Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, and Other Speculative Fiction
by a bunch of raccoons in a trench coat & a cat
In space, everyone can hear you scream when you realize your roommate steals your lunch from the community space fridge. Has anyone every made it through a space voyage completely functionally?
Find out which dysfunctional space crew is your ride-or-die with this quiz!
And while you’ve got books on the brain, Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini is out now in paperback! You should read it.
by a bunch of raccoons in a trench coat & a cat
In space, everyone can hear you scream when you realize your roommate steals your lunch from the community space fridge. Has anyone every made it through a space voyage completely functionally?
Find out which dysfunctional space crew is your ride-or-die with this quiz!
And while you’ve got books on the brain, Cascade Failure by L. M. Sagas is out now! You should read it.
This is a listicle about a bygone age that some who read it may not remember, prompting us to marvel at the impressive and intimidating march of time. This is a listicle about the year 2006, and it exists because of Cory Doctorow. Well, not the year—that was going to happen anyway, but the listicle, yes. That’s thanks to Cory, and his new novel The Bezzle, which is set in 2006.
You can read about it, and other titles that feature, include, or span the year 2006 below!
The Bezzle by Cory DoctorowThe year is 2006. Martin Hench is at the top of his game as a self-employed forensic accountant, a veteran of the long guerrilla war between people who want to hide money, and people who want to find it. In The Bezzle, Martin squares off against a cadre of the ultra-wealthy, and the arena where they clash is California’s Department of Corrections. This novel is a rebuke of the privatized prison system and the arcane financial chicanery that lead to the 2008 financial crisis.
Wolfsong by TJ KluneThe Green Creek Series chronicles the lives of a pack of smalltown werewolves, and the year 2006 is pivotal to the first novel in the series, Wolfsong. This is a story of familial trauma and queer love—the story of Joe and Ox, two young werewolves who one day will fall in love. Perhaps it is a coincidence that in all the chapters of this book, which encompass a broad swath of time, specifies 2006 as the year Joe and Ox first meet.
Perhaps.
But imagine how excited we were to discover this significance to the year so crucial to this listicle.
. . .
In case imagination fails, we were quite thrilled.
The Atlas Six by Olivie BlakeThe Atlas Series devotes much time to the relationships between big concepts like space, life, energy, death, and time. But we’re not talking about time broadly. We want time specific. Specifically, 2006. What was happening in the Atlas universe of magic grad students and dangerous research in 2006?
Well, the world was falling apart, for one. For two, Atlas was going through a deep and soul-shaking emotional journey that we can’t fully disclose in this list for fear of spoiling an incredible book series, but trust us. It was happening.
In 2006, Atlas Blakely was going through it.
Last Exit by Max GladstoneSpeaking of ‘Going through it’ as a colloquialism for having a tough time, let’s talk about Last Exit. Zelda, our primary point-of-view in Last Exit, is most certainly going through it. A relatively sheltered child, Zelda’s world expanded when she went to college and met her girlfriend Sal, and then expanded rapidly when she and Sal discovered a magic sort of power that allowed them to explore adjacent dimensions. It is likely that 2006 was somewhere in the soon-to-meet-Sal / going steady with Sal / optimistically exploring alternate realities phase of Zelda’s life.
Years later, in the present, that phase is over.
An interdimensional rot spreads between worlds, and the optimism is gone. So is Sal. Can the old gang muster together for an attempt at doing things right this time? It’s probably their last chance.
Exordia by Seth DickinsonWhen performing research for this list, we received ironclad confirmation that the events of the novel Exordia do, in fact, predate and postdate the year 2006, therefore giving us reason enough to include this book about the team-up of a disaffected office worker / refugee and an eight-headed snake alien as they combat an extra-extraterrestrial threat.
Read Exordia. It is Very Good.
Literature is full of characters we love, and often the very ones we love are indeed the ones who drive us crazy. Be it a roguish, irascible smile, witty wordplay, or any other brand of semi-sharp affection, our lovable menaces make us say “Ah! I can’t believe you! Come here…”
And we’ve got a few of them here on this list 😈
Nicolás Ferrer de Varona from The Atlas Series by Olivie BlakeEveryone loves Nico a little bit, at least. He’s a median of prodigious skill who can cause earthquakes. He’s also the worst. As passionate about annoying everyone around him as he is about unraveling the secrets of the universe, Nico is totally lovable and definitely menace.
