Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #sffbookclub, aggregated by home.social.
In a break from the tech chaos: I finished A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett last night -- that's the third book in The Tainted Cup series. It's another solid mystery and perhaps better than the second book.
I highly recommend this series if you like good world building, mysteries, and queer/on-the-spectrum characters. The only reason it's not going to be on next year's QBfP list is that the second book is already in line 😅
Yesterday I finished The Lost Reliquary by Lyndsay Ely. This book had some echos of Gideon the Ninth and Godkiller (although unlike both of those, Lost Reliquary isn't queer) and I rather enjoyed it.
Frankly, I love any book where gods can die. Make it a strong female protagonist with great dialog and I'm in.
Honestly, though, if this sounds good I highly recommend Godkiller if you haven't read it yet.
Review of "Space opera": Could have been great if it tried less hard or had a better edit
Review of "Luminous" (5 stars): Luminous
Review of "Space Opera" (3.5 stars): None
"I would do just about anything to make a Christmas carol stop."
— Catherynne M. Valente: Space Opera
"Everything could be divided into angerchords, sadchords, and happychords, and anyone worth their liner notes knew you only reached for more than one or two happychords in a genuine fiscal emergency."
— Catherynne M. Valente: Space Opera
"Faster than a well-ordered queue, more powerful than a muttered tut, able to walk right by police officers without being harassed. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s the fragile illusion of invulnerability inherent in being just like everyone else. No—it’s Englishblokeman."
— Catherynne M. Valente: Space Opera
"But in a clinch, you lot would rather watch someone suffer untold horrors than watch them enjoy so much as a cool drink if you don’t have two of your own, and yours have cherries in them as well as more ice and little paper umbrellas, and even then most of you would still prefer to take theirs and have three. This is not the behavior of a sentient race."
— Catherynne M. Valente: Space Opera
"Once upon a time on a small, watery, excitable planet called Earth, in a small, watery country called England (which was bound and determined never to get too excited about anything), a leggy psychedelic ambidextrous omnisexual gendersplat glitterpunk financially punch-drunk ethnically ambitious glamrock messiah by the name of Danesh Jalo was born to a family so large and benignly neglectful that they only noticed he’d stopped coming home on weekends when his grandmother was nearly run over with all her groceries in front of the Piccadilly Square tube station, stunned into slack-jawed immobility by the sight of her Danesh, twenty feet high, in a frock the color of her customary afternoon sip of Pernod, filling up every centimeter of a gargantuan billboard."
— Catherynne M. Valente: Space Opera
Review of "Mad Sisters of Esi" (4 stars): None
"Once a craftsman offered six times to enchant the drawings for him so they would never decay. Kua refused. Things must end, his mother used to say. *Even memories. Only then can they become something new."
— Tashan Mehta: Mad Sisters of Esi
"Using the methodology of mirabilia diachronism (i.e., the discipline of separating the wheat of the truth from the chaff of fairy tales), we connect the museum to the greatest mystery of our time: the whale of babel."
— Tashan Mehta: Mad Sisters of Esi
I love the academic digression chapters, but this also feels like a warning that it's setting up to be a fragmented layered story.
I started, and finished, White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton yesterday, and it was so good! Urban, queer SFF with MM relationships that felt very real.
Was a good exploration of a protagonist growing up in poverty and with complicated family dynamics (more on that in the next post).
As someone who lived in Denver, I loved how much of it took place in that city. [Casa Bonita was even in it!]
1/x
"The problem with circular stories is that it is difficult to know where to begin."
— Tashan Mehta: Mad Sisters of Esi, p. 1
"Why would anyone feel comfortable chatting directly into the stream? Every word joins a vast and public ocean of noise."
— William Alexander: Sunward
Review of "Sunward" (3 stars): Sunward
"I glared at her in silence, which she correctly interpreted as an admission of defeat. Parenthood apparently means taking a stand and then being ignored."
