I Talk Sh*t and Read

Ro's Reading List: 3 Must-Read 2023 SF/F Books (Part 1)

My TBR pile is out of control in the best of ways. I’ve had more time to read this year, but less time to review and share the gems hiding among the stacks littering my living room. Thus is born a new segment: Ro’s Reading List. Where I’ll highlight some of the books I’ve read recently that you’re going to want to add to your TBR list.  TOP THREE RECOMMENDATIONS:  The Faithless by C. L. Clark  [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Faithless.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9780316542760 Pub Date: March 07, 2023 Snapshot Review: If you’ve listened to the podcast [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/author-interview-c-l-clark/] before, then you already know I was all-in with C. L. Clark’s Magic of the Lost trilogy before I hit the midway point of The Unbroken [https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9780316542753]. The second installment, The Faithless, is here with more political intrigue, power struggles, and tumultuous relationships. Clark works all their strengths infusing this often brutal and gritty story with a simmering tension. The drama and angst between characters unravels in a painstakingly built world. Luca’s locked in a battle to regain control of Balladaire from her increasingly reprehensible uncle Duke Nicolas Ancier who refuses to relinquish his regency in favor of her rule. And now Touraine must reckon with both her intense feelings for Luca and her complicated relationship with the empire that stole her youth and her freedom in order to protect the gains made by the revolution in Qazāl by being Luca’s ally in truth, and in-person. Clark turns down the volume on the action to make room for deadly court intrigue. But this stellar follow-up offers enough murderous plotting and complicated heated relationship drama to be worth every single word put to page. The Faithless‘ a harrowing stone cold groove written by someone unafraid to drag you through your feelings, challenges your belief systems, and leave you with (problematic) favs. Nothing should be taken for granted, especially not victory in love, or war. Set aside some time. You’re not going to want to put this one down once you start.  10/10 absolutely *recommend.  *** Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/71r0JVaiFrL._AC_UF350350_QL50_-194x300.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781250825926 Pub Date: April 4, 2023 Snapshot Review: Terry J Benton-Walker’s Blood Debts builds exactly the right tale of generational magic (and curses) set in a New Orleans you need.  Sixteen year old twins Clement and Cristina Trudeau, heirs of a powerful magical legacy, are in mourning for their father and caring for their sick mother. On the anniversary of the greatest magical massacre that saw their family thrown from power, the twins discover that their mother isn’t sick, she’s cursed.  If they’re to save their family and avoid another massacre, this estranged duo will have to rebuild their trust that’s been lost with the swiftness. Benton-Walker’s New Orleans lives and breaths with fierce relevance. The Trudeau’s intensely personal battle happens against a backdrop rife with political artifice and dangerous societal divides as unsettled gods and the undead lurk in the shadows. Debts’ shifting points of view add narrative insight with a deeply relatable edge and a side of tension. The character development keeps pace with the deepening drama offered with witty dialogue rife with biting one-liners. The allegory’s unapologetic and the cliffhangers stress-inducing. So go on ahead and put in a pre-order for the sequel, Blood Justice [https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781250825957] now.  If contemporary fantasy is your bag, then Blood Debts’ blood-soaked tale of family drama steeped dangerous magic and life-altering generational trauma is absolutely it. *8/10 would recommend.  *** The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O’Keefe [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Blighted-Stars-195x300.