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The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke was published by SFF publisher Erewhon Books.

This book is so fun! I wanted to read it since I first read the premise- lesbian witch forms coven with the mean girls- and it did not disappoint. It's wonderfully, relentlessly queer, and Sideways' friendship with Jing, Daisy, and Yates was great to see. All the girls are very balls-to-the-wall, all-or-nothing people, and it makes for a fun, intense read where everything is just so very.

The personalities and antics may be larger than life, but Sideways' feelings about having friends and not knowing whether they like her for her or for her abilities were very real. Liking people and wanting them to like you, and not necessarily trusting that they like you even if they say they do...oof. Been there.

There's a lot left hanging at the end of the first book, ready to take off with the sequel. The Scapegracers felt like a lot of style and feelings just rocketing forward, and I don't mean that as a criticism. Reviewing this is difficult because I didn't really notice a lot of technical stuff because I was too busy being along for the ride, which I guess serves as a testimonial, if not a proper review. Can't wait for book two.

The Marrow Thieves, by Cherie Dimaline, was published by Dancing Cat Books, the YA/MG imprint of Canadian independent publisher Cormorant Books.

This was an interesting take on dystopic/post-apocalyptic fiction- one that discusses the idea of revolution but isn't focused on that. Rather, the focus is on community and building home and family- Frenchie's party has been traveling northeast in search of a community rumored to be safe from those seeking to kill them for their ability to dream. A lot of recent post-apocalyptic fiction focuses on the core group's survival at all costs, and there is an element of that in their constant caution about outsiders, but they are also constantly seeking other indigenous people for news and community, even if only for a night or two.

All the characters struggle with loss- loss of loved ones, loss of safety, loss of their old ways and languages. The ways they try and work through that loss are well written, and the changes they go through are irreversible. There was one loss in particular that was very upsetting. Yet there was also a throughline of hope, and the ending was beautiful.

I loved the ideas in this book, especially the key to taking out the schools, but the writing didn't particularly grab me. I was interested but not particularly engaged, if that tracks. And I couldn't figure out the geography, where they had been traveling for five and a half years but it was unclear how far they'd made it, beyond alluded-to changes in climate. I didn't need states or provinces or exact mileage, but five and a half years is a long time, and it felt like they should have hit the coast at some point. Not hugely important, but it kept hanging out in the back of my mind.

The Tangleroot Palace: Stories is published by Tachyon Publications. I received this advanced reader's copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. (Side note- may have gone a little nuts when I discovered Netgalley. Whoops. Going to review everything but need to remind myself that just because I can get something doesn't necessarily mean I should.)

The cover for The Tangleroot Palace immediately caught my eye- Sana Takeda is a wonderful artist- and when I saw that Marjorie Liu was the author, I knew I wanted to read this book. I haven't read as much Monstress as I'd like, but I've read enough to want more by Liu.

This collection of stories is a quick read, with the titular story, a novella, at the end. All the stories seemed to deal with loneliness, in some fashion- often loneliness alleviated by love, but not always. I'm not sure whether this was intentional, but it added a cohesiveness to the collection that I think worked. I would also like to thank Liu for the older protagonists in some of the stories- I love reading about older women, especially in fantasy. Another thing I really liked about the collection was her notes at the end of each story about why she wrote each one, and how she often side-stepped whatever the prompt was for those stories written for prompts.

"The Briar and the Rose" was a lovely take on the Sleeping Beauty story. I loved Briar (hot older lady!) and Rose's curse was really interesting and well done. The ending hinted at their future together in such a delightful way, too.

"Where the Heart Is" was also lovely. I'm a sucker for characters finding homes for themselves, and all the relationships were just so good. The idea of pining for a person so long they become an idea is also one that really interests me, and I would have loved to read more about Maude and Henry's time together.

The stand-out story, to me, was 'The Last Dignity of Man.' I've been a comics fan since high school, and so I loved that element of it, but the heart of the story- a man who is desperately lonely, who wants to be a super-villain but also tries to be good- broke my own heart. I want to wallpaper my house with copies of this story.

"The Tangleroot Palace" novella was charming, and really nailed a lot of standard fairy tale tropes. It didn't really turn any on their head, but that's more than fine- sometimes you just want a good fairy tale, and this delivered. Sally and Mickel were a cute couple, and I loved their ending.

