[Abyss]

amphibian, on 21 December 2023 - 04:00 AM, said:

... I really enjoyed Mike Carey writing another Felix Castor story (The Ghost in Bone).
...

...wait....

WHAT???
*googles*
*finds*
*buys*

[Abyss]

JPK, on 21 December 2023 - 03:59 AM, said:

Abyss, on 21 December 2023 - 03:32 AM, said:

2023 Bestestiest Reads...

GO

Well, what were they then? Trying to keep us in suspense?

Atter i posted that i did a quick scan... my year's highs were high and the lows were low and i couldn't decide quickly...

CONTENDERS FOR BEST READ OF THE YEAR

Esslemont's FORGE OF THE HIGH MAGE
Wes Chu, ART OF PROPHECY
Illona (and that other guy) Andrews' MAGIC TIDES / MAGIC CLAIMS
Sanderson's THE SUNLIT MAN

...those four were the ones that jumped out as my fave reads of the year. I think MAGIC is eliminated because while it was so very great to revisit the Katemine, 'best of' is a lofty thing. SUNLIT was good, very good even, but on the 'fantasy lit that blew me away' scale FORGE and ART were better.
Between the top two... tough call... when i reread my posts i see i enjoyed the hell out of FORGE but there were elements that were less 'wow', while ART OF PROPHECY just surprised me on every point and exceeded any expectations i had, so my bestest read of 2023 goes to Wes Chu's ART OF PROPHECY, w FORGE OF THE HIGH MAGE in a close second place.


More year end thinks when i have a minute. Trying to clear work for holiday time and the damn shoggoths keep spawning and emailing themselves to third world spam accounts.

[worry]

For me the best were definitely The Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft & A Creature Wanting Form by Luke O'Neil. Babel kept improving all the way to its glorious end, and proved that even nerds can be heroes. A Creature Wanting Form is dozens of short stories, many of them quite brief, and it really got to the heart of what it feels like here at the end of things. Very sad, very funny. Not always ha-ha funny.

Honorable mentions are: The House War (1-3) which is all I read from Michelle West so far and really liked, particular her characterization. Strange Beasts of China by Yang Ge, which many of you also read, and was really unique even if a little too opaque sometimes. Really cool out of left field selection. Sad that Apt passed away shortly after we all finished it.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata - this one's hard to describe. It's short, acerbic, funny, and thoughtful.Forge of the High Mage - maybe the wheels came off the bus of continuity a bit in this one, I dunno, but I still enjoyed the adventure all the way through.

Graphic Novels/Comics:The Immortal Hulk -- maybe up there in the top 3 things I read. I don't read superhero comics that often anymore but I love Hulk and this got him exactly right.Gender Queer -- I think comics are such a cool way to do memoirs / autobios, and this is one of the best ones I've read.
Paper Girls -- I wanted to read this before watching the Amazon show, and I wound up liking it a lot, and then I didn't end up watching the Amazon show cuz they cancelled it after just the one season. Oh well, it's great fun and does time travel pretty well. I might still watch the show eventually.

[Tiste Simeon]

Forge of the High Mage by Esslemont is definitely one of the best I've read this year.

I also really enjoyed The Malevolent Seven by Sebastian de Castell.

I think my read-through (or listen through I suppose) of the Rivers of London series was this year. And they were utterly phenomenal.

[flea]

worry, on 21 December 2023 - 04:58 PM, said:

Sad that Apt passed away shortly after we all finished it.

Wait, what?

[worry]

Sorry that was a joke because he hasn't been posting lately! Hopefully he's currently safe and well.

[polishgenius]

Best book I read last year: At the Feet of the Sun, by Victoria Goddard. As I've been saying in the reading threads, Goddard is some kind of wizard. Feet of the Sun is a very different book to Hands of the Emperor, but just as delightful.

Honourable mention: The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez, a weird-as-shit story of revenge, redemption, and love. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea just because it's so bizarre but the storytelling on show is superb.

Honourable mention: The Ballad of Perilous Graves,by Alex Jennings - a sort-of-New-Orleans based jazz-and-blues-led coming of age adventure fantasy. A delight.


