Tempest Challenge #23 – Hell by Kathryn Davis

I love having guests on the Tempest Challenge! They often introduce me to books I hadn’t heard about, and, after hearing them talk about said book, I want to run right out and read them. Such is the case with this week’s book, Hell, written by Kathryn Davis and praised to the sky by Maria Dahvana Headley.

“All of the sentences are going to kill you, they’re so good,” Maria says about this and all of Kathryn Davis’ books. This short, experimental work “rewards multiple readings” and should be appreciated by everyone.

I hope you’ll also check out Maria Dahvana Headley’s books and short stories–I have enjoyed many of them and I’ll tell you why in upcoming Challenge videos.

Would love to hear your thoughts on Hell on the #KTBookChallenge tag on Twitter and Tumblr or the comments here or on YouTube. And, as always, you can support me making Tempest Challenge vids by clicking the links below when you…

Buy Hell from Powell’s or Amazon.

 

Tempest Challenge #22 – Women are DESTROYING EVERYTHING

The “Women Destroy” issues of Lightspeed, Fantasy, and Nightmare Magazine are master classes in how women have always been important to all of these genres–yes, even science fiction. They’re really anthologies with a mix of original fiction, reprints, flash, essays, and author interviews.

In this video I talk about a few of my favorites and about the importance of these issues to the genre, both present and past. If you have ever wanted to introduce someone to SF, fantasy, or horror and give them a taste of modern as well as classic, this is an excellent place to start.

Would love to hear your thoughts on how women are destroying everything on the #KTBookChallenge tag on Twitter and Tumblr or the comments here or on YouTube. And, as always, you can support me making Tempest Challenge vids by clicking the links below when you…

Buy Women Destroy Science Fiction directly from the publisher, at Powell’s, or at Amazon. Buy Women Destroy Fantasy directly from the publisher, at Powell’s, or at Amazon. Buy Women Destroy Horror directly from the publisher, at Powell’s, or at Amazon.

 

TempestvChallenge Delicious Foods

Tempest Challenge #21 – Delicious Foods by James Hannaham

Another guest challenger for this video: Gabriel Squailia, author of Dead Boys. Gabriel is actually taking the Tempest Challenge and this is the first book he read for it. Delicious Foods by James Hannaham sounds like a super intense book for many reasons, including the fact that Crack cocaine is a viewpoint character. “A silky, Satanic voice,” according to Gabriel. That’s deep.

Would love to hear your thoughts on Delicious Foods on the #KTBookChallenge tag on Twitter and Tumblr or the comments here or on YouTube. And, as always, you can support me making Tempest Challenge vids by clicking the links below when you…

Buy Delicious Foods from Powell’s or Amazon.

Tempest Challenge Ink

Tempest Challenge #20 – Ink by Sabrina Vourvoulias

Last year at ReaderCon I asked some friends to be guest challengers for the Tempest Challenge and several said yes! Score. This is the first of those videos. Author Gabby Reed, who is the best, talks about why you should read Ink by Sabrina Vourvoulias. It’s a book that deals with issues around immigration, which is in no way relevant to current events, right? Science fiction, oh you.

Would love to hear your thoughts on Ink on the #KTBookChallenge tag on Twitter and Tumblr or the comments here or on YouTube. And, as always, you can support me making Tempest Challenge vids by clicking the links below when you…

Buy Ink from Powell’s or Amazon.

TC Razorhurst

Tempest Challenge #19 – Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier

Razorhurst is set in Sydney, Australia 1932. The protagonists are women and the characters AREN’T all white. What. How can this be? It’s a sneaky plot by Justine Larbalestier to make her books realistic and relevant or something. Justine continues to eschew uncomplicated and simple narratives about young people with this amazing historical novel. If you haven’t read her other books, start here and work your way back and do not pass Liar or How to Ditch Your Fairy on your way to GO.

Would love to hear your thoughts on Razorhurst on the #KTBookChallenge tag on Twitter and Tumblr or the comments here or on YouTube. And, as always, you can support me making Tempest Challenge vids by clicking the links below when you…

Buy Razorhurst from Powell’s or Amazon.

