Reading SF in April 2026

[Fryan]

I finished up Silverberg’s Dying Inside. I really liked it quite a lot in terms of story, prose, and execution.

Though, boy does it show its vintage here and there with some utterly cringey moments around gender, race and sexuality. I’m pretty sure there was a mention of every woman’s breasts that the main character crossed paths with. (Even his sister).

Of course, a lot of that could just be Silverberg’s depiction of the main character who is an utter louse.

 

[Westy]

some utterly cringey moments around gender, race and sexuality.

Yeah have found that in a few of his books too - Up the Line being the worst, some very cringeworthy and tasteless moments there.

Others not as much - I thought Downward to the Earth was excellent and the best of his I've read.

 

[Westy]

I finished a reread of Consider Phlebas as I'd forgotten quite a bit of it. Pretty good overall, but not great (it did drag a bit at times).

But the chapter called The Eaters still stands as one of the more memorable sections of prose I've read.

 

[suciul]

I finished a reread of Consider Phlebas as I'd forgotten quite a bit of it. Pretty good overall, but not great (it did drag a bit at times).

But the chapter called The Eaters still stands as one of the more memorable sections of prose I've read.

Hundred percent agree about the Eaters chapter, though the Damage Game on Vavatch and the first few pages with the drowning in refuse execution are also as memorable as sf goes...

Back on topic finished listening to Adamant 5 - Broken Prince - by G Stewart and it just added an extra dimension to a superb book and now book 6, Wildcard has become a huge, huge asap - this series, with a combination of shout to the Honorverse prewormhole eg Manticore Ascendant plus the author's intriguing tiered technology development centered on distance from Earth (wormholes plus light years) which he uses in other series too is just getting more and more awesome; not to speak of the classical inspired stuff like the battlecruiser Porthos and the d'Artagnan class warships, the Richelieu Directorate as the main local baddies, with the Earth transnationals as the real baddies so far - though who knows an "Alignment" like the euphemistically named Equilibrium Institute in the Scattered Stars series may lurk behind all...

Now starting listening to The Pilgrim and the Wolf (third in Humanity's Leap - the read was excellent but when the audio came out quite a few months later I was in the middle of other stuff so decided to wait until book 4 is close or out), by CS Garrand and reading Severant by same author, the fourth in the series which just has been published

 

[Fryan]

Yeah have found that in a few of his books too - Up the Line being the worst, some very cringeworthy and tasteless moments there.

Others not as much - I thought Downward to the Earth was excellent and the best of his I've read.

Good to know. I still have A Time of Changes, Book of Skulls, and a short story collection of his on my shelf, plus a few others on my wishlist.

 

[Fryan]

I finished a reread of Consider Phlebas as I'd forgotten quite a bit of it. Pretty good overall, but not great (it did drag a bit at times).

But the chapter called The Eaters still stands as one of the more memorable sections of prose I've read.

I just bought an ebook copy of this the other day as I’ve been wanting to dive back into Banks’ Culture books again after reading Use of Weapons and Player of Games many years ago. It seems like this one divides fandom more so than others. I’ve even seen people suggest it as not the best starting place for the series.

 

[AtramentousFlux]

Banks’ Culture books

For me, I really like the idea of the Culture series. Unfortunately, I don't really like any of the actual books

 

[Westy]

For me, I really like the idea of the Culture series. Unfortunately, I don't really like any of the actual books

I've found that myself mostly too - didn't mind Consider Phlebas and thought Player of Games was good, but couldn't get into any after that (and tried at least three).

 

[Ropie]

For me, I really like the idea of the Culture series. Unfortunately, I don't really like any of the actual books

I've read most of them a) because I love his non-genre work and b) because of their easy availability second hand, at least in the UK, because he sold billions of them. They all have great covers too, which I'm sure helped that statistic. But yes most of them as stories ultimately left me a bit cold. Against a Dark Background is a favourite though.

 

[Fryan]

I've read most of them a) because I love his non-genre work and b) because of their easy availability second hand, at least in the UK, because he sold billions of them. They all have great covers too, which I'm sure helped that statistic. But yes most of them as stories ultimately left me a bit cold. Against a Dark Background is a favourite though.

I’ve enjoyed the non-genre stuff of his I’ve read as well. (Crow Road and The Wasp Factory).

I’m dipping in and out of Jo Walton’s What Makes this Book so Great. I’ve read very little so far, but enjoying what I’ve read.

 

[krisbslick]

I finished both The Mercy of Gods and Livesuit in the Captives War series by the James S.A. Corey duo. This was my first time through both, since I was waiting for the second book to come out. They were very different and I had some thoughts.

The Mercy of Gods kind of threw me a little bit - I kept waiting for something 'epic' to happen after the first part, but nothing really did. For authors who are known for having huge events take place on a solar system's scale with their Expanse novels, this one took place mostly in like two rooms with only a handful of characters who aren't really that likable IMO. I'm not saying it was bad for what it was, I was just looking for something.. bigger in scope, I guess? I will say I was interested to see where the plot was heading, so it had that going for it. I'm giving it a little bit of a pass since this could be exposition material for the rest of the trilogy. I know it got good reviews, but did anyone else feel this way?

Livesuit was way more along the lines of what I thought I was getting into. Almost more action in this short story than the whole first book lol. Not really sure how the two are connected yet. I wouldn't have been able to tell they were even in the same universe, if I didn't know already ahead of time.

Anyways, I'm continuing with the series and onto The Faith of Beasts, to probably mostly forget the overall storyline in time for the release of the third book.