Talasseres Charossa from The Serpent Gates Duology by A. K. LarkwoodTo describe Tal Charossa as roguish is accurate. He is a rogue. He does odd jobs including theft, murder, deicide, and parenting(?!) to varying degrees of success. He’s always some degree of unhappy and being really annoying about it. The idea of hanging out with Tal for an afternoon should both exhaust and excite, because you’re going to have a wild adventure and he’s going to be an entirely insufferable. Still, he’ll take a knife (or use one) for you ❤️
Zanj from Empress of Forever by Max GladstoneIn a cosmos ruled by a tyrannical queen who can crush planets by just flexing her thoughts, Zanj waged a campaign against her rule. Zanj failed of course, and was imprisoned in the heart of a star for many, many years. Still, just her name is enough to sew discord because anyone crazy enough to rebel against the Empress is also crazy dangerous. Zanj really doesn’t like being told what to do, so don’t try, however friends will discover that she can be a great ally.
Lukan Gardova from The Silverblood Promise by James LoganLukan is many things, but foremost among them, is a flop. His dad agrees. After all, dude pretty much disowned Lukan after said failson disgraced himself in an ill-fated duel. At least he’s decently fun company, skilled at cards and at downing cheap wine! After Lukan’s hopes for redemption are squashed when his dad is murdered, he sets out to posthumously win back some dignity by solving the crime. Will he?
Well.
That’s what the book’s about, and it’s available for preorder now until 5/7/24, when it goes on sale.
Bador from The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit BasuHe’s a small monkey-bot with big dreams. He’s gonna be a superstar astronaut someday, but until that day he’ll continue to be the argumentative lil bro of Lina, prospective revolutionary / daughter of failed revolutionaries. Like many little brothers, he’s a menace, but means well. Life isn’t a friendly road for monkey robots, but Bador’s gonna walk it, chattering with his sister the whole way.
New year, new books! But also: new chances to read slightly older books!
Kickstart your year with these hot eBook deals!
by Max Gladstone — $1.99A god has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart. Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis’s steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot. Tara’s job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help: Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead god, who’s having an understandable crisis of faith. When Tara and Abelard discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make a case in Alt Coulumb’s courts?and their quest for the truth endangers their partnership, their lives, and Alt Coulumb’s slim hope of survival.
by Scott Drakeford — $2.99Emrael Ire is a student of war with lofty ambitions, despite being so poor his boots are more hole than leather. He and his talented younger brother Ban work hard to build themselves a better life at the Citadel, a school that specializes in both infusori Crafting and military arts. Their lives are upended when the power-hungry Lord Governor of the neighboring province invades the school with the help of a sinister sect of priests devoted to the newly awakened Fallen God of Glory. Many of the infusori Crafter students are captured—Including Ban. Though Emrael stands little chance against the Lord Governor and his armies, he’s desperate to save his brother—even if that means accepting the help of allies with uncertain motives, or becoming a practitioner of a forbidden magic. There is nothing he won’t sacrifice to save his brother, but what happens when the cost of success is not his to pay?
by Nancy Kress — $2.99Humankind has expanded out into interstellar space using star gates-technological remnants left behind by an ancient, long-vanished race. But the technology comes with a price. Among the stars, humanity encountered the Fallers, a strange alien race bent on nothing short of genocide. It’s all-out war, and humanity is losing. In this fragile situation, a new planet is discovered, inhabited by a pre-industrial race who experience “shared reality”-they’re literally compelled to share the same worldview. A team of human scientists is dispatched-but what they don’t know is that their mission of first contact is actually a covert military operation. For one of the planet’s moons is really a huge mysterious artifact of the same origin as the star gates . . . and it just may be the key to winning the war.
by Gene Wolfe — $2.99Horn, the narrator of the earlier work, now tells his own story. Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the great leader Silk, and convince him to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity. So Horn sets sail in a small boat, on a long and difficult quest across the planet Blue in search of the now legendary Patera Silk. The story continues in In Green’s Jungles and Return to the Whorl.