— William Alexander: Sunward
"The assassin almost choked on her own surprise. “Your mom is the queen of the Moon?”"
— William Alexander: Sunward
Only 2 days left for this #SPFBO bundle! Get 25 books from 25 authors participating in this year's SPFBO for only $25!!
Includes #FantasyBooks from sub-genres like: #LowFantasy #HighFantasy #UrbanFantasy #EpicFantasy #DarkFantasy #SwordAndSorcery #Romantasy & #Horror
My book is in here: https://skaeth.itch.io/beneath-the-gods-tree
https://itch.io/b/3592/spfbo-2026
Only available until the end of the month!
@bookstodon @fantasy
#IndieBooks #IndieAuthors #Bookstodon #SelfPromo #BookSale #SFFBookClub #SFFBooks #books
Looking for something to read? I've joined up with a bunch of other authors from this year's #SPFBO to offer our books as a bundle.
Get 25 books from 25 authors for $25!!
Includes #FantasyBooks from sub-genres like: #LowFantasy #HighFantasy #UrbanFantasy #EpicFantasy #DarkFantasy #SwordAndSorcery #Romantasy & #Horror
https://itch.io/b/3592/spfbo-2026
Only available until the end of the month!
@bookstodon @fantasy
#IndieBooks #IndieAuthors #Bookstodon #SelfPromo #BookSale #SFFBookClub #SFFBooks #books
⭐ A child who was told she was broken discovers she's a healer — and refuses to ask permission to help save the world.
What's the bravest character moment you've read in YA fiction?
Genuine question for SFF readers: 🤔
Do you prefer stories where the protagonist's power makes them stronger than everyone else, or stories where their power makes them a target?
Cass Thorne's ability makes every powerful person in the room suddenly ordinary. They do not take it well.
Hey you! (Yes, you!) If you're seeing this, then you probably have an adjacent taste in books, so this could likely be of interest to you.
We're reading The King Must Die during this February for #SFFBookClub.
SFFBookClub is an asynchronous fediverse book club. There's no meeting or commitment. If this book looks interesting to you, then you can join in by reading it during February and posting on the hash tag #SFFBookClub with any feelings or thoughts or reviews or quotes.
More details: sffbookclub.eatgod.org/
(comment on The King Must Die)
Carless me bringing copies of The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder, for signing at #WordFantasy2025 (not at big signing session). Stop me and buy one for all your sapphic spiritualist skullduggery.
Or it can be delivered signed to your home, or via eBook. Details on my website.
#fantasy #sapphic #murder #mystery #womensleuths #British #books #SFFbookclub
Review of "Saints of Storm and Sorrow" (3.5 stars): Saints of Storm and Sorrow
spoilers
Our Child of the Stars and Our Child of Two Worlds - warm heartfelt accessible SFF. ON SALE ON MY WEBSITE - 40% of hardbacks 20% off the rest.
https://stephencox.co.uk/buy-the-books/
Announcing The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder, a spooky Victorian murder mystery this autumn.
Check out free fiction on my website/ author services
Już są! Na stronie https://zajdel.art.pl/ wylądowały właśnie opowiadania nominowane do tegorocznej Nagrody Zajdla (w przypadku jednego z nich tylko fragment, z uwagi na decyzję wydawcy).
Utwory dostępne są w trzech formatach (epub, mobi, pdf), więc nic tylko czytać! Zachęcamy!
#fandom #fantastyka #sff #sffbookclub #fantasy #fantasticfedi #sf #books #bookfedi #polcon #zajdel #twojanagroda
Check out this CURATED collection showcasing 7 thoughtful, well-crafted fantasy books. These rich, immersive worlds are full of compelling characters, deep world-building, and stories that linger in the mind long after the last page!
https://books.bookfunnel.com/curatedfantasypromotion/qodpviijl7
@bookstodon @sffbookclub @fantasy
#BooksToRead #IndieBooks #IndieAuthors #Bookstodon #SelfPromo #BookToot #FantasyBooks #BookSale #SFFBookClub #BooksWorthReading #SFFBooks #books #EpicFantasy #DarkFantasy
I really like Adrian Tchaikovsky's books but I should have picked a different time to start Alien Clay. It's set in a rather dystopian world and I've got enough of that in real life right now.
