Matthew's Journal

This was the last of the Hugo Novels, which the library system finally got to sending me an ebook of.

This is the latest Murderbot novella, in which Murderbot is on a rescue mission along with Three.

I've reviewed the novels, novellas, and films, but didn't get round to ranking them until yesterday, the day before the voting deadline.

I think this is the last category I'm going to be able to read before the voting deadline; again I'll try and say something non-spoilery about them all.

I've read these; it's hard to say much about them without spoilers, so here's a voting order and a brief note about each: When He Calls Your Name by Catherynne M.

Again, in order of reading: Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz is a post-apocalyptic story where some robots are trying to survive after the restaurant that they worked for went bust.

First in reading order, What Stalks the Deep by T.

I seem to have read a few books recently with ( a particular plot device ) , all of which have to deal with ( an issue with that plot device ) .

I've been meaning to write these for a couple of weeks, so they're going to be a bit short and rubbish now.

Mickey Barnes and Timo join an expedition to the planet Niflheim, hoping to outrun a murderous loan-shark.

The introduction to Sinners tells us that various folk traditions (including the Choctaw) hold that some people are born with the ability to make music so true that it pierces the veil between life and death, conjuring spirits from the past and future; wh…

There have been a number of magic school books in recent years; in The Incandescent, we largely follow events at Chetwood School through the eyes of Dr Walden, Director of Magic.

This is the first of a trilogy, set in Orrun, a fantasy world where people tend to associate with one of 8 (demi-)gods, one of which is the Raven.

The announcement of the 2026 Hugo shortlist reminded me I never posted about how I voted for the 2025 awards.

Three books I've read recently.

The second chapter of our book group book (Rowan Williams' Being Human) is "What is a person?"

This is the last of this year's Hugo Award shortlist for dramatic presentation long form.

It's past the voting deadline, and I didn't vote in the dramatic presentation long form category, but I'm still trying to watch the shortlisted films.

It's time to vote for the next Chancellor (previously); I've looked at the candidates and their statements, but still don't have an obvious-to-me choice of who to vote for.

This is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, and provides the backstory for Imperator Furiosa in that film.

This is the first in a two-part adaptation of the musical of the book (which is in turn a re-interpretation of The Wizard of Oz investigating the Wicked Witch of the West's backstory).

I've consumed two things from the 2025 Hugo Award shortlist recently.

This book is subtitled "Feminist bicycle science fiction stories of transgender and nonbinary adventurers", and that's a pretty good summary of the contents.

I've recently been watching Shetland on iPlayer.

I've already voted for the Best Novel.