Reading Fantasy / Horror in May 2026

[Hobbit]

Welcome to May!


(Cover of "Analog", May 1974 - 50 years ago this month!)

(Last month's discussion of Fantasy/Horror books is HERE. )

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

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

Hobbit/Mark

 

[blailock]

I finished a reread of The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie.
Somehow, I did not realize that there was another trilogy in The First Law Universe. So, before diving into The Age of Madness Trilogy, I decided to reread The First Law Trilogy. The Blade Itself was possible better on my reread. I'm immediately picking up Before They Were Hanged. This is great stuff!

 

[Randy M.]

Not quite half-way through The Return by Rachel Harrison, the first I've read by her. First person narration by Elise, one of four college friends who have remained fairly close even after college, their shared experiences there still anchoring them even after all the changes of life after college. When Julie reappears after two years of disappearance, during which all but Elise presume she has died, the three friends arrange to meet her at a new and out of the way resort, to gauge how Julie is. Odd things begin to happen.

I like Elise's voice. It's a bit neurotic, maybe even a bit paranoid, at times humorous and self-deprecating and genuinely caring about her friends, especially Julie with whom she was closest. And I like how Harrison can sum up a person and/or situation briefly; about one of Elise's other friends: "Mae was the default organizer for all events. It satiated her type A personality. Knowing Mae, I assumed she was desperate to organize pretty new memories to eclipse the trauma of the past two years. It was her coping mechanism -- tying ribbons over open wounds."

 

[suciul]

Finished The Last Paladin #1 by R Savarovsky and it was just crazy fun - based on the blurb I didn't really expect to stick with this one (tried quite a few similar ones, but so far only the books by A Osadchuk and V Mahanenko kept me interested), but it just grabbed me from the first page and then kept me going on the rollercoaster typical of such - this time it's a mixture of modern and fantasy world with mgic, cars, phones and the like and a standard trope - the hero, Marcus one and only Paladin of Darkness, highly feared (he can absorb humans for fun and get stronger), but also highly useful (he can fight monsters solo, others have to do it in large teams) is finally trapped by his rivals in a singularity portal and while he eventually re-merges it's some 700 years later, in a world where his rivals succesors remain and share power as the Council of Princes, while his sort of friends descendants (the Shadow Clan) have been mostly exterminated.

Fighting monsters, being seduced by princesses and having to deal with new monsters in mostly human form is just a day's work for Marcus who soon starts liking this new world, and hey he never had many friends or a vacation; of course he needs money, a position and connections, but that's neither here nor there as after all soon he will attract quite a lot of interest, some friendly, and even quite more friendly than he bargained for, but other such not so friendly; with his pet darkness creatures including a cat imaginatively called Cat unless she is in moster flying lizard form, the dog Fluffy and a hamster - later we find out he is called Obsidian Gullet - Marcus is ready to make a home in this strange and not so strange new world; just too bad for those who plan to intefere...

Just fun, kitchen sink and all, imaginative and really funny dialogue on occasion - had me laughing out loud quite often. No particular pieties, just rolling fun

A few excerpts that imho are quite funny though of course that is subjective:

Three cups later, Victoria arrived. Disheveled, flushed, and radiating frustration, she stormed in like a gust of angry wind.
“What... kind... of house... doesn’t have an elevator?” she spat out between ragged breaths, kicking off her heels in irritation.
“Not much stamina for a princess of an entire Clan,” I said, sipping my fresh coffee.
“For your information,” she said indignantly, “I was covering my tracks and losing a tail! I ran up here from the—” She stopped abruptly, her brows knitting in suspicion. “Did you install suppressors on the staircase?”
“Of course not,” I said, feigning innocence as I wandered toward the kitchen, putting distance between us. Angry women were unpredictable, especially when they were upset for reasons unrelated to you. Give them the smallest excuse, and suddenly you’re the target.
Technically, I hadn’t lied. Not entirely.
They weren’t suppressors — more like energy siphons. Part of my security setup. Any enemy trying to reach my floor would exhaust themselves first. A tired intruder was always easier to handle.

