I really like the Matrix films. Not only are the special effects fantastic, the fight scenes brilliantly choreographed, the actors great and the soundtracks cool. They include some of my favourite tropes; humans vs. machine (more relevant than ever now that AI is becoming embedded into society), the chosen one who has special powers, and the blurring between fiction and reality. The first film in particular poses questions: if you were a computer construct (or a brain in a jar, etc), would you be happier not knowing? If you had the choice, would you escape, even if reality is grim? The success of The Matrix (1999) is to blend these philosophical ideas with a sci-fi action movie, influenced by video games, cyberpunk and martial arts movies. Where the ‘bad movies’ question comes from is probably the less successful critical reaction to the sequels, which don’t quite have the same tone as the first. The Matrix Reloaded, the second one (2003), suffers particularly from extended fight/chase scenes which begin to seem self-indulgent, an uncomfortable attitude to the role of some female characters, and ‘middle film’ syndrome in which the story is too obviously a bridge. The Matrix Revolutions, the third (also 2003), can be confusing, but it has some brilliant scenes and stunning effects, and of course the final battle between the humans and machines. One of my favourite moments in the whole series is the few seconds in which Trinity and Neo fly the ship above the clouds on their way to the Machine City. Briefly, we see the real sky, before plunging back into the storm. It seems to have a vital significance and deeper meaning.

This brings us to The Matrix Resurrections, the fourth and possibly unnecessary film which was released in 2021, with only one of the Wachowskis on board. When I saw it at the cinema, there was so much detail packed in that I couldn’t process it all, and had to think about it later. I liked it, though. It had a different vibe again, humorous and deliberately self-parodying at times. The premise of the film is that the machines have brought Neo and Trinity back to life, plugged them back into the Matrix to run off their energy, and fooled them into thinking they are normal people. Neo thinks he’s going crazy, with these flashbacks of his former life which he based a computer game on. He’s rescued by a group of young people, to whom he is their hero, and taken back to the real world, where 60 years have passed. The rest of the plot revolves around convincing Trinity that her Matrix-life is false, bringing her back, and beating a new version of Agent Smith. I loved that Neo and Trinity were given a second chance together, because it was a tragic end for them in the third film. There are lots of fun details too for fans of the series to spot. I remember the critical reviews of the film mostly weren’t great – I haven’t revisited any reviews while writing this post – but if the critics didn’t like the second and third films, it seemed unlikely they’d feel differently about the fourth. My feeling was the film was for the fans. It was also a commentary on ageing, with Neo’s character growing in confidence as he regains his former identity, but also recognising he can’t do everything he used to. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss looked great and had matured in their acting ability. Not all of the film made sense to me – the new versions of Morpheus were confusing and I didn’t like what happened to Niobe’s character – but the central core of Neo and Trinity’s relationship was the highlight. I was kind of sad that no one had to rely on landlines any more to get back into the real world, but it wouldn’t have made sense in the 2020s!

So are the Matrix films ‘bad movies’? Take the blue pill and believe whatever you want to believe.

The narrative switches between Ollie’s memories of his younger days, especially of a quirky girl he befriended one summer, and his diary on board the spacecraft on its long journey, where they are out of contact with Earth. He made a decision to leave his family to go on this mission and he’ll forever wonder if he did the right thing. It’s quite a sad novel in some ways and the main character remains somewhat mysterious. I was very impressed by everything about this book. The author also mentions Tim Peake’s Limitless in her acknowledgements, for a sense of what it’s like to work in space.

Published by 4th Estate, 2026.

The premise of the book is that top headliners at the music hall (which is run by HAL the computer) are being exploded on stage. Private detective Cameron Bell, whom everyone likens to Mr Pickwick but is more like Sherlock Holmes, sets about solving the crimes. Other characters include Colonel Katterfelto, a veteran down on his luck who aims to build the robot, and Darwin, his educated monkey-butler; and the lovely Alice who has a troupe of acrobatic kiwi birds. She is apparently the original Alice, whose trips to Wonderland were a result of magic mushroom-infused soap. The book includes historical characters and deliberate anachronisms, plus ray gun fights, magic, terrible music hall songs and a thrilling carriage chase through central London. It’s a very odd story indeed and makes little sense – ‘a load of old toot’ to quote a phrase frequently used in Rankin’s books – but there were some fun moments. If you like steampunk or alternative histories and wacky humour, give it a go.

Published by Gollancz, 2011.

Thank you to the publisher MacLehose Press for the review copy via NetGalley. English translation by Anton Hur, 2026.

Cleo has a robot companion resembling a dog, which speaks in rhyme, as it’s programmed with the voices of rappers and poets. That was cute at first, but it soon became irritating and I was glad when the machine exploded, freeing us from its annoying speech! The other thing which I didn’t like about this book was the copious amount of vomit and saliva, because Cleo is always throwing up. It was also puzzling how she got sent out on a space mission in the first place, because she doesn’t know any mathematics or physics. I think a lot of sci-fi readers will enjoy this book, but I had quite mixed feelings about it and am unlikely to read a similar one by the same author.

Published by 47North, 2026.

‘Sunrise on Mercury’ by Robert Silverberg

‘The Hell Planet’ by Leslie F Stone

‘Foundling on Venus’ by John and Dorothy De Courcy

‘The Lonely Path’ by John Ashcroft

‘Garden in the Void’ by Poul Anderson

‘Desertion’ by Clifford D Simak

‘How Beautiful with Banners’ by James Blish

‘Where No Man Walks’ by E R James

‘A Baby on Neptune’ by Clare Winger Harris and Miles J Breuer

‘Wait it Out’ by Larry Niven

The only stories I found very memorable were ‘The Lonely Path’, in which explorers on Mars discover the purpose of an ancient tower; and ‘Garden in the Void’, a story of a symbiosis on an asteroid. The stories by Simak and Blish were familiar as I’d read them before. This will probably be the last book I’ll read in the British Library Science Fiction series, as the writing style isn’t as good as the concepts and I find them a bit of a chore to read, only discovering an occasional gem.

