Books

I read…a lot. Here’s where I ramble about books and printed media.

Polostan by Neal Stephenson

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Book 18 of 2025: Polostan by Neal Stephenson: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

On the one hand, it’s basically all setup — it very much feels like Stephenson wrote another 1,000-plus page opus and the publisher cut it down into more manageable pieces. On the other, if you’re the type who enjoys Stephenson’s 1,000-page plus opuses, it’s captivating and engrossing setup, as he sets the stage with events in 1930s America and the Soviet Union, with his usual digressions and fixations on whatever minutiae have captured his fancy. Hopefully it won’t be too long between volumes, as it’s a minor pity that I can’t just read the full story in one go.

Me holding Polostan

Requiem by Kevin Ryan and Michael Jan Friedman

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Book 17 of 2025: Requiem by Kevin Ryan and Michael Jan Friedman: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Picard gets thrown back in time to Cestus III – just days before the Federation’s disastrous first contact with the Gorn (well, first contact before Strange New Worlds started up…I’m still unclear how they’re reconciling that whole thing, but that’s not for here…). Fleshes out the story of the Cestus III colony in really good ways, with a standard but perfectly acceptable framing story as the Enterprise tries to get Picard back.

Me holding Enigma

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

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Book 16 of 2025: Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A hilarious Eurovision-in-space with humanity’s very existence at stake. I love Valente’s near stream-of-consciousness style and descriptions that draw very well deserved comparisons to Douglas Adams. Great, and I’m both looking forward to reading the recently released sequel and seeing Valente at Norwescon in a month.

Me holding Space Opera

Uncanny Magazine Issue 63 edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas

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Book 14 of 2025: Uncanny Magazine Issue 63 edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

My favorites this issue were “10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days” by Samantha Mills, “Butterfly Pavilion” by G. Willow Wilson, and “Infinite Halves by J.L. Akagi.

Me holding Uncanny 63 on my iPad

A Very British Murder by Lucy Worsley

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Book 13 of 2025: A Very British Murder by Lucy Worsley: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Historian Lucy Worsley looks at the growth of murder (fictional and real) as entertainment in British media. Fascinating and a lot of fun to read; if you’ve ever enjoyed one if Worsley’s TV historical documentaries (we’ve become big fans), this has the same humor, and it’s decidedly her voice.

Me holding A Very British Murder

Clarkesworld Issue 221 edited by Neil Clarke

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Book 12 of 2025: Clarkesworld Issue 221 edited by Neil Clarke: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

My favorites this month were “King of the Castle” by Fiona Moore and “The Hanging Tower of Babel” by Wang Zhenzhen, translated by Carmen Yiling Yan.

Also, this is the fourth consecutive story by Fiona Moore, all in the same world and with the same central characters (particularly Morag and her repurposed security robot Seamus), that has ended up as one of my favorites when they appear in Clarkesworld. She’s writing the kind of post-apocalyptic stores that really resonate for me, where the immediate post-apocalyptic part and all associated Bad Things That Happen have already happened, and society has moved on to finding ways to reconnect and rebuild. Post-post-apocalyptic, I suppose. Much more my style of story than the standard post-apocalyptic tale of people trapped in bad situations and having to cope with horrible things happening to them.

The stories I’ve read (I haven’t yet dug to see if there are more in this world) are:

Me holding Clarkesworld 221 on my iPad.

Simple Sabotage Field Manual by the United States Office of Strategic Services

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Book 11 of 2025: Simple Sabotage Field Manual by the United States Office of Strategic Services: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A fascinating little World War II artifact that in some ways can still be quite relevant. Sure, much of this is very much of its time, and many of the more specific suggestions are technologically obsolete now. But the broad strokes, and especially the oft-screenshotted section advising office workers on ways to slow down beaurocratic functions, are as useful today as ever. If, of course, you ever happen to find yourself in a situation where an autocratic fascist regime is in power and you have reason and opportunity to do what you can to gum up the works. (Ahem.)

Me holding the Simple Sabotage Field Manual on my iPad

Indiginerds edited by Alina Pete

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Book 10 of 2025: Indiginerds edited by Alina Pete: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A short but very solid anthology of comics dealing with the intersection of modern indigenous life and nerd interests. Several good stories in here; my personal favorite is Alina Pete’s “Dorvan V”, addressing Star Trek TNG’s colonialist underpinnings and how one fan’s relationship with it changes over their life.

Me holding Indiginerds