Wombling Along This Week
Helloooo!
I’m back from a much much needed holiday but really missing my beach and lots of reading time!
Welcome to an experiment!
This has been bubbling a while but has been triggered by a conversation I was having for a blogger project and also the incredible work Renay is doing every week with the essential Intergalactic Mixtape which you should all sign up to via https://buttondown.com/intergalacticmixtape/archive/intergalactic-mixtape-14/
The world of blogs has changed a lot over the past 15 years and very much using a social media app of choice has been the way we tended to promote and share things but for a variety of reasons that seems not quite as effective. In the older days of blogs there was a lot of cross sharing and I think we may need to do that again to remind people what is out there in a vast and for me very useful ecosystem of reading and reviews. It’s good not to be reliant on the whims of any not so beneficial tech overlords.
It’s also a reminder not everyone is online the same time as you and may not see the same things. So I’m going to try as I go online and take note of the things I found interesting each week. Hopefully you may be too! This may be reviews, blogs or something cool! This is the blog’s little weekend supplement and I hope you enjoy it!
Vicarious Booktempting aka Reviews
The ever excellent Strange Horizons had a fine selection this week that covered a short fiction round up!
One of those books I’m increasingly hearing I need to get hold of - Notes From A Regicide.
http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/notes-from-a-regicide-by-isaac-fellman/
A gorgeous review of a book I also loved reading - The River Has Roots by Amal El Mohtar
http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/the-river-has-roots-by-amal-el-mohtar/
One of those reviews that makes you go yep I need to read this Anji Kills A King by Evan Leikam
http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/anji-kills-a-king-by-evan-leikam/
And finally in non fiction this interesting look at Portalmania by Debbie Urbanski
http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/portalmania-by-debbie-urbanski/
The ever brilliant Gingernuts of Horror has this look at YA Horror using the best winners of the Stoker Award to highlight all the cool books out there.
https://gnofhorror.com/top-ya-bram-stoker-award-picks-of-the-last-decade/
Gav has recently returned to the fold of blogging and is reading the short list of nominees for anthologies and I’m very interested in their reactions starting with Nova Scotia Volume 2 edited by Neil Williamson and Andrew J Wilson
Cora Buhlert looks at the Dragon Award nominees which I think is quite an interesting and varied shortlist!
https://corabuhlert.com/2025/08/05/the-obligatory-2025-dragon-awards-ballot-post/
Cora then via Galactic Journey also takes us to 1970 to talk about the Larry Brent spooky thrillers by Dan Shocker of the period.
https://galacticjourney.org/august-6-1970-a-spooky-spook-larry-brent-by-dan-shocker/
The ever reading Jamedi of Jam Reads really interested me in this novella We Like It Cherry by Jacy Morris
https://jamreads.com/reviews/we-like-it-cherry-by-jacy-morris
One of my favourite blogs is the always varied Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub and this really reminded me of a series I need to grab hold of reviewing The Last Soul Among Wolves by Melissa Caruso
Salon Futura has an intriguing bit of nonfiction to talk about with a good look at Urban Fantasy
https://www.salonfutura.net/2025/07/urban-fantasy/
Nerds of A Feather is always a fascinating blog visit and jumping out to me was a review of Witches Guide to Magical and a beautiful review of Coup De Grace by Sofia Arjem tackling the subject of suicide in really powerful way
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2025/08/book-review-witchs-guide-to-magical.html?m=1
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2025/08/book-review-coup-de-grace-by-sofia-ajram.html?m=1
Imyril of Always Room for One More looks back at July Reading and that sounds a great month!
https://onemore.org/2025/08/02/redux-four-seasons-in-july/
The great Fantasy book nerd looks at the spooky Uninvited by Johnathan Daniel
https://www.fantasybooknerd.com/2025/08/book-review-univited-johnathan-daniel.html?m=1
Dave of Espressococo is back and has tales of Harrogate to share!
https://espressococo.com/2025/08/01/weeknotes-im-back/
One of the most respected blogs Blue Book Balloon turns to thrillers with Good Liar by Denise Mina
https://bluebookballoon.blogspot.com/2025/07/review-good-liar-by-denise-mina.html?m=1
The always excellent Maria Haskin looks at Nordic speculative work
https://ruadanbooks.com/what-to-read-the-nordic-dark-speculative-fiction-edition/
I really liked Stewart Hotston’s timely review of the excellent The Book of Disappearance by Ibitsam Azem
https://stewarthotston.com/2025/08/02/the-book-of-disappearance-by-ibitsam-azem/
And finally a special shout out to Uncanny Magazine and this piece of critical analysis looking at depictions of the Work in SF via this article Precarious Employment in Precarious Futures by Amanda Wakaruk and Olav Rokne it’s a treat of a read.
https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/precarious-employment-in-precarious-futures/
Regular Round-Ups
There are a host of people doing great work in weekly or semi regular form
Gautam Bhatia has a fascinating regular newsletter often looking at the Indian SFF scene too but contains lots to look forward to
https://gautambhatia.substack.com/p/words-for-worlds-issue-101
Salon Futura has had a busy month in all sorts of ways!
https://www.salonfutura.net/2025/07/issue-72/
I will try to avoid just lists of books but I really liked Lit Hub’s August books
https://lithub.com/robot-ghost-kitchens-and-memory-capitalism-augusts-best-sci-fi-and-fantasy-books
Andrew Liptak also has a useful round up in the Transfer Orbit of August books
https://transfer-orbit.ghost.io/august-2025-sci-fi-fantasy-books-newitz-tingle-star-wars/
You should already be signed up to the brilliant The Full Lid from Alasdair Stewart but if not here is why
https://mailchi.mp/0896fd78ab1b/the-full-lid-1st-august-2025
Publishing
This article about how much authors actually make is quite sobering - books are joyful but tough for those making them!
https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/richard-osman-10m-i-got-550-how-much-money-novelists-3830970
Authors about writing
two pieces that work well as bookends The great EM Faulds talks about the frustration of trying to get noticed in such a busy world which I think also works for bloggers when something we work on seems not to land.
https://emfaulds.com/a-writers-journal/i-wish-id-written-a-bad-story/
And Charlie Jane Anders talks about tips to keep going (again useful for bloggers too!)
https://buttondown.com/charliejane/archive/how-to-be-a-resilient-writer/
I really liked this interview with SF author Gautam Bhatia and especially to hear The Sentence is getting a follow up book! Readers in the US you need that book!
I really liked how Lorraine Wilson talks about starting a new project aptly for this experiment week!
Thought provoking was this blog by Ryka Aoki suggesting some thoughts on advanced civilisations seem to miss the point of making people live happy lives
https://rykaryka.substack.com/p/the-power-hungry-games-is-the-kardashev-22-09-16
Cool stuff in other news!
The idea of stars making pasta is just not something I can ignore nor now yearn for in my SF
https://apple.news/AKje1ILreTvqBLwulXNEC0A
Thanks to RJ Barker for highlighting how to find out how much your life may be worth in medieval times via the power of Weregild! Yes the catch is you do have to die but still!
https://www.weregildcalculator.com
Hope you enjoyed it! See you in a week
