#R.S.A. Garcia

[rhetoricandlogic]

The Nightward by R.S.A. Garcia: Review by Liz Bourke

December 17, 2024fantasy, Liz Bourke, science fiction

The Nightward is R.S.A. Garcia’s first traditionally published novel. From the outside, it looks like a work of epic fantasy in the classic mode, in which a small team of he­roes must outwit and stand against a nebulously defined threat to all they know and love. A closer examination, however, finds it taking this classic form in some interesting directions, as a child-queen-in-waiting and her bodyguard experience one of the world’s worst road trips in their flight from the Dark.

Some 500 years or so before The Nightward begins, its history says the world was subject to an “Age of Chaos” filled with terrible beasts and horrible suffering, ruled over by inimical Masters with great power. An individual called Gaiea, worshipped now as a goddess, brought the Age of Chaos to a close and ended the rule of the Masters. She sealed away the Darkness and dark magic and put it into a book, the titular Nightward, and instituted a new order, one where people live with only ordinary hazards to their daily life. Her gifts – the ability to manipulate the world in certain ways, to do certain kinds of magic – have been manifest in many people ever since, most notably in the many ruling queens of the courts of what has since been known as Gailand. The queens have stood as safeguard against the Dark and for the preservation of the world Gaiea brought into being, especially the queen of the High Court of Dun, known as the Hand of Gaiea, pre-eminent among her peers and guardian of the Nightward.

This world is matriarchal, with men excluded from positions of leadership and trans people as a recognised class but with a mildly awkward social position. The current queen of the High Court of Dun is a reformer, attempting to change the status quo, but her push for change goes too far for some and not far enough for others, while the borders of Gailand are threatened by the Ragat Army – the armed forces of a patriarchal society excluded from Gailand and believed to have no magic.

This is not all obvious from the beginning, but the picture begins to emerge as we follow The Nightward’s protagonists. Viella, a preteen princess, the “Spirit of Gaiea” (the title for the heir presumptive to the Hand of Gaiea) and her bodyguard, Luka, a man of good intentions and immense energy, frustrated to be babysitting a wilful princess rather than serving with the army (the elite women of the Dahomei, magic-wielding warriors, and the men of the Daguard, who aren’t seen as quite at their level) in the face of a Ragat incursion.

On the eve of the ceremony that would have confirmed Viella in her role as her mother’s heir, an alliance of competing factions within the court conspire to assassinate the queen and bring in the Ragat to support a coup – and unleash the Dark power of the Nightward to further their aims, using Viella’s twin brother Valan first as an unwitting pawn and then as a coerced one. These factions may have competing visions for the future of Gailand, but that matters very little to Luka, who flees with Viella to save her life, in search first of safety and then of aid to restore Viella to her court. But dark and terrible forces last seen in the Age of Chaos pursue them, and the magic (Gaiea’s gift, or blessing, or boon) that should have come to Viella with her mother’s fall is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Luka has secrets of his own – about his heritage and abilities – that he feels he must keep hidden from the abrasive, intensely competent Dahomei who’s joined them on the road trip from hell.

Relationships, particularly familial or family like relationships, are front and centre in The Nightward. At the court of Dun, in the wake of the coup, the relationships between Valan, his father, and his father’s would-be lover, one of the coup plotters, is central to events, while Valan’s grandmother Frances and her relationships – and her ability to forge relationships – are key to op­posing it. Viella, initially irritated with Luka as her bodyguard, comes to cling to him as her one trustworthy rock amid the tumult and danger that her life has become, while Luka, at first frustrated to be doing something as passive as fleeing with the queen-in-waiting when he’d much rather be taking an active role in fighting back, comes at first grudgingly and later wholeheartedly to embrace the importance of his role as caregiver as well as a protector, and to open up to the possibility of emotional connection. All the while, other characters – from generals and queens to river spirits – are working in their own ways to oppose the destructive forces that the coup has unleashed.

It’s clear, in the end, that while the world of The Nightward looks fantastical, it’s underpinned by a science-fictional logic. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic at a glance, and – though it may, in the end, be science fantasy – Garcia is playing with nanotechnology and the hinted remnants of what looks like cor­porate dystopia in a really fascinating dialogue with the trappings of epic fantasy. This fruitful and playful fusion of ideas and approaches recollects some of the playfulness of Garcia’s most recent (wry, deeply observed) short fiction – such as the 2023 Nebula Award winner “Tante Merle and the Farmhand 4200” or “Mid-Earth Removals Limited” – and so does its approach to family and community. No one in The Nightward is an isolated actor: They all exist within webs of connection, even when they turn against those connections.

Garcia writes with deft vigour, creating com­pelling characters and a clear sense of a world bursting with history and possibility, drama and threat. It’s a fast and entertaining read, and I’m fascinated to see where the characters will go – and how Garcia will continue to play with the interpenetration of science fiction and fantasy! – in the next volume.

[writing-relatedactivities]

Loved the Caribbean Futurisms panel! So many interesting topics, could have listened for another hour easily. Also very exciting to see E.G. Conde doing more cool stuff, I loved his story that we printed in Reckoning and will be watching his future publications for sure.