by Peter Watts — $2.99A huge international corporation has developed a facility along the Juan de Fuca Ridge at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to exploit geothermal power. They send a bio-engineered crew–people who have been altered to withstand the pressure and breathe the seawater–down to live and work in this weird, fertile undersea darkness. Unfortunately the only people suitable for long-term employment in these experimental power stations are crazy, some of them in unpleasant ways. How many of them can survive, or will be allowed to survive, while worldwide disaster approaches from below?
by Gene Wolfe — $2.99The first volume of Gene Wolfe’s powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.
by J. V. Jones — $2.99As a newborn Ash March was abandoned–left for dead at the foot of a frozen mountain. Found and raised by the Penthero Iss, the mighty Surlord of Spire Vanis, she has always known she is different. Terrible dreams plague her and sometimes in the darkness she hears dread voices from another world. Iss watches her as she grows to womanhood, eager to discover what powers his ward might possess. As his interest quickens, he sends his living blade, Marafice Eye, to guard her night and day. Raif Sevrance, a young man of Clan Blackhail, also knows he is different, with uncanny abilities that distance him from the clan. But when he and his brother survive an ambush that plunges the entire Northern Territories into war, he yet seeks justice for his own . . . even if means he must forsake clan and kin.
by Kage Baker — $2.99In the 24th century, the Company preserves works of art and extinct forms of life (for profit of course). It recruits orphans from the past, renders them all but immortal, and trains them to serve the Company, Dr. Zeus. One of these is Mendoza the botanist. She is sent to Elizabethan England to collect samples from the garden of Sir Walter Iden. But while there, she meets Nicholas Harpole, with whom she falls in love. And that love sounds great bells of change that will echo down the centuries, and through the succeeding novels of The Company.
by Robert J. Lawyer — $2.99Hominids is a strong, stand-alone SF novel, but it’s also the first book of The Neanderthal Parallax, a trilogy that will examine two unique species of people. They are alien to each other, yet bound together by the never-ending quest for knowledge and, beneath their differences, a common humanity. We are one of those species, the other is the Neanderthals of a parallel world where they, not Homo sapiens, became the dominant intelligence. In that world, Neanderthal civilization has reached heights of culture and science comparable to our own, but is very different in history, society, and philosophy.
, based on the novel by Robert Jordan, written by Chuck Dixon, and illustrated by Chase Conley — $2.99Created with the cooperation of the Jordan estate, adapted by well-known comics writer Chuck Dixon and illustrated by the talented Chase Conley, The Eye of the World: The Graphic Novel has been hailed as an exciting interpretation of Robert Jordan’s classic fantasy novel. The Eye of the World: The Graphic Novel, Volume One begins Robert Jordan’s epic tale by introducing Rand al’Thor and his friends Matrim and Perrin at home in Emond’s Field, shortly before the spring festival. Moiraine Damodred and Lan Mandragoran appear and almost before Rand knows it, he’s fleeing his home village with Moiraine, Lan, his friends, and Egwene al’Vere, the innkeeper’s daughter, who wishes to become an Aes Sedai. The conclusion of this volume leaves the travelers on the road to Baerlon, barely ahead of the pursuing Trollocs and Draghkar. But even as they run for their lives, Moiraine and Lan begin to teach the young people what they will need to know to survive in this dangerous world.
by Julia Bergen & a cat
Yo VIP, let’s kick it.
Ice. It’s cool. It’s…there. But there’s not much humor to it. Not like sand.
But with winter upon us, we wanted to make an article about ice. But how to give ice a little chaos, a little twinkle, a little magic?
We thought. And we thought.
Ice…
Ice…
Baby?
And thus was born, the chaotic, twinkling, maybe even magical, icy songs and books pairing listicle.
Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby + James Rollins’ The Cradle of IceTaken in a certain light, Vanilla Ice’s classic Ice Ice Baby is a quest song. A group of heroes must collaborate and listen. They travel for a while, pursuing to the next stop. Action heats up when Gunshots ranged out like a bell and our heroes must get away before the jackers jack. But in the end they pull together as if with a rallying cry of, if there was a problem, yo, I’ll solve it.
