Reading SF in May 2026

[Hobbit]

Welcome to May!



Cover of "The Magazine of Fantasy & SF", May 1972.)

(Last month's discussion of Science Fiction books is HERE. )

It is the usual message here - this thread is where you tell us about what you've been reading in Science Fiction this month.

Remember, good or bad, we still want to know what you think.

Hobbit/Mark

 

[mylinar]

Not related to my current books, just saying I really enjoy these ancient covers you use to initiate each month with.

 

[Hobbit]

just saying I really enjoy these ancient covers you use to initiate each month with.

Thanks, mylinar! There's a lot to choose from, admittedly. But I love the old-style art work myself: very pleased someone else does too. I'm also very very proud that I have a lot of these magazine issues myself, up to about 2000 - 2010. Haven't read them all yet - working on it! - but I love dipping into them.

Back to current reading: am currently reading The Palace of Crows by Ray Nayler, due out 21st May. As with all of Ray's work so far, I'm loving it, although so far it reads like a war novel set in Eastern Europe in June 1941. With crows. Review to follow.

 

[krisbslick]

Finished The Faith of Beasts today, after some fits and starts. I think it was said in last month's thread - just not a pleasant universe to be in. Overall, it didn't feel much different than the first, for me - still not a fan. Although, I am curious how the authors are going to wrap all this up with only one more book. Probably some deus ex machina type stuff. If they keep going with the series after that, I won't be.

Next, I'll be getting into Platform Decay by Martha Wells when it releases on the 5th.

 

[Fryan]

I finished up Ammonite by Nicola Griffith last night. Found this to be good, but not great. I didn’t like it as much as my previous Griffith read, Spear.

I found the characters a bit irritating at times. It often felt like they were making decisions for the sake of plot, and not based on their personalities. The conclusion also felt a bit too saccharine and convenient.

She was also juggling two story lines and the pacing of one was deliberately slowed down so that the two storylines could converge in the third act.

I think I felt these somewhat minor flaws more because the set up and premise is really great. In many ways this reminded me of another Anthropological SF book, A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason, which for me is a good thing cause I loved that book.

Onwards to fill in a gap in my weird fantasy reading by finally reading some Kelly Link.

 

[Westy]

I finished up Ammonite by Nicola Griffith last night. Found this to be good, but not great. I didn’t like it as much as my previous Griffith read, Spear.

I found the characters a bit irritating at times. It often felt like they were making decisions for the sake of plot, and not based on their personalities. The conclusion also felt a bit too saccharine and convenient.

She was also juggling two story lines and the pacing of one was deliberately slowed down so that the two storylines could converge in the third act.

I think I felt these somewhat minor flaws more because the set up and premise is really great. In many ways this reminded me of another Anthropological SF book, A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason, which for me is a good thing cause I loved that book.

Onwards to fill in a gap in my weird fantasy reading by finally reading some Kelly Link.

I thought both Spear and Ammonite were good reads, she's a great writer. Have you read Slow River? That's another good one of hers.

 

[Fryan]

I thought both Spear and Ammonite were good reads, she's a great writer. Have you read Slow River? That's another good one of hers.

Yeah I think she’s quite good. Ammonite was a solid read overall, just a few things about it bothered me, and I thought Spear was excellent. Slow River sounds pretty cool too so I’ll keep that on my radar!

I’m curious about Hild and Menewood but I need to be in the right mood to absorb lots of Welsh names and lore. Haha.

 

[suciul]

Finished the audio of Pilgrim and the Wolf and then finished Severant (3rd and 4th in Humanity's Leap) by CS Garrand - looking forward to the audio of this too, hopefully sooner than the Pilgrim one; high expectations that were fulfilled, though I would say that the series took a turn I didn't quite expect - CAIPARR (the now humanity's one sentient AI) is still the narrator but there were quite interesting similarities to the AI stuff in Sun Eater (who were the mythical monsters of that universe with their pyramids where they used human brains and their neurons for their computations while keeping their consciousness in an artificial paradise).