All the stories in this collection were good, but the above were the ones I liked most. I'd love to read more from Liu (and I really should catch up on Monstress).

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet was published by WW Norton, the largest independent US publisher and also a player in the recent controversy over reports of Blake Bailey's grooming and assault of multiple women.

I feel like this is the sort of book a person is supposed to have a lot to say about. It was a Pulitzer Prize finalist! It's a near-future apocalypse, with Biblical references and dysfunctional parent-child relationships!

I liked it fine. It made me realize how few Bible stories I remembered. I really liked Jack and Shel's theory. The nature descriptions were wonderful. The invasion of the kids' farm was tense and well-written, and I wanted to know more about the owner. The parents were pitiable. The kids were meant to be mature-beyond-their-years, and I think that came across for the most part, but Jack seemed younger than nine to me. It was a perfectly good book.

Who are they?
In their own words: "Dzanc Books was created in 2006 to advance great writing and to impact communities nationally with our efforts to promote literary readership and advocacy of creative writing workshops and readings offered across the country."

Dzanc books is a Michigan-based non-profit organization that, on top of publishing fiction and non-fiction, runs literary programs and contests, and runs the literary magazines Unsaid and The Collagist. They also have an imprint that focuses on reprinting old books. They publish literary fiction, and are really good about publishing ebooks, which not all independent publishers are.

Website and Store
The website is very stylish! It's easy to navigate and has appealing pictures of their covers that show the title, author, and price when you hover over them.

They sell hard copies and ebooks (I can't be bothered to verify if there are books available in one form and not another), and as mentioned above, they have a very good ebook selection. They also have the 'Ebook Book Club' where, for $5/mo you get an ebook a month, or access to their entire ebook collection for $100..

Have I heard of/read any of their books?
I read The Archive of Alternate Endings by Lindsay Draeger earlier this year! They also have a book by Zakhar Prilepin- haven't heard of the book, but I've heard of Prilepin and he's, uh...pretty pro-the annexation of Crimea. Other than that, not really. I do have a list now of books I'd like to check out!

Anything else?
There was a controversy in 2019 over a book, The Siege of Tel Aviv, being Islamophobic. The book's publication was cancelled after. Aside from that, I've only heard good things about Dzanc.

Also, the pronunciation is apparently 'duh-zaank' or 'duh-zaynk,' which I would not have guessed. I've been pronouncing it 'dzaank'.

Never Have I Ever was published by Small Beer Press.

Never Have I Ever is a wonderful short story collection. It starts with a story about a manananggal, one of my favorite mythical creatures, in a story that is lovely and surprisingly sweet. 'Milagroso' was short and magical and melancholy, a brief glimpse of a world I don't want to live in and can all too easily imagine. 'A Spell for Foolish Hearts' was adorable, and also managed to hit me where it hurts. 'Asphalt, River, Mother, Child' was painful, about the effects of Duterte's war on drugs and state violence. Devastating and tender at once.

I could read a whole book about 'Hurricane Heels (We Go Down Dancing).' Same goes for 'How to Swallow the Moon,' although that story is the perfect length as-is. 'Misty' was like a good classic fireside ghost story.

I also enjoyed how Filipino a lot of the stories were- with the caveat that I have a limited knowledge of the Philippines, and most of that knowledge is Manila-based. But it's always great to read stories with a strong sense of place, by authors who love that place. Really, this is an excellent book.

Creatures of Passage was published by Akashic Books.

Creatures of Passage is a gorgeously written book. The prose has a gravity to it, a sense of weight and force. The style is very 'old time myth,' with states as kingdoms and a plasticity to time and recurring triplicates. It feels familiar and unique at the same time. The atmosphere is palpable and the sense of place both solid and fantastical.

The characters had a similar gravity to them, especially Nepthys, Osiris, and Mercy. Rosetta's sections were particularly painful to read, for how badly she'd been failed. Dash's POV was also well done, with his knowing something bad happened but unable to wrap his mind around entirely around the what or the why.

In the end, though, I think the gravity, rather than pulling me in, instead distanced me from the book. I could recognize the technical excellence, but I couldn't connect to the characters lost in fog and myth. Osiris' passage through the afterlife was full of wild emotion- anger in all its many forms, and grief, and righteousness- but I didn't feel any of them. They were just words on a page. I wanted to be along for the ride, like one of Nepthys' wandering hearts, but that connection just didn't happen.