*****

Her reaction to the bloodied, soot-covered being radiating pure elemental energy was... odd. With its one hundred percent connection to Darkness, my familiar was equivalent to an S+ class entity in our world — normally enough to inspire primal terror.
This girl, however, seemed utterly captivated. Either she was completely insane or her self-preservation instincts were nonexistent.
“So cute,” she whispered.
I gave the Cat a skeptical look. Right now, he was licking a piece of dead Ratskull off his paw, only to slice his tongue on his own claw and wince.
“You hear that, Cat? Apparently, you’re cute,” I remarked.
“Frr.” His tail flicking as he sauntered over to rub against the girl’s legs. To my surprise, she knelt down and began petting him with unrestrained delight, unfazed by his grotesque appearance.
“Traitor,” I muttered. “Guess you’re carrying the backpack on the way back.”
“Hey, you can’t make him carry that,” the girl protested, shielding the Cat protectively.
What the hell is wrong with this world? That furball used to hate people — Shadows especially. Old Aks must’ve played a part in that… somehow.
A year of sitting idle, and now my Cat’s lost his edge. What a waste.

 

[Raf]

Finished The Last Paladin #1 by R Savarovsky and it was just crazy fun - based on the blurb I didn't really expect to stick with this one (tried quite a few similar ones, but so far only the books by A Osadchuk and V Mahanenko kept me interested), but it just grabbed me from the first page and then kept me going on the rollercoaster typical of such - this time it's a mixture of modern and fantasy world with mgic, cars, phones and the like and a standard trope - the hero, Marcus one and only Paladin of Darkness, highly feared (he can absorb humans for fun and get stronger), but also highly useful (he can fight monsters solo, others have to do it in large teams) is finally trapped by his rivals in a singularity portal and while he eventually re-merges it's some 700 years later, in a world where his rivals succesors remain and share power as the Council of Princes, while his sort of friends descendants (the Shadow Clan) have been mostly exterminated.

Fighting monsters, being seduced by princesses and having to deal with new monsters in mostly human form is just a day's work for Marcus who soon starts liking this new world, and hey he never had many friends or a vacation; of course he needs money, a position and connections, but that's neither here nor there as after all soon he will attract quite a lot of interest, some friendly, and even quite more friendly than he bargained for, but other such not so friendly; with his pet darkness creatures including a cat imaginatively called Cat unless she is in moster flying lizard form, the dog Fluffy and a hamster - later we find out he is called Obsidian Gullet - Marcus is ready to make a home in this strange and not so strange new world; just too bad for those who plan to intefere...

Just fun, kitchen sink and all, imaginative and really funny dialogue on occasion - had me laughing out loud quite often. No particular pieties, just rolling fun

A few excerpts that imho are quite funny though of course that is subjective:

Three cups later, Victoria arrived. Disheveled, flushed, and radiating frustration, she stormed in like a gust of angry wind.
“What... kind... of house... doesn’t have an elevator?” she spat out between ragged breaths, kicking off her heels in irritation.
“Not much stamina for a princess of an entire Clan,” I said, sipping my fresh coffee.
“For your information,” she said indignantly, “I was covering my tracks and losing a tail! I ran up here from the—” She stopped abruptly, her brows knitting in suspicion. “Did you install suppressors on the staircase?”
“Of course not,” I said, feigning innocence as I wandered toward the kitchen, putting distance between us. Angry women were unpredictable, especially when they were upset for reasons unrelated to you. Give them the smallest excuse, and suddenly you’re the target.
Technically, I hadn’t lied. Not entirely.
They weren’t suppressors — more like energy siphons. Part of my security setup. Any enemy trying to reach my floor would exhaust themselves first. A tired intruder was always easier to handle.

