Reading Fantasy / Horror in November 2026

[Hobbit]

Welcome to November!


Cover of "The Magazine of Fantasy & SF", November 1976 - 50 years ago this month!)

As the clock ticks towards midnight, we pass from Halloween to All Saint’s Day and November. We hope that you’ve found our traditional Countdown to Halloween entertaining and useful.

Last month's thread is HERE.

Now that it is November, this thread has the usual message - this thread is where you tell us about what you've been reading in Fantasy and Horror this month.

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


Hobbit/Mark

 

[Westy]

I finished reading Victorious, the final book in the Villians trilogy by VE Schwab. A very similar experience to the other two books; great plotting and keeping track of multiple POV's, with an interesting take on the super hero story. If I had to gripe it would be the final showdown felt a little routine; I definitely liked the first half of the book better. But on the whole a great series.

 

[blailock]

I finished The Troop by Nick Cutter.
I loved this book. Talk about making you uncomfortable and creeped out, this does that in spades. The setting was great and the premise was pretty cool too. I highly recommend this one.

 

[blailock]

I finished Heart-Shaped Box
This is my first Joe Hill book, and it definitely won't be the last. I really loved the characters in this one. I don't care for a lot of ghost stories, but I had no problems with this one. Shout out to Angus and Bon, too. Highly recommended for those that haven't tried Joe Hill yet.

 

[blailock]

I finished my 3rd reading of A Night in the Lonesome October
I think I pick out more new things every time I read this one. How can you not fall in love with Snuff? He's such a good boy!

 

[chitman13]

He Who Fights With Monsters Vol 2 by Shirtaloon - much like the first, enjoyable and despite the size a quick listen. I'll likely continue with the series because it's generally easy going and even with the LitRPG stuff I didn't feel too bogged down.

Trad Wife by Sarah Langan - saw Stephen King recommend this so gave it a go. Started off fairly standard, but there were definitely things hinted at even early on to suggest this wasn't a normal story. Thought it paid off quite well and definitely more enjoyable than Yesteryear that it can be compared to.

 

[ArtNJ]

2/3rds of the way through The Fires of December, one of Sanderson's one off cosmere books. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HGDM4DPP/?bestFormat=true&k=the fires of december&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-bk-ww_k0_1_17_de&crid=3M2C0Q7589RXV&sprefix=the fires od dece Of Sanderson's recent "one offs" I'd recommend The Sunlit Man and Isles of the Emberdark. I also liked Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi The Nightmare Painter. So far, this novel falls a bit short, although perhaps some of that is just my take on it, as the ratings are fine.

Why does this one fall short? For one, the central plot device is inherently a bit annoying. The heroine, December, seemingly lives an unfortunate life until dying at age 80 something and reawakening as a 21 year old wanting to prevent the coming plague she lived through. While redos are a familiar plot device that I have no problem with, Sanderson makes a TON of the wisdom and compusure of an 80 year old in a 21 year old body. Everyone can just see it in the way December acts, mistaking her for a noble. I found the constant use of this device tiresome.

Secondly, the imagined world is just a bit duller and less imaginative than many of Sanderson's others, especially in December's first life. Perhaps this is changing somewhat as the book enters the final third, but usually Sanderson's imagination has impressed long before this point.

Overall, the book seems to be just OK.

 

[Fryan]

I’ve been busy and haven’t had much reading time lately, so I’ve been slowly working my way through Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay. It’s my first Kay read in many years. It’s nice to be reading his brand of historical fiction/fantasy again after some time away. Good character-driven stuff. Though I’d say this one feels even lighter on the fantasy elements than the other books I’ve read from him in the past.

Overall, really enjoying this, and I have no idea how he’s gonna manage to wrap up all the various character’s plot arcs in the 100 or so pages I have left.

 

[Raf]

Finished "The Song of the Vampire" by Steve McHugh. Book 4 of The "Assembly" series. This story seemed a bit too formulaic for the MC and his on going story. But I really like the characters and that lets me overlook some of the story weaknesses.

In hiding after the very public awareness of his part in the event of thelast book (great story that one). Miles Watson shelters in a Great House run by the ancient vampire (Drest) who turned him a thousand years ago. And finds himself drawn into solving an assassination attempt on a popular Vampire entertainer. Who also happens to be an old lover from decades past.

Lots of vampire / human politics in a story set in London. As usual, the action scenes are well done and I really like the relationship between Miles and Church (his genetically modified Doberman...rescued from a lab years ago). Next book out around April 2027. Good series.