Still, I think this book deserves a decent sized audience. There's a lot of skill in it, and I hope Yejidé continues writing.

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata was published by Grove Atlantic, an independent publisher that does a lot of translated and international works.

This book is...A Lot. I mean that in a good way, but it's definitely not something someone should pick up hoping for a cute book about aliens. The writing is clear and straightforward and simple (huge shoutout to the translator, Ginny Tapley Takemori) and does a great job of conveying how distant Natsuki feels from society.

Although the prose is easy to read, the subject matter is often difficult- Natsuki is abused by her family and her teacher, and her attempts to rationalize or discuss either type of abuse is painful to see. While she makes some bad decisions, they're understandable in light of who she is and what she's experienced. And her distance from society (the Factory) makes sense, too. While I hadn't thought of it the same way, Natsuki's concept of society as a baby-making factory in which everyone is expected to do their parts rung true in a lot of ways.

The ending...it would have been easy to write it as a horror sequence, and it would have been incredibly effective horror. But that wasn't the POV, and that wasn't the book, and so instead it felt triumphant despite all the implied awfulness.

(I received an advanced reader's copy of Folklorn through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur is published by Erewhon Books and will be available 27 April 2021.

I finished Folklorn this morning and gave myself all day to think about it, to better write this review. Having had all day, I still don't think I can do this book justice, but I'm going to try my best.

First: the cover is beautiful. Second: I love the title.

Most importantly: Folklorn is beautiful, messy, and complicated. It's about stories- their iterations and variations; the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we tell other people; stories we tell at one point in our life versus another; folktales and history; translations and into what language and by who and why. It's about family. It's about finding a place in the world. Narrowing the scope a bit, Folklorn is about being a Korean-American child of immigrants, and it's about messy relationships with family, and it's about transracial adoption, and it's about being Korean in Sweden.

Most specifically, Folklorn is about Elsa Park, who is just as messy and complicated and wonderful as the book. I'm sure there's a cool physics concept for a smaller piece reflecting a larger concept and the two mirroring each other. Folklorn does that, as well. There were so many times I winced reading Elsa's reaction to certain statements and certain events- it hurt, it was messy, how was she going to come back from this? The other characters all had a weight about them that was wonderful to read, even if (especially because?) the characters were not wonderful themselves. Their experiences shaped them, and life did not leave anyone unscathed.

I cannot speak to the "authenticness" of the book, and I'm not sure I'd want to anyway, the concept of authenticity often being a double-edged sword. What I can say is that the book felt authentic to itself, which is vital.

Folklorn is beautiful, and I can't wait to read it again when it comes out.

Who are they?
In their own words: "Lethe Press is an independent publishing house specializing in the strange, the eerie, and the uncanny. Many of our books do have queer interest but we've grown into speculative fiction for all readers. Named after the Greek river of memory and forgetfulness, Lethe Press is devoted to ideas that are often neglected or forgotten by mainstream publishers. Founded in 2001 by author Steve Berman, Lethe Press has grown steadily to become one of the larger gay presses."

Lethe Press has been going for about two decades, which is pretty good for a smaller press. The majority of its output seems to be queer genre fiction, which is pretty cool. They have an imprint, Tincture, for LGBT authors of color. It's very old-school gay, if that makes any sense.

Website and Store
The website is simultaneously pretty clean and kind of dated in a way I can't describe. It makes me think of a better website made in the mid-to-late 2000s. It's easy to navigate, though, and I like the pictures for the different types of books- they have multiple genres, trans/genderqueer specific books, anthologies, poetry, contemporary romance, YA, erotica, and nonfiction.

Their ebooks are almost all purchasable through SmashWords, and there are several options about where to purchase each book on that book's page. It's not consistent, but it's not difficult to figure out, either.

Have I heard of/read any of their books?
Back when I was still a teen, I remember reading about Vintage: A Ghost Story. It's one of the first gay books I remember hearing about, and although I still haven't read it (I couldn't find a copy for years), I recently bought the ebook of the 13th anniversary edition.

