Ben Francisco

My review of the Season 2 finale of Gen V. Mostly a solid closing, with a few excellent performances and some fun teases for the final season of The Boys!

Look at this cool LISTICLE that VAL VEGA author @benfrancisco.bsky.social wrote about Latinx SF! Luminaries mentioned include Carlos Hernandez and @willalex.bsky.social! Among others!

benfrancisco.net/2025/10/15/1...

We interstellar ambassadors have to stick together!

En serio, Ambassador is one of my recent favs! The scenes of the kids from different planets negotiating while playing games really stick with me.

Brilliant autora de pewpewpew y mucho mas!

Sordidez! 🇵🇷🌿☀️🌋⚡
Sal & Gabi! 🪄🐓🌌🤖🥟
💜💙💚💛🧡♥️🤎🖤🤍🩵🩷

"Pardo weaves a wonderful blend of hard-boiled noir, engaging characters, and imaginative world-building that goes far beyond the usual 'What if the U.S. lost World War II?'" Thanks @benfrancisco.bsky.social for putting THE SHAMSHINE BLIND in such awesome company

Collage of covers of Latinx Science Fiction books, including Ambassador, Latinx Rising, Sal & Gabi Break the Universe, Prime Meridian, and Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth.

In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, I wrote a listicle of awesome Latinx Science Fiction to read ASAP! W/ great books by @boriscrito.bsky.social @pazsays.bsky.social @valerievaldes.bsky.social @latinxfiles.bsky.social @willalex.bsky.social @silviamg.bsky.social

benfrancisco.net/2025/10/15/1...

Forgive the cobbled-together feel of this, but eat up!

Nine stories in this TropiWeird combo - including two stories never before seen! As they say in PR: buen provecho!

kyr-1066.itch.io/a-series-of-...

I loved this @newyorker.com short story by Rivka Galchen. It feels like an anthem for our time, a day-in-the-life of a dystopia, set in the grueling present day of our "current macro-environment."

Gen V Goes Back to Supes School With Season 2 Reset - Reactor With the death of a lead series actor, Gen V has a lot of ground to cover in its second season premiere.

With the passing of a lead actor and a new season of The Boys over its shoulder, Gen V gracefully lands its season 2 premiere; Ben Francisco reviews the return to Godolkin in "New Year, New U"

#GenVseason2

reactormag.com/tv-review-ge...

I have a review of the #GenV season 2 premiere up at Reactor! A fitting homage to Chance Perdomo, though the reset to the status quo is occasionally jarring. Hamish Linklater is a great addition as the casually callous new dean who always seems to see what's coming.

reactormag.com/tv-review-ge...

Watching #StarTrek Voyager S6Ep22 The Muse.

"To the gleaming cities of Earth, where peace reigns, and where hatred has no home."

Oh how I wish for these words to someday be the truth of what we live on this earth in the here and now!

Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike as a 1960s Holywood writer on the holodeck.

TFW you're watching #StarTrek Strange New Worlds and a holodeck character says, "I'm a writer, I'm never happy about anything" and your husband laughs a little *too* hard...

Presente!

I'm at #SeattleWorldCon! At noon I'm on a panel called "And I'm All Out of Spoons," which seems apt as that is my perpetual state lately! And at 4:30 pm I'm helping facilitate a discussion space for Latinx creators. Please say hi if you're here!

So excited to be part of this panel at #WorldCon2025! This awesome Boricua SF jangueo is virtual, plus I'm doing a few others in person in Seattle.

Yay!!! These stories dazzled, horrified, fascinated, filled me with hope. How diminished this the world would be without queer voices, queer stories, queer magic and prophecy and brilliance!

Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth “A captivating, heartfelt tale about family, diplomacy, and finding one’s place in the universe.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Val Vega figured that in her junior year of…

More on Val Vega here: benfrancisco.net/valvega/

Pixar’s Elio Grapples With Loneliness on Earth and in the Communiverse - Reactor After a slow first act, Pixar's latest offering brings our need for connection into the stars... and right back home again.

A bunch of people have asked for my take on ELIO, Pixar's latest. I loved it - you can read my full review at @reactorsff.bsky.social. And if you'd like more Latinx space ambassador stories, you can also check out my YA novel, Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth.

reactormag.com/pixars-elio-...

Pixar’s Elio Grapples With Loneliness on Earth and in the Communiverse - Reactor After a slow first act, Pixar's latest offering brings our need for connection into the stars... and right back home again.

Once you get past the slow beginning, Pixar's Elio combines beautiful animation, an expansive world, and an emotional story of Latinx speculative fiction. Read @benfrancisco.bsky.social's review:

reactormag.com/pixars-elio-...

Thank you. 💙

Today is the last day of my writing residency in Tennessee. After nightfall, I am going to close it out by following the advice of @kellylink.bsky.social and writing by the light of the moon! (It should be just about full.)

Squee! So honored and excited to learn that VAL VEGA: SECRET AMBASSAFOR OF EARTH is a finalist for the 2025 International Book Awards - in both the science fiction and young adult categories!

www.internationalbookawards.com/2025awardann...

What an honor to be part of such a special event! Thank you, @storyhour.bsky.social for having me, thank you @megelison.bsky.social for hosting, and thank you @sillysyntax.bsky.social for sharing such a powerful story. The unplanned theme was beautiful wounded queers learning to love themselves.

This is TONIGHT! Join us!

It's me and Ben and we are reading queer Caribbean SFF with fabulous Meg!

Very excited to be reading on @storyhour.bsky.social with the brilliant @sillysyntax.bsky.social tomorrow (WEDNESDAY!) at 10pm ET! Will be reading "The After Party," a queer story of difficult encounters and fabulous parties in the after life.

Waist-up color photo of writer Ben Francisco, a Latinx person with dark hair worn short, dark eyes, and perfectly arched eyebrows. They wear a dark brown turtleneck, a long scarf patterned in swirls of bright, warm colors, and gold stud earrings. They stand in front of a bookcase full of speculative fiction titles and smile warmly into the camera.

Color close-up of Suzan Palumbo, a Trini woman with dark hair worn in a short asymmetrical bob and tipped with purple. She wears heavy black eyeliner, a black shirt with a collar, and a dark gray necktie. She looks to the side with a serious expression.

Story Hour is very proud to start June with stories from the benevolent Ben Francisco and the stupendous Suzan Palumbo. Guest hosting by the magnificent Meg Elison! Join us Wednesday at 7:00 PDT! #Booksky @benfrancisco.bsky.social @sillysyntax.bsky.social @megelison.bsky.social www.storyhour2020.com

Image of the review website Readers' Favorite, showing the cover of Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth (which features a Latina teenage girl in a cap, with a furry alien behind her and another squid-like alien floating above her), a five-star rating, and a portion of the opening text of the review describing the novel as a "dynamic young adult sci-fi debut."

Got back from vacation to find that Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth had gotten this lovely 5-star review from Readers' Favorite! "Populated with a dazzling cast of humans and aliens alike, Francisco’s story is witty, moving, and impossible to put down."

readersfavorite.com/book-review/...

Great interview! I def need to check out Not Quite a Ghost. Also: I am writing this lying down too and often find that's the only way I can get work/writing down. Horizontal writers of the world, unite!