Yes, that title is accurate. After I looked over my reading list for 2025, I realized I had not read much fiction last year. I can summarize my year in fiction as follows. I read 2 Warhammer 40,000 omnibus editions, a book from the Horus Heresy series, and one standalone novel.
Here then is the list:
In terms of fiction, this was the highlight of the year, and I rated it four of out five stars. From my review: "If you are ready to root for the 'bad guy,' this collection is a good
option. If you've read the Ultramarines series, and you want to read
more about their enemy, this is a good option as well. It makes a nice
supplement or companion to the Ultramarines series. However, you can
read this book without having read the other series."
This was my disappointment for the year in terms of fiction, and in terms of books overall for the year. It sounded so good, and it ended up so bad. This one got a one out of five stars rating from me, and that is rare, which indicates how poorly the book performed. Feel free to read the full review.
I often enjoy most Warhammer 40,000 omnibus editions and anthologies because they often provide a sampling on a theme, faction, and/or events. This edition focuses on the Astra Militarum, also known as the Imperial Guard. The volume features three novels and four short stories by different authors. As often happens in collections, quality can vary. For me, only one of the novels was really good, and one of the short stories was pretty good too. Still, I did appreciate the variety.
This is book 15 in the Horus Heresy series. I am slowly reading my way through the series, and I do intend to read to the end. However, books like this one do not make it easy. Dan Abnett wrote it, and I feel this is not his best. I've read some of his other stuff, which is better. He is considered one of the better writers for Black Library, but as I said, this book does not exemplify that. This one also earned only one out of five stars for me. Feel free to read the full review. The series has 64 books, so I still got a long way to go. There is a sequel to the original 64 books recently published, but I am not worrying about that now. We'll see when I get to the end of the series. As of this post, I did finish book 16, Age of Darkness, which is a short fiction anthology. I'll have a review of that here soon.
Overall for me I would say this was not a good year for fiction. In addition to these, I dropped at least one other fiction anthology, but that one I still kept in my TBR list. I just did not feel like reading it at the time, so I may go back to it later. Still, I am holding hope for 2026. As I mentioned, I finished Age of Darkness as the year opened. I am currently reading The Rose at War, a Warhammer 40,000 collection featuring the Adepta Sororitas, also known as the Battle Sisters, and so far the book is good. I also have a couple of other novels on my TBR list I would like to read in 2026. Stay tuned and come back to see what else I read and review in 2026.
How about folks out there? Any good fiction you read that you want to share and recommend? Have you read any of the books I read on this list? Feel free to comment.
Next week I will be posting my list of graphic novels, comics, and manga I read in 2026.
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