[Maark Abbott]

Abyss, on 04 December 2019 - 03:09 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 04 December 2019 - 08:04 AM, said:

I mean the only books I have read this year have been Coldfire 1 and some light novels, so I feel like I can't really comment beyond that I finally got back to reading.

You could do worse than having COLDFIRE bk 1 as your best book of the year.

True, I could be one of those war criminals who thinks Stormlight is in any way good.

Jokes aside I am wrapping it up today, and it has been very very enjoyable indeed.

[Tiste Simeon]

Tsundoku, on 05 December 2019 - 12:31 PM, said:

Rejoice, A Knife to the Heart.

Was that this year? Seems like it came out a long time ago...

[Abyss]

Tiste Simeon, on 05 December 2019 - 09:22 PM, said:

Tsundoku, on 05 December 2019 - 12:31 PM, said:

Rejoice, A Knife to the Heart.

Was that this year? Seems like it came out a long time ago...

June 2019.


Not that it matters, thread is what we read this year, not the year it was pub'd.

[Salt-Man Z]

Abyss, on 05 December 2019 - 09:35 PM, said:

thread is what we read this year, not the year it was pub'd.

My favorite read in 2019 was published in 2004 and purchased in 2013.

[Zetubal]

Hey there, been a while since I last logged in.

The best book thing I read all year was - easily - The Library at Mount Char. It's been months by now and I still find the thought of "man, that was a great book" sporadically entering my mind.

Aside from that, I thoroughly enjoyed Robert Jackson Bennett's Foundryside. RJB's really got a knack for crafting immensely entertaining, woke stories based on refreshing concepts. Very much looking forward to the upcoming second entry in the series.

A while back I started on James S. A. Corey's Expanse Series, and though I'm currently only on Book 4, Cibola Burn, I can already say that I'm completely sold on it. I don't recall ever reading scifi but this could be a game changer for me. Really love the intricate, distinct characters and their voices.

Worst thing I read all year is not even really bad, but rather underwhelming: The Powder Mage trilogy is full of wasted potential, underdeveloped ideas, and sub-par revelations. Not a bad by a long shot, mind you. Forgettable.

Lastly, I think I personally failed to appreciate The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Read it immediately after Library at Mount Char and this might've been a mistake. In any other circumstance I would have liked Harry August much more, I think. Definitely a very, very good novel.

"Sudden Appearance of Hope" is already on the "to read" pile for next year. Amazon keeps pestering me with the German translation of the book, which oddly enough has a title that translates to "The Day Hope disappeared". What's going on there?



Edit: Going back, I just remembered that I dedicated like 4 months of 2019 to reading all of the Black Company main series. Guess the fact that it already slipped my mind says nothing all too good about the series. Or my take on it, rather. It was...worthwhile. Glad I read it, but not too impressed beyond that.

This post has been edited by Zetubal: 06 December 2019 - 10:45 AM

[Gorefest]

Finally finished Wheel of Time after dropping it many years ago after about 5 books. Not sure if it was worth the massive time investment tbh, felt very juvenile (bit Twilight-y) at times, but it did have a good final run. Throw out about 40% of series content and it would have ranked quite highly for me; now, it was a slog for the most part, sadly. So that took up most of this year, especially because I found myself putting it down quite a lot to go and do other things whenever e.g. the Shaido Aiel or Elaine where ponderously doing tiresome stuff. Pro tip: never let family members do editing duties.

Working my way through the Dresden Files now and thoroughly enjoying it.

I really enjoyed 'Rejoice, a knife to the heart' as well. A nice alternative take on the first contact trope.

[acesn8s]

I might hit 12 books this year, last year was 21.

I think my favorite was The Library at Mount Char.


A had a difficult time finding time to read in the evenings. Couple that with a reread of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn (Williams is never a fast or easy read for me) and I could see why my average took a hit this year. I think I need to optimize my queue with some page turners for 2020.

[Salt-Man Z]

Zetubal, on 06 December 2019 - 10:42 AM, said:

"Sudden Appearance of Hope" is already on the "to read" pile for next year. Amazon keeps pestering me with the German translation of the book, which oddly enough has a title that translates to "The Day Hope disappeared". What's going on there?

Nah, the German title makes sense, too. Hope has a condition where people completely forget who she is her after a short amount of time. The German title refers to the day this ability manifests.