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9780316290791 Pub Date: May 23, 2023 Snapshot Review: The Blighted Stars brings together Naira Sharp, a genetically enhanced spy intent on bringing down a wealthy corporate family by any means necessary and Tarquin Mercator, the wayward scion of said family pulled back into the fold and tasked with proving the safety of their mining processes. What do you get when you blend an enemies-to-lovers and stranded on a planet full-throttle mystery in space together? A space opera built on sharp prose, stellar characters, and a finely-tuned dystopian hellscape. The Blighted Stars is a creepy, relatable, and incredibly immersive journey with exciting reveals and harrowing choices.  And, if you don’t like romance in your space opera to leave you properly conflicted, what are you even doing?  O’Keefe’s The Blighted Stars collides at the intersection of science-fiction and horror with such vicious brilliance it’s a gamechanger for genre-bending. *9/10 you damn right I *recommend.  Side-note: If you haven’t read Megan E. O’Keefe’s The Protectorate trilogy, go on ahead and throw Velocity Weapon [https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9780316419598] onto your reading list because its the space opera you need to fill that hole left by The Expanse [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/?s=expanse] series…and then some.  *** SHORT ON TIME (OR ATTENTION SPAN)? GET INTO THESE NOVELLAS:  2023 is the place where time went sideways. These three novellas are wildly engaging and unique tone and fantastical tales. These authors are masters at rich worldbuilding and heart-stopping narratives.  [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/the-keeper-six-188x300.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781250769077 [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/unfettered-sky.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781250842466 [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/empire-of-the-feast-188x300.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781952086441               The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott The action-packed The Keeper’s Six centers a bad-ass, spell-slinging mother on a world-hopping mission to rescue her kidnapped son from a dragon lord with everything to lose. Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee The Untethered Sky is a pulse-pounding fable about obsession (and revenge) at all costs. It’s a standalone story about girl who strives to become part of the elite team of trainers who fly legendary rocs to battle the monsters who destroyed her family.  Empire of the Feast by Bendi Barrett A reincarnated emperor must navigate a perilous world without the memories of his past lives. He’ll need to bring his fractured court together all while maintaining the erotic rituals that keep an eldritch horror at bay. *** JULY BOOKS ON MY RADAR:  [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Ebony-Gate.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781250837431 Pub Date: July 11, 2023 [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Jasad-Heir-197x300.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9780316477864 Pub date: July 18, 2023 [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ethera-grave-195x300.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9780316430739 Pub Date: July 18, 2023 [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/the-sun-and-the-void-193x300.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9780316336543 Pub Date: July 25, 2023 [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/resonance-surge.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9780593440704 Pub Date: July 18, 2023             ---------------------------------------- NOTES: *I RECEIVED AN ADVANCE READER COPY OF THE FAITHLESS AND THE BLIGHTED STARS IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. I ALSO PURCHASED SPECIAL EDITION FINISHED COPIES OF BOTH BOOKS BECAUSE THEY’RE JUST THAT GOOD. YOU CAN PURCHASE ANY OF THESE BOOKS BY CLICKING ON THE IMAGE FOR A LINK TO THE BOOKSHOP – THESE ARE AFFILIATE LINKS.  ---------------------------------------- Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Listen_on_Apple_Podcasts_CMYK_US.png]https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/super-tuesday-recap/id1055497887?mt=2   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Spotify_Logo_RGB_Green.png]https://open.spotify.com/show/1Lculi6blK0sv8Pv6H8cmz Follow Ro on Twitter: [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter2-150x150.png]@BookBlerd [https://www.twitter.com/bookblerd]   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter2-150x150.png]@TheMTRNetwork [https://www.twitter.com/TheMTRNetwork]

