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Upcoming: PLATFORM DECAY by Martha Wells (TorDotCom)

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New Murderbot incoming! Platform Decay by Martha Wells, the eighth novel in the superb Murderbot Diaries series, is due to be published by TorDotCom in May 2026! Like many people, I have been a fan of the series since the first book — All Systems Red, first published in 2017 — and have eagerly looked forward to each new book (and short story) that Wells has written. Platform Decay is no different; I’m really looking forward to this. If you haven’t had the opportunity, yet, I would also highly recommend Apple TV’s adaptation of the books.

Here’s the synopsis:

Everyone’s favorite lethal SecUnit is back in the next installment of Martha Wells’ bestselling and award-winning Murderbot Diaries series.

Having someone else support your bad decision feels kind of good.

Having volunteered to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realises that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn’t know.

Including human children. Ugh.

This may well call for… eye contact!

(Emotion check: Oh, for f—)

Martha Wells’s Platform Decay is due to be published by TorDotCom in North America and in the UK, on May 5th, 2026.

Also on CR: Reviews of All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect, and Fugitive Telemetry

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky

Quick Review: NOBODY’S BABY by Olivia Waite (TorDotCom)

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Detective Dorothy Gentleman investigates the surprising (impossible?) appearance of a baby on the Fairweather…

Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty’s most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.

A wild baby appears! Dorothy Gentleman, ship’s detective, is put to the test once again when an infant is mysteriously left on her nephew’s doorstep. Fertility is supposed to be on pause during the Fairweather’s journey across the stars — but humans have a way of breaking any rule you set them. Who produced this child, and why did they then abandon him? And as her nephew and his partner get more and more attached, how can Dorothy prevent her colleague and rival detective, Leloup, a stickler for law and order, from classifying the baby as a stowaway or a piece of luggage?

This is the second novella starring Dorothy Gentleman, a ship’s detective on the HMS Fairweather, an interstellar passenger liner transporting people to a new life on a new planet. Gently paced, well-written and engaging, it’s another very good read from Waite, and fans of the first are sure to enjoy this. Continue reading →

Very Quick Review: AUTOMATIC NOODLE by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom)

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A cosy near-future story of finding purpose and found family — through noodles — in a bleak future.

You don’t have to eat food to know the way to a city’s heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food—the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around—for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.

But when their robot-run business starts causing a stir, a targeted wave of one-star reviews threatens to boil over into a crisis. To keep their doors open, they’ll have to call on their customers, their community, and each other—and find a way to survive and thrive in a world that wasn’t built for them.

I’ve not read as many of Newitz’s works as I would like, but everything I have read I’ve very much enjoyed. I happened to get the DRC of this one just after finishing a longer read, and I dove right in, drawn to the premise. Hooked from early on, I enjoyed this. Continue reading →

Very Quick Review: MAKING HISTORY by K. J. Parker (TorDotCom)

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How to manipulate history and (maybe) get away with it

A group of scholars must do the impossible for a ruthless king. The cost of refusal, of course, is death.

History isn’t truth, it’s propaganda.

Seeking war with his neighbor, the tyrannical ruler of Aelia convenes several of his kingdom’s professors for a chat. First citizen Gyges only just invaded Aelia a few years back and, naturally, his public image can’t take the hit of another unjustified assault.

His totally sane solution? Simple, really. These scholars must construct a fake ancient city from scratch to verify Gyges’s apocryphal claims.

Now these academics must put their heads together to make history. Because if they don’t, they’ll lose their heads altogether.

In a country ruled by a usurper king, history can be a powerful tool for cementing authority and power. To do a decent job of manipulating the past, it’s important to turn to the people who know the most about it: historians. In Parker’s latest, excellent novella, a group of historians are (quietly) threatened by their new king into creating a new history that supports his authority and mandate. Continue reading →

Upcoming: MAKING HISTORY by K. J. Parker (TorDotCom)

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TorDotCom recently unveiled the cover for K. J. Parker‘s next novella, Making History. If you’ve been reading CR for even a little while, you’ve probably noticed that I am a big fan of Parker’s work; and especially his novellas and short stories (many of the former have been published by TorDotCom). That it is written by Parker is enough for me to want to read it, but the synopsis only increased my interest:

History isn’t truth… it’s propaganda.

Academics can be cocky. Atop their perches of authority high above the unquestioning world they can begin to fancy themselves gods. It is rare this authority is ever tested. But a command from an idiotic, power-hungry king — that’ll do it.

Our narrator is one of a dozen professors at the University of the Kingdom of Aelia. Early one morning, he and his colleagues are rounded up for an audience with their dictator, Gyges. You see, Gyges is new to the job — he only just invaded Aelia last year — and like any good tyrant, he’s looking to expand his empire. But his public image can’t take the hit of (another) unjustified assault. No problem, he’s come up with a plan — the scholars will simply construct an ancient city from scratch that justifies his next invasion.

Now these bookworms must put their heads together to do the impossible. They must make history. Because if they don’t, they’ll lose their heads all together.

Definitely one of my top 10 most-anticipated books of 2025, K. J. Parker’s Making History is due to be published by TorDotCom on September 2nd, in North America and in the UK.

