Reading Roundup: The 23rd week of 2025
After a costly holiday, I dive into a compelling sci-fi romp featuring Dracula and quirky AIs!
It's been a strangely quiet week post holiday, plagued with headaches, catching up on work and not being very happy about how little money I now have given we spent a fortune on flights and luxury accommodation in the med. Still, the reading continues!
5 stars to Of Monsters and Mainframes, by Barbara Truelove
Book Description:
"Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge—but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception. Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying—and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe. These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans. To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team: A werewolf. An engineer built from the dead. A pharaoh with otherworldly powers. A vampire with a grudge. A fleet of cheerful spider drones. Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil—Dracula. The queer love child of pulp horror and classic sci-fi, Of Monsters and Mainframes is a dazzling, heartfelt odyssey that probes what it means to be one of society’s monsters—and explores the many types of friendship that make us human."
My Thoughts:
" So apart from people comparing it to Murderbot (which I find a right turn-off, because of course there's no other literature in the genre other than, right?) This also surprised me because I don't generally set out to read vampires and that sort of thing. But there was something impossibly compelling about Demeter's inner voice that kept me going, and I ravished each page wanting more. The humour was great, both main AIs were uniquely done, and the other cast of characters just sang off the pages. A brilliantly clever story with room for future adventures, but even if not, a joyous couple of nights' entertainment."
This Book: has 407 pages, a community rating of 4.45 and was first published in 2025.
Things not on Goodreads or reread
Flashforward, by Robert J. Sawyer
I've read this countless times, of course, watched the TV show, too. I remember thinking on an initial read how cool it was just to verbally ask the time in a city somewhere in the world and be told; this was published in 1999. We've not all had a look into our own futures yet but we can at least check the time before waking someone up.
for love of magic, by Noodlehammer
A reread of what, on balance, really isn't a good story. Harry's selfish, there's loads of sex ... but it's compelling, in its own way. Not so much for the smut, I don't really enjoy it, but there is something about a character who doesn't care, I suppose.