I tier-rank the 11 SFF books I read in June 2026 - but which is my book of the month?

If I have one criticism, it's just that the ending of book three, the dumont of the entire shooting match was rather abrupt and maybe a little bit rushed. Generally though, I have no notes. I love them both and in fact the whole trilogy.

I loved a lot about these books. I thought the setting continued to be just about perfect. the main characters were extremely well drawn and I think there's a lot of heart in the story.

I enjoyed come hunt and earth man. I like the hunt master as a character and the relationships between the protagonist and his wife and the protagonist and the backroom buffing types that develop the tech for them to use eventually against threats not even of this universe.

It's ambitious scope occasionally comes at the expense of cohesion, and some of the thematic threads are left deliberately unresolved. Those looking for a tightly plotted adventure might find it a bit diffuse. whilst while it's uncompromisingly bleak outlook offers little in the way of relief, it still feels pretty fresh, unsettling, and intellectually ambitious.

I did feel strongly that Future's Edge hits many of the same notes that his previous work hits and thus arguably didn't add much new of interest. On the plus side, not to be sniffed at, this is a oneanddone standalone to be commended in this day and age. and it's a perfectly readable, if not terribly memorable, space opera.

I thought that Russian Spring was an ultimately hopeful book, a nice mix of space race and family drama with the side order of geopolitics. it was maybe a little bit too long at 600 pages, but I didn't find it a slog to read in any way.

Even so, I thought that Slow Bullets was an inventive and intelligent novela that proves once again that Reynolds can be just as effective in compact format as he is writing sprawling space operas.

So it's a military adventure and from what I can tell competently done. Cletus Graham is arguably a slightly implausible as a character, particularly his apparent precience. The one sort of flat note for me was that there was an odd sort of forced marriage to Melissa, the daughter of one of his military colleagues.

While this is an odd book, I did think that Ben Pester did a good job keeping me on my toes. I was unsettled throughout, never quite sure what I was reading, whether any of the characters or even locations were descriptions of the physical, or if the novel and everything in it were fully untethered from reality.

I enjoyed The Secret City. I give it 8 out of 10. is a stellar splendor.

I did enjoy my time with this book. I give Leviathan 8 out of 10. It's a stellar splendor.