrying about their own personal dilemmas and becoming preoccupied with the wider fate of the ship, and it takes about two thirds of the plot for both of them to stop effectively being sightseers and to start really stepping up as protagonists. In another book, that would be a complete dealbreaker, but the layers of worldbuilding and of societal exploration that Escaping Exodus heaps on reduced it to a minor issue. From the bioengineered weirdness that is the Beast ship, to the anthropological nuances of the human culture with its intricate hair braiding and complex marriage taboos, from the unexpected symbiotic relationships people form with the Beast's various gut denizens to details about how privacy and continuity become markers of privilege, there's There's just too much to take in, and after all despite their relatively privileged positions, it makes sense that these two young adults aren't immediately in control of the events around them, which after all have taken quite some time to get to the point of crisis they are now at.

Once that final third kicks in, however, things go from bad to worse to "I don't even know if this is going to work out or not but, hey, go for it" in quick succession. There's the release of huge amounts of new knowledge, of the ship's origins and current situation; there's trips out into space and back again using some pretty unconventional means, there's the whole alien sex thing mentioned above (I know you've been waiting to find out where that slots in, and... really, you just have to read it). It's at this point that things go from feeling weird but deliberate, to kind of messy, and its probably going to be up to the individual reader how much of that messiness is a feature and how much is a bug. As with Drayden's previous novel, Temper, its a bit disappointing to see a few satisfying plot strands disappear without trace, and there's glimpses of plotting that in different hands could have been an entire trilogy (but then, I said that last time). It also becomes a story that hinges on forgiveness, in all its unpredictable forms, and some plotlines and conflicts are dropped simply because one or both parties decide that it's no longer worth maintaining them. It leads up to a conclusion that feels about as satisfying as anything could, in the circumstances; this isn't a story that's been set up to have an easy answer, but it brings Seske and Adalla full circle to confronting their relationship to each other, and to the position of increased responsibility they now bear to the world, in all its goopy living weirdness, around them.

Escaping Exodus isn't a book that will work for everyone, but if you've found yourself enjoying previous works from Drayden, or wanting more space biopunk along the lines of Kameron Hurley's The Stars are Legion, or with feelings about Homestuck Act 6 that are still with you to this day, this is one to check out. On a personal level, I adored Escaping Exodus, and for all its odd choices and occasional unevenness it had me gripped from start to finish. Seske and Adalla's story is unlike anything I've ever read, and as an intricate look at a very different culture, it does everything it needs to be a roaring success.

The Math:

Baseline Score: 7/10

Bonuses: +1 Intricate worldbuilding in the stomach of a giant tentacled space beast; +1 teenage protagonists who rise above their plot-mandated naivete to head up an interesting cast of characters

Penalties: -1 An accelerated, messy final third which is likely to disappoint those who want things neatly tied up

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10

POSTED BY: Adri is a semi-aquatic migratory mammal most often found in the UK. She has many opinions about SFF books, and is also partial to gaming, baking, interacting with dogs, and Asian-style karaoke. Find her on Twitter at @adrijjy.

Reference: Drayden, Nicky. Escaping Exodus (Harper Voyager, 2019)

New Books Spotlight

Welcome to another edition of the New Books Spotlight, where each month or so we curate a selection of 6 new and forthcoming books we find notable, interesting, and intriguing. It gives us the opportunity to shine a brief spotlight on some stuff we're itching to get our hands on.

What are you looking forward to? Anything you want to argue with us about? Is there something we should consider spotlighting in the future? Let us know in the comments!

Burke, Sue. Interference [Tor]
Publisher's Description

Sue Burke's sweeping, award-finalist, SF Semiosis epic continues in Interference as the colonists and a team from Earth confront a new and more implacable intelligence.

Over two hundred years after the first colonists landed on Pax, a new set of explorers arrives from Earth on what they claim is a temporary scientific mission.

But the Earthlings misunderstand the nature of the Pax settlement and its real leader. Even as Stevland attempts to protect his human tools, a more insidious enemy than the Earthlings makes itself known.