[fandomsandfeminism]

The Nebula Awards are tomorrow (5/14)

Nebula Award for Novel

Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree (Cryptid; Tor)

Spear, Nicola Griffith (Tordotcom)

Nettle and Bone, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)

Babel, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)

Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)

The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler (MCD; Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

I'm frantically trying to finish The Mountain and the Sea right now. It's excellent. Still, I'm putting my money on Babel. It was incredibly good and haunting. (Though I would not be upset if any of them won.)

Nebula Award for Novella

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)

“Bishop’s Opening”, R.S.A. Garcia (Clarkesworld 1/22)

I Never Liked You Anyway, Jordan Kurella (Vernacular)

Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)

High Times in the Low Parliament, Kelly Robson (Tordotcom)

I have read all the novellas.I'm torn between Prayer for the Crown shy and Even Though I Knew the End. Both were amazing.

Unfortunately I didn't get to any of the YA books this year. (Or novellettes or short stories) If I finish Mountsin and the Sea, I'll try to at least read some of the short stories.

Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Andor: “One Way Out”,

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Nope

Our Flag Means Death

The Sandman: Season 1,

Severance

Ok, I have seen EEAAO, Our Flag Means Death, and Sandman. From those, EEAAO seems like the obvious choice.

https://nebulas.sfwa.org/58th-nebula-awards-finalists/

[nfinitefreetime]

#REVIEW: The Nightward, by R.S.A. Garcia

I don’t know what to say about this one. Now normally when I say something like that, it’s a bad sign. This isn’t that. The Nightward is a good book. But it is a good book in a very specific way, and the specific way it’s good makes it kinda hard to talk about. This is a book with lots of secrets, and lots of mysteries that may or may not be unraveled in the course of the text. In some ways it’s…

[rsagarcia]

Tomorrow #TheNightward comes to the UK!

If THE WITCHER meets Caribbean mythology in a matriarchal world where magic is gendered sounds like your thing, I recommend the incredible audiobook! And the Kindle book is £6.99 right now!

[keytoyourhearts]

Review of The Nightward by R.S.A. Garcia (2024), 1st book of the The Waters of Lethe duology

SYNOPSIS:

On the day she would be granted her Blessing at nine years of age, Princess Viella’s court is overthrown, and she is sent on the run after witnessing her mother and queen murdered.  Her bodyguard with a hidden past, Luka, manages to escape the court with the now-Queen Viella relatively unscathed and must now keep her safe from the Dark and the secret magic found in the pages of the Nightward.  They eventually meet the third of their trio, Eleanor, a warrior-mage tasked with escorting Queen Viella to nearby court to give the young girl a fighting chance at retaking her thrown.

See my full review and rating below the cut!

RATING: 3/5 STARS

MY THOUGHTS:

I received an ARC of this book through a giveaway, thank you to the author and Harper Voyager for the opportunity! Overall, I found The Nightward to be an atmospheric, high-fantasy adventure that had me so enthralled, I could not put it down- until the sci-fi aspects were introduced.  I was unaware and found it incredibly jarring for unexplained technology to appear after such an exciting fantasy environment and premise were unfolding in front of me; it felt unnecessary to convolute the plot further.  I am also not well-versed enough in Caribbean mythology to know if it was done well, but I did find the included mythology intriguing.  While I may not pick up the next one, I mostly enjoyed the time I spent in the sci-fantasy genre and The Nightward.  It made me feel things that most books could only dream of.  RSA Garcia is a strong writer, and I would love to delve into more of the worlds she so vividly creates.

TAGS: fantasy, sci-fi, sci-fantasy, magic, speculative fiction

CW: explicit depictions of violence & death, sexism, misandry

RECOMMENDATION: I would recommend this novel for fans of sci-fantasy looking for something emotion evoking, who also don’t need their hand held through world-building and mystery unraveling.

THE GOOD:

The atmosphere of this novel was wonderfully crafted and such a pleasure to read.  RSA Garcia is obviously a talented writer when it comes to her beautiful environmental descriptions and exposition, not to mention her skill in evoking emotion and developing an air of suspense.  The opening of The Nightward exemplifies this.  I was so stressed, so heartbroken, and I knew what was coming!

I found the choice to make a nine-year-old one of the main characters to be interesting and refreshing.  The dichotomy of being practically helpless and emotional while also sophisticated and intelligent due to her upbringing made Viella a compelling protagonist despite not actually doing very much to further her journey.

THE BAD:

Despite the wonderful descriptors, I found the world-building to both be poorly explained and convoluted.  The magic/caste system still does not make sense to me.  I could not tell you the difference between the Word vs. the Sight, except that only certain genders can use one but sometimes both but sometimes none at all?

Perhaps this is rectified in the formal release, but my copy of this novel did not include a map, and boy, did I need one.  Queens and courts are introduced seemingly at random and when convenient, and they are sometimes conveniently connected by portals.  I cannot even tell you if we were on the same continent or a different world by the end.

Unfortunately, The Nightward lost my attention soon after the beginning, which is a travesty for how much I enjoyed it.  Most of the midsection felt like a slog of repetitive scenes and strangely informative dialogue, like the characters were too busy explaining things for the reader to continue their conversation.  Many side characters felt pointless and unmemorable, like their ‘stories’ were only included to pad the page count.

