Alex Hormann

Ten pages? Sure, if I put the media tie-ins on a separate list

A friend has cajoled me into a monthly buddy read (she loves sci fi almost as much as me, so doesn't conflict with my existing plans)

As always, I'll probably try and fail to catch up with all the series I've started. No concrete plans yet though.

I'd day this and Cage of Souls are about matched for my favourite

BOOK REVIEW: Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky Teaser Humanity is on its last legs. Fleeing a doomed Earth, the starship Gilgamesh carries its human cargo across the stars to a new world. But this world is not meant for us. On Kern’s Worl…

I already knew I liked Children of Time. But ten years on, does it hold up as a modern classic?

Just the Helliconia omnibus. Great worldbuilding, but bogged down towards the end.

Good to see the series isn't dead. James White in particular is well worth a read, and this is yet another excuse for me to give Aldiss a second try.

Closing in on some potentially weak years for science fiction

BOOK REVIEW: Encounter With Tiber, by Buzz Aldrin & John Barnes Teaser At the end of the twentieth century, humanity takes a renewed interest in spaceflight. At the dawn of the twenty-first, we discover we are not alone. Long ago, aliens visited our world, and …

One of my all-time favourite science fiction novels, now finally rated and reviewed.

My first ever panel appearance. Hope to see lots of you there.

Haha, it's usually a lot quiter than that. Glad you enjoyed the review .

Children is okay
God Emperor is an essay not a novel
Heretics is a mess
Chapterhouse is a fun mess

The Brian Herbert/Kevin J Anderson novels are less philosophical, but great space operas. Paul of Dune is a genuinely brilliant Dune novel. My favourite of the whole canon.

BOOK REVIEW: Paragon of Faith Teaser The Sisters of Battle – the Adepta Sororitas – are the divine frontline of the Imperium. With faith and firepower, they will combat the forces of Chaos wherever it is encountered…

It's been a while, but I'm taking a look at some Warhammer 40,000 fiction again.

BOOK REVIEW: To Protect/To Obey, by Mickey Zucker Reichert Teaser When Susan Calvin signs in for her first day at Manhattan Hasbro Hospital. she expects to be push the limits of human medicine. She does not expect to become embroiled in the affairs of US R…

Far and away the best post-Asimov Robot novels, I am putting 'To Preserve' right at the top of the list of books I'm keeping an eye out for.

BOOK REVIEW: Radix, by A. A. Attansio Teaser The world as we know it is long gone, replaced by a new one of alien travellers, men with psychic powers, and a war between good and evil that may never be resolved . . . Review I’d he…

It might be a cult favourite, but it's a cult I won't be joining.

Some thoughts on Radix, by A.A. Attansio

Having recently read and lobed Behemoth, I logged it as follows

Yearly reading: 1 book
A-Z database: 1 book
History of SF database: 3 books

October 2025 At Boundary’s Edge We’ve done it. We’ve made it to the final quarter of the year. That means the weather is unpredictable, the nights are growing longer, and there’s still plenty of reading to be do…

Some very loose (and one very definite) plans for the month ahead

We’re back, folks!

Join us this November as we explore the landscapes of our dreams 🚀

I'll (hopefully) be doing my first ever panel. The nerves are definitely hitting but I'm looking forward to it.

2025 Sci Fi Scavenger Survey - Your Top 10 Science Fiction Books! AND Your Top 5 SF Series! Just tell me your ALL TIME favourite science fiction books, recent, vintage, any era, any size, novel/collection/anthology, whatever. No whole series, pick single books (which could be from a series)...

The 2025 SciFiScavenger Viewer Survey is now OPEN!

NEW this year, I'm also asking for your Top 5 SF series.

I'll leave the survey open for the whole of October so there's plenty of time to have a think and get your responses in,

Here is the link for the survey:

forms.gle/4Z5Sjx1sJAgb...

September 2025 At Boundary’s Edge: Looking Back See that nice big stack of chunky books? That was my planned reading material for the month. Yeah, that ended up not happening. I did manage to read Peter Watts’ Firefall, which varied betwee…

Failed my TBR goals, but had a great month nonetheless.

Read in September = A September read

One more Warhammer 40,000 anthology to see out the month.

Yes, but it's not really a feature of the book. It's just hinted at, but becomes fairly clear towards the end

Climbing Olympus-Kevin J. Anderson
Mars-Ben Bova
Red Dust-Paul J. McAuley
One Way-S. J. Morden
Before Mars-Emma Newman
Terminal World-Alastair Reynolds
Bear Head-Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Martian-Andy Weir

McAuley and Reynolds the most 'out there'
Bova, Newman, and Weir more reality based

Indranan War is very good.

Murderbot was okay, for once I preferred the adaptation. Wells' Stargate novels were great too. Haven't read Jikiema-Pearson, though I was interested by the pre release hype.

On military SF,I think there's a certain straightforwardness that's comforting, but at the same time it has morality themes

Oh, haven't heard of Melcer. Hansen, Hurley, and O'Keefe weren't to my tastes, but Martine is phenomenal. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Rose/House

I do use ebay for bundles and job lots, but for individual books I prefer the thrill of the hunt

I also can't cope with ebooks and have no local library. I am very much aware of the problems with canon/percieved canon, but there are limited things I can do about it in my current situation.

There are few things I enjoy more than crawling through the attics and cellars of used bookshops. I actively try not to buy individual books online and don't have the funds for new books, so I am unfortunately largely at the mercy of what other people have donated