Gav Reads

A Web Log of Reading

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Sunday Summary: 12th Oct 25 Edition

Womble from Runalong The Shelves has been doing a weekly “Wombling Along” and highlighting reviews and other articles that caught their attention over the past week.

Sunday Summary is mostly going to be my personal log of books and bookish things that have caught my attention — and may also serve as a public memory prompt/bookmarking system.

Halloween is Not Far Away

And this means that both the British Fantasy Awards and the World Fantasy Awards are soon to be announced.

The British Fantasy Awards will be presented on Saturday 1st November, in the evening, at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton.

And

The World Fantasy Awards will be presented on Sunday 2nd November, in the afternoon following the banquet, also at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton.

I’ve just realised I have three weeks to finish reading my selected shortlists from each!

I’m confident I’ll manage the novellas — I’ve read three and have two to go. I’m about halfway through the anthology reading. I’m planning to read the novels as a group and continue reviewing the anthologies individually.

I am reading them in the order in which they are presented in the shortlists, and as a reminder, here they are:

British Fantasy Awards 2025: Best Anthology

  • Nova Scotia 2, edited by Neil Williamson and Andrew J Wilson – Luna Press Publishing
  • I Want That Twink Obliterated!, edited by Trip Galey, C.L. McCartney, and Robert Berg – Bona Books
  • Fight Like A Girl 2, edited by Roz Clarke and Joanne Hall – Wizard’s Tower Press
  • 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 Sofia Ajram – Ghoulish Books

World Fantasy Awards 2025: Best Novella

  • 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)

I’m taking longer to read Heartwood than I expected. The themes explore similar emotional and mythic territory, though from completely different angles. Despite their varied perspectives, they overlap in meaningful ways, which is slowing my reading pace. That might also be due to the weight of the stories — they demand attention.

I think it’s going to be my winner. Not because the other anthologies aren’t excellent, but because this is a unique collection, rooted in a powerful myth.

I thought Crypt of the Moon Spider was going to be my novella winner before reading Yoke of Stars, and now I’m not so sure. Let’s see what the two tree-related stories do for me, as Ryhope Wood has entrances everywhere.

Back to anthologies — they’ve put me in the mood to read more. I’ve already started The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread, and I’ll have read Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology. So, after the winner has been announced, do I read the other nominees in the World Fantasy Awards Best Anthology category? They are:

  • Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology, ed. Dan Coxon (Drugstore Indian Press)
  • Discontinue If Death Ensues: Tales from the Tipping Point eds. Carol Gyzander & Anna Taborska (Flame Tree Press)
  • Northern Nights ed. Michael Kelly (Undertow Publications)
  • The Dagon Collection, ed. Nate Pedersen (PS Publishing)
  • The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread ed. Dave Ring (Neon Hemlock Press)

Newsy Things

Ebooks – Now Available from Bookshop.org

There is more in the press release, but these are the highlights:

  • For the first time ever, UK indies will be able to sell ebooks to their customers
  • The launch marks Bookshop.org’s fifth anniversary
  • Bookshops will make 100% profit on every ebook they sell
  • A much-awaited alternative to Amazon to buy ebooks, at no extra cost
  • Bookshop.org to launch audiobook sales next year

I use an iPhone and a Boox Palma (which uses Google Play), and I’ve bought a couple of books to test it out. The whole process was slick and easy—especially with Apple Pay.

The app offers lots of control over the reading experience, but there are two things you should know. By default, it:

  • looks terrible
  • overrides the publisher’s settings

But don’t worry—there’s an easy fix if you have the patience. Try turning on the publisher settings or fiddling with the options until you get it looking the way you want. The initial appearance actually encourages you to change it, and once you do, the text looks stunning.

So don’t let that put you off. It’s great to have more big-company options for buying ebooks, and I’m sure they’ll improve the app to make it a better out-of-the-box experience.

Kickstarter #1: I want to see Welsh Heroes Return

They are Still Here (Maen Nhw Yma O Hyd) will be an anthology of contemporary fantasy tales of resistance and resilience. The threats will be very modern, but the resolution will contain a hint or more of the fantastic.

This one is live but the all or nothing deadline is:

Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 9:47 AM GMT (UK local time)

Back it here.

Kickstarter #2: A New Trip Galey Novel

This one is coming in 2026. I loved A Market of Dreams and Destiny, and while I’m waiting on a sequel —which Trip has just confirmed is written and likely out in 2027—I’m excited to get a new novel‑length work in 2026 to fill the gap!

The Fall of the House of Valenziaga is a high-stakes, science-fantasy family epic. If you love lushly imagined settings, strange magics and impossible sciences, and queer characters that are both smart and sexy, you’ll live for this latest tale from Trip Galey!