*****

Her reaction to the bloodied, soot-covered being radiating pure elemental energy was... odd. With its one hundred percent connection to Darkness, my familiar was equivalent to an S+ class entity in our world — normally enough to inspire primal terror.
This girl, however, seemed utterly captivated. Either she was completely insane or her self-preservation instincts were nonexistent.
“So cute,” she whispered.
I gave the Cat a skeptical look. Right now, he was licking a piece of dead Ratskull off his paw, only to slice his tongue on his own claw and wince.
“You hear that, Cat? Apparently, you’re cute,” I remarked.
“Frr.” His tail flicking as he sauntered over to rub against the girl’s legs. To my surprise, she knelt down and began petting him with unrestrained delight, unfazed by his grotesque appearance.
“Traitor,” I muttered. “Guess you’re carrying the backpack on the way back.”
“Hey, you can’t make him carry that,” the girl protested, shielding the Cat protectively.
What the hell is wrong with this world? That furball used to hate people — Shadows especially. Old Aks must’ve played a part in that… somehow.
A year of sitting idle, and now my Cat’s lost his edge. What a waste.

Added this one to my TBR. Looks like fun

 

[suciul]

Wanted to start something new to listen - would have preffered the Condemned series by V Mahanennko from 6-10 since this is done and available in audio, but the narrator is truly boring, so I am trying the Last Paladin - R. Savarovsky - audio from book 2 on - here the series is ongoing, books up to 7 released with 8-13 scheduled, but the audios are only up to 4 with 5-7 scheduled which is reasonable as Helium Sea, Indigo Station (this I actually read an e-arc and was excellent but want to listen especially the exchanges with, well read to find out who, should be awesome) are coming sooner rather than later and I have both on audio preorder - here the narration is fun, book 2 starts with a Council of Princes that have to approve Marcus as new "Warrior", as the system decrees, but of course some of the Princes have very strong objections and the meeting is done in a very cool russian mafia style accents (if you saw Kenneth Branagh as a Russian oligarch in Tenet you will know what I mean - just loved his accent there); the voice of the MC is cool as narrator, while when he actually talks with other is good too, though as in Last Life, different, so will see. Anyway, still nonstop action with lots of funny lines...

“UGH… WHY COULDN’T MY FAMILIAR be a hamster…” I muttered, staring at the aftermath of the Cat’s handiwork. He really went all out this time, destroying that many trophies in one go took effort.
Like, seriously — how the hell had he managed to “accidentally” incinerate four full crates of loot while leaving all the empty ones untouched? Or why had he so delicately and precisely extracted the teeth from the Ratskulls but shredded people into unrecognizable chunks — armor and all? If a guy had a helmet, the Cat crunched right through his skull. If they had reinforced kneepads, he gnawed their legs off at the joints. Not to mention the two wrecked pickups and the obliterated heavy machine gun.

****
I wonder… if I rolled into the capital with a tank, would they let me through?
The thought consumed me. The possibilities were endless.
Diplomatic meetings? On a tank. Business negotiations? On a tank. The sheer authority.

 

[suciul]

Finished The Condemned V by V Mahanenko -well the tile is a bit misnamed now and the subtitle Lord Valevsky Last of the Line maybe better, though even that is a bit of a misnomer as Max gets first to move up to Count from Viscount and by the end of the book leaps up to Archduke, while two (!) children are on the way (not in the line of succession though). As the audio narrator is super boring, I will keep reading this and go with Last Paladin in audio for now.

My Goodreads review:

Book 5 is even crazier fun if that is possible, upping the stakes even more- cursed rifts, magical fog monsters, dark masters, light super masters from abroad, some realpolitik lessons from Kimal Sarento - everything that came before upped even more.

And while occasionally the frantic take no prisoners pace seems to go overboard and break the suspension of disbelief, the humor sprinkled throughout keeps the narrative in bounds so to speak; as an example, when Max claims he got bad news, horrendous news and an amuzing tidbit, well the bad news is that the Emperor ordered him to get going governing his new province, the horrendous news is that hence the Countess (the former famed doomed officer who impressed Max so he got her and her surviving team released in a bargain with the Church and assigned to be his governor in his province) has to go and do the governing and since she got pregnant fast - the Countess pragmatically decided she needed a stronger bound with Max so get his child but then go her own way so to speak - that was that as intimate relationship goes, while the amuzing tidbit was that a super skilled assassin was contracted to kill him...

