THE FICTIONFOX

Genre: Sci-fi, adventure Published: Podium Publishing, May 26th 2026 My Rating: 2.5/5 stars What would you get if you mixed an Indiana-Jones-style plot with a female protagonist, Mesoamerican Shamanism and a liberal helping of hallucinogenic mushrooms? If you said “an intriguing premise for a novel”, then you and I were on the same page, which is exactly why I requested The Gatepost for early review. Unfortunately, this didn’t quite live up to my expectations, and I was left

Mermaids are a staple of folklore, and almost every culture historically has a variation on this half-human half-fish creature embedded in their mythology somewhere. As a lover of the ocean, bodies of water, and swimming myself, I've been equally fascinated with these creatures, but less so with their romanticized version in popular culture. Today (on the 12th of May) I bring you 12 recommendations for books featuring mermaids, where all of differ a little from your typical p

Genre: Sci-fi Novella Published: Tor Books & Pan MacMillan International, May 2026 My Rating: 3/5 stars “You have a choice. You get to choose who you love. No matter what happens next, no one can take that away from you.” After a yearslong streak of feel-good queer novels, T.J. Klune is switching things up with his latest release; an apocalyptic novella in which we follow an elderly queer couple on a roadtrip across America, in the final days before the earth will be swallowe

Genre: Sci-fi Mystery Published: Soho Press, May 2026 My Rating: 3.5/5 stars Equal parts police procedural, sci-fi mystery and societal dystopia; there were plenty of colors in the palette that Andrew Dana Hugh could’ve chosen to paint the story of Absence with. Instead of choosing however, he blends these genres together in a way that worked surprisingly well for me. The mix is a little reminiscent of Jeff Vandermeer or Blake Crouch, but less bleak and alien than the former,