BY: Jonathan Nevair
Genre: Space Opera/Science Fiction
WARNING: Their may be spoilers for the books.
The Wintide Series is a beautiful space opera, with unforgettable characters and incredible world building. What includes it in my Pride Month books is it’s gender fluidity and LBGTQ+ characters. Built into the world that Mr. Nevair created was gender fluidity and how it was part of the culture in the world he created that one asks someone how they identify. The crafting of this was amazing. Rather than straightforward asking, a suffix added to the name denotes how one identifies. It either male, female, or non-binary. Te is female, Ti is male, and To is non-binary. There are many characters in same sex relationships as well. The most important aspect of this is while it is part of the book, it is not part of the main story. That is the brilliance of inclusivity in these books. It is simply part of the culture of the where the story takes place, and same sex marriages and relationships are as well. The reader only notices it when characters introduce themselves and include the suffix, as is normal, in their name.
I could certainly go on to describe the characters and the story, but this is not a review. Reviews of all three books are on my website and I will provide links. For Pride Month, these books are reflecting what our society is composed of, which is individuals and how they identify and, of course, the LBGTQ+ community. To include this as a normal part of the narrative, I hope that the reader also sees the mirror to our own culture and accepts it not just in a book, but applies that acceptance to our world as a whole.
There has been quite a number of strides that have helped the LBGTQ+ community have their voices heard. I am reading amazing books with so much inclusivity, and it is so important for individuals to see themselves in all types of media. Unfortunately, we must also bear in mind that they are still very marginalized, and frankly, under attack. The progress that has been made is being threatened as I write this. To see what is happening hurts. We cannot and should not change how we are born. I am highlighting these books for a reason: because they understand that people are not all the same and no one should change how they were born. They also understand the most important thing that LOVE IS LOVE.
BOOK BLURBS
GOODBYE TO THE SUN
Tucked away in the blue sands of Kol 2, the Motes are on the brink of cultural collapse. Razor, a bold and daring pilot, leads a last-ditch gambit against their local oppressors, the Targitians. The plan – abduct visiting Ambassador Keen Draden and use him as a bargaining chip to restore her people’s independence in the Sagittarius Arm. But when the operation unravels, Razor is forced to renegotiate terms with the arrogant diplomat. Battling furious Wind Tides and pursuit by an infamous bounty hunter, Razor and Keen find mutual assistance in a dubious freelancer with a knack for exposing cracks in people’s pride.
Light years away on Heroon a radical resistance blossoms. The alluring rainforest planet haunts Keen. All his problems started there during the Patent War, but it’s where Razor’s troubles may find a solution. The moral tide ebbs, exposing an impossible choice that links their futures together more tragically than they ever thought possible.
Review for Goodbye the Sun
Purchase Goodbye the Sun on Amazon
JATI’S WAGER
Ailo is a streetwise teen surviving alone on the remote moonbase, Tarkassi 9. She wants nothing more than to flee into the wider world of the Arm. When her chance arrives, she takes it but makes it no farther than the first ship out of the system. That’s where Jati, the Patent War veteran and general fighting the Monopolies gives her a second chance. It’s an unlikely partnership, but Ailo’s rogue status is just what Jati’s People’s Army needs to drive the final spike of victory into a weakening Garissian Council.
A team of experts assembles and hope rests on Ailo’s skill, stealth, and tenacity to pull off the impossible. It’s a wild gambit, and a moral code may need to be bent, and broken, to achieve success. When a shadow rises, casting doubt on their plans, Ailo and Jati must face down a battle line, forced to weigh the cost of success and revenge against honor and justice.
Review for Jati’s Wager
Purchase Jati’s Wager on Amazon
NO SONG, BUT SILENCE
The tide of justice ebbs. A mysterious and reclusive superpower threatens to extend its reach, colonizing new star systems for Wind energy and spreading a corrupt political empire. The People’s Army, once the hope for a new federation of allies in the Arm, has dwindled to a mere spectator in the fight for political control. Ailo’s role in its revolutionary fervor is over. The esoteric philosophy of the legendary Cin Quinti is her only concern now. But when an unimaginable threat sends a political shock wave through the Arm she must weigh the cost of self-preservation, hiding in the shadows as civilization falls to despotism and tyranny.
Light years away on Kol 2, a young librarian grows inspired by a mentor’s clandestine teachings. What he discovers with the newfound knowledge reveals a moral avalanche. The dubious and cruel political power corrupting his society must be exposed, but it will take a leap of faith to challenge an empire.
Review of No Song, But Silence
Purchase No Song, But Silence on Amazon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
From the moment he saw Star Wars: Episode IV in the theater as a child, Jonathan’s eyes turned to the night sky and the capability of FTL drives to whisk him off to distant star systems. After two decades of academic publishing, he finally got up the nerve to write fiction and bring those worlds to life.
Jonathan lives in southeastern PA with his wife and rambunctious mountain feist, Cricket. When not writing and teaching, he spends his time chasing his dog through the woods and hoping he’ll be able to walk in space before he croaks.
Jonathan Nevair is the pen name for Dr. Jonathan Wallis, Professor of Art History at Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia. For more information about his academic and teaching career click here.(he/him/his)
Find out more on Jonathan Nevair’s Website: https://www.jonathannevair.com/
Covers have been re-designed and appear in the photo above. The new covers were designed by Luke Tarzian.
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