I have also heard of the Mariposa series by Rigoberto Gonzalez, and the Astreiant books by Melissa Scott. There are a number of authors I know, as well, such as Tanith Lee, Ruthanna Emrys, Chaz Brenchley, and Erastes

Anything else?
Unfortunately, while I was looking into Lethe, I saw that last year there were multiple complaints that Berman, the head of Lethe, had not paid royalties (or paid them late), and not paid contractors. Apparently the payment issues are not new, and are likely continuing, despite the fact Lethe is actually doing fairly well. There are also complaints that Berman has acted unprofessionally and in a retaliatory manner. It sucks, because a lot of gay presses have gone under, and Lethe has managed to stay afloat all this time, and there have been some solid sounding books to come out of the press recently (I really want to read Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel), but I also don't want to support that kind of behavior.

Point Roberts was published by Alden, the new imprint of the magazine Allegory Ridge. I received an advance copy for review.

The cover for Point Roberts is striking and wonderful. The concept behind the book is really cool- a small town that cuts itself off every year because it's afraid of a serial killer who only strikes in February. I like multiple POV, so that aspect of the story was great. There was some really nice sentiment about adoption, which I liked because sometimes authors imply that adoptive families are lesser than blood ones. There were also some good bits about how people will justify doing truly horrible things, and about abusive parents. There were at least two really well-written scenes with birds. I loved the ending line.

However.

I feel that this book could have been streamlined a lot more. I mean this both in terms of the prose and in terms of the plot. The prose was often clunky, and it felt like there was a better sentence in there just waiting. In terms of plot, things tended to grind for a halt for exposition, rather than exposition being well-integrated, which is a shame given the amount of backstory and exposition. I don't think Rigby should write pared-down, brief novels- I suspect that isn't his style- but I think in this case it could have done with some trimming.

There were two elements that really bugged me throughout the book, and they were addressed towards the end, but the explanations were weak. I think the same explanations could have worked if more focus had been placed on the draw of complacency and routine in the face of fear, but as they were I just thought "That's it?" The main characters were fleshed out, but the rest of the town could have been full of mannequins. Or it could have been completely empty. There wasn't much of a sense of how the town functioned or felt about the murders or the lockdown.

Point Roberts is not a bad book, and I don't regret reading it. However, I do think that it could have been a much stronger book if the writing had been streamlined and there had been greater focus on how the murders affected the people of Point Roberts beyond the five main characters.

Elatsoe is published by Levine Querido, a small, independent press of children's literature.

Elatsoe is a beautifully written book, and Rovina Cai's illustrations are the perfect accompaniment. The central plot is relatively straightforward: mysterious murder, creepy town, revenge v justice, but it's well-crafted and the worldbuilding led to some truly wonderful moments, like Ellie's mom revoking the vampire's invitation, and Ellie slipping into the trilobite's underworld. I could read a dozen stories set in this world, but Elatsoe works well as a standalone.

I'm trying to find a way to describe how intrinsic Ellie's Lipan Apache heritage is without sounding either obvious ('Wow, this Native character is, like, Native') or exoticizing ('Ooh, look at all the cool Native culture') so I'll just barrel forward and do my best: This book could not have happened if Ellie and her family weren't Lipan Apache; their heritage and history is crucial to both character and plot. I don't know enough about the Lipan Apache to say what, if any, myths may have been referenced in the story, but it didn't matter because so much of what was important was the history of this particular family.

The friendships and familial relationships were cute, and I really enjoyed Ellie as a character.

David Mogo, Godhunter is published by Abaddon Books, an imprint of the UK company Rebellion. I wavered on whether to count this as an independent press, but Rebellion doesn't have the same reach as the Big Five or Amazon, and doesn't exclusively publish books, so eh. I probably won't do a Small Press Spotlight on it though.

One of the most important elements of urban fantasy, to me, at least, is a strong sense of place, and this book really has that. It takes place in a post-(sort-of-)apocalyptic Lagos, where the Lagos of before is still remembered and identifiable, but the changes are impossible to ignore. I've never been to Lagos, and I'm not going to say this book made me feel like I have been, but it did a great job at creating a distinct feel of the city, and it did come across as though people who have been to Lagos would recognize it.

There was also a cynicism about the city and culture I really enjoyed. While seeing people shower praise on their hometown can be wonderful, it's also good to read about people who acknowledge the faults- that there are parts that smell truly atrocious, or that the police are corrupt and useless (feeling more and more universal these days, but I digress). It's another thing that added to the feel of the book.

