Banner credit: This year’s SciFiMonth artwork is by the amazingly talented Simon Fetscher.
Even though I’ve spent half the past month thinking it’s already November, it is at last here and with it comes the epic event that is SciFiMonth, organised by the delightful Lisa at Dear Geek Place and Imyril at There’s Always Room For One More. Last year was my first time participating as I’m a relatively new SF lover, but I had so much fun I couldn’t wait for it to come back around. And it’s their 10th year!
However, November is also NaNoWriMo, and though I am not actively participating or aiming for a final word-count by the end of the month, I am using it to push me into the first proper draft of my novel since outlining it, with the goal of finishing that by December. I am nervous and excited, and hope my brain manages to keep it together. This means that I’ll be reading less, and probably won’t post a whole amount, since work is also intense from here until the end of the year, so I’m focusing mainly on novellas and audiobooks to get my SciFi fix:
Before I resume my adventures in the Expanse universe, I wanted to catch up on the short stories set before book 3, Abaddon’s Gate. These are Drive, The Butcher of Anderson Station, and God of Risk. Then I want to finally read the novellas I won in last year’s giveaway because I feel it’s a disgrace I haven’t picked up Premee Mohamed’s works yet, so I’m planning to read The Annual Migration of Clouds and These Lifeless Things. There are two others in this bundle by other authors, and depending on my reading pace I may pick them up to… And because I need a physical book to carry around with me to avoid social interactions I’m going to read The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi because it’s perfect carrying size and also looks delightful!
The other day, on a whim, I decided to start listening to Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray, a Star Wars novel about Qui-on Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I’ve never picked up any Star Wars novelisations because I’ve been intimidated by the volume of them and never knew where to start, but since this was on BorrowBox I thought I’d try it. It is delightful and so wonderfully narrated. I already plan to pick up Dooku: Jedi Lost next!
Knowing me, it’s entirely likely that my TBR will derail when I finish the God of Risk short story, decide I need more of The Expanse in my life, and dive straight into Abaddon’s Gate but I will do my best to stick to my plans. Sadly I’m not joining this year’s read-along, because even though The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers can stand alone I want to enjoy the series in order at my own pace… it’ll be very tempting to read everyone’s discussion posts though, so I must be strong! But I can’t wait to add a million more books to my TBR thanks to everyone’s posts!
The Book Nook 
I’m also very busy this month and my participation might be less that normal, but I still love focusing on science fiction😁 Scalzi’s book is a ton of fun!
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Good luck with NaNoWriMo! I read These Lifeless Things for SF Month last year. I also have my eye on the Expanse short story omnibus, having finished the main series.
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Thank you! I hope Premee Mohamed’s works live up to the hype…
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I have no idea how scifimonthw ill go for me this year. Last year was such a bust. I am at the point of Abbadon’s Gate in The Expanse too but I didn’t realize there were so many novella’s haha.
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I hope you manage to enjoy it this year! But it’s a busy and tiring period so it’s easy for things to slip away
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I’ve got Master & Apprentice on my own tentative TBR, I may just have to pick it up! Enjoy Sci-Fi Month and NaNoWriMo!
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I decided to join on the fringes and see what’s going on. There are a few prompts I can do, but because I haven’t been active in this genre in such a long time, there’s only so much I have to say! I’ve decided, though, that in 2023 I’m going to try to read more scifi.
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I think that’s a good way to do it if you’re not a massive sci-fi reader. Because I haven’t been reading it long a lot of prompts are limited for me too, but I love the way this month gives me more ideas on SF books to read!
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Good point! I’m looking forward to learning about more scifi authors/books. This will help me find more options to satisfy my 2023 goal of incorporating more scifi into my reading.
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Ooh, does The Annual Migration of Clouds qualify as Sci Fi? I’ve been really wanting to read that one so maybe I should pick it up this month!
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I think it’s labelled ‘speculative fiction’ which I like to think is just literary sci-fi!
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I really need to start in on The Kaiju Preservation Society! Happy reading!
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Thank you!
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Draft draft draft!
(I may read some sci-fi but, let’s be real, probably won’t)
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I’ve already gone off task and am reading a fantasy book! It’s called Catalyst by Brandon Crilly and I think you’d like it… but it’s got these galactic squid-like beings that float around the planet protecting it, so I’m counting that as a sci-fi element 😅
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Sci-Fantasy is totally a thing and that’s nothing wrong with.
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The Expanse novellas are a nice little addition to the series, enjoy! I also finally delved into Star Wars books this year via audio and Jonathan Davis is just such a great narrator! Really want to read Master & Apprentice soon 😀
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