2026: What are you reading? > Likes and Comments

What are you reading this year?
- Anything even close to a techno-thriller
- Or, anything 5-star
- Expand our horizons a bit
- Inspire us to read good stuff
- Skip the book-of-the-month here

I suggest using the add book/author button to add a book cover and author photo, or in words [Title] by [Author] (Year first published). Maybe share a line or two about it ... the plot / your thoughts.

Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio (2018)


It is science fiction … and fantasy, set in a fully colonized galaxy in the distant future with a couple species of aliens. Earth is still mentioned, but I’d say it’s too distant from life as we know it to be a techno-thriller. It initially seems most similar to Dune.

This is the first book in the Sun Eater series and though it is still fairly good, it is the lowest rated in the series (not counting novellas that appear as fractions in the series, such as #2.5). Starting at book #3, people start positively raving about how it is the greatest science fiction being written today, with ratings up there in rarified air, among very few peers, such as the best of Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy books. So, … here I am … diving in to see.

I encountered the word inchoate which I’ve only seen used a couple times. Glad when any book can push my verbal envelope a bit. It used it a little outside of familiar bounds: “I gestured, inchoate, at the glimmering holographs …”.

Wow, this guy published this book at age 22.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (1985)


Rated 4.58

This is a western novel, historical fiction, not a techno-thriller, but so far … it’s tracking towards a 5-star rating. Some of the best writing I’ve read in some time. So far, it has been far better than The Stand.

I previously read Empire of the Summer Moon, a good nonfiction account, if you can make it through, of the story of the Comanche Indians, and the efforts of white settlers contending with them for control of the land. So, I had a little background on the perils of cowboys in the area and the efforts of the Texas Rangers. The two main characters in Lonesome Dove are based on the accounts of two actual Texas Rangers. That background isn’t necessary but I probably enjoyed it more because of that prior read. It also gives the true account behind the story in The Searchers, a classic John Wayne movie. The story is interesting. The movie is simple with stereotypes, tropes, and complete change of the settings such that it bares little resemblance to the true story.


I also read Blood Meridian previously. That’s a monstrously dark historical fiction of similar times. I honestly hated it and abandoned at about 85% when the author wrote something so brutal I had just had it. Some people think Blood Meridian is not just good, but perhaps the best contender for the Great American novel. I thought it was a horrific story by an author consumed by his demons. It did stitch together many historical accounts that weren’t really tied together, and a novel can be easier than nonfiction sometimes, but it cobbled them together and recolored them in such a diabolically violent and racist hate screed that I couldn’t stomach it. It isn’t even remotely the same quality as Lonesome Dove.


Finished it. 5 stars. I put it as #10 in my list of best books of all time. Well written.

Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio (2019)


Rated 4.35

#2 in the Sun Eater series, a space sci-fi fantasy series.

Not bad. Probably not quite a 4.35 as it is rated.

I'm working through some medical sci-fi this year—still in the early stages, but definitely interested in how technology and ethics intersect. Your take on Lonesome Dove is making me reconsider the western genre entirely though. The way you connected it to actual history and contrast it with Blood Meridian is exactly why this group matters. Quality writing matters more than genre.

Still building my 2026 list. Following your recommendations with interest.

Wow, thanks for that note! I often feel like I’m writing to myself, with no idea that anyone has read anything I’ve written.

Unlucky for Some

This is the 13th in the series of Victor the Assassin stories, the only series out there in Book Land that I've read every one of (I'm really not from the Box Set Generation).

It's thriller rather than a techno-thriller, I suppose, although the attention to detail paid to the equipment and weaponry would be at home in a Tom Clancy novel, especially in the earlier books.

What I like about the series is the laconic personality of Victor, the undoubted fact that you find yourself rooting for him even though he's an utterly evil sod, and the meticulous attention the author pays to Victor's 'tradecraft'.

Although the stories necessarily broadened out, the first book in the series is also a very effective satire on the Bourne and Bond genres.

All that said, the author seems to have taken a deliberate decision to suppress the level of detail in his most recent offerings, as it's not everyone's cup of tea. It is mine, unfortunately, so I'm not really enjoying the latest work as much as his earlier books. There's also a bit too much 'literary' description for my taste, and this particular story includes an eye rolling moment when a cold and ruthless killer decides to give Victor a fighting chance, for no real reason. The rough equivalent of the Bond villain telling 007 about his plans instead of popping a cap in his face.

So, I guess this isn't really a post about Unlucky for Some, but a recommendation for the series as a whole. Victor grows on you, and I always enjoy his company.


christopherbentleyauthor.com

Hi there! I'm currently looking for my next read, but I'd like to share what I've read recently. I'm not sure how much of it would be classified as a standard techno-thriller; it might be more of a speculative/sci-fi thriller. Anyway, here are the three books I really enjoyed, all of which have an AI theme: Avogadro Corp by William Hertling; The Fear Index by Robert Harris; and The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams.




Avogadro Corp and The Fear Index are actually really similar in terms of how the AI behaves, just in different settings: one is set in the corporate tech world and the other in the financial world (stock market world mostly). The most interesting thing for me is that they were both published just two months apart.
Metamorphosis was weird (Caroline parts - what people will do when they can't die) but also interesting with how the system works. If all would be written with Lawrence perspective I'd give it a 5, but because Caroline parts were there too it's like 3.5-3.75.

If you ever read anything similar I'd love to know and maybe read it too :)

We read Artificial Wisdom last year, and it involves AI. Those of us that read it really liked it. That author says he’s writing a sequel.

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2015)


In this book, Earth does exist, but generally not remotely as we have ever known it. It is a mere faded memory, so I would not call it a techno-thriller. Sometimes we admit apocalypse books along these lines, but this is just too far away. It’s just science fiction.