We’re a third of the way through the year, and that means only one thing. It’s time for more books! May is looking to be a fairly quiet month, so I should be clear to read more than in April. There’s not much more to say than that, so here we go with this month’s TBR.

TBR

Well, I’m starting the month with some Warhammer goodness in the form of Assassinorum: Kingmaker, by Robert Rath. It’s an interesting slice of grimdark espionage so far, and I’m looking forward to getting more into it. I’m also planning to get The Deacon of Wounds by David Annandale read by the end of the month, and might squeeze in more Warhammer if I have the time.

I want to read another complete series this month, and that’s currently a toss-up between KB. Wagers’ Farian War trilogy and the omnibus of Zachary Brown’s The Icarus Corps. I’m currently leaning towards the former, as it’s been in my TBR tower since Christmas. Other than this, I want to keep up with ongoing series before starting anything new, which means I’ll hopefully read Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Eyes of the Void in the next couple of weeks.

In April, I failed to find time for J.T. Nicholas’ The Stolen Earth, so that’s one of my priorities for this month. I’m probably going to get around to more standalones in May. This puts David Wellington’s The Last Astronaut on the reading list, alongside older works like Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon, and Janine Ellen Young’s The Bridge.

While I’m still enjoying them, Simon Scarrow’s Eagles of the Empire series has grown a little repetitive after nine books. I’m probably going to continue using them as a palate cleanser at the end of each month so I can catch up on reviews, but I don’t want to read them back to back as I have done in the past. if I do have time for a non-SF read in May, I’ll make it Brandon Sanderson’s Dawnshard. As a novella, I should fit it in no problem.

That gives me a provisional May TBR that looks like this:

• Assassinorum: Kingmaker, by Robert Rath
• The Deacon of Wounds, by David Annandale
• There Before the Chaos, by K. B. Wagers
• Down Among the dead, by K. B. Wagers
• Out Past the Stars, by K. B. Wagers
• Eyes of the Void, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• The Stolen Earth, by J. T. Nicholas
• The Last Astronaut, by David Wellington
• The Bridge, by Janine Ellen Young
• Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon
• Dawnshard, by Brandon Sanderson
• Legion, by Simon Scarrow

AND BEYOND

I’m currently wrapping up a few non-genre TV shows (Reacher is phenomenal, by the way), which means I should have a gap opening up in my viewing schedule pretty soon. I’m hoping to find some science fiction to fill it, but who knows? There’s not much coming my way in May, but here is what I’m aware of

6th: The final episode of Picard‘s second season comes to an end this Friday, and I’ll be reviewing it shortly after. This season has been a massive step down from the first, and has been overshadowed by the more interesting storyline of Discovery, alongside which it ran for the first few episodes.

(Here is where I mention Strange New Worlds. Everything I see about this show makes me more excited to see it, but due to licensing issues, it likely won’t be heading to the UK for some time yet. I’m not overly concerned about spoilers, but I won’t be throwing myself into discussions about it until I’ve seen it for myself.)

7th: The Triumph of Saint Katherine, by Danie Ware. Finally, Black Library are releasing books within a few months of their limited editions. Ware has a good track record with the Sisters of Battle, and I’m excited to see what she can do with her debut Warhammer 40,000 novel.

10th: Brotherhood, by Mike Chen. In yet more reminders that I need to catch up on Star Wars novels, comes this Anakin and Obi-Wan story. In don’t know much about it other than that, but I’m going to keep my eyes open for a copy.

26th: Ghost Dossier #1: The Vincula Insurgency, by Dan Abnett. I’m not sure what this prequel series offers other than a chance to tell more stories about characters Abnett has killed off over the years, but I’m interested to find out.

27th: Obi-Wan Kenobi. In further proof that Disney+ can do everything but think of names for their shows, comes this six-part series. I’m cautiously optimistic about this one. It’s set in one of my favourite Star Wars time periods, but looks like it might rely on having watched The Clone Wars. So long as it doesn’t become a mess of references and connections, I should enjoy it. Though a show not set on Tatooine would be a nice change of pace.

That’s it from me. be sure to let me know in the comments what science fiction you’re looking forward to in May.