Jonathan Turner
@thegrendel.bsky.social
Old enough to know better.
Book #106 of ‘25: Janissaries, by Jerry Pournelle. Aliens kidnap mercenaries from Earth and dump them on a distant medieval world to do a little regime change. Too silly for satire, too fun not to enjoy. 4/5
November 4, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Book #106 of ‘25: Janissaries, by Jerry Pournelle. Aliens kidnap mercenaries from Earth and dump them on a distant medieval world to do a little regime change. Too silly for satire, too fun not to enjoy. 4/5
Book #102 of ‘25: Virconium: The Pastel City, by M. John Harrison. A masterpiece from start to finish, so beautifully written. “Voices were heavy and dead, conversation fell like turf on a grave.” 5/5
October 25, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Book #102 of ‘25: Virconium: The Pastel City, by M. John Harrison. A masterpiece from start to finish, so beautifully written. “Voices were heavy and dead, conversation fell like turf on a grave.” 5/5
Book #96 of ‘25: A History Of What Comes Next, by Sylvain Neuvel. A slightly breathlessly written historical thriller which canters along, but leaves little time for character amongst all the fun ideas. 3/5
October 13, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Book #96 of ‘25: A History Of What Comes Next, by Sylvain Neuvel. A slightly breathlessly written historical thriller which canters along, but leaves little time for character amongst all the fun ideas. 3/5
Book #90 of ‘25: Njal’s Saga, translated by Magnus Magnusson. A sprawling, truly epic tale of the spiral of bloody revenge between feuding farmers. Burnings, boilings, decapitations and sarky poetry abound. 5/5
October 6, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Book #90 of ‘25: Njal’s Saga, translated by Magnus Magnusson. A sprawling, truly epic tale of the spiral of bloody revenge between feuding farmers. Burnings, boilings, decapitations and sarky poetry abound. 5/5
Book #89 of ‘25: If Russia Wins: A Scenario, by Carlo Masala. A well researched and all too plausible exploration of what might happen next if the West abandons Ukraine. 4/5
September 30, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Book #89 of ‘25: If Russia Wins: A Scenario, by Carlo Masala. A well researched and all too plausible exploration of what might happen next if the West abandons Ukraine. 4/5
Book #88 of ‘25: Thieves’ World, edited by Robert Asprin. A fantasy city and characters shared between writers is a terrific idea, but like any collection this is a little uneven. But when it hits, it’s awesome. 4/5
September 29, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Book #88 of ‘25: Thieves’ World, edited by Robert Asprin. A fantasy city and characters shared between writers is a terrific idea, but like any collection this is a little uneven. But when it hits, it’s awesome. 4/5
Book #87 of ‘25: The Book of Dave, by Will Self. A future dystopia based on the ravings of a psychotic London cabbie doesn’t sound like it would make a great novel, but this is superbly touching and funny. Also, a terrific tale of London’s ‘deep time’. 5/5
September 26, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Book #87 of ‘25: The Book of Dave, by Will Self. A future dystopia based on the ravings of a psychotic London cabbie doesn’t sound like it would make a great novel, but this is superbly touching and funny. Also, a terrific tale of London’s ‘deep time’. 5/5
Book #86 of ‘25: The Darkening Age, by Catherine Nixey. An infuriating, depressing book which brilliantly lays bare the destruction of the Classical World by the bigotry and stupidity of early Christians. Angering, but fascinating. 4/5
September 22, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Book #86 of ‘25: The Darkening Age, by Catherine Nixey. An infuriating, depressing book which brilliantly lays bare the destruction of the Classical World by the bigotry and stupidity of early Christians. Angering, but fascinating. 4/5
Book #85 of ‘25: Cairn 2nd edition, Warden’s Guide, by Yochai Gal. A terrific collection of world building and character development tools, packed with wonderfully quirky art. 4/5
September 14, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Book #85 of ‘25: Cairn 2nd edition, Warden’s Guide, by Yochai Gal. A terrific collection of world building and character development tools, packed with wonderfully quirky art. 4/5
Book #84 of ‘25: The Citadel of the Autarch, by Gene Wolfe. A slightly uneven climax to this saga, with a lot crammed into the last third. Even so, still wonderful. 4/5
September 13, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Book #84 of ‘25: The Citadel of the Autarch, by Gene Wolfe. A slightly uneven climax to this saga, with a lot crammed into the last third. Even so, still wonderful. 4/5
Book #82 of ‘25: The Sword of the Lictor, by Gene Wolfe. An epic journey through a beautifully drawn world full of action, tragedy, wondrous characters and beautiful language. Superb. 5/5
September 6, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Book #82 of ‘25: The Sword of the Lictor, by Gene Wolfe. An epic journey through a beautifully drawn world full of action, tragedy, wondrous characters and beautiful language. Superb. 5/5
Book #81 of ‘25: Going To Meet The Man, by James Baldwin. A sometimes melancholy, sometimes absolutely brutal collection of stories tackling race, fear, hate and love. 4/5
September 2, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Book #81 of ‘25: Going To Meet The Man, by James Baldwin. A sometimes melancholy, sometimes absolutely brutal collection of stories tackling race, fear, hate and love. 4/5
