BOOKS READ IN 2023

[eledonecirrhosa]

FICTION

1. The Old, Old Story and Other Stories by Andy Lane (genre). Anthology of genre stories.
2. Here We Stand by Karen Traviss (science fiction). Vol 3 in the Nomad series.
3. Dancing Horses by Helen Griffiths (mainstream, kids’ book). About horses trained for bullfighting in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Griffith’s books are all full of tragedy and the harsh realities of life. No cutesy girls winning gymkhanas here.
4. Blackface Stallion by Helen Griffiths (mainstream, kids’ book). Nature red in tooth and claw for the wild horses of the Sonoran Desert. I liked this as a kid because she used real wild horse behaviour based on Hope Ryden’s animal behaviour books about wild horses. Don’t read this if you want the central characters to have happy endings.
5. Unraveller by Francis Hardinge (fantasy). Another rollicking and fun tale from Francis.
6. The Book of Sand by Mo Hayder (science fantasy). Liked her crime novels so I thought I’d give this a go. Was a bit weird for weirdness sake at the start, but good once it got its teeth into the plot.
7. Mirage by Somaiya Daud (YA fantasy).
8. Mythtenebrae by Storm Constantine (fantasy). Anthology.
9. The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri (fantasy). Burning Kingdoms vol 2.
10. Strontium Dog: Among the Missing by Matthew Smith (science fiction). Spin off novel based on the comic.
11. Strontium Dog: Prophet Margin by Simon Spurrier (science fiction).
12. Strontium Dog: Ruthless by Jonathan Clements (science fiction).
13. Memory’s Legion by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Several Novellas set in The Expanse universe.
14. Relentless by Allen Steele (science fiction). Sequel to Fearless.
15. More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon (science fiction).
16. The Gun by C. S. Forester (historical).
17. Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction).
18. Banners in the Wind by Juliet E. Mckenna (fantasy). Lescari Revolution Vol 3.
19. The Green Man’s Gift by Juliet E. Mckenna (urban fantasy). Green Man series Vol 5.
20. The Green Man’s Quarry by Juliet E. Mckenna (urban fantasy). Green Man series Vol 6.
21. The Pariah by Anthony Ryan (fantasy). Vol 1 in the Covenant of Steel.
22. Running Black by Patrick Todoroff (military science fiction). Eshu International vol 1.
23. Frozen by Richard Burke (mainstream/crime).
24. Alcatraz by Max Brand (western)
25. The Other Wind by Ursula K. LeGuin (fantasy). Last in the Earthsea series.
26. Rogue Genesis by Ceri London (military science fiction/science fantasy). War of Ages vol 1.
27. Life Beyond Us by various, edited by Novakova, Law & Forest (science fiction). Paired short stories and essays on various topics in astrobiology.
28. Shane by Jack Schafer (western). Read this in my 20s and decided to re-read it. With modern sensibilities it’s amazingly easy to read the character Shane as coded as gay.
29. Tonopah Range by Alan LeMay (western).
30. The Dry by Jane Harper (crime).
31. The Lost Man by Jane Harper (crime).
32. The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean (science fantasy). Very good – gripping and innovative.
33. The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao (science fantasy).
34. The Dawn of Unions by J.P. Corwyn (fantasy). Cycle of Bones vol 1. Enjoyable. I may pick up more of this series when the later volumes come out on kindle.
35. Plus Sign by David Wake (science fiction). Vol 3 in the Thinkersphere series. As bonkers and entertaining as always.
36. Fish! by Ida Keogh (science fantasy).
37. You Could Be So Pretty by Holly Bourne (YA science fiction). Blistering dystopia about unrealistic beauty standards and misogyny.
38. Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan (crime). Weird events and various secrets. Bits were gripping, bits dragged.
39. Burning Sky by Weston Ochse (military science fiction).
40. The Thief on the Winged Horse by Kate Mascarenhas (fantasy).