Stevland is not the apex species on Pax. 

Why We Want It: Though we were aware of it for some time, we slept on Semiosis for far too long. Semiosis was a very good first contact science fiction novel of colonies and discovery across generations. I can't wait to see how Burke expands the story.

Drayden, Nikcy. Escaping Exodus [Harper Voyager]
Publisher's Description

The Compton Crook award–winning author of The Prey of Gods and Temper returns with a dazzling stand-alone novel, set in deep space, in which the fate of humanity rests on the slender shoulders of an idealistic and untested young woman—a blend of science fiction, dark humor, and magical realism that will appeal to fans of Charlie Jane Anders, Jeff VanderMeer, and Nnedi Okorafor.

Earth is a distant memory. Habitable extrasolar planets are still out of reach. For generations, humanity has been clinging to survival by establishing colonies within enormous vacuum-breathing space beasts and mining their resources to the point of depletion.

Rash, dreamy, and unconventional, Seske Kaleigh should be preparing for her future role as clan leader, but her people have just culled their latest beast, and she’s eager to find the cause of the violent tremors plaguing their new home. Defying social barriers, Seske teams up with her best friend, a beast worker, and ventures into restricted areas for answers to end the mounting fear and rumors. Instead, they discover grim truths about the price of life in the void.

Then, Seske is unexpectedly thrust into the role of clan matriarch, responsible for thousands of lives in a harsh universe where a single mistake can be fatal. Her claim to the throne is challenged by a rival determined to overthrow her and take control—her intelligent, cunning, and confident sister.

Seske may not be a born leader like her sister, yet her unorthodox outlook and incorruptible idealism may be what the clan needs to save themselves and their world. 

Why We Want It:Nicky Drayden has quickly become a favorite here at Nerds of a Feather. Her debut, Prey of Gods, was great and like nothing else we've read. Temper, her follow up, was even better and showed Drayden leveling up as a writer. We can't wait to see what Drayden has in store for us with her third novel.

Hill, Joe. Full Throttle [Harper Collins]
Publisher's Description

In this masterful collection of short fiction, Joe Hill dissects timeless human struggles in thirteen relentless tales of supernatural suspense, including "In The Tall Grass," one of two stories co-written with Stephen King, basis for the terrifying feature film from Netflix.

A little door that opens to a world of fairy tale wonders becomes the blood-drenched stomping ground for a gang of hunters in "Faun." A grief-stricken librarian climbs behind the wheel of an antique Bookmobile to deliver fresh reads to the dead in "Late Returns." In "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain," two young friends stumble on the corpse of a plesiosaur at the water's edge, a discovery that forces them to confront the inescapable truth of their own mortality... and other horrors that lurk in the water's shivery depths. And tension shimmers in the sweltering heat of the Nevada desert as a faceless trucker finds himself caught in a sinister dance with a tribe of motorcycle outlaws in "Throttle," co-written with Stephen King.

Featuring two previously unpublished stories, and a bevy of shocking chillers, Full Throttle is a darkly imagined odyssey through the complexities of the human psyche. Hypnotic and disquieting, it mines our tormented secrets, hidden vulnerabilities, and basest fears. 

Why We Want It: It's been fourteen years since 20th Century Ghosts, Hill's last full on short story collection (yes, he had a novella collection two years ago) and in that time he's become a master at horror. If Joe Hill writes it, we'll read it.

McGuire, Seanan. Laughter at the Academy [Subterranean]
Publisher's Description

From fairy tale forest to gloomy gothic moor, from gleaming epidemiologist’s lab to the sandy shores of Neverland, Seanan McGuire’s short fiction has been surprising, delighting, confusing, and transporting her readers since 2009. Now, for the first time, that fiction has been gathered together in one place, ready to be enjoyed one twisting, tangled tale at a time. Her work crosses genres and subverts expectations. 

Why We Want It: It's Seanan McGuire. We love October Daye and Incryptid and Wayward Children and Newsflesh and The Ghost Roads and we're thrilled for McGuire's short story collection. We're ready.

