Books Read in 2022

[eledonecirrhosa]

FICTION

1. The Green Man’s Silence by Juliet McKenna (urban fantasy). Number 3 in the series.
2. The Green Man’s Challenge by Juliet McKenna (urban fantasy). Number 4 in the series.
3. Irons in the Fire by Juliet McKenna (fantasy). Number 1 in the Lescari Revolution series.
4. Blood in the Water by Juliet McKenna (fantasy). Number 2 in the Lescari Revolution series.
5. Pine by Francine Toon (crime). Meh. Don’t get why it got rave reviews.
6. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (historical).
7. Green Valley by Louis Greenberg (science fiction/crime).
8. Skein Island by Aliya Whiteley (fantasy).
9. Beyond Recall by Gerald Seymour (thriller).
10. Darkship Thieves by Sarah Hoyt (science fiction/romance).
11. Haven by Adam Roberts (science fiction). The Aftermath vol 2.
12. Brumby Racer by Elyne Mitchell. One of the Colt From Snowy River series.
13. The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell. Silver Brumby volume 1.
14. Pashterina’s Peacocks ed. By Danielle Lainton & Louise Coquio. Tributes to Storm Constantine. Made me cry in places.
15. The Horse & His Boy by C.S. Lewis (fantasy). Chronicles of Narnia
16. Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri (fantasy). Books of Ambha vol 1. Really enjoyed this. I love the magic system that is based on Indian classical dance.
17. Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri (fantasy). Books of Ambha vol 2.
18. The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (fantasy). Burning Kingdoms vol 1.
19. Dark Water’s Embrace by Stephen Leigh (science fiction). I wanted to re-read this because it has aliens with 3 sexes and a human intersex protagonist.
20. Speaking Stones by by Stephen Leigh (science fiction). Sequel to Dark Water’s Embrace.
21. Storm Front by Jim Butcher (urban fantasy). Volume 1 of The Dresden Files.
22. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (urban fantasy). Volume 2 of The Dresden Files.
23. Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe (science fiction). The Protectorate vol 1.
24. Like a Boss by Adam Rakunas (science fiction). Windswept vol 2.
25. War of the Maps by Paul McAuley (science fiction).
26. Austral by Paul McAuley (science fiction). One of my favourite SF books this year.
27. Fomorian Brigade by James David Victor (military science fiction) Gene Soldiers vol 1.
28. Chercher La Femme by L. Timmel DuChamp (science fiction).
29. Fearless by Allen Stroud (military science fiction). Volume 1
30. The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield (crime/science fiction).
31. Mother Death by Karen Travis (science fiction). Nomad vol 2.
32. Abaddon’s Gate by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 3. A re-read.
33. Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 6.
34. Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 7.
35. Tiamat’s Wrath by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 8.
36. Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 9.
37. Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). A fun space opera. First in a series: Final Architects.
38. Eyes in the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). Final Architects vol 2.
39. The Hyena & the Hawk by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fantasy). Third in the Echoes of the Fall series.
40. The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan (crime). Baby Ganesh Agency vol 1.
41. The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan (crime). Baby Ganesh Agency vol 2.
42. Austral by Paul McAuley (science fiction).
43. Tenor Trouble by Philippa Sidle (mainstream). Doric Opera vol 2.
44. The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu (urban fantasy). I like the understated dystopia that this novel is set in. The book isn’t about overthrowing the dystopian government – that grimness is just backdrop. Edinburgh Nights vol 1.
45. Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T.L. Huchu (urban fantasy). Edinburgh Nights vol 2.
46. Cwen by Alice Albinia (mainstream with fantasy elements).
47. No Plan B by Lee Child & Andrew Child (thriller). Jack Reacher vol 27.
48. The Monster, The Mermaid & Dr Mengele by Ian Watson (fantasy).
49. Thin Air by Storm Constantine (sort of magical realism/urban fantasy).
50. Limit of Vision by Linda Nagata (science fiction).
51. Wither by Lauren Destefano (YA science fiction). First in the Chemical Garden series. Don’t think I’ll bother with the second one. Too many descriptions of posh frocks and not enough plot. Also it seems to be trying to set up a love triangle – bleaugh.
52. Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride (crime). Re-reading whilst on holiday. Logan McRae vol 1.
53. Dying Light by Stuart MacBride (crime). Logan McRae vol 2.
54. Dark Benediction by Walter M. Miller (science fiction). Anthology.
55. Ratlines by Stuart Neville (crime/historical).
56. Convergence by C.J. Cherryh (science fiction). Foreigner series vol 18.
57. Unreconciled by W. Michael Gear (science fiction). Donovan series vol 4.
58. Lightning Shell by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O’Neal Gear (prehistorical). People of Cahokia series vol 5.
59. Atcode by David Wake (science fiction). Thinkersphere Vol 2.
60. The Best of World SF anthology edited by Lavie Tidhar (science fiction). Some fantastic stories in this, though a couple I’d classify as fantasy rather than science fiction.
61. Space Carrier Avalon by Glynn Stewart (military science fiction). Castle Federation vol 1.