My Goodreads review for Severant:

I finally started listening to The Pilgrim and the Wolf a few weeks back - as the audio was released somewhat late I decided to wait until Severant was close to completion, so I transition from the audio of Pilgrim to it - hence while I browsed the first few pages to see what the cliffhanger was about and how it resolved, I only started Severant seriously yesterday and it was as engrossing as the other three despite its darker tone and Pandora's box undertones that will presumably be addressed in the next (final?) installment.

Hopefully the audio will be released sooner this time as like with Pilgrim (and the first two series books for that matter) it adds a lot and this time I plan to listen to it on release and re-read Severant at the same time.

As the series evolution goes, Severant weaves four storylines - the more mundane ones are the chase after "Greenwood" and the corporate shenanigans regarding access to the leap point and Denebola, with the continuing contact with the Spartan society and the corresponding diplomatic arrangements providing the indirect link to the big picture, humanity and the universe and all fate in the Severant storyline.

On ending the novel, there are a few things from Pilgrim - and even from Architect at least - and from earlier in this one that need to be reread and reconsidered in the light of, well read to find out what - especially the musings of Caiparr in the first few pages of Severant acquire quite a different meaning...

The usual characters - and some from previous volumes reappearing - and while the structure of the novel is more fractured than the previous ones, so reading like part true series continuation, part a related novella linked to but not as essential - the energy is still there and the pages turn by themselves.

There are other interesting tidbits that struck me but to avoid spoilers, I would just say that somewhat to my surprise considering the approach to AI consciousness in this series (after all the narrator is CAIPARR) and say the quite different such in a series like Sun Eater, well again read to find out what ...

Overall a more transitional novel than Pilgrim (despite the cliffhanger ending of that one) which not only raises intriguing questions about where the series will actually go, but which invites us to reconsider a lot that came before and what we thought we knew - highly recommended and another top 10 of the year for sure, while looking forward first to the audio which adds so much to the enjoyment and of course to the next volume that promises a lot, even though not quite in the way one would have expected based on the first three books.

 

[suciul]

Finished also the short novel Elder race by A Tchaikovsky and it was ok, but not really special - way too much solipsistic self-introspection and if I want to read that, I can do it in literary fiction written by people much more skilled in the art of writing prose that A Tchaikovsky; have an e-arc of the sequel Engines of Reason due later this year (hence why I went back to this one which I started and put down on publication) but unclear if I will continue with the series or not - will see, maybe after some time passes, I will reconsider if something from Elder Race sticks with me.

The storyline is within the frequently used sffnal premise of different human or humanoid societies interaction and with enough energy to keep one reading, but which ultimately feels a bit like "why did I bother" as it lacks anything really memorable.

Blurb:

Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way.
But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she’s an adult (albeit barely) with responsibilities (she tells herself). Although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it).
But Elder Nyr isn’t a sorcerer, and he is forbidden to help, and his knowledge of science tells him the threat cannot possibly be a demon. . . .

 

[Fryan]

ultimately feels a bit like "why did I bother" as it lacks anything really memorable.

I read this back when it was nominated for the Ursula K. Le Guin prize, and while I thought it was good but not great in the moment, I don’t remember a thing about it now. It didn’t exactly make me want to go out and read more stuff by Tchaikovsky.

 

[chitman13]

Finished listening to The Powers of the Earth by Travis J. I. Corcoran after seeing it mentioned here. I thought it was okay - good with an interesting enough plot, but the characters and execution let it down a little. I'll still check out the sequel.

 

[Hobbit]

Finished the latest Ray Nayler (The Mountain in the Sea) for review: Palaces of the Crow.

Like all of Ray's books so far, this is one that definitely kept me thinking afterwards - it seems that crows are this year's octopii. Review to follow.

 

[mylinar]

I finished listening to ‘Species 17’ by C S Garrand. Took me longer than expected due to work circumstances (not sure if I can say bullshit on the site LOL).
Technically it’s a first contact book though it needs a caveat of “… but it’s complicated”. I like it and the AIs involved seem close to what I’m expecting (though I’ll long gone by then). I enjoyed it.
Coincidentally I got Hamilton’s Reality Dysfunction back just today. Wasn’t sure how this would work, but it recalled where I was when the loan expired. I’m now juggling three series’ clearly losing my mind.

