December has been a busy month, both in life and on the blog. The usual festivities and end of year celebrations are ongoing, but I’m taking the time out to wrap up the month that’s almost over. Let’s get to it.

Book Haul

December was always going to be the month of the big book haul. My birthday is this month, then there’s Christmas. It’s the perfect opportunity to drown in books without the pesky inconvenience of having to go out and buy them. But I did have to go out and buy gifts for the family. naturally, while I was about town for the first time in far too long, I popped into the local Warhammer store, and ended up with a truly massive haul. And boy, do I mean massive, picking up all of the following this month alone:

• Ephrael Stern: The Heretic Saint, by David Annandale
• Inferno! Presents: The Inquisition
• Nexus + Other Stories
• Blackstone Fortress: Ascension, by Darius Hinks
• Brutal Kunnin, by Mike Brooks
• Volpone Glory, by Nick Kyme
• Steel Tread, by Andy Clarke
• Avenging Son, by Guy Haley

Some of these I’ve already read, but you can expect a lot more in the months to come. Black Library are absolutely killing it right now, and I am fully converted. But it wasn’t just Warhammer I bought, oh no. Left alone in Waterstones, I did a fair bit of damage to my wallet, with all of these books getting added to my TBR:

• Leviathan Falls, by James S. A. Corey
• We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin
• I Am Stone, by R. Murray Gilchrist
• Randalls Round, by Eleanor Scott
• The Last Astronaut, by David Wellington
• Force and Motion, by Jeffrey Lang
• Wonderlands, by Una McCormack
• Dead Endless, by David Galanter
• Warrior of the Altaii, by Robert Jordan

After that round of impulse buys, I set to work reading as many as I could, but between Christmas and birthday gifts, I was soon snowed under with books. It’s going to take me quite a while to get out from under this pile. A pile that includes:

• The Time Ships, by Stephen Baxter (a sequel to H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine)
• Stolen Earth, by J.T. Nicholas
• There Before the Chaos, Down Among the Dead, and Out Past the Stars, all by K.B. Wagers
• Mars, Return to Mars, and Venus, all by Ben Bova
• The Last Watch and The Exiled Fleet, both by J.S. Dewes
• Scornful Stars, by Richard Baker
• The Shocks of Adversity, by William Leisner
• The Folded World, by Jeff Marriott
• No Time Like the Past, by Greg Cox
• Resistance, by J.M. Dillard

On top of all that, I also received some book mail from Head of Zeus. Both of which I’m very grateful for.

• Absynthe, by Brendan P. Bellecourt
• The Shattered Skies, by John Birmingham (Head of Zeus also kindly included a hardback of The Cruel Stars, which I reviewed earlier this year.)

After all that, I’m sworn off book buying for all of January. But you and I both know that won’t last.

Reading Progress

As well as getting lots of books, I also read a lot of books A lot of my reading has been the newer additions to my TBR, in a desperate, losing battle to keep that tower from toppling. But I also got through some books that have been on my TBR for far too long. You can find my thoughts by clicking on the links below:

• Grim Repast, by Marc Collins (which I read last month, but reviewed this month)
• Ruin, by Nate Crowley (which I read last month, but reviewed this month)
• View From the Imperium, by Jody Lynn Nye
• Absynthe, by Brendan P. Bellecourt
• We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin
• Ephrael Stern: The Heretic Saint, by David Annandale
• Leviathan Falls, by James S. A. Corey
• Cytonic, by Brandon Sanderson
• Chindi, by Jack McDevitt
• The Lady of Caladan, by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
• Inferno! Presents: The Inquisition
• Nexus + Other Stories
• The Praxis, by Walter Jon Williams
• Ascension, by Darius Hinks
• Scornful Stars, by Richard Baker
• Brutal Kunnin, by Mike Brooks

I also read but did not review a handful of fantasy and horror books. Randalls Round, I Am Stone, and S., the latter of which is hands-down the most inventive and complicated book I have ever held in my hands.

Audio Frequencies

It took a lot of hours, but I marathoned Lore, which has affected my sleep for multiple reasons. Clearing up that nearly 200 episode backlog has freed up my listening to time to continue with Ronin, which I might just finish before the end of the year.

On Screen

I finished my rewatch of Defiance, which ended pretty much as it started, with an obvious budget, great characters, and a handful of cheese. Star Trek: Discovery is ongoing with its strongest season yet, and the latest episode ‘Stormy Weather’ is one of my favourite episodes of the past few years of Trek. Other than that, the big talking point was Wheel of Time, which I have loved every minute of, and can’t wait for the next season. I’ll be jumping into The Witcher, Titans, and The Expanse in the very near future.

Articles

I didn’t get around to my second Ethics of Trek as I’d planned, but I did finish off my crew builder series with Operations/Communications, Science Officers, First Officers, and of course Captains. They may have received a muted response, but I’m proud of them, and they’ve given me a few ideas for future articles.

December also brought the two big posts of my annual schedule. First came the third anniversary of this blog, which I celebrate by handing out the Boundy Awards. This is one of the more fun posts to write and I look forward to it each year. Finally there’s the master list of next year’s releases, which I’ve posted a little bit earlier than previous years, and has gained a fair bit of traction. As always, I’ve come up with a little name for this post, which this year is called Incoming Fire.

SPSFC

I’ve read the majority of the team’s allocation, and they’ve been a very mixed bag. I’m hoping to get full thoughts (from my perspective) up once I’ve read the last three, and hopefully the first reviews will be up sooner rather than later.

Writing

I’ve spent a lot of time sketching out plots, scenes, and outlines, and will be beginning in earnest in the new year. I think I’ve got something good here, but only time will tell if I’m right about that.

Wrap-Up

Another brilliant months takes this year’s total views to sixteen and a half thousand, which is just mind-blowing for me. Exponential growth was always the dream, but this has exceeded my expectations by quite a margin. I mean, it’s five times last year’s total. I’m hopeful that At Boundary’s Edge can continue to grow, and I am grateful to every single person who’s taken the time to read one of my posts.