It’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally buying some more books. Despite my belated book haul, it’s not like I’ve been wanting for something to read. Quite the contrary! I’ve been involved in multiple peer-judged competitions, and I’ve been doing some beta reading for friends. Also, the last thing I read was the Green Bone Saga and I needed to recover after that one. Anyway, here’s what’s next on my menu!

This time I wanted to focus on more contemporary sci-fi and fantasy. That’s why first up is a novel published in 2023 by M. L. Wang called ‘Blood Over Bright Haven.’ Its a fantasy novel about the first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages. She unravels a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic forever. I totally stole that phrasing from Google by the way. It sounds pretty fun, I’m imagining dark Harry Potter at the moment, but we’ll see how it goes after I get into it. I heard about it at my writing group. In fact, I think every book on this list was a recommendation from someone or another. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do on recommendations I guess …

No time like today to get started, and that’s with a book that someone recommended me so long ago that I bought it as a Christmas gift. I’m looking forward to reading it, it’s ‘Red Rising,’ by Pierce Brown, a dystopian novel that centers around the conflict generated by an oppressive caste system. I remember eating ‘The Hunger Games’ up as a kid, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy this one. There’s something about a good underdog story set in an abysmally tragic world that always works.

Well, I hope so anyway, because this next novel is pretty similar actually. Another dystopian novel about a utopian island where everything is not as it seems. And yes, I did steal that phrasing from Google too. ‘The Ferryman,’ by Justin Cronin is one of the more mysterious books I’ve come across. Not even the internet will spoil it for me, much less my friends, which means that the concept is either amazing, or just really, really complicated. Hopefully the former.

And finally, ‘Pushing Ice,’ by Alastair Reynolds. I’ve read Reynolds before, specifically his Revelation Space trilogy, and this is anything like that, I know I’m bound to be blown away. The sci-fi concepts he’s able to come up with are like nothing else I’ve ever read, and he seems to have an unlimited number of incredible ideas for future technology, alien (and not-so-alien) civilization, and unusual characters to fit into these strange new worlds. I’m excited to read this one, which is why I’ve left it for last!

And as always, I’ll probably add a book to these somewhere along the line. Expect many reviews in the next few weeks!

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley