Wombling along
Hellooo!
it’s been a very busy week but for the best of reasons I had to get everything at work ready for a week off! A few little adventures and prints planned than the small matter or World Fantasy in Brighton from Thursday. Me and a few hundred people near a dealer’s room what could possibly go wrong?!
Reading wise I’m in that interesting zone where I want to finish a few more horror stories prior to Halloween but am also sensing a desire to get back to SF and fantasy very soon. The reading has been great this past month so I hope the books continue to deliver.
Welcome to the blog’s weekend supplement where I like to share reviews and other things that caught my eye online.
Reviews
First up via Stewart Hotston a thoughtful balance review of Excordia by Seth a Dickinson with thoughts on hard SF too
Strange Horizons adds to the number of people Booktempting Pyschopomp & Circumstance by Eden Royce
http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/psychopomp-circumstance-by-eden-royce/
Nerds of a Feather add to my desire for something epic with a look at The Nameless Land by Kate Elliott
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2025/10/book-review-nameless-land-by-kate.html?m=1
Reactor with some mild spoilers delves into the very organic sounding tale The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes which definitely is sounding one for reading soon too
https://reactormag.com/book-review-the-works-of-vermin-by-hiron-ennes/
Apex
https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/words-for-thought-short-fiction-review-151
Locus
https://locusmag.com/review/asimovs-review-by-a-c-wise/
Strange Horizons has a look at the poetry collection Seed Beetle Poems by Mahaila Smith
http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/seed-beetle-poems-by-mahaila-smith/
Reactor discussed time paradoxes and romance in Time Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau
https://reactormag.com/how-to-save-a-memory-romance-and-time-loop-narratives/
Locus has a really tempting review of Everything Will Swallow You by Tom Cox
https://locusmag.com/review/everything-will-swallow-you-by-tom-cox-review-by-niall-harrison/
The British Fantasy Society really liked The Damned King by Justin Lee Anderson
https://britishfantasysociety.org/review/the-damned-king-by-justin-lee-anderson/
Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub also enjoyed The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers which sounds interesting plus magical bookshops
Locus really enjoyed The Last Soul Among Wolves by Melissa Caruso
https://locusmag.com/review/the-last-soul-among-wolves-by-melissa-caruso-review-by-alex-brown/
A Literary Escape has good balanced review to Katabasis by RF Kuang
https://aliteraryescape.com/2025/10/20/katabasis-by-r-f-kuang/
Still pondering books for Halloween? Fear not the bloggers have you covered!
Reactor entices with Spread Me by Sarah Gailey
https://reactormag.com/book-review-spread-me-by-sarah-gailey/
Gingernuts of Horror goes to the movies with a bloom at Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein and I am looking forward to this spin on the take
https://gnofhorror.com/guillermo-del-toros-frankenstein-review/
The Gingernuts also went to London and undertably unsettled by London Weird by AV Wilkes
https://gnofhorror.com/london-weird-by-a-v-wilkes-review/
Gingernuts also has an impressed look one of my holiday reads King Sorrow by Joe Hill
https://gnofhorror.com/king-sorrow-joe-hills-masterpiece-of-monsters/
Jamedi of Jam Reads liked this spin on the slasher tale but here with elderly characters - The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi
https://jamreads.com/reviews/the-autumn-springs-retirement-home-massacre-by-philip-fracassi
The Fantasy Hive got its teeth into Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2025/10/empire-of-the-damned-by-jay-kristoff-book-review/
The Hive also had lots of thoughts on the graphic novel Witches by Scott Snyder and Jock
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2025/10/wytches-by-scott-snyder-and-jock-graphic-novel-review/
And last for good measure they looked at Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2025/10/play-nice-by-rachel-harrison-book-review/
Fantasy Book Nerd enjoyed Breathe In breathe Out by Brian Keene
https://www.fantasybooknerd.com/2025/10/book-review-breathe-in-bleed-out-brian.html?m=1
Locus definitely entices and was unsettled by Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung
https://locusmag.com/review/midnight-timetable-by-bora-chung-review-by-ian-mond/
And finally the Le Guin awards got announced and a very pleasing win for Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera. I really liked Vajra’s reaction to it
https://vajra.me/2025/10/21/rakesfall-wins-the-2025-ursula-k-le-guin-prize-for-fiction/
And just to further enhance you to try it if you’ve not yet theme here is Stewart Hotston’s thoughts
https://stewarthotston.com/2025/03/23/rakesfall-a-review/
And let’s add Nerds of A Feather
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2024/06/book-review-rakesfall-by-vajra.html?m=
I think you know what to do now
In other news
The Surrey International Writer’s Conference weren’t able to go ahead and has been punished quite hard so some fundraising is needed
Galactic Journey has a look at that time in 1970 people thought a reality show went too far
The Fantasy Hive asked its collective minds for some Halloween recommendations
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2025/10/spooky-reads-our-top-recommendations-for-halloween/
Gautam Bhatia in the latest Words for Worlds has some great news to share but also here talks about the very long road to getting published internationally and there are some thoughts for reviewers here to have a think about as well as the wider commmunity
https://gautambhatia.substack.com/p/words-for-worlds-issue-106-it-feels
Round Ups
Gavreads has their weekly summary with added advanced Booktempting
https://gavreads.co.uk/2025/10/19/sunday-summary-19-oct-25/
Dinipanda Reads does a round up of interesting community posts from September
https://dinipandareads.com/2025/10/20/september-2025-community-posts/
David at Espressococo had a busy week with added sumo wrestling
https://espressococo.com/2025/10/24/weeknotes-sumo/
Renay as always has the latest indispensable Intergalactic Mixtape to grab hold of
https://buttondown.com/intergalacticmixtape/archive/intergalactic-mixtape-25/
And finally
Naomi Alderman has this lovely thoughtful blog about the difference between using art to make a living versus using art to make a life.
https://naomialderman.substack.com/p/the-best-advice-i-have-about-making
Have a great weekend and happy reading!
