Mabli in three photos.

The Kraken Wakes, John Wyndham (5⭐). Horrifyingly modern for a 70+ y/o book. Very reminiscent of early COVID responses and now climate change. Phyllis is one of the best written women I've seen in sci-fi.

Book number 40 the year! Theatre of the Gods, M. Suddain (3⭐). Slightly too quirky for me, struggled to get the plot straight in my head at times. Some very funny sections though.

Leaf cutter bees are back! So tidy 😍

We were out walking at sunrise this morning (4am) for the solstice. Pretty cool but the ~10 women in the sea were cooler!

The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester (3⭐). Hard to follow at times. Dodgy romance plot. The written structure of telepathic communication is cool. Cyberpunk before cyberpunk.

The Lathe of Heaven, Ursula K. Le Guin (5⭐). What a great book!

Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey (the first of the series that became The Expanse) (4.5⭐). I thought it'd be a similar vibe to Altered Carbon but it's not cos all the main dudes in this book are lover boys. This book had way more heart than I expected, luckily I have most of the series at home!

Leaf cutter bees are back in the garden. This year, they're not interested in my wisteria, I thought there were some suspiciously round looking holes in my beans!

The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin (5⭐) Holy shit, I enjoyed this so much. Some lovely prose, really developed characterisation of the way that the different societies work. I even (mostly) liked the protagonist (rare for me and Le Guin).

Shadow and Claw, Gene Wolfe (first two books in The Book of the New Sun series) (3-3.5⭐) Completely unparalleled world building but I cannot hear this man describe another pair of breasts. It's every other page. I was sending people voice notes of the most lecherous descriptions. A real shame.

The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad, Simon Parkin (5⭐). I'm not usually interested in nonfiction with a wartime focus. But this taught me a lot about the Soviet role in WW2, through the lens of besieged botanists in the world's first major seed bank. Really moved me at times.

Altered Carbon, Richard K. Morgan (3.75⭐) I think I enjoyed it more than S1 of the show (we don't talk of S2). Not sure how I feel about this kind of gritty cyberpunk novel, they feel pessimistic to me.

Solaris, Stanisław Lem (3⭐) Huge ideas, can see the impact of this book throughout sci-fi as a genre. But my god, the characters are dull. 20% is recounting fictional academic rivalries between ppl you never meet. The Drone Outside, Kristine Ong Muslim (5⭐) Tiny miniatures, all great.

Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (3.75⭐) The Radchaai feel like the evil twin of Bank's Culture. I liked the she/her pronouns throughout but I didn't love that she makes a point to tell us what gender the main characters are interpreted as in gendered societies.

When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill (4⭐) Could've been shorter. Unusual structure but fun piece of alternate history fiction. Kinda wanna be a dragon now.

Among the Burning Flowers, Samantha Shannon (4⭐). A nice companion read to Priory of the Orange Tree. Did read like parts that got the cut during editing, but I enjoyed it anyway.

The Membranes, Chi Ta-Wei (5⭐). Part of my quest to read more Sinophone science fiction. This was written in the 90s in Taiwan. Anything I have to say about it wouldn't do it justice. Highly recommend.

These Burning Stars, Bethany Jacobs (2.5⭐). I really struggled, then I saw a review that said "if you liked Gideon the Ninth, you'll love this" and that made sense. Next to no setting, I struggled to work out where I was half the time. I shan't bother reading the others.

Fevre Dream, George R. R. Martin (3⭐). Read it with a friend. Couldn't get over the self insert protagonist. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (4⭐). Justice for Estraven! Genly Ai is a misogynist Issues with characters aside, I'd love to read a copy with she/her or they/them pronouns.

Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky (4⭐). Same vein as animation series Scavengers Reign and Vandermeer's Annihilation. I love Tchaikovsky's biology. A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (3.5⭐). Stopped sulking and bumped up my score. Not as good as the first. I have a lot to say about the aliens.

A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (4.75⭐). Political intrigue, poetry and mild sapphic romance. What more could I want. MARCH: The Dark Side of the Sun, Terry Pratchett (3.5⭐). Early Pratchett, didn't hit like Strata. Some interesting thoughts but narratively a bit all over the place.

Tales from the Forbidden Planet, mixed authors (3.5⭐). Very mixed bag. The accompanying artwork is beautiful for all of the stories. The Invention of Nature, Andrea Wulf (4⭐). A book about Alexander von Humboldt. Could've been better about his sexuality. I really enjoyed it otherwise.

Terra Nullius, Claire G. Coleman (5⭐). I will never get this book out of my head. It was absolutely harrowing, but also incredible speculative fiction. Borne, Jeff Vandermeer (4⭐). Pretty miserable planet, but I really had a soft spot for all the characters.

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea, Rebecca Thorne (4.5⭐) Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree (4⭐) The weekend I read these two books, I was feeling run-down and tired. I just needed something cosy and extremely low-stakes. These are perfect for that vibe.

Counterweight, Djuna (3.5⭐). Didn't astound me, maybe something lost in translation. Very Phildickian. FEBRUARY: Matter, Iain M. Banks (5⭐). My last Culture novel I had left to read. Starfleet with drugs and very liberal gender politics. True gay communists in space!

A View from the Stars, Cixin Liu (3.5⭐). A mixed bag for the short stories, the essays are very interesting. Lots of interesting stuff about the recent history of speculative fiction in China. Monk & Robot duology, Becky Chambers (4.75⭐). Absolutely lovely sci-cli-queer-fi fluff. Gimme 10 of them.

Foundation, Asimov (3⭐). A re-read. Big ideas, of course. I can see how this was very unusual in terms of pulp sci-fi. Just couldn't get over the lack of women, it reads like the entire universe is populated with male monks. I do have some feelings about what they changed for the show now, though.

JANUARY: Exhalation, Ted Chiang (4.5⭐). I didn't enjoy as much as Stories of Your Life and Others but there were some gems in there. The Burning Kingdoms trilogy, Tasha Suri (4-4.5⭐). Really gorgeous books, wasn't wild about the ending.

I'll never bitch about mammals again ever.