One last thing before I talk about the plot/characters- I've read multiple books set in Lagos, written by Nigerian/Nigerian-American authors, but this is the first one I recall that has a character who grew up in the city and can't speak Yoruba. It was interesting!

I love stories where gods live among humans, whether because they always have or because of some sort of event, so I was already sold on the premise coming in. The build up from David essentially chasing away godlings to embracing his demigod heritage was well paced, and bringing in other pantheons was a great decision I'm glad the author made. The initial descriptions of Ibeji, Sango, and Aganju were great, as was the description of the Eyos. The fight scenes were pretty tense, even though I lost track of things/people a few times.

I liked David as a main character, and his relationship with Ogun and Papa Udi. I loved the women, and wish we got more of them (although we got a fair amount of them)- perhaps in the sequel?

Also, the cover for this book is awesome.

All the Murmuring Bones will be published by Titan Books, an independent UK publisher. I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

All the Murmuring Bones is a gorgeous book, with some of my favorite gothic horror elements: once-great family now fallen, mysterious homes, marriage (threatened, in this case) to a terrible man, family secrets. Added to that are fairy tales and magical creatures, and a protagonist who just wants to live a life of her own. I'm not used to seeing the gothic and the fairytale side by side in this way (mysterious family house! protagonist is granted a boon in exchange for a kindness! another mysterious family house!) but I could definitely get used to it; the two of them aren't so different as all that. They each have their formulas, and each allow for liberties.

I really liked that Miren was running too something as much as she was running away. It gave her journey a fixed point, and it also gave her a more solid and interesting (to me) motivation. And for all that she tried not to be like her family, her moments of ruthlessness were a joy to read. Miren is fairly distant- she grew up mostly alone, and the story isn't about the power of friendship and community- but I thought that added rather than detracted to the character. I can see how some people might find that off-putting, though.

I definitely thought there would be more mermaids, and possibly selkies. They're present, but in the same way ghosts are in gothic novels. There is a selkie story, and it's wonderful, but it's not the plot of the book. Once I got into the story, though, I dropped that expectation, and, while I would never say no to more of Slatter's creepy mermaids, I will admit they weren't needed. I could have done with more horror, as well, but again, the story worked perfectly well without it.

The prose is gorgeous and very flowing- I'm glad Slatter likes writing this sort of fairy-taleish fantasy, because her writing is great for setting that sort of atmosphere. Also, the title is really cool. I'm happy I read this, and I'll definitely look to check out her next book (and also her short stories- I've read one or two but not any of the ones that are set in the same world).

Redemption in Indigo has been on my 'to read' list for so long I don't remember how I originally heard about it. I could never find it in libraries or book stores, though, until this year, when I remembered I could go directly to the source. I bought my copy of Redemption in Indigo from Small Beer Press' 'Remainders' section, and finally sit down to read it.

It was good! I love fairytale/folktale retellings, especially of stories I'm not familiar with, and this was a very solid retelling. It had a rhythm to it that was reminiscent of an oral retelling without worrying too much about capturing that element. The last chapter (before the epilogue) was especially good at the capturing the story element.

Paama is very practical, which I love in a protagonist. I know 'practical wife' is a stock character in a lot of tales, but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable. Her ordinariness combined with her practicality and stubbornness were very enjoyable to read. Chance, too, was a good character, and his frustration with humans was understandable (especially in this day, although I expect it is always understandable) even when it wasn't good. Trickster was also a fun character, especially in his spider form.

I love retellings, I love stories about choices, and I love Karen Lord's writing (although this is very different from her sci-fi). I'm really glad I finally got to read this.

"Reverse-gentrification of the literary world"- Akashic Books motto

Who are they?
In their own words: "Akashic Books is a Brooklyn-based independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstream, or who have no interest in working within the ever-consolidating ranks of the major corporate publishers."

Akashic Books was founded in 1997 by Johnny Temple, who used to play bass for post-hardcore punk bands. Most references I've found list Temple as the founder of Akashic, while this article lists him as "co-founder," with Ibrahim Ahmad as fellow co-founder. Akashic specializes in literary fiction and nonfiction, and has a lot of Black and Caribbean authors. It has imprints for children and young adults (Black Sheep; LyricPop), nonfiction about grief (Gracie Bell), new Caribbean authors (Peekash Press), and more.

Website and Store
The website is busy, but pretty easy to navigate. The publisher's social media is very easy to find, and the books and authors are front and center. There isn't a central store- you have to click through to each book to buy direct from the publisher.