Pullman, Philip. The Secret Commonwealth [Random House]
Publisher's Description

Lyra Silvertongue’s adventures in the North are long over–the windows between the many worlds have been sealed, and her beloved Will is lost to her. She does still have the alethiometer: the truth-telling device given to her by the master of Jordan College, which guided her journey.

Lyra doesn’t know the full story of the alethiometer, though. Or the role that young Malcolm Polstead played in bringing both the instrument and baby Lyra to Jordan. She’s now a twenty-year-old undergraduate at St. Sophia’s College. To her, Malcolm is Dr. Polstead, an overly solicitous professor she would prefer to avoid.

But intrigue is swirling around Lyra once more. Her daemon Pantalaimon is witness to a brutal murder, and the dying man entrusts them with secrets that carry echoes from their past. They learn of a city haunted by daemons, of a desert said to hold the secret of Dust.

Powerful forces are about to throw Lyra and Malcolm together once again. And the dangers they face will challenge everything they thought they knew about the world, and about themselves. 

Why We Want It: We were apprehensive about the publication of La Belle Sauvage two years ago because it had been so long since Pullman had written His Dark Materials that we couldn't see a way it would live up to our expectations or even just our hopes. It was excellent, and now we're excited for Pullman to move the story and timeline forward and visit an older Lyra.

Westfahl, Gary. The Rise and Fall of American Science Fiction, from the 1920's to the 1960's [McFarland]
Publisher's Description

By examining important aspects of science fiction in the twentieth century, this book explains how the genre evolved to its current state. Close critical attention is given to topics including the art that has accompanied science fiction, the subgenres of space opera and hard science fiction, the rise of science fiction anthologies, and the burgeoning impact of the marketplace on authors and works. Included are in-depth studies of key texts that contributed to science fiction’s growth, including Philip Francis Nowlan’s first Buck Rogers story, the first published stories of A. E. van Vogt, and the early juveniles of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein. 

Why We Want It: We're trying to read more science fiction and fantasy focused non-fiction and Gary Westfahl is mining the early days of the genre.


POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 3x Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Minnesotan.

Top Nine Books Published in 2018

Some people do a top ten list, others do a top eleven (insert your Spinal Tap joke here), yet others may only do five. My list is 9 books long. Why? Partly to be a little bit different and partly because I want the tenth spot on my list to be reserved for that really great book which I simply did not get the chance to read during 2018. That really great book may also be something I have only heard whispers about and I may not discover for several more years. Whatever that tenth great book is, I’m holding a spot for it on my list.

Also, there is no doubt that this list, like every other list out there is built entirely on the combination of the books I've actually read with my own prejudices, taste, preferences, and the choices I made when selecting books to read across the breadth of 2018. That's really what we're saying when we say we've put together a list of the "Best Books of the Year". It's the best we've read, the best we can remember, the best based on what we appreciate in speculative fiction. One of the other best books I've read this year is Nicola Griffith's latest novel So Lucky (my review), but this is a speculative fiction blog focusing on more nerdy endeavors, so for the sake of theme I'll limit this list to science fiction, fantasy, and everything in between and around the edges. With that said, I adore Nicola Griffith's fiction and everyone should go read her 1993 science fiction novel Ammonite (my review).

This Top Nine List is more or less in order.  The top two slots are a complete lock, but ask me tomorrow and some titles may shift around a bit.  Whichever order the list is in, these are the nine novels published in 2018 which I feel were the strongest titles of the year.

1. The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor): From my review: "More than just achieving a sense of wonder, the science of The Calculating Stars is magic. Kowal brings the dream of spaceflight beyond the page and into readers' hearts."  Most years there is at least one book that becomes a novel of my heart, that engages the core of who I want to be as a reader, that thrills and delights me, and that showers me in the warmth of its wonder. This year that novel is Mary Robinette Kowal's The Calculating Stars.