Speaking of padding the page count, here is my final gripe: it is a personal pet peeve of mine when authors are so focused on building up to next book in the series that they leave the ending of the first without resolving a single thing.  It is not a cliffhanger if the climax never comes to a head, it is poor pacing and drawn-out story beats that force readers into purchasing a sequel when all of this could have been solved by writing a single, albeit longer, book.

[yesqwerty123blog]

Productivity

"Capitalism assumes that the best possible form of anything is efficiency and productivity. And humanity is not about productivity and efficiency!

We weren’t put here to be productive elements for an employer, and yet we have somehow turned a method of economic distribution into not only our political system, but our entire social foundation.

There are tremendous negatives coming out of that, which we’re trying to grapple with.

We’ve known this for a while, but the positives of trade and expansion have distracted us for a very long time; and now you’ve gotten to a point where, inevitably, you begin to have blowback."

by R.S.A. Garcia (2024, via www.fivebooks.com)

[readingbooksinisrael]

May 2023 Wrap-Up

Rereads

The Chalet School at War/Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (Chalet School #15) (mg school adventure fiction)

School for One/Judith Weil (ya realistic Jewish fiction)

5 stars

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt/Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by James Ransome (historical fiction picture book)

Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood/Nathan Hale (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #4) (mg historical non-fiction graphic novel)

4.5 stars

The Chalet School in Exile/Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (Chalet School #14) (mg adventure fiction)

Inside Out and Back Again/Thanhha Lai (mg historical based-on-the-author novel in verse)

Loveless/Alice Oseman (na coming-of-age realistic fiction)

4 stars

Apples Never Fall/Liane Moriarty (adult domestic thriller/mystery)

Riding Lessons/Jane Smiley (Ellen and Ned #1) (mg realistic horse fiction)

3.5 stars

Changes for Kirsten/Janet Shaw, illustrated by Renne Graef and Keith Skeen (Kirsten Larson #6) (first chapter books historical fiction)

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute/Talia Hibbert (ya romance)

What Moves the Dead/T. Kingfisher (Sworn Soldier #1) (adult horror)

Winter of the Ice Wizard/Mary Pope Osborne (Merlin Missions #4) (first chapter books mythological fantasy)

3 stars

Bishop’s Opening/R.S.A. Garcia (adult sci fi romance)

2.5 stars

The Call of the Wild/Jack London (adult animal fiction)

Confessions of a Shopaholic/Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic #1) (adult chicklit romance)

Kirsten Saves the Day/Janet Shaw, illustrated by Renne Graef and Keith Skeen (Kirsten Larson #5) (first chapter books historical fiction)

2 stars

Sister of the Bride/Beverly Cleary (First Love #4) (ya realistic fiction)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# books read: 18

Most read age groups: MG and Adult

Most read genre: Realistic fiction

Average rating: 3.3 stars

[spaceagemermaid]

Novella Review: Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma by R.S.A. Garcia

Tonya R. Moore reviews the finalist for the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novella and for the 2022 Theodore A. Sturgeon Memorial Award: R.S.A. Garcia's scifi novella: Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma.

Published in the January 2021 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine, R.S.A. Garcia’s compelling sequel to her story, The Sun From Both Sides is set in a distant, post-transhumanist future where every human in Eva’s culture is paired with artificial intelligence, which functions as their sibling and protector, from birth. Eva lives with her husband, Dee, in cloistered contentment in a sylvan…

[posi-pan]

2022 books with pan rep 📚

At the time of posting previous lists, there were 57 books in 2020 and 141 in 2021. This year, there are 176!

30 Things I Love about Myself by Radhika Sanghani

Ablaze by A.H. Cunningham

All I’m Asking by J. Marie Rundquist

Apparition by Zahlia Amin

Attraction (Mobsters + Billionaires #3) by Kelly Fox

Bad At Love by Gabriela Martins

Barcelona (Circus After Dark #3) by Chloe Adler

The Barkeep and the Bookseller by V.L. Locey

Barnabas Bopwright Saves the City by J. Marshall Freeman

Bartholomew (The Temple Brothers #2) by Elle Sparrow

Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra

Bishop’s Opening by R.S.A Garcia

Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai

Blood Bound (Youkai Bloodlines #3) by Courtney Maguire

Blood Legacy (Avators of Ruin #2) by Tej Turner

Bloodmarked (Legendborn #2) by Tracy Deonn

Bound (Fangs with Benefits #3) by Aveda Vice

Bound (Kozlov Chronicles #2) by Elena Sobol

Carnal Cryptids 2: Southeast (Carnal Cryptids #2) by Vera Valentine

Changing the Rules (Rules of the Game: Evanston River Otters #1) by Brigham Vaughn

The Chasm (Finding Humanity #2) by Branwen Oshea

Cold Cases and Bitter Enemies (Cold Case Unit #3) by J.M. Dabney

A Cosmic Kind of Love by Samantha Young

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

A Cruel and Fated Light (The Hollow Star #2) by Ashley Shuttleworth

Dance with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians #3) by Kit Rocha

The Darkest Edge by Lyra Blake

Dead Draw by Layla Reyne

Death by Society by Sierra Elmore

Dinner with the Schnabels by Toni Jordan

Dominance of the Heart by Char Dafoe

Dragon’s Honor (Irresistible Dragons #2) by Nora Phoenix

Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak (Unstoppable #2) by Charlie Jane Anders

