Womble from Runalong The Shelves has been doing a “Wombling Along” post for the last few weeks, highlighting reviews and other articles that caught their attention over the past week.
And I thought I’d join in.
I’m curious about a few things:
- Whether I’ll be able to keep it up.
- What looking back on these posts will feel like in a year or two.
This is mostly going to be about books and book-ish things that have come to my attention — and possibly serve as my own public bookmarking system.
Let’s start with a recommendation from one of my favourite BookTokers, Claire Linney. She recommended Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker. To borrow and paraphrase a bit of her summary — because that’s what got me hooked:
Two 16-year-old twins are part of a magical bloodline, but a murder has doomed their name and stripped their mother of her throne. The story is told from the perspectives of both the twins and their adversaries. It features a magic system that’s used to comment on race, and the politics and policing around it.
Please check out Claire’s full review here.
I have downloaded it and it’s now on my overflowing ereader ready to read.
On Bluesky two posts on criticism have been shared:
- One by New York Magazine
- One by Reator Magazine (formly Tor.com):
I’m bookmarking these to digest later, but Niall Harrison pointed out a quote from Christine Smallwood that really interests me:
Criticism is an act of autobiography. The work of making an argument, coming to a judgment, or simply choosing which books or objects to give time and attention to is inevitably, helplessly, an expression of values
And borrowing an item from Womble:
I need to ponder this some more. If you’re a media outlet (like Locus) or a specialist blog, you’ll likely be commenting on ‘significant’ or potentially ‘significant’ books in your area of interest. But more generally, I think we’re in the age of influencers — and influencers should be more willing to step back from the flow and share what’s important to them. Claire and Womble are both great examples of that philosophy.
As an aside, I’m enjoying reading anthologies for my BFA challenge. However, I’ve given myself permission to skip those that don’t resonate from the start or that I fizzle out with. I’m unlikely to have anything interesting to say about them—unless the number of skips ends up reflecting something about the anthology as a whole.
Don’t tell anyone, but I’m struggling to find time to listen to audiobooks — which is why I’ve been reading The Devils by Joe Abercrombie since the 7th of May and I’m only 46% through. It’s frustrating because I’m really enjoying Steven Pacey’s performance, and I want to listen to Let the Bad Times Roll by Alice Slatter.
I’m going to have to just read the ebook versions of both, which will be great — but not quite the experience I was hoping for.
Lastly, what are my plans for the rest of September? Well, I need to crack on with World Fantasy Award novellas:
- Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud (Tor Nightfire / Titan Books)
- In the Shadow of Their Dying by Michael F. Fletcher and Anna Smith Spark (Grimdark Magazine)
- Yoke of Stars by R. B. Lemberg (Tachyon Publications)
- The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo (Tordotcom)
- The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom / Titan Books UK)
And finsih the remaining British Fantasy Awards Best Anthology nominees:
- Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology, edited by Dan Coxon – PS Publishing
- The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2023), edited by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Chinaza Eziaghighala – Caezik SF & Fantasy
- Bury Your Gays – An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror, edited by Sofia Ajram – Ghoulish Books
I can guarantee you that I’m not looking forward to Bury Your Gays—it’s exactly the type of tales I tend to avoid—but I’ve committed myself now, so wish me luck when I get there.
Apart from those, I’m planning to finish The Devils and The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso, as I keep pushing them aside for the anthologies. My last experience with The Last Hour Between Worlds had me sitting there gasping at something she had cleverly woven in. Like The Devils, The Last Hour Between Worlds is proving to be very entertaining.
Until next week—happy reading!
Gav Reads 
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