Also from my review: "It's not just Elma overcoming everything stacked against her that makes The Calculating Stars such a fantastic read, it's the completely thrilling mundanity of a countdown towards a launch. It's the checklists and the waiting. It's tremendous and exhilarating. We've been on this journey with Elma for some four hundred pages and The Calculating Stars is beyond a sense of wonder. I'd say that it's magic, but it's science. It's near perfection." (my review)

2. The Poppy War, by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager): Similar to Full Metal Jacket, The Poppy War is a novel split in two. The first part is Rin's arrival at Sinegard, her nation's highest military training school. She's an outsider, a nobody from nowhere with no family name. Kuang brings us through Rin's training, her singular drive to sacrifice anything, even herself, to survive and excel at the Sinegard. There's a very real sense of "if this is what I did to get here, what do you think I'll do to stay here?" It's brutal from the start. Kuang goes hard.  The second part  of the novel is the rumored war that everyone is training for. Kuang does not relent and it is simply excellent. (Adri's not quite a review)

3. Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga): From Paul's review: "There is plenty to love in Trail of Lighting, and Maggie as a main character is front and center the heart of the novel and she makes the novel sing. An indigenous woman granted supernatural powers that are complicated and make her an outsider by their very nature, Maggie’s life as a newly solo monster hunter is a fraught one."

Also: "The worldbuilding is top notch and a leading light of the power of #ownvoices. There is an authenticity to the myths and legends made supernatural manifest fact within the Sixth World that the author presents here. This is a post-apocalyptic world whose suipernatural denizens, threats and features felt like the author was truly delving deep into her own culture, understanding it and presenting it to us in context and the richness of what is on offer. And much of it is new to most readers and rich with details and ideas that I was very happy to have the author explore.  I particularly liked her interpretation of Coyote, the Trickster, who has an agenda for Maggie that only slowly becomes clear as the novel unfolds. But it is the things that go bump in the night, the entities that Maggic must encounter and fight, that shows the author’s invention the best." (Paul's review)

4. Beneath the Sugar Sky, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing): From my review: "Beneath the Sugar Sky is filled with wit and biting commentary on how children are perceived and all too often squeezed into boxes they don't belong in order to fit the ideas and dreams of their parents and other adults, and how pervasive that can be. It's also a delightful adventure story filled with charm and wonder and it's a book I did not quite want to end because I wasn't ready to say goodbye." (my review)

5. Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey): From Adri's review: "Despite its uncomfortable undertones, however, there's no question that this is one of the best books I've read in 2018 so far. As a technical accomplishment, it's excellent (except for the awkwardly stereotyped autistic-presenting character), hitting a perfect fairytale tone that weaves multiple character's lives together in a compelling way. There's plenty of kindness and positive relationships, especially between women and across cultures, to keep a reader company even during the story's darker turns. I recommend picking up Spinning Silver with eyes open and critical faculties engaged: much like that dark forest at the edge of the town, its not a place to be taken lightly, no matter how lovely it may look from the outside." (Adri's review)

6. Temper, by Nicky Drayden (Harper Voyager): I thought Prey of Gods was an excellent debut that showed Drayden's promise as a writer. Temper is Drayden leveling up. Everything that was good in Prey of Gods is better in Temper. In her review, Adri wrote that Temper was "a more focused story which instead channels its energy into a plot that soars precariously, like a skyscraper made out of playing cards holding up despite gravity saying otherwise. I came away from Temper entertained, impressed and more than a little confused, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes their high tech fantasy with a heavy dose of inventive unpredictability." (Adri's review)

7. Revenant Gun, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris): Set the third volume of a trilogy ten years after the second and have the primary viewpoint character be the resurrected famous genocidal general Shuos Jedao, except it is the significantly younger Jedao who has no memory of why he is famous, feared, or the strategies he might be expected to employ against Kel Cheris and adult Jedao with full memory. It's an interesting choice made by Yoon Ha Lee that fully pays off and makes Revenant Gun a satisfying conclusion to the Machineries of Empire space opera trilogy.