If you like Harry August and Hope, you'll definitely want to also check out North's Touch, about a protagonist who can "possess" the bodies of people they touch.

[Thirteen]

Highlights: The Greatcoats; The Books of Babel; Takeshi Kovacs; Red Rising, The Gray Bastards; The Library at Mount Char; The Quantum Magician.

Favorite book must be Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell. Just loved the writing style, the tone, complex characters and sly humor.

Read lots of not so great books as well, mostly when I strayed outside of fantasy genre. Most underwhelming fantasy book, however, was The Crown Tower. I don't think I would be continuing with the series (unless someone tells me it gets better).

Overall 105 books thus far.

[Tatterdemalion]

This year, according to Goodreads, I read:

Prince of Fools - Mark Lawrence
Arm of the Sphinx - Josiah Bancroft
Bloody Rose - Nicholas Eames
Kellanved's Reach - ICE
The Wrath of Heroes - David Benem
Beyond Redemption - Michael R. Fletcher
The Mirror's Edge - Michael R. Fletcher
...and if I can finish 4-5 stories by January 1st, Sharp Ends - Joe Abercrombie

My favourites were Bloody Rose and Beyond Redemption (or maybe Mirror's Edge, I certainly read it a lot faster) - but all were either great or good and worth my time.

[Abyss]

My turn...

So the magic number for 2019 is 40 books (not counting comics which i'll get to below). Of the 40, 37 were entirely earbooks. Two, DARK AGE and KELLANVED'S REACH, were both earbook and ebook, and one, ORIGAMY, was ebook only. In dead tree i continue to read, the late Anthony Bourdian's 'Annotated' KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, which is a terrific read that suffers from my current/ongoing inability to actually sit and read things for any serious length of time. There is an earbook but the handwritten notes - added by Bourdain a decade after the original publication - are so much fun that i would rather just move it along slowly.



SINGLE BESTESTIEST THING I READ THIS YEAR:

2019 was a strong year in f/sf lit and thus my contenders for one single book that i loved more than anything else were all much strong...

Ian Cam Esslemont's KELLANVED'S REACH,
Pierce Brown's DARK AGE, and
Jamraham E Frackorey's TIAMAT'S WRATH.

All are great great books, none are standalone (#s 3, 6, and 8 in their respective series'), and it's hard to judge them as single works outside of their respective series... so my final decision falls back on when i posted

Quote

DARK AGE is the MoI of the RED RISING series

...if i look at the totality of each book's multiple storylines and which book rivetted my attention at every page, DARK AGE takes my best read of the year win in a year piled with strong reads.

To be clear, REACH was a treat, as a fantasy work and as the latest installment in the wider Malazan story, including some of the best comedy moments we've ever had in those books.
TIAMAT... a glorious trip with old friends and one hell of a penultimate setup for the finale.

DARK AGE take sit for sheer gripping 'i need need NEED to know what happens next' with a significant dose of 'HOLY FUCK DID THAT JUST HAPPEN????'. REACH and WRATH both had those moments but DARK takes it for going to an even higher level.


ALMOST ALSO BESTESTS:

Books i also loved...

Peter Clines' DEAD MOON... not his best or his cleverest but very very entertaining.
Josiah Bancroft's THE HOD KING... between almost dislike of his first book and love for his second, this solidified the series on the love side for me.
Tamsyn Muir's GIDEON THE NINTH, this year's LIBRARY ON MOUNT CHAR i think for sheer enthusiasm and love here and elseforum. I enjoyed everything about this book. It is 'flightier' than the three in my 'bestiest' category, but damn close.

MOST IMPROVED:

Seth Dickinson THE MONSTER BARU CORMORANT. I enjoyed this book, i have nothing bad to say about it, but the most striking thing is how much BETTER is was than TRAITOR, which i only mostly enjoyed. Dickinson does everything better here and i can't wait to see how the third book plays out.

BEST SERIES (sort of):

The 'sort of' is because while this year i read all two books in Jonathan French's 'BASTARDS' series, GREY BASTARDS and TRUE BASTARDS, i am virtually certain that the series isn't done. Which is great because these were great, a near perfect example of what i read fantasy lit for... conflicted 'heroes' who are far from shiny, snarling evil villains but also interesting less evil advesaries, interesting and novel takes on magic, and dead gods some glorious over the top action scenes i had to listen to and/or read more than once. TRUE also features a significant number of HOLY FUCK DID I JUST READ THAT moments. But for being in this category both books would be up in the 'Also Bestest' category and TRUE might have made it into 'Bestiest'.