D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chenica C. Higgins

The Edge of Being by James Brandon

Electric Idol (Dark Olympus #2) by Katee Robert

Epilogues of Lost Gods (Unwritten Runes #2) by Cat Rector

Errant Vol. 1 (Errant #1) by L.K. Fleet

Eternal Hoptimist by Lee Blair

Every Word You Never Said by Jordon Greene

Exodus 20:3 by Freydís Moon

Extra Witchy (Fix-It Witches #3) by Ann Aguirre

Fabricated by Zoe Lee

The Fae Keeper (The Witch King #2) by H.E. Edgmon

The Fake Date by Trisha Bradley

Fate in Suspension (Horn & Haven #1) by Archer Kay Leah

Fault Tolerance (Chilling Effect #3) by Valerie Valdes

Fight + Flight by Jules Machias

Fighting Monsters: Part One (Fighting Monsters #1) by Sam Hall

Fighting Monsters: Part Two (Fighting Monsters #2) by Sam Hall

Forward March by Skye Quinlan

Furious Heaven (The Sun Chronicles #2) by Kate Elliott

Going Public (Jade Harbor Capital #2) by Hudson Lin

Got Me Looking (Vet Shop Boys #3) by Casey Cox

Griff by Ana Night

Grim and Bear It (Love Me Dead #2) by Heather Novak

Grounded for All Eternity by Darcy Marks

The Heartbreak Handshake by J.R. Hart

Her Stubborn Warrior by Kaylee Pike and Kyra Keys

His Heart Knows by Riley Long

The Hourglass Throne (The Tarot Sequence #3) by K.D. Edwards

Howl Down the Moon by Layla Dorine

How to Love a Dragon (Dragon Tamer #2) by Lila Mina

How We Ricochet by Faith Gardner

I Am Sebastian by Cameron James

I Bought Him, So He’s Mine by Kaylee Pike and Kyra Keys

Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

I F-ing Dare You by Emm Darcy

If I Were A Weapon (All These Gifts #1) by Skye Kilaen

The Immortality Trials (The Immortality Trials #1) by Madison Nicole

Incandescent by Christina Lee

Indigo: Nights (Indigo B&B #2) by Adrian J. Smith

Inked Temptation by Carrie Ann Ryan

In the City of Time by Gwendolyn Clare

Irresponsible Puckboy by Eden Finley and Saxon James

It’s Not Unusual To Be Loved by an Alien by Chloe Archer

Jamison by A.N. Waugh

Jilted: Jaren (The Foster Brothers #1) by Nora Phoenix

Just a Touch Away by Jae

Just One Date (Castleton Hearts #5) by Chelsea M. Cameron

Kieran by Avery Tu and Kota Quinn

The Kindred by Alechia Dow

Kink Camp: Hunted by A. Anders

Know It In the Dark (All These Gifts #2) by Skye Kilaen

Kostya the Fallen Star by Melissa Polk

The Last Hero (The First Sister #3) by Linden A. Lewis

Last Resort by Helene Gadot

Lead Me Astray by Sondi Warner

Let Me In (Gods of Hunger #3) by R.M. Virtues

Let the Light Shine Through by A. Marie

Lipstick Lies (The Order Duet #2) by Kris Butler

Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings

London (Circus After Dark #4) by Chloe Adler

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly

Love Me Gently by E.M. Dennings

Love You Like That by Scarlett Cole

Lunar New Love by Ophelia Silk

Man o’ War by Cory McCarthy

Match with the Demon by Chace Verity

Meet Me on St. Patrick’s Day by Bryony Rosehurst

Moon Dark Smile (Night Shine #2) by Tessa Gratton

MumFest & Murder (The Java Tavern #2) by Elizabeth Garver

Music Lights & Never Afters by C.L. Matthews

My Roommate Romeo (First Times #1) by Billie Bloom

Nestor (Green Hill Pride #6) by Catherine Lievens

Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino

Not Your Type by Elizabeth Jeannel

Odder Still by D.N. Bryn

Omega’s Study Partner (Sweet in Silford #3) by Hope Bennett

One Night With You by Laura Jane Williams

One Night With You by Sky McCoy

One Step at a Time by Lily Seabrooke

One Week with His Stepbrother (Daddy Tales #3) by Kelex

The One Who Loves You the Most by Medina

Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie

Paris (Circus After Dark #1) by Chloe Adler

Pitcher Perfect (Tap That Brewery #1) by Lee Blair

Playing for Keeps by Jax Calder

Play Me (Dragons Love Curves series #10) by Aidy Award

Pull (Love Is Love #1.5) by Nyla K.

