Swords & Spaceships

A Double Dose of New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Releases

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Alex Acks

Contributing Editor

Alex Acks is a writer, geologist, and sharp-dressed sir. They've written for Six to Start and been published in Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, Shimmer, Daily Science Fiction, and more. Alex lives in Denver with their two furry little bastards, where they twirl their mustache, watch movies, and bike. Twitter: @katsudonburi Website: katsudon.net

While you’re reading this, I’m probably at Glasgow Worldcon in the World Science Fiction Society meeting. The agenda this year is 100 pages long!

The good news is, lots of new books await this week. Find below a double dose of fresh releases for your TBR.

Bookish Goods

4 cat bookmarks

Set of 4 Cat Bookmarks by PortaltoPurrGATOry

I see cat anything and I can’t resist. The art on these bookmarks is so pretty! And if cats aren’t your thing, there are a lot of other sets of four bookmarks in the shop. $15.

New Releases

The Sunforge cover

The Sunforge by Sascha Stronach

This book is the sequel to The Dawnhounds, which I cannot possibly recommend enough.

The crew of the Kopek is stranded in the harbor of Radovan, watching as the city is consumed by fire. The crew itself, having survived a bioterror attack, is not intact either. Their captain is missing. If the crew wants a chance at survival, they must escape the harbor. But to do that, they must go into the burning city and search its ruins for the technology that’s holding them captive, dodging hostile militia along the way.

cover of The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey; illustration of an alien planet city under a yellow sky

The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey

Humans no longer remember how they got to the planet Anjiin and settled on it, but perhaps it no longer matters. The hive-empire called the Carryx descends on this isolated world to kill and enslave its people. Among those captured is a scientist named Dafyd Alkhor, along with his team, and it will fall upon his shoulders to see to humanity’s salvation—or its damnation.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

With so many books coming out this first week, here are two more new releases for you to check out!

cover of A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher; black with gold illustrations of trees and stars

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

Cordelia has had an unusual childhood by anyone’s standards. She’s not allowed to have friends, and her mother forces her to sit silent and motionless for hours at a time. The truth is that Cordelia’s mother is an evil sorcerer, and she’s about to move the two of them into the home of her next victim, an older Squire and his kind sister. Cordelia can feel what’s coming next, but now she’s old enough and knowledgeable enough to choose between the woman she knows to be her mother and these kind people who have somehow become her family.

House of Bone and Rain cover

House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias

Growing up in the slums of Puerto Rico, childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo have long been accustomed to violence and death and used to a life surrounded by ghosts. But when someone working for a drug kingpin shoots Bimbo’s mom, he swears vengeance and draws his friends into the fray. As they plan their move, a hurricane begins to gather offshore. It’s one that promises to bring evil spirits from the sea to the shore.


See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

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