First Monday Free Fiction: Christmas Eve at the Purple Owl Café

Christmas Eve at the Purple Owl Café

Welcome to the December 2023 edition of First Monday Free Fiction. I forgot to post last month’s edition, because I had too much on my mind.

To recap, inspired by Kristine Kathryn Rusch who posts a free short story every week on her blog, I’ll post a free story on the first Monday of every month. At the end of the month, I’ll take the story down and post another.

December is dominated by the holiday season, so of course this month’s free story is a holiday story. The story in question, Christmas Eve at the Purple Owl Café, is actually one of my most popular stories ever and has sold more than six hundred copies as a standalone e-book (and even more in collection form). Not bad for a sweet little Christmas romance I wrote in only a few hours. And now you get to enjoy it for free.

So join Katie and Jess (and Herbert and Renate) as they celebrate…

Christmas Eve at the Purple Owl Café

Katie trudged through the wet, slushy snow, thoroughly pissed off.

It was December 24, Christmas Eve, shortly after seven o’clock and the streets were deserted. The Christmas services were over until midnight mass and all the good burghers were in their homes, eating roast goose or fondue or potato salad and sausages, whatever the respective family tradition dictated.

Katie would like to think that at least some of them were still at the tree admiring, carol singing, poem reciting and present unwrapping part of the evening. Though that would be naïve. For sometime in the past twenty-five years, the gift-giving part of Christmas had been moved forward from Christmas Eve after dark and after church was over, if your family was the religious type, or even after dinner, if your family had a sadistic streak, to the early afternoon, because it would be torture on young children to keep them waiting for too long. Oddly enough, no one had ever cared about that back when Katie was a kid and watched the Waiting for the Christ Child afternoon special on TV — the very same special with the very same seasonal cartoons every single year, too — on tenterhooks, just waiting for Santa to drop off his load of presents.

But these days, kids simply couldn’t be expected to be patient anymore and Waiting for the Christ Child hadn’t been on TV in ages. Instead, the radio stations began blaring out nothing but Christmas songs — and not the American ones that were a tad corny, but at least fun, but the dull and solemn German Christmas songs that sounded like funeral dirges — from two o’clock on Christmas Eve on in what Katie liked to call “the terror of festive contemplation”. Because obviously, dull Christmas music would put those hyperactive little rugrats to sleep early.

God, she was started to sound like one of those old crotchety “Back in my day” folks. Even though it was precisely because of those old crotchety folks that Katie was out here in the cold with the wet snow gradually soaking through her boots instead of eating roast goose with her parents and extended family.

Flurries of snow were blowing into Katie’s eyes, so she pulled the hood of her coat deeper into her face. All in all it was a typical North German Christmas, windy and wet. Only that for once, the wet was snow rather than rain. Just her luck that tonight had to be the first white Christmas in ten years or so.

Up ahead, Katie could see the lights of the Purple Owl Café — a winking neon owl and a sign in slanted fifties script — through the driving snow, a lone beacon of warmth and friendliness and civilisation in a city that had gone dark this Christmas Eve. For the shops had already taken down their holiday lights, the Christmas market was closed and even the street lamps had gone dark, for why waste energy on street lamps when hardly anyone was driving anyway?

The Purple Owl Café had a lengthy and varied history. It had started out sometime in the fifties as a youth hangout, where you could hear that newfangled rock ’n roll music and even dance to it. In the sixties, it became a club for beat music fans. By 1970, it was a hippy club, complete with psychedelic black light paintings on the walls. By the mid seventies, it was a punk joint. Then it turned into a disco by 1978 and stayed that way throughout the eighties. By the early nineties, it had turned into a grunge club and alternative music venue. Finally, around the turn of the millennium, it became the premier lesbian joint in town.

But throughout its illustrious and chequered history, the Purple Owl Café had always been one thing, namely a sanctuary for all those who either had no family or couldn’t face another Christmas Eve with them at home.

The tradition of Christmas Eve parties at the Purple Owl Café had started sometime during the rock ’n roll or beat era, when absolutely nothing in the city was open and the streets on Christmas Eve were quieter than the world after a nuclear holocaust. There’d been opposition against the Christmas Eve parties back then, from the churches, the police and the good and upright burghers who simply couldn’t tolerate even the slightest hint of deviance from the way things had always been.

The opposition had faded over the decades, as had the Purple Owl Café’s reputation as the only place besides the railway mission where you could go for a hot drink and a bit of conversation and companionship on Christmas Eve. Now there were kebab houses and Chinese restaurants and Vietnamese noodle bars open on Christmas Eve and clubs offering dance nights to those still on their feet after their families had gone to bed.

But through it all, the Purple Owl Café remained stalwart, opened its doors to anybody — regardless of age, gender, religion, skin colour or sexual orientation — who had nowhere else to go on Christmas Eve.

Tonight, Katie was one of those who had nowhere else to go. It was a new sensation for her — after all, Katie had spent the previous twenty-three Christmas Eves with her parents and extended family, sitting around the tree, singing carols, reciting poems, exchanging presents and eating roast goose with potato dumplings and red cabbage.

And every single of those twenty-three years or at least the last ten or so, Katie had dreaded those holy night get-togethers with the whole family. She’d dreaded the poems and the carols and the presents she had neither asked for nor wanted and the goose — because truth to be told, she’d never liked goose — but most of all she’d dreaded the conversation with the extended family.

She’d dreaded the sexist jokes from uncles who seemed to be mentally stuck at a time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, the complaints about “all those damn foreigners ruining the country” from great-aunts who’d once come as post-war refugees from Eastern Prussia and Silesia, the groping hands of aged lechers and the pitying looks of prim and proper aunts who kept asking why she wasn’t married and having babies yet. And most of all, she’d dreaded Uncle Günther who inevitably had to expound at great length on his political views, which were only slightly to the left of Hitler. And no one ever said anything to shut him up, even though his tirades made everybody uncomfortable.

Until this Christmas, her twenty-fourth, she’d decided she’d had enough. After all, she was twenty-four years old now. She had a graduate degree, her own flat and a good job. She was, finally, a real and proper adult. And she didn’t need to put up with relatives who annoyed her, relatives who made her uncomfortable, relatives who made her dread Christmas Eve itself, when it should’ve been the happiest night of the year.

So she’d told her parents in no uncertain terms, “No. I’m not going to put up with people who make me uncomfortable or outright hurt me anymore. Either make them stop or uninvite them or you can have your family Christmas Eve without me.”

Her Mom had first accused her of having PMS — because every genuine grievance or anger that a woman ever felt was obviously the result of PMS. Then she’d called Katie a hate-filled bitch who didn’t understand the value of family, while Dad had declared that one simply had to tolerate family, whether one actually liked them or not.

And when Katie had replied, “No, actually I don’t have to tolerate anybody,” her parents had told her she could either celebrate Christmas with the whole family like every year or all on her lonesome.

And this was how Katie had ended up orphaned or at least quasi-orphaned on Christmas Eve. So she did what everybody in the city did, when they found themselves alone and with nowhere else to go on Christmas Eve. She headed to the Purple Owl Café.

Katie had learned of the café’s reputation at university from one of the outspoken lesbians in her class, though she’d never actually been there herself. It was like that with all of the clubs in town with a shady or dodgy or glamorous reputation. Katie knew of them all, though she’d never visited a single one of them. She simply wasn’t the sort of person who went to that sort of place.

But apparently her new found resolve not to put up with relatives who annoyed her anymore had also turned her into a more adventurous person, the sort of person who’d go to a Christmas party in a joint known as a lesbian bar, though she had few inclinations of that direction herself.

Okay, so Katie had sometimes insisted that she was lesbian at university, mostly to get guys who wouldn’t take no for an answer to back off. Women usually did accept “No thanks” as an answer, so there had never been any burning need for Katie to insist she was straight.

As it was, she actually suspected she was bi — sort of — since hardly anybody was one hundred percent straight on the Kinsey scale.

But the full truth was that so far, she’d had very little interest in intimate relationships with either sex. Relationships were complicated and time consuming, plus you tended to get your heart broken. Besides, Katie had always been just fine on her own, pursuing first her degree and then her career.

Until she found herself all alone on Christmas Eve.

***

Like all the best clubs, the Purple Owl Café was a basement bar, its entrance nestled between a Chinese restaurant, closed, and a travel agency, also closed. A purple neon arrow pointed at the door.

There was a bouncer, a muscular woman with spiky platinum hair and a nose piercing. And all of a sudden, Katie realised just why — though she knew where all the cool clubs were — she hardly ever went there. It was because of the bouncers. There was something incredibly humiliating about the idea that even though you were willing to pay for the privilege of entering a club, you were still at the mercy of some overmuscled and underbrained jerk at the door who decided whether you got in or not, depending on whether your skirt was short enough or whether he just didn’t like your nose.

Restaurants didn’t need bouncers. Cinemas didn’t need bouncers. Theatres didn’t need bouncers. So why the hell did clubs think they did?

However, passing the bouncer — bouncerette? — of the Purple Owl Café was neither difficult nor humiliating. The woman simply nodded at Katie and said, “Merry Christmas. Have fun, sister.” Then she stared out at the falling snow again.

The staircase that led down to the club proper was steep and narrow and the linoleum apparently hadn’t been replaced since the time when the Café was a rock ’n roll joint back in the fifties. Katie smiled as she descended the staircase, imagining the look on the faces of her relatives back home, if they knew she was spending Christmas Eve in a lesbian bar.

The interior of the Purple Owl Café was pleasantly dim. The walls were black and covered with photos from the club’s illustrious sixty year history. Glittering stars studded the low ceiling and in a corner, there stood a Christmas tree, the only concessions to the season. There was a bar along one side of the club, a dance floor in the middle and a small stage at the other end of the room. On that stage, a girl with a guitar sat perched on a stool, singing a mix of seasonal and other songs in a voice that was so much better than anything heard in the talent shows on TV.

Katie looked around and then made a beeline straight for the bar. She needed a drink. A large drink.

A chalkboard behind the bar announced all sorts of holiday specials. Several varieties of mulled wine, eggnog, grog, cinnamon latte, hot apple punch, fancy Belgian Christmas beer. Katie studied it for a moment, then she decided on mulled blueberry wine. She wrapped her chilly hands around the warm mug, savouring the heat that spread through her body.

The crowd inside the Purple Owl Café covered an age range from barely twenty to seventy plus and was about seventy-five percent female, which was only to be expected. Though there were a couple of men around as well and not all of them seemed to be gay.

Katie ended up chatting with a well-manicured lady in her sixties named Renate. She was a widow, Renate said, from an upscale part of town. Her husband had died five months ago and since she dreaded spending Christmas alone, she’d headed for the Purple Owl Café because she remembered the place from what she termed “her wild youth”. Katie smiled and nodded politely, though truth to be told, Renate didn’t look as if she’d ever been wild in her whole life.

An old man named Herbert joined in. He’d been coming to the Purple Owl Café every Christmas Eve since 1959, he told them, and he’d been there through all the changes that had hit the place. Though the crowd here was always friendly and welcoming, he said, regardless of which subculture the Café was currently catering to.

“It’s my home away from home,” Herbert said.

Katie nodded. At any rate, the Purple Owl Café felt just like home, she thought. Here she was, spending Christmas Eve talking to old people, just like back at home.

Though to be fair, Herbert and Renate both seemed nice enough. And at least they hadn’t started ranting about “all those evil foreigners and asylum seekers” yet, which made for a pleasant change from home.

“Hi there,” a new voice said behind her.

Katie turned around and found herself face to face with a woman in her mid twenties. Her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail. She wore jeans, a flannel shirt and no make-up.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?”

Katie nodded. “Is it that obvious?”

“Well, you’re looking a bit shy and besides, Herbert, the old lecher here, is hitting on you…”

She turned to Herbert. “No offence, Herb, you know we all love you.”

She turned back to Katie, ponytail flying. “…and he usually hits only on the new girls, cause he knows he’s wasting his breath on the rest of us. And besides…” She smiled, a warm and open smile. “…I’ve never seen you here before and I know I would’ve remembered an attractive woman like you.”

Looks like Herbert wasn’t the only one hitting on the new girls around here.

The woman held out her hand. “I’m Jess, by the way.”

Oh, what the heck…

“Katie.” She took the other woman’s hand and shook it. Jess had a good firm handshake, she noted.

“So…” Jess said, settling herself on the barstool next to Katie without waiting for permission. “…what brings you to the Purple Owl Café on this fine holy night.”

Katie shrugged. “Had a row with my family and didn’t want to spend Christmas alone in front of the TV, watching Helene Fischer or Stars in the Arena or whatever crap they’ve put on tonight. So I came here. You know how it is.”

“As a matter of fact I do,” Jess said, “So what’s the problem at home? Did you decide to come out to your family on Christmas and they couldn’t come to terms with the fact that there won’t be white weddings and grandkids anytime soon?”

“No, I…” Katie felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. “I’m not… Actually I’m bi.”

“No problem.” Jess grinned. “I’m not the jealous type.”

“And anyway, that’s… not it,” Katie said, though she didn’t even know why she felt the need to explain herself to a woman she barely knew, “It’s… well, my parents always invite the whole extended family over for Christmas…”

“And you had enough of holiday crowds?” Jess said, “Believe me, I sympathise.”

Katie shook her head. “There are a few relatives who are… well, problematic.”

“Let me guess,” Jess said and took a draft of beer straight from the bottle, “Uncles with roving hands, mothers, aunts and cousins who just can’t shut up about weddings and babies…”

“That, too,” Katie admitted, wondering how on Earth Jess could’ve known all that. “Still, those relatives are just annoying, but… well, there’s one uncle who’s a flat out Nazi. Always spouts racist crap about how foreigner and immigrants and Muslims are ruining the country and how someone ought to do something…”

“And you told Uncle Nazi where to stuff it?” Jess suggested, “Well done.”

“Not really,” Katie said, “I told Mom and Dad point blank that I didn’t want to put up with Uncle Nazi…”

That was actually a very good name for him.

“…and his racist bullshit anymore. I said that I’ll tolerate him as long as he keep talking about haemorrhoids or football or whatever. But as soon as he starts spewing racist crap, I’m going to tell him to shut up and keep his vile views to himself.”

“I guess that didn’t go down too well with your parents,” Jess said.