8. The Fated Sky, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor): I questioned myself whether to include The Fated Sky here. It is an exceptional novel, there is no question of that, but with The Calculating Stars already topping this list I didn't know if a second novel from the same series should take up another spot on the list.

"The Fated Sky may not have the same newness and sense of wonder that only a first book in a series can have, but it delivers in all the ways that matter. The raw joy of being in space is there. The amazement of landing on a new planet is palpable, where it doesn't matter if you are the first man or woman to place your foot on that soil. The simple fact of being there is wondrous and Mary Robinette Kowal manages to convey that emotion so perfectly the reader experiences it.  The Fated Sky stands well on its own, but when coupled with The Calculating Stars it is a masterpiece." (my review)

9. Taste of Wrath, by Matt Wallace (Tor.com Publishing): Attentive readers of Nerds of a Feather will remember how much I've loved Wallace's Sin du Jour novellas. Taste of the Wrath is the culmination of the seven volume journey that Matt Wallace has taken us own. It began with the "catering event of the week",  but built into a story of deep and wrenching emotion. Wallace has earned the ending here and Taste of Wrath is a truly satisfying conclusion to one of my favorite series. (my review)



As I mentioned in the introduction, for as many books as I read in a year, there is always something amazing that I missed and that I just didn't have time to get to. Or, as plugged in as I try to be, that I just haven't heard of (or heard enough about). As much as I wanted to, I did not read Red Moon (Kim Stanley Robinson), How Long Til Black Future Month (N.K. Jemisin), Semiosis (Sue Burke), Blackfish City (Sam J. Miller), Friday Black (Nana Adjei-Brenyah). The list of highly recommend and presumably stellar novels that I just didn't get to read this year is long and distinguished. That's the reason for the tenth spot on the list. 

Also it is worth noting the six books that just missed the list but were in serious contention: Space Opera (Catherynne M. Valente), Record of a Spaceborn Few (Becky Chambers), Armistice (Lara Elena Donnelly), Consuming Fire (John Scalzi), Mem (Bethany C. Morrow), State Tectonics (Malka Older),


POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 2017 & 2018 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Minnesotan.  

Microreview [Book]: Temper by Nicky Drayden

Temper soars precariously, like a skyscraper made of playing cards, presenting a fast paced -- if occasionally messy -- reading experience.

So, here's a problem that most prolific readers will recognise. I got a copy of Temper, the new book by Nicky Drayden, almost two months ago, and at least a month before the UK release date: an extremely exciting development which also let me cancel the second preorder I'd accidentally made in enough time to avoid getting it twice. Despite that excitement, however… two months have gone by without my reading it. How does this happen, dear readers? How are we not able to drop everything and find time for every "OHMIGODSOEXCITING" book that comes our way? Anyway, this delay was finally rectified this week, as Temper's time in front of my eyeballs finally came.

If you're familiar with Drayden's previous novel, The Prey of Gods, you might have some idea of what to expect in Temper, though this is a very different world in most respects. The worldbuilding is rich and largely cohesive, hanging primarily on the premise of a sort-of-South Africa where nearly everyone has a twin, and every pair of twins exchanges genetic material in the womb and then comes out with seven virtues and their corresponding vices divided between them. The twin with more virtues gets labelled the "greater" twin, while the one with fewer is "lesser", and destined for a lifetime of discrimination and low expectations. Twins balance each other out when in proximity and suffer physical and mental effects if they stray too far away from each other, with much of the resulting urban environment addressing the problem of how to split off "greater" and "lesser" twins while still maintaining that proximity link.

Into this world come Auben and Kasim, born in the "comfy", a slum area separated from surrounding suburbs by a giant C-shaped wall. The pair are unusual in that Kasim has come out with six out of seven virtues - only missing charity - and Auben has six vices (including, obviously, Temper). Despite being literally branded as having an inferior personality, narrator Auben is smart, personable and driven, and the brothers have managed to maintain a strong relationship despite the inherent inequality in privilege. Less promisingly, Auben has also started hearing a voice in his head compelling him to evil, and its up to him and his brother to try and figure out what to do about this apparent demonic possession, learning more about the dominant religion of their society, which they have been raised outside of, as they go.

