Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Ship of Death by Kyle Winkler, The Paradox Club by Charlie Lovett, & The Cutting Garden by Darcy Van Poelgeest

  

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

The Ship of Death by Kyle Winkler

Publication: September 29th, 2026

Avon a

Paperback. 256 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"“Mind f*cking melting.' —BENJAMIN PERCY 

'Cosmically creepy as hell. A nightmarish experience.' —DAN CHAON 

'Every turn of the page is a creepy as f*ck critical success D20 roll. Winkler warmed my nerd heart while draining its blood.' — SEQUOIA NAGAMATSU 

The dice roll. Darkness answers. 

House of Leaves meets Jumanji in this brilliantly original and twisted novel composed entirely of found documents, following an unwitting couple ensnared by a sinister tabletop role-playing game 

Cole and Lorraine playtest board games for some extra cash as they save up to buy a home. But after a series of bizarre coincidences, and signing a strange NDA, the couple finds on their porch a mysterious indie developer’s tabletop role-playing game called The Ship of Death. The game relies heavily on the players’ imaginations, and takes up an ever-growing amount of space: in their kitchen, and in their minds. As its true sinister nature becomes clearer, and its forces capture more in its web, the boundary between the game and reality begins to dissolve. . . and the pair are instructed to possess a stranger’s soul. 

Told entirely through game reports, emails, game forum posts, personal journals, and police reports, reading The Ship of Death feels like a dangerous dice roll. It’s a sleep-stealing, possession-inducing work of intense, intelligent found cosmic horror that announces Kyle Winkler as a spectacular voice in the genre."

This sounds like a blast, and even though "House of Leaves meets Jumanji" sounds like its overpromising, it's still absolutely selling me!

The Paradox Club by Charlie Lovett

Publication: September 1st, 2026

Hyperion Avenue

Paperback. 432 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"In this genre-bending mystery, a brilliant yet troubled young woman uncovers the truth about her father’s death and her family’s involvement in a secret society protecting knowledge that could alter the course of human history. 

In a nondescript brownstone in Manhattan, the members of the Paradox Club quietly guard information with dangerous implications from the rest of the world. But as one rogue member hatches a plan to exploit the club’s secrets for personal gain, this group of brilliant minds begins dissolving into warring factions. 

Unaware of her family’s involvement in the Paradox Club, Tess Maxwell grew up fascinated by the stars and enthralled by her father Harry’s stories and his scientific lessons. But ever since Harry’s tragic death ten years ago, Tess has felt out of sync with the world and has a nagging feeling that there’s something more to her father’s work—and death—than anyone has let on. When she discovers Harry has left behind a puzzle for her to solve, Tess unearths hidden truths about her family and becomes a pawn in the battle for control of the Paradox Club and so much more. As deadly danger closes in, Tess must confront the paradox at the heart of her father’s work and her own fractured past to solve the mysteries of her identity, Harry’s death, and the universe. 

The Paradox Club is a page-turning read blending intellectual intrigue, personal mystery, and the tension between loyalty and ambition that makes us question the cost of learning the truth in a world where knowledge can be both a gift and a curse."

I mean, I'm always up for a secret society, and this sounds like such a fascinating premise. 

The Cutting Garden by Darcy Van Poelgeest, Erin Connally, Aditya Bidicar

Publication: September 29th, 2026

Image Comics

Hardcover. 128 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"'This hauntingly beautiful chiller creeps up on the reader like the vines spreading over Adeil and Josette’s house.' —Publishers Weekly 

A mysterious young girl seeks out a florist to deliver a painful truth that will forever change them both in this tender, gothic drama about our need for love and the creatures we become in its absence. 

On a quiet street in early twentieth-century New Orleans, a florist works through the night to craft a floral arrangement for a peculiar customer—a precocious young girl named Adeil who pays the florist in stories. For every new flower the florist adds to the bouquet, Adeil offers another dissonant detail in her narrative: a chance meeting with a disillusioned jazz singer, a dilapidated family home, an idyllic life on the fringes of an imperfect world. As dawn approaches and the arrangement takes shape, the florist is left to piece together the final details of Adeil’s mysterious life and ponder what this means for her own story. 

From Eisner Award-winning writer Darcy Van Poelgeest (Little Bird, Precious Metal) and rising-star watercolor artist Erin Connally comes The Cutting Garden, a gorgeously rendered meditation on companionship, family, and sacrifice."

