Tsana's February Status

Another month, another update. I haven't quite gotten around to making any of the banners I intended to for this series of posts, mostly because I've been sick and had some important deadlines. Maybe by next month. But I did just make one for Australian fantasy, as you can see on the left, and on my Aussie authors page.

This month, my story "Transit of Hadley", was published in Aurealis issue #67. It's about early generation ship colonists on a water-world with no natural land and slightly different gravity. At some point — probably when I've had more sleep/the weekend — I'm planning on writing a post on the other blog about the science that went into it.

In the meantime, you can read more, including an excerpt from "Transit of Hadley" here. (A link which will not point to the right thing once the March issue comes out.) And you can buy a copy of the magazine here.

What have I read?

Since my last post I've read and reviewed the following books:

• Stained Glass Monsters by Andrea K Höst — BFF fantasy that stands alone (although apparently there will be a sequel)
• The Other Tree by DK Mok — sort of urban fantasy (although a lot of it doesn't take place in cities per se and there's a lot of travel). A cryptobotanist's search for the Garden of Eden with a hapless priest and racing against an evil corporation.
• Wall of Spears by Duncan Lay — BFF fantasy, conclusion to the Empire of Bones trilogy.
• The Prince of Soul and the Lighthouse by Fredrik Brounéus — New Zealish YA (perhaps I should say Swedish-New Zealish; it's the author's first book in English), with reincarnation, a crazy monk and lots of quirk.
• Alienated by Melissa Landers — another YA (I have rather a backlog of them so expect to see more) in which an alien teen is sent on an exchange to Earth and a lot of bigoted humans ruin everything.
• The Memory of Death by Trent Jamieson — a novella set not too long after the Death Works trilogy, paving the way for another sequel. 

What am I currently reading?

Well I'm still reading Rare Unsigned Copy by Simon Petrie. I've made some progress since last month and am now up to 89% of the way through. Slow progress because, basically, I've mostly been reading novels. Short stories take more effort in some ways and I've been sick and deadliney, making me strongly prefer a longer story. I'm so close to finishing really hope I manage to do so soon (like tonight or tomorrow) as I have two more review books of short stories awaiting my attention (one which I'm feeling increasingly guilty about not having started).

I picked up A New Kind of Death by Alison Goodman and read a couple of chapters before deciding it was a bit too dark for my current (quite ill at the time) mood. I haven't picked it up since because I've continued not to be in the mood for anything quite so dark. I fully intend to finish it at some point, but I'm not really sure when that will be. For the time being, I'm taking it off my currently reading virtual shelf but leaving it on my bedside table.

And the book I intend to read next is The Almost Girl by Amalie Howard, a YA book from Strange Chemistry. I've been looking forward to it for a while, but didn't read it earlier (it came out in January and anyway it's an ARC) because I was a bit YA'd out. Obviously, will report back when I have read it. And the next volume of short stories I'm planning to read in Metastasis edited by Rhonda Parrish, see below.

New Booksies

And finally new booksies since my last post. Only review copies this time around.

• The Immortal Crown by Richelle Mead, the second Age of X novel, sequel to Gameboard of the Gods. Looking forward to this, although it's not coming out until late May, so I probably won't be reading it too soon.
• Wall of Spears by Duncan Lay — already reviewed.
• Stolen Songbird by Danielle L Jensen — new YA from Strange Chemistry. Something with a more strongly fantasy bent, for a change, as far as YA goes.
• Metastasis edited by Rhonda Parrish — a speculative fiction anthology of cancer stories. Profits will be going towards cancer research. The anthology I intend to read next.
• A Memory of Death by Trent Jamieson — the fourth Death Works book. Already reviewed.
• Under Nameless Stars by Christian Schoon — the sequel to Zenn Scarlet. A bit hesitant about this one since the first book was one I enjoyed at the time but which soured a bit in retrospect once I'd had time to think about it. We'll see how this one goes.
• Dead Americans and Other Stories by Ben Peek — a collection of short stories by an Australian author. I'm not sure but I wouldn't be surprised if I'd read at least one of his stories before. I know I also have the novella double Above/Below (with Stephanie Campisi) waiting for me.