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lilareviewsbooks · 1 year

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Queer Normal-World in SFF Books

Here are five books where being queer is the norm, aka there is no homophobia or transphobia at all! Not all these books are fluffy though -- most of them have heavy conflicts and a bunch of shit going down, but at least no one has a problem with anyone being gay!

These are my favorite kind of books and I have so, so many recommendations, so let me know if you ever want more of these :) And I can also absolutely do only fluffy queer books, too!

The Genesis of Misery, by Neon Yang

Mx. Yang's books are perfect for this type of prompt. The Genesis of Misery is their most recent, and the premise is absolutely killer. It follows Misery Nomaki (she/they), who is haunted by an apparition of an angel. While she is convinced she is mentally ill like her mother, and that her visions are a symptom, people around her seem more and more certain that she is actually some sort of messiah.

I have my issues with The Genesis of Misery, but it’s a very creative sci-fi that’s worth the read. It includes mecha, interesting depictions of religion, which permeates the entire story, and, of course, excellent queer rep. We have characters who use neo-pronouns, a polyamory situationship and most characters are queer. Not to mention, it’s written by a queer and non-binary author, which is always a plus. It’s part of an on-going series, though, so be prepared to wait a little while for the sequel!

Plus, The Locked Tomb fans might be interested to know that there’s a very cavalier-necromancer dynamic in this, and that Rebecca Roanhorse (who wrote Black Sun) described it as Joan of Arc meets Gideon The Ninth.

Yep. You wanna read it, don’t you?

(Also, if for some reason you’re like: “gee, I really wish there was a black-and-white silent movie with a killer score that touched on these same themes”, then you should probably watch The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928). It’s not explicitly gay, but it is queer in my heart. And it rocks.)

The Locked Tomb Series, starting with Gideon The Ninth, by Tasmyn Muir

Since I mentioned it, I guess I might as well include The Locked Tomb in here! This is a Tumblr favorite, and with good reason, because The Locked Tomb fucking rocks. It’s hard to pitch it to someone without ruining the whole point of the series, but the first book follows a necromancer, Harrowhark and her sworn swords-woman, her cavalier, the butch-as-hell Gideon, as they’re summoned to the First House to compete to become Lyctors, the companions of God.

Yeah, I know that’s a lot, and, to be honest, it’s probably not gonna make much sense to you at many points throughout the story, but that’s the point of The Locked Tomb - everything is confusing, and it’s about sapphics in space!

The thing about this series is they’re the most unique books you’ll ever read. Every volume has a different approach to telling its story. There’s so many mysteries and it’s almost impossible to understand all the intricacies without sitting down and doing some work. The magic system is also the wonkiest, coolest thing - it involves eating people, sometimes, y’know. And, I promise, you’ll love every single second of it. Especially because there’s absolutely no homophobia or transphobia in any of it, and almost every character is queer as fuck - especially after the second book, when gender starts getting a little funky!

Winter’s Orbit, by Everina Maxwell

I love this book so much, and so know that it comes highly, highly recommended! I have a whole five star review on it you can check out here. (Do check trigger warnings, though! You should always, but especially for this one. I didn’t and they really got me!).

Winter’s Orbit features my absolutely favorite trope - queer arranged marriage. (Nothing better - those three words and you know it’s gonna be a queer normal world, have some politics and probably be really fucking sweet.) This one is probably one of only ones out of this list where the romance is very predominant and serves as an important B plot. It’s also a standalone, but has a companion book in the same universe, called Ocean’s Echo, which rocks, too!

This one follows Jainan, a recent widower who is rushed into an arranged marriage with Prince Kiem in order to keep the alliance between their homelands intact. Together, they must navigate court intrigue I’m trying my best not to spoil and investigate Jainan’s ex-husband’s death, which might not have been an accident, after all...

In this sci-fi fantasy world, being queer is completely normal, and their system when it comes to gender is absolutely fascinating. People will wear little gender signifiers, like a wodden token for female, for instance, so that others know how to refer to them. It’s super cool to see these kind of things incorporated into the world-building, and it’s something you really only get when queer authors are behind the helm.

(Also, this was originally written online, and it was actually picked up and traditionally published! Which is so cool! Queer fics becoming traditionally published books is so rare, it’s so nice to see it actually happen!)