Book #80 of ‘25: Changeling Earth, by Fred Saberhagen. The end of this vintage science fantasy trilogy stretches things a bit too thinly but manages a suitably epic demon vs nuke climax. 4/5
August 31, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Book #80 of ‘25: Changeling Earth, by Fred Saberhagen. The end of this vintage science fantasy trilogy stretches things a bit too thinly but manages a suitably epic demon vs nuke climax. 4/5
Book #79 of ‘35: The Weird of the White Wolf, by Michael Moorcock. Elric returns to full on oh-woe-is-me, but still manages to squeeze in some sword and sorcery. 3/5
August 29, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Book #79 of ‘35: The Weird of the White Wolf, by Michael Moorcock. Elric returns to full on oh-woe-is-me, but still manages to squeeze in some sword and sorcery. 3/5
Book #78 of ‘25: Diary of Captain Alfred Trutwein MBE. An understandably disjointed memoir, this offers some unusual insights into front line propaganda - and the myth of the indomitable Japanese. 3/5
August 27, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Book #78 of ‘25: Diary of Captain Alfred Trutwein MBE. An understandably disjointed memoir, this offers some unusual insights into front line propaganda - and the myth of the indomitable Japanese. 3/5
Book #77 of ‘25: A Far Sunset, by Edmund Cooper. The last survivor of a doomed expedition struggles to adjust to an alien culture. Shōgun in space, if you will. 3/5
August 25, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Book #77 of ‘25: A Far Sunset, by Edmund Cooper. The last survivor of a doomed expedition struggles to adjust to an alien culture. Shōgun in space, if you will. 3/5
Book #76 of ‘25: The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, by Michael Moorcock. My favourite so far of Elric’s misadventures - rich in character, theme and story. 5/5
August 23, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Book #76 of ‘25: The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, by Michael Moorcock. My favourite so far of Elric’s misadventures - rich in character, theme and story. 5/5
Book #75 of ‘25: Voyage to the Volga, by Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān. A brief but brilliant record of this epic 3,000 mile tenth century trek from Baghdad to Russia. Funny, horrific and wonderful. 5/5
August 20, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Book #75 of ‘25: Voyage to the Volga, by Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān. A brief but brilliant record of this epic 3,000 mile tenth century trek from Baghdad to Russia. Funny, horrific and wonderful. 5/5
Book #74 of ‘25: A Gift From Earth, by Larry Niven. A decent enough yarn of colony ship crew living off colonist body parts, marred by a protaganist with a budget super power. 3/5
August 18, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Book #74 of ‘25: A Gift From Earth, by Larry Niven. A decent enough yarn of colony ship crew living off colonist body parts, marred by a protaganist with a budget super power. 3/5
Book #73 of ‘25: The Lathe of Heaven, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Amazing concept, flawlessly executed. Beware dreams coming true. 5/5
August 16, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Book #73 of ‘25: The Lathe of Heaven, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Amazing concept, flawlessly executed. Beware dreams coming true. 5/5
Book #72 of ‘25: The Children of Ash and Elm, by Neil Price. An incredible chronicle of the Viking Age - compelling, dense with detail, challenging, evocative and deeply moving in places. There is simply not a better history out there. 5/5
August 14, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Book #72 of ‘25: The Children of Ash and Elm, by Neil Price. An incredible chronicle of the Viking Age - compelling, dense with detail, challenging, evocative and deeply moving in places. There is simply not a better history out there. 5/5
Book #71 of ‘25: Cloud on Silver, by Sam Youd. A mature take on Lord of the Flies, with a dash of the seven deadly sins and a surprising Cold War twist. 4/5
July 29, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Book #71 of ‘25: Cloud on Silver, by Sam Youd. A mature take on Lord of the Flies, with a dash of the seven deadly sins and a surprising Cold War twist. 4/5
Book #69 of ‘25: The Monkey’s Paw, by W.W. Jacobs. Super collection of witty little ghost stories, where superstition and foolishness often play a bigger role than the supernatural. 5/5
July 24, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Book #69 of ‘25: The Monkey’s Paw, by W.W. Jacobs. Super collection of witty little ghost stories, where superstition and foolishness often play a bigger role than the supernatural. 5/5
Book #68 of ‘25: Messing With The Enemy, by Clint Watts. A deeply depressing but thorough journey through the recent history of extremism and social media - all the more dismal because things are now so much worse. 4/5
July 24, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Book #68 of ‘25: Messing With The Enemy, by Clint Watts. A deeply depressing but thorough journey through the recent history of extremism and social media - all the more dismal because things are now so much worse. 4/5
Book #67 of ‘25: The Black Game, by Ellic Howe. The fascinating if sometimes jumbled memoir of the Political Warfare Executive’s chief forger. “You mustn’t be afraid of forgery or murder.” 5/5
July 20, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Book #67 of ‘25: The Black Game, by Ellic Howe. The fascinating if sometimes jumbled memoir of the Political Warfare Executive’s chief forger. “You mustn’t be afraid of forgery or murder.” 5/5