Wombling Along

reviews

Jul 11

Hellloooo!

Welcome to Wombling Along the blog’s weekend supplement where I gather up interesting reviews and other things I caught online this week.

I’m hoping today to get back to reading and reviewing now some tricky work hurdles navigated and sent o have worked. It’s another heatwave in the uk and for added pleasure major woodworks are happening at night two blocks away but are loud. Garden, reviewer emails and books are calling me!

Reviews

Gingernuts of Horror tempts me exceedingly well (happily I bought a copy this week) with Mike Brook’s This Is Where The Future Bleeds

https://gnofhorror.com/this-is-where-the-future-bleeds-by-mike-brooks/

And captivated by the dark mystery of Until We Drown by Ava Morwood

https://gnofhorror.com/until-we-drown-by-ava-morwood-review/

Stewart Hotston continues to look at the Clarke Awards with this take on The Dream Hotel by Laila LaLami

https://stewarthotston.com/2026/07/10/review-the-dream-hotel/

But is more impressed by They Know Where They’re Going by Jenni Daiches

https://stewarthotston.com/2026/07/04/review-they-know-where-theyre-going/

Book Jockey Alex loved reading The Final Chronicle of Yeneh by Jo Miles

https://bookjockeyalex.com/2026/07/10/review-the-final-chronicle-of-yeneh-by-jo-miles/

Ancillary Review of Books gets frustrated with St Uphia’s Dead by Scott Lambridis

https://ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2026/07/10/layers-upon-layers-upon-layers/

Skiffy and Fanty are impressed by Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway

https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/review-titanium-noir-nick-harkaway/

Reactor in translated fiction dives into No Edges: Swahili Stories (edited by Sarah Coolidge)

https://reactormag.com/found-in-translation-no-edges-swahili-stories/

The Brititish Fantasy Society looks at Orlando by Virginia Woolf

https://britishfantasysociety.org/exploring-queer-horror-virginia-woolfs-orlando/

Becky’s Book Blog really enjoyed The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell

https://crooksbooks.blog/2026/07/09/the-dragon-has-some-complaints-by-john-wiswell-arc-review/

Jam Reads is very impressed by Mordew by Alex Pheby

https://jamreads.com/reviews/mordew-cities-of-the-weft-1-by-alex-pheby

And my current read The Knight Watch by Thomas d Lee also impressed

https://jamreads.com/reviews/the-knight-watch-by-thomas-d-lee

Holly’s Reading Escalades had a great time reading Harbour of Hungry Ghosts by Eliza Chan

https://hollysreadingescapades.blogspot.com/2026/07/book-review-harbour-of-hungry-ghosts-by.html

Galactic Journey mixes The Red Army and Conan stories in an interesting review!

https://galacticjourney.org/july-8-1971-i-read-this-stuff-so-you-dont-have-to-the-concept-urban-guerilla-by-ulrike-meinhof-and-conan-the-buccaneer-by-l-sprague-de-camp-and-lin-carter/

Strange Horizons was unimpressed by Angel Down by Daniel Kraus

https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/angel-down-by-daniel-kraus/

Locus is very impressed by My Deat You by Rachel Khong

https://locusmag.com/review/my-dear-you-by-rachel-khong-review-by-ian-mond/

Tar Vol On did not enjoy Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

https://www.tarvolon.com/2026/07/05/sci-fi-novella-review-automatic-noodle-by-annalee-newitz/

SFF180 has a powerful reading experience reading Coup De Grace by Sofia Arjem

https://sff180.com/reviews/a/ajram/coup_de_grace.html

In other news

I really liked Andrew Knighton’s blog about realising a book he’s written was problematic and how he responded to that

https://andrewknighton.com/the-stories-we-dont-tell/

Bona Books explores the problems AI is causing in short fiction in this article

https://www.bona-books.com/news/we-bought-an-ai-story

I’m not sure this effort to change the Hugo Rules really works nor was there a real problem to solve beyond some parts of fandom starting to learn that collaborative models are delivering great things in our areas. This quest response to the rule change is well worth reading

https://file770.com/role-creep-and-the-numbers-game-a-measured-response-by-kat-kourbeti/

Journey Planet has a Mel Brooks themed issue

https://www.journeyplanet.org/journey-planet/issuev-95-mel-brooks

Naomi Alderman has an idea here for a couch to 5k but for reading

https://naomialderman.substack.com/p/lets-do-a-couch-to-5k-for-reading

Fans of Piranesi should enjoy Susannah Clarke’s thoughts on what led her to it

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jul/05/susanna-clarke-i-had-been-ill-for-11-years-i-felt-like-i-was-about-to-fall-off-the-world

Hugo Bookclub has a fascinating look at Alternate History

http://hugoclub.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-foreign-past-is-country-nationhood.html

Becky’s Book Blog has their favourite reads of the year to date

https://crooksbooks.blog/2026/07/10/my-top-reads-of-the-year-so-far-2026-edition/

Jam Reads does the same!