If you love all things science fiction, then November is the month for you! For the past six (?) years, SciFi Month has been a great way to highlight all the aspects of science fiction: books, movies, video games, toys, TV, you name it! This is my fifth year participating, believe it or not, and I’m so excited that Imyril and Lisa are hosting it again! Check out their links for more details and you can join in the fun any time!
My month won’t be completely science fiction-centric, because I do have some books in other genres for review (see my What’s On My Plate post if you missed it), but I hope to read at least four SF books if I can. I’m also planning on posting some lists, because everyone loves a good list, right? And it wouldn’t be SciFi Month without a giveaway, so stay tuned for that as well. Here’s what you can look for this month:
The Books:
This is more or less a review-heavy SciFi Month for me, as these are all review books. A few of them are October releases that I just couldn’t get to, but I’m going to do my best to catch up this month.
I’m most excited about Abandoned by W. Michael Gear, the sequel to his wonderful Outpost from last year. This is an overlooked series, in my opinion, so I really want to shine a light on it this month.
I recently received a surprised finished copy of The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect! I’ll definitely be reading and reviewing this sequel to last year’s The Collapsing Empire.
Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar is an October release, and unfortunately I had WAY too many review books last month to get to them all. This will definitely be a priority this month!
The Rule of One by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders is also left over from October. I’m a little leery of the mixed reviews I’m seeing on Goodreads, but this is pretty short so I hope to squeeze it in.
Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines has just been released in paperback, and since I missed it the first time around, I was happy to receive a review copy from the kind folks at Daw Books.
Finally, This Splintered Silence by Kayla Olson is a HarperTeen download from Edelweiss, and it’s fortuitously coming out this month, which is great timing for SciFi Month! I’m loving all the four and five star reviews I’m seeing already!
The Lists:
I already have two lists planned, and depending on my schedule, I may come up with another one. Stay tuned for Ten Adult SciFi Books to Look For in 2019 and Ten Young Adult SciFi Books to Look For in 2019. I do these lists every year, because looking ahead is one of my favorite things to do on my blog:-D
Waiting on Wednesdays:
It’s also been my tradition to feature only science fiction books on my Waiting on Wednesday/Can’t Wait Wednesday posts. Because I have a very long list of upcoming 2019 science fiction releases that I’m excited about, the spill-over from my top ten lists will be featured each Wednesday in November. Get ready to add more books to your TBR piles!
Instagram Challenges:
As if reading six SF books (in addition to the November fantasy books I have for review) isn’t enough, I found TWO Instagram challenges that I want to try to participate in. One is hosted by our lovely SciFi Month hosts, and the other is called #StrangeStarsandSkies, which has no connection to SciFi Month that I know of, but it’s perfect! Both look like fun, and while I doubt I can do both every day, I’ll post as much as I can.
#StrangeStarsandSkies is hosted by @scifiandscary, @whatmeworry_reads, @theliteraryhooker and @itcamefrombeyondpulp.
Giveaways & Other Events
I’ll have at least one giveaway to celebrate SciFi Month, so look for my giveaway post near the end of November, where three international winners will get to select any of the books from my SciFi Month posts! That means you could choose a book that’s already been released, but you might also want to select something coming out next year, in which case I’ll preorder it for you. If I get it together, I may try to add another giveaway, so stay tuned:-D
I’m also very excited to be part of the blog tour for Aliya Whiteley’s The Arrival of Missives, which coincidentally is being re-released by Titan Books this month. This isn’t an official SciFi Month event, but I am including it here because the book is science fiction. I originally read and reviewed this when it was published by Unsung Stories, and I’m happy to see this new edition and cover redesign. I’ll have a guest post from the author on November 12th, so stop by and help me celebrate!
Terminal Alliance looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun! Happy reading this month!
Yes, it does look fun, I can’t wait:-)
I looooove Science Fiction. Doctor Who is what really got me into the genre but there are also several scifi books that I own that I still have to read. Maybe I can finally get around to reading them this monht. 🙂
Yes, I hope you join in! It’s such a fun month, especially when lots of bloggers participate:-)
WHAT?! How did I never know that November was Sci-Fi month?! Imma ’bout to sci-fi it up!
Joe Martin recently posted…Magical, in so many ways | Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd
I’m glad you know now! It’s been going on right under your nose for years now;-)
I think I’m finally going to get around to The Collapsing Empire this month! I’ve recently picked up a ton of Scalzi’s that I’m dying to get to (Redshirts, The Android’s Dream, and Agent to the Stars) but Collapsing Empire might happen. I put Outpost on my TBR because of your review! I have yet to get around to it but my intentions are good. 🙂 Those instagram challenges are fun.. I’ve been slacking on instagram so I’ll have to try to participate in this one!