I love this concept and really hope to have a chance to check this out!

Review: A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young

A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young, trans. Sophie Bowman
Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: August 11th, 2026
Hardcover. 112 pages.

About A Plagued Sea:

"First the flood
Next the sickness
Last the change

Visionary Korean author Kim Bo-Young unleashes a Lovecraftian nightmare of infection, transformation, and abomination.

“[Kim Bo-Young's] fiction is a breathtaking piece of cinematic art.” ―Bong Joon Ho, Academy Award-winning director of Parasite

While waiting for a train to Haewon, an isolated Korean seaside village, bodyguard Mu-young gets a disaster alert on her phone. Screens throughout the station report breaking news of a massive earthquake on the coast. Despite the danger, Mu-young boards the train with her niece: she’d rather face the earthquake than leave the girl in her mother’s care. That choice haunts her for the rest of her life.

Three years later, Haewon Village is home to horrors. The earthquake unleashed an ancient plague that transforms its victims into fishy monsters, and the government’s lockdown has cut off any hope for help. Mu-young’s niece is dead, and all that’s left for her is to hunt villagers who break isolation. When an officious bureaucrat from Seoul arrives in the village, he stirs up even deeper trouble. Will Mu-young survive? Does she even deserve to?"

A Plagued Sea is a weird, captivating story that blends plague horror, body horror, and some Lovecraftian influences into a thoughtful exploration of transformation, isolation, and how easily people can be treated as something fearful and detestable.

We follow Mu-young, a woman was traveling in the seaside village of Haewon when a major earthquake struck the coast. As a result, a strange land mass emerges from the sea...and with a mysterious disease spreads throughout the village. Some die, but others instead undergo disturbing physical transformations. The government's response to this is simple to quarantine the entire. village, which leaves the village's inhabitants--include Mu-young, who was only visiting--trapped and cut off from the rest of the world.

The majority of the story takes place three years after this major event occurs when Mu-young, who has not succumbed to this disease, is still trapped in Haewon and has taken it upon herself to essentially patrol the village in order to attempt to keep order and make sure those who have the disease and should be quarantining are indeed following quarantine. One day, an outsider arrives who claims to want to find out more about the disease, and who also doesn't really seem too concerned about contracting it, either. His arrival then sets off a chain of events where we all learn much more about the plague, the village, and what exactly emerged from the sea after the earthquake.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere Bo-Young created. I really felt that sense of isolation, a veery quiet, forgotten feeling that really permeated the entire story. You really get the sense that this village has been fully abandoned by the government and left to deal with problems on their own until they deem it no longer a risk. There's no real understanding of how this disease spreads, what exactly happens to those who are infected, or what the long-term outcome is, and there's no real effort to find out the answers to any of those questions. There's an aspect where it's understandable to want to isolate a potentially deadly plague when there's so much unknown about it, but there's also a need to still treat people as humans.

And that idea is one of the themes that I found most compelling in this story: how we treat people who are sick or perceived as "different" or "other" or "dangerous." There's plenty of horror around the transformations themselves and the idea of unknown creatures, but the real horror seems to be how people view and treat one another on a more human (well.. maybe human?) level. This is almost the horror that seems to be explored in one aspect of this book, and the other is the much more in your face type: body horror, creatures, and transformation. You can definitely see the Lovecraftian inspiration in this book, and that adds a level of intrigue and entertainment to this story that was very welcome.

The ending gets a little chaotic as everything comes together (or rather... falls apart? It depends on your perspective, perhaps), but I still found the directions it took interesting and fitting for the story. There were a few odd moments here and there that didn't entirely click for me, but the fact that this was already such an inherently strange tale that they never bothered me too much.

Overall, A Plagued Sea is a short, wonderfully strange piece of horror that manages to pac quite a lot into its relatively small novella-size page count. I particularly enjoyed the isolated coastal setting, the mystery surrounding the plague, and the commentary found within it. If you enjoy any of these things, as well as body horror and Lovecraftian creatures, then you may want to be sure to pick this one up.

*I received a copy of A Plagued Sea courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Month in Review: July 2026

We're (somehow) already almost a week into August, but I still need to take a second to take a look at July. It was a weird month in the sense that I can't immediately place what happened in July (it was a long month, but where did it go??), but I also had some pretty great times. Life is definitely still throwing a lot of ups and downs at me and it's a struggle at times, but we're hanging in there! Was July weird for anyone else? I hope you all are having a really lovely summer so far!