Their ebook selection is limited, which is unfortunate, but I know that formatting and licensing ebooks is a whole thing, so I'm sure there are reasons for it. In terms of actual book selections, there is a wide variety, with books categorized in more general terms, such as Nonfiction, Mysteries & Crime, and Young Adult/Middle Grade, as well as more specific categories such as Black Interest, GLBT Interest, Caribbean Interest, etc. Akashic also has a series called the Noir series, which is comprised of anthologies of crime stories focused around specific locations such as Brooklyn, Addis Ababa, Delhi, Indian Country, Manila, and more. From a brief glance at a few of the anthologies, it looks like they try and get authors from the locations as well, which is cool.

Have I heard of/read any of their books?
At this time, Akashic's most well known book is probably "Go the Fuck to Sleep" by Adam Mansbach, after an ARC was circulated through email back in 2011. So I have heard of that!

I've read the first of the Changers series by Allison Glock-Cooper and T Cooper, although I never got around to the other three. I've also read Rivers Solomon's An Unkindness of Ghosts.

I've seen good reviews for A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes, and I'm interested in reading Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejide when it comes out.

Anything else?
When reading this article, one thing that stood out to me was the section on the financial model of Akashic: "While Akashic author advances are predictably modest—usually under $5,000, rarely more than $10,000—once all project-related expenses are recouped, the author and publisher split profits 50-50, a sharp departure from most publishing contracts." Also, apparently most of Akashic's staff has been with them for a long time, which indicates a good work environment. It's just one article from 2018, but I like that Akashic seems to take care of its authors and employees.

This book is published by DZANC Books, based in Michigan. I have no idea why it's called Dzanc, but they published a (fiction) book about retellings of Hansel and Gretel, so here I am!

As soon as I saw what this book was about, I wanted to read it. I love Hansel and Gretel, and I love stories about stories, and this book delivered. It's about Hansel and Gretel, and stories, and Halley's Comet, and the spiral nature of things- constantly repeating, but changing with each repetition; it's about queerness, and sickness, and the end of the world, and how information disseminates but also disappears. It's about endings and beginnings. It's about siblings.

Ok, but what is the book about?

I just said.

Ok, but what is the plot?

There isn't one, not a solid one. It bounces back and forth in time, from the "original" children all the way to the future, where Halley's Comet crashes into the planet, obliterating everything that hadn't already been destroyed. I guess, if I had to pick a central thesis, around which the rest of the story is built, it is a particularly rare version of the story, one which may have or may not have existed. I'm trying not to spoil it, because the unfurling of this book is one of the most interesting things about it. Does make it difficult to write about, though.

Although the book is fascinating, and beautifully written, I do wish it had touched more on some of the themes I find most interesting about Hansel and Gretel- consuming, the relationship between Gretel and the Witch, the gingerbread house. But it does a good job at what themes it does set out to explore, so I can't fault it too much for not pandering exactly to my tastes.

As a random note, when I saw the bit in the summary about "in 2211, twin space probes aiming to find earth's sister planet disseminate the narrative in binary code," I thought of T Kingfisher's short story "Metal Like Blood in the Dark" from Uncanny Magazine.

Road Seven is published by Meerkat Press, which I hadn't heard of previously. It's always great to find new independent presses.

This was an entertaining, well-written and well-paced story. It felt cinematic in the way it described the landscapes and locations of Hvildarland, which was great for me, as I am not the sort of reader usually able to visualize settings. The characters were solid and the plot built in a satisfying way. There were several times I went back on forth on whether the supernatural was real or not, which is always cool in books like this. It felt like it would make a good miniseries- not in the sense that it was written as if it wanted to be one, but that an adaptation would have a lot to work with.

One thing that threw me off was how the synopsis made it sound like the story would be from Sandoval's point of view, rather than mostly from Brian's. Once I made that adjustment (fairly quickly), it was fine, and I ended up enjoying Brian's POV more than Sandoval's anyway.

Karla and her family were my favorite part of the book, which isn't a slight against the other characters. It was just nice to see a woman who's considered kind of an oddball still be very level and confident in other ways. Brian's relationship with the kids was also very sweet.

I also love the cover!

Note- Although it is currently out, I requested and received an ARC of this in exchange for a review.