What follows is a story that will have you reaching for the Ron Burgundy memes, as Auben and Kasim go from awkward teenage antics with their respective crushes to the world-altering centre of a long-running supernatural conspiracy. To say more would be to do a disservice to readers who want to experience Temper in its absurd, glorious entirety, but I'll just say that the last quarter of the book, in particular, did not go at all where I thought it would. Even Auben, towards the end, notes that particular things he was worrying about at the start of the book seem trivial from his later vantage. That said, in hindsight, every escalation of Temper's plot and stakes has a logical progression to it, and the story itself is very easy to follow. The book becomes a richer experience for its unpredictability and Drayden's willingness to push her premise to its absolute limit.

That's not to say that I agreed with everything that happened here. In particular, there's a lot of violent action by our protagonists - including something one scene it's hard not to interpret as sexual assault and another that is basically rape with an incest/mistaken identity element (not explicitly described) - which the narrative glosses over and really doesn't make the boys answer for. It's notable that the one functional, continuous intergenerational relationship is between the boys and their uncle, who is coping with his own mental health issues and some serious internalised baggage around sex. While Kasim and Auben interact with plenty of women, sympathetic and otherwise, on their journey, it would have been nice to see them called out for their misogyny when dealing with some of them, especially when love interests start to arise. I'd also have liked to see more acknowledgement of how societal misogyny and dynamics would play out in a world where half the population are functionally intersex: different-sexed fraternal twins whose genetic sharing in the womb makes them "gender chimeras" or "kigen". These characters mainly use "ey/em/eir" pronouns and form most, though not all, of the queer representation in Temper. Based on the acknowledgements, it looks like a fair bit of sensitivity reading went into getting this right, and while it isn't my place to say the extent to which it's successful (individual readers will no doubt draw their own conclusions), I didn't notice anything that made me feel it wasn't well handled.

I also think Temper could be a technically tighter experience without losing its unpredictable charms. For example, there are a fair few story threads where lack of back story means that reveals seem to come from nowhere: like Auben and Kasim's mother, or Nkosazana and Ruda, or the entire secular movement. Other plot points, like the reveal of Auden and Kasim's father, don't seem to add anything to where the story ends up going, and could have been dropped without losing anything from the overall story direction. I could easily see the basic story covered in Temper turning into a trilogy in another author's hands, with subplots galore and a slower escalation to the eventual end state (which would fit quite nicely into three volumes, structurally speaking). That Drayden handles the story in one turns this book into wild ride it is, and it works brilliantly as a standalone, but I'm definitely going to be looking out for longer volumes and potential series from her, as I think she could develop a longer story to great effect.

I normally describe The Prey of Gods as "a hot mess in the best possible sense", and Temper feels like a natural progression from that: a more focused story which instead channels its energy into a plot that soars precariously, like a skyscraper made out of playing cards holding up despite gravity saying otherwise. I came away from Temper entertained, impressed and more than a little confused, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes their high tech fantasy with a heavy dose of inventive unpredictability. Just remember to make the time to actually read it!

The Math

Baseline Score: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 A fast-paced plot that never quite goes where you expect, but makes great sense anyway

Penalties: -1 Teenage boys still get away with too much; -1 A few too many stray story threads

Nerd Coefficient: 7/10

POSTED BY: Adri is a semi-aquatic migratory mammal most often found in the UK. She has many opinions about SFF books, and is also partial to gaming, baking, interacting with dogs, and Asian-style karaoke. Find her on Twitter at @adrijjy.

Reference: Drayden, Nicky. Temper [HarperCollins, 2018]

New Books Spotlight

Welcome to another edition of the New Books Spotlight, where each month or so we curate a selection of 6 forthcoming books we find notable, interesting, and intriguing. It gives us the opportunity to shine a brief spotlight on some stuff we're itching to get our hands on.

