2026 Recommended Books/Stories/TV/Movies

 

Yes, folks, it's that time again. I must make a list and check it twice, so as to find out who's been naughty and nice.  

Short Story

I've started subscribing to The Deadlands, and the very first issue, Winter 2026, has a banger of a story. "You Build Your House On Your Father's Corpse," by Sadoeuphemist, is a surreal exploration of death and parenting.

"Three Fortunes On Alcestis As Told By the Fraud Baeliss Shudal," Louis Inglis Hall, Clarkesworld Magazine February 2026. (This is is the tale of a "false" fortune-teller who nevertheless manages to tell quite a bit of truth. This story has a touch of the horrific as well, as the protagonist reads the mad emperor's fortune in the "shattered entrails of an entire civilization." This is another story that is on the quiet side, but the further you read the more steam it gathers, and the more it pays off at the end.)

"Painstaking," Rich Larson, Clarkesworld Magazine February 2026. (This story is a cyberpunk story set in Nigeria dealing with family and identity. The premise is a bit bonkers--the protagonist, Mars, is inhabited by an immortal alien organism that has turned his body into something resembling a starfish, capable of regenerating a twin, called a "clone-brother," Balarabe, after Mars was accidentally cut in half. This is a rather gross idea that gets explored in detail in this story, and ends up being quite interesting.) 

"The Stars You Can't See By Looking Directly," Samantha Murray, Clarkesworld Magazine January 2026. (This is an interesting little story that is a cross between science fiction and magical realism. The precipitating event, snow on Christmas Day in Australia at the height of summer, sets off a chain of events that represent a new evolution for the human race, with all babies conceived thereafter apparently genetically modified humans. The story becomes a quiet, thoughtful examination of the past and the future of humanity, and what it will mean for the respective children of the protagonist and her best friend, one of which will be an "old" human and one of which will be new. This story packs quite a punch.)

 "The Desolate Order of the Head in the Water," A.W. Prihandita, Clarkesworld Magazine January 2026. (This is a creepy little horror story, and the title is fully accurate. It's a near-future story of an all-conquering AI, and is as bleak as you might expect. It's probably not something you want to read if you're depressed. Having said that, why did I like it, you ask? Well, even bleak stories, if written well enough and with compelling characters, can worm inside your head and stay there. This is one of those.)

Novelette

"Donor Unknown," Nika Murphy, Clarkesworld Magazine January 2026. (This is a clever, complicated story of an android matchmaker wearing the holographic face of a human, who goes hunting for a painting taken from a Jewish family during the Nazi occupation in 1941. This story deals with prejudice and ghosts of the Holocaust, and generational trauma. It talks at the very end about "loving one's true self," so it has a nice uplifting conclusion.)

Young Adult

To Ride a Rising Storm, Moniquill Blackgoose (This book isn't as good as the first in the series, To Shape a Dragon's Breath; it's very much a middle-trilogy book, including an abrupt and somewhat annoying cliffhanger ending. Nevertheless, the world is made more complex, and if this story is quieter and more slice-of-life [and also clearly setting things up for the finale], it makes up for it with its expanded worldbuilding. Indeed, the magical sigils, called "skiltas," that control a dragon's breath are becoming so convoluted I can hardly follow them. That's on me, however, not the author. Anequs and her dragon are growing up, and she is even more determined to preserve her people and their way of life, protecting them from the culture-destroying Anglish.)

Downfall, Marc J. Gregson (4 of 5 stars, full review here). (This is the third book in the young-adult science fantasy Sky's End trilogy. The pacing in this book is off, but once the story slows down a bit, it comes to a satisfying end. The protagonist Conrad manages to defeat his terrible uncle, and as the story ends he is basically having to rebuilt his world. This trilogy is not like any other YA story out there.)

Graphic Novel

Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 2: As My Mothers Made Me, written by Kelly Thompson; Hayden Sherman, artist (5 of 5 stars, full review here). (The first volume of this series, The Last Amazon, was the best graphic novel I read last year, and this continues the series' excellence. Kelly Thompson has really gotten to the heart of who Diana is, and the artwork in this volume is stellar. You should not miss it.)

I didn't expect too much from  Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, wondering if they perhaps should have titled it Star Trek 90210. I have been pleasantly surprised, as this season has had a four-episode (so far) run that has made it worth the price of admission. The four episodes are "Vox in Excelso," "The Life of the Stars," "Series Acclimation Mil," and "Come, Let's Away." I think my favorite of the bunch is "The Life of the Stars," an absorbing and emotional examination of coping with trauma, set to the students' performance of the play Our Town. Robert Picardo shines in this episode. 

Project Hail Mary, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. (Based on Andy Weir's novel and starring Ryan Gosling, this is the story of a milquetoast--nay, cowardly--science teacher who is unwillingly recruited to save the world, and his friendship with a five-limbed alien that enables him to do just that. People may object to the science, but that isn't the story; the friendship between Ryland Grace and Rocky is the story.)