SFF Yeah!

Sharifah and Jenn discuss their most anticipated stand-alone sci-fi and fantasy of 2021, along with the True Blood reboot news, issues with H.G. Wells’ new commemorative coin, and more.

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News

True Blood Reboot

5-book deal for Tamsyn Muir

Error on HG Wells coin discovered by fans

Werewolf arrested in Pakistan on New Year’s Eve

Books Discussed

Reconstruction: Stories by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap (February 9) (Read her story “How To Swallow The Moon“) 

A River Called Time by Courttia Newland (April 6)

Blue Mar by Francesca G. Varela (March 16)

We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen (January 26)

Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas (March 23)

In the Quick by Kate Hope Day (March 2)

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor (January 19)

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This week, Jenn discusses her “I’ve-been-wanting-to-read-these-forever” holiday break reads.

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Books Discussed

Exhalation by Ted Chiang

Archivist Wasp & Latchkey by Nicole Kornher-Stace

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This week, Sharifah discusses her “I’ve-been-wanting-to-read-these-forever” holiday break reads.

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The show can also be found on Stitcher here.

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Books Discussed

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Mama Day by Gloria Naylor

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Sharifah and Jenn discuss some exciting adaptation news, a campaign to buy Tolkien’s house, and their picks for the best sci-fi and fantasy of 2020.

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News

The Poppy War series being developed for TV [Deadline]

Ring Shout being developed for TV [Variety]

Campaign to buy Tolkien’s house: Project Northmoor [Locus]

Lord of the Rings casting update [Black Girl Nerds]

Octavia Butler’s life mapped out [LA Times]

Books Discussed

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

The Burning God (Poppy War #3) by RF Kuang (tw: graphic violence, reference to rape & assault)

Burning Roses by SL Huang (tw: animal death, child abuse)

Prime Deceptions (Chilling Effect #2) by Valerie Valdes

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (tw: intimate partner violence, harm to children, addiction)

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia (tw: racism, attempted rape, incest, suicide (mentioned), miscarriage and stillbirths, cannibalism, and death of a child)

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson (tw: sexual assault (mentioned), pedophilia (mentioned), death during childbirth, racism, sexism, animal death)

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi (tw: sexual assault, attempted suicide, racism, police brutality, suicide (mentioned))

Harrow the Ninth (Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir (tw: self mutilation)

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This week, Jenn discusses two books that utilize machines in two very different ways!

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Books Discussed

Mech Cadet Yu, Vol. 1 by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyzawa

Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

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Jenn and guest Vanessa Diaz discuss the end of Shannara and SYFY Fangrrls, some award news, the latest Disney debacle, and then dive into a cheerfully haunted holiday rom-com and a darkly comedic holiday horror flick.

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News

Goodbye SYFY Fangrrls, we will miss you! (Hire them!)

Disney Must Pay (its authors)

New Hugo category: video games!

Charles Yu wins National Book Award

The Shannara series is officially ended

Films

The Holiday Calendar

Rare Exports

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This week, Sharifah discusses favorite science fiction and fantasy that revolve around secrets.

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Books Discussed

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

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Sharifah and Jenn answer some listener book questions and recommend their sci-fi and fantasy picks for holiday gift-giving this year.

This episode is sponsored by TBR, Book Riot’s subscription service offering reading recommendations personalized to your reading life, Tor Books and Kalipso by Marie Blanchet.

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Questions

1. Hi!

I have the stereotypical hard to buy for husband. He’s a big epic Sci-fi/fantasy fan. He loves the Expanse series, Game of Thrones, Peter F. Hamilton, Jeff Vandermeer, and Neal Stephenson. He’s also likes NK Jemison’s series and Octavia Butler. Any ideas for some new author or series? Thanks so much!

-Melanie

2. I would love some great winter fantasy books to curl up with over this holiday season. Living in Florida I don’t really experience a winter unless I travel, which is obviously not happening this year, so I get all of my snow feels from books. I loved Katherine Arden’s series and I already have Sisters of the Winter Wood on my TBR. I lean towards fantasy, but if you have a great sci-fi rec then that would be awesome too! Thanks so much, y’all are amazing!

-Liza

3. Hi,
This year for Christmas, my sister and I are buying each other books so she’s writing in to When in Romance to request a recommendation and I’m writing into y’all.

I’m looking for something in the vein of Orphan Black, Ex Machina, Dollhouse and the Villains duology by V.E. Schwab. The best way I can think of to describe is: amoral people doing kind of terrible things in the name of science that brings up questions of humanity (but isn’t that just all sci-fi?)

Anyway, I’ll put a link to my goodreads at the bottom but it’s kind of a mess so here’s a quick(ish) rundown:
I think the only ones already on my radar are Gemsigns and Jurassic Park (even though it’s dinosaurs and not humans, I’m gonna give it a go.)
Books I’ve read that seem like they would fit here include:
-Never Let Me Go – tbh I probably would have liked this better if it had followed the people that ran the school instead of the kids.
-Island of Dr. Moreau – obvious OB connection and it’s been years but I remember loving it.
-Frankenstein and Brave New World – putting these together because both of them just weren’t what I was expecting, if that makes sense.
-Mila 2.0 – again it’s been years and I remember it being fine but it was the same situation as Never Let Me Go.

-Crystal

Books Recommended

The Poppy War trilogy by RF Kuang (trigger warnings: basically all of them, it’s really brutal)

The Green Bone saga by Fonda Lee (Trigger warnings: mentions of sexual assault, suicide and self-harm)

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas (tw: self-harm, disordered eating, hazing)

Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, translated by Julia Meitov Hersey

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (tw: child abuse)

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (tw: harm to children, graphic violence)

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (tw: transphobia)

Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu (tw: reference to suicide)

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

The Down Days by Ilze Hugo (TW: child abuse/death; CW: drug addiction, fatphobic language)

Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi (all the trigger warnings)

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SFF Yeah! is a biweekly fantasy and science fiction podcast dedicated to the latest happenings and our favorite recommendations from the worlds of science fiction and fantasy. Join longtime geek-nerd (nerd-geek?) hosts Jenn Northington and Sharifah Williams on Wednesdays as they dive into books, media, and more.

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This week, Jenn discusses genre books in which things are not as they seem … or are they?

This episode is sponsored by Fallen Queen (Mariposa Book 1) by Y. R. Shin, with POPPYPUB and KPIPA.

Subscribe to the podcast via RSS here, Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here.
The show can also be found on Stitcher here.

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Books Discussed

The Wanderers by Meg Howrey

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones

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