SFF Detectives, Smooth Criminals, and the New Canon

To view this email as a web page, go [here.]( [Tor.com Newsletter]( [Forward to a Friend]( FOR YOUR BOOKSHELVES [Eight SFF Books That Reimagine Literary Classics]( One of the most fun recent turns in culture has been watching writers from a variety of backgrounds take established Western classics—or “canon texts”—and treat them like glorious playgrounds. The current wave of books that are deconstructing and rebuilding the classics are a fantastic addition to the move to make the canon actually representative of our culture. Leah Schnelbach highlights eight books that are doing the work of reshaping the canon. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( REPRESENTATION MATTERS [Looking for Body Positivity and Fat Protagonists in YA Fantasy]( It can be incredibly frustrating to never see yourself represented in fiction. For Anya Josephs, relating to the underdog heroes of fantasy was at constant odds with the fact that these heroes were all invariably white, able-bodied, heterosexual, and cisgender. Fortunately, this has started to change in the intervening years, but fantasy heroes are also, invariably, thin. This has not changed very much at all. Josephs searches for (relatively) positive fat representation in YA fantasy. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( FOLLOW THE CLUES [Crack the Case With Five SFF Detectives]( Sometimes, a leggy dame walks into your office with a case. Sometimes it’s the search for a rogue replicant. Or a mystery that needs to be solved with a strange, holistic method. We all love a good mystery, and even more, we love the detectives who solve them. Neil Sharpson shares five favorites (with plenty more suggestions in the comments)! [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( SPACE IS TERRIFYING, ACTUALLY [When We Have Come to This Place: The Aliens Series as Cosmic Horror]( Just what is cosmic horror, and what makes it different from science fiction or other types of horror? Well, it’s all got to do with the ‘bad guys.’ In cosmic horror, the villains are often millions or billions of years old, and they really don’t seem to care about humanity at all. Premee Mohamed takes a look at the inner workings of cosmic horror through the Aliens film franchise. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( IT'S HEIST TIME [Five SFF Characters To Help You Execute the Perfect Caper]( Sometimes, we don’t want to follow the detective—instead, we root for the thieves! Whether recovering something lost or pulling a major heist, you’ll need to put together a crack team with certain dubious skills. James Davis Nicoll offers a few candidates who would combine the required expertise with the necessary moral flexibility to get the job done. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( FLYING MARTIAL HEROES [The History and Politics of Wuxia]( “Wuxia”, literally meaning “martial hero”, is a genre about martially powerful heroes existing in a world parallel to and in the shadows of the Chinese imperial history. And while this genre is much beloved across the world, its history is long and complicated. Jeannette Ng dives into the formation and politics of the genre. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ACROSS THE STARS [Five SF Travel Methods That Offer an Alternative to Starships]( Starships are all very nice—who among us has not wanted to own a Type-S Scout with the upgraded life support system?—but not all authors stick with that well-tested method of getting their characters from A to distant B. Here are five novels which feature new and different ways of traversing the gulfs of space... [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( WHAT WOULD LAURIE DO? [Murder Books 101: How To Survive a Slasher]( A slasher movie is a motion picture in which a group of people are murdered one by one until the last one left, known as the final girl, defeats or escapes the killer. There are lots of reasons why you might die in a slasher movie, but how can you survive? Horror expert Grady Hendrix shares five rules for keeping yourself alive (at least for a while). [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( LET'S CELEBRATE! [Announcing the 2021 Locus Awards Winners]( This weekend, Locus Magazine announced the winners of the 2021 Locus Awards during the virtual Locus Awards Weekend. Author Connie Willis served as MC for the awards ceremony. View the full list of finalists and winners here—congratulations to all, and special thanks to everyone who voted! [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ORIGINAL FICTION [“The Red Mother” by Elizabeth Bear]( Auga, a wandering sorcerer, follows his brother’s fate-thread into the village of Ormsfjoll, where he expects to deliver good news and continue his travels. What he doesn’t anticipate is that to meet his brother he must first contend with the truth at the heart of the volcano that wreaks havoc on Ormsfjoll. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( Follow Tor.com to get updates on all of our original fiction. FOLLOW US: [Follow Us on Facebook]( [Follow Us on Twitter]( [Follow Us on Tumblr]( [Follow Us on Pinterest]( This email was sent by: Macmillan 120 Broadway New York, NY, 10271, US We respect your right to privacy - [view our policy]( Macmillan believes piracy hurts writers, readers and everyone who loves books. 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