 

[Westy]

The Mercy of Gods kind of threw me a little bit - I kept waiting for something 'epic' to happen after the first part, but nothing really did. For authors who are known for having huge events take place on a solar system's scale with their Expanse novels, this one took place mostly in like two rooms with only a handful of characters who aren't really that likable IMO. I'm not saying it was bad for what it was, I guess I just looking for something.. bigger in scope, I guess? I will say I was interested to see where the plot was heading, so it had that going for it. I'm giving it a little bit of a pass since this could be exposition material for the rest of the trilogy. I know it got good reviews, but did anyone else feel this way?

Not for me I thought it was really good - great pacing, the realistic squalor the captors are in, aliens that feel truly alien - but maybe as I came in with no expectations at all made a difference? Thought Livesuit was a great novella too.

 

[AtramentousFlux]

The Mercy of Gods ... did anyone else feel this way?

No, not here. It kept me engaged and am about to start The Faith of Beasts.

 

[krisbslick]

Not for me I thought it was really good - great pacing, the realistic squalor the captors are in, aliens that feel truly alien - but maybe as I came in with no expectations at all made a difference? Thought Livesuit was a great novella too.

Maybe that's it then. I did have expectations, different expectations. But maybe you touched on it indirectly too - I am absolutely appalled by the setting lol.

 

[Raf]

Finished Book 1 of Jonathan Maberry's "The Sleepers War: Alpha Wave".

This is my first Maberry read. I've seen him mentioned here and other places for his horror work, but he writes damn good space opera too.

The human race expands across the universe with the discovery of an FTL drive. Always pushing further and further out until, suddenly they encounter The Flock. An aggressive avian invader species whose science and expansion are powered by ancient alien tech.

Humanity is outnumbered and outfought by the elite "Raptor" divisions. In desperation, scientists and geneticists create a new type of human. Top tier special forces are transformed into super soldiers whose battles turn the tide of the war causing the Flock to sue for peace. The human super soldiers are now unwelcome in human space and are asked to cryo-sleep for a few months until things settle down.

And in their defeat, the Flock insinuate themselves into the fabric of the human society and systems. Basically, becoming slaves for 200 yrs. Then they revolt and take over all of human space, destroying entire worlds with scavenged alien technology.

The human Resistance has been searching for the "Sleepers" for 14 years to assist humanity in taking back what has been lost. But will the Sleepers, once woken, want to assist the system that forced them into 214 years of cryo-sleep?

Great story. Already started the 2nd novel in the series, "Savage Dreams". This one was just published a few days ago and I can't see an end to the series in one more book. So, I have to assume there will, at least, be a trilogy. But who knows nowadays. Could go on forever.

 

[mylinar]

I am abandoning ‘There is no Antimemetic Division’ by QNTM.
I listened to the early part till Marie gives the previous boss of the division the youth drug to recover memories. It was very interesting but I couldn’t hear the narrator’s quiet voice well enough
After 11 weeks wait I got a prose version from Libby and started over. Managed to read 2/3 when I quit. The author apparently forgot to include a story in his writing.
Looking up stuff I found out about SCP & its shared world and relationship to this book. Unimpressed I am. From a Yank I think you could take any random Benny Hill show and turn its episodes into a novel and it would turn out similar.

 

[mylinar]

I am abandoning ‘There is no Antimemetic Division’ by QNTM.
I listened to the early part till Marie gives the previous boss of the division the youth drug to recover memories. It was very interesting but I couldn’t hear the narrator’s quiet voice well enough
After 11 weeks wait I got a prose version from Libby and started over. Managed to read 2/3 when I quit. The author apparently forgot to include a story in his writing.
Looking up stuff I found out about SCP & its shared world and relationship to this book. Unimpressed I am. From a Yank I think you could take any random Benny Hill show and turn its episodes into a novel and it would turn out similar.

I forgot to add the book is horror/fantasy with a veneer of SF while clearly Benny Hill is comedy (except for the singing parts LOL)

 

[AtramentousFlux]

‘There is no Antimemetic Division’ by QNTM

I think the book itself is a Keter-class object. I quite liked it.

 

[Fryan]

I am abandoning ‘There is no Antimemetic Division’ by QNTM.
I listened to the early part till Marie gives the previous boss of the division the youth drug to recover memories. It was very interesting but I couldn’t hear the narrator’s quiet voice well enough
After 11 weeks wait I got a prose version from Libby and started over. Managed to read 2/3 when I quit. The author apparently forgot to include a story in his writing.
Looking up stuff I found out about SCP & its shared world and relationship to this book. Unimpressed I am. From a Yank I think you could take any random Benny Hill show and turn its episodes into a novel and it would turn out similar.

I recently picked up an ebook copy of this when it was deeply discounted. Haven’t read it yet. I feel like people tend to either love or dislike it from what I’ve seen online.

I did enjoy Valuable Humans in Transit by qntm when I read it late last year. Nice slim little collection of short SF.

 

[Westy]

I am abandoning ‘There is no Antimemetic Division’ by QNTM.
I listened to the early part till Marie gives the previous boss of the division the youth drug to recover memories. It was very interesting but I couldn’t hear the narrator’s quiet voice well enough
After 11 weeks wait I got a prose version from Libby and started over. Managed to read 2/3 when I quit. The author apparently forgot to include a story in his writing.
Looking up stuff I found out about SCP & its shared world and relationship to this book. Unimpressed I am. From a Yank I think you could take any random Benny Hill show and turn its episodes into a novel and it would turn out similar.

I can understand why some wouldn't like it, but it was a big win for me - mind-bending, creepy and with a dose of cosmic horror, it was refreshingly different. Will be re-reading down the track.