Wombling along

Hellooooo!

Hope you had a good week and did not slightly overdo it checking a very very long word document for factual errors….ahem let’s just say this will be a lazy weekend with no deadlines (with books)!

If you’re new this is the Blog’s attempt at a weekend supplement where you can with a cuppa find the reviews and articles I really enjoyed this week.

This is Experiment 8 and I think it will continue. I’m enjoying it (looks like other people do too) it’s reaffirming that there is a rich reviewing community and so many types of good reviews out there and so many many tempting books. I’m also enjoying the glimpse of the wider conversation about books, culture and our genre that are going on. Looking at this each weekend you start to see how that what evolves. Pleasingly after a few reheated debates of the last some really interesting new areas are being explored

But first!

Reviews

First up Spells and Spaceships is very taken by A Sword of Gold And Ruin by Anna Smith Spark - I’m finishing this today and it’s a gorgeous lyrical fanatsy read

https://spellsandspaceships.home.blog/2025/09/23/a-sword-of-gold-and-ruin-review/

I like seeing when a book is clearly clicking with reviewers and Audition the Fox by Martin Cahill has another good review at Skiffy and Fanty

https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-audition-for-the-fox-by-martin-cahill/

Crooks Books has a very positive look at Network Effect by Martha Wells

https://crooksbooks.blog/2025/09/22/network-effect-by-martha-wells-book-review/

Strange Horizons has a really interesting look at the idea of the hyper pandemic and a post apocalyptic take with The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed

http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/the-afterlife-project-by-tim-weed/

Locus does a really interesting look at does an anthology not just have good stories but does it actually connect well to its theme

https://locusmag.com/review/the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-new-tales-of-stephen-kings-the-stand-edited-by-christopher-golden-brian-keene-review-by-abigail-nussbaum/

Lady business and Fantasy Book Nerfd both looked this week at The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi and both enjoyed it

https://ladybusiness.dreamwidth.org/2025/09/22/the-shattering-peace-by-john-scalzi.html

https://www.fantasybooknerd.com/2025/09/book-review-shattering-peace-john-scalzi.html?m=1

Let’s detour into the past and for starters Witty & Sarcastic Book Club continued their look at the Dragonlance series with The Doom Brigade by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin

https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2024/07/29/book-review-dragonlance-side-quest-the-doom-brigade-by-margaret-weis-and-don-perrin/

Galactic Journey though take us to 1970 again discussing being British and the highs and lows of an anthology The Disappearing Future edited by George Hay

https://galacticjourney.org/september-24-1970-der-englische-krankheit-the-disappearing-future/

Vanessa Fogg continues the many reviews all being wowed by Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha

https://itsajumble.blogspot.com/2025/09/review-uncertain-sons-by-thomas-ha.html?m=1

Jamedi of Jam Reads was very impressed by The Drowned Man’s Daughter by CJ Lavigne

https://jamreads.com/reviews/the-drowned-mans-daughter-by-c-j-lavigne

With good timing as my copy arrived in the post is this Press Reader review of The IF Anthology of New Indian SFF edited by Gautam Bhatia

https://www.pressreader.com/india/mint-delhi/20250920/281934549108203

The Fantasy Hive had a good look at a sequel with A Honeymoon of Grave Consequence by Stephanie Burgos

https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2025/09/a-honeymoon-of-grave-consequence-by-stephanie-burgis-book-review/

Nerds of A Feather know how to tempt focussing Queen Demon by Martha Wells

http://www.nerds-feather.com/2025/09/book-review-queen-demon-by-martha-wells.html?m=1

Templeton Gate looks at the conclusion of the Convergence Saga by Cadwell Turnbull (more of whom below)

http://templetongate.net/convergence-saga.htm#rui

We near Halloween so expect a plethora of spooky reads over the coming weeks and so let’s pick up with a few on my radar

Ancillary Review of Books really tempts me with this look at The Retreat by Gemma Fairclough

https://ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/09/25/corruption-as-a-literary-device-if-only-that-were-all-it-was-review-of-gemma-faircloughs-the-retreat/

Blue Book Balloon was very unpressed by the excellent The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno Garcia

https://bluebookballoon.blogspot.com/2025/09/review-bewitching-by-silvia-moreno.html?m=1

