What are you reading in 2026?

[Spectral Anomaly]

Currently reading an advance copy of T. Kingfisher's Astarion. I still haven't played BG3 yet so I'm not really familiar with the character. Despite that it's an enjoyable look into the drama that takes place in a vampire lord's lair where all his spawn despise him. And obviously it's a precursor to the Astarion you meet/play in the game. I'm glad Random/WotC is getting good writers to flesh out their recent novel offerings. Worth reading!

 

[prabe]

Currently reading an advance copy of T. Kingfisher's Astarion. I still haven't played BG3 yet so I'm not really familiar with the character. Despite that it's an enjoyable look into the drama that takes place in a vampire lord's lair where all his spawn despise him. And obviously it's a precursor to the Astarion you meet/play in the game. I'm glad Random/WotC is getting good writers to flesh out their recent novel offerings. Worth reading!

Getting good (or at least successful) novelists to write in the corporate setting is also a thing Marvel is doing. Alex Segura (Secret Identity and Alter Ego, both good novels) did a Daredevil one, which is pretty decent. S. A. Cosby has a Luke Cage novel pending or out soon, which I expect to be good (excellent author, seems like a good match to the character).

 

[jian]

Getting good (or at least successful) novelists to write in the corporate setting is also a thing Marvel is doing. Alex Segura (Secret Identity and Alter Ego, both good novels) did a Daredevil one, which is pretty decent. S. A. Cosby has a Luke Cage novel pending or out soon, which I expect to be good (excellent author, seems like a good match to the character).

Yeah, Seanan McGuire did a good Marvel one (what if Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker were siblings) and so did Lisa Jewell (a Jessica Jones mystery).

 

[prabe]

Yeah, Seanan McGuire did a good Marvel one (what if Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker were siblings) and so did Lisa Jewell (a Jessica Jones mystery).

I read a Lisa Jewell that wasn't a Marvel and it was so not to my state that I haven't read another. I should plausibly give her at least one more chance.

 

[jian]

I read a Lisa Jewell that wasn't a Marvel and it was so not to my state that I haven't read another. I should plausibly give her at least one more chance.

She used to write romance novels and now writes thrillers, and her Alias book was fine (surprisingly superheroic, in fact).

 

[Richards]

I'm just starting book five of the "Dungeon Crawler Carl" series by Matt Dinniman, The Butcher's Masquerade.

I'm glad I continued on with the series, and I've come to an odd realization: despite hating cats, I absolutely love Princess Donut (a cat, and the second main character in the series). No doubt it's because she's

1. well-written, and​

2. a fictional character, who thus does not trigger my intense cat allergy that makes it difficult to breathe around any felines.​

Johnathan

 

[Cadence]

Just finished Robert Jackson Bennett's third Ana & Din mystery "A Trade of Blood". It's the follow up to "The Tainted Cup" and "A Drop of Corruption", the former won a Hugo and World Fantasy Award and was an Edgar nominee, and the later is a 2026 Hugo finalist.

[Insert brief essay on the difference between a Holmes and Watson story and a Wolfe and Archie story. And also a plug for ordering books you're really looking forward to in advance from your local bookstore, so you get surprise emails that give you an excuse to duck out of work and pick them up. And finally, a hint of annoyance that I now have the first two in soft-cover and this one in hard-cover].

Like the other two, I liked this one a lot - very good writing, great world building, and some character development. Happily, the author's note seems to promise more volumes in the future.

It felt like Ana swore a lot less than in the previous ones. My only question is how did the safe door get shut with a different combination on it? It feels like there would be an easy fix (maybe something fell and hit it?). I was going to say they could have just had something fall in front of the door but that would have cut out that part of solving things. In any case, it annoyed me enough that it was the thought on my brain when I rolled over with 40 minutes left on my alarm and stopped me from going back to sleep right away.

 

[gban007]

Recently finished Empire in Black and Gold, first book in Shadows of the Apt series.
More gritty than other books ive read by Tchaikovsky, though has an insect theme that seems ro be common.
Enjoyable book though, with a few twists I didnt see coming as well as some I did, and a fair bit of tension throughout.
Book two also looks to be ramping things up a bit, while deepening some of the mysteries, so interested to see where it all goes.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Recently finished Empire in Black and Gold, first book in Shadows of the Apt series.
More gritty than other books ive read by Tchaikovsky, though has an insect theme that seems ro be common.
Enjoyable book though, with a few twists I didnt see coming as well as some I did, and a fair bit of tension throughout.
Book two also looks to be ramping things up a bit, while deepening some of the mysteries, so interested to see where it all goes.

While I'm not backing the Children of Time crowdfund, I did enjoy the first 3 books (in decreasing enjoyment sadly).

The Shadows of the Apt feels maybe more up my alley. Really cool premise, that's for sure.

 

[gban007]

While I'm not backing the Children of Time crowdfund, I did enjoy the first 3 books (in decreasing enjoyment sadly).

The Shadows of the Apt feels maybe more up my alley. Really cool premise, that's for sure.

I havent read the third yet, but see it with first two of children of time, with second one less impactful.
The beginning of book two was fantastic though i thought, with a really great horror sequence.

Have you read many others of his? First one i read was Day of Ascension as featured one of my favourite 40k factions, and really enjoyed it leading me to try others of his , and have also read Final Architecture trilogy which I enjoyed, and Shroud which i found bleak but interesting read, much like N K Jenisins Broken Earth series - very good but hard to say if actually enjoyed