Wombling Along
Hellooo!
I hope you got to enjoy the UK Bank Holiday and if not I hope you get one soon! A little mini break was had and relaxation happened - I recommend that it apparently does work!
This is The Experiment what I wombled along on the internet and thought worth sharing! No one is online all the time so the idea here is let’s share the stuff we enjoy without worrying about the algorithm or being permanently online!
Reviews
Starting with The Bookwyrm’s Hoard and their love for one of my favourite books of the year A Song of Legends Lost by MH Ayinde
https://thebookwyrmshoard25.blogspot.com/2025/08/a-song-of-legends-lost-by-mh-ayinde.html?m=1
In Locus I liked the sound of The Lies of Facebook Sythe by Megan O’Keefe
https://locusmag.com/2025/08/the-two-lies-of-faven-sythe-by-megan-e-okeefe-review-by-liz-bourke/
I was also tempted by this review Curandera by Irenosen Okojie
https://locusmag.com/2025/08/curandera-by-irenosen-okojie-review-by-ian-mond/
A negative review is also sometimes really helpful to me and Reading The End very much suggests Wearing The Lion by John Wiswell may not work for me as I quite like delving into the issues a situation creates in a book and this sounds like it does not.
The Fantasy Hive has as always been busy and here are temptations covering Spiderlight by Sdrian Tchaikovsky, Hemlock Silver by T Kingfisher and Life Cycle of A Moth by Rowe Irvin. All sound really interesting (I also loved Spiderlight)
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2025/08/spiderlight-by-adrian-tchaikovsky-book-review/
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2025/08/hemlock-silver-by-t-kingfisher-book-review-2/
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2025/08/life-cycle-of-a-moth-by-rowe-irvin-book-review/
one thing I love is slowly seeing a book you loved getting its well deserved praise and attention and it’s lovely to see Reactor also gets why Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta is so worth reading!
https://reactormag.com/book-review-mad-sisters-of-esi-by-tashan-mehta/
Whisper it slightly but autumn approaches and for those of us who enjoy horror creepier reads feel all the more sweeter when it’s cold and dark. Appropriately Gingernuts of Horror has Night and Day a new anthology edited by Ellen Datlow to tempt us with
https://gnofhorror.com/ellen-datlows-night-and-day-horror-review/
Jamedi of Jam Reads also has some cool sounding books to look out for Secret Lives of The Dead by Tim Lebbon and Wings of Steel and Fury by Sarah J Daley
https://jamreads.com/reviews/secret-lives-of-the-dead-by-tim-lebbon
https://jamreads.com/reviews/wings-of-steel-and-fury-by-sarah-j-daley
Strange Horizons has a really interesting review of a new anthology that sounds well worth looking at - The Blaft Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction edited by Rakesh Khanna and translated by Vishwambhari S Parmar
The Continent has short but definitely tempting review with Esperence by Adam Oyebanji
https://continent.substack.com/p/review-water-water-everywhere-and
Nerds of a Feather has a great review extolling the enhoyiment reading The Outcast Mage by Annabel Campbell and I really liked the balanced nature of the review here of Raven Key by Harper I Carnes
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2025/08/review-annabel-campbells-outcast-mage.html?m=1
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2025/08/book-review-raven-key-by-harper-l-carnes.html?m=1
Ancillary Review of Books has definitely got me ready to read Lessons In Magic And Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders
https://ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/08/26/heres-to-the-freaks-and-perverts/
It’s quite hard for reviewers to time all reactions to a book but as time passes you can see the conversation start and I am very intrigued by how each of these looking at Katabasis by RF Kuang has a slightly different reaction and focus - this is definitely zooming up my TBR pile for September
First up Ancillary Review of Books
https://ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/08/28/matter-over-mind/
Then Nerds of A Feather
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2025/08/book-review-katabasis-by-r-f-kuang.html?m=1
And also NPR
https://www.npr.org/2025/08/29/nx-s1-5517939/kuang-katabasis-review-yellowface-babel
I love books that provoke multiple reactions as that sounds at the very least its doing something interesting to take a look at.
All reviews are that interesting mix of book and reader so let’s see where this reaction goes but I shout out to Sandstone for highlighting this Strange Horizons reflection written by Alexandra Stronach about how writing and reader interpretation varies across the world too.
In Other News
Transfer Orbit has an interesting look at the return of Allen M Steele’s Coyote a space opera series coming back into print
https://transfer-orbit.ghost.io/allen-steele-coyote-sci-fi-space-opera-reprint/
I really liked this article on cover art via Reactor where author, artist and a creative director discuss how they collaborated on the cover for When They Burned The Butterfly by Wen Yi Lee
https://reactormag.com/from-concept-to-cover-when-they-burned-the-butterfly-by-wen-yi-lee/
Sad news in the UK as we heard that the author David Gullen had passed away and the BRitish Fantady Society has collected some fine tributes to him and his life
https://britishfantasysociety.org/in-memoriam-david-gullen/
Raising the tone with a love letter to being a fan I liked this article from Anna Cale about Northern Exposure which I’ve never seen but loved how this made me want to try it out
Renay has a new project starting to plot the likely future Hugo nominations - let’s watch with interest
In round-ups I notice Maria Haskins both explains the power of novellas and also highlights many worth reading in
https://ruadanbooks.com/what-to-read-the-novella-edition/
Ancillary Review of Books has the latest wow signal
https://ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/08/29/wow-signal-august-2025/
And of course do not forget to subscribe to Intergalactic Mixtape from Renay
https://buttondown.com/intergalacticmixtape/archive/intergalactic-mixtape-17/
Closing out three lovely very different things got on my radar. The author Gabino Iglesias wrote this gorgeous encouragement to write today
https://gabinoiglesias.substack.com/p/i-encourage-you-to-write-today
Charlie Jane Anders has a fascinating interview looking at how Superman took on the real life Ku Klux Klan threats and blimey do you wish corporations had more spine these days to do the same
https://buttondown.com/charliejane/archive/how-superman/
Juliet K Mckeena (with her thanks to Scot Lynch) shared this article that links George Orwell and Taylor Swift and reminds us to take a moment too sometimes.
https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/circuses-vs-roses-notes-on-pleasure-and-scold-culture/
I hope you’ve found something to enjoy and have a great weekend!
