Alpha, the premier Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Workshop for Young Writers is going to be on again in 2024. Applications are now closed for this year’s summer writing workshop July 24 – August 4 2024 to be held at the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg Campus.
This year Alpha has another amazing line up of guest authors teachers with Vita Ayala, Mark Oshiro, Kameron Hurley, N. K. Jemisin, Ellen Kushner, and Tamora Pierce.
This unique young writer genre residency workshop is a powerhouse of writing talent. Join us as we explore the works of these talented individuals, tracing their paths from Alpha Workshop attendees to acclaimed authors in their own right. This is a list of book reviews of Alpha Authors featured at past workshops.
1. Lara Elena Donnelly
Who is Lara? Dressing the part in stylish suits and dapper fedoras. Living the part in the reaches of New York City where jazz was king. Researching back through time to an early 20th century that never was to make believers of us all. Lara is a former student and now a staff member at Alpha.
Amberlough
Amberlough is real. Reading about it is like coming home, if your idea of home includes absinthe, espionage, burlesque and live music round the clock in a city that is bustling night and day. Amberlough is a state of mind. When lovers who find they are on different sides in the upcoming coup secretly try to help each other, comedy and intrigue are king. Cyril DePaul is a government agent. Aristide Makricosta is a smuggler. Throw an outrageous burlesque queen from the seedy side of town between them and you have a stage set for cabaret and thrill. The writing is lush and will challenge you. The characters will defy expectation and make you fall in love with them, flawed as they are. And when the book cover closes, you will want more.
2. Seth Dickinson
With his background in psychology, could we expect anything less from Seth than a thriller that explores the inner workings of the human mind? Seth started as an Alpha student, but now is on board as an instructor.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Follow the money. Who would think a book written about an accountant would be so engaging? Baru is a savant. She manipulates numbers and people, can scry evolving shapes in shipping and financial records of a country well enough to find traitors to her high, faceless masters at the Empire of Masks. Baru’s idyllic childhood powers her goal of protecting that way of life. What she does with the information she gathers through her spy network will cause you to never again doubt the power that comes from understanding the way wealth moves.
3. Karina Sumner-Smith
From a quiet, wooded retreat in Ontario Canada, Karina Sumner-Smith rebelliously ignores the trends in YA literature. She is as fierce as any of her powerful, determined protagonists when defending her right to publish without including the standard, tired tropes. It’s refreshing to get to the end of a novel and realize that the tale told was truly unique.
The Towers Trilogy 1 – Radiant
Upon finishing this book, readers will feel radiant. It is an uplifting tale of overcoming vast differences to find commonalities and friendship. It may be a debut novel, but the Nebula-nominated author was already many rungs up on the craft ladder and with each project reaches new heights. Xhea has no magic in a land and sky full of it. Floating cities harbor the gifted magic users and to the Lower City fall the dregs, its people living the best they can in a harsh environment. Completely non-magical people are unheard of, but Xhea has one gift that stands between her and starvation: she can see ghosts.
The gritty, harsh reality of her young life would overcome most, but she’s developed a distinctive toughness to compensate and somehow survive. The breathe-of-spring, living ghost Shea enters her life with devastating consequences and the unfolding story of their friendship sings. Highly recommended. The only complaint? Their names seemed too closely related and could cause some confusion: Xhea and Shai.
The Towers Trilogy 2 – Defiant
Reading these books in order is recommended – the world is too complex, the situations too nuanced and the characters too jump-off-the-page real to start mid-story. Xhea and Shai, after being hunted by the Upper City’s assassins, are now dealing with the physical injuries Xhea sustained while escaping. Shai stays in the Lower City to help, only to see her shattered life through new eyes and gain a perspective that she can neither accept nor change. While Defiant is an immersive, well-built, unique, second-world fantasy, the human story is authentic and poignant.
The Towers Trilogy 3 – Towers Fall
A rousing conclusion to the trilogy – not to be missed. Rich. Inspiring. Exceptional. Xhea comes into her own and, after a long struggle to deal with her injury, learns a measure of control over the magical forces streaming into the Lower City. Will it be enough? Trust comes hard for her, but she must overcome her fears and open her heart or the war of the haves and have-nots will devastate her people. Xhea and Shai, pledged to fight together to the end, still have surprises in store. Trilogy endings that feel this good should be illegal.
4. Tamora Pierce
Tammy has come to Alpha every single year, since the very first workshop in 2002.
She is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, heralded as a fantasy writer who empowers girls. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1954 to a poor, proud family of hillbillies (coal stove for heat, outhouse, a water from a well, regularly beat up and bullied at school for looking like a “refugee from a rag bag”). Tammy has published about thirty books and a dozen short stories. Her books are a departure from decades of male-dominated science fiction and fantasy.
They explore the range of human diversity and show young girls of all types realistically growing into powerful women, leaders and fighters, with heart. Her female protagonists (frequently knights and warriors) wrestle with the pain of coming-of-age. Many thousands of dedicated fans adore Tammy for changing their lives.