Tempest Challenge Uprooted

Tempest Challenge #18 – Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Next up on the Challenge: Uprooted. This novel is on the Nebula ballot for best novel and I am thrilled that this is so. The book deserves it. I’m still trying to figure out how Naomi Novik squeezed an entire trilogy’s worth of worldbuilding, plot, and action into a single book. It’s a thick book, sure. Not that thick, though! And yet it feels like in the hands of a less skilled writer this would be a sprawling trilogy with a middle book that leaves readers frustrated until they read the end. Skip all that and just read this.

Would love to hear your thoughts on Uprooted on the #KTBookChallenge tag on Twitter and Tumblr or the comments here or on YouTube. And, as always, you can support me making Tempest Challenge vids by clicking the links below when you…

Buy Uprooted from Powell’s or Amazon.

Tempest Challenge #17 – Love is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson

After many months away, the Tempest Challenge videos are back. I’m doing a bunch of new things around these videos this month and next, and the plan is to keep going on a regular basis for at least another year. I’ll need some help from you (yes, you!)–details on that to come.

Meantime, my latest challenge is Alaya Dawn Johnson’s Love is the Drug, a YA Mystery told from the perspective of a voice we don’t often see in fiction: an upper class black teen girl.

Would love to hear your thoughts on Love is the Drug on the #KTBookChallenge tag on Twitter and Tumblr or the comments here or on YouTube. And, as always, you can support me making Tempest Challenge vids by clicking the links below when you…

Buy Love is the Drug from Powell’s or Amazon.

Tempest Challenge #16: Archangel by Marguerite Reed & Elysium by Jennifer Marie Brissett

Took a long hiatus, sorry! I wanted to get out the last of the Wisdom from WisCon suggestions. This week’s books feature characters that AREN’T isolated from their families and communities, plus gorgeous writing and awesome covers.

This week’s challengers: Margurite Reed and Gretchen T of A Room of One’s Own bookstore.

And, as always, you can support me making Tempest Challenge vids by clicking the links below when you…

Buy Archangel (The Chronicles of Ubastis) by Marguerite Reed from A Room of One’s OwnPowell’s, or Amazon; or Elysium by Jennifer Marie Brissett from A Room of One’s OwnPowell’s, or Amazon.

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This Week’s Episodes & Assorted Links – June 13

A new episode of the Tempest Challenge is live. Second ep wherein I turn over challenging duties to the friends I saw at WisCon.

This week’s books feature women in lead roles, queer characters, lushly drawn worlds, women of color wrestling with the future and the past, plus deep questions about the role of religion in human history.

Our guest challengers: Meghan McCarron and Chesya Burke

Between the two of them they recommended three standalone novels and two series. That officially brings the Tempest Challenge reading list up to 37!

If you missed any previous episodes, do not fear. There’s a playlist. Or, you can go through them on the new Tempest Challenge Tumblr.

I quite enjoy having special guests! I’m looking forward to this being a regular thing when I go to cons.

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Episode 9 of the JEMcast is also live now. This week we discuss “The World Hunger Shindig,” one of my favorite episodes. Though I am somewhat irked at the white savior complex issues that pop up in the Holograms videos. The part where they ride off on a rainbow while shooting glittery, magical grain into African soil is a bit over the top.

Also, I continue to hate Rio.

Assorted Links

As always, please watch, listen, and share widely!

Tempest Challenge #15: A Stranger in Olondria, Solitaire, Water Logic, Kindred, and the Parable series

Lots of books on the list of recommendations this week, all courtesy of our guest challengers from WisCon. That dealer’s room is full of must reads. Another reason to go next year :)

This week’s books feature women in lead roles, queer characters, lushly drawn worlds, women of color wrestling with the future and the past, plus deep questions about the role of religion in human history.

This week’s challengers: Meghan McCarron and Chesya Burke.

And, as always, you can support me making Tempest Challenge vids by clicking the links below when you…

Buy A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar from Powell’s or Amazon; or Solitaire: a novel by Kelley Eskridge from Powell’s and Amazon; or The Elemental Logic series by Laurie J. Marks from Powell’s or Amazon; or Kindred by Octavia Butler from Powell’s or Amazon; or Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler from Powell’s or Amazon.