Interview: S.L. Huang (The Water Outlaws), by Daniel P. Haeusser & Paul Weimer
We are pleased to have this interview on the Skiffy & Fanty blog with S.L. Huang about their newly released novel The Water Outlaws, out now from TorDotCom in the US and Solaris in the UK.
BOOK REVIEW: THE UNBALANCING BY R.B. LEMBERG
I felt drawn to the mythology of Lemberg’s Birdverse and was intrigued by the structure of the island society, but most of all, I enjoyed the well-developed characters, their contrasts, and where their interactions led — to a relationship, to magical discoveries, and to a struggle for survival amid upheavals.
Holy Shit! Representation Matters! Or, How SFF Helped Me Realize I’m Nonbinary
I can’t really tell you why I’m here saying I’m non-binary instead of saying I’m redefining cishet masculinity. One just feels more true to me than the other, and I say that with huge amounts of love and respect to everyone of all genders. —Jonathan Alexandratos, “How Geek Culture Made Me Realize I Am Non-Binary” I’m trans/nonbinary. I use nonbinary pronouns such as they/them, and I came to this bit of self-knowledge through the science fiction and fantasy (SFF) community. Somewhat surprisingly, I didn’t come to this realization about myself while in college while I minored in women’s & gender studies. I minored in gender studies because I liked thinking and talking about feminism, racial justice, art, culture, politics, and activism. I also really liked talking about gender. I thought that was just because I hated sexism, the patriarchy, and toxic masculinity. In college, I didn’t begin to think: maybe I like talking about gender because I’m trans/nonbinary. And why would I? I knew trans and nonbinary people existed, but they weren’t on my radar. Back in college, I had heard of nonbinary people, but that was about it. I rarely encountered anyone who was nonbinary or genderqueer. As far as I was aware, I didn’t personally know any trans people. I knew the definitions of transgender and cisgender, but I didn’t know all that much about trans or nonbinary people. I had never really been asked to make space for trans people, and I hardly ever saw others make space for trans people. I rarely came across media representation of trans or nonbinary people, much less good representation, much less consistent good representation.
Book Review: Ida by Alison Evans
Next weekend I’ll be attending Continuum, a speculative fiction convention held in Melbourne. Whenever I’m attending a convention, I always like to try to review something by one of the Guests of Honour. This year, Continuum is playing host to Alison Evans, one of Australia’s up-and-coming talents in YA SFF. Their debut novel Ida won the Victorian Premier’s People’s Choice Award and was shortlisted for this year’s Aurealis Awards. The story is about Ida, a young woman with the ability to go back in time and revisit any decision she’s ever made. The decision can be as trivial as which type of shampoo she buys to something as important as choosing to drive another route in order to avoid a fatal car crash. However, one day Ida finds herself saddled with the consequences of a decision she’d previously tried to avoid. Then she starts traveling back in time against her will.
