April saw me read 10 books with a total of 2,157 pages, bringing me to 36 books and 8,989 pages year to date. There were four roleplaying books, 2 non-fiction and the balance of four were fiction.
So, the fiction. I completed re-reading William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy, working through Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive. I've read these multiple times and still get more from them. It's nice to see how they all draw together. I also read William Moore's "The Grimoire of Forgotten Fairy Tales" which is a volume of poems and prose that takes fairy tales and nursery rhymes and twists them darkly. I'd originally seen William performing them on Facebook Reels and liked them enough to revisit. Definitely the kind of text that needs to be read out loud, even if in your head.
I also read Clarkesworld Issue #201, which had a great collection of different stories in. I recently picked up an Xteink e-reader, which is tiny but perfect for taking everywhere. I figured it was a good opportunity to stop doom scrolling and actually read a bit more. As I have a digital pile of deDRMed Azimovs and Clarkesworld magazines, this seemed a perfect match. Rather than get depressed about the world today, dig into a story of the future. So far, it's working. I definitely recommend the Xteink, which I bought direct from the manufacturer.
The non-fiction books began with Believable Lies by Terry Stiastny. At first, this didn't engage me, but by the end I was wanting more. It tells the tale of how Britain carried out political warfare in World War 2, propaganda both black and white. What I found fascinating was the way that it revealed in infighting between politicians and their appointees, something that tends to get brushed over in more traditional histories. I hadn't really understood that politics was just as full throated during the war years as it was in normal times, with jostling for power, briefings and rivalries. Definitely recommended.
I also read If Russia Wins by Carlo Masala, which is sobering. It posits a scenario of Ukraine being forced into humiliating ceasefire, partly by the US, partly by the undermining of European democracies by right wing and left wing populist elements encouraged by Russian disinformation campaigns. Soon after this, Russia occupies a town in one of the Baltic states, and ultimately leads to failure of NATO and a distancing between the USA and Europe. Altogether believable, especially with the present US administration.
My roleplaying reading was mostly focussed around North Star - I read the Blade Runner RPG and the new Replicant Rebellion sourcebook, plus the Blue Planet Recontact Player's Guide. The later was very information dense but has such wonderful world building. The former two capture the feel of the films really well. My final book was The Fractured Library and Other Tales from the Lost Horizon, a scenario collection for Coriolis: The Great Dark. At least one of these scenarios will work itself into my campaign of Flowers of Algorab.
1 May 2026