#Bang Bang Bodhisattva

[lowercasebreezy]

BANG BANG BODHISATTVA releases May 9th, 2023.

Okay, I think it’s time I made a full roundup post.

An edgy, queer cyberpunk detective mystery by an exciting new trans voice from New Zealand. Someone wants trans girl hacker-for-hire Kiera Umehara in prison or dead—but for what? Failing to fix their smart toilet?   It’s 2032 and we live in the worst cyberpunk future. Kiera is gigging her ass off to keep the lights on, but her polycule’s social score is so dismal they’re about to lose their crib. That’s why she's out here chasing cheaters with Angel Herrera, a luddite P.I. who thinks this is The Big Sleep. Then the latest job cuts too deep—hired to locate Herrera’s ex-best friend (who’s also Kiera’s pro bono attorney), they find him murdered instead. Their only lead: a stick of Nag Champa incense dropped at the scene.   Next thing Kiera knows, her new crush turns up missing—sans a hand (the real one, not the cybernetic), and there’s the familiar stink of sandalwood across the apartment. Two crimes, two sticks of incense, Kiera framed for both. She told Herrera to lose her number, but now the old man might be her only way out of this bullshit... A fast-talker with a heart of gold, Bang Bang Bodhisattva is both an odd-couple buddy comedy that never knows when to shut up, and an exploration of finding yourself and your people in an ever-mutable world.  

You can read the first chapter here.

ARCs are currently available for reviewers through Netgalley.

Preorder links should start to appear soon through retailers here--please note that the release date is currently showing erroneously as 2022, due to an error. I am working to get this fixed.

I am on Goodreads.

“I am ecstatic to be working with Rebellion Publishing, the home of JUDGE DREDD, to bring my hopelessly queer cyberpunk-buddy-comedy-noir-mystery to print. If you’re a fan of 80s anime pinup girls, Daft Punk, Robert Patrick as the T-1000, hormone replacement therapy, the Nintendo Virtual Boy, a neat whiskey or a fruit-flavored cocktail, Philip K. Dick, lo-fi hip-hop beats to chill/study to and/or the prospect of hope for humanity beyond the next seven to ten years–I hope that Bang Bang Bodhisattva will hit just right.”

[lgbtqreads]

New Releases: May 7, 2024

Picture Books It’s Pride, Baby! by Allen R. Wells (text) and Dia Valle (illustration) Lift your soul to the sky. Like summer sunbeams― Don’t live behind clouds. You shine! It’s Black Gay Pride Day in Washington, DC, and two gay parents are getting their child ready for a day at the National Mall. From cheerful neighbors to colorful outfits to fireworks, the vast LGBTQIA+ community is represented…

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Bang Bang Bodhisattva

mystery set in a near-future cyberpunk future

follows a trans hacker who does random gigs to get by, but is on the verge of losing her apartment

and an ex-cop PI who takes her along on jobs sometimes - and when they’re investigating his missing ex-best friend they find him murdered instead

along with her new crush mysteriously disappearing - she’s dragged in the middle of a mystery with few leads

trans polyamorous MC, ace MC

[erintoknow]

bang bang bodhisattva is such a good book goddamn

proper queer cyberpunk story centering a 30s something trans woman loser (affectionate)

cracking it open really helped re-energize my own enthusiasm for writing

[wanderingchronicle]

First in the tag for Bang Bang Bodhisattva on Ao3 👀👀👀

[transbookoftheday]

Bang Bang Bodhisattva by Aubrey Wood

An edgy, queer cyberpunk detective mystery by an exciting new trans voice from New Zealand.

Someone wants trans girl hacker-for-hire Kiera Umehara in prison or dead—but for what? Failing to fix their smart toilet?

It’s 2032 and we live in the worst cyberpunk future. Kiera is gigging her ass off to keep the lights on, but her polycule’s social score is so dismal they’re about to lose their crib. That’s why she's out here chasing cheaters with Angel Herrera, a luddite P.I. who thinks this is The Big Sleep. Then the latest job cuts too deep—hired to locate Herrera’s ex-best friend (who’s also Kiera’s pro bono attorney), they find him murdered instead. Their only lead: a stick of Nag Champa incense dropped at the scene.

Next thing Kiera knows, her new crush turns up missing—sans a hand (the real one, not the cybernetic), and there’s the familiar stink of sandalwood across the apartment. Two crimes, two sticks of incense, Kiera framed for both. She told Herrera to lose her number, but now the old man might be her only way out of this bullshit...

A fast-talker with a heart of gold, Bang Bang Bodhisattva is both an odd-couple buddy comedy that never knows when to shut up, and an exploration of finding yourself and your people in an ever-mutable world.