In personal news, not a lot to report! Work's been really busy despite summer being the slower season (or so I've been told, haha), but I'm getting used to things and I think figuring out a decent routine these days. I'm still doing aerial regularly, and I also added in a few dance classes during the week at a local studio, and--as someone who has zero dance background--it is the most humbling thing I've done, haha--and also a lot of fun! I really love a challenge (and it's definitely a challenge), but I'm having a great time and hoping it can transfer over to aerial as well. 

In reading news, it was overall a pretty good month! I read a lot of really great books this month and I finally feel like I'm getting back into a bit of a groove with readings, so (fingers crossed) hopefully it continues in August. I had a blast reading Islington's upcoming sci-fi debut, Scion, and I was also really pleasantly surprised by Jen Julian's The Winter Folk. The book I least enjoyed was probably Orbital, and I feel like it's just because it didn't click with me for some reason, which was a bit of a bummer because I love the concept (and the cover!). I'm also finally almost finished up with a hefty tome I've been working my way through, The Cure for Living, so I'm hoping to finally have that review up in August, as well! I have so many great books lined up for August, though, so things are feeling good. 

How was your July and what books have you been reading? Any reading-related goals?  Let me know how your month was below and what you've been reading!

   

# books read: 12

A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young

Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: This was a super thought-provoking and weird little read that wasn't quite what I expected! I still generally enjoyed this one, though--I also still really love this cover!

Scion by James Islington

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: I had such a fun time with this! I'm very used to Islington's huge epic fantasy stories, so a shorter sci-fi thriller felt very different, and I found it be a huge page-turner. 

The Winter Folk by Jen Julian

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: I really loved this delightfully weird and horror-ish tale! I'm definitely going to try to prioritize getting around to Jen Julian's previous release that I've been meaning to read now!

The Lord of the Wood by E.M. Anderson

Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: This was described as "cozy horror," and I'd probably agree that that's pretty much what it felt like! Definitely a worthwhile read if that's your vibe.

The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood by H.G. Parry

Source: Publisher | Format: eARC
Thoughts: I always enjoy Parry's reads, and this one was no change to that. This is also probably the first Arthurian-themed story that I actually enjoyed and followed along with, so that's also a win!

The Inevitable Ruin (Dungeon Crawler Carl #7) by Matt Dinniman

Source: Owned | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: I finally got around to getting through this one and while I'm still enjoying the Dungeon Crawler Carl books, I definitely have found the last couple books to be a bit lackluster compared to the earlier ones. 

Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham

Source: Library | Format: Paperback
Thoughts: I read the first volume of Fables years and years ago, but I remembered none of it so I decided to revisit it and give it a re-read in the hopes of finally continuing on with the series!

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: This one had a really great premise, but unfortunately missed the mark a bit for me and I couldn't really get into many of these stories. 

Captives and Companions: History of Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Islamic World by Justin Marozzi

Source: Library | Format: Ebook
Thoughts: This was really fascinating--definitely a lot of information to take in, but extremely informative. 

The Girl from the Other Side: Siuil A Run, Vol. 4 by Nagabe

Source: Library | Format: Ebook
Thoughts: My hold finally came in at the library so I'm continuing the series! It's still grabbing me enough that I want to keep reading, but it's definitely a very slow one. I adore the illustrations, though!

The Bone Snatcher by Charlotte Salter

Source: Owned | Format: Hardcover
Thoughts: This was SO wonderfully creepy and weird. This is one of those middle grade books that makes me feel like it might terrify some young readers, but unlock a whole new world for others. Really fun read, and I'd recommend it!

Trash!: A Garbageman's Story by Simon Pare-Poupart

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: This was an entirely random read that I grabbed because it showed up as a recommendation on Libby! I often end up listening to very random audiobooks because if I finish one without something immediately planned to read after, I tend to just pick the first thing I see that seems interesting on Libby, which has mixed results. Fortunately, this one was really interesting and has given me a new appreciation for garbagemen!

Wormwood Abbey by Christina Baehr

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: This was another random Libby read! It was cute and I can see a lot of readers enjoying it, but it didn't really grab me that much or stand out and I won't be continuing the series, probably. 

To-Be-Finished:

None! (that I can recall...)