Terrier – Beka Cooper series 1
In the magical medieval realm of Tortall, a tough young girl joins the Provost’s elite guard called the Dogs. Beka Cooper’s puppy status as the newest member of the team ruffles some fur, but she keeps at it, magically seeking out just the news needed to forestall an underlord power struggle. Told in journal style, the book allows readers to see Beka’s writing skills blossom in tandem with her maturity and sense of belonging. The page-turning action continues in the sequels, which pick up the story line almost immediately.
Bloodhound – Beka Cooper series 2
Beka has made the leap to first-year Provost’s Dog, replacing her novice puppy status in Terrier, and has a new partner and her very own four-legged dog companion. Together, they travel outside Totall’s capital city to Port Caynn to attempt to stop a counterfeit coin smuggling ring. It’s one hard choice after another for Beka, who struggles with differentiating between the letter and spirit of the law. She trusts her magical ability to hear voices of the dead more than she trusts her new-found friends. We read the coming-of-age action played out in the straightforward delivery written down in Beka’s diary. Kudos to Tamora, who has crafted this traditionally-difficult style with mastery, lending the story immediacy and high tension.
While each of these books (as well as the final one, Mastiff ) can be read as standalone novels, they are much richer if read in chronological order, especially with the help of the appendix of characters and a glossary.
5. Daniel José Older
2017 was Daniel’s first appearance at Alpha. The guest author selection committee uses Alpha students’ lists of their favorite authors and Daniel’s name was high on everybody’s list. His Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series was also highly recommended.
Shadowshaper
This debut novel is from an author whose award-winning short fiction has already caught the attention of the book world. Sierra Maria Santiago, a Puerto Rican teen growing up in Brooklyn, finds a way to imbue art with the spirits of her ancestors. Sierra is unapologetic about her curves and her place in life, a great message for teens, but the message doesn’t detract from the strength of the story. In Sierra’s family, shadow-shapers work with powerful spirits, but an interloper is trying to break down the longstanding balance. Kudos for authentic language in an urban fantasy that is steeped in vivid details of the culture, but fully accessible to a diverse audience.
6. Mike and Rachel Grinti
Mike and Rachel met at Alpha as teenagers, married, and now live in Pittsburgh and write books together. Rachel has been back to Alpha as a staff member.
Claws
In the middle-grade novel Claws, Emma Vu takes on the role of queen in the cat kingdom. Her quest to rescue her missing sister leads her through a magical realm filled with danger. Unlike typical heroines, Emma is supported by loving, present parents, which adds a refreshing twist to her adventures. Her brave encounters with magical creatures highlight her courage and deepen her family bonds, making her a standout heroine in young readers’ eyes.
Jala’s Mask
Mike and Rachel’s latest novel is Jala’s Mask, which bucked the whitewashing trend and actually has non-white characters on the cover. It paints the world as it should be, not as it is. Gay, bi, and trans characters are just a part of the fabric of the story, not singled out, just an accepted, unremarked-on part of the society. And what a fabulous society it is, based on African and Polynesian history of powerful dynasties and island raiders. Jala is a young queen, painfully learning how to put the good of her people first. Magical ships and deep sorcery set the stage for an extreme coming-of-age story. Mike and Rachel would be horrified to have the word, “pirates” in a review, so there is no such word here.
7. E. C. Myers – Coin Series
A new author guest for the 2017 Alpha workshop, E. C. Myers was in for a treat. Fair Coin won SFWA’s Norton Award for Best Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. He’s a worthy writer in the shortest of all forms, as well as at all other lengths. Remade, his latest venture, is a serialized science fiction story written with six other outstanding authors at SerialBox.
Fair Coin
A magical coin that can shuttle the owner into parallel universes is at the center of a complex plot. 16-year-old Ephraim Scott comes into possession of the coin when his doppelganger from another universe dies. This sets him off on a wish-fulfillment adventure that starts as a standard teenage fantasy and ends as something distinctly different. It finishes up neatly and does satisfy, but where this could be considered a stand-alone novel, it has a sequel that plunges Ephraim once again into the multi-verse.
Quantum Coin
Where Fair Coin felt like mostly fantasy, Quantum Coin is straight science fiction.
Fantasy can be considered normative (things get out of shape, but in the end, everything returns to normal). Instead, science fiction is non-normative, dealing with changes that cannot be unmade and the repercussions those differences have on the lives of the people most affected.
Ephraim Scott must grow up and recognize some things in life have been irrevocably altered by his careless actions. He must make the best decisions possible under evolving conditions. The delicious humor throughout the story and the fast pacing keeps it from being considered a somber drama. Hard choices are the meat of the YA genre and this story does not disappoint. The ending surprised me – a clever way to get out of a room you painted yourself into? The conclusion was not telegraphed and leaves room for more books in the series.
These reviews are only a few of the fantastic novels published by Alpha Young Writers Workshop students, staff, and guests.
Click to find out more about the Alpha Young Writers Workshop?
