Midsummer has been and gone, so as we approach the end of June I’m taking a moment to catch my breath and look back at the year’s reading so far.
books
In our third week of The Fantasy Hive’s read-along of She Who Became The Sun, political conflict within the Red Turbans is the most immediate threat to Zhu’s fate; while Ouyang struggles with inner turmoil as he begins prosecuting his revenge…
Mal dreams of living off streaming BestLife, the massive multiplayer version of reality. After snagging the first footage of an elusive SecOps NPC in weeks, a sponsor offers to pay her to do just that. The price is a quest that will put Mal face to face with real SecOps – and toe to toe with Stellaxis, the corporation that controls every aspect of her life…
Much to my own surprise, I seem to be down to between 1 and 7 books left to read for the Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards shortlists (depending on how many series I finish). I’ve now finished reading the novella nominees, so time for a quick round-up of the last two and a muse over where that leaves me…
In our second week of The Fantasy Hive’s read-along of She Who Became The Sun, events force Zhu to take her fate into her own hands. Great rewards require her to take great risks, for she must attract the notice of Heaven without Heaven noticing she isn’t Zhu Chongba…
When an ex-magician turned card sharp is pressured into ensuring a nobleman loses his stake in a high profile tournament, Valen and his crew find themselves in possession of a secret that could upset the delicate political balance that keeps the island of Valtiffe independent. And, y’know, get them all killed.
I usually try to look at upcoming releases ahead of the month actually starting, but I ran out of puff towards the end of Wyrd & Wonder so I’m playing catch up today (what’s that? You thought I’d forgotten? Not a chance, your TBR is never safe around here). As ever, there’s lots coming our way, but these are the titles I’m most interested to make some room for…
I first read She Who Became The Sun last year. Shelley Parker-Chan’s devastatingly good debut reimagines a key period of Chinese history and I never marshalled my thoughts into a review that wasn’t vowels – but that’s okay, as The Fantasy Hive have come to my rescue with a read-along for their June celebration of trans and nonbinary authors.
Our adventure is done, but the long days of summer lie ahead for further exploration of the realms of fantasy to lay in a stock of new stories to share when we next meet. But before we head back out into the fictional wilds, let’s take a final look back at our fifth year of Wyrd and Wonder.
May saw me travel halfway around the world to see family for the first time in 3 years. Stir in Wyrd & Wonder, the worst jetlag of my life and ongoing family health worries and it was a good month, but a lot. It also meant I was less present for Wyrd & Wonder than I would have liked, so don’t be surprised if you get very delayed comments from me as I still mean to blog hop!
If you’d asked me at the start what the hardest Fantastic Five would be to write, subgenres wouldn’t have even crossed my mind. More fool me. Because I can barely define subgenres correctly, let alone accurately assign books to them – and I’m wildly indecisive. So this was trickier than anticipated…
It’s the final week of our read-along of The Summer Tree and that sound is me sobbing and my fellow read-alongers screaming as Guy Gavriel Kay serves up a vicious finale of family conflict, double-edged fates and the endless hatred of an undying god. Questions this week by Mayri the BookForager!
We’re two thirds of the way through our journey, which is another fine time to pause and take stock. Pour yourself a drink and settle in to hear all about the adventures we’ve been having on our travels through the realms of fancy.
It’s a truth rarely acknowledged that I get more out of SFnal short stories than fantasy. Novellas, on the other hand, are a favourite of mine regardless of genre. The best have just enough world-building to support their plot, and focus on characters and situation to deliver a thrilling adventure or emotionally resonant ride (or both! Both is good) – for today’s Fantastic Five, I’m sharing some favourites…
The third week of our read-along of The Summer Tree is a rollercoaster of love and gods – and unexpected friendship. Yes, I’ve spent most of the week sobbing into my pages, so let’s see if I can explain why…
onemore.org 