It’s been a rollercoaster month in the company of would-be heiress Ingray Aughskold and her stolen thief Garal Ket. Can she foil a ruthless invasion with the help of her wits and unexpected alien allies, or will Hwae lose its most valued vestiges - or even its independence? It’s the final week of the Provenance read-along…

Hey, where did September go? Bring it back! This was the month I got to settle into staying home and getting back into routine, but I spent the first half with migraine instead. On the plus side, I had some awesome reads and I spent my weekends in a pottery learning new skills. Reading Round-up This month’s mood was rather Gothic in the broader sense, full of foreboding and dark secrets and untrustworthy new companions.

It started as a scheme to embarrass her brother, but Ingray Aughskold isn’t entirely responsible for the interstellar incident developing around her. As she scrambles to get Garal safely offstation, the next phase of a ruthless Omkem plot unfurls around her. Will the unpredictable Geck offer the safe harbour they need?

The nights are drawing in, the air is growing (slowly but surely) colder, and my eye is turning toward books of a spooky nature. You know what that means…

Darker nights mean brighter stars, and this November the crew of the good ship Sci-Fi Month plan to celebrate those jewels of our night skies as we take off yet again on another intergalactic voyag…

Ingray Aughskold bought a convicted felon’s freedom in an ambitious gambit to embarrass her brother, but her questionable scheme has thoroughly derailed. Now she is at the centre of not one but two interstellar diplomatic incidents, and her closest ally stands accused of murder…

A Palestinian haunted house, nonbinary poetry magic, and…the British colonising literal Hell?!

I’m late to the launch pad, but delighted to confirm that ScifiMonth will be blasting off as usual this November for our annual celebration of one of our favourite genres. With the Artemis mission earlier this year, our eyes are set on the stars - will you join us for a month of delighting in all things SFnal? What is ScifiMonth?

Alt: A grey uniformed postal worker stood on top of a building launches his post-carrying pigeon into the air. It flaps wildly for a second then drops like a stone.

I’m late to the launch pad, but delighted to confirm that ScifiMonth will be blasting off as usual this November for our annual celebration of one of our favourite genres. With the Artemis mission earlier this year, our eyes are set on the stars - will you join us for a month of delighting in all things SFnal? What is ScifiMonth?

Autumn has well and truly started, and in one month’s time we’ll light our candles and tiptoe through the shadows for 13 days and nights of Spooktastic Reads in the run up to Hallowe’en.

Alt: Scene from The Expanse: Avasarala, a perfectly presented older woman wearing extravagant jewellery, looks somberly at her security lead and says ‘it certainly is’

Alt: Amos Burton, a bearded white man, wearing a big coat and saying YES. He’s not so much emphatic as utterly sure of himself

Alt: Image zooming in on a seagull sat on a post, stretching its neck and really letting loose with an almighty squawk

I skipped the short stories, so it feels like a long while since we read the Ancillary trilogy, but our Imperial Radch-along continues this month with Provenance. This is the first of three stand-alone novels that expand the Imperial Radch universe - we’ll be reading all three, finishing with Radiant Star in ScifiMonth if you care to join us.

August included buying a new (second hand) car; spending a wonderful week with an old friend who finally gave me an excuse to go to the gorgeous Inverewe Gardens and explore Cawdor Castle; heading to Split for a week for work (yes, I’m a lucky cow - I get sent to Split for work); and finished with a week in London for my beloved’s birthday.