Project Himbo by S.J. Whitby

Promote (Shattered Pawns #3) by Jennifer Cody

Pushing the Limits (Secrets Kept #2) by Riley Hart

Queen of Queens (Our Fae Queen #5) by Traci Lovelot

Queen’s Hope (Star Wars: The Padmé Trilogy #3) by E.K. Johnston

Reaper Hospital: Code Hot Nurse (Their Repear #2) by Lacey Carter Anderson

Recast (Handled #4) by Romilly King

The Redemption by Alexia Chase

Ripped (Kozlov Chronicles #3) by Elena Sobol

Rookie Mistake (On the Board #1) by Anna Zabo and L.A. Witt

Royal Exposé by Jenny Frame

Royal Lines (Boston Rebels #4) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

Sasha and the Butcher (The Moretti Family #1) by Stephanie Kazowz

The Savior’s Rise (The Windermere Tales #2) by Talli L. Morgan

Scorpica (The Five Queendoms #1) by Greer Macallister

Seize the Castle (A Knight’s Revenge #2) by Elizabeth Dear

Shake Things Up (Love at Knockdown #2) by Skye Kilaen

Silent Secrets (The Secrets of Sorlphi #1) by Miranda May

Silhouette and the Shadows (Silhouette #1) by Delaney Andrews

The Society For Soulless Girls by Laura Steven

So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens

Spin the Damn Bottle (All the Games We Play #2) by Emm Darcy

Stiletto Sins (The Order Duet #1) by Kris Butler

Stitched (Kozlov Chronicles #1) by Elena Sobol

Stone Wings (The Gargoyles of Arrington #1) by Jenn Burke

Storm the Gates (A Knight’s Revenge #1) by Elizabeth Dear

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

Sugar Girl by Emma L. McGeown

Sweet to the Core (Lighthouse Bay #3) by Amy Aislin

Temptation Cove (Hot Takes #3) by T.S. Ankney

Tempt Me Tonight by Natasha Washington

A Tended Garden by J.P. Jackson

Thank You, Next by Andie J. Christopher

That Good Mischief (The Nine Worlds Rising #3) by Lyra Wolf

This Cursed Crown (These Feathered Flames #2) by Alexandra Overy

This Wicked Fate (This Poison Heart #2) by Kalynn Bayron

Tracking Trouble (Spellster Universe #2.5) by Aldrea Alien

The Trow of Duncaster by Melissa Polk

Twilight’s Touch (Prairie Smoke Ranch #2) by V.L. Locey

Two Rights Make a Wrong by Chloe Liese

Undeniable (Bainbridge University #4) by Andi Burns

Uninhibited (Bainbridge University #3) by Andi Burns

Unlikely Savior (For the Gods’ Amusement #3) by Catherine Lievens

Untitled (The Councillor #2) by E.J. Beaton

Us Against the World by Shayne Prescott

VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend

Venice (Circus After Dark #2) by Chloe Adler

Violet is Nowhere by Faith Gardner

Warrior Queen (Our Fae Queen #6) by Traci Lovelot

Warwick (Rebel Sky Ranch #4) by Kelly Fox

What’s Mine Is Yours by Willow Renee

When the Walls Come Down by Harper Robson

Wicked Beauty (Dark Olympus #3) by Katee Robert

The Wicked Love by Pru Schuyler

Wrong Hunt by J.S. Harker

Have you read any of these books? Or books with pan rep at all this year? Let me know! Happy Pan Week!

[weirdletter]

Devil’s Ways, edited by Anna Kashina and J. M. Sidorova, Dragonwell Publishing, 2020. Cover design by Anna Kashina, info: publishing.dragonwell.org.

There is no light without dark; no highlights without shadows; no good without evil. The Devil is where things happen. Where stories begin. This collection brings together stories from multiple cultures, featuring the Devil both as an abstract concept and a creature, a terror, a force of nature, an enemy, a trickster, and so many more. Step into the world of shadows, and travel through Devil's many incarnations spanning centuries of history and myth, from the Ancient Greece, African and Caribbean folklore, dark ages in Europe, all the way to the present day. The anthology features stories by new and established authors from diverse multicultural backgrounds.

Contents: Preface by Anna Kashina and J. M. Sidorova Nzembe by Persephone D’Shaun Death and the Lady by Ben Loory Fire In His Eyes, Blood On His Teeth by R.S.A. Garcia                                          Of Finest Scarlet Was Her Gown by Michael Swanwick A Diorama of the Infernal Regions or The Devil’s Ninth Question by Andy Duncan One of our Angels is Missing by Curtis C. Chen   The Hag by Darrell Schweitzer Frayed Tapestry by Imogen Howson     Where is Evil By Edwina Harvey       Unto the Daughters by Nancy Kress     The Fisherman… A Tashlich Legend by Avram Davidson     Escape Goat by J.M. Sidorova       About the Authors

[rosariumpublishing]

Rosarium to release “Sunspot Jungle” 2 volume anthology!

2018 will mark Rosarium Publishing's fifth anniversary. To celebrate, they will be releasing a two-volume SFF anthology, entitled

Sunspot Jungle: The Ever-Expanding Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

“I looked upon it as throwing a little party, so I invited some friends, some associates, and a whole lot of complete strangers to celebrate the field that has been so welcoming,” said publisher/editor Bill Campbell. “It's a massive project, but it really only scratches the surface of all the great writing that's out there right now. I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed putting it together.”