Katie shook her head. “I got told that one has to tolerate relatives and their repulsive views, because they are relatives. Oh yes, and you’re not supposed to call them on it either, because that would disrupt the holiday spirit.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “Whereas Uncle Nazi spewing forth racist shit obviously doesn’t disrupt the holiday spirit, because everybody just wants to hear racist diatribes with their Christmas cookies.”

Katie nodded. “Got it in one.”

Jess lifted the bottle to her mouth and took a draft. “That sort of thinking is endemic with that generation,” she said, “Our parents’ generation, I mean. Well, my parents’ generation, but I guess yours are about the same.”

“Mine are in their fifties and sixties,” Katie said.

“Mine, too. The sort of people who grew up surrounded by barely reformed ex-Nazis. And you couldn’t say anything against them, because they were everywhere, even in your own family. And so they never learned to stand up and say something…”

“Pah, Nazis,” Herbert piped in, “Never could stand them, not even way back when they wanted me to join their stupid club.”

Jess slammed the bottle down on the table. “With our parents’ generation, it’s all keep your head down and ignore the Nazi at the dinner table, hoping he’ll go away or shut the fuck up. Only that the Nazis at the dinner table never go away.”

Katie nodded in agreement. “Instead, they even become bolder, because they think everybody else agrees with them. Because no one ever has the courage to say anything.”

“And since no one ever stops them or shuts them up, those newly emboldened dinner table Nazis eventually take to the streets like those jerks in Dresden.” Jess shuddered.

“Dresden is such a beautiful city,” Renate said, “My husband and I went there on holiday a few times. The museums, the architecture, the opera…”

“Too bad it’s also got seventeen thousand jerks marching against a piddly half percent Muslims,” Jess added.

“A pity,” Renate agreed, “Such a beautiful city marred by hate.”

Herbert nodded. “Pretty city. Pity about the Nazis.” He took a gulp of beer. “Damn Nazis. Hate them.”

“I think we can all drink to that,” Jess said.

So they did. And Katie realised that she felt so much more comfortable here at the Purple Owl Café than she’d ever felt during those Christmas Eves with the family at home.

“What gets to me most…” she said quietly, “…is that when I gave my parents a choice between Uncle Nazi and me, they still chose the crotchety old racist over me.” Katie took a sip of mulled wine. “That makes me feel so valued.”

“Their loss,” Jess said and patted Katie on the back, “Our gain.”

They all drank to that, Jess and Katie and Herbert and Renate. Katie emptied her mulled wine and promptly ordered another cup. And if she got drunk, then so be it. After all, it was Christmas Eve and her parents preferred the company of a crotchety old racist to her own. What better excuse to get drunk?

Herbert and Renate eventually began sharing reminiscences of what they termed the “wild days of their youth”, while Jess and Katie chatted with each other. They talked about their jobs and their families and their favourite books and films and TV shows and discovered their shared love for Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and shared dislike for The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones.

Through it all, it was bleedingly obvious that Jess was flirting with her, but Katie didn’t mind. On the contrary, she felt rather flattered by the attention. She’d never understood why she was supposed to feel flattered by the attention of men, even if they were often overbearing and unwilling to take no for an answer, whereas the attention of women was supposed to be shocking, even though women were far less aggressive about it.

The singer on the stage took a break — only too understandable, considering she’d been playing all evening long — so someone popped a holiday CD into the player. Soon Christmas songs flooded the bar, all the good old corny tunes like “Rocking around the Christmas Tree” or “Driving home for Christmas” or “Do they know it’s Christmas time?” –  the original, not the revised Ebola edition.

Pairs of all possible gender combinations quickly took to the dancefloor, swinging to “Rocking around the Christmas Tree” with more enthusiasm than skill. And then “Last Christmas” came on, the one and only true version by Wham!, still as brilliant thirty years later as it had been back in 1984.

“Oh my God, I love that song,” Jess exclaimed, “I mean, I know it’s corny as hell, but I still love it.”

Katie nodded. “No, it’s all right,” she said, “I understand. I love that song, too. Even though it is corny as hell.”

Their eyes met for a long moment, then Jess held out her hand to Katie. “Do you wanna dance?”

Katie wasn’t much of a dancer, had never been. Oh, she quite liked dancing alone in her kitchen. But dancing with others, particularly men? Forget it! The men always insisted on leading, which meant you were tied to their lack of rhythm.

However, the leading issue wouldn’t be too much of a problem here, since Jess was no man. So why the hell shouldn’t Katie dance with her? Especially since it would so shock her family to see her dancing with another woman.

So Katie took Jess’ hand. “Sure, why not?”

So they danced to “Last Christmas” and the question who leads and who follows didn’t come up at all, because they found that they were both perfectly in tune. And if Jess wrapped her arms just a little tighter around Katie than strictly necessary, Katie found that she didn’t mind at all.

Then George Michael sang that this time, he’d give his heart to someone special, and Jess pulled Katie in even closer. Then, before Katie knew what was happening, Jess suddenly kissed her full frontal on the lips.

The kiss was tentative at first, then ever more enthusiastic. And though Katie was initially too stunned to react, she soon responded in kind. Hell, if Katy Perry could kiss a girl and like it, then so could Katie. And it would so shock her family. Besides, the kiss felt good, damned good, as good as a kiss could only feel on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Night or when you were kissing your one true love — not that Katie would know anything about that.

“Last Christmas” was already over and the next song — “Lonely this Christmas” — had started up, when their lips finally parted. They both stumbled to a halt, panting and out of breath.

“Sorry,” Jess said with a wink, “Mistletoe,” and pointed at the ceiling.

Katie looked up and indeed, there was a mistletoe, already somewhat dry and battered, hanging from the ceiling among all the glittering stars. And since they were still standing right underneath the mistletoe, Katie pulled Jess in for another kiss, while Elvis was still wailing about being lonely and cold this Christmas.

After that, Katie and Jess didn’t talk very much anymore, though they danced and kissed a lot. And after about three songs, they didn’t even need the mistletoe as an excuse any longer.

***

It was already after midnight, when the Purple Owl Café finally closed down. Katie and Jess spilled out of the club with the other remaining Christmas Eve revellers.

Outside, it was still snowing, though a thick white blanket already covered the streets, muting the world.

“Where are you headed?” Jess asked Katie.

“Central station,” Katie replied, “Looking for a taxi home.”

“Great,” Jess said, “I’m headed that way myself. I live near Osttor, you know?”

So they set off through the snow, arm in arm like a couple that had been together for a long time. Occasionally, they met others traipsing through the late night snow. People heading home after the midnight mass, mostly, though there were also a few fellow partygoers. But most of the time, Jess and Katie walked all alone through the deserted city, feeling as if they were the only two people left on Earth.

Soon the lights of the station shone up ahead, a bright beacon in an otherwise dark holy night. There were people there and taxis and trains and shops that were open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three-hundred sixty-five days of the year.

Jess and Katie both found that their steps slowed down, as they station approached. Almost as if they didn’t want to part just yet.

“You know what?” Jess said suddenly into the silent night, “I’m hungry. How about a midnight snack at the station?”

Katie nodded, for she suddenly realised that she was hungry as well. “Sure. If we find a place that’s still open.”

“It’s central station,” Jess said, “Something is always open.”

In the end, they found that three shops were still open and that they had the choice between kebab, Turkish pizza and Pho. After a bit of back and forth, they finally decided on Pho, because it was hot and comforting and the ideal midnight snack for a cold Christmas night.

And so Jess and Katie soon set perched on bar stools in a cheery bright interior of the Pho shop, looking into each other’s eyes over two bowls of steaming hot noodle soup.

They chatted over nothing of importance, while savouring the springy noodles, the fresh, crispy herbs and the broth itself, infused with cinnamon and cardamom and cloves and star anise.

“Just the same spices as in gingerbread,” Katie couldn’t help but point out.

Jess nodded. “The ideal midnight snack for Christmas Eve then.”

And as they sipped their Pho, they both looked into each other’s eyes some more and liked what they saw there.

“I… I don’t normally do this,” Katie finally said, “But I really like you. And I… well, I’d like to see you again. After Christmas, of course. Or maybe even after New Year’s Night.”

Jess listened patiently, the bowl of Pho poised perfectly at her lips. She waited for Katie to finish, then she set the bowl down.

“I like you, too,” she said, quite bluntly, “And yes, I’d like to see you again. But why wait until New Year’s Night or even longer? After all, I’ve got a flat near Osttor. It’s not a very big flat, but I’ve got a really nice and comfortable bed.” She paused. “So what do you say?”

Truth to be told, Katie didn’t quite know what to say and how to say it. So she said nothing, just nodded.

Ten minutes later, they both set off into the snowy night again, Pho warming their stomachs and mutual attraction warming their hearts.

And though the evening had started as a lonely Christmas for both of them, it did not end that way.

The End

***

That’s it for this month’s edition of First Monday Free Fiction. Check back next month, when a new free story will be posted.

And if you want even more holiday stories, I have a collection of all my holiday stories called The Christmas Collection available.

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Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for November 2023

Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month
It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie and small press authors newly published this month, though some October books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Once again, we have new releases covering the whole broad spectrum of speculative fiction. This month, we have epic fantasy, urban fantasy, sword and sorcery, paranormal mystery, paranormal thrillers, science fiction mystery, space opera, military science fiction, werewolves, vampires, shifters, half-dragons, starships, space marines, crime-busting witches, chases across the universe and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a group blog run by Jessica Rydill and myself, which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things speculative fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

The Butler Did It by Jerry BoydThe Butler Did It by Jerry Boyd:

The fleet manages to catch the Squirrel responsible for the horrible things they’ve seen recently. That should be a good thing, shouldn’t it? Turns out it’s only the beginning of their troubles, as their journey to collect a bounty on him turns into an adventure. Follow along, as Bob and the fleet get the best of the situation.

 

 

 

Federation Marine Sergeant by Jonathan P. BrazeeFederation Marine: Sergeant by Jonathan P. Brazee:

At last, Sergeant Ryck Lysander has found a home in the United Federation Marine Corps and has proven the temper of his steel in combat.

Stepping up as an NCO, however, is something different. It isn’t enough to be an effective warrior. He has to be able to lead his fellow Marines, all without doubting his own abilities.

Failing will not only lead to his own death, but to those under his command. The responsibility is heavy, and the cost of losing is high.

At the same time, an old ally becomes a new enemy, thrusting Ryck into a life and death situation where success or failure rides on his shoulders.

The question he must answer for himself is whether he has what it takes to lead. . . or if he should have stayed a recruit after all.

Marked by Magic by Lindsay BurokerMarked by Magic by Lindsay Buroker:

Arwen Forester may be a socially awkward introvert, but she’s an expert tracker, archer, and forager who has a pickling recipe for every vegetable in the garden. Unfortunately, none of these skills earn her a lot of money. And when the taxes go up on her father’s farm, she’s not sure how to help him keep the property.

Then someone offers her a lucrative new gig:

Hunt down a haughty half-dragon criminal with the power to incinerate those who irritate him.

Normally, Arwen would reject such a suicidal mission, but with the farm at stake, she’s desperate. Besides, all she has to do is tag the half-dragon with a tracking device. How hard could it be?

Find out in Marked by Magic, Book 1 in the new Tracking Trouble urban fantasy series.

Bound by Blood by Lindsay BurokerBound by Blood by Lindsay Buroker:

Magically compelled by bad guys, Arwen Forester shot her half-dragon ally in the thigh. She longs to make amends to him, but she’s busy with a new quest:

Get rid of the tattoo that lets dark elves control her.

Unfortunately, such magical marks aren’t easily removed. When the troll tattoo artist she visits is killed, she’s framed for murder.

Soon, hired guns are after her, and the troll’s clan is trying to get Val Thorvald, the Ruin Bringer, to hunt her down.

Arwen could use the help of a powerful half-dragon, but will Azerdash Starblade forgive her after her previous betrayal?

Galaxy Under Siege by M.R. ForbesGalaxy Under Siege by M.R. Forbes:

Caleb Card always knew that fighting back against overwhelming odds would be a thankless slog. And with Legion forces expanding across the galaxy, his opportunities to hit them where it hurts are fast running out. When a well-played hand and an unexpected betrayal nearly put a stop to both the rebellion and his life, all signs point to a quick and ugly end.

Only Caleb’s never quit anything before, and he isn’t about to start now. Not when he still has a few more aces up his sleeve…

…and with any luck, a Queen.

Whispers of the Dead by Elle GrayWhispers of the Dead by Elle Gray:

Storyville is a small town with world altering mysteries. Here the impossible is this town’s reality.

In the wake of her partner’s disappearance, FBI agent Cora Pratt calls for backup and accepts the aid of Sheriff Highsmith.

As the search for Nolan continues, Cora ventures deeper into the many mysteries in the supernatural small town.
When the hunt for answers leads her to a secret library within a library.
She is finally able to learn what lies behind some of the towns’ many secrets.

As Cora unravels her own tangled past connections to Storyville and the town’s secrets. Her dreams become far more jarring.

With dreams and reality converging and more truths finally found.

Cora must now follow the whispers from the past to save the future of Storyville and maybe even humanity itself…

Against the Witchy Tide by Lily Harper HartAgainst the Witchy Tide by Lily Harper Hart:

Hali Waverly is gearing up for a big change. The hip surgery she’s been dreading is only two weeks out, and that means it’s time to get things in order before she’s down for the count to recuperate. She has a plan….and then the unthinkable happens.

When leaving the doctor after scheduling surgery, a bank robbery suspect crosses Hali’s path. When his mask is removed, her boyfriend Gray Hunter recognizes him as a fellow shifter, and the questions only grow from there.

It seems there are a lot of strange shifters hanging around St. Pete Beach, and they don’t belong to the same faction. The one spot they agree to meet is Hali’s tiki bar…and sparks—and fur—are about to fly.

Hali doesn’t want to get involved in pack politics, but she might not have a choice. For Gray, who turned his back on the pack years ago, the appearance of warring factions on his turf means bad things are about to happen. He has no choice but to stand up and fight, however.

Hali knows what she wants for her future. Unfortunately for her, she’s going to have to go to war to get it. This fight—so many claws and teeth to contend with—might be out of her reach.

That won’t stop her from fighting…even to the death.

Clashing Blades by Matt HiltonClashing Blades by Matt Hilton:

Monsters, magic, savage action and clashing blades.

Sword and sorcery and heroic fantasy tales in the tradition of Robert E. Howard’s Conan and Kull, Lin Carter’s Thongor, and Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane, featuring Matt Hilton’s Korvix the axe warrior and other mighty heroes.