[libraryleopard]

I'm reading Bang Bang Bodhisattva by Aubrey Wood right now (about halfway through) and it is sooooo fun. It's a cyberpunk noir novel about Kiera Umehara, a down-on-her-luck trans hacker-for-hire, and Angel Herrera, a technophobe private investigator, who are thrown together when a mutual friend is murdered and one of Kiera's friends disappears under similar circumstances. It feels very aware of its genre influences (I've caught references to Neuromancer, Blade Runner, and Humphrey Bogart so far), but also very fresh and snappy in its own right.

[rad-roche]

i picked up a few books today and started on one and was like wow, this has a lot of elements i'm primed to like. i hope i enjoy my time with it. and in chapter 1 a woman named gloria walks out and starts bickering with her anachronistic retrofuture wisecracking cyborg-detective sort-of-boyfriend-but-it's-complicated. and i'm sitting here like

[lavaflowe]

My DTYIS took so long, that by the time I posted it, I felt like it didn’t really fit my style or skill level anymore so I thought “why not do it again?” SO HERE WE ARE

Third times the charm✨😎

Me rambling about all the little details:

For this one took a lot of inspiration from the wrathful aspect of the Bodhisattva of wisdom Mahakala (I did a research project on him a while ago and the iconography stuck with me). He was mostly prayed to to protect troops during wars and battles so I thought it fit well with Wukong and his warform. The five jewel ornaments in Wukongs hair are reference to Mahakala’s five skulls, which also represent the five wisdom‘s. The skullcap and knife of course reference the spread of wisdom and destruction of ignorance.

For what Wukong’s outfit I thought since he doesn’t necessarily need armor, it would be fun to reference opera! I did have to change the colors tho from his opera outfit to better mesh with the color scheme.

And for the last bit- the ruyi bang. For my redesign, I included lotus buds that bloom when wukong reaches enlightenment. But I wanted to continue having the staff change with along with him- so in place of the lotus buds, I decided to put Dragon Pearl for the time spent at Ao Guangs palace. Dragon pearls are usually flaming, and that also reminds me of the Buddhist mani, wish granting jewels (which can also be flaming).

[dee-the-red-witch]

You want a cyberpunk detective noir story that feels like you're reading the next modern Gibson or Russo? GRAB. THIS. BOOK.

https://www.amazon.com/Bang-Bodhisattva-Aubrey-Wood-ebook/dp/B0BQL36DNC/ref=sr_1_1

You're still reading this? No. Scroll back up and click buy. I'll wait.

Okay, you need more convincing. You want a rich, thickly built world that's a cyberpunk extension of out current (and I mean current) late capitalistic hellscape? This has it. Wit and humor that'll delight the crap out of all the Locked Tomb Fans? This has it. Real, believable characters just as queer, trans, poly and strange as ourselves? Check. Elegantly telegraphed twists, setups, and red herrings, plus a few extra of each that you won't see coming? Check. It's got all of it, and I'm really looking forward to see what comes Aubrey Wood in the future. (More Kiera? PLEASE?!)

Regardless, get this book.

[lowercasebreezy]

here is a thing.

We are now also available on Netgalley.

[lgbtqreads]

good cyberpunk stories about trans people (with body modification as a theme preferably)?

Try Bang Bang Bodhisattva by Aubrey Wood and Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel by Julian K. Jarboe

[nikofortuna]

JTTW Chapter 6 Thoughts

Chapter Six for the @journeythroughjourneytothewest Reading Group!

Starting things off with another look at how time is accounted for in Heaven. Last time I concluded that the years that the Immortal Peach Trees need to grow their fruits were Earth years. This time around when they say that the Peach Festival happens every year they do mean a full year in Heaven, so multiple hundred years on Earth. It kind of has to be this way otherwise things would make little sense since if it wasn’t so the festival would be every day in Heaven and then they’d run out of Immortal Peaches really quickly even without a monkey eating them all up.

This chapter Heaven is back on with its nonsense, this time in retelling what happened instead of their actions. They most certainly did not “educate and nurture the talented monkey”, they didn’t actively teach him anything outside of maybe the bare minimum Sun Wukong was told by the people he worked with. They didn’t even tell him how the ranking system works!

Also they totally denied that he beat Nezha.

What becomes clear here as well is that they didn’t even pay Sun Wukong when they did give him the job to look after the garden. Sure it’s not like the Monkey King would have cared much, but that’s still not a good move.

We stan Guanyin, my favourite Bodhisattva, for sending her own disciple down to the battlefield for specifically a factual report. I firmly believe she is seeing through the nonsense the Jade Emperor has woven in with the truth in his recounting of events!

Also she is already saying “our [monkey]” like she has already decided to sort of take him under her wing. My speculation here is that she probably listened up when it was mentioned vaguely that Sun Wukong cared for his monkeys.

