December 2023

The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

The novel “The Butlerian Jihad” by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson was published for the first time in 2002. It’s the first book in the Legends of Dune trilogy.

A cymek-led attack on Salusa Secundus shows Omnius’ new warlike intentions against the planets where humans live free from the thinking machines. The League of Nobles that rules most of these planets finds itself facing a more serious threat than ever but there’s no unity of purpose.

Xavier Harkonnen led the forces that defended Salusa Secundus and saw the renewed danger from the thinking machines. While Serena Butler tries to unite all of humanity to face the enemy, the scientist Tio Holtzman tries to invent new weapons and new forms of defense, helped by his new assistant Norma Cenva. The Sorceresses of Rossak led by Zufa Cenva prepare to use their mental powers in a war that seems inevitable.

The Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) in The Church on Ruby Road (Image courtesy BBC / Disney+)

“The Church on Ruby Road” is the 2023 “Doctor Who” Christmas special episode. It’s available in the UK and Ireland on BBC channels and in many other countries on the Disney+ platform.

Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) is a foundling who is searching for her origins but to no avail. A period full of accidents and various problems is caused by the intervention of goblins and when her adoptive mother Carla (Michelle Greenidge) starts fostering a new baby girl, the goblins kidnap her. The only hope for Ruby and her family is the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), who recognized those creatures’ intervention.

The Media Murders by Lee Gimenez

The novel “The Media Murders” by Lee Gimenez was published for the first time in 2016. It’s part of the J.T. Ryan series.

When Mark Parker, a journalist who is an old friend of FBI Assistant Director Erin Welch, tells her that he’s investigating a really big story linked to high-profile murders in the world of information, the woman doesn’t know what to think. When the man dies in what appears to be an accident, Welch starts having some suspicions.

J.T. Ryan is charged by Erin Welch with discreetly investigating that strange story, which becomes even more suspicious when another journalist apparently commits suicide. When Homeland Security takes over the investigation and totally cuts off the FBI, concerns rise dramatically and Welch turns to a contact of hers in the CIA.

The Lost Fleet: Relentless by Jack Campbell

The novel “The Lost Fleet: Relentless” by Jack Campbell was published for the first time in 2009. It’s the fifth book in The Lost Fleet series and follows “The Lost Fleet: Valiant”.

Captain John “Black Jack” Geary has to make an even more difficult decision than usual because his fleet is approaching the border with the Alliance and he doesn’t have much choice in choosing a route. This means that the enemy will most likely be waiting for his now-depleted fleet.

Eventually, Geary decides to set course for the Herado system because the information available to him indicates that there’s a Syndicate prison camp. In addition to finding some resources for his fleet, he hopes to free more Alliance soldiers. At the same time, he must continue to watch his back from the saboteurs who are hindering operations in the fleet.

The Wind Whales of Ishmael by Philip J. Farmer

The novel “The Wind Whales of Ishmael” by Philip J. Farmer was published for the first time in 1971.

Ishmael is the only survivor of the whaler Pequod but fate seems to mock him because he gets sucked into a space-time crack that takes him to a place that seems totally alien to him. There are humans while the oceans seem to have vanished, resulting in ships and animals floating in the air.

The red sun is one of the clues that Ishmael ended up in the distant future. He meets Namalee, a woman who is herself a castaway and teaches him her people’s language and customs. He discovers that the few humans still living on Earth are divided into cities at war with each other. He ends up involved in an adventure full of dangers of various kinds to help Namalee recover the sacred idols stolen from her city.