 

 

White Witchmas by Amanda M. LeeWhite Witchmas by Amanda M. Lee:

Chestnuts are roasting. Jingle bells are rocking. The halls are about to be decked.

In other words, Christmas is about to hit Hemlock Cove. Hard.

There’s just one little problem…or maybe two. Okay, there are three big problems plaguing Bay Winchester before she can enjoy the holidays.

The first is that the warden who lost his job thanks to a prison break weeks before is determined to stalk Bay until she magically fixes his life. He keeps showing up in the oddest of places and making the sort of demands she can’t fulfill.

The second involves Aunt Tillie, who has decided to gift her nemesis Margaret Little a special spell rather than a lump of coal this holiday season. It involves her Christmas decorations taking on a life—and voice—of their own. The spell, however, isn’t nearly as contained as it was supposed to be.

When a body shows up at the local private school, that means it’s one problem too many for Bay. And she doesn’t know which problem to solve first.

The headmistress of the school was involved in a convoluted affair with father of one of her students. The list of suspects who wanted her dead was long and sundry, however.

All Bay wants is to surprise her husband with a dog for Christmas and to eat her weight in cookies. She has to save the day first, though.

Murder, mayhem, and mistletoe are on the menu.

Death might not be far behind.

Buckle up, because the Santa decorations are coming to town.

Magic By Any Other Name by Alison LevyMagic by Any Other Name by Alison Levy:

Ivy Nichols O’Reilly has grown up in a wealthy family full of magic, fantasy creatures, and emotional abuse—but when her narcissistic mother arranges an unwanted marriage for her, the young witch reaches her breaking point. She drops out of college, changes her name to Georgette, and flees across the country with her best friend, a Wood Nymph named Mei-Xing.

Georgette is determined to build a new identity and a new life. But her journey leads her to cross paths with a number of magical characters—a Werehyena searching for his kidnapped wife; a Vampire who runs a unique magical business; a curandero, a shamanistic practitioner of traditional medicine; and a Valkyrie who, along with her raven partner, wants to make a risky deal—who make it clear to her that the past is not so easily left behind. In order to grow into her new identity, help her new friends, and develop a healthy relationship with a man she’s beginning to care for, Georgette will have to confront the privileges that have shielded her from the pain and ugliness of the magic community in which she was raised—and find the strength to overcome the trauma of her childhood.

Scarper by Jenny SchwartzScarper by Jenny Schwartz:

A fate-defying chase across the universe.

Fate is a tricky witch.

On the run across federation space, Cherry has stuffed far too many dangerous secrets into her scout ship. Now the Delphic Dame is the most hunted spaceship in the universe.

It may also be the only force in the universe capable of saving humanity.

Cherry just has to stay one step ahead of her enemies – and, maybe, of her allies.

Honor and Renown by Glynn StewartHonor and Renown by Glynn Stewart:

A peacetime Navy has many roles.
Presence. Protection. Preparation.
Commerce. Sales.
Realpolitik.

A century before the Kenmiri ever touched humanity’s stars, Admiral Christopher Macleod commands the Extrasolar Squadron of the Commonwealth Space Force. His job, above all else, is to sell British military technology to the rest of humanity.

The Admiral has long ago accepted his role as the pony in the Commonwealth’s dog and pony sales show—but as war between the United States Colonial Administration and the Russian Novaya Imperiya twists ever closer to neutral stars, every nation must choose what neutral means for them.

And Admiral Macleod must choose what matters most to him: the Commonwealth’s neutrality—or the thousand-year-old traditions of Her Majesty’s Navy!

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Indie Crime Fiction of the Month for November 2023


Welcome to the latest edition of “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of crime fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some October books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Our new releases cover the broad spectrum of crime fiction. We have cozy mysteries, holiday mysteries, historical mysteries, Jazz Age mysteries, paranormal mysteries, crime thrillers, psychological thrillers, legal thrillers, medical thrillers, adventure thrillers, revenge thrillers, romantic suspense, police officers, FBI agents, amateur sleuths, lawyers, vigilantes, stalkers, missing persons, serial killers, crime-busting witches, crime-busting socialites, murderous Santas, murder and mayhem in New York, London, Florida, Michigan, the Everglades, Outer Space and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Crime Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Indie Crime Scene, a group blog which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things crime fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

Murder with Mirth by Blythe BakerMurder With Mirth by Blythe Baker:

Now that the murder of Miles’ late wife has been solved, Sylvia and Miles return to New York, intent on announcing their engagement. But disaster – and death – strike again, when least expected.

With a dead dinner guest and a long list of suspects, Sylvia and Miles will have to act quickly to outwit a vicious killer.

 

 

The Butler Did It by Jerry BoydThe Butler Did It by Jerry Boyd:

The fleet manages to catch the Squirrel responsible for the horrible things they’ve seen recently. That should be a good thing, shouldn’t it? Turns out it’s only the beginning of their troubles, as their journey to collect a bounty on him turns into an adventure. Follow along, as Bob and the fleet get the best of the situation.

 

 

 

A Murderous Little Christmas by Beth ByersA Murderous Little Christmas by Beth Byers:

It has been five years since Violet and her twin gathered up their friends and traveled to the aid of their aunt. Who they failed. Agatha Davies was murdered, their family faced many of its demons, and Violet met the love of her life.

A lot has happened since then, mostly of a murderous nature. This year, they’re determined to take back Christmas. Fate, it seems, has other things in store. Feeling like death is stalking them, Vi and friends set up for the holiday. When the bodies start appearing, it’s clear that death is stalking them and this time–they might not be as lucky as before.

Villain, Smiling Villain by Beth ByersVillain, Smiling Villain by Beth Byers:

Smith is back in London with a bustling family life and a busy work schedule. All is right with the world. Or, at least as right as it gets with Smith.

So no one is surprised when along comes a foe. This foe, however, is entirely unexpected. He’s not an old enemy. He’s not a current case. All things indicate that he is, in fact, entirely new.

For some reason, his focus is on Smith, Beatrice, and their daughters. Who is he? Why is he chasing Smith’s family? And just which of them will prove to be the greatest villain?

Behind the Lies by Maren CooperBehind the Lies by Maren Cooper:

Will Franklin—former academic geek, now recognized as a rare talent in the “fake it ’til you make it” biotech industry—is in the wings for his dream job as next CEO of a global powerhouse. Or so he thinks, until his boss, Chet, calls him into his office and angrily tells him he is going to be fired. Chet hints at impropriety, but won’t say more—and before Will can press him he falls so ill that he’s put on ventilator care.

Now, instead of losing his job, Will finds himself in the position of supporting Chet’s family through the hell of a dire illness. Just as suddenly, he finds his leadership ability tested by a crippling cyberattack that threatens the entire industry and leaves him with little time to untangle the mystery of whatever it is that Chet uncovered before he got sick.

Can Will clear his name before the ax falls—or his marriage collapses—due to his lapse in judgment? And does Bella, a young and beautiful rising star making waves with her own start-up company, have anything to do with this mess?

Undertow by Jana DeLeonUndertow by Jana DeLeon:

When Jill Morgan left Tempest Island after high school, she didn’t know what she wanted to do the rest of her life. The only thing she’d ever loved was writing fiction, but that was a pursuit with no financial guarantees. So she did the responsible thing and got her college degree, then a job that provided a good living, and she wrote in her free time. She never expected to become a bestseller, but her books—written under a pseudonym—brought her millions of happy readers.

And a stalker.

When her identity is compromised, Jill decides to disappear until the cops can identify the man threatening her. Her first thought is returning to Tempest Island, one of the many places her father was stationed with the Navy, and the only one that had ever felt like home. Plus, she had connections there who could help her remain off radar. It was just a matter of time until the cops had her stalker in custody and Jill could get back to normal. But being on Tempest Island again brings back old memories and creates some new ones, forcing her to take a hard look at her carefully crafted life.

Can she build a new life for herself on Tempest Island? Or will the stalker end that journey before it even gets started?

Whispers of the Dead by Elle GrayWhispers of the Dead by Elle Gray:

Storyville is a small town with world altering mysteries. Here the impossible is this town’s reality.

In the wake of her partner’s disappearance, FBI agent Cora Pratt calls for backup and accepts the aid of Sheriff Highsmith.

As the search for Nolan continues, Cora ventures deeper into the many mysteries in the supernatural small town.
When the hunt for answers leads her to a secret library within a library.
She is finally able to learn what lies behind some of the towns’ many secrets.

As Cora unravels her own tangled past connections to Storyville and the town’s secrets. Her dreams become far more jarring.

With dreams and reality converging and more truths finally found.
Cora must now follow the whispers from the past to save the future of Storyville and maybe even humanity itself…

Watching Her by Elle GrayWatching Her by Elle Gray:

“Welcome home. We’re alone now, no one can hear you.”

Blake Wilder has captured many dangerous criminals over the years.
When a familiar case lands on her lap, she could have never imagined the horrors that would follow.

A serial killer with a chillingly familiar pattern resurfaces, and it will take all her wit and power to ensure that the culprit never sees the light of day again.
As the case and the body count mount, it becomes apparent that he’s not just a step ahead of Blake: he’s a shadow in the darkness, a relentless tormentor who’s watching her every move.

While the killer continues to elude and taunt Blake at every turn. It seems only a matter of time before she either captures the predator or becomes prey herself.

Think you’re alone? Think again…

Against the Witchy Tide by Lily Harper HartAgainst the Witchy Tide by Lily Harper Hart:

Hali Waverly is gearing up for a big change. The hip surgery she’s been dreading is only two weeks out, and that means it’s time to get things in order before she’s down for the count to recuperate. She has a plan….and then the unthinkable happens.

When leaving the doctor after scheduling surgery, a bank robbery suspect crosses Hali’s path. When his mask is removed, her boyfriend Gray Hunter recognizes him as a fellow shifter, and the questions only grow from there.

It seems there are a lot of strange shifters hanging around St. Pete Beach, and they don’t belong to the same faction. The one spot they agree to meet is Hali’s tiki bar…and sparks—and fur—are about to fly.

Hali doesn’t want to get involved in pack politics, but she might not have a choice. For Gray, who turned his back on the pack years ago, the appearance of warring factions on his turf means bad things are about to happen. He has no choice but to stand up and fight, however.

Hali knows what she wants for her future. Unfortunately for her, she’s going to have to go to war to get it. This fight—so many claws and teeth to contend with—might be out of her reach.

That won’t stop her from fighting…even to the death.

Seasonable Doubt by Robin JamesSeasonable Doubt by Robin James:

It’s the week before Christmas and Santa is on trial for attempted murder…

Known to locals as the “Christmas Guy,” Nick Whittaker has delighted his neighbors with an elaborate holiday light show and his uncanny resemblance to Santa Claus. A bit of a loner, Nick has found his place and his calling as a mall Santa in the quaint Northern Michigan town of Helene. He’s the last person anyone would have suspected in the brutal beating of a local politician. But when the bloodied murder weapon turns up in his trash and surveillance video puts him at the crime scene, Nick finds himself on trial for his freedom.

Defense attorney Cass Leary has a soft spot for lost causes. When she crosses paths with Nick Whittaker on a trip up north, she realizes she’s his one shot at a fair trial. As a blizzard barrels down on Helene, Cass quickly learns the evidence against Nick may not be what it seems. Both he and the victim had enemies and secrets that could bury them and a courtroom bombshell throws everything into chaos. As Cass races against time to unravel the twisted threads of this mystery, whispers of intrigue and betrayal echo through the courthouse.

In the dead of winter, Cass Leary fights for justice in a town where even Christmas can’t thaw the icy grip of suspicion.

White Witchmas by Amanda M. LeeWhite Witchmas by Amanda M. Lee:

Chestnuts are roasting. Jingle bells are rocking. The halls are about to be decked.

In other words, Christmas is about to hit Hemlock Cove. Hard.

There’s just one little problem…or maybe two. Okay, there are three big problems plaguing Bay Winchester before she can enjoy the holidays.

The first is that the warden who lost his job thanks to a prison break weeks before is determined to stalk Bay until she magically fixes his life. He keeps showing up in the oddest of places and making the sort of demands she can’t fulfill.

The second involves Aunt Tillie, who has decided to gift her nemesis Margaret Little a special spell rather than a lump of coal this holiday season. It involves her Christmas decorations taking on a life—and voice—of their own. The spell, however, isn’t nearly as contained as it was supposed to be.

When a body shows up at the local private school, that means it’s one problem too many for Bay. And she doesn’t know which problem to solve first.

The headmistress of the school was involved in a convoluted affair with father of one of her students. The list of suspects who wanted her dead was long and sundry, however.

All Bay wants is to surprise her husband with a dog for Christmas and to eat her weight in cookies. She has to save the day first, though.

Murder, mayhem, and mistletoe are on the menu.

Death might not be far behind.

Buckle up, because the Santa decorations are coming to town.

Till Death Do Us Part by Willow RoseTill Death Do Us Part by Willow Rose:

Death was the only way she could leave.

Rachel Baker, a devoted mother of three, disappeared one Monday morning after dropping off her children at daycare. Her car was found on the side of the road, but there’s no trace of her anywhere. Soon, the questions start piling up:

What happened to her?

Would she leave her children just like that?

Was the husband involved?

When they find out she was planning to leave her husband, the question arises whether he killed her because she wanted to leave or if her sister helped her disappear. Who tells the truth, and who hides an ugly secret?

FBI Agent Eva Rae Thomas is in the middle of renovating her house with her boyfriend, Detective Matt Miller, when she is called in to assist with this strange case.

She knows Rachel, as their children are best friends, and has no problem taking over, trying to find her friend and fellow mom.

But when Rachel’s body turns up in a storage unit, and Eva Rae digs deeper; she realizes this killer is especially vicious and determined not to be found.

Meanwhile, the husband and mother-in-law fight over the right to the children, and things soon turn ugly as secrets are gushing out of the closet on both sides, one darker than the next.

By Any Means by J.C. RyanBy Any Means by J.C. Ryan:

Jessie Bell’s last parole hearing was a disgrace.

One board member called her a witch and a harpy and said that, given the chance, he would have her put down like a rabid dog.

Ten years in prison for killing her sadistically abusive husband had turned Jessie Bell into a poisoned, embittered, and dangerous person. The parole hearing was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was payback time.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? No, not for Jessie Bell. Her version of justice wasn’t just about getting even. It was about taking back twice as much as had been taken from you. Two eyes for one. Justice meant redressing all the imbalances – and putting out only one eye didn’t compare to the loss of all the advantages of losing two eyes.