 

Prince of Swords (Arcana Academy #2) by Elise Kova

The Winter Folk by Jen Julian

The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood by H.G. Parry

The Lord of the Wood by E.M. Anderson

The Infinite State by Richard Swan

 Posts:

Month in Review: June 2026

Anticipated August 2026 Releases

Blog Memes:

Can't-Wait Wednesday:

7/1: Mulai by Munir Hachemi, Reliquary by Hannah Whitten, & Etna by Paul Yoon
7/8: The Dungeon Book by Gareth Hanrahan, The Salt King by Natasha Pulley, & Portrait of a Witch Undone by K.S. Shay
7/15: Bury Your Dead by Ana Paula Maia & Kitten by Stacey Yu

7/22: A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett, Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher, and Freight by Ryan Lowell
7/29: A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-young, The Calamities by Chuck Wendig, & Hiroshima, 8:15: The Lost Memoir by Kiyoshi Tanimoto

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Blacktail by Scott Hawkins, Beyond the Graves Waits Mist and Sea by Kathleen Kaufman, & Fallow by Sarah Anderson

 

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

Blacktail by Scott Hawkins

Publication: September 1st, 2026

Crown

Hardcover. 288 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"The long-awaited second novel from the author of the cult hit The Library at Mount Char, a one-of-a-kind dark fantasy in which a wolf sets out on an epic journey of revenge. 

The wolf Blacktail is faithful to his Forest God, but in these times, faith is not enough. His world is besieged by men. Soon his territory will be overrun, and then there will be nowhere left to go. When his mate, a house dog, is killed, Blacktail rebels. He invades the house of her owners, seeking vengeance. 

Blacktail’s fury catches the notice of an ancient and terrible feline witch, who makes an offer. What if Blacktail could end the human race responsible for the death of his family and for the destruction of the natural world, altogether? To do so, Blacktail must find and wake the Forest God. Only He might stand against the plague of men. Blacktail knows that his north woods are dwindling to nothing. He sees no other choice. 

As Blacktail journeys farther from his wild home and deeper into the world of man, he encounters strangers—animal, mortal, and otherworldly—who, for their own reasons, want to help Blacktail rid the world of humans. Along the way, it becomes clear that he is more than just a wolf. The Forest God is sleeping, yes. But what will be the price of waking him?

'A tale of lupine vengeance—at first—whose stakes escalate to degrees I never saw coming. Unexpected, blood-soaked, and vividly told.'—qntm, author of There Is No Antimemetics Division"

This sounds wonderfully weird and intriguing, and given Hawkins in the author of The Library at Mount Char, I have a feeling this is going to be one hell of a read. I have an ARC that I'm dying to get started on, so hopefully I can get to it soon! I'm also quite obsessed with this cover.

Beyond the Graves Waits Mist and Sea by Kathleen Kaufman

Publication: September 26th, 2026

Kensington

Paperback. 384 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"A marine biologist’s search for an undiscovered species of octopus leads her to an isolated island where long-buried memories rise like specters from the deep, intent on dragging her darkest truths to the surface… 

From the author of The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey, this hauntingly evocative novel is perfect for fans of Emilia Hart’s The Sirens, Sarah Penner’s The Amalfi Curse, and Adrienne Young. 

Twenty nautical miles off the coast of Boston lies Bell Island, shrouded in fog, mystery, and legend. Historically a refuge for women fleeing the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials in the 1600s and a way station on the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves in the 1800s, the island is isolated and rumored to be haunted by spirits and . . . other things. 

It is to Bell Island that microbial biologist Harper Hafdóttir ventures in search of evidence of a new species of octopus, Thalassa, possibly lurking below the swirling water’s surface. Along with her equipment, and her luggage, Harper carries with her the burden of past trauma and vivid, recurring dreams. 

Swept up in unexplained phenomena ranging from increased seismic activity and a boat-capsizing rogue wave to encounters with island creatures that defy explanation, Harper looks to the island’s venerated if mysterious mayor for answers. Lady Loreana Bell comes from a single matriarchal line that has ruled the island for 400 years—and seems to have been expecting Harper’s arrival. 

It is within the walls of Bell Manor—its gothic grandeur matched only by the intensity of Harper’s deja vu—that she discovers the 1690 journal of a young woman in the grips of a religious cult. As a tsunami threatens the island, Harper finds herself on the verge of a revelation that will ultimately unlock the mystery of her haunted dreams and disclose her true purpose on Bell Island..."

