Shotguns vs Cthulhu is an anthology of “Pulse-pounding action meets cosmic horror … from the rising stars of the New Cthulhuiana”. Overall an enjoyable collection, as with any anthology there are going to be some stories to your taste, and others that are not. Shotguns vs Cthulhu is no exception. The stand out stories were by Kenneth Hite, and Chad Fiefer (full reading available on Fiefer’s H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast).

Editor Robin Laws’ story was underwhelming. I thought it was little more than an awkward modern version of The Outsider; Laws’ has written much better. The inclusion of Larry DiTillio's story was a surprising drop in quality given the rest of the book: a juvenile power fantasy with a cthulhu apocalypse backdropⁱ.

I have been a fan of Terry Pratchett for a long time now, so I picked up The Long Earth on a whim a few months back, with no real expectations. The book is co-authored with Stephen Baxter, a sci-fi author I have never read. It is a multiple-earths story. Not much really happens but I found it an engaging read nonetheless. It is one of the better Pratchett books I have read in recent years; less preachy than say Nation, and it's not just another go round the familiar Discworld ur-stories. Enjoyable but not great, I'll probably read the sequel when it arrives.

I'm late to the party, but I finally read John le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy having seen (and loved) the film adaptation last year. Excellent cold war spy thriller; there really isn't more to say. 

1. Role-playing gamers will find that Graham Walmsley’'s The Apocalypse Machine for Trail of Cthulhu presents a superior cthulhoid apocalypse than the ones presented in both Laws’ and DiTillio’s stories.