What are you reading in 2026?

[Ralif Redhammer]

I finished reading Sterling's The Artificial Kid. Liked it more than Schismatrix, but my favorite of his novels so far is still Islands in the Net.

Now I'm reading Victor Milan's The Cybernetic Shogun. I can say so far that the covers to this series (see also The Cybernetic Samurai) deliver stylish 80s cheese vibes.

 

[jian]

Read The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo, which was both somewhat better than the previous book of his I read (The Honjin Murders) and easier to solve. Koto playing is prominent in this one too.

It is very genre aware - pointing out obvious guesses almost as soon as you make them - and I must say it features the most brutal last will and testament ever, clearly aimed at causing mass murder as soon as it is read out. I’d love to run this in a RPG.

 

[Richards]

I had another of my quarterly 5-day business trips this week, so I got a lot of reading done in airports, on planes, and in my hotel room. Here's what I read this past week:

• Harold, the first novel by comedian Stephen Wright, a book that could only have been written by Stephen Wright. It follows a very imaginative 7-year-old boy through a day at school, where he spends most of his time wondering about things and imagining other things he could be doing with his day.
• Batman: Hush, a graphic novel reprint of a 12-issue run of comics dealing with Batman investigating a new enemy known as Hush. I had heard this was considered a classic, so when I had an opportunity to pick it up for $9.99, I jumped at the chance. And it was indeed a good 12-issue storyline, dealing with a wide variety of Batman's rogues gallery and some of his standard co-stars. It was printed on paper smaller than that of a standard comic book, so it was a good thing I had my reading glasses with me, because some of the print got kind of small in places as a result.
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, a retelling of the life of Achilles in novel form, told from the point of view of his friend (and later lover) Patroclus, starting in their childhood and going through training by Charon the centaur and ending up with the Trojan War, and all that entailed.
• Athena's Child, by Hannah Lynn, the story of Medusa in novel form, from her start as a beautiful girl, to her life as a priestess of Athena, and her transformation into the hideous monster she's known for as punishment for being raped by a god in Athena's temple. (She was dealt a pretty lousy hand.)
• A Spartan's Sorrow, by Hannah Lynn, a novel featuring the life of Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, who sought revenge against her husband after he sacrificed their oldest daughter to the gods to gain fair winds to bring his flotilla of warriors to Troy to take back Helen. It features the measures Clytemnestra took to keep her other children safe, her revenge upon Agamemnon upon his return from Troy, and her eventual gods-commanded slaying by her own son, once he had grown of age.
• Asimov on Science Fiction, by Isaac Asimov, a series of short essays on various science fiction topics, most of them taken from introductions in his various anthology magazines. (I'm still reading this one - about halfway through it.)

I have one more book on my "to be read" pile, plus tomorrow, when I pick up the mail I had put on hold for the week, there should be the four-book-series I had ordered for this past week's trip but which didn't arrive in time for me to take with me.

Johnathan

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Speaking of Batman - anyone reading any of the Absolute DC titles? They are supposed to be pretty good

 

[Autumnal]

I’ve read some of Absolute Batman and was surprised at how much I liked it. I’ll be trying some of the others on March.

 

[Autumnal]

Dan Simmons died of complications from a stroke yesterday. I’ve moved up a reread of the Hyperion Cantos, Carrion Comfort, The Hollow Man, and maybe some others in memoriam. He was a huge influence on my tastes and my own writing style.

 

[prabe]

Dan Simmons died of complications from a stroke yesterday. I’ve moved up a reread of the Hyperion Cantos, Carrion Comfort, The Hollow Man, and maybe some others in memoriam. He was a huge influence on my tastes and my own writing style.

I've had the Cantos on my shelves for years and haven't gotten around to it. I think that needs to change, soon. (I intend to read the books, not get rid of them, to be clear.)