When Erlang Shen enters the fray some rather interesting points arise. For one his sworn brothers, who must know him very well, said that there was no time for “praise or blame”. Oho, what could they mean with praise? In the J.F. Jenner translation they even say "Stop admiring him and challenge him to battle.", which after taking a look at the original Chinese put through Google Translate is actually more accurate.

All of this is very interesting. Perhaps it is meant to harken back to Erlang’s own story and his troubles with Heaven, so now some appreciation for Sun Wukong being rather likeminded in this instance shines through. Aside from both of them having a rebellious streak, another parallel is that both of them have a brotherhood of seven!

And then of course Sun Wukong things of him as being very pretty. I can certainly see why people appreciate those two together.

Additionally Sun Wukong doesn’t want to fight him, because he appreciates his care for his mother! Aside from them not having any personal issues with each other.

Interestingly the Jingu Bang is always metaphorically called a Dragon in multiple instances of combat while the opponent’s weapon is referred to as Phoenix.

Some more translation shenanigans Erlang’s face is not simply green as stated in the Anthony C. Yu translation! I checked the Chinese text with the help of Google Translate for the Pinyin again and it’s verdant, so it could be more blue or green or inbetween even. The colour is specifically [青 Qīng], which doesn’t specify if it’s green or blue, just that it’s verdant. Only if an additional character had been used it could have been clearly differentiated. The German translation actually calls it “grünblau” literally greenblue as well.

Yippie, Xiàotiān makes an appearance this chapter as well! Wish we could have seen more of the good boi, but maybe we’ll get more later at some point. For those who’d like to see more of her, I can happily refer to the New Gods: Yang Jian movie!

She’s so goofy, so adorable! Yet still packs a pawnch as well.

Guess why Erlang is called Little Sage in this! The German translation notes that it is because Erlang [二 郎] has the number two [二] in it, which stands for the force of Yin with which the small/little is associated. So it’s Little Sage in the chapter title! Additionally Sun Wukong has a lot of Yang force, which gets opposed and undermined by Erlang’s Yin.

Lastly the Audio Drama Production Notes of this chapter bringing forth that the “plant-headed deities” in the Anthony C. Yu translation, well, have nothing to do with plants at all. Instead something they could be called which is more true to the intended meaning is “unappointed deities”.

And that should be the last we see of Huaguoshan until about… Chapter 28! Good grief, I’m not ready.

[aroaessidhe]

Read in July

audio favourites

The Queens of Innis Lear - 3.75

Walking Practice - 4.5

Have You Seen This Girl - 4

The Endless Sea Between Us - 3

Death’s Country - 4

A Milky Way Home - 3.5

Masquerade - 2.5

Greta & Valdin - 4.25

Sorrowland (reread) - 5

Our Lady Of Mysterious Ailments - 3.75

The Stardust Grail - 4.5

The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle - 4

The Sunforge (arc) - 4.25

Bury Your Gays - 4

Key Lime Sky (arc) - 4

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride - 4.25

Bang Bang Bodhisattva - 3.5

Where The River Meets The Soul - 2.25

The West Passage - 4.25

A Map of Home - 2.5

What Feasts At Night - 4

Moonstorm - 3.5

We Shall Be Monsters - 4

graphic novels

Lightfall: The Girl & the Galdurian and Shadow of the Bird - 5

The Deep & Dark Blue - 4

The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott - 4.5

Shubeik Lubeik - 5

The Pale Queen - 5

The Legend of Brightblade - 4

[kadoore]

May 2023 Queer Adult SFF Books!

ORPHIA AND EURYDICIUS by Elyse John 5/1/2023

bi MCs, m/f

Orphia is the warrior who would write verse, Eurydicius the shield-maker she's drawn to protect

both draw the ire of the gods

gender-swapped Greek myth with a twist

DRAGONFALL by L.R. Lam 5/2/2023

bi, pan rep

chosen one story, but make the chosen one a dragon hellbent on revenge

just have to convince this human to trust him long enough so they can both betray all of humankind

oh no

i think I love the human

SEASON OF SKULLS by Charles Stross 5/16/2023

bi MC

third in a trilogy in the Laundry Files universe, where the Prime Minister is an eldritch horror and everyone's manifesting powers

and Eve still has to deal with her ex-husband, whom she murdered

BANG BANG BODHISATTVA by Aubrey Wood 5/9/2023

trans MC

hacker-for-hire framed for murder must clear her name with the help of a stuffy PI

come for the dystopian cyberpunk, stay for the stubborn defiance

TRIALS OF THE INNERMOST by Jonathan Fuller and Kristina Kelly 5/26/2023

bi, gay, and ace MCs

the world was shattered into 3

regular trials of their best warriors keeps the peace

but when one of those warriors might harbor a consuming darkness,,, well

THE BATTLE DRUM by Saara El-Arifi 5/23/2023

f/f

myth and conspiracy merge in a blood-caste-segregated empire

they've succeeded, but their world still threatens to unravel

war is coming

sequel to THE FINAL STRIFE

[rebeccadumaurier]

