Books in June 2023

 

June 2023 - 7 books and 1791 pages

June 2023 saw me read two novels and five roleplaying books; a similar page count to other months.

The novels were Ken MacLeod's 'Beyond the Reach of Earth' and Ian R. MacLeod's 'The Light Ages'.

'Beyond the Reach of Earth' probably edges out 'The Light Ages' for me, even though it's not the strongest novel that Ken McLeod has written. The middle book of a trilogy, it maintains pace and throws interesting twists into the mix as it explores around artificial intelligence, competing blocks of aligned states (Scotland is part of the Union with mainland Europe, England part of the Alliance) and the impact of FTL travel. It's more plot-led than character-led. I'm looking forward to the last part.

'The Light Ages' has a Victorian feel alternative universe where magic is tangible and the aether that powers it is mined underground. Much of the novel deals with a revolutionary agenda against the guilds and social classes that dominate. This was pretty slow paced, but I found myself savouring the writing in some parts; perhaps not as much as a M John Harrison novel, but it was very rich. I will read the sequel to this as I'm intrigued where it will go.

I impulse bought 'Achtung! Cthulhu' in the new 2d20 edition and much of the roleplaying related reading this month was related to it. I worked my way through the Player's and Gamesmaster's Guides and also the first major campaign, Shadows of Atlantis. You can find my reviews of the core books here; I'll probably add something around Shadows of Atlantis later this month. However, suffice it to say that it intrigues me enough to consider running it.

I also read 'Archives of the Sky', a story game that explores big concept SF which is heavily inspired by Alastair Reynolds' House of Suns (which happens to be one of my favourite novels). I reviewed it here as well so won't say any more.

The final roleplaying book was 'Good Strong Hands'. This was a kickstarter I backed on impulse (well, I backed the first supplement and got the core book as well) and was delivered really quickly. You play fairytale creatures in the world of Reverie who are drawn into a conflict to defend against the rise of the Void. There's a bit of a Dark Crystal vibe, certainly. I like the dice pool system that powers the game, and the core ideas are strong, but I found many of the example plots and story hooks a bit too direct for my liking; I expected creeping horror and found more direct conflict. That's probably on me having the wrong expectations. I'm going to read the supplement and decide what I do with this; it's giving me ideas so I may try it at a convention or as a one-shot.

2 July 2023