What We Are Seeking

From Cameron Reed, the acclaimed author of The Fortunate Fall, comes a soaring novel of queer hope and transformation, perfect for readers of Ann Leckie and Amal El-Mohtar. On the planet Scythia, plants give birth to insects and trees can drag you to your death. Artificial monsters stalk the desert, and alien basket-men have wandered into town. John Maraintha has been abandoned here, light-years from the peaceful forests that he loves. The desert is harsh and the people in thrall to a barbaric custom called marriage. He must find some way to make a life here. But on Scythia, survival means transformation—and not everyone is willing to change.

New Sci-fi Titles This Week

Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois

(Left Unread Books of BINDERY!!!, Michael LaBorn)
This is a queer swashbuckling Caribbean fantasy by a Haitian immigrant author. This is a piratey Little Mermaid retelling where Ariel is treated as the child she actually is, and the romance is between the adults. And some of the adults are sexy bossy pirates. I read this before it was picked up by Michael's publishing house, and I loved it then. But with an absolutely STUNNING cover and the press it deserves? This is the exact kind of book that would never find you through an algorithm, would not get a Big 5 marketing push, but will probably be the one you tell everyone about in five years. This is why I'm here. This is the whole point.

The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu

(Macmillan/Tor)
You may have heard me mention this one approximately forty seven times over the last month because I have the ARC and I cannot shut up about it. John Chu has been winning Hugos and Nebulas for short fiction for years and this is his debut novel, which means the short fiction world has been hoarding him and I am choosing to be normal about it.

What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed

(Macmillan/Tor)
A doctor from a world that abolished marriage gets stranded on an alien planet where marriage is not only practiced but aggressively enforced by powerful religious authorities, accompanied by a distressingly handsome translator. Queer MCs, absurd alien biology, completely backwards gender politics, and a plot that is essentially "what if - first contact - but make it a deeply personal reckoning with everything you thought you knew about how people are supposed to love each other."

Year of the Mer by L.D. Lewis

(Simon & Schuster)
This is a bloody Little Mermaid reimagining — not the Disney version, but the OG one where Arielle's granddaughter Yemaya has to crawl to Ursula for help after a coup kills her entire family, accompanied by her bodyguard/fiancée. Sapphic. Dark. Debut.

Piper at the Gates of Dusk by Patrick Ness

(PRH)
A return to the world of Chaos Walking, this may be worth looking into if you have kids who liked the hatchet series.

The Heart of the Nhaga by Lee Youngdo, translated by Anton Hur

(Simon & Schuster)
First English translation of a popular Korean fantasy series, a vengeful anti-hero with a giant sword, flying manta rays with ruined cities on their backs, and a corrupt society of immortal psychic reptiles.

What did I miss? What's coming out this week?
See you next week.