Curses, space heists and found family - My freefall into Jessie Kwak fandom
Tags: books
Published: 2024-06-24 17:59:27

---
title: Curses, space heists and found family - My freefall into Jessie Kwak fandom
published: true
description: It started with a short story, and now I can't get enough.
tags: books
---

- [My Jessie Kwak Jumpstart](#my-jessie-kwak-jumpstart)
- [But Wait, There's More!](#but-wait-theres-more)
- [...And More to Come (Kickstarter)!](#and-more-to-come-kickstarter)

***TL;DR:*** *I've fallen in love with Jessie Kwak's writing - character-rich speculative fiction stories, many of which take place in the same expanding world. I gush in the hope that there are other folks who will love her work but haven't come across it yet.*

### My Jessie Kwak Jumpstart

A while back I read the collection [Dispatches from Anarres](https://www.powells.com/book/dispatches-from-anarres-9781942436485) - stories from a bunch of Portland authors in tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin. As with most collections, a few stories stuck with me long after I finished. Atop that list was _Black as Thread_, from an author I had never read before. I love it when that happens! Jessie Kwak's teaser for the story [on her site](https://www.jessiekwak.com/short-stories/) is:

> Sewing curses into the boots of foreign occupiers may be helping win the war, but what does it do to the soul?

Coming as part of a Le Guin tribute, the story immediately reminded me of the [Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/mirror/u/uk/ursula-k-le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction.pdf) essay. Because sure there's that word "war", but the story isn't about battles and commanders and heroes. As the Carrier Bag essay notes:

> That is why I like novels: instead of heroes they have people in them.

Something about the world, the characters, the writing style... it hooked me hard, and I had to find more from the author who created it.

### But Wait, There's More!

It's a beautiful thing - finding an author that you can connect with immediately, and learning that there are several books already out in the world waiting for you. Jessie provides a couple [recommended entry points](https://store.jessiekwak.com/pages/jessie-kwak-book-reading-order) for her fiction, which I found helpful. I latched onto the [Nanshe Chronicles](https://store.jessiekwak.com/collections/nanshe-chronicles) because... how could I not:

> Are you looking for fun spaceship-based adventures that read like an episode of your favorite TV show — complete with heists, trick flying, witty banter, and a crew of wary newcomers slowly transforming into found family?
>
>  (Thank Firefly, Cowboy Bebop, and Leverage with a splash of Indiana Jones.)

Leverage doesn't mean anything to me, but the rest combine nicely and feel spot-on in retrospect. I found a lot of _Expanse_ vibes in the series too, including one particular trope that surfaced in both series (for what it's worth, I vastly prefer how it was handled in the Nanshe Chronicles).

There's a certain optimism/pessimism slider that's tough to nail, particularly in speculative fiction. Some feels willfully pessimistic and depressing enough that it's a slog to read. Go too far the other way, and things are so happy huggy that I can't suspend disbelief long enough to enjoy a book. The Nanshe Chronicles hits a sweet spot - the world isn't perfect, but I have people to love and root for.

### ...And More to Come (Kickstarter)!

I've read the Bulari Saga and all that's available from the Nanshe Chronicles so far (the two series take place in the same world). The thriller _From Earth and Bone_ had a totally different vibe, but worked for me also.

And today there's a [Kickstarter launching](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jessiekwak/bulari-saga-travel-guide) for a collection that will dig deeper into the world of the [Bulari Saga](https://www.jessiekwak.com/bulari-saga/). It's intended as a love letter to fans, particularly those who have supported the series since it launched in 2019. It wasn't on my radar then, but I'm so glad it is now. And I hope this post reaches a few eyes that will love these stories as much as I do.

Cheers folks. One more thought from that Carrier Bag essay to send you off on your travels:

> Science fiction properly conceived, like all serious fiction, however funny, is a way of trying to describe what is in fact going on, what people actually do and feel, how people relate to everything else in this vast stack, this belly of the universe, this womb of things to be and tomb of things that were, this unending story.