NON-FICTION

1. The Bletchley Girls by Tessa Dunlop.
2. Europe: The First 100 Million Years by Tim Flannery. Geology and biology with a neat sense of humour.
3. The Art of Carlos Ezquerra by Ezquerra (and others).
4. The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend by Glenn Frankel.
5. The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich (military history).
6. Combat Medicine: Operations Manual – From the Korean War to Afghanistan by Penny Starns.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Plunge by Joe Hill, Stuart Immonen & Dave Stewart. (Horror)
2. Sanctum by Dorison & Bec. (Horror)
3. Chivalry by Gaiman & Doran (fantasy). Sweet and funny.
4. Strontium Dog: Search/Destroy Agency Files 01 by Grant, Wagner, Ezquerra, McCarthy, Gibson & Page.
5. Strontium Dog: Search/Destroy Agency Files 02 by Grant, Wagner & Ezquerra.
6. Strontium Dog: Search/Destroy Agency Files 03 by Grant, Wagner, Ezquerra & Smith.
7. Strontium Dog: Search/Destroy Agency Files 04 by Grant, Wagner, Ezquerra, McNeil & others.
8. Strontium Dog: Search/Destroy Agency Files 05 by Grant, Wagner, McNeil & Harrison.
9. Strontium Dog by Grant, Wagner & Ezquerra.
10. Strontium Dog: Blood Moon by Wagner & Ezquerra.
11. Strontium Dog: Portrait of a Mutant by Grant, Wagner & Ezquerra.
12. Strontium Dog: The Son by Wagner & Ezquerra.
13. Strontium Dog: The Kreeler Conspiracy by Wagner & Ezquerra.
14. Strontium Dog: Traitor to His Kind by Wagner & Ezquerra.
15. Strontium Dog: Repo Men by Wagner & Ezquerra.
14. Strontium Dog: The Life & Death of Johnny Alpha – War Dogs by Wagner & Ezquerra.
15. Meltdown Man by Hebden & Belardinelli.
16. Durham Red: The Scarlet Cantos by Abnett & Harrison.
17. Durham Red: Island of the Dammed by Grant & Ezquerra.
18. The Old Guard: Opening Fire by Rucka, Fernandez, Miwa & Wynne.
19. The Old Guard: Force Multiplied by Rucka, Fernandez, Miwa & Wynne.
20. The Old Guard: Tales Thru Time by Rucka & various (anthology of one offs).
21. Bolt-01: A Tribute by various. In memory of Dave Evans who published various small press comics and fanzines, and who took over running Dogbreath from me from issue 15 onwards.
22. Western Noir Vol 1 by West, Crutchley & Sofee (western/horror).
23. Judge Dredd: The Darkest Judge by various. Various 2000AD settings collide in a gloriously bonkers alternative universe crossover.
24. The Best of John Wagner’s Judge Dredd by Wagner & various artists.
25. Loveless: A Kin of Homecoming by Azzarello & Frusin.
26. Loveless 2: Thicker Than Blackwater by Azzarello, Frusin, Zemelj & Dell’edera.
27. Major Easy: The Italian Campaign by Hebden & Ezquerra.
28. Faith Healers 1: The Company of Angels by Adams, Warner, Emson, Atlantisvampir & Foxrobot.
29. Ambrosia: Trans Masc & Non-Binary Erotic Comics Anthology by various (ed. Kimpton & Sarson)
30. The Bogie Man: The Incomplete Case Files by Grant, Wagner & Smith.
31. Lifeboat by Ian Gibson.
32. The Pride by various. Awesome anthology of stories about an LGBT+ superhero team.
33. Altered Carbon: One Life One Death by Morgan, Wilson & Fuchs.

BOOKS I DIDN’T FINISH

1. The Last Girl to Die by Helen Fields (crime). She’s obviously American and didn’t do her research on how UK policing or UK culture works. She assumes a murder on Mull will be investigated solely by the local plods because that’s their jurisdiction. Also, she assumes that white British people will be racist to a Latina girl, not realising we catalogue people of Spanish heritage as white!
2. Dragonmark by Sherrilyn Kenyon (YA fantasy). Why should I care about any of these people? Annoying trope of they hate each other but will (many pages later) come to love each other.
3. Empire in Black & Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fantasy). Just couldn’t get into it.
4. The Burning Dark by Adam Christopher (science fiction). Just couldn’t get into it.
5. Sunfall by Jim Al-Khalili (science fiction). Just couldn’t get into it.
6. Resistance by Samit Basu (superhero). I loved the first one in this series, and the beginning chapter is a lovely piss take of kaiju fighters and Voltron. But I have a violent allergy to any book where the viewpoint character is being accused of some skullduggery/secret and never actually THINKS about their own innocence/guilt/secrets. Fek off authors who do this – if you don’t want the reader to know if X committed the crime, then don’t write things from X’s viewpoint!
7. Shaman by Kim Stanley Robinson (prehistorical). I’m still reading this, but it’s a bit of a slog so I might give up. Pity because I normally really like Ice Age prehistoricals.

RPG BOOKS READ IN 2023

Strontium Dog RPG
Orbital Blues RPG
Reboot the Future RPG
Blade Runner RPG (not quite finished it yet)
Werewolf the Apocalypse RPG – the latest edition. Got distracted from Blade Runner when this turned up.