Runners up...
Mira Seanan McGuire Grant ROLLING IN THE DEEP / INTO THE DROWNING DEEP, because killer mermaids are fun, and,
Martha Wells' MURDERBOT DIARIES, because cynical killer androids who love soap operas are very fun.


BEST NEW (to me) AUTHOR:

Claire North THE FIRST FIFTEEN LIVES OF HARRY AUGUST. Very intelligent, enjoyable book.

ALSO WORTH MENTIONING

S A Charabotay's KINGDOM OF COPPER... also a serious contender for 'most improved', i enjoyed the hell out of her Middle-East setting fantasy.
O'Malley's ROOK and STILETTO... fun urban fantasy spy series.
Benedict Jacka's ALEX VERUS books 4-10... i could whine that maybe the protag's journey of six books could have been done in four, but fuckit, i was never bored with this series and getting caught up in a marathon like this was very enjoyable.
Smith's HELL DIVERS: WOLVES, CAPTIVES, ALLEGIANCE... what can i say, i like my popcorn.


NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN:

Kay's UNDER HEAVEN... i have had an extended break from GGK for no good reason i can point at. It was nice to read this and remember why i enjoy his work so much.
Wong's THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS, SERIOUSLY DUDE DON'T READ IT... more horror than JOHN DIES + less 'stupid' comedy = great fun.


BEST THE OPPOSITE OF BEST:

Alten's MEG: NIGHTSTALKERS and GENERATIONS - because giant shark popcorn is still good popcorn even when it's bad.


OH WELL THAT SUCKED:

Alas...

Quote

Started Hannu Rajaniemi's SUMMERLAND. Stopped a few chapters in. For the level of imagination and originality his JEAN LE FLAMBEUR trilo hit, this was trite, with far too much exposition. I love the idea of an espionage story set as this was crossing a populated afterlife ... but that was where it ended for me. Everything about it just felt done and tiresome. And far too much 'tell don't show'.

(dis)HONOURABLE MENTION to William Gibson's 'ALIEN 3' ... which was not as brilliant or exciting as i wanted it to be, but maybe that's more my expectations than his delivery.


PRETTY PICCIES:

I read a pretty big chunk of comics this year, including...

RIVERS OF LONDON (all complete collections to date)
THE BOYS complete run (fun, if wrong at times)
THE SPIRE full LS (enjoyable)
FABLES 50-150 and extras (great!)
STORMWATCH vols 1 and 2 (good/bad/meh)
CEMETARY BEACH (meh but still Ellis)
Various X-MEN stuff (good to meh) and importantly Hickman's HoX/PoX (WOW! ...just WOW!)
and more or less the entire AvP megabundle from Darkhorse (all over the place but mostly fun).

I'd give FABLES the edge over Hickman's X-Men for best comics read this year, but only just barely. And Aaronovich's RIVERS OF LONDON really is a treat for people who enjoy the PETER GRANT series and want to see Molly stab things).

...and that's a wrap, having Just Finished 2019.

2020 is looking good with new stuff from Butcher (THE DRESDENCRACK IT GROWZ!!!!) Sanderson, Clines, Chakrabotay, Aaronovitch, all confirmed and hopefully new Malazan from SE, plus the TRP grows eternally and has a pile of stuff i'm looking fwd to getting into notably Scalzi's complete OLD MAN'S WAR, a whole lot of Seanan McGuire, and of course the Forum's Malazan re-read.


S'been a good year here peoples, carry on.

[Aptorian]

Last year, around march, I made an Excel ark where I wrote down every book I read, when I started it, author, title, series, genre, page length and a score from 1-5.

In 2019 I read roughly 91 books. A few I didn't finish. Some where childrens books or novellas and short stories. Over all I was pretty happy with the effort I made to read new and old litterature mixed with non-fiction that caught my eye.

This year I'm gunning for 100 books. We'll see, this is a banner year for video games.

Looking down the list from 2019 some stand-outs for me was:

The Belgariad/Belgarion saga by David Eddings. Really liked this. It's like reading ur-fantasy about chosen fanboys, mysterious wizards and noble warriors.

