December 2025 - Reviewed

So that was 2025! I had such a good year, I published Greenteeth and prepped for Nightshade and Oak. I got to see my family a few times and hung out with lots of amazing friends - old and new! I also read 100 books, and these are the final eight, which rounded out the year very nicely!

Fire From Heaven – Mary Renault

The first in the Alexander Trilogy, which I am reading out of order. I liked this but it didn’t reach the heights of The Persian Boy. Alexander grows from boy to man, shaped in turn by his relationships with his mother, his father and the many friends and allies he develops. It felt realistic, as if I was stepping into ancient Macedonia, wandering through the hill forts and horse fairs alongside Alexander. It is interesting that Renault gives so little time to the female characters in the book, framing Olympias as paranoid and hysterical, holding Alexander back from greatness. The other women are footnotes, rarely even earning a name of their own. Hoping for the final book; Funeral Games to be better.

Eiger Dreams – Jon Krakauer

A book of essays following climbing adventures and adventurers across the world, from Alaska to the Himalayas. I found this interesting, even if I didn’t quite fathom how these men (and they’re all men) are able to support themselves on these journeys. Krakauer does a good job of explaining why someone would want to do these horribly challenging climbs, and for a moment the idea of the mountains gleamed in my mind. Then I realised I had left something on my desk and ran up three floors to fetch it. That’s enough climbing for me.

The Expert System’s Champion – Adrian Tchaikovsky

The second of the Expert System novellas and definitely my favourite so far. The world-building has been done, leaving Tchaikovsky the space to stretch out and explore society, humanity and conflict, through the framework of the planet he has created.

Of Monsters and Mainframes – Barbara Truelove

SciFi Dracula, narrated by the AIs who run a transport spaceship called the Demeter? Sign me up. Also sign me up for whatever else Truelove writes because this was fantastic! It took me a moment to appreciate the structure of this novel, which is more like a collection of linked short stories, combining towards the end into one major narrative, but once I did I really loved it. I found the snarky Demeter and the Med System AIs charming narrators and I found the boundaries on how they processed information from their sensors a very innovative and interesting way to tell the story. Perfect for Becky Chambers fans who want something a bit less cosy.

Beasts of No Nation – Uzodinma Iweala

A short book, telling the story of a child soldier as he is dragged through a hideous civil war and is forced to fight. This was a pretty grim read but an interesting perspective, and will definitely stay with me.

His Black Tongue – Mitchell Luthi

A collection of novellas, the titular one set in France during the Black Death. I liked this well enough, though it does pale in comparison to Between Two Fires, another French black death horror book. I did unfortunately notice a lot of similarities in all of the novellas and short stories in this book. Each one starts slow, building gently and then is suddenly rushed to a climax, with a last moment twist that seems to have been thrown in there to herald a sequel that will never be written. I would have enjoyed them more if I hadn’t read them back-to-back and picked up on this writing quirk.

Chouette – Claire Oshetsky

With Chouette, Oshetsky has managed a remarkable feat. She has managed to write the most irritating character of the entire year. Tiny (even the name!) is pregnant and is determined to behave like a crazy person to both her long suffering husband, her inlaws, her colleagues, and any medical professional she interacts with. Things get worse when she gives birth to an ‘owl-baby’ who she refuses any medical intervention or attempt at socialising. Oshetsky claims this is based on her experience as the mother of a ‘non-conforming’ child, but this doesn't sit very comfortably with me.

The Grief of Stones – Katherine Addison

The second in the Cemeteries of Amalo series and the third in the Goblin Emperor world. Don’t start here, go and read The Goblin Emperor, then Witness for the Dead, and then come back and thank me. Addison’s writing style is so lovely; pure and gentle and full of heart but never stinting on plot or world building. I will continue to read whatever she writes.