#joseph r. lallo

[duckprintspress]

32 of Our Favorite Sci-Fi Reads for National Science Fiction Day

Duck Prints Press LOVES kicking off the new year with one of our favorite annual recommendation lists: science fiction stories (ideally queer, but it wasn’t required) to celebrate National Science Fiction Day! For this year, 14 Duck Prints Press contributors suggested a whopping 32 awesome science fiction books. Note that there’s no overlap with last year (by design) so make sure you also check out Our Ten Favorite Science Fiction Reads of 2022 for some more titles to add to your 2024 TBR.

Our 2024 Science Fiction Recs:

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

Little Mushroom by Shisi

Always Human by Ari North

More Than We Deserve by Nicola Kapron

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

CrashCourse by Wilhelmina Baird

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

We Have Always Been Here by Lena Nguyen

Emergent Properties by Aimee Ogden

Victories Greater than Death by Charlie Jane Anders

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

The Fever King by Victoria Lee

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Infomocracy by Malka Older

Zero Sum Game by S. L. Huang

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott

Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Trigun and Trigun Maximum by Yasuhiro Nightow

Legend of the Galactic Heroes by Yoshiki Tanaka & Katsumi Michihara

In the Lives of Puppets by T. J. Klune

Mega Man by Ian Flynn & Pat Spaz Spaziante

Mega Man Megamix by Hitoshi Ariga

Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow

Once & Future by A. R. Capetta & Cory McCarthy

Five-Twelfths of Heaven by Melissa Scott

The Big Sigma by Joseph R. Lallo

Want to come read some of these books with us? Join our 2024 Queer Book Challenge on Storygraph! One of our challenges there is to read a queer science fiction book, and there’s a lot on this list that’d count!

You can check out all our sci-fi recs on this Goodreads shelf.

Wish you could contribute to these lists? Back our Patreon, join our Discord, and you can!

[the-journal-ritual]

10-22-2022

I have been having a hard time with my writing, and life in general, for a while now. I have decided that part of the problem is a lack of structure. I'm looking at some big changes in the next few months, so it seemed like a good time to try some things. Starting now, and continuing until I give up or forget, I want to write a page or two in longhand and post it. I'll use weird pens, maybe wierd paper, and share it with all of its flaws, crooked line, bad spelling, crossed out words, smudges, etc.

If you are seeing this, I've kept it up long enough to decide it is worth sharing, or else the algorithm decided it was up your alley. Regardless, today we shoot for the climax of the current portion of Rise of the Red Shadow 2.

Joseph R. Lallo

[jrlallo]

Best of Joseph R. Lallo Bundle

Hi folks. Sorry I’m not as active on here as I once was, but I’ve got a big announcement. Most of my books are available in a limited time, name your own price bundle. 

https://storybundle.com/bestof

If you’ve never read my stuff, check out the bundle. It’ll give you a shot to pick them up for a pretty good value AND it’ll enter you for a chance to win a set of these pretty little doodads.

That’s a full color 3D print of Squee the Funk designed by Liz Landis, a faux bronze 3D print of a Monkey-Toe Wrench, and a hand painted bust of Myn by LeiliaClay!

I’ve also got an unpainted version.

[ravenousreaderhere]

For Fans of Eragon

I subscribe to an awesome email thing that sends me what books are free or deeply discounted on iBooks that day. It’s great. The Book of Deacon by Joseph R. Lallo is one such book that I got for free: I was anticipating some short, mediocre fantasy novel, but instead I got a long, reasonably good fantasy novel. Imagine - from the Inheritance series - cramming the books Eragon and Eldest into one novel, except with a completely different conception of magic and a female main character. This book is not fast-paced. It is the opposite. There is lots of in-depth magical lessons and trudging through snow and character development - and it is good. 

The book partially follows a hero’s journey/quest type scenario, but not completely, and it is pretty typical for a fantasy novel (again, reads similarly to Eragon and Eldest). One thing sets it apart, though. The main character is a pacifist: she hates violence, and in the situations she gets thrown into it makes her character very interesting. (It makes the plot more interesting when someone close to her is revealed to be a very active participant in violence, too.) My one criticism is that entire sections of text could be taken out and it wouldn’t change the plot, so perhaps those sections of text should’ve been shortened or removed. However, it clearly isn’t too much of a criticism, as I actually spent money to buy the next book. All in all, an enjoyable read. 

Title? The Book of Deacon. Author? Joseph R. Lallo. Page count? 1146 (in the ebook version on my phone - more like 450 pages on my computer). Rating? a very light PG-13 (for detailed violence and descriptions of death). My take? A good, enjoyable read - not especially original, but captivating enough to draw me in. 

