I knew Summer would come along, but it didn’t have to be a jerk about it. I went on a walk with Oreo the Dog last week and we had to take a break in the shade before coming home. That evening, the only thing that made sense was to curl up with a good book with a fan running.
If your weather situation is anything like mine, that means it’s time to find some new reading material and hide from the weather. Some of you may be in the southern hemisphere, and in that case, books are also great to curl up with under the covers. So it’s a win-win. And if you’re somewhere where the weather is beautiful all the time, then you have my envy. 😉
The constant for me this spring into summer has been Born to the Blade.
The series is seven weeks into an eleven-episode first season. The response so far has been incredible and it’s so cool for the characters and world that have been kicking around in my head for most of a decade are finally out there making an impression on readers around the world. I poured a lot of heart and soul into this world, along with my co-writers Malka Older, Cassandra Khaw, and Marie Brennan. We’re very proud of what we’ve done and are hoping that enough readers fall in love with the world for the series to get renewed for a second season.
If you’re curious about the series, here’s a short review round-up to give you a taste of what to expect:
“Born to the Blade is the best Fantasy Epic NOT on TV” – Inverse
“a complex and fascinating world that is filled with cool shit.” – Liz Bourke for Tor.com
“Above and beyond the rich world and worldbuilding, Underwood and his team bring together an intriguing set of point of view characters and secondary characters to populate that rich world.” – Paul Weimer for Skiffy and Fanty
“Born to the Blade is a fast-paced fantasy story that features strong worldbuilding, exciting action sequences, and great characters.” – Speculative Chic
” ‘Arrivals’ starts off the Born to the Blade series in a fun, magic-packed story. This opening teases at a larger, complex world where politics involves duels and airborne islands. Recommended.” – Primmlife
“It’s a heck of an achievement for a single episode, because I am definitely left gasping for next week to see how this all develops.” Imyril, Onemore.org
Read more about the series and subscribe to get the whole season at Serial Box.
If you’re already reading Born to the Blade, I’d love for you to consider writing a short, honest review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, or wherever you talk about books with friends. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool for books, and it’s always more fun to read with friends.
Here’s some other cool stuff I’ve been enjoying:
The summer movies are coming fast and furious now, from Avengers Infinity War to Solo to Deadpool 2. Most people probably already know about those, so I’m going to talk about some other cool things in my life.
Moonlighter – So you’ve got dungeon crawl video games and you’ve got merchant simulator and shopkeeper games, but Moonlighter is cool in that it is both (not the first game to combine them, but a cool version of it). Moonlighter has an excellent art style and an irresistible play loop, as you delve into dungeons to kill monsters and collect treasure and monster parts, then you sell that loot to upgrade your gear, renovate your shop, and to rebuild the town around you to build your community. It’s just $20 on most platforms, and while I maybe should have waited for it to come to Switch, I’m already having a blast.
Dirty Computer – I’ve been a fan of Janelle Monáe’s music since the ArchAndroid days, so I was eagerly anticipating this new album. And wow, it delivers more than expected. From the incredibly sexy Prince-esque “Make You Feel” to the defiance of “American” and the playful hedonism of “Screwed,” this album has helped me cheer up on hard days, provided an energetic soundtrack as I play games or enjoy poking around the internet.
Wanted & Wired – This is the novel I curled up with yesterday when it was just too hot out. Written by Vivien Jackson, this is a futuristic cyberpunk romance. But it’s not the glitzy chrome cyberpunk, it’s gritty, dirty, mercs living on the margins cyberpunk, with solid action and lots of emotionally-potent discussions of post-humanity (the male lead is *heavily* augmented and has lots of feelings about it). It’s got some of the best worldbuilding I’ve seen in a SF Romance (noting that I’ve only read a few, nowhere near as many as I’ve read non-Romance SF).
Battletech (by Harebrained Studios) – I have a variety of memories from across the years playing in this universe, from Mechwarrior 2 to the original Battletech board game and the MechWarrior RPG, the Battletech Card Game, and the CG-tastic cartoon. I haven’t played this new game yet, but I’ve been watching Waypoint’s streams of the game and having a lot of fun, both because of the game and because of Austin and Rob’s banter and geeking out about the universe.