Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Five sci-fi & fantasy books that set sail for adventure

F.T. Lukens is the author of In Deeper Waters, So This is Ever After, and four young adult novels published through Interlude Press. Her book Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic was a 2017 Cybils Award finalist in YA Speculative Fiction, won the ForeWord INDIES Book of the Year Gold Award for YA Fiction, and the Bisexual Book Award for Speculative Fiction, and it was also recently named to ALA’s 2019 Rainbow List. Lukens lives in North Carolina with her husband, three kids, three dogs, and three cats.

At Tor.com Lukens tagged five favorite books "involving mythology of the deep, pirates and their exploits, action and adventure, and sailing across the wide deep blue sea," including:
The Seafarer’s Kiss by Julia Ember

A queer, Norse retelling of “The Little Mermaid,” this novel follows Ersel, a mermaid who longs for a different life outside of the patriarchal mermaid society. Ersel meets Ragna, a shipwrecked Viking shield-maiden who is stranded on the mermaids’ glacier. From Ragna, Ersel learns of the life she wants and strikes a bargain with Loki, the trickster god. Of course, the bargain goes awry. To save herself, Ersel and Ragna must embark on an adventure that involves breaking their societal barriers, trying to outsmart Loki, while falling for each other. This story has lush worldbuilding, and action-adventure and there is a companion novel that tells Ragna’s story, The Navigator’s Touch which has a revenge arc and pirates!
Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue