Welcome to New Release Tuesday, where I round up the sci-fi releases dropping this week that I think you should know about. I'm Zee, I'm a Tattooed Bibliophile, and if you are here I you probably are too, and my whole thing is diversity in sci-fi — meaning if it's queer, BIPOC-authored, indie, or just something the Big 5 didn't bother to tell you about, it belongs here. While sci-fi isn't the "it girl" right now, it's far from a dying genre. It may make it hard to find new releases, but that's what I'm here for, because I don't want you to miss a thing! So what's new?

Well, not much this week. Do publishers release more books at the beginning of the month? Since I just started doing this I don't know! If I see a pattern you KNOW this autistic girlie (and rare mathy bisexual) is gonna make you aware.

The Language of Liars by S.L. Huang (Macmillan) — Tordotcom aka my fav scifi publisher (am I allowed to say that as a Bindery influencer?) standalone. I checked out Huang's social media and found a ton of recs for some of my favorite books, so we share reading taste... always a good sign when the author likes what you like! The ADHD MC is a spy who jumps into alien minds of the only species physiologically capable of mining the element needed for lightyear-spanning space travel. And starts forgetting which side he's on. Sounds like Babel crossed with Some Desperate Glory. I'm in.

The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen (Simon & Schuster) — Space opera standalone. Starship crew returns home after an entire effing DECADE lost in space... to a galactic civil war. It has a blurb by one of my favorite sci-fi writers, Annalee Newitz. AND Mike has a photo of a protester holding a sign that says "Pull your head out of your Fox hole" with the Fox News logo, so...I'm probably going to read his book. Yes, this is how I make my reading decisions. If someone can make a teeny short story on an IG page interesting, what can they do with an entire book? What? How do you pick your books...

See you next week. You know, if I haven't been deported for saying FUCK ICE in public.

— Zee

If you liked this and want more of whatever THIS is (unhinged book analysis, barely contained rage at the state of the world, and occasional Tamsyn Muir references and em dashes that I will never apologize for) consider subscribing for $5/month. Every cent goes to people who actually need it, because I have a day job and a cause, not a brand deal. This is my middle finger to Big 5 publishing, dressed up as a book blog. Come hold it up with me.