#contemporary sff

[sometimesraven]

It's Erik's birthday today so I thought I'd put together a lil aesthetic based around his star sign!

Virgos are grounded Earth signs, deeply rooted in their ways and perfectionists to the core. They are your best friend, extremely dedicated and loyal, and will work hard to maintain their relationships. That perfectionism can present kind of neurotically, however, and you'll often find Virgos overthinking and meticulous in their persuit of that perfection.

Erik is the quintessential Virgo imo, I love them to pieces! Every Virgo I've ever met has a lil Erik in them and I love that for them.

Erik is a supporting character in RECKLESS TRUTH and primary love interest in BITTER TRUTH, books 1 and 2 respectively of THE TRUTH SAGA

Check out The Truth Saga

Children go missing all the time. That’s what they’re told. They run away, they’re kidnapped, they die. Scattered throughout Scotland, a handful of families remember the truth of what happened to their families. The violent, paranormal attacks that destroyed their lives and took their children from them.

Twenty years after the first incidents, the disappearences are happening again. The missing children are adults now, and reconnecting with the people they lost, but everything has changed. There is something sinister casting its shadow over their heads, and now they must fight to return the light to their lives. To learn to love and laugh and carry on living – while the truth of their history threatens to destroy them.

Combining science fantasy with interpersonal drama, The Truth Saga is an ongoing series following themes of love, family and grief wrapped in a bundle of supernatural mystery and violence. Step into the Controller’s world and you may never turn back…

BOOK 1, RECKLESS TRUTH, IS AVAILABLE NOW TO BUY FROM YOUR FAVOURITE BOOKSTORES

Taglist (Click to be added)

@smallvillecrows

[profiterole-reads]

2024 Favourites

In no particular order. This is content I've read and watched in 2024, not necessarily content released in 2024.

Books

1. So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole: f/f heroic fantasy + another female protagonist on the aroace spectrum with a male love interest (YA). One sister can channel the power of the Gods. The other dreams of becoming a drake pilot to protect their country from dragons.

2. Hunters of Ironport by Lou Wilham: m/m urban fantasy with a trans male protagonist. This series has Buffy/Faith vibes, except m/m. It crosses over with the Witches of Moondale series (f/f), but can be read independently.

3. The Mage's Secret by Ami Spencer: f/nb urban fantasy. This witch story is mostly cosy, with a few action scenes. It's about a coven elder and an Academy head in an established relationship.

4. [Spanish] Prodigioso principio de amor de Silvia Aliaga: m/m urban fantasy. This novel takes place at the University of Magic and Eloquence, in Florence, Italy, and the two leads are from Spain and the UK.

5. Power to Yield and Other Stories by Bogi Takács: collection of speculative short stories with many non-binary characters and a couple of intersex ones. This is my favourite read of the year. These brilliant stories explore gender identity, neurodivergence, religion, immigration and the human condition in general.

6. Earthflown by Frances Wren: m/m science fantasy. The characters have superpowers, but it's not superhero fiction. This novel takes place in post-flood London and has complex worldbuilding. Note that the e-book version doesn't include the 60 illustrations.

7. Redsight by Meredith Mooring: f/f science fantasy. This is mythological fantasy in space. The protagonist is a blind witch who's going to serve as a spaceship navigator. Her love interest is an ancient witch who's become a pirate and can turn into a giant snake.

8. Welcome to Boy.net by Lyda Morehouse: f/f science fiction with a trans female protagonist. This novel is about two bounty hunters in an established relationship. The protagonist used to be part of the ENForcers, which supposedly had only male members, so she had to desert in order to transition.

9. Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072 by M.E. O'Brien and Eman Abdelhadi: speculative activism fiction written in the form of non-fiction, with many non-binary characters and two trans women. 12 interviews cover the crises of the mid-21st century, then the insurrections that led to establishing communes all over the world, with a focus on NYC.

10. [French] Un Amour pas si aveugle by Lena Clarke: f/f romance. A blind piano teacher and her guide dog move in next to a former firewoman, now an ambulance driver, and her dog.

TV shows

1. Kaos: mythological fantasy with several mlm characters + a trans male major character, and the Fates are played by trans/enby actors. I love this Greek Mythology modern AU, full of dark humour.

2. Meet You at the Blossom: BL wuxia. This Chinese/Thai coproduction is the first uncensored BL wuxia drama and I hope it'll pave the way to many more.

