I can’t remember the last time I was this happy to see rain. The rivers need it. The fields need it. The animals need it. I think we all need it, and after an unforgivably hot summer it’s good to get wet again. Will this rain interfere with an upcoming trip? Quite possibly, yes. But it’s a price I’m willing to pay. You know what else wet weather is good for? Curling up indoors with a fireplace and a good book.

September 2026 is, of course, the sixtieth anniversary of the original Star Trek. I’ll be celebrating in two ways. First by getting back into Strange New Worlds. Second by reading some of the old Litverse novels. I’ve got five books on the TBR, all by the most excellent David Mack. The Cold Equations trilogy looks nice and chunky, and is the last of the major series I need to wrap up the Litverse. I’ve also got Disavowed and Control, which conclude the Litverse version of Section 31’s storyline. Once those are shelved, it’s just a matter of tracking down the last few TNG and DS9 novels before I can call it a day. Hopefully they’ll all fit on my heaving bookshelves.

Since I’ll already be in tie-in fiction mode, there’s no better time to get stuck into Warhammer 40,000. Some grimdark to compensate for all that Rodenberry optimism, if you will. Here I’ve got a distinctly Imperial flavour with stories by Rhuairidh James, Jude Reid, and William Crowe, along with one of this year’s anthologies. Switching to audio, I’ve also got Rob Young’s Ghosts of Cadia, an unexpected sequel to his brilliant Longshot.

Filling in the gaps I have some original SF works courtesy of the Venture SF range. These books are all on the slim side and promsie plenty of action and adventure. There’s some Timothy Zahn in there, along with David Drake, David Gerrold, and Richard C. Meredith. Joining these known quantities is Philip E. High, who I have never read before, but who sounds like he fits right in alongside the others.

My monthly book club will be tackling a book I’ve been wanting to read for years but only recently got hold of. C.J. Cherryh’s Downbelow Station is part of a much larger universe, which means if I enjoy it as much as I hope to, I’ve got a whole lot of reading left ahead of me. Either way, the book club is always great fun, even if we accidentally pick a bad book.

Beyond reviews, I don’t have any particular plans for the blogging month. The Hugo Awards have just been announced, and they’ve definitely left me with some thoughts. The Dragon Awards are upcoming, and that marks the end of this year’s awards season, so any thoughts will probably wait until all that has settled down. Maybe towards the end of the month I’ll recap all the awards from 2026 and get all my thoughts in one place.

Dates for your Diary

01/09 – Engines of Reason, by Adrian Tchaikovsky – An unexpected sequel to Elder Race, I’m hopeful that this novella can continue the brilliant fusion of fantasy storytelling in a science fiction setting. These days I do very little investigation into Tchaikovsky’s books. If he’s writing sci-fi, then I’m reading it.

01/09 – Scion, by James Islington – My only prior experience with Islington is his fantasy work, but I’m interested to see how he handles a shift from multi-volume epics told over thousands of pages to a smaller-scale cyberpunk adventure.

02/09 – The Mandalorian & Grogu – Four months after its big-screen debut, the latest Star Wars film will be free on streaming. This film does seem to be the result of some strange and rather questionable executive decisions, but as long as it’s fun, I shan’t complain too much.

08/09 – The Passing of the Dragon & Other Stories, by Ken Liu – It’s been a while since we’ve had a Ken Liu short story collection. Again, I haven’t looked too deeply into this, but I’m expecting his usual well-thought-out blend of fantasy and science fiction. I’m also not reading as many short stories as I’d like to, so this seems like a simple remedy.

22/09 – Star Swindler, by A. Zaykova – The sequel to last year’s Galaxy Grifter, this is one that I pre-ordered as soon as I could. Zaykova is one of few authors willing to write scoundrels as the sleazebags they are, and I am one hundred percent here for whatever problems her characters cause this time around.

As always, if you think I’ve forgotten or overlooked something, let me know in the comments. I look forward to haring from you.