Monthly Roundup – January 2023

Hello and welcome to the first Monthly Roundup post of 2023, here on Track of Words. I hope you had a great January – for me it’s been a pretty busy month with lots of reading (as usual) and a fair amount of writing, as I got myself back into gear for this, my tenth year of running Track of Words. As I always do with these roundups, I’m going to start things off with a recap of everything I posted on the site in January, so you can catch up on anything you might have missed. After that I’m going to do something a little different than usual, talking less about myself (which nobody really needs) and more about what’s going on in the world of SFF books, as I start to tweak the structure and purpose of these articles – so I hope you’ll keep reading, and let me know what you think!

January’s Posts

Including this one you’re reading, I published nine posts in January, which is nicely in keeping with my goal of averaging two posts per week. If you missed anything, now’s the perfect time to catch up!

Articles

Of those nine posts in total, this one makes three articles for January, including a retrospective of last year and a look ahead to 2023.

Yearly Roundup – 2022 Numbers and Goals – my annual retrospective post, where I take a look back at the previous year on the site. Check it out to see some top-level numbers regarding page views, site visitors, breakdown of different posts etc., and to see how I got on with the goals I set for myself last year.

2023 Plans and Goals – this is my tenth year of running Track of Words, and I spent some time early on thinking about what I want to achieve over the year, and how much of myself I’m prepared to put into achieving that. You can read about what I’m aiming for here.

Interviews

I didn’t publish any of my usual style of author interviews in January, but instead put together a fairly epic three-parter based around the Black Library Open Submissions Window, taking a different approach to usual. Rather than going with straightforward Q&As I worked the authors’ answers and my own observations together into a single cohesive piece (for each instalment). I hope this approach works – do let me know if you’ve got any thoughts about it. Also a big thanks to all of the authors who got involved, and especially Nicholas Wolf for giving me the push to put these together.

Writing for Black Library – Open Submissions January 2023 Part 1: Pitching – I spoke to nine excellent BL authors who very kindly shared their advice and suggestions on various writing topics. There was way too much good stuff to put it all in one post so I split it into three instalments, starting with the tricky task of putting together a 100-word story pitch.

Writing for Black Library – Open Submissions January 2023 Part 2: Space Marines – in this second instalment the nine BL authors talk about writing Space Marines, and what makes a great Space Marine story.

Writing for Black Library – Open Submissions January 2023 Part 3: Writing Samples – the third and final instalment covers everything from planning out short stories to choosing what to include in the 500-word sample.

Reviews

It took me a little while to get into the swing of writing reviews, but I’m pleased with both of the full-length reviews that I put together in January (for two wonderful books – highly recommended!), and I had fun writing a quick review roundup too.

The Mimicking of Known Successes – Malka Older – for my first review of 2023 I took a look at this brilliant science fiction novella set on a remote colony of Jupiter. It’s equal parts old-school detective story, fun adventure and rekindled romance, with a general tone that’s warm and cosy, especially for readers who enjoy a bit of academia.

Godkiller – Hannah Kaner – this epic fantasy debut has just come out and is proving very popular, and I can totally understand why. I read it in a couple of days and couldn’t put it down – it has great characters, a really cool sense of important recent history and an interesting take on fantasy gods, and impressively it fits all that into a tight 100k words without needing to be a huge doorstop of a book.

Short and Sweet – January 2023 – in this review roundup I take a quick look at three SFF books that I recently read, featuring Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd, and Garro: Knight of Grey by James Swallow. I didn’t have the time or headspace to write a full review for each of these books, but I still had a few things I wanted to mention about them!

My January

After spending December working hard to put together my Advent Calendar series (not to mention a further six posts to maintain the one-a-day trend for the whole month), I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to be in the mood for working on in January, or indeed for reading. As it is, I feel like I got back in the swing of things quite quickly – I’m happy with the nine posts I put together (particularly the interview series), and I’ve had an absolute blast with my reading this month. I’m still getting less audiobook time than I’d like, as my bad foot (I’ve developed plantar fasciitis, which is frustrating) is preventing me from doing much walking, but I still managed a couple of audiobooks alongside the 10 physical/digital books I read.

By the way, if you want to check out all the books I read in January, and keep up with what I’m reading in general, you can find me on Goodreads here. I’m not going to talk through all the books I read, as quite a few I picked up just for fun, but along with the five that I covered in individual reviews or my review roundup, I’m also planning on reviewing David Annandale’s Arkham Horror novel In the Coils of the Labyrinth and Moses Ose Utomi’s novella The Lies of the Ajungo. Both excellent books!

Now, I’ve been thinking about some different ways in which I could use these roundups, and also whether it would be worth starting a monthly newsletter as well or instead of them. I haven’t made any decisions yet, but for this month’s post I thought I’d take a look at some of the interesting SFF book-related goings on I’ve come across over the last few weeks, and put together a list of recommendations based on books I’m currently reading/listening to, music and newsletters I’m enjoying, and bookshops I’ve been visiting.

First of all, I make no secret of being a huge fan of Tordotcom Publishing – I think they publish some fantastic, interesting, unconventional books, with some of the best cover art and design going in SFF at the moment. In January they published Kate Elliott’s novella The Keeper’s Six, which I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of – and it’s brilliant! You can read my review here, but suffice to say if you like the idea of mixing contemporary fantasy with conniving dragons and realm-travelling magic I strongly recommend this. Tordotcom also revealed some fantastic new cover art for upcoming books by Martha Wells (more Murderbot!) and Lina Rather, and announced a second Mossa and Pleiti novella from Malka Older, all of which I’m super excited about! Here are some links and images:

It wasn’t all Tordotcom, though – other publishers are available! Here are a few highlights I spotted:

Recommendations

To finish off, I’ve put together some recommendations of things I’ve been enjoying lately – hopefully a few things in here will be of interest to you too!

