Publishing
L.J. Stanton
READERS WANTED

Advance Review (or sometimes called Reader) Copies are books released to reviewers ahead of publication. These reviewers then post their honest opinions about the book on release day across multiple platforms (like Amazon and GoodReads). Whether it’s a 5 or a 1 star, an honest review is worth it’s weight in gold—which is one of the reasons ARC editions are free to the reviewer.

READERS WANTED
Book Club
L.J. Stanton
Book Club: FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros

Our first read is FOURTH WING, by Rebecca Yarros! Book club starts today, but if you're seeing this after Sept. 1 2023 don't worry: you have until the end of October to join and finish the book!

Book Club: FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros
Other, Patreon, Book Club
L.J. Stanton
Introducing: The Sword & Board Book Club

Life has been a little all over the place for the past couple months. I had surgery, my sister had surgery, my husband was let go from Twitch, and now we're in the middle of moving! So with all that excitement, the newsletter and Book of the Month went to the wayside. 

I want a way to continue Book of the Month, but in a way that lets me get to know you all better, and lets you see what an author looks for when analyzing and learning from a novel. That means, Book Club Time!

HOW TO JOIN

1. Sign up for a Fable.co Account
2. Join the Sword & Board Discord  
3. Click on the Fable Link pinned in #Book-Club
4. Follow the Fable instructions on how to pick up the book. 

Introducing: The Sword & Board Book Club
Media Critiques, Writing Advice, World Building
L.J. Stanton
Sexual Violence in Speculative Fiction

As an author, my mantra is to tell challenging stories and minimize harm. The major failing I see with sexual violence in many media forms is where the point of view and gaze fall. Particularly in western media, that gaze is often heterosexual masculine. That means sexual violence comes from that same perspective, and makes grotesque GoT Sansa scenes where her rape is all about the men (either perpetrator or witness). The violence is there to horrify and titillate the viewer. We should be horrified. We should never be titillated. Respect for the survivor is missing in these situations. I could break down where this failing is in a lot of media, but I don’t think that is the most important conversation to have. I think the more important questions are: 1) should sexual violence be included in stories for shock value, and 2) how can sexual violence be written.

Sexual Violence in Speculative Fiction
MoA Short Stories, Patreon
L.J. Stanton
The Gods Chronicle Anthology eBook Sampler

If you’re looking at this before May 1, 2022, we’re currently running a special promotion on our Patreon where when you sign up at any tier, you receive the patron-only Gods Chronicle Anthology, volume 1. It is an alpha read edition that gives a great deal of backstory for characters within The Dying Sun, such as Merikh, Loralee, and Nikias. It also gives perspective to oft talked about characters Mansur and Rajiya.

Below are snippets from each of the shorts within the anthology. If you’d like to read them in full, please consider becoming a patron. Tiers start at $5/month. Thank you!

The Gods Chronicle Anthology eBook Sampler

Book Reviews

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Expeditionary Force: A Lesson in Inclusivity

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Expeditionary Force: A Lesson in Inclusivity

Speculative fiction struggles with how to handle disabilities, which is reflective of our society at large. Whether due to age, health, accidents, or other life happenstance, almost everyone will end up struggling with disability at some point in their life (or see it happen in someone they care about). The absence of this within our media only creates stigma around disabilities and chronic illness. Removing disabilities and chronic illness through handwaving, “superior technology” or magic, creates an unrealistic emphasis on wholeness as a moral or correct way of living/existing. Disabilities change as societies evolve, which means they’ll never be gotten rid of. Same with chronic illnesses. DNA will never replicate perfectly. Genetic disorders will always exist without eugenic interference.

Book Review: Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Book Review: Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

If you’re looking to squirm a little out of your comfort zone, Children of Time is hands-down one of the best science fiction choices with which to do so. The story follows two major plots that converge dangerously at the end: a ship full of survivors from Earth’s self-destruction, and a planet populated by a mad scientist’s experiment gone awry.

How awry? The experiment was to create a new type of human from rapidly evolving apes. Instead of apes, we watch the sentient evolution of something quite different from ourselves:

Book Review: Night of the Grizzlies

Book Review: Night of the Grizzlies

Sometimes the best thriller, the most terrifying horror, is non-fiction. Night of the Grizzlies is one of those books. If you have a morbid curiosity about bear attacks, then this is the book for you. If that isn’t up your alley, then avoid this book like the plague (or at least, how we used to think people would avoid the plague).

Book Review: Birth of the Anima

Book Review: Birth of the Anima

Birth of the Anima by Kelsey K. Sather, finalist for the NIEA, is the first book in the Ancient Language of the Earth series. It tells the story of each Anima, their triumphs and failures, as they attempt to complete their task of bringing Order to a Disordered world. It is a book full of heavy themes such as ecocide, stewardship, consent, agency, sexism, and some of these themes are less subtle than others. There is a lot going on in this book, and I wish that it had either been longer or streamlined.

Book Review: The Household Guide To Dying, by Debra Adelaide

Book Review: The Household Guide To Dying, by Debra Adelaide

I picked up this book over 10 years ago while working at Chapters. It was placed in the bargain section and normally, I’m a book snob and don’t tend to buy from there. The stickers on the books drive me more than a little insane when I try to pull them off. But a book with a name like The Household Guide to Dying is one I simply couldn’t resist. If nothing else, the author and I clearly share the same sense of humor.

Book Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Book Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab, is the story of a young woman ahead of her time. Adeline LaRue is a young woman in 1714 France who has no desire to play housewife. She wants to be free, to make her own choices and to see more of the world than her little village. Her mentor, Estelle, teaches her the hidden magic of the woods near her home, the streams and meadows. All with the warning to never pray to the gods after dark. But as Adeline grows, and as her life takes a turn for the ordinary, she makes a deal with the dark for an extraordinary life—only, it’s a life no one can remember.

Book Review: The Empire of Gold

Book Review: The Empire of Gold

The Empire of Gold is the end of the Daevabad Trilogy (which includes The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper). I admit when I picked up The City of Brass I didn’t much care for Nahri. It took me well over a year to decide to keep going with the series and pick up The Kingdom of Copper. S.A. Chakraborty grew a great deal as a writer between those two books, and more again with The Empire of Gold.

Book Review: Magic's Pawn

Book Review: Magic's Pawn

If you have not read the back of this book or the official description, do yourself a favor: don’t. It will spoil the last quarter of the book for you. In fact, try to avoid looking at the front cover while you’re at it. Instead, I offer this unofficial account:

Book Review: Children of Blood and Bone

Book Review: Children of Blood and Bone

Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone is a richly built fantasy based off of Nigerian culture and myth. That is reason enough to recommend this book to audiences who need to expand their reading horizons. There is a great deal more to recommend in Children of Blood and Bone beyond decolonizing your bookcase. It is a story that flips the waning magic trope on its head.