October is the month of Halloween, colloquially known as Spooky Season. A month where all sorts of scary ghouls come out to play. I’m not much of a horror fan, so I’ll have to settle for a trip to the United States in an election year. I kid, of course, but international travel is the name of the game this month, so the science fiction will, shockingly, be taking a back seat.

TBR

I’m going to start the month off with some Star Trek. I’ve just started the Deep Space Nine: Mission Gamma series, which I’m reading alongside New Frontier. These are at tonal polar ends of the Trek spectrum, but it’s fascinating to see the different routes the franchise has taken. As I’ve said before, reviews for these series won’t be coming until November.

Other than that, I’m going to need a nice big chunky book to keep me awake through a lengthy layover at JFK (why yes, I have learned from delays last year). I’m leaning towards either Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin or Jack McDevitt’s The Devil’s Eye. these are two of the longest books I have in my TBR, but both are mass market paperbacks, so won’t take up too much luggage space.

& BEYOND

I fully expect my girlfriend and sightseeing to take up the majority of my trip, so blogging is on the backburner for October. Don’t worry though, I’ve scheduled a few posts to keep the masses entertained. Reviews of Emissaries from the Dead, Ninefox Gambit, and Red Mars are all headed your way over the next few weeks, and I’m going to see if I can squeeze in a few more pre-written reviews too. If they do appear, you can expect to see my thoughts on Helix and The Forever Machine.

If history is anything to go by, my US trip will also include a bookish location or two, alongside a book haul or three. particularly in used bookstores, the US and UK have wildly different book supplies, and I’m hoping to come back with a treasure or two. Last time it was a stack of H. Beam Piper, so who knows what this trip will hold?

RELEASE SCHEDULE

1st – Open A Channel: A Woman’s Trek, by Nana Visitor – Best known for playing Kira Nerys on Deep Space Nine, Visitor kicks off October with a retrospective on the role of women in Star Trek, As well as Visitor’s own take on things, this includes interviews with everyone from Denise Crosby to Melissa Navia.

17th – Fortress Sol, by Stephen Baxter – Baxter is one of those remarkable authors who can put out a novel every year without the quality dropping. From the looks of things this one will be a look at the Fermi Paradox, and possibly have Baxter’s take on the Dark Forest theory.

24th – Lower Decks: Season 5 (Paramount+) – An age of Star Trek is coming to an end. Picard and Discovery have already aired their finales, and now it’s time for the crew of the Cerritos to fly their last mission. If the past four seasons are anything to go by, we’re in for more deep cut in-jokes than you can shake a bat’leth at, presumably accompanied by some great character moments and fun adventures on the final frontier.

As always, Black Library are maddeningly vague about their publishing schedule, but we do have three books likely to come out before the end of the year. I’m going to list them here ever month until we have a confirmed release ate. You’re welcome.

Interceptor City, by Dan Abnett – Announced today, the long-awaited sequel to Double Eagle will be the next mega-special edition. That probably means a Christmas release, and a wait until next year for non-insanely priced versions of the book.

Broken Crusade, by Steven B Fischer – I had a mixed reaction to Fischer’s Witchbringer, but one of the things well was the weird side of Warhammer. With that in mind, a book about Space Marines being trapped in the Warp and facing all manner of demons sounds like it plays to Fischer’s strengths.

The High Kahl’s Oath, by Gav Thorpe – It’s what fans have been clamouring for for a while now: the first novel focusing on the Leagues of Votann. I have no idea what to make of the Space Dwarves, but Thorpe is a reliable author and I’m interested to see what he does with the faction.

Leontus: Lord Solar, by Rob Young – The ‘Chaacter’ line of novels has had some real winners lately (Personal favourites being Ghazghkull Thraka and Ephrael Stern). Couple that with the author of Longshot, and you’ve got a book I’m super excited for.