The Teixcalaan Series, starting with A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine

This is another one of my favorites! I read it last year and it blew me away - so much so that I’ve been itching to re-read it ever since I finished the second book.

The Teixcalaan Series is a political sci-fi duology focusing on the themes of language, empire and cultural domination through imperialism. It’s amazing, and I wrote about it in a full-length review, here, if you wanna take a look!

It follows Mahit Dzamare, from the tiny Lsel Station, who becomes the ambassador to the huge Teixcalaan Empire, whose culture she’s been in love with for ages. The problem? Something happened to the Lsel ambassador, and the Empire’s control over the Station has been growing ever bigger. To make matters worse, Mahit’s imago machine - the cerebral implant full of her predecessors memories and experiences - doesn’t seem to be working properly, leaving her with a ghost of her predecessor inside of her head...

With all the problems the Teixcalaan Empire has, it’s not homophobic or transphobic, which is a plus for us gays who want to read in peace. Mahit has a charged relationship with her cultural liason, Three Seagrass (yes, that’s her name; yes, there’s an in-world explanation; no, I won’t tell you what it is, you’ll have to read it and find out), not to mention all the hijinks she finds out her predecessor was up to. And none of it needs to be justified or explained at all - people are just gay, and that’s fine!

On A Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden

This graphic novel has a stunning art style, and, listen closely sapphics, absolutely no men at all. Yep. Literally there’s only women and non-binary people in this comic!

And guess what? It’s available to read for free, here. Thank you, Ms. Walden!

Here, romance is also an important plot point. On A Sunbeam follows Mia, who starts working for a crew of repair-people who rebuild broken down structures. In another timeline, we flashback to her experiences at her boarding school, and to her relationship with a new student.

What’s most unique about On A Sunbeam - apart from the fact that there are no men at all - is it’s unique version of outer space. It’s almost historical, with huge sprawling marble structures decaying, surronded by trees. The ships are shaped like huge fish. You can feel the whimsy in your bones from the colors and the art style that Ms. Walden uses, here.

This standalone is definitely worth a read. And if you like it, you should definitely check out the rest of Ms. Walden’s work - it’s all as beautiful as this is, if not more. Her The End of Summer was one of my favorite reads, last year.

That’s all I’ve got, guys, but lemme know if you want more of these - I have so many, I can definitely recommend you more! Drop me an ask if you have specifications, too - I’m always happy to do some digging :)

#booklr #book recommendations #book recs #queer books #sapphic books #lgbtq books #book review #queer sff #sff books #the locked tomb #the genesis of misery #neon yang #gideon the ninth #winters orbit #a memory called empire #teixcalaan #on a sunbeam #tillie walden

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transbookoftheday · 1 year

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My Favorite Trans Books

Today is my (@traeumenvonbuechern) birthday, so I want to share some of my favorite trans books with you to celebrate!

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godzilla-reads · 1 year

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“You fancy me a storyteller, do you? A sayer of sooths, a vessel of revelation? As if their story were mine to tell?”

—The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

#godzilla reads #the genesis of misery #neon yang #book quotes #books and flowers #reading #bookworm #booklr #bookish #book blog #bibliophile

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torpublishinggroup · 1 year

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Who are you but in book form? That’s what this is about. It’s not complicated. You’re a human, but also a book, so get your main character on and let’s figure this out!

#to read #booksona #quiz #silly little quiz #sweep of stars #maurice broaddus #the warden #daniel m. ford #spring's arcana #lilith saintcrow #the terraformers #annalee newitz #the genesis of misery #neon yang #legends & lattes #travis baldree #tor books

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cassiopeiathe1st · 1 year

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hello fellow locked tomb stans! i have a book rec for you! the genesis of misery by neon yang. it has...

a feral protagonist named misery (she/they) who is a.....very unreliable narrator. they’ve just escaped the middle-of-nowhere planet where they grew up raised by the church. that’s them holding up a middle finger on the cover. are they a legitimate prophet or a fraud? are those divine visions or space madness-induced hallucinations? inquiring minds, misery included, would love to know!