Sunspot Jungle will include the works of the following writers:

Basma Abdel Aziz, Yasser Abdel Latif, Saladin Ahmed, William Alexander, Charlie Jane Anders, Anatoly Belilovsky, Brooke Bolander, Vashti Bowlah, K. Tempest Bradford, Jennifer Marie Brissett, Maurice Broaddus, Christopher Brown, Tobias S. Buckell, Nadia Bulkin, Chesya Burke, Raquel Castro, Joyce Chng @blackwolfchng , John Chu, P. Djeli Clark, Zig Zag Claybourne, Elaine Cuyegkeng, Indrapramit Das, Teresa P. Mira de Echeverría, Claudia De Bella, Mame Bougouma Diene, Dilman Dila, Walter Dinjos, Tananarive Due, Hal Duncan, Corinne Duyvis, Berit Ellingsen, Amal El-Mohtar, Mélanie Fazi, Tang Fei, Fábio Fernandes, Jeffrey Ford, Clifton Gachagua, R.S.A. Garcia, Sergio Gaut vel Hartman, Max Gladstone, Jaymee Goh @jhameia​ , Hiromi Goto, Nick Harkaway, Margrét Helgadóttir, Carlos Hernandez, Nalo Hopkinson, Sabrina Huang, T.L. Huchu, Walidah Imarisha, Emmi Itäranta, N.K. Jemisin, Rahul Kanakia, Isha Karki, Csilla Kleinheincz, Tessa Kum, Clara Kumagai, Victor LaValle, Rose Lemberg, Ken Liu, Karen Lord, Karin Lowachee, Carmen Maria Machado, Nick Mamatas, Kuzhali Manickavel, Haralambi Markov, Juan Martinez, Brandon Mc Ivor, Foz Meadows, Hiroko Minagawa, Sunny Moraine, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Kristine Ong Muslim, Ramez Naam, Shweta Narayan, Iheoma Nwachukwu, Irenosen Okojie, Nnedi Okorafor, Malka Older, Chinelo Onwualu, Nene Ormes, Sanem Ozdural, Sarah Pinsker, Pavel Renčín, Rebecca Roanhorse, Yoav Rosen, Geoff Ryman, Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, Nisi Shawl, Eve Shi, Angela Slatter, Naru Dames Sundar, Jeremy Szal, Bogi Takács, Gabriel Teodros, K.A. Teryna, Natalia Theodoridou, Sheree Renée Thomas, Lavie Tidhar, Walter Tierno, Francesco Verso, Sabrina Vourvoulias, Subodhana Wijeyeratne, Bryan Thao Worra, and Carlos Yushimito.

Rosarium plans to run a Kickstarter campaign in February for a special hardcover edition of the anthology that will only be available to the supporters of the campaign. The paperback edition of Vol. 1 will be released in the fall of 2018 with the follow-up edition to be released in the spring of 2019.

Reviews of our other anthologies include: 

“Groundbreaking speculative fiction anthology that showcases the work from some of the most talented writers inside and outside speculative fiction across the globe.” – Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond, Atlanta BlackStar 

“The Sea Is Ours opens the boundaries of what steampunk is, and it's a frequently beautiful and often sharp read.”  NY Journal of Books on The SEA is Ours: Tales from Steampunk Southeast Asia

“Here’s a tribute anthology to one of the greatest living science fiction authors, including works by Junot Diaz, Eileen Gunn, Chesya Burke, Nalo Hopkinson and Geoff Ryman, which play with sexual identity and race, while some essays also celebrate Delany’s work. Publishers Weekly gave this book a starred review, and SFSignal says these stories “honor the man of the hour in many of his facets without ever falling into kitsch or fawning.” i09 on Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany

For further information, contact Melissa Riggio at Melissa@rosariumpublishing.com.

[phsolomon]

Women in SF&F Month: R.S.A. Garcia

Women in SF&F Month: R.S.A. Garcia

Today’s Women in SF&F Month guest is R.S.A. Garcia! She received the 2015 Independent Publishing Book Award (IPPY) Silver Medal for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror E-Book for her science fiction mystery novel, Lex Talionis, and her short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies including Abyss & Apex, Devil’s Ways, and Sunspot Jungle: Volume Two. Her short […]Women in SF&F Month: R.S.A.…

[mystacoceti]

Sister Nadine’s first true thought is of beauty.

Father Paul is delivering a sermon on sacrifice in his deep voice, pausing for emphasis every so often, when the bird lands on the ledge of her quint with a silent flutter of wings. It’s smaller than her hand and has the same wavy translucence as the glass in the window across from the altar, opposite her little anchorhold. It tilts its head toward her, and she sees beneath the grayish ting of its outline, the glowing flow of life within its veins, the pulsing beat of its miniscule heart flashing like a tiny gem.

Beautiful, she thinks. It is beautiful.

And wonders why she thinks this.

The bird hops from one slender foot to another, and for a moment light from the window to her cell that faces the street streams through it. Father Paul’s voice fades and she stares as the bird’s heart turns into a kaleidoscope of colors. A starburst of energy. Then it leaps into the air and flies above the bent heads of the congregation.

She follows its flight until it swoops down onto the shoulder of a small, dark-skinned girl, her thick hair braided into two plaits that skim a short blue jacket, which matches her worn cotton dress. The bird rests for only a second before darting in front of the girl’s face. Her head is bowed, but she opens her mouth and light flashes as it slips inside. Sister Nadine watches as the palest spark slips down the girl’s throat and disappears.

The child looks up, looks directly at Sister Nadine as everyone rises to their feet for the hymn. Her right cheek has a dark smudge on it. A bruise.