3. The Spirealm: BL portal fantasy. This c-drama is an intriguing adventure with horror vibes. The BL is still pretty visible despite Chinese censorship.

4. Tadaima, Okaeri: BL omegaverse. I had always avoided omegaverse stories, but this anime about an alpha/omega married couple with kids is just lovely.

5. When the Moonlight is Shining: GL fantasy. This c-drama is a quick watch, with 18 episodes of about 2 minutes. A mermaid comes to the human world.

6. 3 Will Be Free: m/m/f thriller + a trans female major character. This Thai drama is about the son of a mafia boss, a male stripper and a hostess at a go-go club. It's actually not as explicit as it sounds.

7. Petrichor: GL murder mystery. An inspector and a medical examiner team up in this Thai drama, which is much better than the forgettable Rizzoli and Isles.

8. Love Sea: BL + GL romance (a lot of BL sex scenes). This Thai drama is Fort/Peat (from Love in the Air)'s new show. Watch it for the high-chemistry BL, as the GL storyline is subpar.

9. Lucky My Love: GL romance. This Thai drama is a quick watch, with 5 episodes of 20 minutes. A superstitious woman meets her new team leader.

10. 1670: historical mockumentary with some f/f. In this Polish show (available on Netflix), the 17th-century humour is a metaphor for 21st-century issues.

Movies

1. Wicked: fantasy with sapphic vibes and achillean rep. I loved it, it was stunning!

2. Drive-Away Dolls: f/f crime comedy (a lot of sex scenes). This lesbian movie was on crack and is supposed to be the first of a trilogy!

3. Le Comte de Monte-Cristo: historical revenge movie with a canon sapphic minor character. This was a magnificent adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's masterpiece.

[meat-loving-meat]

Songmaster is so interesting to me because it’s absolutely DRIPPING with queer desire despite being written by notorious homophobe Orson Scott Card. It was one of those novels I read as a confused tween who was extremely interested in anything queer (but who couldn’t yet understand the source of that fascination), and it truly left twelve-year-old me completely baffled.

I had no idea what to make of it—it was the first novel I read that devoted more than a sentence to the actual act of gay sex, yet at the same time the narrative seemed morally opposed to any kind of sexual desire? Characters who expressed any sexuality at all were often executed, tortured, castrated, and even pushed to suicide. It was violent, it was bleak, and it seemed to revel in exploring the ways that imbalances of power manifest sexually (everything is about sex etc. etc.). At age twelve I kind of just shrugged and moved on with life—some books were just weird—but now I’m really tempted to give it a reread because what the actual fuck was going on in that novel

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Exit Plans for Teenage Freaks

YA contemporary + a little sff

follows a boy who suddenly finds himself able to teleport when he walks through doors, often against his will

and has to figure that out while dealing with a new crush, the end of high school and the queer club, and figuring out whether he definitely wants to train to be an ASL interpreter like his father

[minaminokyoko]

It’s finally cover reveal day! My new novella, Of Wings and Shadows (Of Cinder and Bone #5.5) is here.(Cover art by BRose Designz) Synopsis below.

In a modern-day world teeming with marauding dragons, there is only one solution: The Wild Hunt. The United States government has decided to hold a tournament called The Wild Hunt to determine who will be responsible for the capture of wild dragons by the Knight Division. The four challengers Noah Wilson, Charlie Howard, Su Jin Han, and Beowulf have to catch five deadly dragons alive if they want to win the tournament and become the new Knight Division dragon hunters. Their journey will take them through the mountains of South Carolina, the seas of Key West, the caverns of Ruby Falls, the Redwood forest, and finally, the murky bayous of Louisiana. Will they succeed against their competition, or will the dragons of the Wild Hunt be too wild to tame? Of Wings and Shadows is the sixth book in the Of Cinder and Bone series. It takes place in medias res of Book Five, Of Claws and Inferno. It follows Of Cinder and Bone, Of Blood and Ashes, Of Dawn and Embers, and Of Fury and Fangs.

Release date: July 22nd, 2023

Pre-order now for only .99 cents. The price will increase on July 23rd. Add it to your Goodreads TBR shelf as well. 

Haven’t read the other books in the series yet? I gotchu, fam. 