And the Ocean was our Sky by Patrick Ness - A short and fun reinvention of the Moby Dick story, where the Whales are hunting the legendary Toby Wick and his Great White War ship.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray bradbury - Though it's in some ways antiquated there's some phenomenal dialogue and discussion about litterature in that book.

The first fifteen lives of Harry August by Claire North - Just a really well written book with a great first person narrator. Though the ending was a bit naft but otherwise a cool book.

16 ways to defend af walled city by K.J.Parker - I didn't expect to like a Parker book after reading the first engineer book but 16 ways is a phenomenal siege story.

I read the first 3 Discworld books by Terry Pratchett this year. A bit uneven in writing quality but insanely creative and legitemately funny books. I have to squeeze another handful in this year.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. A great sci-fi timetravel love story. It's like reading a duet between two writers.

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller - A classic book that I'd describe as one of the best books I've ever read. Complex, compelling and really funny in that sad way that the TV-show MASH also achieved.

Every heart a doorway by Seanan McGuire - A charming murder mystery set in a home for children who return from Alice in Wonderland type fantasy worlds.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - A weird bone obsessed Agatha Christy murder plot surrounding a weird necromantic ascension ritual. Really fun dialogue and characters. Can't wait for the sequel.

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski - Really interesting collection of short stories about The Witcher. Definitely worth checking out, though I'd add that beyond book 1 and 2, the series is disappointing.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 03 January 2020 - 07:21 PM

[Gabriele]

Aptorian, on 03 January 2020 - 11:00 AM, said:

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski - Really interesting collection of short stories about The Witcher. Definitely worth checking out, though I'd add that I'd beyond book 1 and 2, the series is disappointing.

I like the novels. But they are very different from the short stories, which may be one of the reasons a number of readers have a problem with them. I've come at the Witcher books from a different angle; I read Sapkowski's historical fiction trilogy first and got used to his approach to writing novels. That is alas, not a door open to English readers, since that trilogy has not been translated into English (it is avaliable in a German translation, though).

[Mentalist]

I ended the year on 51 books read. Caught up on a bunch of series and read a few standalones that have been sitting on my bookshelves for ages.

Most notable is probably the "Chronicles of the Long War" series. I read the first volume late last year and felt it was too tropey and predictable, but half-way through Book 2 I found the series very hard to put down and ende dup binging the rest of the series in less than a month.

Also, Ian McDonald's "Luna" is an amazing series more people need to read, because it's corporate feudalism on the Moon and it's like ASOIAF without the bloat.

Among the long-ago-bought books I only read this year was Blindsight which was just brainz-meltinglly interesting. Also I have to mention Glen Cook's "Starfishers" trilo- for having an amazing setting and somehow managing to squander....everything in Book 3. It went in ways I totally didn't expect and I was not impressed.

On the contrary, the sub-series that ended real strong was Asher's "Transformations" trilo. I need to get into the next set of Polity books, but it'll probably be earbooks this time.

The series I'm most eager to get new book is would be "Gates of the World" by K.M. McKinley, because "Brass God" is probably the best book I've read this year. In terms of best series, itès a tie between the Kate Daniels books and the (nearly finished) Traitor's Son Cycle.

Oh, another highlight of the year was reading Dan Simmons' "The Terror" during the heart of winter in February. That was certainly an experience.

[Aptorian]

THE MALAZAN EMPIRE’S FAVOURITE BOOKS AND COMICS OF THE YEAR - 2020

Time for the obligatory end of year discussion about the media we consumed.

This thread is about the stuff we read. Doesn’t have to published this year. Doesn’t have to be a top 10 list.

So, what did you read this year?

What did you enjoy? What surprised you? What disappointed you?

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 18 December 2020 - 05:46 PM

[Tattersail_]

I was super excited about Dresden files but other than re reads I think Alex Verus has captivated my for the last few months. Definitely recommend.

[End of Disc One]

Fairly solid year for me. # of books is down due to being a parent now, and no book I read is going to make my all time favorites list. But I enjoyed a lot of them. My favorites:

Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. Everyone here has opinions on Sanderson. I'm not yet finished and it's not a perfect book, but for me it's Cosmere goodness.

Books 4 and 5 of Michael Sullivan's Legends of the First Empire. Haven't read 6 yet, but so far I rank these books 5>4>3>2>1. Really loving this series.

