#ya sci fi

[wardenclyffe]

Wardenclyffe - a new YA Sci-Fi Novella

When the city of Valentine loses power, an android named Bit tries to help restore it. Through old recordings documenting the relationship between two young girls, Bit learns of a possible new power source in a distant, unknown town and sets out to find it.

Along the way, she encounters different human communities, learning about the world outside of her home and what it means to survive. 

Through love, loss, friendship, and beauty, an android sent to save her home finds the world is more complicated than she was programmed to believe. 

Buy it through IndieBound

Find it at Barnes & Noble

#book blog #booklr #ya sci fi #young adult #bookish #reading #bookworm #books #soft apocalypse

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

Cozy summer reading sessions 🐶

#booklr #book photography #book picture #where echoes die #courtney gould #bookworm #bibliophile #ya fiction #ya horror #ya sci fi #book lover #book nerd #book community #book aesthetic #books and dogs #my photos #mine

[bashsbooks]

Iron Widow Book Review

★★★★★ ~ 5 out of 5 stars

Due to its popularity on Tiktok and Tumblr, I have long heard rumors about Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow. I tend to be skeptical about social media hype, but after a friend recommended it to me personally, I added it to my to-read list, forgot about it for like a year, and then promptly remembered it when I was figuring out what books to read for my 2023 reading challenges. And as soon as I started reading, I was like, “Oh shit. I should’ve read this sooner.” 

Iron Widow lives up to the hype. Actually, it smashes through the hype and goes way past what I expected. Set in a futuristic alternative universe based on Chinese history and mythology, Iron Widow follows Xu Zetian as she volunteers to be a concubine-pilot, a deadly but supposedly necessary role required to power Chrysalises, which are basically giant supersuits used to fight off aliens. Concubine-pilots usually die in the process of powering Chrysalises, though their families are heavily compensated for this sacrifice. At the beginning of Iron Widow, Zetian is desperate to get vengeance for her sister was forced to become a concubine-pilot by their family - and then murdered by a male pilot before she could. (Interestingly enough, piloting the Chrysalises is not deadly for men - usually.) So Zetian volunteers with the ulterior motive of killing her sister’s murderer and quickly finds out that everything she knows - about the piloting system, gender and social dynamics, about the war - is a lie. 

Although the patriarchy is a primary antagonist in Iron Widow, not every man in the book sucks  sucks; in fact, Zetian manages to find not one but two love interests in Gao Yizhi, the son of the richest man in the country, and Li Shimin, a man who murdered his whole family (for good reasons, he’s valid) and is only being kept alive because he’s the best damn pilot in the war. As a hater of love triangles and a lover of fellow bisexual men, I am pleased to report that Yizhi and Shimin are also very interested in each other. 

Iron Widow contains such a nuanced and fascinating take on how the patriarchy fucks over everyone. Zetian is understandably upset with the way women are treated, but she learns over the course of the novel that things aren’t all sunshine and roses for men, either. This does not diminish her passion for fighting for women (and indeed, it is never really poised as a competition of who has it worse; it’s pretty clear that it’s by-and-large worse for women), but it allows her to see men as fellow humans rather than inherently The Enemy. 

Zetian is also disabled, having had her feet broken and bound from a young age to turn them into ‘lotus feet’, which are considered beautiful in her culture. She has trouble walking, even with the aid of a cane, and she constantly feels pain in her feet. This is a central aspect of her character, not an afterthought, and it’s woven into the novel thoughtfully. It parallels and interweaves with the novel’s exploration of gender and gendered expectations - much like Zetian cannot be reduced to the caricature of womanhood expected of her, nor can she be reduced to a caricature of her physical disability. Instead, the integration of these aspects into her character are complex. Her successes are not in spite of her womanhood and her bound feet, but because of them, and that makes her all the richer as a protagonist.

I love Iron Widow, and I’m happy to recommend it with a full 5 out of 5 stars. Its sequel, Heavenly Tyrant, comes out in August, and I can’t wait to read it. Xiran Jay Zhao, Iron Widow’s author, is here on Tumblr (@/xiranjayzhao) and they have already posted some Heavenly Tyrant memes to tide me over until then. (And if you like authors commenting on their books outside of the text, then I recommend following their Tumblr after you’ve finished Iron Widow.)