Stories first published between 1929 – 1968. This book published in 2020.

I have seen this book described as thriller, eco-horror and science fiction. It’s not a thriller at all, although the ideas might be thrilling; the pace is quite gentle because it spans quite a few years. It will appeal to readers of subtle sci-fi such as Never Let Me Go. Becoming a tree is depicted as desirable, providing you choose a good place to root. It’s a very thought-provoking read which is a warning – if any more warnings are needed! – about the way things are going. I thought the ending was a little weak and that for more impact, one character should have stayed a tree. The use of swear words was excessive and the dialogue was strangely child-like considering that some of the characters were academics. There are some frighteningly possible ideas in the book, such as AIs deciding they don’t need humans any more, even as avatars, but eventually failing because they run out of input. Even turning into trees isn’t as outlandish as it sounds, because evolution is fantastic and perhaps the earth will save itself by causing humans to change.

In conclusion, this is a tree-mendously interesting novel which will ‘leaf’ a lasting impression.

First published by Hachette Australia in 2025. This edition will be published in January 2026 by Fleet (Little, Brown). Thank you to the publisher for the review copy via NetGalley.

This book is set in the far future, when siblings Scout, Kieran and cat Pumpkin are on an archaeological quest to find data caches of vanished civilisations. The hope is that the information will help combat whatever is causing whole planets to be wiped out. They are pitted against a corporation with superior technology which will keep the information behind a paywall, but when things get dangerous, they may have to cooperate.

The book is narrated mainly by Scout, who is non-binary, interspersed with the recording of Blyreena, from the disappeared people, who tells her story. Although they are different species, they seem very similar and are both grieving. There are a lot of emotions packed into the book, plus some action adventure and a little humour. It did seem more like YA, as there wasn’t a lot of depth to the story, considering the themes. I knew I’d seen the book somewhere before but with a different cover; it was previously self-published in 2022. There are lots of people from the indie author community in the acknowledgments. It’s now published by Penguin, 2025.

I like this book, despite the careless editing, but the genre is almost different, more magical realism than sci-fi. The setting is mostly Earth, which for some reason that was either explained and I don’t understand, or it wasn’t explained at all, is reinstated after it was demolished. After being away in space for several months, Arthur Dent returns to his dusty house and tries to get back into his old life. There are other strands to the story which at first seem separate, but they all link up. Ford Prefect is hopping around the universe causing chaos. There is a scientist with an inside-out house who knows what happened to the dolphins. A girl who realised what the meaning of life is, before the Earth’s demise, keeps on meeting Arthur by random coincidences. And a truck driver is rained on everywhere he goes.

There are references to the time in which the book was written, such as nowhere accepting American Express, the music of Dire Straits and the difficulty of setting up answering machines. Arthur’s memories of being in space are also likened to a film recorded from the TV on to cassette and being shoved to the back of a cupboard!

In summary, an unnecessary sequel which focuses on Arthur’s happiness and the oddities of being British, with some confusing things which don’t make sense.

First published in 1984.

‘The War of the Worlds’ by H G Wells – not the full-length novel, but a very abridged version with all-action, no suspense.

‘The Cloud-Men’ by Owen Oliver – sentient cloud-like aliens invade in this story which is similar to Wells but not as good.

‘The Dragon of St. Paul’s’ by Reginald Bacchus and C Ranger Gull – an ancient creature is defrosted and causes havoc in London, seen from a journalistic perspective.

‘De Profundis’ by Coutts Brisbane – ants rise up and eat anyone who isn’t armed with petrol, which would not be out of place in the Crawling Horror anthology from the Tales of the Weird series.

‘Dagon’ by H P Lovecraft – early story not quite into his best era, a horrifying tale of a shipwreck survivor who sees something dreadful on an island.

‘In Amundsen’s Tent’ by John Martin Leahy – indescribable weird presence in the Antarctic which eats explorers.

‘King Kong’ by Draycott Dell and Edgar Wallace – story based on the novelisation of the famous movie.

‘The Monster from Nowhere’ by Nelson S Bond – a dangerous creature from another dimension is captured.

‘Discord in Scarlet’ by A E van Vogt – the author claimed that this story inspired the film Alien and indeed there are similarities, although the alien from the film is even deadlier despite not being able to arrange its atoms to move through things.

‘Monster’ by John Christopher – this is a unique perspective on the Loch Ness monster legend, which is a great twist halfway though.

‘Resident Physician’ by James White – a doctor has a medical puzzle to solve when an unidentified creature, which is also a criminal, is brought in.

‘Personal Monster’ by Idris Seabright – an unsettling tale of little girl who discovers a giant alien head in the ash pit, and finds a neat solution to its feeding while she is away.

‘Alien Invasion’ by Marcia Kamien – a woman gives birth to an alien whose species has chosen her to help them, however I didn’t think this story realised its full potential.

‘The Witness’ by Eric Frank Russell – an alien refugee is tried in the US court with billions watching, a clever story though not easy to read.

Published in 2019. The stories range from 1899 to 1961.

Check out my reviews of other books in the British Library SF Classics series: Menace of the Machine, Future Crimes, Spaceworlds, Beyond Time.