What are you looking forward to? Anything you want to argue with us about? Is there something we should consider spotlighting in the future? Let us know in the comments!

Bennett, Robert Jackson. Foundryside [Random House / Crown]
Publisher's Description

In a city that runs on industrialized magic, a secret war will be fought to overwrite reality itself–the first in a dazzling new series from City of Stairs author Robert Jackson Bennett.

Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle.

But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic–the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience–have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.

Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.

To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.

Why We Want It: Robert Jackson Bennett's Divine Cities trilogy is my pick for the Hugo Award for Best Series. It's some of the best damn fantasy you're likely to read in this or any year. Knowing this is the new novel in a new series from Bennett, that's enough. But a novel with an attempt to re-write reality, thieves, and mystic artifacts from Robert Jackson Bennett? C'mon now. I'm already there.

Drayden, Nicky. Temper [Harper Voyager]
Publisher's Description

In a land similar to South Africa, twin brothers are beset by powerful forces beyond their understanding or control in this thrilling blend of science fiction, horror, magic, and dark humor—evocative of the works of Lauren Beukes, Ian McDonald, and Nnedi Okorafor—from the author of The Prey of Gods.

Two brothers.
Seven vices.
One demonic possession.
Can this relationship survive?

Auben Mutze has more vices than he can deal with—six to be exact—each branded down his arm for all the world to see. They mark him as a lesser twin in society, as inferior, but there’s no way he’ll let that define him. Intelligent and outgoing, Auben’s spirited antics make him popular among the other students at his underprivileged high school. So what if he’s envious of his twin Kasim, whose single vice brand is a ticket to a better life, one that likely won’t involve Auben.

The twins’ strained relationship threatens to snap when Auben starts hearing voices that speak to his dangerous side—encouraging him to perform evil deeds that go beyond innocent mischief. Lechery, deceit, and vanity run rampant. And then there are the inexplicable blood cravings. . . .

On the southern tip of an African continent that could have been, demons get up to no good during the time of year when temperatures dip and temptations rise. Auben needs to rid himself of these maddening voices before they cause him to lose track of time. To lose his mind. And to lose his . . .

TEMPER

Why We Want It: Prey of Gods was an excellent debut novel that had me excited to see what Drayden was going to do next. To be honest, I haven't paid a whole lot of attention as to what this book was about. What I needed to know was that this was the second book from Nicky Drayden.

Duchamp, L Timmel. Chercher La Femme [Aqueduct]
Publisher's Description

"Everything about the humanoids inhabiting the planet La Femme is beautiful and desirable. Even their names are a pleasure to the tongue, a pleasure that can be experienced only in meat space." —Paul 22423

They named the planet "La Femme" and called it a paradise and refused to leave it. Now Julia 9561 is heading up the mission to retrieve the errant crew and establish meaningful Contact with the inhabitants. Are the inhabitants really all female, as the first crew claimed? Why don't the men want to return to Earth? What happened to the women on the crew? And why did Paul 22423 warn the First Council to send only male crew members?

Why We Want It: I've been a fan of Duchamp's fiction since I first read Alanya to Alanya and the subsequent novels in her Marq'ssan Cycle. Chercher La Femme is not part of that sequence, but looks to be another imaginative and important work of feminist science fiction.

Eames, Nicholas. Bloody Rose [Orbit]
Publisher's Description

A band of fabled mercenaries, led by the infamous Bloody Rose, tour a wild fantasy landscape, battling monsters in arenas in front of thousands of adoring fans, but a secret and dangerous gig ushers them to the frozen north, and the band is never one to waste a shot at glory . . . even if it means almost certain death. 

Live fast, die young. 

Tam Hashford is tired of working at her local pub, slinging drinks for world-famous mercenaries and listening to the bards sing of adventure and glory in the world beyond her sleepy hometown.

When the biggest mercenary band of all, led by the infamous Bloody Rose, rolls into town, Tam jumps at the chance to sign on as their bard. It’s adventure she wants – and adventure she gets as the crew embark on a quest that will end in one of two ways: glory or death.