 

[cgw]

Recently read The Raven Scholar By Hodgson.
It is a decent book. Well written.
I found the tone of the book confusing. Kind of light hearted but with serious consequences.
Also it does not have a very satisfying conclusion as it sets up for the next book.

 

[Fryan]

Yesterday I finished up Kelly Link’s Magic For Beginners. It was my first time reading Link. She’s an excellent writer, but for me, too often I found that the “weirdness” was dialed up too high for me in these stories. More often than not, the weird elements took away from the story and made them feel incoherent.

When she manages to put it all together, like she did in the stories Zombie Contingency Plan and the title story, it’s a really great concoction.

While I can see the merits of her writing and style, I don’t feel all that eager to get back to her stuff any time soon.

 

[blailock]

I finished Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. After not liking The Color of Magic many years ago, I decided that Discworld wasn't for me. Boy was I wrong! I decided to try again with Guards! Guards!, and I absolutely loved it! Captain Vimes seems like a great character, and I will never forget Errol. Highly recommended for a great Discworld starting point.

 

[Hobbit]

After not liking The Color of Magic many years ago, I decided that Discworld wasn't for me.

A common comment, sadly. The general consensus is that Terry took a couple of books to find his feet; unfortunately that means a lot of readers give up after Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic. IMO it's a bit like those who are given The Lord of the Rings as an introduction to Fantasy, and then decide all Fantasy is not for them... pleased you've enjoyed this one, Blailock.

 

[blailock]

A common comment, sadly. The general consensus is that Terry took a couple of books to find his feet; unfortunately that means a lot of readers give up after Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic. IMO it's a bit like those who are given The Lord of the Rings as an introduction to Fantasy, and then decide all Fantasy is not for them... pleased you've enjoyed this one, Blailock.

Yes, that's what people kept telling me. Don't start with the first one. I finally listened, and am excited to continue. I have Small Gods next, and then, I will probably continue with the City Watch Series.

 

[Gkarlives]

Currently working my way through The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez and liking it so far. Part of the most recent book hall, including Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky (eagerly awaiting the fourth book the Tyrant Philosophers series), The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet, The Innkeeper's Song by Peter S. Beagle, A Memory Called Empire, and A Desolation Called Peace both by Arkady Martine. So basically a packed reading schedule with more wanted.

 

[Fryan]

I finished Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. After not liking The Color of Magic many years ago, I decided that Discworld wasn't for me. Boy was I wrong! I decided to try again with Guards! Guards!, and I absolutely loved it! Captain Vimes seems like a great character, and I will never forget Errol. Highly recommended for a great Discworld starting point.

I had the same exact experience as you. And also found my feet in Discworld with this same book.

I recently picked up a few more of the city watch books when the ebooks were on sale last week, so looking forward to diving back in.

 

[Westy]

Currently working my way through The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez and liking it so far. Part of the most recent book hall, including Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky (eagerly awaiting the fourth book the Tyrant Philosophers series), The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet, The Innkeeper's Song by Peter S. Beagle, A Memory Called Empire, and A Desolation Called Peace both by Arkady Martine. So basically a packed reading schedule with more wanted.

Great list of books! The Vanished Birds by Jimenez was good too.

 

[NickeeCoco]

I've been reading Lattes and Legends by Travis Baldree. While it's a very easy read. it's been slow for me because we're in the height of planting season. The last frost is behind us. That and I started taking cello lessons as I have always wanted to learn. Reading time has been replaced with weeding and practice. I sneak in about fifteen minutes in bed before my eyes flutter shut. ha.

But some holds I had at the library came in so that means I have to speed it up. Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne is next.

The third book on the list is a big shift from cosy fantasy and into dark epic with Gardens of the Moon. I read the first eight Malazan books, but by the time the 9th and 10th came out it had been a while and I wasn't sure I'd remember everything and wanted to re-read them first. I think I'll finally get around to doing that.

 

[Randy M.]

The Return by Rachel Harrison, her first novel, and an accomplished one at that.