Midnight Falcon, book 2 of David Gemmell's Rigante. Love Gemmell's writing.

Battle Ground by Jim Butcher. Not much to say on this.

Most memorable moment: the ending of K. J. Parker's Belly of the Bow. If you've read this book, you know what I'm talking about.

This post has been edited by End of Disc One: 18 December 2020 - 04:34 PM

[QuickTidal]

End of Disc One, on 18 December 2020 - 04:33 PM, said:

Books 4 and 5 of Michael Sullivan's Legends of the First Empire. Haven't read 6 yet, but so far I rank these books 5>4>3>2>1. Really loving this series.

Heads up, Michael expects to kickstart the first book in the next (bridging series 'THE RISE & THE FALL') NOLYN in the new year (Feb 9th, I think?). Keep an eye out as they do 15 minute early bird discounts for Kickstarter levels. This would mean we'd receive ebooks in April 2021.

[Aptorian]

Okay, first of all, this was the year where we did an ongoing 2020/2021 Reread of the Malazan Books.

I ended up falling off at Return of the Crimson Guard. It was partially because I'm not that enamoured with the later books and partially because I've reached a point where I resent books for being more than 300 pages long. I want to pick up the reread later but it wont be this year.


I had a 7-8 month period this year where I didn't do a lot of reading for leisure but I still did read a lot of good stuff.

Some short stories that definitely worth checking out.

Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw - It's Lovecraftian Detective Noir

For he can creep by Siobhan Carrol - Adorable cats fighting demons

A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark - It's a murder mystery set in a clock punk 1900s Cairo, with automaton angels and other good stuff.

Prosper's Demon by K.J. Parker - A unscrupulous exorcist trying to expel a particularly crafty demon. It's sort of like Hellblazer's John Constantine, just set in the middle ages and the protagnist is an even bigger asshole.

Everything is fine by Matthew Pridham - It's a story about a business man up for promotion on a day where the whole world is going to hell


Some books in English I enjoyed:

The latest Rivers of London book by Ben Aaronovich, False Value, was great - The stakes weren't that high this time around but it's more the overarching plot and character development that keeps you coming back.

I read all the Murderbot Diaries books by Martha Wells this year. Really solid "Socially Awkward Autistic Security Cyborg" stories. I think the books work best as short stories. There's not enough meat on the bone for full length books but the action is minimalistic and cool and Murderbot is an utterly endearing character.

Peace Talks and Battle Grounds by Jim Butcher finally came out this year - I enjoyed the books but I think that age is catching up on the series and a lot of the stuff I could ignore in 2010 I find frustrating in 2020. So much of the mystery and drama in this series is based on Dresden not telling things stuff and people not telling Dresden things. It's eye-rollingly-tedious and feels cheap. Butcher should be a better writer by now, he shouldn't need to use the hiding of information, as a plot vehicle.

Still I am beyond emotionally invested in these characters. I love the characters and relationships Butcher has created in this series.

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith (JK. Rowling) - Really solid detective novel. Like Butcher, Rowling is really good at writing characters and developing relationships that you invest in and believe in. The book is unnecessarily long but the story is also well crafted.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 18 December 2020 - 05:16 PM

[Salt-Man Z]

In 2020 I did the same thing as in 2019, which was: get tired of books in the spring, then read tons of comics until the fall, when I'd suddenly get back into books again. This year I read 5 books prior to early March (God, that feels like years ago) and then read a Claire North book in June, before getting back on the wagon in September and reading 9 more books. I also read, um... 1,416 comic issues this year holy crap (!)(?)

TOP 5 FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2020 REALIZING I ONLY READ 15 BUT WHATEVER:
Honorable Mention: Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed - Felt this one needed a shoutout. A fun Lovecraftian adventure where the friendship between the main characters is the star.
5. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - Tons of fun. Would have made way more sense if I reread Gideon first, though.
4. The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North - Probably underrated in this list. The gimmick behind the story is kinda clunky, but what North does with it is beautiful.
3. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - A solid gothic horror novel from a great author.
2. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins-Reid - Literally could not put this one down. Read it over two veeeery late nights/mornings.
1. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon - I think Abyss hated this one, but man did I adore it. Everything I could possibly want in a standalone epic fantasy doorstopper, with the exception of maybe a little more climactic of an ending.