I am loving the sound of just about everything about this one and cannot wait to check it out!

Fallow by Sarah Anderson

Publication: September 15th, 2026

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Hardcover. 416 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"Slyly funny and disarmingly tender, Fallow is the story of a young woman who signs up to be the world’s first in-house corporate surrogate, then finds herself caught up in a social experiment of another kind. 

Natalie knows one truth: there is no such thing as a good job. 

As the clock ticks away at the call center where she logs complaints of workplace harassment, she tries to ignore the increasing pain in her jaw. She has no dental insurance. She has no skills or ambitions. She has student loans. And, minute by minute, she hears the many ways workers are not just not getting by, but actually getting hustled. 

Then, at the blood bank where she sells her plasma, a mysterious flyer leads her to The Company. Natalie turns out to be the perfect candidate for their pilot program, pitched as an opportunity to help women access greater gender equity. She will be their in-house surrogate, delivering seven babies in ten years and enabling their executives to have motherhood without maternity leave. Finally, she will be adequately―generously―compensated. 

For years, her every need is met: stacks of healthy meals in the refrigerator of a luxury condo, fitness coaches and nutritionists, around-the-clock health care. Between deliveries, she takes time off―a fallow period, with no obligations or expectations. For the first time in her life, she is good at her job; for the first time, she feels free. 

But just as she’s about to fulfill the terms of her contract, a staffing decision upends everything. Natalie is pulled into an entirely different kind of social experiment, one that raises new questions about her future, her freedom, her purpose, what she can expect from the world, and what she can offer to it. 

Woundingly funny and genuinely moving, Sarah Anderson’s Fallow is a tender, alarmingly real vision of a woman balancing on the knife-edge of capitalism as she comes to realize who she wants to be."

Look-did this book pique my interest because of the cow on the cover? Yes, I'll admit that that's the main reason I decided to check this book out--but fortunately, it also has a really intriguing premise. I'm seeing this marketed as horror, satire, dystopia, etc., so I'm very curious to see what it'll be like.

Review: The Infinite State by Richard Swan

The Infinite State by Richard Swan
Tor Books
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026
Hardcover. 416 pages.

About The Infinite State:

"In this blistering science fiction epic, international bestselling author Richard Swan presents a thrilling tale of survival and an eviscerating examination of totalitarianism.

THE INFINITE STATE begins at a flashpoint in the lives of a widowed party member, a disgraced investigator, and a hypersled pilot―entangled in a plot to escape the suffocating authority of a fascist state.

WHO GIVES YOU LIFE?
PATER AETERNUS.

Katherine Fuller’s husband is dead. As an esteemed member of Pater Aeternus―governing party of the fascist, galaxy-spanning Decurion Empire―he has left behind an estate of immeasurable wealth. And Katherine is going to inherit it.

WHO GIVES YOU PURPOSE?
PATER AETERNUS.

Life under the Eternal Father is rigidly stratified, surveilled, and controlled―each new day to be endured, not lived. But with Katherine’s newfound fortune, she is presented with a rare and dangerous opportunity: purchase a virgin world, and create a better, fairer society.

WHO GIVES YOU JOY?
PATER AETERNUS.

But the Empire cannot allow its wayward daughter to succeed. And as Katherine works in secret, recruiting allies she's not even sure she can trust, she will discover exactly how far Pater Aeternus is willing to go to stop her. Because Katherine is going to create something nobody has seen for many years.

A democracy."

The Infinite State--one of my most anticipated releases for 2026--is a fantastic new sci-fi novel from Richard Swan, whose Empire of the Wolf and The Great Silence (ongoing) series I've thoroughly enjoyed. Set within the oppressive and sprawling Decurion Empire, this story follows three characters whose lives offer very different perspectives on what it means to exist--or perhaps, even to break free from--a totalitarian society.

The core of our story revolves around Katherine Fuller, a recently widowed woman living on the planet Leonis who has become the recipient of a rather sizable amount of money and has taken on the task of building a new society. She knows what she doesn't want, but since she's never known anything else but the authoritarian regime she's lived under for her entire life, she's not entirely sure what that should look like.

The Infinite State is definitely a slower-paced read and really takes its time building everything up. The synopsis describes Katherine building a new society on a new planet and while that is absolutely the core of this story, it does take a minute to get there. And once it does, the process itself continues in a very gradual manner. That being said, I personally didn't have any complaints about the pacing because I thought it all worked really well for developing enough background and character development of our characters for the story that was unfolding.