Interview with Author Matt Wallace

A CONVERSATION WITH MATT WALLACE I had the opportunity to sit down with author Matt Wallace and discuss his epic fantasy trilogy. This epic opens with a seeming utopian society that relies on an expendable fighting force known as the Savages. Now there are plenty of books about empire building and fantasy worlds about a lurking evil beneath the surface of a seemingly peaceful society. But the Savage Rebellion offers action, intrigue, hidden dangers, and shifting loyalties bound up in an examination about the costs of ruling.  Listen in as I chat with Matt about how the Savage Rebellion came to be and writing metaphorically without off the rails. Then go read (or listen to) the three books in the trilogy. You’ll thank me later.  CLICK THE IMAGE TO BUY MATT WALLACE’S SAVAGE REBELLION TRILOGY:  [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/savage-legion-9781534439214.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781534439214 Synopsis: They call them Savages. Brutal. Efficient. Expendable. The empire relies on them. The Savages are the greatest weapon they ever developed. Culled from the streets of their cities, they take the ones no one will miss and throw them, by the thousands, at the empire’s enemies. If they live, they fight again. If they die, there are always more to take their place. Evie is not a Savage. She’s a warrior with a mission: to find the man she once loved, the man who holds the key to exposing the secret of the Savage Legion and ending the mass conscription of the empire’s poor and wretched. But to find him, she must become one of them, to be marked in her blood, to fight in their wars, and to find her purpose. Evie will die a Savage if she has to, but not before showing the world who she really is and what the Savage Legion can really do.   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/savage-bounty-9781534439238.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781534439238   Synopsis: A war has begun. Savages, the empire’s most valuable resource, have been thrown at their captors’ enemies long enough. If their rebellion succeeds, it will undo a nation. At the helm of this Savage uprising is Evie, the Sparrow General. It isn’t a title she asked for or particularly wants, but she is the last hope for several peoples at the edge of extinction. Back in the empire’s city seat, Dyeawan, a brilliant young strategist…         [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/savage-crowns-9781534439269_lg-197x300.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781534439269 Synopsis: The final war for the nation of Crache has begun. At the helm of the people’s rebellion is Evie, the Sparrow General. She has been captured by the Skrian, Crache’s vicious army, and is being brought back to the Capitol for punishment. But reinforcements are coming for her. Dyeawan, who has climbed from street urchin to Crache’s highest seat of power through clever schemes and ruthless bloodshed, finds trouble on every front once she arrives. The rebellion approaches, and there are whispers of a martyr within the city who holds enough sway to stage a coup. If she doesn’t act quickly, her rule will be short-lived. As the women who hold the nation’s future meet each other from different sides of the battlefield, will they be able to find a shared vision of Crache, or will they destroy each other first?   The final book Savage Crowns releases June 13, 2023. It’s a magnificent end to one hell of a ride  ---------------------------------------- Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Listen_on_Apple_Podcasts_CMYK_US.png]https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/super-tuesday-recap/id1055497887?mt=2 Listen on Google Play Music [https://play.google.com/intl/en_us/badges-music/images/badges/en_badge_web_music.png]https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Isfvxdnswbkt45lprti5ld4yoi4?t%3DSuper_Tuesday_Recap%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Spotify_Logo_RGB_Green.png]https://open.spotify.com/show/1Lculi6blK0sv8Pv6H8cmz Follow Ro on Twitter: [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter2-150x150.png]@BookBlerd [https://www.twitter.com/bookblerd]   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter2-150x150.png]@TheMTRNetwork [https://www.twitter.com/TheMTRNetwork]

