Simon Morden, The Books of Down, Gollancz,

• Down Station, 2016.
• The White City, 2017.

"No, I'm sorry, I don't review an unfinished series," I usually say. Except that it's exactly what I'm doing here. So be warned: The Books of Down is a trilogy and the third volume hasn't got a publication date yet. But it's the best portal fantasy I've read in a long time and it deserves some love bombing so that this third volume can finally hurry our way.

Joyce Chng, Starfang, Fox Spirit Books,

• Rise of the Clan, 2017.
• Claw of the Clan, 2018.
• Will of the Clan, 2018.

"Werewolves in space!" is the tagline of this trilogy of novellas. Now, the word "werewolves" usually has me running very fast in the opposite direction, but in my never ending quest for space operas, I gave it a try.

Samuel Delany, The Ballad of Beta-2, Ace Double, 1965 (original publishing).
Reprinted in A, B, C, Three Short Novels by Vintage, 2015.

Some classic scifi stories are very much stories of their times. Some have aged well; others... less so. When I picked The Ballad of Beta-2, a Samuel Delany novella I had never read, for my series of classics reviews, I didn't really know what to expect.
But I suppose this is how you recognise a true master of scifi, when their story, more than fifty years later, still feel incredibly modern.

Fourth in the series of "Stories published before 1978."

Aliya Whiteley, The Loosening Skin, Unsung Stories, 2018.

Once upon a time, if you had told me "weird fiction", I'd have run screaming. It conjured images of ick and ick-ier in the vein of Burrough's Naked Lunch. But a couple of writers have reconciled me with the genre until I finally read Aliya Whiteley last year. I would now cross a sea to buy her latest books and this latest novella of hers is another brilliant story.

Adrian Tchaikovsky, The Expert System's Brother, Tor.com, 2018.

Tor.com's novellas can be hit and miss. But... What am I seeing in the distance? It is a Tchaikovsky scifi novella at Tor! Obviously, this one goes into the "hit" category.

Tina Makereti, Once upon a time in Aotearoa, Huia Publishers, 2013.

Tina Makereti came to my attention because she contributed to the Pacific Monsters anthology by Fox Spirit Books, a small press I'm following, and I was keen to read her short stories. This collection contains 13 short stories, and it is a hidden gem that deserves to be read.

Peter Watts, The Freeze-Frame Revolution, Tachyon Publications, 2018.

The Freeze-Frame Revolution is a hard scifi novella whose title is actually pretty self explanatory once you start reading. It's a clever mix of good concepts and old concepts, though some more allusive aspects may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Sue Burke, Semiosis, MacMillan, 2018.
Audio version available on Audible.

Semiosis is science-fiction novel, spanning generations on an alien planet. Called "A First contact story", it announces its ambitions very early on. Though I had some niggles with it, I very much enjoyed it.

Saad Z. Hossain, Djinn City, The Unnamed Press, 2017.

I will start straight up with a warning I wish someone had given me: this is the first volume in a fantasy series and it ends on a cliffhanger. Nonetheless, I'm reviewing it because Djinn City was a compelling read, with a rich and detailed world building.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Prime Meridian, JABberwocky Literary Agency, 2018 (reprint).

About six months ago I was told of this novella, too late to be a part of the fundraiser and get a copy when Moreno-Garcia released it as an indie novella. Ever since, I've been waiting for its reprint and wider availablity.
So, yes, I know that barely a few weeks ago I reviewed a novel by Moreno-Garcia, but this scifi novella was everything I hoped for, and some more.

Sam J. Miller, Blackfish City, Orbit, 2018.
Audio version available on Audible.

Blackfish City is a near-ish future scifi novel, built upon climate change disasters and a socially conscious discourse. I've had some issues with it, but it's nonetheless a well written story, with interesting character dynamics.

Jen Williams, The Winnowing Flame, Headline.

• The Ninth Rain, 2017.
• The Bitter Twins, 2018.
• The Poison Song, to be published in 2019.

I do not review incomplete series. I do not read incomplete series. And then, the Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards happened.
To give you a more precise picture: since 2017, I had seen a lot of my Twitter correspondents being enthused about The Ninth Rain and I was not so quietly bidding my time. So when The Ninth Rain ended up on our shortlist, I was both relieved I could finally read it and also quite annoyed.
Yes, annoyed. Because now I have to wait for a year before knowing what will happen to those fantastic characters!

Walter Miller, A Canticle for Leibowitz, J.B. Lippincott, 1960 (original publication), SF Masterworks, 1997 (reprint).
Audio version available on Audible.

I couldn't remember if I had read A Canticle for Leibowitz or not. But the fact is that if I did, it was in my early teens, almost thirty years ago, so it was as good as if I hadn't. Cue my "Novels published before 1978" series, a wonderful opportunity to (re) read it.
But I ended up realising that this classic scifi novel was actually highly problematic.
Why am I reviewing it then? It's an interesting novel to debate and it should also be a warning to anyone being told that it's a classic to not go into it blindly.

Third in my series of novels published before 1978.

Nalo Hopkinson, Midnight Robber, Grand Central Publishing, 2000.
Audiobook available on Audible.

I was recently reminded that I often talk about Midnight Robber but that I still haven't reviewed it. I'm delighted to finally being able to as this scifi novel, artfully blending an intimate narrative with a thoughtful take on the power of words and fiction, and an intriguing planet, is definitely not one to be missed.

Hari Kunzru, White Tears, Penguin, 2018.
Available as an audiobook on Audible.

White Tears isn't a fluff and easy read with endearing characters. Nonetheless, it is an engrossing and important fantasy/horror story about cultural appropriation, with a writing style bordering sometimes on the vertiginous.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Beautiful Ones, Innsmouth Free Press, 2018.

The SCKA shortlist keeps on taking me out of my comfort zone and The Beautiful Ones, a fantasy novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, a writer I've been wanting to read for a long time, is another story which shouldn't work for me at all but actually does.

Nick Harkaway, Gnomon, William Heinemann, 2017.

Did I like or did I dislike Gnomon? To be entirely honest with you, I'm still not sure. Probably both at the same time.

Juliet McKenna, The Green Man's Heir, Wizard's Tower Press, 2018.

I had fallen in love with McKenna's four series of epic fantasy, all set in a fascinating and diverse secondary world. So I was eagerly waiting for this new novel of her which, while still remaining fantasy, is set in our contemporary world, in the English countryside. It didn't disappoint.

Ahmed Saadawi, Frankenstein in Baghdad, Oneworld Publications, 2018.
Translation: Jonathan Wright.

In more ways than one Frankenstein in Baghdad is a novel in conversation both with a literary context and a historical context. And, strangely enough, this fantasy story has common points both with The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and with Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Leigh Brackett, The Long Tomorrow, SF Masterworks, 2014.
Audio version available on Audible.
Originally published by Doubleday in 1955.

The Long Tomorrow had been sitting on my to-be-read piles for ages. One of the few recognised female writers during the so-called "Golden Age" of science-fiction, Brackett intrigued me. This novel proved to be interesting to read some 70 years later and also, sometimes, irritating.

Second in my series of reviews of novels published before 1978.