Click here to be notified when the Kickstarter launches.

THE IGNYTE AWARDS 2025

The Ignytes seek to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscapes of science fiction, fantasy, and horror by recognizing incredible feats in storytelling and outstanding efforts toward inclusivity of the genre.

Hot off the presss is the winners to this year’s awards:

OUTSTANDING NOVEL: ADULT – For novel-length work (40,000+ words) intended for an adult audience
Winner: The Sentence – Gautam Bhatia

OUTSTANDING NOVEL: YOUNG ADULT – For novel-length (40,000+ words) works intended for the young adult audience
Winner: Heir – Sabaa Tahir

OUTSTANDING MIDDLE GRADE – For works intended for the middle grade audience
Winner: The Last Rhee Witch – Jenna Lee-Yun

OUTSTANDING NOVELLA – For speculative works ranging from 17,500–39,999 words
Winner: Lost Ark Dreaming – Suyi Okungbowa Davies

OUTSTANDING NOVELETTE – For speculative works ranging from 7,500–17,499 words
Winner: We Who Will Not Die – Shingai Njeri Kagunda

OUTSTANDING SHORT STORY – For speculative works ranging from 2,000–7,499 words
Winner: We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read – Caroline M. Yoachim

OUTSTANDING SPECULATIVE POETRY – For excellence in speculative poetry
Winner: Reliving: Post Trauma of the Lekki Tollgate Massacre – Fasasi Ridwan

CRITICS AWARD – For reviews and analysis of the field of speculative literature
Winner: Maya Gittelman

OUTSTANDING FICTION PODCAST – For excellence in audio performance and production for speculative fiction
Winner: Podcastle

OUTSTANDING ARTIST – For contributions in visual speculative storytelling
Winner: Tran Nguyen

OUTSTANDING COMICS TEAM – For comics, graphic novels, and sequential storytelling
Winner: Lunar Boy – Jes and Cin Wibowo

OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY/COLLECTED WORKS – For excellence in curated speculative fiction collections
Winner: Thyme Travellers: An Anthology of Palestinian Speculative Fiction – Sonia Sulaiman

OUTSTANDING CREATIVE NONFICTION – For works related to the field of speculative fiction
Winner: Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction – Eugen Bacon, ed.

THE EMBER AWARD – For unsung contributions to genre
Winner: Sonia Sulaiman

THE COMMUNITY AWARD – For outstanding efforts in service of inclusion and equitable practice in genre
Winner: Authors Against Book Bans

Out This Week in the UK – ish

(I need to do better at this as this is a last minute list category)

  • Itch! by Gemma Amor
  • Good Boy by Neil McRobert
  • The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas
  • The Night That Finds Us All by John Hornor Jacobs
  • All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles
  • You’ve Found Oliver by Dustin Thao

Books That Others have Tempted Me With:

I List My Favourites Reads Since 2022

Do you ever get the feeling that you don’t read enough? I had that earlier in the week, so I wrote up a list of my favourites going back to 2022. It turned out to be a longer list than I expected:

  1. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk trans. Antonia Lloyd-Jones
  2. Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis trans. by Anne Milano Appel
  3. Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
  4. ‘salem’s Lot by Stephen King
  5. The Old Woman With the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo trans. Chi-Young Kim –
  6. The Salvagers Trilogy by Alex White
  7. Magic For Liars by Sarah Gailey
  8. Alien: The Cold Forge by Alex White
  9. Siblings by Brigitte Reimann trans. Lucy Jones
  10. Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater
  11. Broken Light by Joanne Harris
  12. What Abigail Did That Summer (Rivers of London #5.3) by Ben Aaronovitch
  13. The Indranan War by K.B. Wagers
  14. What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier #1) by T. Kingfisher
  15. What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier #2) by T. Kingfisher
  16. The Living and the Rest by José Eduardo Agualusa
  17. The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
  18. A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey
  19. The Colony by Audrey Magee
  20. When Among Crows by Veronica Roth
  21. Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
  22. Calypso by Oliver K.
  23. Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts
  24. The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones
  25. Rubicon by J.S. Dewes
  26. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto tr. Megan Backus
  27. The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle
  28. August Kitko and the Mechas from Space (The Starmetal Symphony #1) by Alex White
  29. The Undetectables (The Undetectables Series #1) by Courtney Smyth –
  30. The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton
  31. Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida tr. Haydn Trowell –
  32. Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne –
  33. The Last Hour Between Worlds (The Echo Archives #1) by Melissa Caruso
  34. The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis
  35. Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
  36. All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
  37. Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells

I feel better about myself after seeing this, I’m not gonna lie.

Outro

Well, that turned out to be a much longer post than I expected.

Maybe, next week, I’ll get back to my bookmarks.

Until then — happy reading!

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