Interview with Author Kat Howard

CONVERSATION WITH KAT HOWARD  A Sleight of Shadows released April 25, 2023 and immediately made Ro’s top five list of April books. Listen in as Ro and Kat discuss her inspiration, writing process and her unflinching willingness to be ruthless when the story calls for it. Because, If you ask Ro, the best urban fantasy stories are the ones where things are dark and complicated. Enter The Unseen World where the source of magic’s been corrupted and it’ll take more than a single confrontation to resolve the matter. Kat Howard confronts the price of magic by creating a world that makes you stare the real cost of winning, and happiness, directly in the eye with An Unkindness of Magicians. And now returns, six years later, with A Sleight of Shadows that forces you to wrestle with the question: how do you have a happily ever after if the world doesn’t want it? CLICK THE IMAGE TO BUY KAT HOWARD’S UNSEEN WORLD DUOLOGY: [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/an-unkindness-199x300.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781481451208   Synopsis: In New York City, magic controls everything. But the power of magic is fading. No one knows what is happening, except for Sydney–a new, rare magician with incredible power that has been unmatched in decades, and she may be the only person who is able to stop the darkness that is weakening the magic. But Sydney doesn’t want to help the system, she wants to destroy it. Sydney comes from the House of Shadows, which controls the magic with the help of sacrifices from magicians.       [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/a-sleight-of-shadows-9781534426818_hr-190x300.jpg]https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9781534426818 Synopsis: After taking down the source of the corruption of the Unseen World, Sydney is left with almost no magical ability. Feeling estranged from herself, she is determined to find a way back to her status as one of the world’s most dangerous magicians. Unfortunately, she needs to do this quickly: the House of Shadows, the hell on earth that shaped her into who she was, the place she sacrificed everything to destroy, is rebuilding itself. “The House of shadows sits on bones. All of the sacrifices, all of the magicians who died in Shadows, they’re buried beneath the foundations. Bones hold magic.” The magic of the Unseen World is acting strangely, faltering, bleeding out from the edges. Determined to keep the House of Shadows from returning to power and to defeat the magicians who want nothing more than to have it back, Sydney turns to extremes in a desperate attempt to regain her sacrificed magic. She is forced to decide what she will give up and what she will lose and whether what must be destroyed is not only the House of Shadows, but the Unseen World itself.   ---------------------------------------- Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Listen_on_Apple_Podcasts_CMYK_US.png]https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/super-tuesday-recap/id1055497887?mt=2 Listen on Google Play Music [https://play.google.com/intl/en_us/badges-music/images/badges/en_badge_web_music.png]https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Isfvxdnswbkt45lprti5ld4yoi4?t%3DSuper_Tuesday_Recap%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Spotify_Logo_RGB_Green.png]https://open.spotify.com/show/1Lculi6blK0sv8Pv6H8cmz Follow Ro on Twitter: [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter2-150x150.png]@BookBlerd [https://www.twitter.com/bookblerd]   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter2-150x150.png]@TheMTRNetwork [https://www.twitter.com/TheMTRNetwork]

C. L. Clark on Debut Novel, 'The Unbroken'

There are some stories that sneak up on you. Luring you in with subtle descriptions and a glimpse at a  character’s inner-most thoughts. You think you’re about to embark on a journey, and you are, but it’s definitely not the one you think following a young woman home – to the land she was stolen from – is likely to take you on.  Instead of a slowly unfolding story about a soldier trying to find her footing, the character’s almost immediately thrust into thwarting an assassination attempt on a princess and carrying out orders certain to leave everyone in this squad of conscripts feeling some type of way about this homecoming.  And that’s exactly how C. L. Clark’s debut novel The Unbroken [https://bookshop.org/a/14805/9780316542753] begins. PICKING A SIDE IS WHERE THE CONFLICT STARTS… This military/political fantasy centers Touraine, conscripted soldier, as she returns to the country of her birth as part of the colonizing force’s army and Luca an imperial princess determined to wrestle her throne from her uncle. To prove her worthiness to rule, Luca aims to stop an colonial uprising by convincing the rebels she wants peace…when what she really wants is the means to rule unchallenged. Through a series of bloody events, Touraine finds herself under Luca’s authority and thrust into a world of diplomacy, intrigue and uneasy alliances that she’s in no way prepared for. …AND A BLOODY ADVENTURE FOLLOWS AFTER  [https://images.booksense.com/images/books/753/542/FC9780316542753.JPG]https://www.mystgalaxy.com/aff/RoMo/book/9780316542753What follows is a skillfully designed North-Africa inspired world full action and adventure. Clark puts forward the kind of character dynamics and world-building that paints a vivid picture all while building to tipping point well worth reaching. The Unbroken will challenge how you view military forces, colonial/post-colonial North Africa, power dynamics, and a women’s unconflicted willingness to be violent…and be hellaciously good at it. There’s magic, mayhem, love and what drives every good rebellion, tests of loyalty.  In edition to simply being a fantastic story, the world The Unbroken is multifaceted and richly diverse. The lead women characters are queer; there are other lesbian, gay, and bi characters. There is also a trans side character (you’ll definitely want to see more of).  If you only add one new author to your reading list in 2021, it needs to be C. L Clark.  A CONVERSATION WITH C. L. CLARK  I had the pleasure of sitting down with the author to dig into how The Unbroken came to be, how the narrative hit me versus what Cherae readers would take away, and the multiple reasons to be found in this story that explain why I’m excited it’s the first of (at least) three books set in this world. Listen in and then be sure to pick up The Unbroken* that hit bookshelves March 23, 2021.  [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CL-Clark-Headshot.jpg]C. L. Clark graduated from Indiana University’s creative writing MFA program and was a 2012 Lambda Literary Fellow. They’ve been a personal trainer, an English teacher, and an editor, and is some combination thereof as they travel the world. When they’re not writing or working, they’re learning languages, doing P90something, or reading about war and (post)colonial history. Their short fiction has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, FIYAH, and Uncanny, and on PodCastle, where they are currently a coeditor. You can follow them on Twitter: @c_l_clark [https://twitter.com/C_L_Clark]. *Ro received a review copy of The Unbroken in exchange for her honest opinion.  ---------------------------------------- Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Listen_on_Apple_Podcasts_CMYK_US.png]https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-talk-sh-t-and-read/id1507930637   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Spotify_Logo_RGB_Green.png]https://open.spotify.com/show/75kMBvsi2Do6Ah9qnRT0va?si=NFlO8TMeS4OubknMRKkRaw Follow Ro on Twitter: [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter2-150x150.png]@BookBlerd [https://www.twitter.com/bookblerd]   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter2-150x150.png]@TheMTRNetwork [https://www.twitter.com/TheMTRNetwork]

