Pile by the Bed goes to Venus to review The House of Styx, the first book of Venus Ascendant, a new science fiction series by Derek Kunsken

Pile by the Bed reviews Civilisations by Laurent Binet - an alternative history that imagines an Incan takeover of Europe in the Sixteenth Century.

Pile by the Bed reviews A History of What Comes Next, the first in a new series by Sylvain Neuvel which imagines an alien influence behind the space race.

Pile by the Bed reviews Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford an imagined history of five lives cut short by a German bombing in World War 2.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex - an assured and absorbing debut based on the true story of the locked door disappearance of a group of lighthouse keepers.

Pile by the Bed reviews Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, a story about what it means to be human that is thematically consistent with his broader body of work.

Pile by the Bed reviews City of Vengeance a debut crime novel by screenwriter DV Bishop set in and around historical events in 16th Century Florence

Pile by the Bed reviews The Fall of Koli - the final ominously named book in MR Carey's post-apocalyptic Ramparts Trilogy and finds that the long journey was worth the effort

Pile by the Bed reviews Fog by Polish author Kaja Malanowska (translated by Bill Johnson) - crime fiction effectively used to explore a range of social issues in modern Poland.

Pile By The Bed reviews and recommends Smoke, the fifth book in Joe Ide's IQ series

Pile by the Bed reviews One, Night New York, a crime fiction debut that explores 1930s New York by Lara Thompson.

Pile by the Bed reviews Robot Artists and Black Swans a series of Italian Fantascienza short stories by Bruce Sterling written under his European pseudonym Bruno Argento.

Pile by the Bed reviews Nick - Michael Farris-Smith's prequel to The Great Gatsby, exploring the early life of that book's narrator Nick Carraway

Pile by the Bed reviews The Shape of Darkness - another pitch perfect Victorian-era gothic horror novel by Laura Prucell.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Future is Yours by Dan Frey - a time travel driven page-turning takedown of the tech industry

Pile by the Bed reviews The Silent Listener, the debut novel by Lyn Yeowart dealing with the dark side of living in rural Australia in the second half of the twentieth century.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Family Doctor by Debra Oswald - using crime fiction to explore some of the moral and ethical issues around domestic and family violence.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Lightseekers the debut crime fiction novel by Nigerian author Femi Kayode

Pile by the Bed reviews The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean, a grim survival thriller that is based on issues of people trafficking and slavery.

Pile by the Bed reviews Prodigal Son, the sixth book in Gregg Hurwitz's compulsive (with heart) Orphan X series.