[tellmeastory-app]

Read a short story from the "Jade — by Joseph R. Lallo" book in a genre Fantasy. This story is the best story of 24 April, according to the "Tell me a Story" Telegram project users. Source: https://tellmestory.app/story/jade-a-book-by-joseph-r-lallo

[joyffree]

✨IT'S #FREEBIEFRIDAY - March 4th -

ADVENTURE- ROMANCE-MYSTERY 🛫 READY - SET - GO!

Noir Reformatory an RH Paranormal Romance by Lexi C. Foss

Back to Me a Small Town Romance by TC Matson

The Last Good Death a Hard-Boiled Suspense Thriller by Jake Varanger

Devil’s Ledger an International Espionage Thriller by Lorraine Evanoff

The Protocol a Military Thriller by J. Robert Kennedy

A Highlander’s Captive: Medieval Historical Romance by Aileen Adams

Beyond the Night a Dystopian Paranormal SciFi Romance by Colleen Gleason

Bypass Gemini: Science Fiction by Joseph R. Lallo

Freaky Spencer a Fun Urban Fantasy Suspense by Al K. Line

They Told Me I Was Everything an LGBT Mystery Romance by Gregory Ashe

[alynshir]

1, 3, 8, and 15?

1 has been answered!

3. list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with. (for contrast I’m gonna add favorite character as well! so like ID character / favorite character)

A Court of Thorns and Roses: Feyre Archeron / Amren

Throne of Glass: Celaena (but not Aelin), Elide Lochan / Manon Blackbeak

Overwatch: Lena Oxton / Amélie Lacroix

Kingdoms of Amalur: my own protagonist, Niamh. if that counts / ALYN SHIR

Dragon Age: Alistair Theirin OR Leliana OR Merrill this was hard / Morrigan

Mass Effect (trilogy): Miranda Lawson / JANE SHEPARD

Mass Effect (Andromeda): Peebee / Vetra Nyx AND Jaal Ama Darav

Book of Deacon: Deacon and Ivy / AYNA WHO ARE WE KIDDING HERE

The Witcher: Dandelion / YENNEFER OF VENGERBERG

8. what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime?

Jasmine Thompson, Florence + the Machine, Mandy Harvey, Alanis Morrissette, Halsey, Alessia Cara, Marina and the Diamonds, the original cast of Wicked. all of them

15. five most influential books over your lifetime (in order from earliest in life to latest, a bit about why they’re influential, and if it’s a series it cOUNTS AS ONE).

Harry Potter (J. K. Rowling) - the catalyst to me becoming a voracious and lifelong reader, gave me friends where I didn’t have them, literally was where I learned most of my social cues from?? is that bad?? maybe

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia Wrede) - had all of the elements of a fantasy story that I loved: princesses, dragons, swords, magic, fairytales - but instead of a typical damsel story, it gave us a badass princess protagonist who did not want any part in being a damsel at all. introduced me to feminist fantasy! the best kind!!!! inarguably!!!! also so many dragons!!!!!!!!!! I also discovered them at a library. if you ever get them make sure it’s with the old fashioned, harsher cover art and not the cartoony one. just do it. for me

The Book of Deacon (Joseph Lallo) - I found this on Amazon after literally typing in ‘fantasy’ in the books category, in like…middle school. AND HERE WE ARE GUYS. Another awesome example of feminist fantasy, with badass ladies EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK. including when you look at dragons. and the author is a super cool, stand up dude, and really my first experience with an author interacting with his readerbase? which I thought was extremely cool. ALSO!!!!!!! had a massive massive impact on my art skills improving - the first fanart I ever drew and posted was of Ayna, one of his characters (AND STILL MY FAVORITE, WHERE IS HER STANDALONE NOVEL), and ever since then I’ve been drawing like mad. tru story. Please go check his stuff out! if I recall correctly the first book is free on Amazon for kindle/the kindle app on your phone!

The Witcher (Andrzej Sapkowski) - what a fuckin INCREDIBLE world this man has built. honestly has inspired me with my worldbuilding with something like The Witcher as my end goal. His protagonists are truly characters who interact with the world, someone who could have been selected at random to tell stories about - the world is that fleshed out and rich and well done. Also has YENNEFER OF VENGERBERG, who aside from being a badass sorceress, is every bit as developed and complex as Geralt (as she should be), and is not nice and appealing for the audience!!! She’s selfish and dismissive and brusque and can be cruel and manipulative and she IS NOT FUCKIN SORRY!!!!!!!!! I love her!!!! what a gal!

