“Nobody knew what screwing around with stellar cores did to stars, but scientists agreed: it wouldn’t be pretty.”

I’m thrilled to share that my short story “Beneath a Dying Sun” is in today’s issue of The Sunday Morning Transport!

Tosan and Vaylra are best friends and Shadow-wielding sorcerers, and I hope to write many, many words about them. This piece was commissioned from Eepz, one of my favorite artists in the whole wide world. I’m so glad I finally get to share it with you!

You can read the story here. And if you’d like to read more short fiction, here’s the link to a 60-day free subscription to The Sunday Morning Transport.

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What I’ve read recently:

• Ebony Gate by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle. When I first read the summary of this book, I felt genuine shivers going down my spine. This high-octane urban fantasy story follows a retired assassin as she races to save San Francisco from an army of the dead.
• He Who Drowned the World by Shelly Parker-Chan. The conclusion of The Radiant Emperor duology, this book was somehow even better than She Who Became the Sun. A masterpiece. In all honesty, I’ve always vastly preferred standalones. I had yet to find a series where I loved (or even really liked) all of the books… Until now. I’d happily devour a hundred doorstoppers about the characters Parker-Chan has created here. I feel that it was a genuine gift to be able to read this. (And not just because it came out on my birthday!) But also, ouch. This story is not for the faint of heart.
• Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. Exceedingly interesting arguments in here. Diamond offered very compelling answers to questions I’ve had for a long time, along with some I hadn’t even thought to ask yet. That being said… I had a great teacher in middle school who taught us to question any statement about history that included the words “all” or “none,” and while I very much enjoyed this text, I do think some of Diamond’s conclusions were a bit too neat and tidy. His comparisons of political and socioeconomic systems across the globe are also rather Eurocentric, with “complexity” seemingly often meaning similarity to the modern West.
• Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun. My most recent read! I loved the vivid multicultural worldbuilding.  

What I’m reading now:

• The World: A Family History of Humanity by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Still working on this one, and I expect to be doing so for a hot minute. Currently learning some new stuff about Vikings.
• Bad Gays: A Homosexual History by Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller. I just started this, but I’m already loving it. It has such an engaging voice. Honoring and celebrating the heroes and pioneers of queer history is critical, but what about the villains? (And what does it even mean to be “queer” anyway, especially given that the idea of homosexuality as an identity is so recent?) Bad Gays is a historical biography of complicated, problematic, and occasionally downright evil queer people—I couldn’t crack open a copy fast enough.
• Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo. A few pages in, and I was already sucked back into the beautiful (but often dangerous) world of The Singing Hills Cycle.

What’s new on the TBR:

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I normally don’t read outside of science fiction, fantasy, and (recently) history for pleasure. But a good friend recommended this to me, and I trust her taste in books. I’ve also heard that this novel treats friendship with the same attention and care most stories reserve for romance; if that turns out to be true, I expect this one will be a new favorite.

Speaking of Twitter, I lied about keeping my account up. I’ve made the very easy decision to leave, friends, and at some point I’m going to delete the whole thing. If you’d like to stay connected online, I’m now on Blue Sky @kashinggiwa.bsky.social.