The Best Books of 2019--So Far!

Plus Southern Gothic Horror, Sci-Fi Linguistics, and Sanderson-inspired recipes To view this email as a web page, go [here.]( [Tor.com Newsletter]( [Forward to a Friend]( REVIEWER'S CHOICE [Tor.com Reviewers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2019—So Far]( We’re halfway through the year, and we have a lot of favorite new reads already. Our reviewers have each picked their best-books-so-far, which run the gamut from introspective science fiction and noir-tinged fantasy to compelling horror and darkly comic tales of the apocalypse, including favorites by Sarah Gailey, Max Gladstone, and Charlie Jane Anders! [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( DO YOU SPEAK ALIEN? [Linguistics in Arrival: Heptapods, Whiteboards, and Nonlinear Time]( In Arrival, a 2016 movie based on Ted Chiang’s novella “Story of Your Life,” Dr. Louise Banks is a linguistics professor contacted by the army to help translate an alien language. Linguistics expert CD Covington takes a look at the film’s use of science and language and the difficulties of alien-human communication. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( DRAGONLANCE [How Dragonlance Launched My Lifelong Love of Fantasy]( The Dragonlance Chronicles, the ‘80s pseudo-Tolkien/D&D-inspired epic fantasy series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, featured characters who were deeply flawed and often failed miserably. They were a rag-tag group of friends, scorned even in their town. Author Jacob Finley contemplates fantasy nostalgia and what makes a hero. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( YA SHOWDOWN [Heinlein’s Juveniles vs. Andre Norton’s Young Adult Novels]( Robert A. Heinlein and Andre Norton both produced a wealth of classic science fiction aimed at young readers during their respective careers. James Davis Nicoll compares and contrasts Heinlein’s juveniles with a long list of Norton’s young adult novels to see how their books measure up against one another... [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA [5 Sweltering Southern Gothic Horror Novels for the Heat of Summer]( There’s an element of tension in so much Southern Gothic that stems from America’s fraught history of slavery, violence, injustice, and class inequality. The ingredients are all there—disillusionment, ennui, macabre details—and they’re often inherently horrifying; you really don’t have to tinker with them all that much before you’ve tipped over into full-blown horror. Emily Hughes recommends some of the best Southern Gothic horror novels for summer. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( PICARD & HIS PUPPIES [Star Trek: Picard — Ranking the 25 Most Likely Next Gen Cameos]( For the first time since the Nineties, two different Star Trek TV series will have new seasons in the same year. Little is known about the new Picard series, other than the fact that it takes place roughly 20 years after the end of Star Trek: Nemesis. Ryan Britt takes a look at 25 Next Generation characters ranked from least likely to most likely that they’ll beam-in and hang out with Jean-Luc... [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( TOP CHEF: NALTHIS [Cosmere Cuisine: Colorful Dishes Inspired by Sanderson’s Warbreaker]( This installment of Cosmere Cuisine is journeying to Nalthis in honor of Warbreaker’s 10th anniversary of publication. As Nalthis was inspired, in part, by Sanderson’s honeymoon trip to Hawaii, Deana Whitney serves up recipes that draw on gorgeous Hawaiian cuisine to mimic the gastronomical delights enjoyed by Lightsong, Siri, and Susebron... [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( EVERY HEART [Through Doorways: Portal Fantasies as a Means of Queer Escape and Queer Hope]( There was only one way, one kind of book, where farm kids got the kind of story author AJ Hackwith needed: the kind of story where the world opened and the endless sky let you breathe. Queer kids look for their elusive doorways to a world in which they belong--a feeling that comes to life in Seanan McGuire’s Every Heart a Doorway. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( THAT'S MY JAM [Five SFF Books That Demand a Soundtrack]( Some books crackle with the same jangly energy as the Rolling Stones or have the same brittle pop charm as Taylor Swift. Some books dance or mosh or stage dive. Some books are a solo guitar and the reek of bad whiskey and cigarettes, while others thrum with the lyrical rush of a perfectly delivered rap battle victory. Meghan Ball shares a list of stories that evoke particular bands and music genres, along with suggested playlists for each! [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ORIGINAL FICTION ["For He Can Creep" by Siobhan Carroll]( A dark fantasy about Jeoffry, a cat who fights demons, a poet, who is Jeoffry’s human confined to an insane asylum, and Satan, who schemes to end the world. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( Follow Tor.com to get updates on all of our original fiction. 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