Also on CR: Reviews of The Devil You Know, The Last Witness, Downfall of the Gods, My Beautiful Life, Prosper’s Demon, Academic Exercises, The Big Score, The Long Game, and Pulling the Wings Off Angels

Follow the Author: Goodreads

Quick Review: MURDER BY MEMORY by Olivia Whaite (TorDotCom)

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An intriguing, cozy mystery… in space!

A mind is a terrible thing to erase…

Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty’s most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.

Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers — just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.

Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor — and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting — knows more than she’s letting on. Whatever it is, Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work — and if so, they’ve had three hundred years to perfect their schemes…

Murder by Memory is an interesting, quirky mystery set on a luxurious interstellar passenger liner. After a slightly strange start, I quickly found myself drawn into the story, and rather enjoyed it. Continue reading →

Very Quick Review: HAUNT SWEET HOME by Sarah Pinsker (TorDotCom)

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PinskerS-HauntSweetHomeUSHCA novella with an interesting twist on haunting, and an amusing satire on “reality” TV

On the set of a kitschy reality TV show, staged scares transform into unnerving reality…

“Don’t talk to day about what we do at night.”

When aimless twenty-something Mara lands a job as the night-shift production assistant on her cousin’s ghost hunting/home makeover reality TV show Haunt Sweet Home, she quickly determines her new role will require a healthy attitude toward duplicity. But as she hides fog machines in the woods and improvises scares to spook new homeowners, a series of unnerving incidents on set and a creepy new coworker force Mara to confront whether the person she’s truly been deceiving and hiding from all along — is herself.

Eerie and empathetic, Haunt Sweet Home is a multifaceted, supernatural exploration of finding your own way into adulthood, and into yourself.

What if a fake reality show about haunted properties ends up… not so fake? In Sarah Pinsker’s latest novella, a newly-hired production assistant ends up right in the middle of a haunting, while still trying to figure out who she wants to be and what kind of life she wants. It’s an engaging story that feels a little like house-hunting during an episode of Supernatural. I enjoyed this. Continue reading →

Quick Review: THE BLOODLESS PRINCES by Charlotte Bond (TorDotCom)

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BondC-FB2-BloodlessPrincesUSHCThe eagerly-anticipated follow-up to The Fireborne Blade

It seemed the afterlife was bustling.

Cursed by the previous practitioner in her new role, and following an… incident… with a supremely powerful dragon, High Mage Saralene visits the afterlife with a boon to beg of the Bloodless Princes who run the underworld.

But Saralene and her most trusted advisor/champion/companion, Sir Maddileh, will soon discover that there’s only so much research to be done by studying the old tales, though perhaps there’s enough truth in them to make a start.

Saralene will need more than just her wits to leave the underworld, alive. And Maddileh will need more than just her Fireborne Blade.

A story of love and respect that endures beyond death. And of dragons, because we all love a dragon!

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of Charlotte Bond’s The Fireborne Blade, which turned out to be one of my favourite fantasy read of the past few years. When this follow-up was announced, it immediately went onto my must-read list. I’m very happy to report that it lived up to my expectations, and does everything that one wants from a sequel. Continue reading →

Excerpt: RAKESFALL by Vajra Chandrasekera (TorDotCom)

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ChandrasekeraV-RakesfallUSHCToday, we have an excerpt from the new “standalone science fiction epic about two souls bound together from here until the ends of time” by Vajra Chandrasekera: Rakesfall.

Some stories take more than one lifetime to tell. There are wrongs that echo through the ages, friendships that outpace the claws of death, loves that leave their mark on civilization, and promises that nothing can break. This is one such story.

Annelid and Leveret met as children in the middle of the Sri Lankan civil war. They found each other in a torn-up nation, peering through propaganda to grasp a deeper truth. And in a demon-haunted wood, another act of violence linked them and propelled their souls on a journey throughout the ages. No world can hold them, no life can bind them, and they’ll never leave each other behind.

Tracing two souls through endless lifetimes, Rakesfall is a virtuosic exploration of what stories can be. As Annelid and Leveret reincarnate ever deeper into the future, they will chase the edge of human possibility, in a dark science fiction epic unlike anything you’ve read before

Continue reading →

Very Quick Review: UNEXPLODED REMNANTS by Elaine Gallagher (TorDotCom)

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GallagherE-UnexplodedRemnantsUSHCA fast-paced, intriguing new sci-fi novella

An A.I. wages war on a future it doesn’t understand.

Alice is the last human. Street-smart and bad-ass.

After discovering what appears to be an A.I. personality in an antique data core, Alice decides to locate its home somewhere in the stargate network. At the very least, she wants to lay him to rest because, as it turns out, she’s stumbled upon the sentient control unit of a deadly ancient weapon system.

Convincing the ghost of a raging warrior that the war is over is about as hard as it sounds, which is to say, it’s near-impossible. But, if Alice fails and the control unit falls into the wrong hands, the balance of power her side of the Milky Way could fall apart. As Alice ports throughout the known universe seeking answers and aid she will be faced with impossible choice after impossible choice and the growing might of an unstoppable foe.

A very quick/short review, for this one. This is a pretty fast-paced, galaxy-trotting science fiction novella. After a slightly shaky start, I quickly fell into the setting and became invested in the characters’ fates. It doesn’t quite stick the landing, but I nevertheless enjoyed it. Continue reading →