an empire that is Catholicism Part 2 Electric Boogaloo In Space

two branches of human civilization fighting a centuries-long war where it’s unclear how much of each side’s story of events is true. also unclear where the line is between science and religion, or whether there is one at all

a deeply queer cast of characters highlighting a variety of gender identities (the author is nonbinary!)

an enemies to lovers arc of the “i’ll kill you with my bare hands” to “i’ll die for you” variety

a couple of disclaimers though:

yes, it does start out in first person present tense, but that’s only used in brief interludes that act as a frame story so don’t let it scare you away! most of the book is in third person past tense.

genesis of misery 🤝 tlt, particularly harrow: being gaslit by a book as you read it. you simply do not know what the fuck is going on the entire time and will only get MORE confused as you read. this is a feature of the reading experience, not a bug.

don’t go in expecting the pacing to be similar to the locked tomb books. instead of a gradual build into a chaotic final act where all the pieces finally come together and Shit Goes Down, this was a wild ride all the way through and there isn’t the same sense of (relative) clarity at the end. it’s more plot- & worldbuilding-driven than the moment-to-moment character-focused narration you get in tlt. it’s closer in vibe to other space operas i’ve read in that way.

so yeah. if this sounds like something you’d be into, check it out!

#tlt #the locked tomb #the genesis of misery #neon yang #also i am in no way the first to connect these dots it's literally compared to tlt in the blurb!!#just felt compelled to share bc WOW that comparison turned out accurate #book recs #my posts

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haveyoureadthisscifibook · 22 days

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vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

#scifi #books #The Genesis of Misery #Neon Yang #poll #result: no #l: English

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layaart · 1 year

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a couple doodles from The Genesis of Misery! obsessed with this book!

#The Genesis of Misery #neon yang #books #book fanart #joan of arc doodle bc joan of arc retelling #2022 fanart

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haveyoureadthisfantasybook · 5 months

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vote YES if you have finished the entire book.

vote NO if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

#fantasy #poll #Tensorate #The Black Tides of Heaven #Neon Yang #books #result: no #l: English

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qbdatabase · 6 months

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The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang This is the story of Misery Nomaki (she/they) – a nobody from a nowhere mining planet who possesses the rare stone-working powers of a saint. Unfortunately, these saint-like abilities also manifest in those succumbing to voidmadness, like that which killed Misery’s mother. Knowing they aren’t a saint but praying they aren’t voidmad, Misery keeps quiet about their power for years, while dreaming and scheming up ways off their Forge-forsaken planet. But when the voice of an angel, or a very convincing delusion, leads Misery to the center of the Empire, they find themself trapped between two powerful and dangerous factions, each hoping to use Misery to win a terrible war.

#agender #daily book #nonbinary #queer #queer rep #adult books #angels #lgbtqia #nonbinary protagonist #queer books #retelling #robots #science fiction #space opera #The Genesis of Misery #Neon Yang #bookblr

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logarithmicpanda · 2 years

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The Genesis of Misery (Neon Yang)

Joan of arc but in space with giant mechas

Misery Nomaki is my favorite kind of feral protagonist lmao

Mixes scifi with magical elements, some gemstones have special properties that can be manipulated by people

Very queer, and every character is introduced with their pronouns

First of a trilogy! Which I didn't know when I started reading, whoops

9/10

Comes out September 27, 2022! I was lucky to win an ARC lol

#the genesis of misery #neon yang #quick and dirty reviews #book recs #reblog later

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mapas-fantasticos · 8 months

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Map of the protectorate from the Tensorate Series by Neon Yang.

#fantasy map #literature #the tensorate series #neon yang

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athetos · 6 months

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Just finished tensorate series by neon yang and those novellas were soooo good I devoured them. It’s hard to pick a favorite… some of the things I really liked were Akeha’s relationship with gender (and how in the 3rd one it’s just stated they use they/them now with no further explanation, I fucking love that), the narration of the last 2 novellas (I’m a sucker especially for anything that’s an assortment of academic records or reports), the richness of the worldbuilding, and how you’re given answers that have just enough ambiguity to keep you both satisfied and constantly theorizing. Rider was my favorite character, I got really attached to them and I was so elated when they didn’t die and Mokoya was able to have that prophetic dream about their future (also they (presumably with the help of thennjay) have twins? Nobody tell Sonami.) Rider’s slackcraft was also cool… I hope they managed to rescue their twin… imagine raising your twin sibling who is like 20-30 years younger than you with your polycule… also I want a lizard arm… okay I think red strings of fate is probably my favorite then. Hmm lastly I’ll say that I think these novellas altogether tell a story that is perfectly wrapped up and I’m very satisfied but I do love that but there’s enough stuff to build upon if there were ever more additions and while I don’t think that will be likely I love that I can still think “oh what’s Sonami’s reign gonna be like” and “are they actually clones of Hekate and what does that mean” etc. idk this series is awesome you should read it

