See that weird orb in the sky? I think it’s the sun. That’s right, the nice weather is here and spring is slowly turning into summer. This, however, is Britain, so between scorching sunshine and drizzly downpours, there’s plenty of time to stay indoors with a good book. That’s how I spent a lot of April, and managed to work my way to the end of no fewer than six different series. With that, I consider Catch-Up April a resounding success.

What about May? I hear you ask. Well, I’ve chosen my reading them for the month and it’s another one I fully intend to play round with. It seems like just about every publisher going has called time on mass market paperbacks. Sad, but perhaps inevitable given the rise of audio and ebooks. I am therefore declaring open season on the old mass markets still in my TBR.

These are a real smorgasbord of books from the past fifty-odd years of science fiction. I’m going to start the month with two Charles Stross novels. Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise make up the Eschaton series, and the latter has been on my TBR since 2024. I’ve been wanting to read Stross for a while now, and the opening chapter tells me I’m in for a wild ride. Another author I’ll be reading a lot of is Jack McDevitt. I still have three of his books to go, and I’ll probably prioritise Octavia Gone before going back to his Academy novels.

In other series news, I have a rough plan to reread a trilogy. Probably Scott G. Gier’s Genellan novels (technically not a trilogy, but the fourth was an ebook exclusive so I’ll likely never read it), but there’s a chance that Michael Cobley’s Humanity’s Fire will grab my attention when the moment comes.

Beyond that, I have a whole bunch of standalones to read. Robert J. Sawyer’s Hominids is one priority, as that’ll be the last of my 2024 TBR taken care of. I’ve got some more Joe Haldeman (writing with his brother Jack), the legendary Jeff Noon, some John Ringo, and some more Greg Bear. It’s a good mix of authors I know and ones that I don’t. A good few books that I’m confident of enjoying, and plenty that I know next to nothing about. If I can find new author to star collecting, I’ll consider it a win. these books are also a good mix of standalones and series openers, so it should keep my reading nice and fresh throughout the whole month.

The Boundary’s Edge Book Club will be reading Mission to Methone by Les Johnson. I’m looking forward to some near-future hard SF in the vein of Arthur C. Clarke. It’ll also be fun to introduce a new author to a lovely group of people. Fingers crossed we all enjoy it.

Dates for your Diary

5/5 – Squad Kill, by Jack Campbell – A new standalone novel from one of the most reliable names in military SF. I’m not sure on the UK publication of this one, so I’ll have to check.

5/5 – The Last Contract of Isako, by Fonda Lee – I haven’t read any Lee before, but she has a great reputation on the back of her fantasy work, so I’m hoping her new sci-fi standalone is just as good.

14/5 – The Republic of Memory, by Mahmud El Sayed – As part of my ongoing effort to be more aware of debut novels, this generation ship story has certainly caught my eye.

16/5 – Hive, by Dan Abnett – Technically, this is up for pre-order on the 2nd, but I’ll likely get the audio version. Interestingly, this is being marketed as a two=part novel rather than a series.

22/5 – The Mandalorian and Grogu – Star Wars is back on the big screen! It’s the follow-up to three seasons of The Mandalorian, so it will be interesting to see how it translates to a new format.

29/5 – Star City – The prequel/spin-off to For All Mankind takes us back to the early space race and promises a tense Soviet spy thriller.

That’s it from me, for now. As always, if there’s something you think I’ve overlooked or should know about, let me know in the comments.