Let’s jump straight into another month of the State of SFF, although it’s pretty light on the news. I am super busy reading the Hugo Award finalists and catching up on outstanding reviews. Quickie News The Hugo Voter Packet is out and I’ve been reading, reading, reading. That novelette category is on fire! We’ve got the finalists for the Locus Awards and they look awesome as always. Adaptation News YAAAAY! One of my favorite books of last year, a debut no less, is going to be a TV series. Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs is perfect material for a series, and since producer and writer ..read more

I have to thank Books, Bones & Buffy so, so much! It was her review of this book that gave me the nudge I needed to actually pick it up, rather than letting it gather dust like so many other new releases I have on my radar and then never get to. I found the cover quite nice and the idea of an epistolary fantasy novel always appealed to me, but there was something missing, you know. Thanks to Tammy’s review, I was suddenly more than eager to pick it up and I’m glad I chose the audiobook to do so. That made the whole thing an experience. LETTERS TO THE LUMINOUS DEEP by Sylvie Cathrall Publi ..read more

I love Sarah Gailey’s fiction, but for some reason I saved their first published novellas for last. I enjoyed the twist on the magic school trope (Magic for Liars), the magical girl group YA book (When We Were Magic), I loved the shit out of the sci-fi clone story (The Echo Wife) and I liked their creepy haunted house novel (Just Like Home). After having read all of those books, I finally went back and listened to the free Audible audiobooks of Gailey’s two alternate history novellas, and boy, was it fun! My thoughts on the second book will, by necessity, include some spoilers for the first. S ..read more

I had such a good feeling about this series, even after the first volume was “only” a good book without anything to make it stand out. I had high hopes for this unplanned sequel, but was unfortunately let down. I didn’t dislike this book, exactly, but I also don’t feel like continuing this series. We’ll see where it ends up on my Lodestar ballot as soon as I’ve finished reading all the finalists. THE SINISTER BOOKSELLERS OF BATH by Garth Nix Published: Gollancz, 2023 Hardcover: 368 pages Audiobook: 9 hours, 50 minutes Series: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London #2 My rating: 6/10 Opening li ..read more

I went rogue and read this standalone entry in Leckie’s Imperial Radch universe without having finished the original trilogy and without having read Provenance. If you’re thinking of doing the same, go for it, it totally works. There may be spoilers for the previous books, but I personally didn’t mind and will definitely still go back and read those. Also, this makes my Hugo ballot a lot more difficult to arrange… Thanks, Ann Leckie! TRANSLATION STATE by Ann Leckie Published: Orbit, 2023 Ebook: 432 pages Standalone My rating: 8.5/10 Opening line: The last stragglers in the funeral procession ..read more

To be honest, if they hadn’t all been finalists for the Lodestar Award, I would have DNF’d this trilogy after the first book, even though I found that one quite fun. It’s just so obviously not for me that reading the rest was bound to be a chore or severely grating, at least. The final volume was a bit better than the middle one, but I still didn’t love it. PROMISES STRONGER THAN DARKNESS by Charlie Jane Anders Published: Tor Teen, 2023 Ebook: 368 pages Audiobook: 13 hours, 44 minutes Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers, Marcella Lentz-Pope, Sena Bryer Series: Unstoppable #3 My rating: 5.5/10 Open ..read more

I’ve seen this book cover around since before it was published, meaning the marketing drum was beating a pretty steady tattoo. But call me shallow, the cover just kind of turned me off. I kept the book in the back of my mind as an interesting sounding story to check out some time, and that time has come now, what with the novel being both a Nebula and a Hugo finalist. I can absolutely see why, I’m glad it’s a finalist and it’s going to end up in the top half of my personal ballot. THE SAINT OF BRIGHT DOORS by Vajra Chandrasekera Published: Tordotocom, 2023 Ebook: 368 pages Standalone My ratin ..read more

In my quest to read as many of this year’s Hugo and Lodestar finalists as possible, I diligently picked up the first volume in Garth Nix’s latest series. The book that is a Lodestar finalist is actually the sequel, The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, which I will read next and scrutinize a bit more harshly. This series intro was a bit of lighthearted fun without much depth, but I enjoyed listening to the audiobook nonetheless. THE LEFT-HANDED BOOKSELLERS OF LONDON by Garth Nix Published: Gollancz, 2020 Hardcover: 416 pages Audiobook: 11 hours, 15 minutes Narrated by: Marisa Calin Series: The Le ..read more

I don’t think I’ve ever read books by an author where my impressions differ so vastly between adult and YA work as with Charlie Jane Anders’ series. I adore her adult fiction, some more, some a little less, but generally, I enjoy the hell out of her SFF. Her young adult series… not so much. I was okay with the first book, just found it a bit too childish and on-the-nose-for-kids, but it was adventurous enough. This second one, however, felt like work and was such a chore to get through. I hope to like the third one more, but I’m honestly not looking forward to it much. DREAMS BIGGER THAN HEAR ..read more

I had such a great TBR. I had such plans! And then totally unforseen things that nobody could have expected happened. Things like my library holds coming in, or the Hugo Award finalists being announced, or me being in a weird mood. Anyway, despite extensive TBR changes, I managed to pass another successful semester at Orilium Academy and advance my character on her way to becoming a Scribe. Classes and Reading Prompts This year’s syllabus (linked here on Google Drive) was a great mix! I finished all classes I need to and then a couple of extra ones. For reasons. Class Book Rating (x/5) El ..read more