written by Brianna da Silva
Dreams are funny things.
They can motivate us. Challenge us. But sometimes they scare us. When a dream feels too big, it can be frightening to believe in it — because the more you want something, the more it hurts if you fail.
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Every year, I do a little ritual where I research all the LGBTQ sci-fi and fantasy books coming out, and make a list of the ones I’m most excited for. Here are the queer SFF books coming out in 2022 that I can’t wait to read!
Read more written by Brianna da Silva
Mental health and trauma are often represented poorly in fiction, particularly in the fantasy genre. And particularly when dealing with female characters and sexual assault.
I wrote an article earlier this year expressing many of my frustrations with this issue. Today, fellow fantasy author Lucy McLaren and I decided to dive even deeper into the topic of mental health in fantasy, in a two-part interview series on both of our blogs.
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My debut fantasy novel, City of Reckoning, is coming out really soon. (Eek!) But given that it’s a very dark, violent, and generally intense book, I’ve decided to provide some content/trigger warnings for anyone who might want them.
Let me be clear that this list is not complete. It just reflects some of the bigger things that I figured more people would want to know.
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In 2015, Corinne Duyvis created the now-popular #ownvoices tag on Twitter as a way to highlight books where the author shared a marginalized identity with the protagonist. For example, if a lesbian author wrote a story with a lesbian protagonist, that would be considered “own voices” for “lesbian representation.”
This term and hashtag started as an innocent way to highlight books that weren’t getting enough attention and support. But its usage has spiraled out of control into something rather toxic in the publishing industry.
Here’s where #ownvoices went wrong.
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The cover reveal for my debut fantasy novel, City of Reckoning, is finally here! City of Reckoning is a secondary-world fantasy about group of young people who get caught up in a war, but begin to wonder if they’re fighting for the wrong side.
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This is Chapter 7 of my story about femininity, sexuality, and faith. Read Chapters 1 — 6 first.
I saw the boy and his family many times in the next few months.
Here and there, I learned little things about him — examples of his character, personality, and interests — which I hoarded and guarded closely, like a silent dragon clutching treasure in her cave.
I even learned his name.
written by Brianna da Silva
Real talk: The fantasy genre has a problem with trauma. Far too often, the way trauma is handled in fantasy books, movies, and shows is unrealistic, and sometimes even sexist.
Here’s what I mean.
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It’s undeniable: H.P. Lovecraft was an astoundingly important author. His stories left a permanent mark on horror and fantasy, and both genres are better for it.
There is a dark side to Lovecraft’s fiction, however. And no, I’m not talking about the terrifying “dark gods,” nefarious magic, and alien races that show up in his stories. I’m talking about something deeper — a frightful outlook and philosophy that I find myself at direct odds with.
Read more written by Brianna da Silva
I’ve been reading Tamora Pierce’s classic Song of the Lioness series, about a girl named Alanna who dresses up like a boy and becomes a knight in defiance of her culture’s sexist gender expectations.
While flawed and outdated (the series was originally written in the 1980s), these books deeply resonate with me. However, I have a major criticism of the third book in this series, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, in terms of the faulty feminism it represents.