NON-FICTION

1. Outlaw Ocean: Crime & Survival in the Last Untamed Frontier by Ian Urbina. Fascinating and horrifying in equal measure. Lots of ideas here for running the Blue Planet RPG when the next edition finally appears.
2. The Dinosaurs Rediscovered by Michael J. Benton. Good summary of the new discoveries of the last 20 years or so.
3. Tamed: Ten Species That Changed Our World by Alice Roberts
4. Mustangs: Return to the Wild by Hope Ryden
5. Wild Horses I Have Known by Hope Ryden
6. Rope, Twine & Net-Making by Anthony Sanctuary
7. The Glamour Boys by Chris Bryant.
8. The Idiot Brain by Dean Burnett.
9. None Bolder: The History of the 51st Highland Division in the Second World War by Richard Doherty
10. The Horse, The Wheel & Language: How Bronze Age Riders From the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World by David W. Anthony

GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Gung-Ho by Von Kummont & Von Eckartsberg. Volume 1.
2. Out by Williams, Conrad & Lasko.
3. Brink book 2 by Dan Abnett & I.N.J. Culbard.
4. Pulp by Ed Brubaker & Sean Philips.

BOOKS I DIDN’T FINISH

1. Project 19: Crisis in the Desert by James Roscone. The foreword/set-up chapter was more interesting and better written than the actual novel.
2. Shadows of the Watching Star by William Sarabande (prehistorical). The First Americans series number, um, 7 or 8? I read about a half dozen of this series back in the 80s. But I’m no longer that person and will no longer tolerate “noble savage” characterisation and prehistoric people with “primitive” mindsets.

RPG BOOKS READ IN 2022

1. Haunted West RPG. This is obviously a labour of love and full of cool stuff. But because it is 800 pages long and weighs more than a rucksac of house bricks, it took me almost 5 months to get through it all. It has 4 different systems in it: crunchy ‘normal’ one; minimal crunch one; tactical miniatures combat one; and a PbtA hack.
2. Dune: Sand & Dust. First splatbook for Dune.
3. Coyote & Crow RPG. I bought a dead tree copy because the Kickstarter wouldn’t ship outside the USA.
4. Doctor Who RPG, 2nd ed.
5. Tartarus RPG.
6. The Silver Road RPG. Very minimalist.
7. Fluxfall Horizon RPG.
8. Terminator RPG. Haven’t finished reading this yet, because I got distracted by other RPGs which arrived later.
9. A|State RPG. Not sure I’ll ever run this, but it does a much better job of explaining how some of the Forged in the Dark mechanics work, then other FitD games do.
10. Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland RPG. Uses the Silver Road system, with some extra and setting-specific rules.
11. Dune: Agents of Dune. A campaign for Dune, set in an alternative timeline.

Comments

[watervole]

Must admit that I like simple RPG systems. My brain burns every time I need to learn a new system for a new game, so I either like to stick to a system I already know, or have easy to learn rules...

[eledonecirrhosa]

Yes, I'm getting increasingly impatient with complicated games filled with crunch. Especially crunch that the GM has to manage. Now that gaming conventions are back on my social map, I've also discovered that I own quite a few systems that could be described as "simple and quick once you know them, but a nightmare to explain to newbies in a 3 hour convention slot."

My brother did point out that some simple RPGs are so simple that you spend half the game scratching your head and trying to figure out how they work. Maskwitches was like that. We discovered the bit where the evil spirit has 6 "hit points" and the bit where each character only does 1 "damage" to it in a fight/ritual. So we were baffled as to how a party of less than 6 PCs would kill an evil spirit. We went back and re-read lots of bits of the game, and eventually figured out that the setting probably expects you to battle the evil spirit several times to kill it. But it never states that outright!

[watervole]

I remember once running an RPG for several months that was totally narrative. The characters had no stats apart from a general description about themselves.
I did it mostly by feel, and rolled a die when I needed something random. It wasn't really a combat game, so overall it worked.
It was mostly about finding a way home after ending up in a fantasy world by accident after entering accidentally via an ancient hill fort.

[eledonecirrhosa]

That sounds very cool. Nice Narnia/Labyrinth vibe to it.

[watervole]

There was definitely a strong Narnia element.