Fortunately, Jessie is offered the position of the late Pavo, Regan’s Uncle Paul, in the Organization.

And she accepted it.

“Justice,” she murmured. “Poetic justice. Justice that I can create myself.”

She balled up her fists on the table. “Yeah, there’s more than a few people I know who need some poetic justice right about now.”

A former Delta Force operative is serving a life sentence for killing an eight-year-old girl. He was found guilty just because he could have done it and people feared him? Who was the real killer?

It was like the whole world was turning crazy. A judge’s son murdered innocent kids, then had his kids, in turn, murdered. Dangerous chemicals killed hundreds, then spread into the water supply. The City turned into a permanent rush hour – a panicked slow crawl. Drug dealers and pimps were getting killed on the streets.

Karma? Jessie had always been a fan of ordinary human beings carrying out the work of karma.

There is only one person who could possibly stop the inevitable bloodbath that Jessie is about to unleash on the city – Judge Regan St. Clair – but to do so, she must cross the line she has sworn never to cross – join the Organization.

But maybe it is as Uncle Paul always said: “The end justifies the means.”

Weigh Anchor by Wayne StinnettWeigh Anchor by Wayne Stinnett:

A lifelong friend finds something deep in the Everglades that is so very odd, that when he calls Jesse McDermitt, at first the semi-retired former special operator is in total disbelief. But he is also very intrigued, and the duo set out on another adventure reminiscent of their childhood days.

But their youthful quest had been all about fun and make-believe. This one was real, waiting nearly a century to be discovered.

There is another party interested in what Billy Rainwater stumbled upon. They have been searching for decades and will stop at nothing to recover what they believe to be not only their personal property, but their legacy. The Glades never gives up secrets readily.

Deep in the River of Grass, untold dangers lurk, waiting to snatch the unwary. It raises its ugly head in the backcountry of the Middle Keys, as well. But when it finds its way into the parking lot of Jesse’s favorite watering hole, a line in the sand has to be drawn once again.

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A Bouquet of Mixed Links and Two Estranged Brothers

There will be more new posts here eventually, but I’m still very busy with work, estate stuff and a sick mother in hospital, so there’s not a lot of blogging right now. However, I got some new toys and have some Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre toy photo stories in the works.

Meanwhile, I’ve been busy elsewhere, so here are some links where you could find me of late:

At Galactic Journey, I delve further into the Lancer Conan series, particularly into what were then the last three volumes, chronicling Conan’s later career as King of Aquilonia and beyond. Actually, I was just supposed to cover Conan of the Isles, still the chronologically final Conan story, by L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter, but I also did The Hour of the Dragon a.k.a. Conan the Conqueror by Robert E. Howard, because it’s just so damned good, and The Return of Conan a.k.a. Conan the Avenger by Björn Nyberg and L. Sprague De Camp, which is basically fanfiction, but bridges the gap between The Hour of the Dragon and Conan of the Isles. There was a further volume by De Camp and Carter called Conan of Aquilonia, which does show us Conan and his teenaged son Conn, but that doesn’t come out until 1977.

There’s also a segment about the latest protests and legal battles of 1968, which gives us the proto-RAF being the raging arseholes that they were, a reminder that Horst Mahler wasn’t always a terrible person (and honestly, nothing short of “replaced by an android or a pod person” can explain Horst Mahler’s 180 degree political turnabout) and of course Beate Klarsfeld’s legendary exercise in Nazi punching, when she slapped ex-Nazi and then West German chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger. Until very recently, Kiesinger was considered the worst chancellor postwar Germany ever had, though Olaf Scholz seems intent to give him a run for his money. Though at least Olaf Scholz is not a Nazi. He’s just incompetent and possibly a fraud. As for Beate Klarsfeld, she’s still alive at 84 and a really awesome woman and I still think it’s a pity that she did not get to be German president, because she would have been a much better choice than Joachim Gauck.

In Germany, the year 1968 is permanently associated with student protests and the counter culture. The veterans (or would-be veterans) of those protests were my teachers and they kept on raving how awesome 1968 was and how it was the year of miracles. As a result, part of me always wished I could have been alive and conscious then and experience the protests and the general. But revisiting 1968 for Galactic Journey, it suddenly doesn’t look nearly as great.  For starters, a lot of the big protests actually happened the year before, most of the protests involved a lot of violence, usually on the side of the police, but also on the side of the protesters, and a lot of the big names of the 1968 counter culture were actually arseholes. Which shouldn’t have surprised me, considering many of my teachers, but it still did.

I also was on the Light On Light Through podcast with host Paul Levinson and Joel McKinnon of the Seldon Crisis podcast. In the main episode, we talk about season 2 of the Foundation TV-show, since we’re all big fans of the books. However, there’s also a second episode taken from the pre-chat where we talk about the new (and possibly final) Beatles song “Now and Then” and also talk about the Beatles’ adventures in Hamburg St. Pauli.

Going back another thirty years in time from the 1960s to the 1930s, I was also on the Postcards from a Dying World podcast with host David Agranoff and Steve Davidson of Amazing Stories. We discuss the Sci-Fi Hall of Fame anthology from 1970, edited by Robert Silverberg, which collected the best science fiction stories published before the inception of the Nebula Awards in 1965, as voted upon by the members of the then newly formed SFWA, and in particular the first story, “A Martian Odyssey” by Stanley G. Weinbaum, originally published in 1934. The audio only version is here, while the video version is here.

Finally, since I promised you new toys and stories, enjoy this sneak peak featuring Whiplash and his estranged brother Ceratus, leader of the Caligars, i.e. the alligator people living in the caves of Subternia. Whiplash has been a Masters of the Universe mainstay since the 1980s, but his brother Ceratus only appeared in a few episodes of the 2002 cartoon. However, they actually made a figure of him in the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline and was lucky enough to get him.

Masters of the Universe Classics Ceratus

Ceratus, leader of the Caligars, poses for an official portrait. Unfortunately, it was not possible to persaude him to smile for the camera.

Masters of the Universe Masterverse New Eternia Whiplash

Meanwhile, his wayward brother Whiplash is exploring the caves of Subternia.

Ceratus confronts Whiplash

Ceratus confronts Whiplash.

You dare show your face in Subternia again, traitor?

Hi, brother. Missed you, too. Well, not really.

You’re a disgrace to our people, Torrant. And what are you wearing?

Uhm, armour.

We are Caligars. We do not need armour. And you look ridiculous.

Well, I think it looks cool and menacing.

It’s purple. Bright purple.

Says the guy who’s wearing earrings. And a nose ring.

My rings are my badge of office as leader of our people. And what’s your excuse?

Yeah, rub it in that you got to become king and not me. Jerk.

Oh, cursed be the day our mother laid the egg that hatched you. And now get out of my sight and run back to Skeletor.

***

That’s it for now. I hope to have more for you soon, once life calms down a little.

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Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre: The Maiden and the Monster

We still don’t have any Hugo voting and nomination statistics – more than a week after the winners were announced. And apparently we’re not getting them until January. However, merely asking when the stats can be expected is apparently an aggressive act against hardworking Worldcon volunteers now, so instead of digging into the Hugo stats, I’m posting another Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre photo story. The name “Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre” was coined by Kevin Beckett at the Whetstone Discord server.

It’s been a while since I did one of these, because I’ve been busy with other things and also not really in the mood. However, I got a couple of new toys, so of course took some pictures of them.

Today’s story takes place in one of the less explored corners of the He-Man universe or rather multiverse, namely in the world of The New Adventures of He-Man. If you’ve never heard of The New Adventures of He-Man, you are forgiven, because a lot of people haven’t and many of those who have would rather forget its existence.

So what is The New Adventures of He-Man? It’s a sequel to the Filmation cartoon, which ran for a single season in 1990/1991. The New Adventures of He-Man cartoon and the related toyline are often considered the red-headed stepchild of Masters of the Universe. Both were widely disliked back in the day and even today, many fans consider New Adventures their least favourite incarnation of He-Man.

As for why New Adventures was so disliked, the main problem was that both cartoon and toyline ditched not only the familiar setting of Eternia but also all of the established characters except for He-Man and Skeletor, introducing a whole new setting as well as a new supporting cast instead. The premise is that the Galactic Guardians (later called the Galactic Protectors, after Marvel called dibs on the name), a bunch of warriors from the planet Primus arrive on Eternia to enlist He-Man’s aid in their war against their sworn enemies, the Evil Mutants. Since He-Man would never deny anybody who’s in need of his help, he goes along to Primus. Upon learning that there is a whole universe of inhabited worlds out there, Skeletor decides that he is no longer content with trying and failing to conquer Eternia. No, he will try (and fail) to conquer the entire universe now, starting with Primus. And so Skeletor follows He-Man to Primus like the obsessed stalker that he is and allies himself with the Evil Mutants.

After the original Masters of the Universe line folded back in 1987, Mattel clearly wanted to do something different when resurrecting their former cash cow. Instead of the sword and sorcery/sword and planet setting and designs of the original Masters of the Universe, they decided to go with a more science fictional setting and theme this time around, probably because sword and sorcery had collapsed as a literary and filmic genre in the meantime, while science fiction was still going strong in the afterglow of Star Wars and the resurgence of Star Trek.

The more science fictional direction might have worked, but Mattel also decided to jettison all of the established characters except for He-Man and Skeletor, which is probably what doomed the cartoon. At any rate, I remember coming across the cartoon on TV sometime in the early 1990s and thinking, “Oh, there’s a new He-Man show. Cool.” And then I started watching and thought, “Where’s Teela? Where’s Cringer? Where’s Duncan? Where’s Orko? Where are the Evil Warriors? And who are all of these people?” The original plan for what became The New Adventures of He-Man was to focus on the children of He-Man and Skeletor and send them into space, which might have worked better.

The fact that western animation was changing – the groundbreaking Batman: The Animated Series, created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, both of whom had worked on the He-Man mini-comics in the 1980s, came out only a year later – didn’t help either. The New Adventures of He-Man already looked dated, while the show was still airing. Even today, it looks more dated than the earlier Filmation cartoon.

The New Adventures of He-Man toyline had an additional problem, namely that the figures didn’t match the original toyline in scale and style, but were smaller and lighter, which meant that Masters of the Universe and New Adventures characters couldn’t interact with each other. And since there were only two or three years between the end of the original toyline and the start of the New Adventures line, the original toys were still around in toy chests and playrooms and were also easy to find at flea markets and garage sales. Some smaller shops might even still have had a few leftover Masters of the Universe figures in stock – I remember seeing leftover Star Wars figures in some stores as late as 1988/89.

Both cartoon and toyline sank without leaving much of a ripple and were quickly forgotten. In recent years, The New Adventures of He-Man have been reclaimed somewhat. Both the Masters of the Universe Classics and Masterverse collector toylines have integrated New Adventures characters – this time in scale with the other characters, so they can interact with each other. The New Adventures characters have also appeared in a couple of comics, including the Masters of the Multiverse mini-series by Tim Seeley and Dan Fraga, which brought all the different incarnations of He-Man together.

Since there now are New Adventures figures that are in scale with the other figures, a few of them have found their way into my collection. And yes, if you’d told me thirty years ago that I’d ever be excited about action figures based on The New Adventures of He-Man to the point of resorting to eBay to purchase figures that are hard to find in Europe, I’d have thought you were crazy.

In retrospect, the designs for the various Evil Mutants are actually interesting and highly reminiscent of the bug-eyed monsters that used to grace the covers of the less respectable science fiction pulp magazines. Alas, their heroic counterparts the Galactic Protectors are quite bland and much less memorable than the Heroic Warriors of Eternia. The more cybernetic redesign for Skeletor is also pretty good (I have the New Adventures Skeletor on order, but he hasn’t arrived yet) and I like the snarky, sarcastic way Skeletor is portrayed in the cartoon.

The New Adventures He-Man, on the other hand, is very much a product of his time. In order to be suitably attired for space adventures, He-Man has finally ditched his furry loincloth for tight blue pants, though he still doesn’t quite recognise the purpose of either a shirt or armour (though there have been various He-Man figures wearing armour from the original toyline on). The Power Sword has been redesigned to look more like a lightsaber and He-Man has also got a forcefield shield to go with it. But the most early 1990s thing about this incarnation of He-Man is that he wears a ponytail.

Masters of the Universe Masterverse New Adventures He-Man

“I have the Power… in space! And pants!”

Masters of the Universe Masterverse New Adventures He-Man

The Masterverse New Adventures He-Man shows off his forcefield shield and his ponytail.

But while the He-Man redesign looks all right for a late 1980s/early 1990s space hero, his Adam incarnation – yes, He-Man maintained his civilian identity on Primus – looks absolutely terrible. People may joke about the bright pink vest and Prince Valiant style pageboy cut that the Filmation Adam wears, but that’s nothing against New Adventures Adam who dresses in a kind of pseudo-Roman toga that looks like a bedsheet and who wears his blonde hair in pigtails with a red headband. Honestly, I wonder what whoever came up with that design was smoking.

So far, only three New Adventures characters have appeared in the Masterverse toyline, the He-Man seen above, Skeletor, who hasn’t been delivered yet, and one of the Evil Mutants, a character named Slush Head. And actually it was Slush Head, who prompted me to get the New Adventures He-Man and Skeletor, because the figure looked just so cool – like a bug-eyed monster who stepped straight out of the cover of a golden age science fiction magazine. But see for yourself:

Masters of the Universe Masterverse Slush HeadDoesn’t he look awesome? Vintage pulp science fiction, fantasy and horror has always been a big influence on the various incarnations of Masters of the Universe. Lovecraftian horrors frequently pop up in the Filmation cartoon, the Valusian Serpent Men from Robert E. Howard’s 1929 novella “The Shadow Kingdom” have become a entire faction of villains in the Masters of the Universe world and Hordak not only looks like Nosferatu, but the members of the Evil Horde are taken straight from vintage horror films. And the Evil Mutants from The New Adventures of He-Man are bug-eyed monsters, though few of them loom as cool as obvious as Slush Head.