Jam Reads really liked Moonflow by Bitter Karella which I’m hoping to read next week

https://jamreads.com/reviews/moonflow-by-bitter-karella

Strange Horizons experienced the family horror of Mapping The Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/mapping-the-interior-by-stephen-graham-jones/

Gingernuts of Horror always does great work week in week out but this week has a treasure of cool books

Alma Katsu’s Fiend

https://gnofhorror.com/alma-katsus-fiend-wealth-greed-and-horror/

A look at The Fog by James Herbert in a new edition

https://gnofhorror.com/the-fog-by-james-herbert-50th-anniversary-review/

And just look at the Booktempting used here discussing Herculine by Grace Byrons

https://go.bsky.app/redirect?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgnofhorror.com%2Fwhy-grace-byrons-herculine-shines-in-trans-horror%2F

A little Non-fiction as Gingernuts of Horror looks at That Very Witch by Payton McCarty which delves into our fascination with witches

https://gnofhorror.com/that-very-witch-by-payton-mccarty-simas-book-review/

Skiffy and Fanty though have a look at Folklore by Davies Houlbrook

https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/review-folklore-davies-houlbrook/

Let’s go to cyberpunk next and this really interesting review from Seize a the Press looking at the collection You Glow In The Dark by Liliana Colanzi translated by Chris Andrews

https://www.seizethepress.com/2024/05/08/you-glow-in-the-dark-review-stp10/

And finally for reviews. It’s not often I get to enjoy really long review but The City of Lost Books digs deep and hugely enjoys the sumptuous The River Has Roots by Amal El Mohtar

https://thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac.uk/amal-el-mohtar-the-river-has-roots-2025/

In Other News

Bibliotta has a great luck at the depressing feeling that no one sees your work and yet also has very good tips on Promotion

https://bibliotta.com/musings/the-cycle-of-suck/

That debate that was back about canon seems to have faded but I did like seeing this older very serious discussion by Unofficial Hugo Book Club on the absolute canon to read

https://hugoclub.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-absolute-unquestionable-definitive.html

At Locus there is a look at publisher The Comma Press

https://locusmag.com/feature/spotlight-on-comma-press/

At Scalzi’s The Big Idea Cadwell Turnbull discuses the Convergence Saga

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/09/24/the-big-idea-cadwell-turnbull/

Conspiracy theories abound in the news everywhere and Charlie Jane Anders has some thoughts on why they work linking us to the media craze for the mystery box

https://buttondown.com/charliejane/archive/its-all-jj-abrams-fault-not-really/

it feels here appropriate then to look at the awesome power of science to tell the truth and this article on Climate Science is well worth a long ead

https://www.quantamagazine.org/photos-capture-the-extreme-beautiful-work-of-climate-science-20250915/

A really good look at big publishing new habit of using Fan Fiction a lot more explicitly than in the past is explored in this excellent piece by Reactor which I found answers and does suggest we need a long hard look at what’s going on here

https://reactormag.com/with-the-serial-numbers-filed-off-the-problem-with-trad-pub-fanfic/

Tessa Gratton at Fansplaining also has a look at how fan fiction writing and professional writing has blurred now writing Star Wars

https://www.fansplaining.com/articles/fan-pro-spaces-between

Looking at writing I liked this exploration of ‘style’ which actually really my I think has a more interesting look at literary and commercial as terms for fiction - lots to agree and disagree but I liked the debate this has

https://countercraft.substack.com/p/style-is-more-than-sentences

Finally Molly Templeton actually delves into the joy of reading a good line in a book in this from Reactor and also this will make you think

https://reactormag.com/form-function-and-the-sentences-we-collect/

Round-ups!

Harare review of books rounds up recent blogs

https://shonatiger.substack.com/p/harare-review-of-books-july-2025?r=18i0sn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

Espressococo has another lovely weekly glimpse into book blogger life

https://espressococo.com/2025/09/26/weeknotes-holiday/

Alasdair Stuart has another hugely enjoyable The Full lid

https://mailchi.mp/a1b5484c51df/the-full-lid-19th-september-17240109

and Renay continue for find all the cool stuff at the indispensable Intergalactic Mixtape

https://buttondown.com/intergalacticmixtape/archive/intergalactic-mixtape-21/