A Court of Thorns and Roses - completely just re-lit my creative bonfire. What characters. W h a t c h a r a c t e r s. Talk about a romance done fuckin WELL! Where I love the love interest just as much if not more than the protagonist! Not to mention, the raw emotions addressed in this were always things I was like, afraid to talk about in stories? Nervous how they’d be received if I discussed them for more than a few seconds? Realistic relationships (if u look past the soulmates stuff come on it’s high fantasy shh) and FRIENDSHIPS!!! ARE SO GOOD!!! the characters fuck me up in summary. So wonderfully done. I’ve reread them 2.5 (on book 2/3) times in three months.

[itunesbooks]

Cipher Hill - Joseph R. Lallo http://dlvr.it/R6yhzn http://dlvr.it/R6yhzn

[gracedandelioninkmind]

Some Small and Not So Small Books (Series) You and Your Friends Should Give A Read

The Land of Elyon by Patrick Carman, Book 1: The Dark Hills Divide 

Castle Glower by Jessica Day George, Book 1: Tuesdays At The Castle 

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George, Book 1: Dragon Slippers

13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison, Book 1: 13 Treasures

Rowan Hood by Nancy Springer, Book 1: Rowan Hood Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest

Enola Holmes by Nancy Springer, Book 1: The Case of the Missing Marquess

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, Book 1: The Golden Compass / Northern Lights

The Shield, Sword, and Crown by Hilari Bell, Book 1: Shield of Stars

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke

Inkworld by Cornelia Funke, Book 1: Inkheart

The Book of Deacon by Joseph R. Lallo

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, Book 1: The Raven Boys

The Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong, Book 1: The Summoning

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, Book 1: Cinder

The Secret of Castle Cant by K. P. Bath

The Wilde Island Chronicles by Janet Lee Carey, Book 1: Dragon’s Keep

All of these deserve well made movies or shows and only two have decent first movies that never led to sequels. 

[ebookonline-us-blog]

Indra Station By Joseph R. Lallo PDF Read Online and Download Release Date: 2019-01-30 Genre: Adventure Size: 338.58 KB

[estherdel-blog]

The Great Convergence - Joseph R. Lallo | Fantasy |413608282

[the-journal-ritual]

The Journal Ritual by Joseph R. Lallo

[jrlallo]

If you’re a fan of the Book of Deacon series, the fifth book is out! It’s called The Crescents and takes our heroes to a place they’ve never been! Check it out.

https://books2read.com/u/bxqQMv

And if you’re not familiar with The Book of Deacon stories, the first book is free!

https://books2read.com/u/4DoAMd

[ravenousreaderhere]

Wednesday Roundup #4

Books The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett My thoughts can be found here.  The Great Convergence by Joseph R. Lallo So far? I’m enjoying this, though I’m not nearly as engrossed as I was before one of my favorite characters died. I’m hoping she’s not actually dead… A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn So far? This is only getting better as I go along. I’m completely past the Revolutionary War and reading about different minorities in early US history, and it’s very good. Outline of US History by the Bureau of International Information Programs, US State Department. So far? This is getting more and more boring. Comparing it to A People’s History is fun, but on its own it’s dull. Principles of Economics by Gregory N. Mankiw So far? This is mostly dull with some fascinating parts, which is about what I’d expect from an economics textbook. Unfortunately, I have to read large parts of it for class; otherwise, I’d never keep reading it. I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong So far? I really like the style, and the content is bizarre and intriguing. This provides a good contrast to my economics textbook (to clarify: this is a fun book, not for class). 

Fanfiction Bundle of Joy by LadyTuesday My take? A fun, intelligent story of Hermione and Severus coming together in a rather unexpected way — Hermione places a personal ad for a sperm donor. It was a good read; I enjoyed it. Link.  To Protect That Which is Most Precious by Kallanit My take? A mostly okay read featuring Hermione long past Hogwarts and how she gets involved with Severus. Also, there’s a kid. The Hermione/Severus relationship just kinda happens, though, which I really didn’t like, and there’s no working out of potential issues in the relationship. Another complaint is that a lot of the backstory and character development happens in long, drawn-out dialogue that I find unrealistic. It was decent enough to read all the way through, though. Link.  The Witchhiker’s Guide to Beltane by TeddyRadiator My take? Oh my word, this fic was so good. So good. Hermione and Severus are shoved into roles as the High Priestess and High Priest at a Beltane ceremony, and their relationship develops on the way. It’s hilarious, too, and something completely out of the ordinary. I heartily recommend it. Link.   A Portrait’s Preeminence by CRMediaGal My take? A curious, short look at Severus turned portrait in Hermione’s office. I’ve read a better rendition of this, but this one is rather sweet. It’s not especially good, but it’s entertaining enough. Link. 

[dawnlindse-blog]

The Great Convergence - Joseph R. Lallo | Fantasy |413608282