I’m dying to read Redshirts, if I didn’t have so many review books, I think I would have tried to read it this month.
Those look like some very good books!!
Thanks Paul, I’m hopeful it will be an awesome reading month:-)
Nice list – enjoy! I love Scalzi, but haven’t started the new series yet (I’m still working my way through the Old Man’s War books — 4 down, 2 to go). Unholy Land looks really interesting — I’ll be waiting to hear more about it!
I can’t wait to get to Unholy Land, and plus I love the cover:-)
I definitely want to read The Consuming Fire this month!!
I hope we both get the chance and enjoy it!
Oh I didn’t even see the challenge! I’m going to have to save that list and see how many items I can strike off by the end of the month. I wish I was more organized this year, lol 😀
Sometimes things work better if you don’t plan too far ahead. I’m afraid all my planning is going to make me sad when it turns out I don’t have time for everything:-)
Nothing wrong with playing catch-up or cherry-picking. I wrote the prompts then swanned off on holiday until yesterday, so I haven’t got started yet myself 😉
Gotta love the cover for Abandoned. Got it on my list. Also have Martha Wells series I’m hoping to get to. Happy reading:)
I wanted to read the Martha Wells Murderbot books but I just don’t think I’ll have time.
I’m actually putting them off til after the holidays. I want to read them with no interruptions or having to squeeze them in.
Laura Thomas recently posted…31 Days Of Thrills And Chills 2018 ~ It’s A Wrap ~
I can’t believe I forgot about scifi month! I’m doing the #strangestarsandskies challenge this month, too. I hope it’s a great month for you.
I’ve been doing it so long I just expect that I have my reading plans for November each year, lol. Not sure I can do two Instagram challenges, though. We’ll see how it goes:-)
Ooooh I have the paperback of the Unsung Stories edition of Arrival of Missives on my shelf! Though that new cover is pretty dang gorgeous as well. Hmm. I might have to see if I can squeeze it onto the reading list… 😀
I really like the new cover better, but I really enjoyed the story.
I’m looking forward to The Consuming Fire a lot, and This Splintered Silence is looking kinda good too!
Greg recently posted…Number One Chinese Restaurant
I don’t have a lot of YA on the list this month, so I’m hoping This Splintered Silence is good as well.
I loved Unholy Land, it’s one of the best book I read so far in 2018, I hope you’ll enjoy it as well! 😀
Maryam recently posted…Book Review: Summerland by Hannu Rajaniemi
Yay, I read your review and I’m looking forward to it even more:-)
Looking forward to your thoughts on Unholy Land….I remember having my eye on that one because I loved the cover (lol).
I just read a rave review of it on another blog, so I can’t wait to get to it:-)
If the cover for Abandoned is any indication, we can expect more harrowing stories from the sequel to Outpost! And I can hardly wait… 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…SciFi Month 2018 – PHOTO CHALLENGE #2
Yes, me too! I have one more book ahead of Abandoned, then it’s at the top of the pile:-)
I am so excited for Sci-Fi Month, this is my first time participating and my TBR is going to (mostly) be strictly sci-fi!
Kaleena recently posted…October in Review
I hope you have fun, it’s a really fun month, especially hopping around to see what other bloggers are doing!
I hope you enjoy your books! They all look pretty good 🙂
Louise recently posted…Bye-Bye Spooky Month… Hello Sci-Fi Month!
Thanks for visiting:-)
Oh gosh I love the cover for Arrival of Missives. I’ve heard so many good things about it – this must be the point where I finally get round to reading it! We’re already debating the ‘rules’ (HA like we ever stick to them anyway) for Subjective Chaos 2019 to be able to include this and the new release of Rosewater 😉
I just love that these books are getting second chances and hopefully reaching a bigger audience:-)
I love lists.
And, I’ve just read Skyward which is my first sci-fi of the month.
Lynn 😀
I have yet to read a sci fi book this month, I need to read Someone Like Me next, then something from my sci fi list:-) Too many books!!
Yay! Glad you are joining and can’t wait to read your lists and reviews.
Thanks Deanna, I look forward to your posts as well:-)
Terminal Alliance is such a fun book. I absolutely loved it and am waiting (not very patiently) for the sequel. W. Michael Gear’s book looks interesting – that cover! – so I’m going to go check out the first in the series. Hope you get to your whole TBR and that you enjoy them.
Amy recently posted…Sci-Fi Month: Photo Challenge #4: Favorite Sci-Fi Series
I’m really happy you loved Terminal Alliance! I hope to read it very soon:-)
I have consuming Fire on my shelf too, but most likely won’t be able to read it this month. Looking forward to your posts for scifi month. I am participating in it too.
I’ll see you in the trenches:-)