2023 Books in Review

a tiered ranking of all the books i read in 2023! originally i was going to write up my commentary on each one but then i was like hahaha.....no, so below the cut is just a list of the titles/authors in each tier instead.

changed my brain chemistry

The Idiot, Elif Batuman

Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang

The Borrowed, Chan Ho-kei (trans. Jeremy Tiang)

My Cousin Rachel, Daphne du Maurier

Vagabonds, Hao Jingfang (trans. Ken Liu)

The Membranes, Chi Ta-wei (trans. Ari Larissa Heinrich)

Under the Pendulum Sun, Jeannette Ng

Severance, Ling Ma

He Who Drowned the World, Shelley Parker-Chan

Vita Nostra, Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (trans. Julia Meitov Hersey)

Network Effect, Martha Wells

top-tier stuff

Our Share of Night, Mariana Enriquez (trans. Megan McDowell)

Brainwyrms, Alison Rumfitt

The Door, Magda Szabo (trans. Len Rix)

The Lover, Marguerite Duras (trans. Barbara Bray)

Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

Strange Beasts of China, Yan Ge (trans. Jeremy Tiang)

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

Pachinko, Min Jin Lee

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, Kim Fu

Tell Me I’m Worthless, Alison Rumfitt

Bliss Montage, Ling Ma

How to Read Now, Elaine Castillo

Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer

The Fifth Season, N. K. Jemisin

If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin

My Brilliant Friend and The Story of a New Name, Elena Ferrante

The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri

good, well-written

Carmilla, Sheridan Le Fanu

Life Ceremony, Sayaka Murata (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori)

Yellowface, R. F. Kuang

A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine

Assassin of Reality, Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (trans. Julia Meitov Hersey)

Witch King, Martha Wells

Tokyo Ueno Station, Miri Yu (trans. Morgan Giles)

Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler

Peaces, Helen Oyeyemi

Gingerbread, Helen Oyeyemi

Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir

The Pachinko Parlor, Elisa Shua Dusapin (trans. Aneesa Abbas Higgins)

All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Fugitive Telemetry, and System Collapse (Murderbot #1-4, #6-7), Martha Wells

Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee

The Dry Heart, Natalia Ginzburg (trans. Frances Frenaye)

Gods of Want, K-Ming Chang

Paradais, Fernanda Melchor (trans. Sophie Hughes)

The Mushroom at the End of the World, Anna Tsing

Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced An Emergency, Chen Chen

The Hurting Kind, Ada Limon

Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie

An Unauthorised Fan Treatise, Lauren James

Upstream, Mary Oliver

The Art of Death, Edwidge Danticat

Meander, Spiral, Explode, Jane Alison

alphabet, Inger Christensen (trans. Susanna Nied)

Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

flawed, but enjoyable

The Wicker King, K. Ancrum

Exit West, Mohsin Hamid

Detransition, Baby, Torrey Peters

Flux, Jinwoo Chong

Bang Bang Bodhisattva, Aubrey Wood

The Murder of Mr. Wickham, Claudia Gray

Natural Beauty, Ling Ling Huang

The Monster Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson

Certain Dark Things, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Likeness, Tana French

The Cabinet, Un-su Kim (trans. Sean Lin Halbert)

The Kingdom of Surfaces, Sally Wen Mao

The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, Franny Choi

good, well-written, but not my cup of tea

The Good House, Tananarive Due

The Transmigration of Bodies, Yuri Herrera (trans. Lisa Dillman)

Roadside Picnic, Arkady & Boris Strugatsky (trans. Olena Bormashenko)

The School for Good Mothers, Jessamine Chan

At Night All Blood Is Black, David Diop (trans. Anna Moschovakis)

Family Lexicon, Natalia Ginzburg (trans. Jenny McPhee)

The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo

The Kingdom of This World, Alejo Carpentier (trans. Harriet de Onís)

Against Silence, Frank Bidart

flawed, less enjoyable

Tenth of December, George Saunders

Counterweight, Djuna (trans. Anton Hur)

Authority, Jeff VanderMeer

Comfort Me with Apples, Catherynne M. Valente

Babel, R. F. Kuang

The Genesis of Misery, Neon Yang

Carrie Soto Is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid

not ranking

These are nonfiction and they aren’t literature-related, so it just felt weird trying to rank them.

Visual Thinking, Temple Grandin

On Web Typography, Jason Santa Maria

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo (trans. Cathy Hirano)