#apparently this genre of East Asian fantasy is called silkpunk and I really want to read more #Ken liu you’ve been on my reading list for a while…#p #tensorate series #neon yang

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sixofravens-reads · 1 year

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Currently Reading: The Tensorate Series by Neon Yang

#posting a little late but i just finished the first novella and im really excited for the rest!#the tensorate series #neon yang #books and tea #currently reading

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ninsiana0 · 9 months

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I finally finished THE TENSORATE SERIES by Neon Yang! Each book is written in a completely different style than the others, and is told from a different character's perspective. They're magical, queer, and morally gray.

You should read all four novellas, but for the sake of consistency...

Read THE BLACK TIDES OF HEAVEN if you love twins, breaking free, dysfunctional families, tyrants, monasteries, uprisings, discovering your identity, prophesies, genderfuckery & beginnings.

Read THE RED THREADS OF FORTUNE if you love grief narratives, deserts, running away, running forward, scars, discovering new powers, trauma narratives, breaking & entering, and cute enbies.

Read THE DESCENT OF MONSTERS if you love epistolary tales, mysteries, detectives, cover-ups, missing children, destiny, creepy settings, beasts, class dynamics, and heroes.

Read THE ASCENT TO GODHOOD if you love drunk protagonists, reminiscing about the past, dancing girls, espionage, ending at the beginning, f**ked up families, young queer love, unlikable people & beginning at the end.

#THE TENSORATE SERIES #Neon Yang #readersoftumblr #readers on tumblr #The Black Tides of Heaven #The Red Threads of Fortune #The Descent of Monsters #The Ascent to Godhood #book tumblr #book recs #book reviews #book reviewer #book recommendations #readmore #bookworm #bibliophile

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torpublishinggroup · 2 years

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Queer Books Coming from Tor Books in 2022 🏳️‍🌈

We’re very gay! We publish a lot of books!

The (also gay) mad scientists behind this account have combined the above truths into one post. Feel the mitest bit queer? Got a gay hankering for LGBTQIA+ books?

Check it out 😎

The Thousand Eyes by A. K. Larkwood

Two years after defying the wizard Belthandros Sethennai and escaping into the great unknown, Csorwe and Shuthmili have made a new life for themselves, hunting for secrets among the ruins of an ancient snake empire. Along for the ride is Tal Charossa, determined to leave the humiliation and heartbreak of his hometown far behind him, even if it means enduring the company of his old rival and her insufferable girlfriend. All three of them would be quite happy never to see Sethennai again. But when a routine expedition goes off the rails and a terrifying imperial relic awakens, they find that a common enemy may be all it takes to bring them back into his orbit.

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation. When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will. Most of them.

Last Exit by Max Gladstone

Ten years ago, Zelda led a band of merry adventurers whose knacks let them travel to alternate realities and battle the black rot that threatened to unmake each world. Zelda was the warrior; Ish could locate people anywhere; Ramon always knew what path to take; Sarah could turn catastrophe aside. Keeping them all connected: Sal, Zelda’s lover and the group’s heart. Until their final, failed mission, when Sal was lost. When they all fell apart. Ten years on, Ish, Ramon, and Sarah are happy and successful. Zelda is alone, always traveling, destroying rot throughout the US. When it boils through the crack in the Liberty Bell, the rot gives Zelda proof that Sal is alive, trapped somewhere in the alts. Zelda’s getting the band back together.