I recently finished The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi and really enjoyed the hard scifi detective-based story. It isn't a mystery, but uses the thief/detective as a framing to tell a very interesting story about people and a world.
It was a little challenging to get into with many custom words and a lot of worldbuilding to wrap your head around, but a great story with strong female protagonists and some queer side characters.
Ugh, Pierce Brown has ruined me with the Red Rising book series. I finished the 6th book a few weeks ago and can’t seem to get into any other books because I want to stay in the Red Rising universe. I know there’s supposed to be the final book out later this year, but that’s going to take soooo looong.
#Books #SFFBookClub #RedRising #PierceBrown
Looking for fantasy stories with a non-European setting? Here are 21 books for you to browse and step into a new world with non-European based cultures!
https://books.bookfunnel.com/NonEuropeanFantasy/j3g7cv4uf4
@bookstodon @sffbookclub @fantasy
#BooksToRead #IndieBooks #IndieAuthors #Bookstodon #SelfPromo #BookToot #FantasyBooks #BookSale #SFFBookClub #BooksWorthReading #SFFBooks #books
#EpicFantasy #DarkFantasy #Postapocalyptic #UrbanFantasy #SwordAndSorcery #SwordAndPlanet #SwordAndSandal
Some bonds are even stronger than blood. Fans of found family tropes will love the fantasy books in this collection! Check them out!
https://books.bookfunnel.com/strongerthanblooddec24/99krkni16y
@bookstodon @sffbookclub @fantasy
#BooksToRead #IndieBooks #IndieAuthors #Bookstodon #SelfPromo #BookToot #FantasyBooks #BookSale #SFFBookClub #FreeBooks #BooksWorthReading #SFFBooks #books
#EpicFantasy #DarkFantasy #Postapocalyptic #UrbanFantasy #SwordAndSorcery
Do you like romantasy with cinnamon roll heroes? You can gift yourself lots of new books from this collection of low-spice romantasy!
https://books.bookfunnel.com/cinnamonrollheroes24/2jh1p91n57
@bookstodon @sffbookclub @fantasy @romancelandia
#BooksToRead #IndieBooks #IndieAuthors #Bookstodon #SelfPromo #BookToot #FantasyBooks #BookSale #SFFBookClub #FreeBooks #BooksWorthReading #SFFBooks #books #KoboPlus
#EpicFantasy #DarkFantasy #Postapocalyptic #UrbanFantasy #Romantasy #RomanticFantasy
Looking to check out Kobo Plus as a Kindle Unlimited alternative? Let me entice you with this selection of books across many genres, all free for Kobo Plus subscribers!
https://books.bookfunnel.com/koboplusdec2024/ryjytmf3pa
@bookstodon @sffbookclub @fantasy @scifi @horrorbooks @romancelandia
#BooksToRead #IndieBooks #IndieAuthors #Bookstodon #SelfPromo #BookToot #FantasyBooks #BookSale #SFFBookClub #FreeBooks #BooksWorthReading #SFFBooks #books #KoboPlus
#EpicFantasy #DarkFantasy #Postapocalyptic #UrbanFantasy
Okay #SFF and #SFFBookClub community, have I got a book review for you!
The podcast Behind The Bastards has been doing some book readings this week, and the second book is that alt-history classic, 1945 by NEWT GINGRICH and William Forstchen (special capitalization because the book cover ain't subtle).
#ScienceFiction #AltHistory #AlternateHistory
YouTube: https://youtu.be/i1QRisZb-c0
Podcast: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/
