Just this guy, you know?

The Ritual must continue. How did I stack up against my 2025 aims?

1. Health ✅
2. Reading ✅
3. Painting ✅✅✅
4. Guitar ❌
5. Films ✅

Smashed it mate. What next for 2026? More of the same I think. I start a new fully remote job tomorrow and starting well will be the focus. I’d like to build a better routine around going for daily walks in daylight rather than waiting for the evening.

Xenos by Dan Abnett was a cheeky comfort reread over Christmas. I first read it in the first year of university and it was already old then and now it’s 25 years old. Old enough to have opinions on amasec vintages.

Do I recommend it? Hell yes. It’s the way to get into 40K fiction, you could probably just read the Eisenhorn series and leave the rest of the 40K extended universe. I’ve got a couple of other books on the go at the moment to might hold off on starting the sequel for a bit.

It’s time for the annual tradition where I write about the music I have enjoyed this year. This time around the links are to Qobuz because if you’ve not hard, Qobuz is having a moment.

I kicked off the year attempting a Queen full-listen. I gave it a fair whack but didn’t finish the project. In terms of albums I really enjoyed Queen I and Sheer Heart Attack. My top two tracks from the experience were Brighton Rock and Breakthru. I think those two tracks highlighted the range that Queen had.

Two books to report this time. First is Halo: The Flood which is the second book to be published in the Halo Extended Universe. It’s a retelling of the events of Halo and oh boy it is sure a retelling of the events of Halo. This was a real struggle to finish. It’s like a someone in another room describing what’s happening in the game. You can skip this one but I didn’t.

I bought a lot of Halo extended universe books for very cheap. The first in the series is The Fall of Reach which is a prequel to the first Halo game. It’s a fun military sci fi romp and I enjoyed it a lot. Much like Warhammer fiction, all of the interesting stuff happens away from the battlefield.

I think I’ve got the first 10 books (in publication order) which may way make the blog very very boring. I’m halfway through book 2, The Flood, which is a bland novelisation of the first game. I’m going to finish it though.

I finished a couple of books over the summer.

Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories From The Women Of The Weird

A lovely collection of sixteen horror stories from women authors from the 19th and early 20th century. There’s a little forward before each story from the editor. Published by the British Library under their Tales of the Weird line. It’s very out of my wheelhouse but I loved it and recommend it without reservation.

If you pre-ordered a hardback about 10 tanks you’re going to love it and that’s exactly what happened with Mark Urban’s latest book.

Urban has written a superb whistle stop tour of tank history. I’ve watched documentaries about most of the machines covered but there was still loads more in here for me. He also answers the question “are tanks dead yet?” very well.

If you’re at all interested in military history I’d say this is a must read.

A cracking book that takes you on the a whistle stop tour of conflict over the last millennium, looking at it through an economic lens. Duncan Weldon explains the economic conflict really well, such that a total novice such as myself can follow with ease. Duncan also gets a few well aimed jabs in at economists.

I recommend it but be warned every chapter is going to have to adding new topics to your To Read list.

Another series where the main guy is called Bob, works in IT, and is thrust into a new sci-fi situation? What are the chances. Turns out like The Laundry Files, I really enjoy the Bobiverse.

I’ve had friends recommend this series to me for close to a decade and I don’t know what put me off for so long. The cover and premise probably felt a little too zany? Appealing too much to nerd culture? I don’t know. Either way it’s a breezy laugh and I finished it the other.

Stafford Beer is a very interesting guy and the and once you learn about the Viable System Model you start to see it (and aspects of it) everywhere.

The Unaccountability Machine goes on a lovely long dive into Stafford Beer with the rest on the way the world is broken at the moment. There’s a lot here that aligns with my experience, reading, and general vibes. I enjoy Dan Davies’ writing style which meant even the very dry stuff on the VSM flew by. I’d recommend giving it a go.