· Septimus Carr

Booker Countdown 2026
6th Place
Contestant	The End of Everything by M. John Harrison
My Review	Imprecise Peculiarity and Painstaking Banality at The End of Everything
Summary	I enjoyed Harrison’s indulgent weirdness at times, but I wondered why he seemed to conceal his freak flag while rambling on ad nauseum about modern suburban settings.
Classic Pairing	The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Why	Tonally miles apart, but both create apocalyptic futures with aliens who flippantly offer replacements for our core humanity.
5th Place
Contestant	The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
My Review	Elizabeth Strout Tries the Patience of a Saint
Summary	Bold in its politics but mild in its artistic ambition.
Classic Pairing	Middlemarch by George Eliot
Why	Both present their protagonists as everyday saints and use recent political events as backdrops. Both divided readers along generational lines.
4th Place
Contestant	Black Bag by Luke Kennard
My Review	Elizabeth Strout Tries the Patience of a Saint
Summary	Every hilarious page serves its narrative throughline about bifurcated straight male identity.
Classic Pairing	The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Why	Kennard’s story begins to realize its surreal potential when Black Bag chases down his Double. The authors both cozy the reader with familiarity before things get weird.