Nadine wonders how it got there.

from “The Anchorite Wakes”, R.S.A Garcia

[arnoldjaime13]

Blog Tour- DEVIL'S WAYS ANTHOLOGY by @Dragonwellbooks With Excerpts & A #Giveaway! @RockstarBkTours

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the DEVIL'S WAYS ANTHOLOGY by Dragonwell Publishing Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About the Book:

Title: DEVIL'S WAYS ANTHOLOGY

Authors: Nancy Kress, Ben Loory, R. S. A. Garcia, Michael Swanwick, Andy Duncan, Curtis C. Chen, Darrell Schweitzer, Imogen Howson, Edwina Harvey, Avram Davidson, J. M. Sidorova, Nancy Kress, (Edited by Anna Kashina and J. M. Sidorova)

Pub. Date: June 25, 2020

Publisher: Dragonwell Publishing

Formats:  Paperback, eBook

Pages: 270

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

There is no light without dark; no highlights without shadows; no good without evil. The Devil is where things happen. Where stories begin. This collection brings together stories from multiple cultures, featuring the Devil both as an abstract concept and a creature, a terror, a force of nature, an enemy, a trickster, and so many more.

Step into the world of shadows, and travel through Devil's many incarnations spanning centuries of history and myth, from the Ancient Greece, African and Caribbean folklore, dark ages in Europe, all the way to the present day.

This anthology features new and established authors from diverse, multicultural backgrounds.

“The Devil goes globe-trotting in this eclectic anthology that explores the many guises of the Dark Lord across cultures and ages. Persephone D’Shaun’s shocking “Nzembe” is a twisted tale of zombie-like creatures set in the plains of Africa with an ending some readers will find hard to stomach. An unnamed girl tries to steal back her heart from her winged lover in R.S.A. Garcia’s lyrical “Fire in His Eyes, Blood on His Teeth,” which draws from Caribbean folklore and the legend of Nanny of the Maroons. Feminist themes carry through many of the tales. Imogen Howson’s “Frayed Tapestry,” which follows an amnesiac woman and her manipulative husband, is a bit too on the nose, but elsewhere gender dynamics are handled more gracefully, as in “Of Finest Scarlet Was Her Gown” by Michael Swanwick, in which 15-year-old Su-yin follows her father into hell, where she must endure a series of horrible dates in order to save him from eternal damnation, and in Nancy Kress’s brilliant “Unto the Daughters,” a powerful reimagining of the story of Adam and Eve. Though horror fiends may be disappointed to find little blood-curdling terror, there are very few duds among these wide-ranging tales. Readers are in for a devilish treat.”—PW Review

Excerpts:

1. The opening of Persephone D'Shaun's "Nzembe":

"Last week all the nzembe-born children in town went into trances.

The week before that, leopards sat together on my grandmother’s porch for an entire day, keeping her inside. Later, many women came to her for help, insisting they had fallen into sleep in the middle of the day and been violated by evil spirits in the shape of vulgar children.

And the week before that, Henriette claimed to have seen a sharp-toothed boy peeking at her from one of the thick clusters of palm trees that grow near Little River.

I do not want to think about these things, but today memories are thick and dry like wild grass in the place between towns, tinder in my mind, needing only the smallest spark to destroy the fragile peace I have built.

Today…"

2. The opening of R.S.A. Garcia's "Fire In His Eyes, Blood On His Teeth":

"He comes to me with fire in his eyes and blood on his teeth. Sometimes the blood is his enemies. Sometimes it’s mine. Eventually, it’s mine. Always.

He is different today, striding across the sandy soil toward my home with scuffed, much-mended boots. Often, he’s charming and beautiful, like the first time I met him. Smooth brown skin and white smiles, smelling of freshly scraped coconuts. Sometimes he is fierce and tall and smells of the salty sea, with a glorious shining beard braided around the fuses he hides beneath his battered hat. His teeth are longer, yellow, and his skin burned from the sun. They call him a pirate then, and men on land and sea tremble to speak his name. He has harsh words, but there are no teeth for me yet. They come later.

They come with the fire and a shadow on the sun."

3. The opening of J.M. Sidorova's "Escape Goat":

"A man was leading a goat to a precipice. When they got there and the man readied to bind the goat’s feet, the goat said, “Stop right there, human man.”

The man froze and stared.

“You think I don’t know everything about you?” the goat said.

Goats’ eyes are notoriously hard to read. And the man had been in the blazing sun since morning, walking the high desert, and admittedly had addressed the goat on several occasions—as those things go—with a criticism or simply sharing an observation. So it was easy for him to slip into a conversation with the goat: “What on earth are you talking about?” the man said.

“She had black hair and blue eyes,” the goat replied. “She cried the first several times. Until you gagged her with her favorite rag doll. After that, when you came to her she would bite on that doll ahead of time.”

The man stumbled back as if pushed, and sank down.

The goat said, “Shall I go on?”

“It was thirty years ago,” said the man. “She was—” But he could not finish saying what she was."

4. The opening to Imogen Howson's "Frayed Tapestry":

"The first time it happened was almost a year after he’d married her. They were giving a drinks party, and the spacious top-floor apartment was filled with sleek, beautiful people in immaculately cut trousers, or little black dresses and the discreet glint of gold jewelry.

Candy had been busy since the first guests arrived. Clym liked her to keep the canapés coming and make sure he was supplied with ice for the drinks. With that, as well as welcoming new guests and trying to make sure she remembered everybody’s names, she’d scarcely sipped her own glass of wine.

So, afterwards, although she tried to blame the alcohol, she knew she couldn’t.