What does that make you think of?
Obviously, the fantasy epic The Cradle of Ice by James Rollins! Where a soldier, a thief, a lost prince, and a young girl must form a fellowship to stop an apocalypse by traveling into a vast region of ice and to a sprawling capital of the world they’ve only known in stories. It’s an incredible, gripping fantasy, because Rollins truly understands that “anything less than the best is a felony.”
Pat Benetar’s Fire And Ice + Olivie Blake’s The Atlas SixThis anthem to the inevitability of attraction and heartbreak is the perfect tune to compliment the messy, messy personal dynamics at play in The Atlas Six. In the book, six powerful magicians do graduate research and contemplate asking out their crushes and murdering their friends. In the song, Pat Benetar is familiar with the capricious and cruel nature of the one she’s craving (You come on like a flame, then you turn a cold shoulder), but knowledge is not enough to prevent carnage. She knows if she surrenders to the heat she feels, it’ll fall away and she’ll be left in the cold (I want to give you my love, but you’ll just take a little piece of my heart).
In the end, Pat seems determined not to fall for her crush’s games, while the characters of The Atlas Six are pretty much incapable of not allowing their peers to burn them, but talk is cheap.
Ask Atlas Society resident Tristan Caine if he’s going back for more Fire And Ice, knowing he’ll be hurt, and he’ll tell you to shut up and get lost, but that’s only because he has somewhere to be.
Also something something re: Robert Frost’s poem about fire, ice, and the end of the world.
Foreigner’s Cold as Ice + John Scalzi’s Starter VillainOkay, on the outside, Cold as Ice by Foreigner may seem like it’s about a broken-hearted ex describing a former lover’s rejection. But ice can be deceiving, just like this song! I think it’s actually about a group of billionaire super villains trying to run the world, much like the cabal in John Scalzi’s sf romp, Starter Villain.
They are cold as ice. They are willing to sacrifice. The line you’re digging for gold, particularly relevant, as these turds are just as into money as they into power. You want paradise well, their version of paradise, anyway. You leave the world behind, they don’t care about the world, they just want what they can get out of it.
But it ends on a hopeful note, as both Starter Villain and Foreigner promise us, someday you’ll pay the price, I know. Oh, we know.
PinkPantheress & Ice Spice’s Boy’s a liar Pt. 2 + Emma Mieko Candon’s The Archive UndyingSo before getting into more advanced parsing, The Archive Undying is a match for Boy’s a liar Pt. 2 because every boy in this book is lying through his teeth. Now, you could say that about all the women characters, nonbinary characters, and nonhuman characters too, and you’d be right. But Sunai, who is the main character of The Archive Undying—well, you just want to grab him by shoulders and plead with him to love himself a little and tear himself away from the long line of men that have only emotionally devastated him, knowing that Sunai himself is absolutely one of those men. The lyrics I don’t sleep enough without you / And I can’t eat enough without you are very Sunai-coded; he’s definitely not taking care of himself. He’s a man who would sooner feed himself to a giant starving robot than love himself enough to tell someone he loves them.
Billy Joel’s Running on Ice + Cory Doctorow’s The BezzleWhen we were picking out pairings, this one felt like an obvious choice. Although Billy Joel could not possibly have read The Bezzle (on sale 2.20.2024) when he wrote Running on Ice (part of Joel’s album The Bridge, released 7.9.1986), it does feel like this song is about forensic accountant Martin Hench, AKA the culmination of technology and civilized experience.
The song describes someone pushed to the brink by modern civilization, and though the narrator doesn’t specifically say that he’s battling amoral billionaires trying to make their next buck no matter the cost, it’s basically implied. In a world of high rise ambition most people’s motives are ulterior? Definitely what Hench runs into in both Red Team Blues and the follow up, The Bezzle, where now he’s pitted against a group of the ultra rich taking advantage of the private prison system to make even more money. Poor Martin Hench, always wandering into another nefarious scheme. But as the song says, as soon as I get one fire put out
There’s another building burning down.
At least that means we’ve got lots of Martin Hench adventures to read?