Best book I read last year that came out last year: probably Shadow Baron, the second in the Burnished City series by Davinia Williams. Improved on the already-rolicking Notorious Sorcerer, which I read at the start of the year. It's just really good high-magic city-based rogue fun, which I think would be right up this board's alley tbh.



Honourable mention: The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon is a bit too messy at the end to nick the top spot, but it's atmospheric as hell, one of the best premises I've read in ages, and characters which while frustrating are interestingly unusual in a bunch of ways.

[Abyss]

ok peoplez.... 2024 has been a year, let's see what your bestiest reads were... ebook, earbook, pretty piccy book, dead tree, stone tablets... top 10, top 1, top 3, bottom 5, i top u bottom, i'm just happy to be here.... whenever it was written, if you read it this year we want your rants and raves and recos.... whatever you got, share w the class!!!

[QuickTidal]

Most middle of the road, but still enjoyable read: FATEMARKED by David Estes

Best Re-read: PERCEPLIQUIS by Michael J. Sullivan

Best Welcome Surprise Random eBook sale purchase Read: EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAERIES by Heather Fawcett

Best Classic Novel I'd never read before: WHEN GRAVITY FALLS by George Alec Effinger

Best Foreign Translated Read: STRANGE WEATHER IN TOKYO by Hiromi Kawakami

Best 90's Fantasy I'd seen a million times ion the shelf and never read: MEDALON by Jennifer Fallon

Best Comic series I read: TMNT reboot series.

Best Non-Patrick O'Brian Royal Navy fiction Read: THE KING'S COAT by Dewey Lambdin


I don't have any "worsts" I don't think. I had a few DNF's but nothing I hated, just stuff I did vibe with.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 20 December 2024 - 05:16 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

And once again I have completely forgotten every single book I read this year.

[Abyss]

Tiste Simeon, on 20 December 2024 - 08:12 PM, said:

And once again I have completely forgotten every single book I read this year.

thats okay Tiste, most of it was Dora the Explorer novelizations and tiktok influencer self-help books anyways.

[JPK]

So 2024 was a really good year for me for reading and there were several books that really stood out to me. No particular order on these.

THE CITY AND IT'S UNCERTAIN WALLS - Haruki Murakami. I know I said that these aren't in a particular order, but I think this one is my top read of the year. I'll say that ymmv on this, but this was very much a book that I needed to read when I read it. This one has less of the odd sex stuff that his novels can contain and is very very introspective and has a large focus on how people protect themselves after trauma and loss.

THE MIGNOLAVERSE - I've said it before and I'll say it again. I was dumb to wait so long to start this. Absolutely top notch storytelling that borrows a bit from everything and manages to combine it into something so unique and refreshing. I'm a good chunk in now, and I think this is slowing cementing itself as my favorite graphic novel series.

THE WARLORD CHRONICLES - by Bernard Cornwell. I am ashamed at how long this trilogy sat on my audio trp before I finally got to it this year. Absolutely compelling and a refreshing take on several of the classic Arthurian archetypes that still managed to stay true to them. Fuck Lancelot.

CRUCIBLE OF CHAOS and PLAY OF SHADOWS by Sebastien de Castell. I adore de Castell's Greatcoats novels and they're a must read on release for me. These expand the world past Falcio and Co to new POV characters that are still witty and fun, but bring something new to the world.

SONG OF THE MYSTERIES - Janny Wurts. The final book of her long running WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOWS. I've been following this series for over 20 years now and it feels weird to finally have the ending. Especially since that ending really delivered. I think that those that found things to enjoy in Michelle West's books would find a lot to like here.

DARBI - Sherard Jackson. Just absodinofuckinglutely glorious. So so good. No notes.

THE SILMARILLION - JRRT. I've tried to get into this one for years but bounced off of it every time. This year we finally got an audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis and it was just absolutely beautifully done.

Honorable mention - A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY - Vernor Vinge. This one is only getting an honorable mention at the moment because I'm still reading it and am currently only a little over halfway. I am in awe of this novel though and it's easy to see why this won the Hugo for best novel that year. I'm planning to finish this one by the end of the year though to end on a strong note.

[amphibian]

My favorite book this year was The Daughters' War, the sequel to the Blacktongue Thief.

Beautifully sad, moving, and full of action adventure that made both books deeper. The thoughts on grief, whether individual or societal, were amazing and never overwhelmed the rest of the story.