So now I had a hero – New Adventures He-Man – and a bug-eyed monster, so what’s missing is a damsel in distress. Teela really isn’t the type for that, but luckily, I found Mara, one of the few female characters from the New Adventures of He-Man cartoon to get a figure in the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline (or indeed any toyline), for a really good price, so I decided to use her as a damsel in distress. Though Mara is actually quite formidable in the cartoon itself – one of the great things about Masters of the Universe and its various spin-offs is that there are a lot of strong women. Mara also appeared in the recent She-Ra and the Princesses of Power cartoon as a former wielder of the Sword of Protection.

So let’s see what happens when Mara meets Slush Head…

The Maiden and the Monster

Primus, the island of Titus:

Mara patrols the plains of Titus

I bought an RGB light, hence the slight green glow.

“Master Sebrian, the Galactic Protectors, even He-Man, they all think I’m just a weak girl who needs constant protecting. Even though I’ve had combat and pilot training just like the guys. But at least they let me go on patrol on my own. And maybe one day, they’ll even give me a real combat mission…”

Slush Head creeps up behind Mara.“Scout out the Titus Observatory, Skeletor said. Spy on the Galactic Protectors and find out their weaknesses, Skeletor said. Screw Skeletor. And screw Flogg. It’s cold, it’s windy, I’m tired and I want to go home to my swamp. If Skeletor wants the observatory scouted out, then why doesn’t he do it himself… – Oh crap, a patrol! I’d better hide.”

Slush Head creeps up behind Mara.
“No, not a patrol. Just that girl. What’s her name again? Mira – no, Mara. She is pretty though. Real pretty. Hmm, what if I take her prisoner? If we hold the girl hostage, then we can force the Galactic Protectors and that accursed He-Man to surrender to us. Yes, that’s a good plan. Skeletor and Flogg will be so pleased.”

Slush Head confronts Mara.“Halt, girl. Lay down your weapons and surrender. Cause you’re now the prisoner of Slush Head.”

“Get away from me, you mutant terror. I’m armed and I can defend myself.”

“Is that so? My tentacles and my laser rifle will deal with your weapons.”

ZAP!

“Ahhh!”

Slush Head zaps Mara.“There, that’s better. And now hands up or I’ll be forced to stun you.”

“Don’t think you’ll get away with this, monster. He-Man will…”

“Oh, I bet He-Man will come to rescue you. In fact, I’m hoping he will.”

“You… you want to use me as bait for He-Man?”

“Got it in one, girl. You’re smart.”

Slush Head carries off Mara.

It’s the classic pulp science fiction cover scene: The bug-eyed monster has grabbed the intergalactic maiden.

“And now come, my pretty. There’s a nice cozy cell waiting for you on Nordor.”

“No, let me go, you monster! Let me go!”

“Are you trying to hit me with your little fists? Cause that tickles.”

“Let me go!”

“You should be nicer to me, girl. Cause maybe Skeletor will let me keep you, once we’ve defeated He-Man and the Galactic Protectors.”

“Nooo!”

He-Man and Icarius confront Slush Head

He-Man’s companion is not actually Flipshot, but the space armour that came with the Vykron figure.

“Put her down, monster.”

“Oh, speak of the devil. It’s He-Man. And Flipshot. If you want the girl back, lay down your weapons and surrender.”

“Take that, monster!”

“Owwwwww!”

Slush Head has dropped Mara, after she kneed him in the groins, and now attacks He-Man.

Yup, Mara just kneed Slush Head in the groin.

“Owww! Not fair.”

“You’re one to talk about fairness, Slush Head. And now step away from Mara and take on someone your own size.”

Flipshot embraces Mara while He-Man fights Slush Head.“I’ll get you, He-Man, I will. And then I’ll drag you to Skeletor by your ponytail. And now feel the power of my laser axe.”

HACK! SLASH! SLAM!

“Mara, my love, are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Icarius. Just a little shaken. Can.. can you hold me?”

“Of course. Just never do this to me again.”

Smooch.

He-Man disarms Slushhead, while Flipshot holds Mara.“Game’s over, Slush Head. I should send you to the Prison Moon, but I’ll be lenient this time. Skeletor and Flogg are using you. So leave them, go back to your swamp and never bother me or my friends again. Cause the next time I see you, I swear I’ll send you to the Prison Moon.”

“You may have bested me this time, He-Man. But I swear, the next time it’s you and your friends who’ll be taking a one way trip to the Prison Moon or maybe the slave mines of Denebria.”

He-Man talks to Mara and Icarius.“Was it wise to let him go, He-Man?”

“Probably not. But I have a feeling that Slush Head isn’t evil, but has just fallen under the influence of Skeletor and Flogg. Maybe he will listen and return to his swamp.”

“I hope you’re right. Cause misguided or not, Slush Head is one very dangerous individual.”

“If he causes trouble again, we’ll be here to deal with him.”

“He-Man, Icarius, I… I’m sorry for going off on my own. I thought I could handle any threat. But it seems I was wrong.”

“You did handle Slush Head, Mara. But you still shouldn’t go on patrol on your own. None of us should.”

“Good idea, He-Man. From now on, we’ll only go in patrol in pairs of two.”

“And I herewith volunteer to be your partner, Icarius. Only if you’ll have me, of course.”

“It will be an honour and a pleasure, Mara.”

“I bet. After all, back on Eternia, Teela and I used to go on patrol together all the time.”

***

Icarius a.k.a. Flipshot is a character from the New Adventures of He-Man and member of the Galactic Protectors. He’s a flying ace with a jetpack and a space helmet and he actually did have a toy in the Masters of the Universe Classics line, though I don’t own it.

So who is the figure I used in this story then, if not Flipshot? Well, it’s a cheap Masterverse He-Man kitted out with the space armour, helmet and jetpack that came with the exclusive Vykron figure, who is based on a very early prototype, when what eventually became He-Man was planned to be a kind of male Barbie with different outfits. Hence, Vykron comes with three different outfits – Barbarian warrior, space ace and Eagle tank warrior – so I bought two really cheap He-Man figures and gave them the spare armour.

Three variations of Vykron

Here are the three different looks of Vykron. The Barbarian warrior in the middle is the actual Vykron figure, while his space armour and Eagle tank armour are modelled by two standard Masterverse He-Man figures I got on clearance.

The space armour looks like something out of New Adventures, therefore I decided to make the guy in the space armour one of the Galactic Protectors, so my New Adventures He-Man would have a pal in his fight against Skeletor and the Evil Mutants. Plus, this gives Mara a love interest, because He-Man belongs with Teela. As for Tank Head, I’ll probably use him as a Special Forces Royal Guardsman wearing special armour designed by Duncan.

And that’s it for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed this Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre Photo Story, because there will be more.

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters, I just bought some toys, took photos of them and wrote a story to go with those photos. All characters are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

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Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for October 2023

Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month
It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie and small press authors newly published this month, though some September books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Once again, we have new releases covering the whole broad spectrum of speculative fiction. This month, we have epic fantasy, portal fantasy, historical fantasy, sword and sorcery, paranormal romance, paranormal mystery, space opera, military science fiction, science fiction poetry, Steampunk, cosmic horror, wizards, gnomes, zombies, sea serpents, ancient evils, starships, space marines, mercenaries, gladiators, warrior princesses, crime-busting witches, jaunts through the Multiverse and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a group blog run by Jessica Rydill and myself, which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things speculative fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

Josh and Sen Save the Multiverse by D.P. BehlingJosh & Sen Save the Multiverse by D.P. Behling:

Josh Tanner, was trying to fix his life and get back to his four-year-old daughter Sophie. Then he was pulled into the multidimensional world of the Immortals simply by being the last person on the elevator after lunch . . . and carrying a briefcase!

Senyak Marztanak needs to reacquire his immortality and his place on his family’s ruling seat. Both having been stripped away when he failed his grandfather’s trial.

Now, after being bonded through karma, Josh and Sen are forced to rise together through the levels of mortal cultivation to reach transcendence.

In a new and fully developed sci/fi-fantasy universe. Chock full of multiethnic mythology, ageless powers, saviors and treacherous villains. Josh & Sen Save the Multiverse tells the tale of two unlikely heroes pushed together by the fates, karma, and the most powerful immortals in existence. Through hilarious and life-threatening adventures, they form bonds of friendship and brotherhood. All while having to rely on each other’s unique qualities to survive eight iterations away from their universe of origin.

Follow Josh and Sen as they grow, fight, live, laugh, love and cry. They don’t know it yet . . . But for each to get home they will not only have to save their own lives . . . but the entire Multiverse!

Federation Marine Recruit by Jonathan P. BrazeeFederation Marine: Recruit by Jonathan P. Brazee:

What would you do to change your life? How far would you go? How hard would you fight?

Rather than work his bones into dust toiling away on a barren world, Ryck Lysander chooses to enlist in the Federation Marine Corps.

But as he quickly finds out, this path isn’t just a job. . . it’s a calling. . . and not everyone is suited to wear the uniform.

Like millions before him, Ryck will need to develop discipline, endurance, and strength as he’s pushed to the very limit of what he can do, all to earn his ticket off a baren world and into the stars.

But the price of failure won’t just mean going home to work the dirt fields. . . it could cost him his very life.

The time to stand is now, and Ryck will need every ounce of willpower to become what the galaxy needs. . .

He must become a Federation Marine.

Omega Force: Dead Reckoning by Joshua DalzelleOmega Force: Dead Reckoning by Joshua Dalzelle:

Mercenary life is hard.

No home. No family. Always looking over your shoulder, likely for the rest of your life.

When you find a crew that you can trust, you do anything for them. Jason Burke has a crew like that. He would kill for them… and he would die for them. Right now, they need his help and it will take all of his cunning and skill to bring them home safely. He is alone, without his powerful ship, the Phoenix, and the criminal cartels he’s going up against are some of the most ruthless in the galaxy.

For Captain Burke it’s all or nothing: bring his friends home safe… or die trying.

A Vengeful Realm by Tim FacciolaA Vengeful Realm by Tim Facciola:

Peace bought by blood seldom lasts, for vengeance knows no end. The same is true for mortals and Gods alike. Decades, centuries, eras may pass, but the cycle remains. As war and revolution rise again, Zephyrus finds himself at the center of it all. Chosen by the Gods, hailed as a prophet of liberation, and forged as a weapon to break the kingdom and restore balance to the realm, hope rests squarely on his shoulders.

If only he could remember…

Enslaved as a gladiator and thrust into a prince’s game of espionage, Zephyrus has only two clues to help unlock his shattered past: a prophecy foretelling destruction, and a letter to the enemy king, promising peace. Now Zephyrus must survive the dangers of the gladiatorial arena, the cunning fury of the Prince’s enemies, and the Gods’ torment if he is to find the truth of his identity and fulfill his fate. But to have any hope of breaking the cycle, first he must secure his freedom—and not just from his slavers.

Within this vengeful realm, a queen protecting her kingdom, a prince defending his father, and a gladiator slave haunted by a prophecy each contend for their own brand of freedom. But the Gods have an agenda of their own, and they’ll use any vessel—patrician, plebeian, or slave—to see it done.

The scales must be balanced. By peace. Or by blood.

Achy Breaky Hax by Lily Harper HartAchy Breaky Hex by Lily Harper Hart:

Hannah Hickok has a lot on her mind.

She’s engaged, with a wedding around the corner.

She and her husband-to-be Cooper Wyatt are building a house near the cosplay western town she inherited from her late grandmother.

And she’s gearing up for a fight with the witch who wants to steal her magic and kill her.

All of that falls by the wayside when Hannah realizes that people are starting to develop magical crushes…and the outcome is ugly when the fighting begins.

First up is local Sheriff James Boone’s teenage daughter. She’s overwhelmed by a spell when her latest crush’s attention is on the line.

Then the women at the bakery, all sisters, start fighting over the same man.

Then Cooper decides to come to blows for Hannah’s honor and it almost results in someone’s death.

Hannah is understandably confused. The only thing she knows without question is that there’s witchy magic afoot. Where is it coming from, though?

Hannah’s life is leading toward a specific fight. This fight, however, needs to be won before she can look to the future. Unfortunately for Hannah, the odds of winning are long.

There’s no evading the fight. So, here it comes.

Perilous Potions by Amanda M. LeePerilous Potions by Amanda M. Lee:

Luna Thorn sprang into being in the middle of the night in a downtown Detroit park years ago. She had no memory of her past and no idea what the future would hold for her. The only thing she possessed was magic…and the determination to win at all costs.

She’s finally about to get the answers she’s been looking for .

There are zombies popping up on Detroit’s mean inner city streets. They’re not normal zombies, however. They move fast and don’t go down under the usual methods. They have a mission, though, and the only thing that stops them is death.

Luna knows someone is controlling them, but who? She’s determined to find answers on her own, but the people who know her best and love her most refuse to let her fight this battle without backup.

Luna has been a loner for as long as she can remember, but her blood is running hot these days after joining with a phoenix, and news that she’s a traveler—a being that can jump through time—has her second-guessing every decision she’s ever made.

Detroit is about to be rocked by death and destruction. The question is, will Luna be the saint protecting it or the sinner bringing it down?

Things are about to change for everybody, and it’s impossible to know who will rise from the ashes.

The fight between good and evil, the past and the present, is on, and Luna will be right in the middle of it for better or worse.

The world is about to burn.

As the Cookie Crumbles by Amanda M. LeeAs the Cookie Crumbles by Amanda M. Lee:

Christmas is right around the corner, and Stormy Morgan is ready to celebrate for the first time in years. She’s been dreaming of one thing…Shadow Hills’ infamous Christmas festival.

There’s just one little problem.

When helping her new friend Easton pick out clothes in the thrift store, Stormy discovers the owner is missing. What’s worse, it looks as if there was a struggle in the back room. What happened to the married mother of one?

Stormy gets her boyfriend Hunter Ryan involved and they start searching. The only thing they can ascertain with any certainty is that there’s a hint of magic pulsing around the town, and maybe it has something to do with the disappearance.

Stormy has her hands full with gnome shifters and her old high school nemesis, so a missing person’s case isn’t something she’s looking forward to. She has no choice but to dig, though. Her conscious won’t allow the alternative.

Stormy might be new at the magic contest, but she understands winning. When another person disappears, she realizes she’s playing the wrong game.

In a world where fire rules, cold is about to claim them all. Can Stormy win? She’s about to find out. Come along for the ride.

The Horror at Pleasant Brook by Kevin LuciaThe Horror at Pleasant Brook by Kevin Lucia:

At the edge of the Adirondacks, an ancient malevolence descends upon the quiet town of Pleasant Brook, setting the stage for a chilling battle between the forgotten and an unstoppable evil.