And don’t forget--Of Cinder and Bone is a permanently free ebook on Amazon and all other platforms! 

...please clap.

[snailmailmp3]

did not realize how strongly I associated "characters in a sff setting referencing contemporary memes as a little wink nudge to the reader" with tazmuir until I got to a line in babel that did it and felt so jarred that I had to put the book down for a minute

[tenrose]

Gonna try audiobook, and also gonna try to listen to books I will never read otherwise. So no SFF

[sol-flo]

um ok i actually went into ao3 to see if i was maybe not the only person this specific kind of insane on the internet and. well i might be because there were zero hits but there's actually an unexpected [1] amount of agatha christie fics?? 1-2 for specific books. as for specific detectives: 2 for parker pyne. 10 for tommy and tuppence. 14 for mr quin. 159 for miss marple. 341 for poirot. slay.

[1] maybe it shouldn't be given she's a powerhouse best-seller

[kaetrinsmusings]

Review at Dear Author

Audiobook Review at Dear Author: Wished by Sarah Ready, narrated by Amanda Ronconi & Will Watt.

I’m over at Dear Author with a review of Wished by Sarah Ready, narrated by Amanda Ronconi & Will Watt.  I got a little confused by the ending.

[lastinnett-writer]

Drafting is going really well for my post apocalyptic contemporary fantasy I’m eight chapters in now and really enjoying the writing process.

Image created with Dream

[sometimesraven]

Happy birthday to Evie! This babe has only been a supporting character in the Truth Saga so far but they're one of my favourites of the squad and I plan to give them the spotlight in book 3!

Libras are notorious for being the peacemakers of the zodiac, but also for playing both sides more than is perhaps necessary; and usually at great expense to themself. Evie is burdened with the unique ability to sense and take on the fears of those around them, and their need to play the mediator has been magnified to a firm sense of duty over their family's woes. Now they have children to take care of on top of everything, taking care of themself is an alien concept that I'm sure won't land them in any trouble whatsoever :)

Evie is a supporting character in RECKLESS TRUTH and BITTER TRUTH.

Check out The Truth Saga

Children go missing all the time. That’s what they’re told. They run away, they’re kidnapped, they die. Scattered throughout Scotland, a handful of families remember the truth of what happened to their families. The violent, paranormal attacks that destroyed their lives and took their children from them.

Twenty years after the first incidents, the disappearences are happening again. The missing children are adults now, and reconnecting with the people they lost, but everything has changed. There is something sinister casting its shadow over their heads, and now they must fight to return the light to their lives. To learn to love and laugh and carry on living – while the truth of their history threatens to destroy them.

Combining science fantasy with interpersonal drama, The Truth Saga is an ongoing series following themes of love, family and grief wrapped in a bundle of supernatural mystery and violence. Step into the Controller’s world and you may never turn back…

BOOK 1, RECKLESS TRUTH, IS AVAILABLE NOW TO BUY FROM YOUR FAVOURITE BOOKSTORES

Taglist (Click to be added)

@smallvillecrows

[specialagentartemis]

godddddd i have disliked becky chambers' work since long way to a small angry planet and I agree that that fish scene is SO much of what is wrong with contemporary SFF especially queer SFF. refreshing take, great review, thank you. would love to hear what authors or works you think of as the antidote to that sensibility.

The thing is, I enjoyed The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet when I first read it - it was a fun, light adventure, clearly a debut novel but I was excited to see where Chambers would go from there. And I actually really do think the sequel, A Closed and Common Orbit, was good! It did interesting things with AI personhood and identity.

... and then Chambers just kinda. Did not get better. She settled into a groove and has a set number of ideas that I feel like she hasn't broken out of, creatively. And they I M O kind of rest on an assumption that "human nature" = "how people act in suburban California."

As an antidote to that sensibility, I'd say... books where people have a real interrelationship with the land they inhabit, a sense of being present, and reciprocal obligations to that land; books that recognize that some things can never be taken back once done; books with well-drawn characters, where people have strong opinions deeply informed by their circumstances, that can't always be easily reconciled with others, and won't be brushed aside; books where these character choices matter, they impact each other, they cannot be easily gotten over, because people have obligations to each other and not-acting is a choice too.