Simon & Garfunkel’s A Hazy Shade of Winter + Max Gladstone’s Last ExitLook around / Leaves are brown / And the sky is a hazy shade of winter.
Last Exit is kind of like that. Look around—things are not as they were. Leaves are brown—no youth, no hope. There’s a patch of snow on the ground.
In the distant past before the events of Last Exit, Zelda and her friends discovered a magic sort of spiritual momentum that could propel one into a different dimension. The roads to alternate realities were a navigable spiderweb, and they knew they could use their findings to improve not just their world, but all of them.
There’s a patch of snow on the ground.
They were wrong, and they suffered for it, and the future is colder than the past. The rot between worlds—an interdimensional sickness—claimed Zelda’s girlfriend, but she’s still out there. Calling. Approaching. Does the old gang have enough idealism left to band together for one last adventure?
There’s a patch of snow on the ground.
It is very cold.
Christina Perri’s Jar of Hearts + S. E. Porter’s ProjectionsWhen we made this list, things were pretty silly. We called our brainstorming sess ice ice meeting. We were so, so goofy. But honestly, a lot of these songs that invoke ice are about pain, which perhaps we could have anticipated, had we not been so initially focused on Vanilla Ice.
Anyway, the ice in Jar of Hearts comes from this chorus: You’re gonna catch a cold / From the ice inside your soul / So don’t come back for me / Who do you think you are? The novel Projections is about as harrowing as those lines. A rejected sorcerer murders Catherine, the woman who denied him, and then sends projections of himself out into the world to seduce more women to add them to his jar of hearts.
Catherine’s not about this, and haunts him. Seeks vengeance. As Christina Perri sang, Don’t you know I’m not your ghost anymore?
The song and book aren’t 1-1 parallels, but the notes are all present. The hurt. The betrayal. The haunting.
by Kaleb Russell
In 2021, Amazon’s long awaited The Wheel of Time TV series arrived onto the scene to instant acclaim for its sumptuous production, compelling cast of characters, and its gorgeously rendered world; brimming with sprawl and wonder. Simply put, a faithful adaptation of the late Robert Jordan’s iconic fantasy series. Unfortunately, the first season ended as soon as it came, leaving many starved for more fantastical storytelling. And then season 2 released and it rocked! But also same problem—what do you do once you’re done watching? Fret not, for we have prepared a feast! Here are 7 fantasy series to tide you over until season 3 arrives!
Tales of Tremaine — R.R. VirdiThe first book in R.R. Virdi’s Tales of Tremaine series follows an enigmatic singer/storyteller named Ari and his journey to outrun his sinful past. Crafted in the tradition of stories like Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind, The First Binding is a harrowing love letter to the fantasy genre and the art of storytelling. Based in a South Asian mythos, readers will find themselves enraptured by Virdi’s dashing prose and elegant world building. And as if you needed even more reasons to start reading, The First Binding is now available in paperback!
— Jason DenzelSo you loved The Wheel of Time (of course!). You know who else loved Wheel? Jason Denzel. This stalwart Robert Jordan fan founded community fansite Dragonmount.com, and then went on to pen his own trilogy of epic fantasy. In this trilogy, a primal force called Myst pulses at the heart of the world. One young magi will defy law and tradition to unravel its secrets… One lucky reader who’s scrolling this post right now will discover their next fantasy binge… That’s right! The trilogy’s epic conclusion, Mystic Skies, is out now, so you can dive through this entire series in one go!
— Max GladstoneThe Craft Sequence takes place in a 21st century fantasy world where, after a terrible war that left significant swaths decimated, Gods deal and compete with wizard-run corporations for power and influence while necromantic lawyers levy dark magic to litigate their conflicts. Imagine rogue magicians flying to work on lightning bolts. CEOs taking the form of business suit clad skeletons whose flesh has worn away after years of manipulating elements of the universe. Monasteries operated by the lifeless corpses of their devote followers. Part fantasy epic, part legal thriller, Gladstone explores a myriad of topics including but not limited to religion, faith, finance, climate change, and so much more with an alarming level of wit and innovation. It’s a series that’s strange, wondrous, and terrifying in equal measure. Better yet, one could start with any book in the series as each book functions as interconnected standalones!