Standing resolutely in its shadow is an unlikely alliance—the remnants, the forgotten, the outcasts, and the underestimated. As the malevolence swells, they emerge as the town’s last bastion of defense, its only hope against an ancient, remorseless force that brooks no resistance.

Yet, how can they hope to prevail against a power so ancient, so pitiless, so inexorable? The town of Pleasant Brook becomes the battleground for a confrontation between humanity’s resilience and an evil beyond imagination.

“Kevin Lucia paints in blood and dances in the viscera in a terrorized small town. Chilling and non-stop, horrifying in the best kind of way. Forget Halloween movies and pick up The Horror at Pleasant Brook instead.” —NYT bestselling author Tosca Lee

Prepare for a chilling journey into the heart of darkness with this horror novel that will grip fans of Stephen King, and Robert R. McCammon. Delve into a world of creeping dread, small-town enigmas, and suspense-laden horror that will keep you riveted from the very first page.

Discover the sinister secrets of The Horror at Pleasant Brook, a gripping addition to the pantheon of horror books and novels. Dive into the depths of horror fiction that will haunt your nightmares and captivate fans of horror and suspense books.

Bringer of the Scourge by M. Daniel McDowellBringer of the Scourge by M. Daniel McDowell:

When the end of ages comes for the empire, the princess must rescue herself.

An army of three brittle allegiances aims for the throne of Derebor, laying siege to the castle Talorr, where Vierrelyne, the last living daughter of the tyrant king, waits locked in a tower cell for the prophesied apocalypse that only she can prevent.

To escape the castle with the aid of her closest counsel, she takes a formidable ancient weapon from her family crypt: a holy suit of armor and a diadem infused with the soul of a demon prince. With this power, Vierrelyne is unstoppable, but its presence is corrosive.

Vierrelyne is haunted by what it means for her to tame the power she has been given, and by what means she might conquer the Bringer of the Scourge. For, if the prophecy she dreads is true, the weapons she wields might destroy everything she holds dear.

A (Non) Comprehensive Guide to Sea Serpents by A.J. SherwoodA (Non) Comprehensive Guide to Sea Serpents by A.J. Sherwood:

Two new apprentices. One charming engineer. A potential battle with both sea serpents and evil sorcerers.

When Sorcerer Adrien Danvers takes on a job that leads him into the slums of England, he never imagined he’d end up with not one, but two apprentices. Despite his doubts in himself, he’s the only chance the two pre-teens have to escape their hellish life.

When Sir Hugh Quartermain contracts him to deal with the mysterious circumstances surrounding his home on the Isle of Man, Adrien finds the more time they spend together, the more his walls come down around the beguiling engineer–an unusual occurrence and a terrifying prospect.

But as it turns out, this case is about to take a turn–a battle with both beast and man, the ultimate test of Adrien’s willingness to accept help. When he does, Hugh proves to be a fierce protector and friend, more so than Adrien could’ve ever bargained for, and he finds himself longing for something he shouldn’t.

Falling for his new friend is not a complication Adrien needs. (His matchmaking apprentices disagree.)

How To Navigate Our Universe by Mary Soon LeeHow To Navigate Our Universe by Mary Soon Lee:

How to Be a Star

Gravitationally collapse a nebula.
Fuse hydrogen into helium.
If desired, explode.

How-to astronomy poetry to answer vexing questions such as How to Surprise Saturn, How to Blush Like Betelgeuse, and How to Survive a Black Hole.

“Unraveling meaning from partial glimpses of the universe has preoccupied astronomers for thousands of years. Mary Soon Lee’s remarkable collection of poetry traces this journey, capturing the wonder of the celestial bodies that comprise our universe, the elegance of the rules that guide its evolution and the humanity of those who search to better our understanding.”
—Andy Connolly, Professor of Astronomy, University of Washington

Mary Soon Lee is a Grand Master of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association, and has won the Rhysling Award, the Elgin Award, and the AnLab Readers’ Award. Her work has appeared in Science, American Scholar, Spillway, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and Strange Horizons. This is her second collection of science poetry, following on from Elemental Haiku: Poems to honor the periodic table three lines at a time. Born and raised in London, she now lives in Pittsburgh.

Raven's Flag by Glynn StewartRaven’s Flag by Glynn Stewart:

In times of peace, alliances wither and are forgotten.
In times of war, honor must reforge them in fire and steel!

The United Planets Alliance fought the Kenmiri Empire with a hundred allies at their side. Bound in common cause until genocide broke the Kenmiri—and Kenmiri schemes broke the alliance in turn—those one-time allies still left deep debts of blood and friendship behind.

Still, the UPA has forged ahead in the post-Kenmiri times, weaving new economic and military alliances despite their more limited reach. The last thing they are expecting is for a soldier of the Londu, one of those half-forgotten allies, to arrive in Sol itself and ask for help.

An unknown alien force, armed with weapons thought unique to humanity, has assaulted the Londu people. To honor debts and promises alike, Rear Admiral Henry Wong and Ambassador Sylvia Todorovich find themselves called to take a fleet farther than any human ship has gone in half a decade—and challenge an enemy they know nothing about.

If the Londu are even still there when they arrive…

The Beacon by James David VictorThe Beacon by James David Victor:

The fourth book in the epic Sentinels sci-fi adventure from Amazon All-Star author James David Victor.

The Beacon is the fourth book in the Sentinels series. If you like sci-fi adventures, space battles with complex alien invaders, and unexpected twists in humanities exploration of the stars, this could be your new favorite series.

Download The Beacon and see what happens next in this epic space adventure!

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Indie Crime Fiction of the Month for October 2023


Welcome to the latest edition of “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of crime fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some September books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Our new releases cover the broad spectrum of crime fiction. We have cozy mysteries, culinary mysteries, historical mysteries, Jazz Age mysteries, paranormal mysteries, crime thrillers, psychological thrillers, action thrillers, adventure thrillers, police procedurals, police officers, FBI agents, amateur sleuths, spies, assassins, stalkers, missing persons, rockstars, vigilante justice, hidden treasures, heists, murdered viscounts, stolen Fabergé eggs, the Russian mob, crime-busting witches, crime-busting socialites, murder and mayhem in London, Bordeaux, the Florida Keys, Detroit,  Mexico and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Crime Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Indie Crime Scene, a group blog which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things crime fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

Murder With Madness by Blythe BakerMurder With Madness by Blythe Baker:

Sylvia and Miles travel to London to investigate the murder of Miles’ late wife. At last, Miles is about to solve the crime that has haunted him for so long. There’s just one problem. The killer is dangerous and cunning.

With Miles tracking down leads in the city, can Sylvia uncover the truth during a deadly weekend in the English countryside? Or will the killer strike again one final, terrible time?

 

Wood's Reward by Steven BeckerWood’s Reward by Steven Becker:

In “Wood’s Reward,” Mac and Wood find themselves confronted with the troublesome job of repairing a bridge piling supporting one of the iconic bridges spanning the Florida Keys. In the process they discover something unexpected—a cache of silver coins and bars embedded in coral. The pair, along with their archeologist friend Ned, soon realizes the immense historical significance of their discovery—the coins date back to the Civil War.

But their joy quickly turns to apprehension as they realize they are not the only ones interested in the treasure. The project engineer, a fellow treasure hunter with questionable motives, becomes a formidable obstacle in their path. And if that wasn’t enough, they find themselves at odds with the sheriff, who appears to be running a protection scam, further complicating their pursuit of the truth.

Just when Mac and Wood think they have reached an impasse, fate intervenes in the most unexpected way. A chance discovery of an old chest resting on the seafloor leads them to a remarkable journal written by the renowned Key West wrecker, John Geiger. Within its pages lies the captivating history of the silver, tracing it back to a legendary pirate chase and another shipwreck resting on the treacherous reef.

As they delve deeper into Geiger’s journal, Mac and Wood find themselves caught in a web of perilous diving expeditions, heart-pounding boat chases, and a race against time to unravel the truth before they become the next victims. With each page, the tension builds, and the lines between friend and foe become increasingly blurred.

Betrayed by the Truth by Daniella BernettBetrayed by the Truth by Daniella Bernett:

An inconvenient alibi…a priceless treasure…an MI6 mole It’s a lethal cocktail Journalist Emmeline Kirby and her jewel thief/ insurance investigator husband Gregory Longdon become targets after a desperate stranger asks them to deliver a fortune in rare red diamonds to hotelier Alexander Colefax. Before they can ask any questions, the man is killed. Driven by dark secrets, Colefax is willing to flirt with treason if it means getting what he wants. His coterie included the son of a Kremlin elite and a Russian mafia boss. When a man’s only loyalty is to money, his enemies become twice as ruthless. After Colefax is bludgeoned to death, Emmeline and Gregory discover that his dangerous games involved not only diamonds, but a stolen Fabergé egg that has vanished and a spy named Snowdrop. The trail of lies and revenge leads to Switzerland, where a treacherous double-cross could cost Emmeline and Gregory their lives.

A Burger to Die For by Beth Byers and Ann WarrenA Burger To Die For by Beth Byers and Ann Warren:

When Sam and Mia pick up their troublesome grandpa, and road-trip for an award-winning burger, they expect to find too much food, loud music, wind in their hair, and the likelihood of adding a pound or two. They don’t expect to find a dead body.

They’re quickly forced to dive into solving the crime to dig themselves out of trouble. Turns out, they’re rather good at cyber-stalking everyone who crosses their path, googling Miranda rights, and infuriating both police officers and private detectives.

Soon they’re having the time of their lives. The only question remaining is: will they survive the trouble they’ve found themselves in? Or have they had their last laugh?

Don't Trust Her by Stacy ClaflinDon’t Trust Her by Stacy Claflin:

Am I losing my mind, or does someone want me to think I am?

After a traumatic childhood shadowed by an institutionalized brother, I’ve finally created a picture-perfect life with my doting husband and four beautiful children. But behind the white picket fence, darkness looms.

Strangers claim to see me in places I wasn’t, doing things I would never do. Can I even trust my own mind with a family history of mental instability? As I race for answers, my life spirals out of control.

I suspect someone is plotting to steal my very identity. Then a shocking family secret points to a cruel deception that could shatter everything I know.

Who is behind this relentless game of deceit? The truth could destroy all I’ve built.

I must confront the sinister forces threatening my family, whatever the cost might be… even if it means my sanity.

Or my life itself.

Lie in Wait by Stacy ClaflinLie in Wait by Stacy Claflin:

The party was supposed to be all in good fun…until a killer showed up uninvited.

Halloween has been Ariana’s favorite holiday since she was little, and this year is no different. As she plans a huge neighborhood bash, things take a drastic turn when her friend Bella shows up, scared for her life.

Ariana and Damon never turn away someone in trouble, but this time it might put them in harm’s way. They do their best to keep Bella hidden, but the unhinged murderer won’t give up his search. And he’s getting closer.

Bella promised she would stay away from the Halloween party, but the festivities prove too much of a temptation. Surely nobody would recognize her if she wore a mask… Except the killer would know her anywhere, in any disguise.

Will Ariana and Damon be able to protect their friend and save their own lives?

Achy Breaky Hax by Lily Harper HartAchy Breaky Hex by Lily Harper Hart:

Hannah Hickok has a lot on her mind.

She’s engaged, with a wedding around the corner.

She and her husband-to-be Cooper Wyatt are building a house near the cosplay western town she inherited from her late grandmother.

And she’s gearing up for a fight with the witch who wants to steal her magic and kill her.

All of that falls by the wayside when Hannah realizes that people are starting to develop magical crushes…and the outcome is ugly when the fighting begins.

First up is local Sheriff James Boone’s teenage daughter. She’s overwhelmed by a spell when her latest crush’s attention is on the line.

Then the women at the bakery, all sisters, start fighting over the same man.

Then Cooper decides to come to blows for Hannah’s honor and it almost results in someone’s death.

Hannah is understandably confused. The only thing she knows without question is that there’s witchy magic afoot. Where is it coming from, though?

Hannah’s life is leading toward a specific fight. This fight, however, needs to be won before she can look to the future. Unfortunately for Hannah, the odds of winning are long.

There’s no evading the fight. So, here it comes.

What I Know About July by Kat HauslerWhat I Know About July by Kat Hausler:

Simon Kemper is on the up and up– he’ s out of rehab, and his band is gaining moderate success around Berlin. But out of the corner of his eye and over his shoulder, he’ s always aware of her. The stalker. She’ s at every show, no matter what city. She sends hundreds of postcards to his label. Worst of all, she acts like she knows him. Like she owns him. When the stalker disappears at one of his shows, Simon is the prime suspect. Initially an effort to clear his name, his search for July quickly becomes a deeper psychological quest: to prove that his fears were warranted? That she couldn’ t have given up her obsession that easily? The threads of July’ s disappearance turn out to be tangled into every corner of Simon’ s life: a trusted band member, a tenuous new love interest, a resentful ex, and the self he’ s supposedly left behind. Narcissistic, insecure, and consummately relatable, Simon is the anti-hero of his own life— trying to want to be better; hoping that’ s enough.

A Calculated Whisk by CeeCee JamesA Calculated Whisk by CeeCee James:

A Flamingo Cozy and Baker Street Mystery partnership. Stella O’Neil and Georgie Tanner are on the case.

When the siren goes off in the museum, everyone expected the prized exhibit to be stolen. No one imagined Oscar would disappear with it.

Take a quick trip through history with Stella, Georgie, Frank, Peanut and Oscar. Guess who is going to be surprised the most!

 

Assassin's Call by Ethan JonesAssassin’s Call by Ethan Jones:

He’s no Saint…

Assassin Xavier Saint has only one rule: kill no innocents. But on a supposed clean hit, he discovers his target has two kids and a woman with him. Why didn’t his client tell Saint? What’s worse, the woman is Saint’s former girlfriend…

While Saint processes this strange turn of events shots are fired. He watches the target and his ex fall. Rushing in to assess the damage, Saint’s ex reveals he’s a father. Not only that, he discovers he’s been set up.

In a race across Europe, Saint can barely stay a step ahead of those hunting him. He has uncovered a network of assassins eliminating innocents for profit, and he is being framed as the fall guy. With more to lose than just his life, Saint must bring down the entire network. But how?

He never claimed to be a saint, but he’s no demon either. In a world full of sworn enemies, how will Saint strike back, destroy the network, and be able to see the daughter he never knew he had?

