Reading SF in May 2026

It's been almost all sci-fi for me this month. A new release, a self pub, and continuing an acclaimed series.

I read The Faith of Beasts by James S.A. Corey. I have such a hard time putting into words why I've liked the two novels published in this series so much. The term "competency porn" keeps coming to mind. I just really enjoy watching these characters be really good at what they do while also having to deal with the wildly oppressive situation they find themselves in.

Next, I gave Guardian Outcast by G J Ogden a shot, but I did not finish it. Not sure how far I got. Maybe half way? I thought it started out more promising than other self pubs I've attempted to read, mostly in terms of the prose. Not that the prose was really good but it was good enough. However, the story was not hooking me. Too straightforward. And the point where I dropped off of it was when a character got fridged.

Finally, I've completed and am in the process of reading some Vorkosigan Saga stories by Lois McMaster Bujold. It had been much too long since I read The Warrior's Apprentice back in November 2025, so I'm determined to stop spacing these out so much. I started my return to the series with the short story The Mountains of Mourning which I thought was a great little detective procedural.

I continued on to the next story in the author's recommended reading list with The Vor Game. That's the book that made me realize I took too long to get back to this series, because while I remembered lots of names of the Dendarii Mercenaries, I had trouble remembering what they had done in Warrior's or much of their character traits. However, Bujold is a great writer. And probably knows there would be people like me who couldn't remember. So there's plenty of expertly placed reminders in there. Anyway! The book was another great one. Miles once again finds himself in the middle of interplanetary conflicts threatening to become all-out wars, through certainly no fault of his own. Wink wink. Watching Miles maneuver through the various conflicts with mounting high stakes doesn't seem to get old for me. And as a bonus, Bujold is funny as hell.

Alright, I'm almost done. And I'm almost done with Cetaganda, the next Vorkosigan novel. I'm 2/3 of the way through it. Shaping up to be even better than The Vor Game. This one is far less action packed, and focuses more on a single planet and people foreign to Miles. The intrigue is strong in this one. Miles must quickly learn the high society norms and political situation on a planet his homeworld has been at war with in the past in order to avoid being framed into starting another one. Or at least that's what seems to be the case at this point of the story. Once again, more of Miles being a brilliant investigator, and I think Bujold got even funnier. Very much looking forward to seeing how this one wraps up.
 
I finished up Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space. A perfectly middle of the road read for me. I liked certain aspects of it the ideas were cool, the tech and setting were fascinating, especially the lighthugger ships, and those super-suits they wore from time to time. The characters and overall feel of the book reminded me a bit of the “Grimdark” style of epic fantasy. I was also pretty curious to unravel the central mystery at the heart of the book.

However, the writing was certainly not all that polished, I found myself predicting major plot points well in advance of their “reveals”, and the characters all lacked nuance.

So, while this was generally a decent read, I can’t really see myself going back for the rest of series. There wasn’t enough that made me hungry for more. Unless someone can convince me that I’ll be really missing out.

For now, my next read will be When There are Wolves Again by EJ Swift. I’ve had my eye on this on for a while and when ebook came available at a price friendly to my budget, I jumped on it. I see the book is dedicated to Nina Allan and Christopher Priest, which is a good omen! Priest is a top 3 writer for me.
 
Fryan said:
However, the writing was certainly not all that polished, I found myself predicting major plot points well in advance of their “reveals”, and the characters all lacked nuance.
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I felt the same about Chasm City, the only one of his I have read. It was interesting but somehow lacked any charm. The polar opposite of a writer like Jack Vance who propels his murky plots forwards with literally bucket loads of charm (or a bunch of charm, as Americans would say :D )
 
Ropie said:
I felt the same about Chasm City, the only one of his I have read. It was interesting but somehow lacked any charm. The polar opposite of a writer like Jack Vance who propels his murky plots forwards with literally bucket loads of charm (or a bunch of charm, as Americans would say :D )
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I definitely need to address the rather large Vance-shaped hole in my personal reading history.
 
Fryan said:
I definitely need to address the rather large Vance-shaped hole in my personal reading history.
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I feel the same about Christopher Priest, never read any of his work despite many positive statements on this forum. Libby only has one audio book, ‘The Prestige’ I will start it tomorrow as I drive.
 
mylinar said:
I feel the same about Christopher Priest, never read any of his work despite many positive statements on this forum. Libby only has one audio book, ‘The Prestige’ I will start it tomorrow as I drive.
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I'm with Frayn, Priest is one of my top 3 favourite authors. The Prestige is probably his most 'mainstream' book and it has some plot holes, but it's great fun trying to piece it all together in your head.
 
