Ho Ho Ho!

Yes a season of magic and warmth needs technology and aliens and I do not just mean an electric tree and the visiting of parents. For more suggestions today I’m looking at some of the best SF I’ve read

Lords of Uncreation by Adria Tchaikovsky — Runalong The Shelves- giant aliens who eat planets are not the scariest enemy in this excellent finale to a fantastic space opera trilogy with a fine message about working together to stop the powerful.

Downfall by Louise Carey — Runalong The Shelves - this inventive dystopia explores the darker side o the metaverse and how corporations could use this technology in very sinister ways. Carey is a name to watch out for.

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz — Runalong The Shelves - exploring corporate power, environmental change, how intelligence evolves and its a smart, unusual and uses timescales so well this book lingers in the memory.

Hel's Eight by Stark Holborn — Runalong The Shelves - Holborn’s excellent series set in a weird SF western moon in space has a great tale here that has element of chilling horror as well as delightful action.. A series to get on board with.

The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan — Runalong The Shelves - This magnifiicent story adds much needed energy to the cyberpunk genre with a tale of a city where being the best you can is all that mattters if you want to survive. Inventive, thought-provoking and a new name in SF to watch out for. This is brilliant.

Descendant Machine by Gareth L Powell — Runalong The Shelves - One of the most consistently entertaining UK SF writers this time has a fie mystery surrounding a giant mysterious object in space. It has aliens who clearly are not based on a previous PM. A lot of fun!

Infinity Gate by MR Carey — Runalong The Shelves - A new epic duology begins with a tale of multiple linked earths and by the way one of the characters is a large talking rabbit. That is not the strangest thing - this is a really smart, mind-widening piece of SF to tuck into!!

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh — Runalong The Shelves - My love of unlikeable lead characters we get to understand here is used brilliantly in this tale of how someone can be brainwashed into a cult and want to do terrible things. Highly enjoyable!

Mother Sea by Lorraine Wilson — Runalong The Shelves - More SF adjacent but this tale of an island facing death by climate change and the tales of those studying it is yet another entry that needs reading by a writer who is a name to watch.

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang — Runalong The Shelves - another fine emtry into the unlikeable character canon and this tale is steadily making you realise bad decisions are leading to something terrible!

Translation State by Ann Leckie — Runalong The Shelves - Leckie a few years ago created a fascinating study into the use of gender and now this book that explores identioty in a different way actually challenges that earlier novel and brings the series up to date. Smart, subtle SF that should be devoured.

Doctor Who - The Cradle by Tasha Suri — Runalong The Shelves - Who fans should gather up this brilliant Twelfth Doctor novel that has an excellent theme tale of identity and racism in the 1970s. Its rather brilliant.

A Fire Born of Exile by Aliette de Bodard — Runalong The Shelves - Space opera, long planned revenge and excellent inventive character work made this SF novel really sing to me and a reminder that de Bodard is just one of the best.

Refractions by MV Melcer — Runalong The Shelves - A really entertaining, intelligent SF tale of a rescue mission going wrong that also has things to say and about own world and trust versus conspiracy theories. A new name to watch out for.

Starborn Vendetta by Thomas Wrightson — Runalong The Shelves - a more classical SF style tale of revenge and a scarily driven main character who really will stop at nothing to get what she wants back.