Elise, Julie, Mae and Molly were college buds, sharing the highs and lows and silliness of that brief experience. Older, they remain friends, loving each other for what they were and judging each other for what they've become, but mostly avoiding substantive discussions trying to maintain the lightness of their college years. Then Julie disappears while hiking by herself, leaving behind her friends and a new husband. Two years later, Julie reappears. Or does she?

The supernatural creeps up in this slowly, and while it creeps Harrison offers solid background on each woman and the a sense of how their relationship has worked in the past, its strengths and weaknesses, as we watch the weaknesses work against them now.

I'm late to Harrison's work and for anyone else late to it, I'd say if you enjoyed Grady Hendrix's My Best Friend's Exorcism, this might be a book of interest for a similar tone and an examination of older female friendship.

 

[suciul]

Finished Onslaught (Last Life 12) by A Osadchuk - it was excellent - I got it the morning it was published and read it by noon, but it just begged for the next installment as the multiple plots just thickened.

My Goodreads review:

Starting as a sort of generic progression fantasy/hero sent into another body/world, Last Life has morphed into one of the top fantasy series with an increasing cast of characters, action, and intrigue on multiple fronts and of course magical undertones and battles on various levels of the multiverse.

Onslaught continues the multiple storylines, adding some complications - the mythical Vultarn comes to take over Max's body, though of course he is quite surprised when Max disagrees with that course of action, and on this subplot we find out more and more about Max's true past.

Among the many threads we also have:

The sort of vampire King Olgerd starts getting more and more into action and of course not quite as the benign figure he presents himself to Olgerd's vassal and Max's former associate and sort of friend, the princess witch Lada.

The vainglory of prince Heinrich (the Heir to Vestonia and Verena's semi-official fiance) and Marshall von Mansfeld (the leading light of Verena's loyalist Astlandic nobles) leads to their dismissive attitude to Verena' worries and insights as what could a young woman, princess though she may be, can know about war, politics and so on, having Verena regretting more and more she didn't go with Max.

The increasing assertiveness of King Adrian (of Attalia) and King (of Astland and Emperor to be) Otto II making their chief subordinates, the Golden Lion (most famed general of the times who put Adrian on the throne) and minister Lander (who masterminded the coup that dethroned Verena's father and put Otto on the throne) respectively, more and more worried about their futures so to speak.

Princess Astrid (the true Queen of the North as her surviving brother rules there by her will, and knows what happend with the other brother who Astrid made king but then he tried to go his way) in tow with Prince Louis (her submissive poet husband and younger brother of Heinrich) have come to Vestonia with a powerful army and nobody quite knows what Astrid intends - beyond of course becoming Queen of Vestonia in due time.

And as expected there is more about Max Renard's birth in this world as he finally finds out that while his philandering father's liason with Isabelle, the merchant heiress who most people believe to be Max's mother, was an open secret, there were some rumors about a liason with the daughter of a duke who happened to be the premier marshal of Vestonia, which was of course a much more serious business.

Just nonstop action and a book I couldn't put down until I finished it, with the only regret being that book 13 has no release date yet - and of course that the audio versions are progressing even slower with 10 scheduled for late in the year so far.

Overall, an excellent series that is getting better and better as complexity and the cast of characters keeps increasing.

 

[suciul]

Finished listening to Last Paladin 2 and 3 by R Savarovsky - luckily, 5 just had the audio out, so I am now listening to 4 and then will see if I get to 5 or listen to Off Indigo Station, but so far the books are really captivating and get even better and more complex, rather than repeating.

If I weren't reading also the Condemned series by V Mahanenko which is gripping in a different way, darker and with more irony rather than outright funny lines (sadly that series has super boring narrator in audio), I am not sure i would have the patience not to blow through the ebooks (there are 8 so far and 5 more to come later this year) at least as long as they stay inventive and keep my interest.

My Goodreads review:

This was the most fun of the three Paladin books so far, as it combined the usual dealing with monsters of both the portal and human-kind with high society balls and intrigue, while developing the universe further; more "pets" appear, a new girl of mystery and interest whose first accidental meeting with Marcus ends with a slap (for good though not directly Marcus' fault as when one needs to escape a sticky situation and ends up in an all women sauna by chance...).

