The Broken Binding SF&F Sub #1: November 2025
I can already hear you thinking:
“Uh, Charlotte??! Is that another new book subscription?”
Uh… haha… err… a little bit, yes. 🤫
But let me explain.
I’ve been a subscriber to both The Broken Binding’s Fantasy and Sci-Fi subscriptions for a while now. Both focus on older titles that they give a beautiful new look, often with extra attention to entire series, although the Sci-Fi subscription sometimes deviates from that.
Last November, they announced a completely new idea: a subscription with a complete focus on new releases, more in the style of FairyLoot or Illumicrate. They opened an interest form, and of course, I signed up.
Then, in July of this year, they announced the actual launch of their new SF&F Subscription: focused on traditionally published new releases in both fantasy and sci-fi, with a brand new book every two months.
Shortly after, I was given the opportunity to subscribe, with a first book in September.
But through a spoiler account, I discovered that the book would be a The Witcher prequel, something I have little interest in. So I passed on that invitation.
In October, another invitation arrived in my inbox, this time with a first book in November.
And since I’d just decided to skip my December TBB sci-fi book… well, you know how it goes. It sometimes feels like a game: I save for one thing, and another temptation immediately pops up.
So yes. I indulged again. And I’m glad I did, because this is my very first book from this new subscription!
November’s theme was Unravel Reality, and the book linked to it had been on my radar for a while. So yes, I’m definitely curious to see what The Broken Binding makes of it.
The book arrived in the now-familiar TBB box, neatly and securely packaged as always. This time, the book wasn’t wrapped in the classic gold or silver paper, but in beautiful brown wrapping paper with the TBB logo, and a sticker with the theme made it complete. Little details like that can really charm me.
This month’s book is All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu, an author I know mainly from hearsay and as one of the translators of The Three Body Problem series.
Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at fourteen as the “orphan hacker,” is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb.
But when a lawyer named Piers—whose famous artist wife, Elli, has been kidnapped by dangerous criminals—barges into her life, Julia decides to put the solitary life she has painstakingly created at risk as she can’t walk away from helping Piers and Elli, nor step away from the challenge of this digital puzzle. Elli is an onierofex, a dream artist, who can weave the dreams of an audience together through a shared virtual landscape, live, in a concert-like experience by tapping into each attendee’s waking dream and providing an emotionally resonant and narrative experience. While attendees’ dreams are anonymous, Julia discovers that Elli was also providing a one-on-one dream experience for the head of an international criminal enterprise, and he’s demanding his dreams in return for Elli.
Unraveling the real and unreal leads Julia on an adventure that takes her across the country and deep into the shadows of her psyche.
For me, the words “tech thriller” and the comparison to Blake Crouch were enough to grab my attention. Add dreams, digital puzzles, and cybercrime to that? Yep, I was instantly intrigued.
TBB designed a completely new cover for this edition, with artwork by @evydraws. The cover explores the dream theme and the web motif more deeply, and to me, looks less generic than the standard edition, more atmospheric and meaningful. And the colours really pop. I’m a fan.
The hardcover itself is a gorgeous, bright blue, with silver foil illustrations by @illustrated_katec. Very sleek, very techy, and perfect for this title.
The sprayed edges were digitally printed with a design by @pgm.99, and the endpapers were illustrated by @lyssmenold & @pgm.99.
The illustration on the front endpaper is truly stunning. Very unique, intriguing, and instantly creates a vibe. And… dinosaurs??? I want to know what that means in the story right now!
And that illustration on the back is truly magnificent in its colours! But what does it all mean?!
When I looked at the photos for this blog post, I was also struck by how cleverly the design was: the foil design on the hardcover is echoed in the front endpaper illustration. And the illustration on the back perfectly complements the sprayed edges, which have even been colour-matched so everything blends seamlessly.
Truly, top marks! TBB has put a tremendous amount of effort into visually integrating all the elements.
The book is also hand-signed by Ken Liu.
It seems his pen got a bit ink-shy on me, and I don’t see how that scribble is supposed to represent his name, but hey, it’s still nice to have!
This edition also features beautiful blue headbands and tailbands and a blue satin ribbon bookmark. These elements only enhance the quality of an edition!
Yes, I’m thoroughly impressed with this new edition of The Broken Binding.
The book sounds exciting, the design is exceptionally well-thought-out and stylish, and the overall package is spot-on. So I’m not sorry I signed up for this subscription, although my wallet might not be so happy about it 😉
Cheers,
Charlotte