AND even BETTER yet, Max has returned to the world of the craft with The Craft Wars—a new series and entry point to this universe. This series is perfect for readers that just itch to squabble with gods and hate capitalism, and starts with Dead Country and will continue in Wicked Problems.
— Brandon SandersonWho better to read than the author chosen by Robert Jordan himself to bring the The Wheel of Time series to a satisfying conclusion? Sanderson went on to craft a myriad of his own sprawling fantasy worlds, one such being Roshar, a world wracked by storms so violent, the planet’s ecology has taken a rather peculiar evolutionary track with animals growing shells to escape into and plant life developing internal evasive measures to survive. Then there are the Knights Radiant, 10 ancient orders whose magical weapons are the impetus for a cataclysmic war taking place on a ruined landscape known as the Shattered Plains. 10 years in the making, The Stormlight Archive promises to be another operatic fantasy on par with The Wheel of Time.
— Jenn LyonsAfter learning he’s the long-lost son of a treacherous prince, young Kihrin quickly realises the storybooks he was raised on – fanciful tales of heroic royals achieving heroic victories– are the furthest thing from the truth. Trapped in his new family’s web of deceit and maniacal ambitions, Kihrin must fight to find his own path. A path removed from the ruinous fate laid before him, a fate where he’s the villain destined to destroy the world. Intricately weaving two compelling narratives together, Lyons tells a compelling story about harrowing family drama and a boy vying for freedom.
— James RollinsNew York Times bestselling author James Rollins flexes his storytelling chops by seamlessly transitioning from the realm of thrillers to that of science fantasy in the exciting debut of his new Moonfall series: The Starless Crown. The world of Urth has stopped rotating on its axis. Leaving one side of the planet sun swept, the other wreathed in shadow and ice. Follow Nyx, a gifted student who sees visions of a bleak apocalypse, and her band of outcasts in their journey to uncover the secrets of old that might just give them answers necessary to save their world. Wheel of Time fans will surely love this world of floating ships and prophetic gods.
And watch out for its sequel, The Cradle of Ice, on sale now!
— Kevin J. Anderson
Generations of scientists and philosophers have turned their gaze to the ever-blazing stars, searching for the answer to the question that pulses deep within their souls: Is space gay?
We’re here to confirm that it is, and we’ve got the gay space operas to prove it.
Check’em out 😎
Devil’s Gun by Cat RamboLife’s hard when you’re on the run from a vengeful pirate-king…When Niko and her crew find that the intergalactic Gate they’re planning on escaping through is out of commission, they make the most of things, creating a pop-up restaurant to serve the dozens of other stranded ships. But when an archaeologist shows up claiming to be able to fix the problem, Niko smells something suspicious cooking. Nonetheless, they allow Farren to take them to an ancient site where they may be able to find the weapon that could stop Tubal Last before he can take his revenge.
& Furious Heaven by Kate ElliottPrincess Sun has finally come of age. Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Eirene, has been no easy task. The legendary queen-marshal did what everyone thought impossible: expel the invaders and build Chaonia into a magnificent republic, one to be respected—and feared. But the cutthroat ambassador corps and conniving noble houses have never ceased to scheme—and they have plans that need Sun to be removed as heir, or better yet, dead. To survive, the princess must rely on her wits and companions: her biggest rival, her secret lover, and a dangerous prisoner of war.
by Neon YangIt’s an old, familiar story: a young person hears the voice of an angel saying they have been chosen as a warrior to lead their people to victory in a holy war. But Misery Nomaki (she/they) knows they are a fraud. The deeper they get into their charade, however, the more they start to doubt their convictions. What if this, all of it, is real? A reimagining of Joan of Arc’s story given a space opera, giant robot twist, the Nullvoid Chronicles is a story about the nature of truth, the power of belief, and the interplay of both in the stories we tell ourselves.
by Everina MaxwellTennal is a vapid socialite with the ability to read minds, and Lt. Surit Yeni is a soldier with a chip on his shoulder who has been tasked with using his own neuromodifications to overpower Tennal’s will and conscript him into service within the space military. But Surit’s not (that much of) an asshole, so they lie to all the space soldiers with all their space guns. But then a chaotic salvage-retrieval mission upends a decades-old power struggle and also compromises the security of their falsehood. Can two unwilling weapons of war bring about peace?