The Discord of Gods by Jenn Lyons

Relos Var’s final plans to enslave the universe are on the cusp of fruition. He believes there’s only one being in existence that might be able to stop him: the demon Xaltorath. As these two masterminds circle each other, neither is paying attention to the third player on the board, Kihrin. Unfortunately, keeping himself classified in the ‘pawn’ category means Kihrin must pretend to be everything the prophecies threatened he’d become: the destroyer of all, the sun eater, a mindless, remorseless plague upon the land. It also means finding an excuse to not destroy the people he loves (or any of the remaining Immortals) without arousing suspicion.

The Origin of Storms by Elizabeth Bear

Hugo Award-winning author Elizabeth Bear returns to conclude her acclaimed epic fantasy trilogy of the Lotus Kingdoms, which began with The Stone in the Skull and The Red-Stained Wings, bringing it all to a surprising, satisfying climax in The Origin of Storms. The Lotus Kingdoms are at war, with four claimants to the sorcerous throne of the Alchemical Emperor, fielding three armies between them. Alliances are made, and broken, many times over—but in the end, only one can sit on the throne. And that one must have not only the power, but the rightful claim.

The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison

In The Grief of Stones, Katherine Addison returns to the world of The Goblin Emperor with a direct sequel to The Witness For The Dead…

Celehar’s life as the Witness for the Dead of Amalo grows less isolated as his circle of friends grows larger. He has been given an apprentice to teach, and he has stumbled over a scandal of the city—the foundling girls. Orphans with no family to claim them and no funds to buy an apprenticeship. Foundling boys go to the Prelacies; foundling girls are sold into service, or worse.

At once touching and shattering, Celehar’s witnessing for one of these girls will lead him into the depths of his own losses.

The love of his friends will lead him out again.

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he’s ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different solution: for Vel to marry his former intended’s brother instead.

Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden betrothal to a man from Ralia, where such relationships are forbidden, comes as a shock. With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love—as both will learn—is quite another.

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book’s content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries. Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairytales and cautionary stories. But real life doesn’t always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds.

Dance with the Devil by Kit Rocha

Tobias Richter, the fearsome VP of Security of TechCorp is dead. The puppetmaster is gone, and the organization is scrambling to maintain control by ruthlessly limiting access to resources to Atlanta, hoping to quell rebellion. Our band of mercenary librarians have decided that the time for revolution has come. Maya uses her wealth of secrets to weaken the TechCorps from within. Dani strikes from the shadows, picking off the chain of command one ambush at a time. And Nina is organizing their community—not just to survive, but to fight back. When Maya needs to make contact with a sympathetic insider, Dani and Rafe are the only ones with the skill-set and experience to infiltrate the highest levels of the TechCorps. They’ll go deep undercover in the decadent, luxury-soaked penthouses on the Hill. Bringing Dani face-to-face with the man who turned her into a killer. And forcing Rafe to decide how far he’ll go to protect both of his families—the one he was born to, and the one he made for himself. Victory will break the back of Power. Failure will destroy Atlanta.

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

An immersive, electrifying space-fantasy, Neon Yang's debut novel The Genesis of Misery is full of high-tech space battles and political machinations, starring a queer and diverse array of pilots, princesses, and prophetic heirs. It’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. Raised on a remote moon colony, they don’t believe in any kind of god. Their angel is a delusion, brought on by hereditary space exposure. Yet their survival banks on mastering the holy mech they are supposedly destined for, and convincing the Emperor of the Faithful that they are the real deal. 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.

The Genesis of Misery is on sale 9/27/22

Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

When Tennal—a rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster—is caught using his telepathic powers for illegal activities, the military decides to bind his mind to someone whose coercive powers are strong enough to control him. Enter Lieutenant Surit, the child of a disgraced general. Out of a desperate need to restore a pension to his other parent, Lieutenant Surit agrees to be bound to Tennal and keep him conscripted in the army, a task that seems impossible even for someone with Surit’s ability to control minds. Tennal just wants to escape, but Surit isn’t all that he seems. And their bond may just be the key to their freedom.

Ocean’s Echo is on sale 11/1/22

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

The much-beloved BookTok sensation Legends & Lattes is Travis Baldree's novel of high fantasy and low stakes. *The new paperback edition will include a very special, never-before-seen bonus story, 'Pages to Fill.'* After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time. The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is. If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone. But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

Legends & Lattes is on sale 11/8/22

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