And it's only fair that after all day of being a Hater I should rec some books I really did like.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke - A man lives alone in an infinite House, over an equally infinite ocean. Captures the feeling that I think Monk & Robot was aiming for. Breathtaking beauty, wonder at the world, philosophy of truth, all that good stuff, and actually sticks the landing. The main character's love, attention, and care to his fantasy environment shows through in every page. (Fantasy, short novel)

Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie - An AI, the one fragment remaining of a destroyed imperial spaceship, is on a quest for revenge. Leckie gets cultural differences and multiculturalism, and conversely, what the imposition of a homogeneous culture in the name of unity means. (Space sci-fi, novel trilogy)

Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee - An army captain's insubordination is punished by giving her a near-impossible mission: to take down a rebelling, heretical sect holing up in a space fortress and defying imperial power. She gets a long dead brain-ghost of a notorious criminal downloaded into her head to help. Very, very good at making you feel like every doomed soldier was a person with a past, with a family, with feelings, with hopes and dreams and frustrations and favorites and preferences and reasons to live, right before they brutally die in a space war. Also very much about the imposition of homogeneity of culture as a force of imperialism. (Space sci-fi, novel trilogy)

The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed - Maya Andreyevna is a VR journalist in high-tech dystopian future Russia, and she decides to investigate the truth that the government doesn't want her to. She might die trying. It's fine. Also has digital brain-sharing, this time in a gay way. It's bleak. It's sad. It feels real. Not making a choice is a choice. Backing out is a choice. And choices have consequences. Choices reverberate through history. About responsibility. (Cyberpunk, novel)

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez - Nia Imani is a spaceship captain, a woman out of time, a woman running from her past, and accidentally adopts a boy who has a strange power that could change the galaxy. Spaceship crew-as-found-family in the most heartbreaking of ways. Also about choices, how the choices you make and refuse to make shape you and shape the world around you. How the world is always changing around you, how the world does not stay still when you're gone, and when you come back you're the same but the world has moved on around you. About how relationships aren't always forever, and that doesn't mean they weren't important. About responsibility to others. It's a slow, sad book and does not let anyone rest on their laurels, ever. There is no end of history here. Everything is always changing, on large scales and small, and leaving you behind. (Space sci-fi, novel)

Dungeon Meshi / Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui - A D&D style fantasy dungeon crawl that stops to think deeply about why there are so many dungeons full of monsters and treasure just hanging around. Here because it's an example of an author thinking through her worldbuilding a lot, and it mattering. Also because of the characters' respect for the animals they are are killing and eating, their lives and their place in the ecosystem, and the ways that humans both fuck up ecosystems with extraction and tourism, but also the ways that you can have reciprocal relationships of responsibility and care with the ecosystem you live in, even if it's considered a dangerous one. (Fantasy, manga series)

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang and How Long 'Til Black Future Month by N. K. Jemisin and Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel by Julian K. Jarboe - Short story anthologies that were SO good and SO weird and rewired the way I think. If you want the kind of stuff that is like, the opposite of easy-to-digest feel-good pap, these short stories will get into your brain and make you consider stuff and look at the world from new angles. Most of them aren't particularly upbeat, but there's a lot of variety in the moods.

"Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self," "Calf Cleaving in the Benthic Black," and "Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist" by Isabel J. Kim - Short stories, sci-fi mostly, that twist around in my head and make me think. Kim is very good at that. Also about choices and not-making-choices, about going and staying, about taking the easy route or the hard one, about controlling the narrative.

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells - Security robot with guns in its arms hacks itself free from its oppressive company, mostly wants to half-ass its job but gets sucked into drama, intrigue, and caring against its better judgement. This is on here because 1) I love it 2) I feel like it does for me what cozy sff so frequently fails to do - it makes me feel seen and comforted. It's hopeful and compassionate and about personal growth and finding community and finding one's place in the world, without brushing aside all problems or acting like "everybody effortlessly just gets along" is a meaningful proposal. also 3) because it is one of the few times I have yet seen characters from a hippie, pacifistic, eco-friendly, welcoming, utopian society actually act like people. The humans from Preservation are friendly, helpful, and motivated by truth and justice and compassion, because they come from a friendly, just, compassionate society, and they still actually act like real human beings with different personalities and conflicting opinions and poor reactions to stress and anger and frustration and fear and the whole range of human emotions rather than bland niceness. Also 4) I love it (space sci-fi, novella series mostly)

[st-just]