 

[Hobbit]

Current reading.... The Wounds of Albion by Michael Moorcock.




Part autobiography, part fantasy, this is the last in the Sanctuary of White Friars trilogy.

It mixes Moorcock's own life with a portal type fantasy of a hidden world in London. It is engaging - what could be seen as a rambling monologue is actually quite clever and some of the prose is lovely. He has had an interesting life, from writing for magazines like Tarzan Adventures and Eagle to his own writing (Erekose, Eternal Champion, Elric, the multiverse) to editor of New Worlds magazine in the 1960s, musician in Hawkwind and Motorhead.... all mixed in with a fantasy land and fictional characters.

Is being hinted at being Moorcock's last major work. (He is 86.)

 

[T77]

Mark's post reminded me that I finished Moorcock's Elric of Melibone volume 1 recently. He has been on my TBR for a long time, this is the first book of his that I've read. I enjoyed it - 4/5. I loved the world-building.

 

[Hobbit]

Mark's post reminded me that I finished Moorcock's Elric of Melibone volume 1 recently. He has been on my TBR for a long time, this is the first book of his that I've read. I enjoyed it - 4/5. I loved the world-building.

Very pleased you liked it, T. They are not for everyone, and have dated a little, but great worldbuilding, as you say.


Is the Volume 1 the Saga Press edition with a Foreword by someone now not to be mentioned? I gather in later editions that person's story/Introduction will be removed (which I didn't like myself anyway, actually.) But the Moorcock stuff is (In My Opinion) good stuff.

 

[T77]

Very pleased you liked it, T. They are not for everyone, and have dated a little, but great worldbuilding, as you say.

View attachment 1118
Is the Volume 1 the Saga Press edition with a Foreword by someone now not to be mentioned? I gather in later editions that person's story/Introduction will be removed (which I didn't like myself anyway, actually.) But the Moorcock stuff is (In My Opinion) good stuff.

That was the exact edition Mark that I read with the Foreward. It was an audibook from the library. Agreed, I thought it was solid fantasy.

 

[Fryan]

I finished up Children of Earth and Sky yesterday. Overall it was a good read. It was a good reminder of how Kay can deliver a high level of quality even when he’s not at his best. His writing in this one is good, but plot-wise and tension-wise I thought this was just okay. It sort of felt like he liked his characters too much to actually put them through the wringer all that much. There were also some times when it felt like he was flexing his research a bit much and it bogged the story down.

It also dragged a bit at the end. I thought he had come to a really nice, beautiful conclusion with a really wonderful ending sentence. But it turned out he was just wrapping up one character’s thread and he had another 50-70 pages of wrap up to go for a couple of characters where I thought the extra story detail was unnecessary. I guess when you get this deep into your career you get more editing leeway.

Despite those issues I had, this was really good and it rekindled my love for Kay’s work. I’ll be reading more of his stuff soon.

 

[suciul]

Finished Penitent by CB Titus (series debut on K+ - in the "I want to be cooler" rebranding stuff, KU has recently become Kindle+ and extra stuff has been supposedly added - not sure yet what) with volume 2 available and 3 soon); the blurb compared it with Soldier's Life (AlwaysRollsAOne) which has become a huge favorite, so I gave it a try, and while it takes a while to get going, it gets quite interesting towards the end, so I jumped in volume 2, which is excellent so far and moves much better. My short Goodreads review and blurb below:

Interesting premise in the reincarnation to another body subgenre and setting and universe with a lot of promise, though the book takes a while to get going - overall while it drags considerably in places, I liked it enough to keep going and once the rules and setting develop, it definitely moves better and the pages start turning by themselves.

A very good series debut with great potential if the balance between exposition and action/storyline keeps improving.

Blurb:

"An action-packed and gritty Progression Fantasy LitRPG Isekai perfect for fans of A Soldier's Life and Bastion.

Power is earned through the scars of battle.
Michael didn't want to die. He didn't deserve to die. After a lost battle with cancer that started only a year after he retired, he'd lived what many people would call a full life, but it wasn't enough.
He wanted more time.
When he found himself drawn toward the light, he fought his way away from it. Unfortunately, that didn't take him back to the life he wanted to live.
Reincarnated in another world, Michael is forced to be a Penitent, a soldier in the country he was reborn into in order to pay a debt to society he owes for taking the life of the child whose body he inhabits. It's not the life he wants, but it's the only one he has.
Because titles are earned. Deeds are written. And power is forged in battle."

 

[RedMage]

One of my other Halloween reads is Kim Newman's Johnny Alucard, book 4 in his Anno Dracula series. I'm 1/4 of the way through the Kindle version. The series is set in a world where Van Helsing, the Harker's and others failed to stop Count Dracula.