Book Club: The Murders of Molly Southbourne

I Talk Sh!t & Presents [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/l-l-kinney-a-blade-so-black-i-talk-sht-and-read/]: B!tch it’s a Book Club. This new segment will be a free wheeling discussion of books from various genres of speculative fiction. The set list’s built around novellas and designed to introduce authors and/or stories some may not know yet. First up is horror novella, The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson.  THE MURDERS OF MOLLY SOUTHBOURNE  Murders of Molly Southbourne Book Cover [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/41tomrBllYL.jpg] Synopsis: For as long as Molly Southbourne can remember, she’s been watching herself die. Whenever she bleeds, another molly is born, identical to her in every way and intent on her destruction. Molly knows every way to kill herself, but she also knows that as long as she survives she’ll be hunted. No matter how well she follows the rules, eventually the mollys will find her. Can Molly find a way to stop the tide of blood, or will she meet her end at the hand of a girl who looks just like her? Listen in as we jump off a conversation cliff and unravel the themes that make Tade’s horror the kind that creeps up on you and leaves you wondering what you’d do if confronted with a murderous version of yourself.  We have a lively discussion where horror, spycraft, and one epic existential crisis collide. No one’s quite sure what to make of The Murders of Molly Southbourne. So it’s a good thing there’s a sequel for us to dig into next meet up.  BOOK CLUB MEMBERS:  Aaron  @ansfreeman [https://unfpodcast.com/about-us/twitter.com/ansfreeman] He/Him Ereika  @EreikaWritesFic [https://twitter.com/EreikaWritesFic] She/They Leslie  @bonitaflor21 [https://twitter.com/bonitaflor21] She/Her Tom @TomThurman3 [https://twitter.com/TomThurman3] He/Him Bacon  @B4c0nzilla  [https://twitter.com/B4c0nzilla] They/Them Brent @brentclambert [https://twitter.com/BrentCLambert] He/Him  TJ @kotodamaishiki  [https://twitter.com/kotodamaishiki] He/Him READ WITH US: I’m all about supporting independent shops so I’ve started a list on Bookshop.org where you can buy all the titles [https://bookshop.org/lists/discussed-on-b-tch-it-s-a-book-club] discussed on the show (this is an affiliate link so I get a small commission).   ---------------------------------------- Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Listen_on_Apple_Podcasts_CMYK_US.png]https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-talk-sh-t-and-read/id1507930637   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Spotify_Logo_RGB_Green.png]https://open.spotify.com/show/75kMBvsi2Do6Ah9qnRT0va Follow Ro on Twitter: [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter2-150x150.png]@BookBlerd [https://www.twitter.com/bookblerd]   [https://www.mtrnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter2-150x150.png]@TheMTRNetwork [https://www.twitter.com/TheMTRNetwork]