Meet Saint.

Assassin's Vow by Ethan JonesAssassin’s Vow by Ethan Jones:

An impossible vow…

Assassin Xavier Saint is doing all he can to discover more about a network of assassins who are killing innocents while trying to stay one step ahead. But that is proving to be very costly. At the same time, to find and protect his daughter, Saint must pay back favors, which were steep and many. Now his “friends” have come for their pound of flesh…

Forced into a deadly assignment to save his new-found family, Saint vows to end the network and be the father he never knew he was. But how can he?

During all of this, he obtains suspicious intelligence that his ex-girlfriend might still be alive. With the network hellbent on eliminating him, no true friends, and the trap closing all around him, will Saint be able to get some answers and keep his promise before it’s too late?

It’s time to take off the gloves…

Perilous Potions by Amanda M. LeePerilous Potions by Amanda M. Lee:

Luna Thorn sprang into being in the middle of the night in a downtown Detroit park years ago. She had no memory of her past and no idea what the future would hold for her. The only thing she possessed was magic…and the determination to win at all costs.

She’s finally about to get the answers she’s been looking for .

There are zombies popping up on Detroit’s mean inner city streets. They’re not normal zombies, however. They move fast and don’t go down under the usual methods. They have a mission, though, and the only thing that stops them is death.

Luna knows someone is controlling them, but who? She’s determined to find answers on her own, but the people who know her best and love her most refuse to let her fight this battle without backup.

Luna has been a loner for as long as she can remember, but her blood is running hot these days after joining with a phoenix, and news that she’s a traveler—a being that can jump through time—has her second-guessing every decision she’s ever made.

Detroit is about to be rocked by death and destruction. The question is, will Luna be the saint protecting it or the sinner bringing it down?

Things are about to change for everybody, and it’s impossible to know who will rise from the ashes.

The fight between good and evil, the past and the present, is on, and Luna will be right in the middle of it for better or worse.

The world is about to burn.

As the Cookie Crumbles by Amanda M. LeeAs the Cookie Crumbles by Amanda M. Lee:

Christmas is right around the corner, and Stormy Morgan is ready to celebrate for the first time in years. She’s been dreaming of one thing…Shadow Hills’ infamous Christmas festival.

There’s just one little problem.

When helping her new friend Easton pick out clothes in the thrift store, Stormy discovers the owner is missing. What’s worse, it looks as if there was a struggle in the back room. What happened to the married mother of one?

Stormy gets her boyfriend Hunter Ryan involved and they start searching. The only thing they can ascertain with any certainty is that there’s a hint of magic pulsing around the town, and maybe it has something to do with the disappearance.

Stormy has her hands full with gnome shifters and her old high school nemesis, so a missing person’s case isn’t something she’s looking forward to. She has no choice but to dig, though. Her conscious won’t allow the alternative.

Stormy might be new at the magic contest, but she understands winning. When another person disappears, she realizes she’s playing the wrong game.

In a world where fire rules, cold is about to claim them all. Can Stormy win? She’s about to find out. Come along for the ride.

Stalked by Darkness by Mary StoneStalked by Darkness by Mary Stone:

I SEE U

Nobody was supposed to know that Deputy Justice Hall secretly went to the Amado Cartel’s stronghold in Mexico to mete out justice the judicial system denied to the creator of a deadly street drug and the leader of the motorcycle gang that distributed it.

But someone followed him. And they want him to know it, as evidenced by the handwritten note with the words “I SEE U”—accompanied by photo evidence and a heart-shaped stone—left at Justice’s ranch.

Is this somehow the work of Justin Black, the man who murdered Justice’s family and then kidnapped him? Is it blackmail? Or does Justice have some kind of twisted admirer?

Rattled, Justice is more than happy for the diversion of a new case. An unusual arson, complete with the body of a pimp, his head cleaved with a hatchet, and a note identifying the victim as woman abuser written on the wall behind the victim in eerily familiar handwriting.

When another fire occurs with clues left specifically for Justice, it’s clear the two are intertwined. And the writing is on the wall—literally. This vigilante killer and note leaver is after something personal. Now Justice is knee-deep in a game of cat and mouse. But is he the cat…or the mouse?

Murder at St. Paul's Cathedral by Lee StraussMurder at St. Paul’s Cathedral by Lee Strauss:

Family secrets are murder!

When Ginger’s former sister-in-law Felicia, now Lady Davenport-Witt, first received a mysterious note in the post, she dismissed it as coming from a nuisance writer. These things were known to happen to those who enjoyed social popularity. But with a third one, she began to feel ill at ease.

Ginger, however, had been worried since the first short missive had arrived. Someone knew of a family secret that would upset Felicia’s apple cart in a very big way.

Felicia’s new hobby of photography turned into freelance work for a London magazine, and her first assignment was to attend the wedding of the new Duke of Worthington and his very young bride-to-be taking place at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Murder follows matrimony, and Felicia finds herself in the middle of the muddle.

Can Ginger help Felicia navigate the twists and turns of fate and stop a second death?

Death at Chateau Peveril by Russell WateDeath at Chateau Peveril by Russell Wate:

When Viscount Peveril is found dead at his chateau in France, his children instantly suspect foul play. But with his demise being registered as ‘death by natural causes’, they must seek the assistance of DCI Sandy McFarlane to uncover the truth.

Against his superior’s wishes, Sandy travels to Bordeaux and Saint-Émilion, and swiftly concludes that something is not quite right with the circumstances of the Viscount’s death. Enlisting the help of an old friend, DCI Rich Singh, Sandy embarks on a complex and intriguing murder investigation.

With medical intrigue at its heart, this is no classic ‘whodunit’, and is the third book in the popular DCI McFarlane crime series.

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Some Comments on the 2023 Hugo Winners

Hugo Award with pandas

No, it’s not a 2023 Hugo, it’s the 2022 model with bonus pandas, but it makes a decent stand-in.

The winners of the 2023 Hugo Awards were announced today at Worldcon in Chengdu, China. My thoughts on the finalists may be found here.

I almost forgot that the Hugos were today, because a) I normally don’t expect Worldcon or the Hugos to happen at the same time as the Frankfurt Book Fair, b) the Hugo ceremony normally doesn’t happen around lunchtime for me and c) I’ve been too busy with other things to focus on Worldcon this year, though trust me, I’d rather have attended a Worldcon than my Dad’s memorial service and funeral.

That said, this is the first Hugo ceremony since 2014 or 2015 I haven’t watched live, either streaming or in person in the auditorium and the first Worldcon since 2018 where I haven’t on programming. So there will be no commentary on the ceremony or the Chengdu Worldcon in general this year, though the photos I’ve seen of Chengdu’s new science fiction museum look gorgeous.

Around noon my time, I checked Twitter (not calling it X) to see if the Hugo ceremony had started yet, but it hadn’t. Then I went to make lunch and afterwards I opened Twitter and the first tweet I saw was someone congratulating a winner. So I checked and they were already up to Novelette with only two categories to do. As Hugo ceremonies go, this one seems to have been quite swift.

Before I delve into the Hugo winners, I’d like to take a moment to point out that the winners of the 2023 Ignyte Awards were also announced today. I don’t cover the Ignytes in detail, because there are only so many awards commentary posts I can write, but they usually have interesting winners and finalists.

And now, let’s get the the 2023 Hugos, starting with…

Best Novel

The winner of the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novel is Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher a.k.a. Ursula Vernon. Her acceptance speech, including a delightful metaphor about the backsides of frogs, may be found here.

ETA: Ars Technica latched on to Ursula Vernon’s metaphor of the beetle who just walks out the backdoor, when swallowed by a frog, and not just digs up the original study, but also some video evidence.

This was not my first choice, but I’m perfectly happy for Nettle and Bone to win. Besides, this year’s Best Novel ballot was extremely strong and any of the six finalists would have been a most worthy winner.

Best Novella

The 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novella goes to Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire.

Once again, this wasn’t my first choice. I like Seanan McGuire’s work, but I’m not as enamored with the Wayward Children series as many others obviously are.  That said, I enjoyed Where the Drowned Girls Go more than some of the other entries in that series.

Best Novelette

The winner of the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novelette is “The Space-Time Painter” by Hai Ya.

This was one winner which made me go “Huh, which story was this again?”, because I have barely no memory of it. This usually happens for me with at least one Hugo finalist every year, that there is a story I forget almost as soon as I read it. In this case, the reason I couldn’t recall the story was that it wasn’t available in English in the Hugo voter packet, only in Chinese, though machine translations popped up later with all the expected flaws.

Therefore, it’s a huge surprise that “The Space-Time Painter” won, even though it was hampered by a bad translation. This is clearly one case where the Chinese Hugo voters pushed this story over the winning line. And you know what? That’s great. Because I’m glad that we are seeing not just Chinese finalists but also Chinese winners at the first Worldcon held in China. This is a far cry from the 2007 Worldcon in Yokohama, Japan, where there was not a single Japanese finalist, let alone winner.

On Twitter, Sichuan Daily also posted a clip of Hai Ya’s heartfelt acceptance speech (no embed, because Twitter no longer does embeds). He wrote the story on his daily commute.

Best Short Story

The 2023 Hugo Award for Best Short Story goes to “Rabbit Test” by Samantha Mills.

This story was the clear forerunner and already won the Nebula Award in the same category. What is more, it’s a great, hard-hitting story, too.

It’s also very much a story of the moment, inspired by the repeal of Roe versus Wade in the US and the resulting abortion restrictions in many US states. Being a story of the moment, inspired by the political situation in the US, might well hurt the story with non-US voters, but reproductive rights aren’t only at risk in the US (Germany has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in western Europe) , so people, particularly women, everywhere can relate.

Best Series

The winner of the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Series is Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

This is one win, which makes me very happy, because Adrian Tchaikovsky has been doing stellar work for years now and yet was consistently overlooked by Hugo nominators until very recently, because his books came out in the UK well before the US. So this recognition was well overdue. Besides, Children of Time is a great series.

ETA: Jeremy Szal, who accepted the Best Series Hugo on behalf of Adrian Tchaikovsky, reports about his experiences at the 2023 Worldcon, including the Hugo ceremony.

Best Graphic Story or Comic

The 2023 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story or Comic goes to Cyberpunk 2077: Big City Dreams by Bartosz Sztybor, Filipe Andrade, Alessio Fioriniello, Roman Titov and Krzysztof Ostrowski.

This is another winner that made me go “Huh?”, because while definitely read the comic, it didn’t wow me and I ranked it fairly low on my ballot. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Saga, Monstress and Once and Future were all stronger IMO.

In some way, this win and the nomination for the Dune comic is a throwback to the early years of the Best Graphic Story Hugo and also the comic and graphic novel category of the Dragon Awards, where unremarkable tie-in comics to some kind of media a lot of people like (here it’s the Cyberpunk 2077 videogame) tends to get nominated and even win, because Hugo voters (and Dragon voters, apparently) are not necessarily comic readers. I don’t even exclude myself there – currently my personal Hugo longlist for 2024 includes a Masters of the Universe comic and this year I nominated Marvel’s King Conan comic – for while I will pick up the occasional comic that interests me, often because it’s about something else that interests me, my regular comic reading days are behind me.

That said, Cyberpunk 2022: Big City Dreams may well have given Poland its first ever Hugo winners and that’s great, because I’m always happy about continental Europeans winning Hugos, since the vast majority of European Hugo winners have been Brits.

Best Related Work

The winner of the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Related Work is Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes by Rob Wilkins.

This is another case of the clear frontrunner winning. Terry Pratchett is a beloved and much missed icon of our genre and here we have a great biography penned by his former assistant. Besides, Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes, already won the BSFA Award in the non-fiction category.

As someone who has always championed SFF-related non-fiction and would prefer Best Related Work to honour non-fiction books rather than the various “This is cool, but we don’t know where else to put it” finalists we have increasingly seen in this category in recent years. Therefore, I’m of course happy to see exactly the sort of non-fiction book I want to see in this category win.

Best Dramatic Presentation Long

The 2023 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form goes to Everything Everywhere All At Once. This win is not only highly deserved, but also utterly unsurprising, since Everything Everywhere All At Once has already won every award in every universe out there. Still, now the Daniels can add a shiny Hugo rocket to their awards shelf.

I’m surprised to see Avatar: The Way of Water in second place (unless they are just ranking the rest of the finalists alphabetically), because if there was ever a superfluous sequel, it was that one. This was also the only finalist in this category (and one of only four on the entire ballot) that I no awarded. Normally, I don’t publicly share if I no awarded a Hugo finalist, but I doubt that James Cameron gives a damn that I no awarded him and haven’t liked a single movie he made in thirty years. He’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.

I’m also a little surprised to see Turning Red finish in last place (again, unless they are ranking alphabetically), because even though it’s an animated film for kids, Turning Red was really cute and also captured the feeling of being a teenaged girl very well. Like Everything Everywhere All At Once, it’s also a story about Chinese expats. But I guess a menstruation analogy may have been a little too much for some Hugo voters.

Best Dramatic Presentation Short

The winner of the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form is The Expanse episode “Babylon’s Ashes”.

I have to admit that this win surprised me a bit, because while The Expanse is a good and popular science fiction series, this particular episode, the series finale, which only barely squeezed into eligiblity due to airing very early in January 2022, wasn’t all that remarkable. I suspect it was more a vote for the series as a whole than for this particular episode.

Besides, The Expanse already won in this category twice, in 2017 and 2022 and had nominations in 2019, 2020 and 2021. I would much rather have seen a show that has never won a Hugo honoured. Never mind that both Andor episodes and the fourth wall breaking She-Hulk: Attorney at Law episode were better. Stranger Things would have been a decent winner as well, though I continue to not give a damn about For All Mankind.

In general, it’s a problem with the Best Dramatic Presentation Short category that the same shows tend to be nominated and win over and over again. It has been twenty years since Best Dramatic Presentation was split into short and long form and in those twenty years, Doctor Who has won a whopping six times, The Good Place four times, The Expanse three times and Game of Thrones twice. The remaining winners are one episode each of Buffy, Jessica Jones, Orphan Black, the Battlestar Galactica as well as the Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and – bafflingly – Gollum’s Acceptance Speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards, which beat episodes of Firefly, Buffy and Smallville.