#iron widow #xiran jay zhao #ya books #sci fi books #ya sci fi #queer books #book reviews #my book reviews #5 out of 5 stars #i could not find a nongrainy picture of the cover anywhere i swear #what is up with that #anyway read iron widow it's awesome #can't wait for the sequel later this year

[qbdatabase]

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

#Iron Widow #Xiran Jay Zhao #ya book #ya sci fi #science fiction #book series #chinese rep #bisexual #bi rep #disabled rep #wheelchair user #polyamorous #poly rep #robots #mecha #daily book #fiction #lgbt fiction #lgbtqia #bookblr

[checkoutmybookshelf]

When the Russian Mafia Learned Not to Mess With Artemis Fowl II

I've been an Artemis Fowl girl (not the movie) for a long time, and while I think the first book in the series is literally a perfect first book, it's not my favorite in the series. That honor goes to book two, Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident. And I think that the key points that really make this my favorite book are the shift from brilliantly executed archetypes to genuine characters, the fact that a 12-year-old absolutely OWNS the mafia, and the expansion of the worldbuilding in Haven and the Lower Elements generally. Oh also, this is where we get Opal Koboi for the first time. *Screes in best villainess ever* Let's Talk Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident.

There will be light spoilers below the break, as is pretty standard for all books second and later on this blog, so be warned.

First of all, in the first Artemis Fowl book, the characters are--with the exception of Artemis and Holly--largely archetypal. That falls apart here, because the story isn't trying to be a fairy tale or a heist so much as it is Opal Koboi and Briar Cudegon trying to start a war that Artemis has to stop in order to get fairy help to rescue his father from captivity by the Russian Mafia. Book 1 Butler is your standard bodyguard with a heart of gold, Commander Root is a standard grouchy police chief, and Trouble Kelp is basically ye olde marine. Briar Cudgeon is power hungry, and that's about it.

By book 2, Bulter is getting more personality and a low-key understanding with Holly and Root because they're all "old soldiers" in his book. Root gets to actually have some personality and is a damn good field commander--can we just take a sec to appreciate how much he cares (gruffness notwithstanding) about Holly and the fact that he super did not care that the sealed acorn was blasphemy because it worked!? He becomes more than just a hardass vaguely sexist archetype, and I have SUCH a soft spot for Julius Root. We also get some more of Trouble and Grub Kelp. Briar Cudgeon stays pretty simple, but that's fine because we have Opal goddamn Koboi for a more complex and also very classical villainess--she is LOVING being evil and frankly she is never not a joy to watch. Opal knows how to lean in to sheer joyous villainy.

I'm also just a fan of Artemis actually running into the real world with his planning. Our boy can absolutely sketch out an on-paper plan that is brilliant, but then you get things like gaps in train tracks, fairy politics, dwarf reflexology, and humans reacting in weirdass ways and suddenly Artemis has to get his hands a bit dirty and he has to improvise. Our boy grows and STILL hands the Russian Mafia its collective ass on a radioactive submarine hatch. Artemis Fowl's character growth in this book is great.

Book 1 was very limited to Fowl Manor and its grounds. We got a bit of Haven and the Lower Elements in book 1, but book 2 is mostly in the Lower Elements and Russia, and the expansion of what Haven is like, what shuttleports are like, what Koboi Labs is like, what Howler's Peak is like, is incredible. We get more fairy lore, fairy life, and more LEP. This keeps expanding in later books, but this is our first really close look at the world beyond what was strictly necessary for the kidnapping and rescue plot of the first book, and that's very fun.

I know I've already mentioned Opal Koboi and her gleefully unhinged joy at her seemingly imminent rise to Empress, but honestly I love her to little tiny peices. She is too samrt for her own good, she girlbossed her own father into literally insanity, and her college-era feud with Foaly is just peak "the smartest kids in class have extremely different skillsets and they hate each other for it". Opal starts off very evil kitten, but kitty has claws and she's just waiting for a chance to unsheath them.

The Artemis Fowl series is improbably good, and I cannot recommend it enough. Especially this fozen, slightly radioactive entry in the series that is very much my favorite book.

#eoin colfer #artemis fowl #artemis fowl the arctic incident #holly short #ya fiction #ya sci fi #book recommendations #books and novels #books and reading #books & libraries #opal koboi #the arctic incident #julius root #domovoi butler

[gracehosborn]

I was today years old when I discovered you can export PowerPoint presentations as GIFs.