by Arkady MartineAmbassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn’t an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court. Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan’s unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.
by Max GladstoneThe end of time is ruled by an ancient, powerful Empress who blesses or blasts entire planets with a single thought. Rebellion is literally impossible to consider—until Vivian Liao arrives, catapulted through time and space from the chilly darkness of a Boston server farm. Now, she’s trapped between the Pride—a ravening horde of sentient machines—and a fanatical sect of warrior monks who call themselves the Mirrorfaith. Viv must rally a strange group of allies to confront the Empress and find a way back to the world and life she left behind.
Strange lights fill the skies. So too does the beating of giant wings.
Shadows of an ominous future meet legends of a mythic past, and do battle. We do not come in peace, for here be dragons.
We’ve assembled a panel of experts to weigh in on the potential victors of each fight.
Check it.
Proposed Victor: Toothless
Expert: Tessa Villanueva, Editorial Assistant
“What chance does anything even have against the Alpha of All Dragons? The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself? Yes, Toothless may look cute and adorable, but his intelligence is unparalleled–he’s been known to show smart and strategic thinking. He can fly over 100 mph and is agile and strong enough to dive-bomb giant dragons and knock them to the ground. He also has plasma blasts, unerring accuracy, and an indomitable fighting spirit that won’t quit–and he fights for his friends? Does the Xenomorph have friends? (Yes, she has a hive, but are they really friends?)”
Proposed Victor: The Xenomorph
Expert: a cat, Assistant Marketing Manager
“The Xenomorph is an acid-blooded, highly adaptive social hunter who has proven time and time again that in space we can hear you scream when it bursts out your chest. She’s a star terror of cinema and has torn through the armor of the Predator, and she frequently carries me to victory royales in Fortnite. Fans of Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Prometheus (2012), and Alien: Covenant (2017) understand that Toothless, who is domesticated and trained, will be ruined, ribboned, and folded into a scary xeno-cocoon.”
Proposed Victor: Melancthon
Expert: Mal Frazier, Editorial Assistant
“So, you might think Stitch is going to win. Sure, there’s no way that the cutest character could ever defeat the scariest character, but we’ll give him a fair crack. Dragon #7332 (no, not your buddy’s discord username) from The Iron Dragon’s Daughter by Michael Swanwick is rusting in a heap in the disgusting child labor factory for years when he finally finds an appropriately malleable pilot and steals Jane. He’s a giant metal dragon war machine built by fairies who eat death magic and [spoilers for a book older than me] kills the entire world. Yes, the whole thing. I think he’s neat. Also he’s named after a dead philosopher which has to give you a stats boost if some kind.”
Proposed Victor: Stitch
Expert: Lizzy Hosty, Publishing Strategy Assistant
“Experiment 626 was created to cause chaos across an entire galaxy. According to the mad scientist who created Stitch, he’s bulletproof, fireproof, can think faster than a computer, can see in the dark, and move objects 3,000 times his size. His first instinct is literally destruction. It’s like he was created to not only survive a fight against a dragon, but absolutely destroy them; change my mind.”
Proposed Victor: Zanj
Expert: a cat, Assistant Marketing Manager
“Okay before anything else, if space-pirate-werewolf-queen Zanj asked me to join her in (un)holy matrimony, I would ascend to her side instantly, madly, and without hesitation. By that metric at least she’s the most powerful combatant of this whole bracket, and I think we should take that into account. Max Gladstone’s phenomenal Empress of Forever chronicles the second conflict between Zanj and her allies against the omnipotent Jade Empress, who can destroy planets with her thoughts. Yeah. Zanj is back for round two. But Tairn won’t be.”
Proposed Victor: Tairn
Expert: Lizzy Hosty, Publishing Strategy Assistant
“I just read Fourth Wing (I’m late to the party, I know), and when I tell you Tairn could literally destroy a whole fleet, I’m so serious. This dragon took on multiple [redacted] and didn’t even flinch. His only weakness would be keeping his rider alive, but for the purposes of this, Tairn has claimed no rider, so he’s practically invincible and nothing could change my mind. He can shoot fire, his teeth are as big as humans, his wing span could crush dozens just accidentally. Need I say more.”
