Welcome back to After the Walk, where Link and I return from our weekly stroll, and I attempt to organize my thoughts about everything I've been reading.

This week felt like one of those wonderfully reading weeks where the genres couldn't have been more different. I bounced from dark-humored fantasy to historical fantasy, from psychological thriller to speculative fiction, and somehow every book ended up circling the same idea: What do we do when life refuses to go according to plan?

Some books answered that question better than others.

DNF: Sublimation

Let's start with the only book I didn't finish.

Sublimation had one of the most intriguing premises I've encountered in a while. I was genuinely invested in the concept and wanted to know where the story was going.

Unfortunately, I ended up setting it aside at 48%.

The entire novel is written in second person and rotates between multiple points of view. Every character is essentially narrating events as "you." You woke up. You drank coffee. You entered the room.

Second person is already a difficult narrative choice for me, but when multiple characters are all speaking in that same perspective, I found it increasingly difficult to stay grounded in the story.

This was very much a case of "it's not you, it's me." The premise remained compelling right up until the point I stopped reading.

Hopelessly Necromantic

The elevator pitch alone sold me on this one: A burned-out royal necromancer grieving his wife gets dragged into another kingdom-saving adventure alongside a demon recruit and an unexpectedly charming skeleton brother-in-law.

This book knows exactly what it wants to be.

The humor is relentless in the best way. Bone puns. Self-aware fantasy jokes. Characters who seem vaguely annoyed that they're trapped inside an epic fantasy quest.

Beneath all of that humor, though, sits a story about grief.

Sikras is carrying enormous emotional weight, and the novel explores what it looks like to continue living after loss. Friendship, found family, and healing all become central themes as the story unfolds.

My only criticism is that the emotional depth never quite matched the emotional potential. The ingredients were all there, but the story often skimmed the surface of ideas I wanted it to explore further.

Still, this is a charming fantasy that succeeds because of its heart as much as its humor.

Man of My Dreams

Every reader has books where they can pinpoint the exact moment things stop working.

For me, that happened about a third of the way through this novel.

The synopsis promises one mystery. The novel gradually reveals that the mystery you've been following isn't actually the mystery the book cares about.

Now, I normally love a good twist. I enjoy being surprised.

The problem wasn't that the story changed directions.

The problem was that I spent so much time investing in the first storyline that, once the switch happened, I couldn't stop wondering why I'd invested so much energy into something that ultimately felt secondary.

By the end, the novel felt like two separate books competing for space.

I suspect readers who love layered mysteries and constantly shifting narratives may enjoy this much more than I did. Unfortunately, I spent more time irritated than intrigued.

The Unicorn Hunters

At this point, I should probably stop being surprised when Katherine Arden writes something I love.

The Unicorn Hunters takes the historical figure Anne of Brittany and asks a delightful question: What if folklore, prophecy, unicorns, and magic had been woven into her story all along?

The result is exactly the sort of historical fantasy I can't resist and included magical forests, court politics, ancient legends, and clever women navigating impossible situations. Basically, real history viewed through the lens of myth.

What impressed me most was Anne herself. Arden allows her to be ambitious, stubborn, strategic, intelligent, and flawed. She feels like a real person rather than a historical symbol.

Historical fantasy can sometimes lean too heavily toward either the history or the fantasy. This book strikes an ideal balance between the two.

Also, Louis repeatedly launching himself into danger for love deserves special recognition.

Historical fantasy continues to dominate my reading year, and this may end up being one of my favorite examples of the genre.

The Break-Up Retreat

This is everything I wanted Nine Perfect Strangers to be. The plot centers around an isolated wellness retreat, a charismatic founder who feels increasingly suspicious, and an undercover journalist.

The best part was the whole cast of flawed, messy people who were trapped together in an environment that grows more unsettling with every chapter.

Camilla Sten excels at atmosphere.

Long before the bodies start dropping, there's an overwhelming sense that something is wrong. The tension builds steadily through paranoia, suspicion, and psychological unease.

I also appreciated the queer representation, which felt nuanced and naturally integrated into the story. The beginning is slower than the ending, leaning heavily into psychological suspense before transitioning into something much more explosive. Once the final act begins, the pace accelerates dramatically.

Bonus: the epilogue was fantastic.

If you enjoy Ruth Ware, Sarah Pearse, isolated settings, suspicious characters, and stories that make you question everyone's motives, this should absolutely be on your radar.

The Traveler

This is speculative fiction doing what speculative fiction does best: using impossible ideas to explore deeply human questions.

On the surface, The Traveler is a story involving time travel and futures beyond imagination.

At its core, however, it's about a father and a son. It's about the impossible balancing act of wanting what's best for your child while recognizing that their life ultimately belongs to them.

The relationship between Scott and Lyle carried the entire novel for me. Even during moments when I wasn't entirely certain I understood the mechanics of what was happening, I remained invested because I cared so deeply about the people at the center of the story.

By the end, I had tears in my eyes.

The novel occasionally becomes so ambitious that it risks overwhelming the reader, and I did find parts of the ending difficult to fully grasp. But even when I felt slightly lost, the emotional core never let me go. That's a rare accomplishment.

Final Thoughts

If I had to summarize this reading week in one sentence, it would be this: Every book was asking what happens when our plans collide with reality.

• A grieving necromancer trying to move forward.

• A queen trying to avoid a future she doesn't want.

• Characters trapped in a retreat they no longer trust.

• A father trying to protect a son across impossible stretches of time.

Even the books that didn't fully work for me were grappling with questions that lingered long after I closed them.