Book 50 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
As is common for this era of Trek lit, a serviceable entry. I figured out the mystery early enough that the rest was just waiting for the characters to catch up.
Books
I read…a lot. Here’s where I ramble about books and printed media.
120 Murders edited by Nick Mamatas
Book 49 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Anthology of dark, noir-ish fiction inspired by the music (and memories) of the ’90s alternative scene. My favorites were Veronica Schanoes’s “Wendy, Growing Up”, Alex Jennings’s “We’ve Been Had”, Brian Francis Slattery’s “Never Let Me Down”, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Superstition”, and Cyan Katz’s “The Show Must Go On”.
Two additional notes: This is the debut publication for Cyan, whom I’ve known since we were both running around in the 90’s alternative scene in Anchorage, Alaska, and I’m thrilled for them; and I’m sorely tempted to make a playlist/”mixtape” of the inspirational tracks for all the stories in this anthology.
Billions vs. Billionaires edited by Nick Mamatas
Book 48 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fun short little ‘zine I got at the Seattle Worldcon. Very enjoyably anti-Elon.
Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way by Ryan North and Chris Fenoglio
Book 47 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ordered this just after it won the Best Graphic Novel Hugo award this year. The combination of choose-your-own-adventure plotting and Lower Decks humor works really well. Lots of humor and various Trek callbacks, but with some surprisingly dark moments as well, all leading to a fittingly Trek-ish end. Much fun!
Clarkesworld Issue 226 edited by Neil Clarke
Book 45 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
My favorites this month were “Missing Helen” by Tia Tashiro, “The Walled Garden” by Fiona Moore (another of her excellent Morag stories), “Welcome to Kearney” by Gary Kloster, and “Hunter Harvester” by Bam Bruin.
Blaze of Glory by Simon Hawke
Book 44 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rather amusingly, this is the second of two consecutive TNG novels with a piracy theme. This one is much better, because it doesn’t have a Ferengi speaking like they learned English from Disney’s Long John Silver. Otherwise, a perfectly serviceable TNG adventure; nothing really stands out for good or ill.
The Unsinkable Ship of Fools by Jonas Goonface
Book 43 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fun story with a definite anarchistic political sensibility about a group of people (some human, some…less so), trapped on a cursed train…oh, and it’s smut, so there’s lots of explicit sex. One of Iron Circus’s standalone erotic graphic novels, outside of their Smut Peddler line, but with the same gender/sexuality/ability/body type inclusivity that they focus on.
The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 3 by Martha Wells
Book 42 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(Collects Fugitive Telemetry and System Collapse.)
The final two Murderbot novellas (so far), though the novel Network Effect takes place between them, so I read the first half of this book, paused to read the novel, and came back to finish this off. As good as the rest, and Murderbot and ART make such a good pair of characters.
Network Effect by Martha Wells
Book 41 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2021 Hugo Best Novel
These are just so good. Kidnapping, rescues, mysterious ships and colonies, and all with Murderbot’s eternally exasperated outlook on the humans around it…who for some reason, keep causing it to have to deal with emotions. The first novel in the series gets a slightly grander scope and cast of characters, but still easily holds true to the heart of it all.
