Nicholas Perez
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zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Nicholas Perez
@zephonsacriel.bsky.social
3.4K followers 1.7K following 3.2K posts
Blanco Cuban Writer of SFF. To Root Somewhere Beautiful: An Anthology of Reclamation and The Vanisher on Chain Letter Substack, both are OUT NOW! ¡Palestina Libre! No AI.
Unagented. Seeking representation.
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zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021)
November 11, 2025 at 2:04 AM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Japanese cover of Death's Master by Tanith Lee. Artwork by Toshiaki Kato.
That's Simmu and Zhirem in the center. My babies 🥲

Apologies for low quality, could not find a better image.
Japanese cover to Death's Master by Tanith Lee. Left to right: Uhlume, Lord of Death, a man with a dark face with long white hair and wearing a long white robe stares in profile at the center figures of the picture; Simmu, one of the center figures, is pale-skinned with long blonde hair with flowers in it, looks down, a green pendant on a necklace hangs from their neck; Zhirem, the other center figure, wears a crown of thorns over his long, black and hair and looks down in profile at Simmu; and Azhrarn, Lord of Wickedness, looks in profile at the center figures, his face is pale white and his hair is long and black and he wears a robe of black feathers.
November 9, 2025 at 3:05 AM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
5 out of 5 stars to Death's Master by Tanith Lee

Hands down not only one of the best sequels ever, but one of the best fantasy books ever. Equals parts tragic and beautiful, it is a reminder that death is unavoidable but sometimes love, unfortunately, isn't.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Cover to Death's Master by Tanith Lee. A black figure with a long skirt and white hair, stands on some steps in an ancient ruin in front of the moon.
November 8, 2025 at 7:45 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
I just finished Death's Master by Tanith Lee AND I AM COMPLETELY BROKEN. Tanith, why would you hurt me like this!?
November 8, 2025 at 3:00 AM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
No, no! Please, no! Not like this, please! ;____;

Marked sensitive for spoilers.
""You are the only would I am able to give myself," Zhirek said to Simmu. "Your terror and your agony will dwell with me through all the years which are to come. I shall run from this spot. I will seal my ears against the memory of your cries, I will writhe and sweat in horror at what I have done to you. So I shall live."" "And he too, like a child, rocked himself, knuckling his eyes, and thus we wept and the rusty noises of grief rasped in his chest till the Eshva lost their pleasure in the spectacle and smoked away. And long after that, yet he cried and rocked himself, till the moon set and the stars faded and a red rose bloomed in the east."
November 7, 2025 at 2:09 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
In happier news, my copy of The Isle in the Silver Sea arrived.
My hand holding a copy of The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri. Behind cascading waves, a lady knight with short hair holds the face of a witch with long dark hair who grabs the knight's wrist. Cover art beneath of the sleeve of The Isle in the Silver Sea. A white-haired witch dressed in medieval robes holds a lady knight dressed in armor kneeling before her. They look at each other longingly. Inside cover image of The Isle in the Silver Sea. A lady knight dressed in medieval courtier clothes grabs the hand of a witch dressed in a black dress with a long braided ponytail. In the throne room behind them, a queen sits upon her throne flanked by a man knight a servant woman. Back interior art for The Isle in the Silver seas. A lady knight and a witch embrace behind a table. The witch holds a goblet close to her face.
November 5, 2025 at 8:15 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
The lesbian queen and the bisexual witch are becoming "very good friends" it seems.
From Death's Master by Tanith Lee. "My weakness, not yours, elder sister. The weakness of my longing to please you. Count me your handmaiden." Narasen drew up a handful of the witch's hair in her fleshed fingers, let it pour away like water, drew up more. Lylas suffered the game to go on and on.
November 4, 2025 at 1:34 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Brownie bottom cheesecake cooling to room temperature.
Brownie bottom cheesecake, with pieces of brownie on top, sitting in a 9 inch springform pan on a stovetop.
October 31, 2025 at 1:50 AM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Well, damn.
""I trusted myself rid of you," said Zhirem. "I made no jest when I bade you choose another road than mine. I cannot breathe the air if you are near, all winds that blow become a poison. You are my shame and my defeat. I will not see you. I will offer myself to corruption, but I will not suffer you as my reminder. May the maleficent gods blast you, for they have venom to spare if they exist. If not gods, then carry my everlasting enmity. Shrivel and be damned and get from my sight.""
October 30, 2025 at 3:03 AM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Book Haul. Finally found @addieisunwieldy.bsky.social 's book in the wilds.
Books on a carpeted floor. Left to right, top to bottom: The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes, The Door on the Sea by Caskey Russell, Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai, Herculine by Grace Byron, Cathedral of the Drowned by Nathan Ballingrud.
October 26, 2025 at 5:31 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
The horror of Fabio
A paper copy of Rogue Fabio sits on a bookshelf marked horror.
October 26, 2025 at 5:05 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
My mutual did not hold back
Pearl clutching to Tanith Lee by Alchemiesed or however you spell it is up and down my tl getting glazed. Diabolical.
October 25, 2025 at 1:48 AM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
4 out of 5 stars to American Rapture by C. J. Leede