I'll admit that Katherine herself surprised me with how naive she could be about certain things. It didn't initially fit with the way I saw her as a character, but the more I thought about how and where she grew up, and from seeing more of her own reactions to different developments in the story, it made much more sense to me that she really wouldn't have had the opportunity to even know about so many different things. Of course she would be unaware of things that seem completely obvious to us as readers about society when she has spent her entire life within a totalitarian society where those ideas simply weren't part of her reality. It was actually weirdly fun to explore something that seems conceptually basic like democracy alongside someone who has never really encountered it before, and to whom the idea of simply voting for a person you want to be a leader sounds almost ludicrous.

I also appreciated that Katherine has very little experience with governing outside of managing her own household. She not only has to learn how to lead, but also that giving people freedom means accepting that they may make choices she doesn't agree with. She learns that you can't simply replace one authoritarian ruler with a benevolent one and call it democracy, and I really enjoyed watching her grapple with what that freedom of choice actually means in practice.

We also follow Cyprian and Julian, both of whom offer very different experiences in this world. Cyprian works within what is essentially law enforcement, while Julian is a hypersled racer, one of the most popular sports. Julian is a foreigner who has been brought in to race for the Leonis team, which was quite a surprise to many of the citizens. He really seems to get a bit of a crash course in what it's like to live on Leonis, and I was pretty captivated by his more unique circumstances. Cyprian, by contrast, has a great deal of experience with the empire and is probably the least naive of all three. He is, nevertheless, also constantly screwed over by the empire. He's much more of a seasoned character who is aware of the ins and outs of the politics and grittier aspects of this world.

What I found most interesting about these three character is that they all either already have or eventually develop a certain sense of hopelessness about their positions and the world they live in. They understand (whether gradually or right away) how little power they actually have and how fruitless even the thought of resistance can seem. I also liked how Swan created such truly distinct characters that provided very unique perspectives and experiences, which made the entire world and story feel that much more well-rounded. Even outside of the main protagonists, Swan gives us a glimpse of how other types of people survive in this world and the different paths this results in people taking.

I was particularly fascinated by the logistics of how these uninhabited or untouched planet are developed and built up, and especially with how an entirely new society can be created from the ground up. While Swan gives us plenty of detail about this process, the endlessly curious part of me probably could have read an entire book focused more solely on the minutiae of how it all works. I'm not necessarily disappointed that we don't get quite that much detail because what we do get is more than enough for the story, and I thought there was also plenty of fascinating insight into Fuller's thought process as she figures out how to build a functioning society that is nothing at all like what she's used to--while also doing this under the thumb of the empire.  

The Pater Aeternus fascist government really makes for the perfect villainous empire. It's incredibly easy to hate, while at the same making all of the dirty politics, scheming, manipulation, and force compelling to read about. I especially enjoyed seeing how all of these influences from the empire manifested depending on which character we were following and where they sat within its own hierarchy. I also liked getting to hear about the Free Nations and what their role was like in this galaxy. And I can't forget to mention that the hypersled racing is a really fun idea that added an entirely different elements to this world. It helped the world feel more lived in, and it made a lot of sense for them to have a competition where Leonis could consistently come in at the top.

One nitpick element I was a little less convinced by was Katherine's relationship (platonic) with Lukah. I found the speed at which Katherine essentially came to trust him and readily follow his advice a little strange. I understand why the relationship needed to develop and could generally by into it given Katherine's personality,  but the level of trust felt somewhat quick to me. There were a few smaller things like this that didn't work quite as well for me, but these were few and far between--and fairly minor at that--so I can't say they detracted too much from my reading experience.

Overall, The Infinite State is a thoughtful and impressively detailed sci-fi that takes its time exploring not only an oppressive political system, but the different types of people living within and the different ideas that may populate within them. I particularly enjoyed how much attention Swan gives to what freedom and change could look like in practice, and especially how difficult it can be, as simply trying to overthrow or escape is hardly even half of it. Between the governmental aspects, politics, worldbuilding, characters, and all the intrigue, there was a lot that kept me invested in each page of this book. I'd say that Richard Swan excels at both fantasy and sci-fi, so now there's something for every SFF reader and no excuse not to pick up his work!

*I received a copy of The Infinite State courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org