It’s time to take a walk on the wyld side.

Why We Want It: I missed out of Kings of the Wyld when it was first published. It didn't seem like my thing at all, but I've reconsidered based on the recommendation from some friends and reviewers whose opinions I trust. I still need to step back and read that one, but that interest has me keeping my eye on the second book from Nicholas Eames: Bloody Rose.

Kowal, Mary Robinette. The Fated Sky [Tor]
Publisher's Description

Continuing the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars, The Fated Sky looks forward to 1961, when mankind is well-established on the moon and looking forward to its next step: journeying to, and eventually colonizing, Mars. 

Of course the noted Lady Astronaut Elma York would like to go, but there’s a lot riding on whoever the International Aerospace Coalition decides to send on this historic—but potentially very dangerous—mission? Could Elma really leave behind her husband and the chance to start a family to spend several years traveling to Mars? And with the Civil Rights movement taking hold all over Earth, will the astronaut pool ever be allowed to catch up, and will these brave men and women of all races be treated equitably when they get there? This gripping look at the real conflicts behind a fantastical space race will put a new spin on our visions of what might have been. 

Why We Want It: I've only just began to read The Calculating Stars at the time I'm working on this spotlight, so if you're reading this, I loved it. I've been a fan of Kowal's novel length fiction and short fiction for many years now, and I loved "The Lady Astronaut of Mars", the story that both this and The Calculating Stars was spun off from. I have high expectations for both this and The Calculating Stars.

Otis, Abbey Mei. Alien Virus Love Disaster [Small Beer]
Publisher's Description

Abbey Mei Otis’s short stories are contemporary fiction at its strongest: taking apart the supposed equality that is clearly just not there, putting humans under an alien microscope, putting humans under government control, putting kids from the moon into a small beach town and then the putting the rest of the town under the microscope as they react in ways we hope they would, and then, of course, in ways we’d hope they don’t.

Otis has long been fascinated in using strange situations to explore dynamics of power, oppression, and grief, and the twelve stories collected here are at once a striking indictment of the present and a powerful warning about the future.

Why We Want It: If I'm being completely honest, the title itself is a bit of a selling point. I'm not familiar with the work of Abbey Mei Otis, but between the title and the description of the stories, I want to know more. I want to read this collection.


POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 2017 & 2018 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Minnesotan.

Nanoreviews: The Prey of Gods, The Last Good Man, When the English Fall

Drayden, Nicky. The Prey of Gods [Harper Voyager, 2017]

Well, this is nothing like anything I've read before. The reemergence humans born with the power of gods, the rise of artificial intelligence, genetic engineering - it's a wild combination that works on the strength of Drayden's prose. The Prey of Gods is set in nearish future South Africa and I really don't know how to describe this book except to say that it is a lot of fun to read and is a raw delight. This is a very strong debut and I'm excited to see what Drayden does next.
Score: 7/10

Nagata, Linda. The Last Good Man [Mythic Island Press, 2017]

Nagata's near future military sci-fi is as good as it gets. The Last Good Man deals with private military contractors and the automated and outsourced future of warfare. Nagata spins a tightly focused compelling story of a rescue mission and the secrets that can come back to haunt. It's damned good. I could have read another hundred pages of this and I'd equally love to see another novel focusing on Requisition Operations.
Score: 8/10

Williams, David. When the English Fall [Algonquin Books, 2017]

One of the 24 books I was most looking forward to this year, When the English Fall did not disappoint. It's an Amish post apocalyptic novel, which is perhaps the greatest description I've heard of for a novel. Told through journal entries, When the English Fall is a moving story of keeping one's faith and one's way of life in the midst of increasing and encroaching violence. I appreciated how communities like the Amish may, in many ways, be more equipped for breakdowns in civilization - at least until that breakdown shows up at their doorstep. I want more like this.
Score: 7/10


POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 2017 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Writer / Editor of the mostly defunct Adventures in Reading since 2004. Minnesotan.