In Short: May

Posted 31st May 2023 by Sia in State of the Sia / 2 Comments

I seem to have barely read at all this month??? I’m not quite sure what I was doing instead. Although my hand was messed up for two weeks there…

ARCs Received

I’m going to have to name my firstborn child after Marty Cahill at Erewhon for sending me an ARC of The Feast Makers by H. A. Clarke, aka the final book in the Scapegracers trilogy, aka objectively the best queer witch books IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE UNIVERSE!

(This is not hyperbole; seriously, if you haven’t read these yet, READ THEM!)

Inanna is a reimagining/retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh, with the titular goddess – one of my favorite deities! – as one of the three main characters; thus, one of my most-anticipated reads of the year! As is Water Outlaws; I loved Huang’s YA as a teenager, Water Outlaws sounds incredible, and after Tor.com posted an except the other week, I was rabid to get my hands on it – and Giselle from Tor’s publicity team was kind enough to send me a copy!

And although I was surprised Map of the Otherlands is up on Netgalley already – the pub date is in January! – no way was I not going to request it after how much I loved book one!

TL;DR, A MOST EXCELLENT MONTH FOR ARCS!!!

Read

Wow – I really didn’t read a lot this month! I knew I wasn’t doing well, but this is a little ridiculous. Just 13 books??? Sigh.

The majority of the books this month were stellar, though – Witch King, Best of Catherynne M Valente Volume One and Bang Bang Bodhisattva were shining standouts, but Amongst Our Weapons, Bitter Medicine, and Ink Blood Sister Scribe all knocked my socks off too!

My hate-hate relationship with Wurts’ Wars of Light and Shadow series continues. I cannot believe how bad it is, but it continues to be a marvellous insomnia cure.

To the best of my knowledge, 15% of this month’s authors were BIPOC. Less than half what it was last month. Not sure whether to sigh again, or cringe – maybe both.

Reviewed

I wanted to get a lot more reviews written this month, but c’est la vie. And while I don’t think what I wrote for To Shape a Dragon’s Breath did that book ANY justice, or that the one for Splinter in the Sky (which you’ll see next month) is anything special, I was really happy with how Ink Blood Sister Scribe and Witch King turned out!

DNF-ed

Honestly, all three of these books made me so mad, the first two because they’re just stupid, and The Sun and the Void because I’ve looked forward to it so long and it was a hard letdown. You can read my DNF reviews from yesterday for more details, if you want them.

ARCs Outstanding

I am deep in Pomegranate Gate, Sandymancer, and Surviving Sky at the moment, and enjoying myself immensely – and have finished several others that I still need to review. I’m beginning to think I won’t finish Grimoire of Grave Fates by its pub date, though.

Misc

May is Wyrd & Wonder month, and while I wasn’t as productive as I would have liked, I did get the things I most wanted done! Which was mostly lists: 5 Worlds I Would Run Away To was a lot of fun, as was choosing which faerie-featuring books to recommend. And I managed to keep up tradition by publishing this year’s list of Cool Magic Systems and Cool Magical Abilities (do I kind of wish past!Sia had used some word other than ‘cool’? A little, but it’s hard to make me feel cringe these days!) All in all, I’m very pleased.

Looking Forward

I may have already read The Archive Undying, but that doesn’t stop me VIBRATING WITH EXCITEMENT as its pub date approaches! Besides, I think everyone needs to read it at least twice to fully get it – as I’ll explain in my review, when it’s eventually up… The Library of Broken Worlds sounds utterly amazing (and you can read an excerpt over at Tor.com) as well as being from one of my favourite authors – just like The Master of Samar, which we only have to wait ONE MORE WEEK for!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Yes, I am much excited.

HENCEFORTH TO PRIDE MONTH!

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2 responses to “In Short: May

    • Sia

      PLEASE DO SO, it is the literal best!!! You can find my review of book one here; linking you is faster than writing out all the reasons you should pounce on this trilogy!!!

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