It's not perfect, but Leede shows us a cruel and corrupted apocalyptic America and a girl twisted by guilt. It was gut-wrenching, sad, and tender all at once. Leede is definitely a rising horror star.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Cover to American Rapture by C. J. Leede A young woman with blue skin, holds up a rosary and a hand with stigmata wound with her eyes closed while wearing a magenta veil with green stars.
October 24, 2025 at 3:49 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
A pretty morning
Photo of a sky in sunrise. The sky is early morning blue covered in shaded clouds gilded by sunlight. Trees and a building are darkened. The lake reflects everything.
October 23, 2025 at 1:10 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
One of the best lines ever written in fantasy literature.
From Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien "Just why Mr. Frodo was selling his beautiful hole was even more debatable than the price."
October 23, 2025 at 1:03 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Facebook memories reminded me one of the funniest moments from my graduate school days.
Picture from a Hebrew translation textbook. Top of the page says Chapter 14 The Adjective In the middle it says The Four Forms of Adjective with Feminine Plural and Masculine Pural beneath. The latter is misspelled. Beneath them further are two Hebrew words.
October 21, 2025 at 12:29 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
A slice
A slice of Dubai chocolate tart on a plate.
October 19, 2025 at 10:08 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Dubai chocolate tart for tonight.
Dubai chocolate tart in a tart pan on top of a stove.
October 19, 2025 at 3:27 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
4 out of 5 stars to Catherine the Ghost by Kathe Koja

Return to Wuthering Heights through eyes of Cathy's ghost and the eyes of her daughter. A book which reminds that in the original novel love, even twisted, still lingers after death. And how in life it can heal.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Cover to Catherine the Ghost by Kathe Koja A fair-skinned, blonde woman in a green dress looks out a window, while beneath her the ghost of a woman with brown hair and a ribcage reaches in, surrounded by black smoke.
October 16, 2025 at 3:30 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Ancestry DNA Results updated. How on Earth did I get Indigenous South American?
Ancestry DNA results. At the top is my name next to a circle of many different colors around the Ancestry.com logo. Ancestral Regions from top to bottom: England: Southeastern and Northwestern Europe 38%, West Midlands 5%, North East England 2% Iberian Peninsula: Northern Spain 12%, Spain 12%, Madeira 4%, Basque 1% Celtic & Gaelic: Connacht, Ireland 7%, Munster, Ireland 2%, Central Scotland & Northern Ireland 1% Western Europe: Northwestern Germany 5%, France 3%, The Netherlands 2% West Africa: Benin & Togo 1%, Yorubaland 1% Western Mediterranean Islands: Sardinia 2% Indigenous Americas: Eastern South America 1% Jewish: Sephardic Jews in the Eastern Mediterranean 1%
October 16, 2025 at 12:25 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
I got my copies of The Prince & The Coyote and Love/Aggression from the Bookshop Anti-Prime sale. They also sent me a copy of Maurice? I double checked my order and I didn't order it nor did Bookshop charge me for it. Not against a free book but I hope I didn't take someone else's book.
Books on a carpeted floor. Left to right: The Prince & The Coyote by David Bowles and Love/Aggression by June Martin. My hand holding a copy of Maurice by E. M. Forster over some other books and a carpeted floor.
October 15, 2025 at 7:04 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
I can hear the British accent hissing in this tweet. TERFs are too frickn' funny man.
Screenshot from Twitter. Mrs Tomlinstan quote retweets me saying "Menacing." My original tweet says "After what happened with Emma, you would think she'd know better."
October 14, 2025 at 10:57 AM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
4.5 out of 5 stars to The Coven Tendency by Zoe Hana Mikuta

Mikuta is officially my new favorite YA author. A psychosis-drenched story about a witch who needs and wants love. But that love will not save her. Only her violent, death-eating sister will.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Cover to The Coven Tendency by Zoe Hana Mikuta. A girl with long black hair, wearing a red dress and black gloves, stares at her emaciated and disheveled reflection in an ornate mirror with candles on it.
October 14, 2025 at 1:29 AM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Morgana and Oz Volume 3 snuck up on me.
Books on a carpeted floor, left to right, bottom to top: Bunny by Mona Awad, Morgana and Oz Volume 3 by Miyuli, Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset, The Mabinogion, and Restoration by Ave Barrera.
October 11, 2025 at 4:09 PM
zephonsacriel.bsky.social
Mom, come pick me up, I'm scared.
A paragraph from The Coven Tendency by Zoe Hana Mikuta "She was afraid to look down at her body. It was still in her, it was in her torso, she knew because her dress was sweat-pasted to her skin and it was moving. The hand had retreated somewhere down inside her and was hiding and so Vanity wanted to leave. She wanted to leave she wanted to leave she wanted to leave. But there was nowhere else to go she was stuck here in her body and that's why she opened her mouth to scream, and when she did she felt the hand come skittering up from the inside of her stomach up her chest up her throat and it was prying open her mouth and when it emerged when it shot against the mirror so hard it fracture it wasn't just a hand it had a wrist and then an arm then--more, she assumed, flipping inside out, more, another girl, another Vanity, an extraction, a cure."
October 11, 2025 at 4:01 AM