Book 1 is set at the time of the Stoker's original book and primarily follows an investigation into Jack the Ripper and deals with hundreds, maybe thousands of newly turned vampires in London.

Book 2 is set during World War I with the main antagonist being a vampiric Red Baron and his squad, all who turns into a giant bats to take on the Entente's airplanes.

Book 3 has a lot of James Bond in it, with Dracula getting married in Rome in the late 1950s and the protagonists (humans and good vampires) rooting for an assassin of vampires to kill Dracula, while also trying to stop the assassin before they are killed.

This Book 4 is set in the 1970s, involves Francis Ford Coppola in Transylvania making a Dracula film, Andy Warhol in New York City and... I don't know who or what else yet. It's different than the previous entries in the series, as it seems to be following several different narratives that will, hopefully, weave together. All the books are multi-POV, but the previous three's POVs all formed one, cohesive story. I expect this one will too, and I just haven't reached that point yet. I'm enjoying it!

View attachment 1097

I finally finished Johnny Alucard last night. Vampires and Dracula come to New York, New York in the 1970s, move slowly across the continent and fetch up in California in the 1980s, exploring Americana of the period, including Hollywood and the growing drug culture. All with vampires!

It was a wonderful read in the end. As always with Newman, I especially enjoyed the historical figures, literary and pop culture figures that appeared throughout the book. Andy Warhol, Francis Ford Coppola, a number of big name actors and other Hollywood people since the mid 1960s. Buffy (Vampire Slayer comma The) and her "Overlooker" as the Giles-character was called in the book.

This fourth novel in the series read as far more disjointed in structure than the previous three. I picked up on this in the first third, and was gratified that Newman stated in his Acknowledgements at the end that portions of the novel had, indeed, been previously published as individual novellas and listed the titles and previous publication info for the individual novellas. There were quite a few!

 

[ArtNJ]

Finished Penitent by CB Titus (series debut on K+ - in the "I want to be cooler" rebranding stuff, KU has recently become Kindle+ and extra stuff has been supposedly added - not sure yet what) with volume 2 available and 3 soon); the blurb compared it with Soldier's Life (AlwaysRollsAOne) which has become a huge favorite, so I gave it a try, and while it takes a while to get going, it gets quite interesting towards the end, so I jumped in volume 2, which is excellent so far and moves much better. My short Goodreads review and blurb below:

Interesting premise in the reincarnation to another body subgenre and setting and universe with a lot of promise, though the book takes a while to get going - overall while it drags considerably in places, I liked it enough to keep going and once the rules and setting develop, it definitely moves better and the pages start turning by themselves.

A very good series debut with great potential if the balance between exposition and action/storyline keeps improving.

Blurb:

"An action-packed and gritty Progression Fantasy LitRPG Isekai perfect for fans of A Soldier's Life and Bastion.

Power is earned through the scars of battle.
Michael didn't want to die. He didn't deserve to die. After a lost battle with cancer that started only a year after he retired, he'd lived what many people would call a full life, but it wasn't enough.
He wanted more time.
When he found himself drawn toward the light, he fought his way away from it. Unfortunately, that didn't take him back to the life he wanted to live.
Reincarnated in another world, Michael is forced to be a Penitent, a soldier in the country he was reborn into in order to pay a debt to society he owes for taking the life of the child whose body he inhabits. It's not the life he wants, but it's the only one he has.
Because titles are earned. Deeds are written. And power is forged in battle."

I like Downtown Druid by the same author a bit bitter, but Amazon ratings have it slightly the other way with Penitent at 4.8 and Downtown Druid at 4.6.

 

[suciul]

I like Downtown Druid by the same author a bit bitter, but Amazon ratings have it slightly the other way with Penitent at 4.8 and Downtown Druid at 4.6.

I will take a look at that (Downtown Druid - Titus) too - almost done with Penitent-2 (Titus) though it's still not quite at the level it could be at least for me - not sure why, as the universe has been expanding (seeing more places, more races, more monsters, learnning more about the background of the universe including the Gods and their role etc) as well as having new interesting charactees, but the writing still doesn't quite click, flows well in parts and then kind of grounds to a halt - Soldier's Life was a bit rough too at the beggining, but once the universe was established it really started moving well - maybe the first person there vs the third person in Penitent is the difference as when done well first person narrations are my favorites by far; anyway will probably try book 3 when it appears in January, though depending on how Penitent 2 goes it may or may not be a priority