Currently reading

I’m swapping between two books on my Kindle at the moment – each quite different, but both excellent so far.

Life Beyond Us edited by Julie Nováková, Lucas K. Law and Susan Forest: an intriguing anthology coming in April from Laksa Media and the European Astrobiology Institute, featuring 27 short stories exploring life in its many aspects. What’s particularly interesting is that each story is followed by an essay exploring the science in that story – I can’t claim to understand all the science, but what I do understand is fascinating, and I love the idea of mixing science fiction with actual science.

Godeater’s Son by Noah Van Nguyen: the latest Age of Sigmar novel from Black Library, and the debut novel from this upcoming author. I’m totally sold on the premise, exploring the Mortal Realms through the eyes of a warrior who sees Sigmar’s armies as colonisers and oppressors, so turns to other powers for strength. It reminds me a bit of Gav Thorpe’s fantastic The Red Feast, which was set pre-AoS and offered a similarly intriguing non-Order viewpoint. I’ve only just started this, but a couple of chapters in I’m already enjoying it.

Currently listening

I’ve got two audio recommendations for you – one audiobook, and one recently-released album. I know Track of Words is very much book-focused, but there’s no harm in talking a bit about some non-book stuff too, right?

The Brilliant Abyss by Helen Scales: I’m increasingly finding that audiobooks are the best medium for me to enjoy non-fiction, and in the last year or so I’ve listened to loads of fascinating books that I probably wouldn’t have stuck with otherwise. I find the idea of the deep sea both fascinating and utterly terrifying, something that’s coming across very strongly in The Brilliant Abyss, which delves beneath the waves to explore the ocean’s life, topography, untapped potential and future risks. I suspect this book will end up being equal parts fascinating, horrifying, thought-provoking and troubling.

Sky Void of Stars by Katatonia: one of my all-time favourite bands, I find Katatonia’s constant development deeply interesting and engaging, from their early years as a full-on Death Metal band to their current iteration as purveyors of powerful, difficult-to-classify melancholy prog (a similar route to that other titan of Scandinavian metal, Opeth). From my first few listens this latest album feels like a natural continuation of their recent path, perhaps a little heavier and more guitar-driven this time around but still providing that dark, gloomy-but-beautiful blend of atmosphere and melody that I’ve come to really love. In some respects it’s more of the same, but I think it’ll prove to be a grower over time…and even if not, ‘more of the same’ isn’t a bad thing with a band as good as Katatonia.

Newsletter/mailing list recommendations

I’m trying to get signed up to as many interesting SFF book-related newsletters as I can, to feed my voracious appetite for new things! Here are a few newsletters that I’ve been enjoying reading of late:

Words By Goodman: David Goodman’s fascinating newsletter is largely focused on the craft of writing, with updates on his own process (writing, pitching, planning etc.) along with book recommendations and a great selection of links to other interesting articles and interviews. Sign up here.

John French: John’s mailing list is less of a newsletter and more a series of articles and short stories delivered by email, and I love it! The latest instalment was an article about gathering ideas, referencing Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan and discussing note taking, and paying attention to small details. Sign up here.

Monstrorum Liber: Josh Reynolds’s newsletter is packed full of interesting content, from news and updates about upcoming releases to sneak peeks into future books and essays on literary monsters and occult detectives. If you’re a fan of Josh’s Royal Occultist stories (and if not, why not? Definitely check them out!) you can also now sign up to his new Royal Occultist Compendium, which promises to be fun. Sign up to Monstrorum Liber here.

Bookshops

I’ve visited some great bookshops recently, so I thought I’d quickly talk a bit about those in case you’re ever in the area (both of these are in London).

Halcyon Books: located in Lee, Southeast London, I’ve been popping into Halcyon on the way to my regular physio appointments (for my dodgy foot). It’s one of those lovely second-hand bookshops with books piled absolutely everywhere and crammed into all manner of shelves, with a nice little cafe and (at the moment – I don’t know how long it’ll last) an impressive collection of vintage science fiction paperbacks and magazines. I picked up a copy of Analog magazine from March 1970 last time I was there!

Waterstones Tottenham Court Road: perhaps overshadowed by its larger sibling in Piccadilly and its nearby cousin in Foyles on Charing Cross Road (there are LOADS of bookshops in Central London!), I’ve been enjoying visiting this smaller, modern branch of Waterstones, specifically for its SFF events. In the last couple of weeks I’ve attended an event called ‘Broads With Swords’ with CL Clark, Kate Dylan, Saara El-Arifi and Hannah Kaner (sadly Tasha Suri couldn’t make it), to celebrate the launch of Kaner’s Godkiller, and a Queer SF event with CL Clark (again!), Aliette de Bodard, VV James and Everina Maxwell. Both events were tremendous fun, and I’ll be looking out for more in the future!

***

I think that’s a good point to wrap up this roundup – if you’ve got this far, thanks for keeping reading and for sticking with me this long! I’d love to know what you thought of the different approach I took to this post, so please do let me know in the comments or over on Twitter. I’ll keep thinking about how I can make these articles as useful as possible, however that works out.

In the meantime, I hope you had a good January and here’s hoping we all have a great February! Happy reading.

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