#tim pratt

[sapphicbookoftheday]

The Wrong Stars by Tim Pratt

Today's sapphic book of the day is The Wrong Stars by Tim Pratt!

Summary: "A ragtag crew of humans and posthumans discover alien technology that could change the fate of humanity... or awaken an ancient evil and destroy all life in the galaxy. The shady crew of the White Raven run freight and salvage at the fringes of our solar system. They discover the wreck of a centuries-old exploration vessel floating light years away from its intended destination and revive its sole occupant, who wakes with news of First Alien Contact. When the crew break it to her that humanity has alien allies already, she reveals that these are very different extra-terrestrials... and the gifts they bestowed on her could kill all humanity, or take it out to the most distant stars."

[st-just]

I am so sorry for the flurry of recommendations, but I just remembered The Wrong Stars by Tim Pratt. It is basically just a couple of WLW ladies leading a crew of lovable misfits to fight alien space Nazis for three books. That's it. That's the series. I won't promise more, it won't deliver less.

Oh I absolutely promise I don't mind!

And see now that sounds like pulpy fun (or possible a harrowing look at the costs of war and a seemingly hopeless struggle against genocidal imperialism. But assuming the former).

I mean, probably not something I'm going to be reading anytime soon, but sounds perfect for when it's theoretically possible to travel again and I have a train ride or airport layover to kill.

[the-final-sentence]

He reached out to shake my hand, and I was home at last.

Tim Pratt, from "The Cold Corner"

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Space Operas The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley…

[teaandspite]

Gays in Space

...And Aces, and Trans people, and everybody else, for that matter. (Blame @tildytwo for the title)

Science Fiction is going through a renaissance, and there has never been a better time to be a queer reader. You want casual diversity in fiction? We got it, to the point that it would honestly be overwhelming to describe all the ways that the subsequent books give people representation! Let’s just say that all of these automatically come with racial diversity as default (also keeping track of that is a headache, because these all take place in the future and people live on different planets). 

Hope for the future is something we all need right now, and it is telling that in the science fiction coming out right now, the future is inclusive as hell (with uh, one exception, which has been tagged). Racism, homophobia, sexism, and transphobia are things of a dark, barbaric past. Transitioning, for those who want it, is easily managed with science, and different pronouns are taken in stride. Neurodiversity is often an asset, rather than a disability, and characters come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Humanity has spread out among the stars, with all of the amazing racial and cultural diversity that that implies. While none of these settings are utopias, no one is erased.

Becky Chambers - The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and sequels (Queer lady protagonist)

Mur Lafferty - Six Wakes (Hispanic lady protagonist, diverse ensemble cast)

Ann Leckie - Ancillary Justice and the rest of the Imperial Radch series (look, if it’s an Ann Leckie book, messing around with gender is the default) 

Tim Pratt - The Wrong Stars (Demisexual and bi lady protagonists - I think one is Korean, based on her surname?)

*Rivers Solomon - An Unkindness of Ghosts (Protagonist is a bisexual, autistic black woman) Gonna put a trigger warning on this one. Solomon is probably going to be our generation’s Octavia Butler, with all that entails. Major themes of racism, sexism, and transphobia. 

R. E. Stearns - Barbary Station (Two queer lady protagonists, one of whom is black and the other is neurodiverse)

Martha Wells - The Murderbot Diaries (Protagonist is a sentient robot who is agender and asexual- and yes, they have plenty of emotions, this isn’t that kind of story)

BONUS ROUND- Books not set in the far future, but still a part of the SF renaissance: Sarah Gailey - River of Teeth, Mira Grant - Final Girls, Victor LaValle - The Ballad of Black Tom

[thesheepthewolf]

Book #4, 2018: The Wrong Stars by Tim Pratt

A co-worker recommended this book to me because I enjoyed The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (still one of my favourite books EVER) so much.

It’s true that the books are similar in many ways, but The Wrong Stars is definitely more action-packed and heavier on the science. That doesn’t mean that the character-driven aspect, which is so important in The Long Way, gets swept under the rug: this book features a great variety of personalities.

My personal favourite part is that it includes asexuality: one of the characters identifies as a bi-romantic demisexual, another one is an aro ace. As someone who identifies as “somewhere on the ace spectrum”, it was a huge relief and a thrill to see people like me finally represented in a book that is not about their sexuality. In addition to excellent ace representation, there’s also a non-binary character (who doesn’t like to be touched and everyone respects that), a gay guy and a transgender woman. The book touches on discussions around physical enhancements, alien species and AI, and what it means to be “a person”. Finally, most of the positions of power in this book are filled by women.

I absolutely adored this book: both the story and the characters are great, and I can’t wait for the next installment. I rated this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads.

[ugglahorrowitz]

—¿Por qué te gustan tanto las películas? —le preguntó en esa tercera noche, mientras cenaban langostinos al estilo de Sichuán, ella inclinada sobre su lado del mostrador, él sobre el suyo.

Ally masticó, pensativa.

—Alguien describió la experiencia de leer grandes obras de ficción como estar dentro de un sueño vívido y continuo, y yo creo que las películas lo hacen mejor que cualquier otro medio. Algunos dicen que la mejor película no es tan buena como el mejor libro, y yo digo que no están viendo las películas adecuadas, o que no están viéndolas de la forma adecuada. Mi vida no tiene mucho sentido a veces. Paso hambre y frío y me siento sola, mis padres son una mierda, no puedo pagarme la matrícula del semestre que viene, no sé qué voy a hacer cuando me licencie. Pero cuando veo una buena película siento que entiendo un poco mejor la vida, y las que no son tan buenas hacen que me olvide de las partes mierdosas de mi vida durante un par de horas. El cine me han enseñado a ser valiente, a ser romántica, a defenderme sola, a cuidar de mis amigos. No tenía fe ni unos padres cariñosos, pero tenía películas, las sesiones baratas de la tarde cuando faltaba a clase y vídeos cuando ahorré lo suficiente para comprarme una tele y un reproductor. No tenía un mentor, pero tenía a Obi-Wan Kenobi, y a Jimmy Stewart en Qué bello es vivir. Vale, el cine puede ser una forma de evadirse de todo, pero, qué leches, a veces necesitas evadirte de todo, ver una vida mejor en la pantalla, saber que la vida puede ser mejor de lo que es, o que puede ser peor y así comprender todo lo bueno que tienes. El cine me ha enseñado a no conformarme con menos. —Le dio un sorbo a su botella de agua—. Por eso me encanta el cine.

[the-dust-jacket]