Y'know I don't actually necessarily have anything in principle against didactic fiction and morality tales. But like a few years of consuming so much contemporary SFF has left me excruciatingly aware that a) most people who try for this probably really shouldn't, and also b) it is not a style that fails gracefully

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Round 4

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Locked Tomb series (Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, Nona the Ninth, and others) by Tamsyn Muir

Endorsement from submitter #1: "An extremely fun, humorous romp! A heart-breaking, soul crushing catharsis inducing tragedy! A thoughtful piece on imperial structures and trauma. On queerness, Muir flawlessly and without announcement, cracks gender open like an egg and spills its disproven guts across the page. The Locked Tomb does it all also bones, bitch."

Endorsement from submitter #2: "Lesbian necromancers in space. So many fascinating, sort of fucked up sapphic relationships going on."

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier.

Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die. Of course, some things are better left dead.

Fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, humor, series, adult

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep-sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah is not the same. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has brought part of it back with her, onto dry land and into their home.

Moving through something that only resembles normal life, Miri comes to realize that the life that they had before might be gone. Though Leah is still there, Miri can feel the woman she loves slipping from her grasp.

Our Wives Under The Sea is the debut novel from Julia Armfield, the critically acclaimed author of Salt Slow. It’s a story of falling in love, loss, grief, and what life there is in the deep deep sea.

Horror, contemporary, literary fiction, science fiction, adult

[aroaessidhe]

aro & ace books: m/m adult/NA

Cupid Calling - romance - 1/2 MCs is demisexual

After The Dragons - sff novella - ace-spec MC

The Charm Offensive - romance - 1/2 MCs is demisexual

From The Dark We Came - fantasy novella - demisexual MC

The Reanimator’s Heart - historical paranormal - 1/2 MCs is demisexual

How To Sell Your Blood and Fall In Love - urban fantasy - 1/2 MCs is demisexual/greyaro

The Circus Infinite - sci-fi - ace MC

The Perfect Assassin - fantasy - ace MC

Of The Wild - fantasy - ace MC

The One And The Other - low fantasy - ace MC

Never Been Kissed - romance - demisexual MC

Stake Sauce - paranormal - greyaroace MC

More Than Enough - fairytale - two ace mlm MCs

The Trouble - contemporary - aro gay MC

#aspec books / aspec database / tumblr masterpost

[sentfromwolves]

Hey writing friends! (❁´◡`❁) Along with my new writeblr intro post, I also just wanted to make a more casual post too calling for more writeblr blogs to follow and interact with! If you write any of the following or are interested in the following and 18+ feel free to say hi! I'd also love to hear about all y'alls wips so I can find more writers to follow for 2024! (๑˃ᴗ��)ﻭ

sci-fi and fantasy of any kind! cozy fantasy, epic fantasy, space opera, romantasy, you name it, i'm usually here for it! >:3

trans/nonbinary protagonists and big queer casts! it is my bread and butter (and what you'll always find me writing too)

Intricate worldbuilding in any genre! Especially ones with intricate politics, funky magical systems, or corrupt religious systems. I'm always down to yell about worldbuilding because I think it is Neat af

You just like to shout about ocs!! I'm so here for it, and I love making more connections here with people who obsess with their ocs the way I do. >:3 come yell at me about them anytime hehe

OT3S!! OT3S!! Please. Thank you.

2nd person POV & Epistolary Narratives or funky narrative experiments. This is hands down my favorite povs to read. I'm obsessed with them. Please come be obsessed about them with me.

Big found families! YES yep yes it's me I'm that bitch I love this stuff it's honestly my bread and butter ESPECIALLY IF IT IS DYSFUNCTIONAL AS HELL (bonus points if they try to murder each other at some point)

Non-European fantasies/celestial fantasies/space fantasies/underground fantasies. Yeah I know I put fantasy above, but celestial fantasies and consumed world concepts are something I'm obsessed with and I want more people to be obsessed with

Queer contemporary fiction. I'm usually in the sff boat but sometimes I write contemporary too, and I'd love to connect with more writers who write both.

The list could go on forever and ever, it's not exhaustive at all! Honestly if you're just interested in new writers to yell with, feel free to hit me up! I'm also looking to build a 2024 tag game list for writer games, so if you'd like to be added, let me know! I love spreading fun writing games around whenever I can. >:3 💝