The issue isn’t new, in 1968 the Best Dramatic Presentation ballot consisted of five episodes of the original Star Trek. However, it’s no longer 1968 and there is a huge variety of SFF TV-series both animated and live action out there, not to mention short films, music videos, audio dramas (all of which can and have been nominated in the Best Dramatic Presentation category) and it would be great if more shows got honoured than Doctor Who, The Good Place and The Expanse. Never mind that Doctor Who kept getting nominated and winning long after it stopped being good. And The Good Place was never good in the first place.

Best Editor Short

The 2023 Hugo Award for Best Editor Short Form goes to Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld, who also won in this category last year. Neil is a most deserving winner and the fact that he has published more Chinese SFF in translation (and SFF in translation in general) than pretty much any other editor in the English speaking world probably helped as well.

Best Editor Long

The winner of the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Editor Long Form is Lindsey Hall of Tor/Forge. She is a first time finalist and winner, which is always great to see, especially since the editor categories can get a little stale with the same people nominated over and over again.

Best Professional Artist

The 2023 Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist goes to Enzhe Zhao, creator of stunning science fiction and fantasy artwork. Enzhe Zhao is the second Chinese Hugo winner this year, there will be one more further down the ballot.

I always find the art categories difficult to judge, because the finalists are usually all great and often very different from each other. This year, every single finalist would have been a most worthy winner, yet there can be only one.

Best Semiprozine

The winner of the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine is Uncanny Magazine.

ETA: Uncanny shares a video of their acceptance speeches here.

I could probably just copy what I wrote last year or in 2020 or 2019 here, because Uncanny has been nominated eight times in this category and won seven times. Which is still way behind Locus, which won this category a whopping twenty-two times (amd they won Best Fanzine several times, too).

Now don’t get me wrong. Uncanny is a great magazine and they do great work and deserve every single one of those seven Hugos. And considering that the Thomas family has been going through a very hard time, I thrilled that they, their team and particularly Caitlin Thomas (and Hugo the Cat, of course) got to celebrate another Hugo win.

However, there are other SFF semiprozines out there which are excellent as well. Strange Horizons has never won in spite of multiple nominations and neither have Escape Pod, Podcastle or Beneath Ceaseless Skies, who recused themselves. FIYAH did at least win once.

Semiprozine is also another category which has the tendency to go stale with the same handful of magazines getting nominated over and over again (see Locus and their twenty-two wins). This year at least we had a new finalist in this category in the form of khoréo (sorry for butchering the title, but WordPress’ well-known issues with diacritics strike again), which is an encouraging sign.

Another long-standing issue is the definition of this category, which means that relative juggernauts like Uncanny or Escape Pod or Strange Horizons compete in the same category as small magazines that pay one or two cents per word or five or ten US-dollars per story. This means that the small magazines get crowded out. There have been debates about reforming the semiprozine category or turning it into just Best Magazine for years now. But even if Best Semiprozine is reformed into Best Magazine, this still doesn’t resolve the issue of the small token payment markets, which would probably fit better into Best Fanzine.

Which brings us to…

Best Fanzine

The 2023 Hugo Award for Best Fanzine goes to Zero Gravity Newspaper, edited by RiverFlow and Ling Shizhen.

Here we have the third Chinese winner and a most worthy winner they are, too. Unfortunately, co-editor and Best Fan Writer finalist RiverFlow collapsed shortly after the Hugo ceremony and was hospitalised, as explained in this comment at File 770.

Finally, Zero Gravity Newspaper is a print zine winning in a category that is dominated by blogs and online zines. This is the first time since 2009 that a print zine has won in the Best Fanzine category. File 770, The Drink Tank and Journey Planet have all won since, but they are both mostly online these days.

ETA: In the comments, John a.k.a. ErsatzCulture points out that Zero Gravity Newspaper seems to be mostly a PDF zine, too, and that the printed issues seen in photos were apparently special issues.

ETA 2: Again via John a.k.a. ErsatzCulture and File 770, RiverFlow has posted an extensive con report with many photos, including his medical odyssey. RiverFlow has also posted the text of his Best Fanzine acceptance speech. All in Chinese, but Google Translate should at least give you a rough idea.

Best Fancast

The winner of the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Fancast is Hugo, Girl!

I’m very happy about this win, because not only is Hugo, Girl! a great podcast, they’re also friends. Though the fancast category was full of friends or at least acquaintances this year.

The Hugo, Girl! team shared their delightful acceptance speech on Twitter. I’m even mentioned in that speech along with a lot of other fine folks. Of course, I have given a Hugo acceptance speech and written several of them, but this is the first time I was actually mentioned in one.

Which brings us to…

Best Fan Writer

This is of course the category I won last year, so I was particularly interested in who would win this year.

Turns out that the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer goes to Chris M. Barkley who was one of my fellow finalists last year. You can read his acceptance speech at File 770.

Chris is a most worthy winner. Not only is he known for his insightful columns at File 770, he also has been tirelessly supporting Worldcon and the Hugos for more than forty years now and IMO should have been recognised long ago. Finally, Chris is the first ever winner of colour in what is still a very white category.

Best Fan Artist

The 2023 Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist goes to Richard Man, who is not just a first time finalist in this category, but also – as far as I can tell – the first photographer to win a Hugo in an art category. Richard Man is a great portrait photographer and most worthy winner.

The Fan Artist category usually has a wide range of different types of art. In addition to traditional artists, we have also seen jewellery designers, sculptors, cartoonists and calligraphers nominated in this category. There have been almost no photographers nominated with the exception of a Finnish toy photographer (a field which has a lot of really great fan artists deserving of recognition), even though we have a lot of photographers in our community.

Lodestar

The winner of the 2023 Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book is Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor. Akata Woman is a sequel to the 2018 and inaugural Lodestar winner Akata Witch, making Nnedi Okorafor the first double Lodestar winner. Once again, it’s a very good choice.

Astounding

Last but not least, the 2023 Astounding Award for Best New Writer goes to Travis Baldree. This is one win which made me very happy, not just because I enjoyed Legends and Lattes a whole lot, but also because the success of Legends and Lattes showed that cozy fantasy, which had been bubbling under the surface in indie and small press fiction for a while, is a commercially viable subgenre.

***

And that’s it for the 2023 Hugo winners. Those who are concerned that too many women are winning Hugos these days will hopefully be happy that two of the five fiction categories as well as Best Related Work and the Astounding Award (plus Fan Writer and Fan Artist) went to male writers. Though I’m sure they’ll find some reason why those male winners don’t count (too foreign, too cozy, not white enough).

I couldn’t delve into the longlist and the detailed voting statistics this time around, because they aren’t available yet. I may do so in a separate post.

Regarding reactions to the 2023 Hugo winners, Camestros Felapton briefly weighs in on his blog and there is some discussion in the comments under the File 770 announcement.

ETA: At Women Write About Comics. Doris V. Sutherland reports about the 2023 Hugo winners and also about the Chengdu Worldcon and the various controversies surrounding it in general. At the same site, Doris also has a piece about the 2023 Igtnyte Awards.

ETA: Linda Codega has a brief write-up of the 2023 Hugo winners at io9.

ETA: The Best Fancast finalist Octothorpe discusses the 2023 Hugo winners.

This article from China Daily has some background on the Chinese winners, including the inspiration for “The Space-Time Painter”.

ETA: Here is an article from Xinhua with lots of photos of the ceremony and the con.

ETA: Here is a video from what appears to be a Chinese news site featuring interviews with Hugo winners Neil Clarke and Chris M. Barkley.

ETA: Nicholas Whyte reports about his adventures at the 2023 Worldcon with plenty of photos. The first post focusses on Chinese Doctor Who fandom and a Doctor Who panel, the second post focusses on visiting Chengdu’s famous pandas and the third post focusses on various other panels as well as the opening ceremony and the Hugo reception, ceremony and afterparty. I have to admit when I saw photos of the Hugo reception and the tiny nuggets of pastries and sweets, I thought, “That doesn’t look very substantial.” Nicholas’ report confirms this initial impression. Finally, Nicholas Whyte shares some general Worldcon experiences as well as photos of the famous Sichuan hotpot, which looks utterly delicious.

Writer and translator S. Qiouyi Lu shares their disappointment that there haven’t been more Chinese winners in this Twitter thread.

Otherwise, I haven’t seen a lot of reactions yet. Those people who have made it their life’s mission to hate every modern Hugo winner and let the world know why every single one of them is unworthy  are oddly silent as well. Either they’ve moved on to hating something else (Anti-Semitism seems to be sadly popular right now) or I don’t see their comments, because I have a lot of these people blocked or muted on Twitter and BlueSky, ever since some of those haters decided to send a harassment mob my way last month.

I’ll update the post as more reactions come in. And since it apparently needs to be said, I don’t necessarily agree with everything I link to, particularly not with comments from the usual and unusual arseholes, should any come in.

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Foundation explores “Creation Myths” and ends season 2

And here is the last of my episode by episode reviews of season 2 of Foundation. For my takes on previous episodes, go here. And yes, I know this is late, but then I had a lot of other things to deal with.

Warning! There will be spoilers under the cut! Continue reading

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First Monday Free Fiction: The Horror in the Westermark Woods

Roadside Horrors by Cora Buhlert
Welcome to the October 2023 edition of First Monday Free Fiction. Though it’s actually Third Monday Free Fiction, because I had too much on my mind and forgot to post this month’s story.

To recap, inspired by Kristine Kathryn Rusch who posts a free short story every week on her blog, I’ll post a free story on the first Monday of every month. At the end of the month, I’ll take the story down and post another.

October is the spooky month, so here’s a spooky story for you about teenagers on their way home from a festival coming across something terrible in the woods. It’s called “The Horror in the Westermark Woods” and may be found in the collection Roadside Horrors.

The Westermark Woods are a real place in my region, a popular hiking spot, and the towns, the Schützenfest, the Gessel gold hoard and the now defunct US military base on Hoher Berg are all real as well. As for the teenagers, though the characters are fictional, I’ve met those kids. I’ve been this kid. As for the horror… well, I’m still here, still alive and still go hiking in those woods.

So accompany Nils, Silke, Britta, Jens and Matthias, as they encounter…

The Horror in the Westermark Woods

Thanks for the drink, man. I really appreciate it. Prost!

Oh yes, the story. You want the story about the things in the Westermark woods? Well, buckle up then, cause this one’s going to be a doozy.

It was more than thirty years ago now. I had just turned eighteen and I had a driver’s licence and a car, a red Volkswagen Golf. And in rural Northwest Germany, a car and a driver’s licence meant freedom. It also made me really popular, the most popular guy in the village. People who hadn’t even looked twice at me before suddenly wanted to be my friends, just because I had a car.

It happened at the height of summer on the night of the Schützenfest, the local target shooting competition. Though a Schützenfest is much more than just a shooting competition. Sure, there is shooting, but there is also a parade and the crowning of the winners of the shooting competition as king and queen of the marksmen. And last but not least, there is a fairground with sausage stands and beer stalls, a party tent and even a carousel or two.

If you grew up on rural Northwest Germany, the Schützenfest was the biggest event of the year. Everybody went there, whether you were into target shooting or not. Even if, like me, you considered yourself a pacifist and couldn’t hit the side of a barn anyway.

So of course, I went to the Schützenfest that year. I hung out with my friends, having a good time, and we all danced the night away in the party tent, grooving to Madonna and Kylie Minogue, George Michael and the Pet Shop Boys.

It was already half past two, when we finally staggered home. Well, the others staggered. Not me. For I had a car and a driver’s license, so I was the designated driver and also the only one who was sober.

Two weeks before, a girl from a neighbouring village had gone missing. And the last anyone had seen of her was that she’d ridden her bike along the very same road we needed to take to get home.

Most likely, she’d just run away and would eventually turn up again. At least, that’s what the police said. Nonetheless, everybody was nervous and no one wanted to go home alone that night.

For we knew that the girl wasn’t the first to go missing in the area. There had been several cases, going back decades. A farmer milking his cows before dawn, a country doctor on the way to a late night emergency, a young couple making out in a cornfield, a few scattered soldiers, stragglers separated from their regiment, during the war. They all vanished, never to be seen again.

The people rarely talked about the ones who’d vanished, but they remembered. They remembered only too well. And so few of my friends were allowed to ride our bikes after dark. “It’s too dangerous,” our parents said, though they never told us just why being out and about after dark was so dangerous.

“If you’re somewhere and can’t get home, call me,” my Dad always said to me, “Even if it’s three in the morning, call me and I’ll come and get you.”

But I was officially an adult now and I had a car besides. Whatever had spooked my parents and half the people in the village didn’t faze me. It was all just stupid superstition anyway, like old Mrs. Holthusen, who wasn’t quite right in the head, babbling about the things in the woods and how they’d almost gotten her back in nineteen thirty-something.

So we all piled into my little Golf. My girlfriend Silke took the passenger seat, while Jens, Britta and Matthias squeezed onto the backseat.

Once everybody had buckled up, I gunned the engine, shoved a tape into the cassette deck and drove off. The first notes of “Time of My Life” filled the car and we all sang along. We’d all seen Dirty Dancing — Silke and Britta had even seen it five times, which is excessive, if you ask me — and we all knew the words by heart.

The drive home didn’t take long, not if you had a car. But we lived one village over, which meant that I had to drive along a winding country road, passing through fields of corn and a patch of woodland, the Westermark Woods.

I must have driven that road dozens, if not hundreds of times, on my bike, as a passenger in my parents’ car, during my driving lessons. But I’d never driven it this late at night. Even my Dad always avoided that road at night. “The woods are dangerous by night,” he said brusquely, whenever I asked him about that.

As soon as we left the festival ground behind, it got dark, pitch dark. This late at night, the street lights were off, as were the lights of the houses and shops along the road. The sky was overcast, so there was no moon or starlight either.

Once we left the town behind, it got even darker. All I could see was the little puddle of light cast by the headlights of the Golf. Everything else was dark, as if we were in a tiny boat adrift on a sea of darkness.

The speed limit here was one hundred kilometres per hour — fast and scary enough by daylight, at least for a new driver like me. But that night I drove much slower, so slow that Matthias hollered from the backseat, “Hey, Nils, can’t this bucket go any faster?”

“Yeah, if you want to land in a ditch or smash into a tree, sure,” I called back. Beside me, Silke rolled her eyes.

“I… hiccup… I think I’m going to be sick,” Britta slurred.

“Now?” I asked dismayed.

***

This story was available for free on this blog for one month only, but you can still read it in Roadside Horrors. And if you click on the First Monday Free Fiction tag, you can read this month’s free story.

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