I originally came across Priest many years ago thanks to this forum so it’s nice to see it still happening for others as well! The Prestige was also my entry point into his works. It’s probably his most accessible, but also representative of his unique brand of storytelling.
 
I finished two this month. Platform Decay by Martha Wells, which is the 8th(?) installment in the Murderbot series. It was more of the same and I'd give it a "meh", at best. I probably should have stopped reading these about 5 books ago. The only good things I can really say about this one is that it was short and I didn't pay for it. (Glad to have a decent library system.)

I also finished Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky today. This is the latest novel in the Children of Time series. And just like with the last two entries - I was underwhelmed. I feel like the first book in the two series I read of his were great, but they peter out from there. This one in particular was just really weird.

After a slight detour for some non SF stuff, I'm going to try to dig into a new (to me) trilogy and a standalone by Neal Stephenson. Hopefully, they can get me out of my SF funk.
 
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krisbslick said:
I finished two this month. Platform Decay by Martha Wells, which is the 8th(?) installment in the Murderbot series. It was more of the same and I'd give it a "meh", at best. I probably should have stopped reading these about 5 books ago. The only good things I can really say about this one is that it was short and I didn't pay for it. (Glad to have a decent library system.)

I also finished Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky today. This is the latest novel in the Children of Time series. And just like with the last two entries - I was underwhelmed. I feel like the first book in the two series I read of his were great, but they peter out from there. This one in particular was just really weird.
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Agree with both; more of the same/underwhelming.
 
Speaking of underwhelming, I started on Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga with Shards of Honor.
It's really not very well written (imo). Do these get any better as they go along?
 
AtramentousFlux said:
Speaking of underwhelming, I started on Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga with Shards of Honor.
It's really not very well written (imo). Do these get any better as they go along?
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It's been a while, but I liked them when I read them: especially Memory & Mirror Dance, but some are better than others. Might have dated though!
 
Today I have been reading the second Asimov autobiography, In Joy Still Felt. Anyone interested in SF of the 1950's and 60's would enjoy, I think. I found it fascinating. The Good Doctor is far from perfect, but he admits to many of his faults, even if it is a product of its age. Of course, being an autobiography, it may not be the whole tale: Astounding by Alec Nevala-Lee tells a slightly different version, of course.

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Everonn said:
It's been almost all sci-fi for me this month. A new release, a self pub, and continuing an acclaimed series.

I read The Faith of Beasts by James S.A. Corey. I have such a hard time putting into words why I've liked the two novels published in this series so much. The term "competency porn" keeps coming to mind. I just really enjoy watching these characters be really good at what they do while also having to deal with the wildly oppressive situation they find themselves in.
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I read the first one and wasn't too sure what I thought overall because of the slow ramp up, which seemed more typical of longer books. As I recall, it was quite slow for perhaps 150-200 pages or so (maybe half the book). Once it got going it was quite good, but it just wasn't a good book to read before book 2 was out. Not enough there (at that time) for me to worry about following the series. With your recommendation, I'll definitely put book 2 on the list!
 
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I finished up When there are Wolves Again by EJ Swift.

I started out liking it quite a bit but as the book went on my feelings for it started to fade away. Mostly because there wasn’t much tension to keep me engaged as the story progressed.

It was cool to see how they worked to solve some of the climate challenges facing the UK, but it all felt a bit too easily done and had a bit of that saccharine “cozy” feel that I’m too much of a curmudgeon for.

I’ll be shocked if this isn’t at least a nominee for the Ursula Le Guin prize this year. I will say, I liked Swift’s writing and will likely check out some of the other tiles in the author’s bibliography in the future.
 
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Finished Matt Dinniman's A Parade of Horribles, book 8 in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I enjoyed this more than the past couple, mostly becase itseemed to be less dense with less information thrown at you, but that really isn't saying much given how much is thrown at you. I really hope he nails the landing with this series.
 
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God's Junk Drawer by Peter Clines, narrated by the always excellent Ray Porter. Really enjoyed this one, and it kept me hooked pretty much throughout. Hard to say too much without spoilers, but suffice to say a solid idea executed very well.
 
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