Harry Harrison, Alanna of Trebond, and Moiraine's Oath

To view this email as a web page, go [here.]( [Tor.com Newsletter]( [Forward to a Friend]( [Frontispiece to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein]( MARK AS READ [To All the Books I’m Not Reading… Yet]( Do you keep buying books? Do you buy books you don’t really need, knowing you’ve still got unread titles on your shelves at home? Are you, instead of reading them, simply appreciating them? In a new Mark As Read column, Molly Templeton tackles the all-too-familiar bookworm problem of collecting books you don’t actually read…at least, not yet. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( [The cover of Ann Leckie's The Raven Tower]( FAVORITE READS [Speaking Truth Into Being: Trans Identity in Ann Leckie’s The Raven Tower]( The Raven Tower, Leckie’s 2019 foray into fantasy, is concerned with imperialism, power, and personal identity, but above all, it is a story about stories and language. Here, Logan Dreher looks at the power of language and narration in Leckie’s novel, and how the novel’s protagonist finds transness close to godliness. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( [a collection of book covers]( SFF LEGENDS [Make Room! Make Room! For Harry Harrison!]( Though he wrote a number of beloved works of science fiction, Harry Harrison is not quite a mainstream name. He never won a major literary award, and to date only one of his books has been adapted for TV or film. Yet he was a dogged and versatile writer and artist. Anthony Aycock pays tribute to an undersung sci-fi legend (and asks, who should be cast if Hollywood finally makes a Stainless Steel Rat movie?). [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( [The outside of an apartment building with balconies]( LOOK UP [Five SF Stories Set in High-Rises, Tower Blocks, and Buildings of Unusual Size]( While living surrounded by legions of people may not be to everyone’s taste, it does make a great setting for stories — plot, after all, benefits from human interaction. James Davis Nicoll highlights five works set in tower blocks and mega-sized apartment buildings, from New Wave classics to thrilling SF action films. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( [a screencap of izzy hands]( THE LADY KNIGHT [What Makes A Knight: The Continuing Influence of Alanna of Trebond]( The Song of the Lioness Quartet follows Alanna of Trebond, Tamora Pierce’s first Lady Knight, from an aspiring page to a fully qualified knight, as well as her journey from a girl pretending to be a boy called Alan, to being confidently and exactly Alanna. For Esme Symes-Smith, not only was Alanna a role model for determination and doing what’s right, but was also an early example of gender nonconformity in young people’s fiction. In this personal essay, Symes-Smith shares their enduring love for Alanna of Trebond. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( [the cover of The Deep by Rivers Solomon]( SFF BESTIARY [Taking the Mermaid Tale Above and Beyond: Rivers Solomon’s The Deep]( Rivers Solomon’s The Deep is the prose portion of a collaboration with the band clipping, with both song and story acknowledging the great atrocities of the Middle Passage—the route of the slave ships from Africa into the Americas. Women who were found to be pregnant were thrown overboard and left to drown. What if, the collaboration asks, that was not the end? What if, although the mothers drowned, the children were able to be born into the water? Judith Tarr takes a look at Rivers Solomon’s unique take on mermaids and the pain of where they came from. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( [A screencap from the Wheel of Time series]( THE WHEEL WEAVES [Why the Use of the Oath Rod Matters in The Wheel of Time TV Series]( In “The Flame of Tar Valon,” the sixth episode of the first season of The Wheel of Time , the Amyrlin Seat exiles Moiraine from Tar Valon, forcing her to swear an oath of obedience on the sacred Oath Rod, which, using the One Power, renders the oath binding and unbreakable. It is a powerful scene, in which Moiraine and Siuan put on a show for the rest of the Aes Sedai, in order to continue to keep the secret of their all-important quest. But this act has consequences in season two. Sylas K Barrett looks at the importance of the Oath Rod and the relationship between Moiraine and Siuan in the The Wheel of Time TV series. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( [a book with pages folded like flower petals]( READING MATERIAL [Seven SFF Short Stories Featuring Lyrical Writing and Stunning Imagery]( “There’s something irresistible about reading about worlds-that-could-have-been, worlds full of astonishing sights and sounds and a million enticing scents… Writing that does this—in addition to providing readers with a good story—is my favorite kind, both as a reader seeking escape and a writer who wants to create similar havens for others.” Here, Ratika Deshpande recommends seven beautifully written short stories that are sure to linger in your memory. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ORIGINAL FICTION [“Some Ways to Retell a Fairy Tale” by Kathleen Jennings]( There’s more to “once upon a time” than meets the eye… [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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