So naturally, I had to do something with my magical timeline-altering pen in Ink of Destruction:

#this is rough it could be better but oh well #but hey at least this proves the magic looks cool imo #ink of destruction #IOD #magical gifs #ya sci fi #sci-fi fantasy #alternate history #alt history #ya fantasy #writers on tumblr #writing community

[camille09hart]

Hello everyone! Today is the big day where I finally publish my book, Humebeasts. It's a YA Sci-Fi novel with human/animal hybrids and musicians. Check it out and spread the word!

#self promo #book launch #ya sci fi #self publication #rock band #mental health #lgbt characters #disability #anthro #musician #books are life #book launching

[stardustandrockets]

What's a book on your shelf that's been hyped but you still haven't read?

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer is one of those books. I've heard nothing but great things and how it wasn't necessarily marketed correctly. Also that it's best to go in knowing as little as possible. I'm hoping to get to it before the year is over.

#RCJuly23 #Rainbow Crate #rainbow crate book box #hidden identity #the darkness outside us #eliot schrefer #space gays #on my tbr #ya sci fi #lgbtq reads #lgbtqia #queer book recs #read queer all year #read with pride #stardustandrockets

[whilereadingandwalking]

Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak was even better than the first book in the Unstoppable series by Charlie Jane Anders. In the first book, Chosen One Tina Mains, her best friend Rachael, and a cast of earthlings chosen to help save the universe all battle the devastatingly terrifying villain Marrant, a leader under the fascist Compassion. The gang is now in Wentrolo, the capital of the Firmament, and trying to figure out their place in the continuing fight against the Compassion as well as the new existential threat of the Vayt. This volume focuses on Rachael, who just saved the world but lost her ability to make art, struggling under the pressure of people who expect her to save it all over again, and Elza, a trans hacker who is auditioning to become a Princess and help save the universe. "When you know the answer, it becomes your responsibility," a small mouse tells Elza in the Palace. This book is a fantastic tome about what knowledge actually means, about its ugly side. When you know of a lurking evil or of corruption beneath the institution you once believed in, you now have a responsibility to tackle it. It confronts privilege, power, prejudice, and the intricate workings of friendship and romance. This book is emotional, uplifting, and action-packed. The world-building was exquisite: I'm obsessed with the nonsensical Princesses in their computer-hive-mind magical Palace. This novel covers art and survival in gorgeous ways. I can't wait for the next volume in this exciting, queer, delightful space opera series by Anders. Content warnings for death, racism, torture, xenophobia, panic attacks/anxiety.

#dreams bigger than heartbreak #charlie jane anders #victory greater than death #bookish love #ya sci fi #space opera #my book reviews

[lookingforamandaa]

DEC 2022 WRAP UP //

17 books read - six physical books, two ebooks, & nine audiobooks

#bookblr #booklr #fantasy books #iphone photography #reading update #adult fantasy #jenn lyons #book recommendations #fantasy #wild and wicked things #Francesca May #historical fiction #lgbt books #beartown #fredrik backman #gearbreakers #science fiction #ya sci fi

[wardenclyffe]

Exciting news! Mercury, the second book in the Wardenclyffe Series, will be releasing later this year!

Aboard the colony ship, Mercury, 19-year-old Lucy yearns to know more about her deceased father, much to the ire of her mother, the captain.

When a mysterious meteor strands Lucy twenty years in the past, she finds herself face-to-face with her teenage mother and realizes they may have more in common than she originally thought.

As rifts in space threaten to destroy the Mercury, Lucy looks for a way to save the ship and, with any luck, get back to her own time.

Check it out on NetGalley here!

#scifi #bookish #netgalley #indie author #reading #books #scifibooks #ya sci fi #booklr

[kaileythepoet]

Annnnd that's a wrap for my 2nd draft/rewrite of my wip! Now I can let it rest for a bit before jumping back into another round of edits.

#writeblr #writing community #about my wip #wip update #writers of tumblr #ya sci fi #Ya science fantasy #kaileythepoet

[owenlach]

"Owen Lach's Broken Valley is an exciting tale full of great characters, a fascinating plot, and effortless queer sensibility." Pre-order your Kindle copy now: https://amzn.to/3EWvcuC

#queer sci fi #queer ya #ya sci fi #sci fi books #queer author

[qbdatabase]

Salvation Day by Kali Wallace Zahra knew every detail of the plan. But what Zahra and her crew could not know was what waited for them on the ship abandoned in space—a terrifying secret buried by the government. A threat to all of humanity that lay sleeping alongside the orbiting dead. And then they woke it up.