She was in the kitchen, cutting up more lemons for the gin and tonics. She had a gleaming steel bowl of them, glossy polished yellow next to the duller green globes of limes, and a neat little serrated knife to slice them into perfect rounds. But then, of course, she had everything. She’d seen it reflected in her guests’ eyes. Her, this nineteen-year-old, already with a beautiful apartment, a handsome, adoring, powerful husband…

The knife slipped."

About The Authors & Publisher:

Founded in 2012, Dragonwell Publishing is based in the US Northeast and publishes 4-6 books a year, focusing mostly on science fiction and fantasy. Dragonwell Publishing titles have been featured by Publishers Weekly, ForeWord Magazine, RT Book Reviews, San Francisco Book Reviews, and Portland Book Reviews, and highlighted by Historical Novel Society and Mythopoetic Society. Our books have been among the winners of the 2013 ForeWord Book of the Year Award and 2014 Independent Publishers Book Award.

Get to know all the authors here on the Dragonwell Publishing Site!

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a $10 Amazon GC, International.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

6/22/2020

Two Chicks on Books

Excerpt

6/23/2020

BookHounds

Excerpt

6/24/2020

Jaime's World

Excerpt

6/25/2020

Hurn Publications

Review

6/26/2020

Miss Elizabeth

Review

Week Two:

6/29/2020

Jazzy Book Reviews

Excerpt

6/30/2020

Rajiv's Reviews

Review

7/1/2020

jypsylynn

Review

7/2/2020

A Dream Within A Dream

Excerpt

7/3/2020

JaimeRockstarBookTours

Instagram Stop

[goodnewsjamaica]

5 of My Favorite Caribbean Foodie Destinations

New Post has been published on https://goodnewsjamaica.com/travel/5-of-my-favorite-caribbean-foodie-destinations/

5 of My Favorite Caribbean Foodie Destinations

Who doesn’t like to enjoy a good meal when they travel? We all do. In fact, the foodie experience is even more pleasurable when your taste buds are awakened with unexpected combinations of seasonings and spices, and when your senses of sight, sound, and smell are dazzled by new surroundings. That’s why I like to explore the food scene when I travel, and I especially enjoy meals in local, laid-back eateries.  Maybe you do, too.

Well, epicureans, gastromes, gourmands and foodies of the world feel free to unite and thank me now because I’ve rounded up some of my favorite Caribbean meals for your sampling pleasure. They are listed below in no particular order.

The photo taken from The Explorers Kitchen

Goat water soup

Country: Nevis, the sister island to St. Kitts

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Description: Their version of goat water is a thick, full-bodied soup filled with carrots, small dumplings and root vegetables. As the name suggests, the main protein is goat meat. In other islands, the soup has a more broth-like consistency and it is consumed as an appetizer; not the main course.

Great place to try it: Bananas Bistro, Upper Hamilton Estate

Photo taken from Martha Stewart

Conch salad

Country: The Bahamas

Description: Conch is a popular menu item in many islands, and you can have it prepared in several ways, but there’s just something extra special about Bahamian conch. Maybe it’s because I lived in Nassau for two years, or the fact that their home cooks and master chefs just have that je ne sais quoi to how they add diced peppers, onions and tomatoes  and lemon juice over the mixture to cure the uncooked meat, like in a ceviche.

Great place to try it: Joe’s Conch Shack, Bimini

Photo taken from Recipes Jamaica

Ackee and Corned Pork

Country: Jamaica

Description: Ackee is a fruit that is one half of the national dish of my home country, Jamaica. Usually it is served with sautéed salt fish (cod) but on occasion it is paired with other proteins like sausages and corned pork.  When cooked, at a glance it looks like scrambled eggs, but it has a much creamier texture.

If you assumed that’s a biased opnion because I’m a native, you would be wrong. In 2011, ackee and salt fish was listed on National Geographic’s roundup of top national dishes around the world.

Great place to try it: M-10 Bar and Grill in Vineyard Town, Kingston

Photo taken from R.S.A. GARCIA

Bake and Shark

Country: Trinidad and Tobago

Description: Quite arguably the most famous beach food in Trinidad, this fish sandwich starts out as a simple combination of fried pieces of shark meat served within a bun. It ramps up to noteworthy finger-licking proportions once you add the choose-as-you-go accompaniments. Food patrons have a choice of toppings and sauces that range from the mundane mustard and ketchup regulars to the more exotic tongue pleasers like mango chutney, tamarind and Shado Beni (similar to cilantro).

Great place to try it: Richard’s Bake and Shark, Maracas B

Photo taken from Trip Adviser

Oxtail with peas and rice

Country: Cayman Islands

Description: Any non-Caribbean person out there reading this: yes, you read that right. The main ingredient in this dish is the tail of an ox! The meat is first tenderized in a pressure cooker and then slow cooked to gelatinous perfection with fresh thyme, onions and other spices. Most places add butter beans to the mixture and serve it with kidney beans and rice, cooked with coconut milk for additional flavor.

Great place to try it: Welly’s Cool Spot, Georgetown

Mmmnnn. ARE YOU HUNGRY YET? I am.

About the author: You can keep up with Macaulay’s adventures around the world via her Instagram feed and read her travel stories and tips on her blog at MyTravelStamps.com

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