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#scifibooks

9 posts9 participants1 post today
In Seth Haddon's queer, transhuman, romantic, cyberpunk, science fiction novella "Volatile Memory," masks are used as digital assistants and ID...and, in one case, to house a special A.I. To find out what that means, and more, check out this exclusive interview.
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-volatile-memory-author-seth-haddon/
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#SethHaddon #SethHaddonInterview #SethHaddonVolatileMemory #SethHaddonVolatileMemoryInterview #Books #Reading #AuthorInterview #AuthorInterviews #BookTok #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SciFiBooks #Cyberpunk #Queer #Transhuman
82nd read of 2025:

Provenance by Ann Leckie

Ingray is a delightful narrator because she has a specific point of view and limitations on her knowledge and capabilities, which are reflected in the reader's understanding of what’s happening. She’s also a smart choice from Leckie as a follow-up to the previous trilogy in this universe because she is so different from Breq.

Once the plot got going, I couldn’t put this down. I loved all the shifting alliances and how the murderer being extremely obvious played into not knowing how this would be solved. And I’m always on board for a surprise romance and Leckie’s cast of queer and trans characters.

5/5 stars

#Bookstodon #SciFiBooks #LGBTQBooks

https://ack.nerdfight.online/notice/Aw8JdFJOGvrdSzrXhg

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Erik Teel:

Sycophantic and desperate to please his father, and loathed for it, but also charming and possibly the most well-adjusted of the Teel Dynasty.

Uncomfortably close to his sister Victoria, he does rely on her advice too often.

Considered to be the runt of the litter by his father, Erik is the most likeable and social of the Teel family.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Victoria Teel:

The acid tongue of the family, and the one most suited to emotional brutality. Stunningly beautiful on the outside, but bitter and insecure on the inside. Victoria seems a typical spawn of Teel.

And yet, she can be deeply caring, in her own, broken way. She shares a mother with her brother Erik, and they are closer than any of the other siblings.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Lex Teel:

In a family full of psychopaths, he is the wild, impulsive one. Disappoints his father not because of his viciousness, but because of his lack of control.

But being a serial killer in a position of power, it has allowed him free reign for hundreds of years. Even acting only periodically, he has amassed a massive body count.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Devon Teel:

The blunt instrument to Caelyn's precisely wielded scalpel. Brutal as his father, but lacking in political subtlety, he is military to his core.

Despises his siblings to fratricidal extremes, particularly Lex and Livia. The former he sees as a lunatic, and the latter a degenerate.

But this level of hate is typical for the Teel dynasty.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Caelyn Teel:

Eldest (living) child of the despotic Conn Teel, she harbours ambition to succeed him. But can there be a successor when the head of the dynasty is functionally immortal?

Both Devon and herself are the military figures in the family but where Devon is the blunt instrument of the family, she is the scalpel, precise and surgical.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Grace Callister:

Conn Teel's bodyguard and personal trainer. Four hundred years of experience in unarmed combat has made her a formidable combatant. No-one has bled more for him.

She is also one of the very few people that Conn Teel has any actual respect for, and she can speak freely to him in a way that would earn anyone else a painful death.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Legat Chandra:

The closest of Conn Teel's advisors, and the second most powerful man in the empire. Whereas Grace is Conn's blade, Legat is his scribe.

Wise and slippery, he projects a friendly air of servility, but he should not be underestimated.

He may appear a sagacious old man, but he has enacted many atrocities at his chosen lord's behest.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Conn Teel:

Born on Earth before it became a poisonous husk, he has lived for over two thousand years in a succession of clone bodies.

Now the head of the dynasty that rules the Teel Corporation, Conn dominates with cruelty and capriciousness not seen since ancient Earth history.

If only the good die young, meet the polar opposite.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Nikolai Sokolov:

Simultaneously adored and reviled, Nikolai is a complicated individual who is utterly committed to his adopted family in the military. And yet, he cannot avoid bouts of insubordination and impulsive behaviour.

But the outwardly confidant persona hides an inner turmoil. Nikolai always means well, but his impulsive behaviour tends to work against him.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Doctor Akari Takuma:

Well-intentioned, highly-skilled and compassionate, but lacking tact and suffers from the stress of her position.

She joined the Republic military due to the opportunities for research at the frontiers of medicine, but as the situation deteriorates, she learns how difficult it is to be a combat medic.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Lieutenant Commander Denom Richt:

Detached and pompous science officer and a loving family man. Also bakes mean cupcakes.

Very much a man of two demeanours: his professional, analytical one, and his personal, passionate one.

And yet his reserved nature, and his ability to find beauty in the most grotesque parts of the natural universe means he is misjudged.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Major Sanjeev Varma:

Youthful in appearance, veteran in experience, Sanjeev is a man of good humour and bravery.

Son of two former Triskele Corporation soldiers, he seeks to rehabilitate the family name serving the Republic.

As a symbol of this, he carries his father's khanda into battle, and wields it with as much proficiency as any gun.

ratchman.com/characters/charac

The Void - Dark sci-fi space opera.

Carter Vincent:

Terminally ill, and loses consciousness on a palliative care ward only to wake two thousand years later.

His family now as long dead as the pharaohs were to them, he struggles to adapt to a new existence without them.

Desperately using humour to keep the black dog of despair at bay, he is thrown a lifeline by the crew of the HDR Liberator.

ratchman.com/characters/charac