#black rep #disability rep #PTSD rep #mental health rep #gay #gay rep #dystopia #female protagonist #horror #lgbtqia #male protagonist #queer books #sci fi #science fiction #YA sci fi #YA books

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Have You Ever Been Grabbed By The Throat By a Book That Wouldn't Let Go Until You Finished It? That's This Book.

Wu Zetian says that the triangle is the strongest shape, and if this book had hands, it would have wrapped them in a triangle around my throat. This book came out while I was still deeeeeeeeeeeep in burnout from my PhD, and I hadn't read a fun book in I don't know how long, and I was struggling to read for any length of time. It had been over five years since I had read a book in one sitting.

With this book, I had no choice. It grabbed me, pulled me in, and refused to let go until the bottom of the last page. And wow was it worth the ride! Let's talk Iron Widow.

The book was pitched as Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale crossed with a very loose reimagining of the rise of Wu Zetian, only Emperess of China, and that's absolutely in this book, but it's not ALL that's in this book, and I would tell you it's not even the most important thing in the book.

There are a ton of important things about this book, from it's deep, unflinching look at female oppression and patriarchal power structures to its representation of polyamory and disability to its look at how social media and advertising can affect the individuals behind the constructed personas.

All that said, the line that made me stop and cry because it struck a chord in my soul was when Zetian learned that she could leverage her Chrysalis to allow herself to fly, and nearly cries saying that just walking had always been so hard for her. Zetian had her feet broken and bound by her grandmother as a child, so walking is never not painful for her, and she spends not a small amount of the book using a wheelchair. However, finding that flight gives her autonomy in her motion absolutely floored me, because after I began experiencing rheumatoid arthritis, walking was always some degree of painful for me as well. I also had to find independence and autonomy in motion, and while I found that in the pool rather than in flight, watching Zetian discover it took me right back to that magical, pain-free moment of floating in the water. There were tears on reading that.

The other incredible thing about Zetian is that she is allowed to be prickly. She is allowed to be deeply, utterly furious, and she is allowed to go completely feral. I grew up with my SFF female protagonists who either were punished (or disallowed from being feminine) for being angry or who were never angry, and as an adult, I love a female protagonist who is allowed to be angry. It helps that Zetian also takes no shit and is plenty savvy enough to walk circles around other people when push comes to shove. And this is before we get to Yizhi and Shimin.

Yizhi initially comes off as a privileged rich kid who thinks money can fix any problem. Then, he learns to radically weaponize his wealth and influence to support Zetian. I like to think of him as Arthur Holmwood, Lord Godalming, if Arthur had weaponized throwing cash around instead of just signing the checks the rest of the vampire hunting squad wrote. As far as I'm concerned, Yizhi's best moment is when his father is trying to blackmail Zetian and drive a wedge between Yizhi and Zetian. Zhao sets up the scene for both Yizhi's dad and Zetian to argue their positions, but our boy Yizhi is having NONE of it. He fries his dad to a crisp before locking eyes with Zetian and saying "I believe you." Y'all, there was literal cheering and fist pumping when I read this. A guy believing a woman over another man shouldn't be radical, but APPARENTLY it is not only radical, it's a "hell yes" moment. We do not mess with Yizhi.

Next we have Shimin. Darling, sweet, alcoholic, anger-management needing Shimin, who honestly got absolutely screwed by life. Shimin just needs a hug, frankly. Watching his relationships with Zetian and Yizhi develop was honestly one of the best parts of this reading experience.

Overall, I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. It is compelling, has a ton to say, and is just an absolute roller coaster of a book. I credit it with helping my reading recover after my degree, and I cannot wait for Heavenly Tyrant to come out this year.

#xiran jay zhao #iron widow #wu zetian #gao yizhi #li shimin #science fiction #ya sci fi #ya science fiction #polyamory #disability #chinese history #wu zetian reimagining #books and reading #fiction #books & libraries #books and novels #book recommendations

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

I’m super excited to dive into this sequel! Blood Like Magic was one of my faves from last year ✨

#booklr #book photography #book picture #blood like magic #blood like fate #liselle sambury #bookworm #bibliophile #ya fiction #ya fantasy #ya sci fi #ya witches #book community #book aesthetic #i read ya #book lover #book nerd #tbr #my photos #mine