This book was published by Tachyon Publications, an independent SFF press that strikes me as very "classic" SFF. Peter S Beagle, Patricia McKilip, lots of anthologies.

I've read at least five books by Peter S Beagle, but I always find myself comparing them to The Last Unicorn. Not in a bad way, but because The Last Unicorn is one of the most beautiful books I've read, and because the movie meant so much to me as a kid.

Summerlong doesn't have the lyrical prose of The Last Unicorn, and that's ok- it takes place in Washington state, and that's a location that works better with the more straightforward prose of Summerlong. And Beagle still writes magic as wonderfully as ever, whether high fantasy or no.

I really liked that it follows an older couple, who have been together for decades but still have their own lives independent of one another. Lily was also great, and I loved her complicated relationship with Joanna. The way they obviously cared about each other but also just...didn't always understand or get along with one another is a complex but real family dynamic, and one I always forget I enjoy until I come across it.

I thought the Persephone and Hades reveals were well done, with hints liberally sprinkled throughout but also a good amount of ambiguity. And neither of them ever seemed really human, which I always appreciate.

The biggest problem for me, that kept me from enjoying the book as much as I would have liked, is my hatred of cheating, especially 'older man ill-advisedly cheats with younger woman.' It did result in the excellent kayaking chapter with Joanna and Lily, and heavily contributed to the bittersweet ending, which I did like, but the fact it happened really soured me on the book. It was still good! But I didn't love it the way I wanted to.

Small Beer Press is the first indie press I remember being aware of as an indie press, so I thought I'd start with it.

Who are they?
In their own words: "We started Small Beer Press in 2000, after putting out a do-it-yourself zine, and working for years in independent bookstores, in order to publish the kind of books we loved handselling. We publish literary fiction, innovative fantastic fiction, and classic authors whom you just may have missed the first time around. In our catalog, you’ll find first novels, collections both satisfying and surreal, critically acclaimed, award-winning writers, and exciting talents whose names you may never have heard, but whose work you’ll never be able to forget."

Small Beer Press was started by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant. It has two imprints- Big Mouth Books and Peapod Classics, as well as a bi-annual zine, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, and chapbooks highlighting short fiction writers. They have some great authors, and their books have won the Shirley Jackson Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Arthur C Clarke Award, the Locus Award, etc., as well as being on multiple top ten/best book of the year lists. Awards aren't everything, but SBP has done a good job at picking the books they publish.

Website and Store
The SBP website is not the sexiest website, but it is pretty straightforward to navigate- lots of clearly labeled links. It took me a few tries to find the quote in the "Who are they?" section, but everything else is findable without much issue. The website does a really good job highlighting their books- links to their book and store section, as well as individual books, are everywhere.

The store is very easy to navigate- there are options for trade paperback and trade cloth editions, and their ebooks are sold through indie ebook store Weightless Books. The store uses PayPal, and shipping within the US is free (Apparently it's about $23 for international shipping, because it's through USPS and that's what they charge). What is really cool is the "remainders" section, which sells less-than-perfect copies for a discount. As someone who prefers paperbacks and used books, having the option to buy a book I won't feel bad for messing up is great.

Have I heard of/read any of their books before?
I didn't pay attention to publishers until recently, and I suspect I've read more indie press books, or at least heard of them, than I realize. So that's what this section is meant to highlight.

I have! I first became aware of Small Beer Press when I read Sofia Samatar's A Stranger in Olondria, which I absolutely loved. Below is a list of SBP books I've heard of, with the title bolded if I've read them:

In Other Lands - Sarah Rees Brennan
The Elemental Logic series - Laurie J Marks
The Winged Histories - Sofia Samatar
Archivist Wasp - Nicole Kornher-Stace
Get in Trouble - Kelly Link
North American Lake Monsters - Nathan Ballingrud
A Stranger in Olondria - Sofia Samatar
Under the Poppy - Kathe Koja
Redemption in Indigo - Karen Lord
Pretty Monsters - Kelly Link
Magic for Beginners - Kelly Link

Anything else?
As I said at the beginning, Small Beer Press is the first independent press I became aware of as "This is an independent press," and it's been great. I don't follow it closely, but if I see a book has been published by them, I'll definitely look at it twice.

As I keep writing these (I have a list of at least ten other small presses at the moment), the format will probably change and hopefully get better, but hopefully this is a decent start.