Proposed Victor: Chronormu
Expert: a cat, Assistant Marketing Manager
“Look Deoxys might come from space, but Chronormu helped stave off the invasion of the Burning Legion. Twice. She isn’t afraid. She’s cute, she’s trans, she’s a guardian of the timeways, and when she glances at this silly triangle-island (remember that puzzle? It was awful) and chooses FIGHT, it’ll be a OHKO. Plus Deoxys has base 50 HP, no matter what form it’s in. Flop.”
Proposed Victor: Deoxys
Expert: Tessa Villanueva, Editorial Assistant
“First of all, Deoxys came from outer space from INSIDE A METEOR. You cannot get more metal than that. It was on its way to destroy the world, but it stopped just to have this little battle. It’s capable of using any of its Formes to gain an advantage in battle, whether it’s Normal, Attack, Defense, or Speed. It’s also able to regenerate any part of its body! Not to mention its ultimate signature attack, Psycho Boost–sure, the recoil will lower its special attack, but no one’s going to survive that…”
So who wins this intergalactic, inter-mythic showdown? Take to the comments and let us know!
Ever hear the story about the very good character who did everything right? No? Good, because we don’t care about that either. Check out this rundown of our favorite tragically flawed faces of science fiction & fantasy!
General Ouyang from She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan(kicks down the door) I GOTTA represent my boy (derogatory)
If we want to talk deeply flawed characters, no one is out here doing it like my boy General Ouyang in Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun. This boy can fit so much (self-)hatred, vengeance, and violent tendencies in his tragic backstory, and I can’t wait to see him flounder in the aftermath of his choices in the upcoming sequel this summer, He Who Drowned the World.
Vivian Liao from Empress of Forever by Max GladstoneSo I’ve for real had it about up to here with tech innovator celebrity people by now, but Vivian Liao in Max Gladstone’s fantastic Empress of Forever space opera is the exception. She’s reckless, dagger-smart, and displays a heavy bias towards action. But, it is these qualities that make her such a compelling lead that also ultimately result in her displacement into a far-flung future where a tyrannical Empress lords over all facets of reality. These are the traits that would also keep her from coming together with her new friends and allies to forge bonds strong enough to withstand the wrath of the future’s terrible queen.
Hugh O’Neill from Flint & Mirror by John CrowleyThis gorgeously written historical fantasy novel by one of my all-time favorite authors tells the story of Hugh O’Neill, a man caught between two worlds. Ripped from his childhood home, an Ireland still alive with magic and touching the land of faerie, Hugh is thrust into the role of courtier in Elizabethan England. As the last Irish rebellion against the Tudor conquest wages on, Hugh is torn between his queen and his homeland. This is a tragic tale of rebellion, magic, and a man whose divided loyalties leave him perpetually estranged from both worlds.
Luc from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab(HERE THERE BE SPOILERS, TURN AWAY IF YOU HAVEN’T READ ADDIE YET)
(Though also if you haven’t, what are you doing?!)
As many of my friends can attest, there is nothing I love more in fiction than a Morally Grey, Misunderstood Sad Boy (TM) and Luc from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is all of that and more. Well, okay maybe he’s just a villain and a demonic entity and has fairly minimal redeemable qualities BUT STILL. His dynamic with Addie, the mystery surrounding who (or what) he is, and the incredible back-and-forth he has with all the characters he interacts makes it really hard not to at least slightly root for him and Addie to become the incredibly compelling, yet probably incredibly toxic couple that SFF dreams are made of. So will they? Won’t they? Read the book to find out.
Antigone from Arch-Conspirator by Veronica RothAntigone, or Tig, was born into a doomed world in a city where no one believes she has a soul. Based on the classic Greek tragedy (Antigone by Sophocles, it’s a banger), Arch-Conspirator is also about tragic choices. It’s about staring your doom in the face and walking toward it anyway because the other options are worse. Tig doesn’t have a tragic flaw so much as a tragic belief that it’s better to choose your end than to have it chosen for you.
Read it and be sad with me.