 

[Westy]

I finished The Faith of Beasts, which continues the story of the humans imprisoned by the Carryx, from various characters point of views and locations as the war ensues.

I liked how we start to get more hints and snippets about how the Carryx could be defeated through their weaknesses, and more about their background as well. I also thought the multiple characters stories worked well at keeping things interesting.

I didn't have issues with unlikeable characters (thought there are a couple that are more so than the others), but did find it a bit nihilistic at times (through there were revelations that offset this). There's a bit of middle book syndrome as well, sometimes the pacing a bit slower - overall I liked the first book better.

But on the whole still a great alien SF read for me; I'm wondering if the bar's set a bit high with The Expanse series, leading to some reader's disappointment? Anyway looking foreward to how things end in book three, there's a lot to wrap up.

 

[Hobbit]

I finished The Faith of Beasts, which continues the story of the humans imprisoned by the Carryx, from various characters point of views and locations as the war ensues.

I liked how we start to get more hints and snippets about how the Carryx could be defeated through their weaknesses, and more about their background as well. I also thought the multiple characters stories worked well at keeping things interesting.

I didn't have issues with unlikeable characters (thought there are a couple that are more so than the others), but did find it a bit nihilistic at times (through there were revelations that offset this). There's a bit of middle book syndrome as well, sometimes the pacing a bit slower - overall I liked the first book better.

But on the whole still a great alien SF read for me; I'm wondering if the bar's set a bit high with The Expanse series, leading to some reader's disappointment? Anyway looking foreward to how things end in book three, there's a lot to wrap up.

Pleased you liked it, Westy: and, unlike me, made it to the end. Could've been a case of wrong read, wrong time for me. I do see it as different to The Expanse books; it's one of the things I liked about the first book. Still not sure what it was I disliked about "Beasts", might try again at a later date.

Here I've had a whistle-stop read through an Asimov, about to be rereleased for the first time in decades.



First in a YA series. Review to follow.

 

[Raf]

Finished Book 4 of C.S. Garrand's "Humanity's Leap" series, "Severant".

Well, the universe just gets scarier and scarier for the newly emergent Human species into the greater galaxy. Following on the heels of a cliffhanger ending in the 3rd book, the crew of the Audacious finally traverses the gate point back to the Valentia system. The original home system of the ancient Spartan culture that was previously displaced by Species One 2000 yrs ago.

Only to find themselves drawn to a spaceborne prison run by rogue AI's and Simulacra whose instructions are to implant hardware and software into humans that makes them compliant to the Simulacra programs. Getting a bit of Matrix vibes here as it turns out that humans and their brains are used as hardware in system wide programs.

But that isn't the worst of it as "The Severant" is coming.

It's a complicated story with a lot of players and politics. And another cliffhanger of an ending. But still a really good story that will keep me coming back for more.

 

[ArtNJ]

Reread Pandora's Star and am now on Judas Unchained. Not enjoying it as much this time around. Too many words for too little going on. Too many connections between the diverse cast of characters spread out across the galaxy. And the notion that "Commonwealth" humans have been at peace for so long that they are having trouble understanding xenophobia and potential genocide doesn't really resonate based on the ever present evidence that war isn't going out of style any time soon.

 

[AtramentousFlux]

I wasn't aware John Birmingham's World War 3.2 and 3.3 had been out for a while. Currently re-reading World War 3.1 before these, as I've forgotten the details.

 

[chitman13]

Listened to Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule. Admittedly I didn't look into this before starting so wasn't really aware that it was the first book in a multimedia, multiphase era of Star Wars, the High Republic (I just thought it was a story set in that time period). The story was generally okay, lagging around at times, but it starts in an interesting way that I hoped was going to be addressed throughout. Unfortunately not, as this is clearly the first entry in a larger story, and one that I'm not going to continue as I just wasn't interested enough in the story.

 

[Raf]

I wasn't aware John Birmingham's World War 3.2 and 3.3 had been out for a while. Currently re-reading World War 3.1 before these, as I've forgotten the details.

Those look good. I remember 3.1 being mentioned here, but I had just finished the main series and needed a break. Never got back to them. But I'll be adding those to the TBR list now.