Some new antagonists, as some old get their comeuppance, Beeky the parrot ("heretic?") and Cat the cat ("mraow, can I eat them now?") do their star turns as usual, while Lexa (the astral clan advisor), Victoria (the Princess of the Nature Clan, and on and off girlfriend of Marcus) and Roe (the shadow "nameless" apprentice of Marcus who corrupts his dark "pets") have also quite a few pages.

As usual, the novel starts resolving the semi-cliffhanger of book 2 (mayhem galore) and ends with another semi-cliffhanger, while Marcus gets his tank, his official recognition as Shadow Clan boss and more...

Also mostly listening with some reading here and there as the narration is good too - overall the mixture of funny lines and mayhem still works quite unexpectedly in some ways.

This is when Marcus goes on a diplomatic visit and get a mild-mannered diplomat of the Water Clan quite drunk:

"What was he so mad about anyway?
So what if I shaved his head clean with a katana yesterday? He should be thanking me. That thing was a damn artifact—handcrafted by some respected eastern House and guarded like a family heirloom. The Lakesons had kept it in pristine condition for four generations. Besides, he’s the one who claimed there wasn’t a single swordsman left in the Empire who could properly wield it.
Naturally, I had to prove him wrong.
To honor my victory, Darian took me to a dead spring located in a guest-restricted zone on the southern edge of Dragon’s Foothills.
Fascinating place, really. A bottomless well, about ten feet across, where the water inside dissolved anything it touched.
At first, I tossed in a couple rocks and a pair of guest slippers just to see what would happen. Then Darian joined in. He ordered up an entire cart of junk, and soon we were placing bets on which item would last the longest before disappearing completely."

And the scene letting his people know that he got the tank:

“Let me guess,” Albert said, his voice perfectly calm. “They tied you up and threw you in a river. You swam out and need a van for the loot?”
“You seriously think I’d let them dump me in a river? In the middle of autumn?” I muttered, shivering in the breeze. “They shot me. With a tank.”
“What?” His voice cracked.
“You heard me,” I said, still picking cinders out of my hair. “I’m fine. Just not sure where to stash it now.”
“Stash what?”
“…The tank.”
“You still have it?”
“What did you think this whole trip was about?” I said. “Anyway, reason I’m calling—any of your people tank operators? Also, a garage would be great. I doubt I’m driving it back to the capital.

 

[suciul]

Finished Condemned 6 by V Mahanenko and it was the best of the series to date - darker in some ways, but with still enough ironic fun, lots of universe expansion and a great ending that made starting book 7 immediately a must; my Goodreads review:

Just great fun and exceeding the previous 5 books in the series as the universe is expanded so much more - Max gets more and more involved with both the Dark Clans and the Temple and with the Shurgan Empire and the Citadel - everyone wants to use his irreplaceable skills, and while the powerful ones (Temple and Citadel bigwigs) try and order him around, the smarter ones (Kimal and his new wife Adeline for example) just manipulate him quite easily,

For example Max would be really useful to the Bartolomeo (dark) clan, so why not have Adeline, currently playing two roles, sister of the new Clan leader, so expected to hang around more in the Dark Lands and wife of the Academy Chancellor, so wanting to spend more time in the Zarak Empire and the lands of the Light, "commiting" a few faux passes that conveniently get her "exiled" from her Clan home, get Max entagled with Naira, the Clan beauty whose eigtheenth birthday just happens to fall when Max is visiting and to whom Max gets infatuated on sight, and of course manipulating Max in giving her a gift that essentially results in either Naira having to go on a suicidal mission, or accepting to be Max's bride and him going in her place as a nominally Clan member by his future marriage into the clan, while of course later revealing at precisely the right moment (or the wrong for Naira herself) that the infatuation is just Naira (over) using a special magical scent...

And so it goes, but there are many powers to be who want to play at the highest levels, and some are fanatics who do not care about their personal gain or any other consequences, including their survival, so the question for Max is to determine who is who, since everything may depend on that

Just tons of twists and turns and a dramatic but superb ending that of course requires reading the first few chapters from Book 7 immediately