Episode 11 : Post-Apocalyptic Futuristic Science Fiction Dragons with Spirits and a Cat

E11: Post-Apocalyptic Futuristic Science Fiction Dragons with Spirits and a Cat – Infinite TBR

Smack and Gabi cover a lot of reading ground from March and April. Smack gives a teaser about her faves (further discussion pending Gabi catching up…some day); Gabi waxes poetic about feathered dragons, Faustian bargains, violin prodigies, and donut-selling aliens; and we both gush about a gross and incredible werewolf horror novel. Smack’s been listening to a lot of popcorn audiobooks while Gabi pre-gamed for Book Crawl. We finish by reminiscing about nice dragons – one of our all-time favorites! Main books discussed include: The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah Stealing Thunder (#1) and Gifting Fire (#2) by Alina Boyden Fae Games trilogy by Karen Lynch Inferno by Dante Alighieri (translated by Mary Jo Bang, illustrations by Henrik Drescher) Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki Mongrels by Stephen Graham-Jones Impact Winter by Travis Beacham Rylee Adamson series by Shannon Mayer Hunt the Stars (Starlight’s Shadow #1) by Jessie Mihalik Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter Scorpica by G.R. Macallister So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens DFZ trilogy by Rachel Aaron Heartstrikers (a.k.a. Nice Dragons) series by Rachel Aaron

A couple of notes before we get into the good stuff:

This episode’s title (“Post-Apocalyptic Futuristic Science Fiction Dragons with Spirits and a Cat”) refers to how absolutely genre-bending Rachel Aaron’s Heartstrikers series is. Although on further contemplation, Smack would call it post-apocalyptic futuristic science fantasy dragons with spirits and a cat. Because Heartstrikers is, in fact, all of the genres. All of them.

“Hijra” is a generic term for trans women and others in India who live in close-knit communities together. The main character of Alina Boyden’s Stealing Thunder and Gifting Fire books identifies as a hijra, which is pronounced hij-RUH.

Smack wrote a newsletter post gushing about India Holton’s second novel, The League of Gentlewomen Witches, that you can read by clicking here. If you’re interested, you can sign up for her monthly book reviews here.