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BOOKS READ IN 2024
31/12/24 15:22Tags:
Books Read in 2022
2/1/23 15:09FICTION
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.
Tags:
Books read in 2019
30/12/19 16:49FICTION
1. Earth 2788 by Janet Edwards (YA science fiction). Anthology of stories from the Earth Girl universe.
2. Earth & Fire by Janet Edwards (YA science fiction).
3. Earth & Air by Janet Edwards (YA science fiction).
4. Cold Welcome by Elizabeth Moon (science fiction). Vatta’s Peace volume 1.
5. Into The Fire by Elizabeth Moon (science fiction). Vatta’s Peace volume 2. Interesting in places, but suspension of disbelief vanished in others and there were chunks near the start which were a bit of a slog. Not going to bother with any future volumes in this series.
6. Night School by Lee Child (crime). Jack Reacher #21
7. The Midnight Line by Lee Child (crime). Jack Reacher #22
8. Past Tense by by Lee Child (crime). Jack Reacher #23
9. Blue Moon by by Lee Child (crime). Jack Reacher #24
10. Gullstruck Island by Francis Hardinge (YA fantasy). I still can’t believe how much politics and the like Francis manages to sneak into her children’s books.
11. Deeplight by Francis Hardinge (YA fantasy).
12. Lancejack by Philip Richards (military science fiction). Union series volume 2.
13. Eden by Philip Richards (military science fiction). Union series volume 3.
14. Crossing the Bridge by David Wake (thriller). Funny and satirical. The only beef with it was the Scottish guy who starts every sentence with “Och”.
15. Capture or Kill by Tom Marcus (thriller).
16. Invader by Simon Scarrow & T. J. Andrews (historical). This is five novellas collected into one novel, and it feels very bitty.
17. In the Cold Dark Ground by Stuart Macbride (crime). A Logan McRae novel.
18. The Blood Road by Stuart Macbride (crime). A Logan McRae novel. Number 11 I think.
19. Birthdays for the Dead by Stuart Macbride (crime). Oldcastle #1. I’m re-reading these because I want to use Oldcastle as the setting for a Vampire the Masquerade game. The place is full of corrupt cops and serial killers, so it is very World of Darkness!
20. A Song for the Dying by Stuart Macbride (crime). Oldcastle #2
21. A Dark So Deadly by Stuart Macbride (crime). Oldcastle #3
22. Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers (mainstream).
23. Children of Blood & Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (YA fantasy).
24. Light & Shadow by Linda Nagata (anthology, mainly SF). There’s a prequel to The Red series in here.
25. Bad Dog by Ashley Pollard (military science fiction). I’m not a fan of mecha, but this is a mecha book with realistic attitudes to their limitations.
26. Vox by Christina Dalcher (science fiction). Dystopian USA, with nods to The Hamdmaid’s Tale.
27. Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse (modern fantasy). What do you call a book which is ‘urban fantasy’ but is set mostly in the countryside or very small towns? Interesting. Might buy the sequel when the ‘to read’ pile shrinks a bit.
28. Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente (science fiction/humour). Enjoyed this a lot. However the style is tiring to read, so it got read in fits and starts.
29. Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (magical realism).
30. The Eighth Day by Harold Coyle (thriller). Features some of the characters from his ‘Scott Dixon/Nathan Dixon’ series.
31. Outside by Gustavo Bondoni (science fiction). Quite good. But I guessed the big reveal ages before it happened, and my suspension of disbelief about how the virtual reality world worked kept falling over. E.g. the virtual reality heroine calls in sick to her virtual reality work. Did she have a virtual flu bug???
32. Watership Down by Richard Adams (YA animal fantasy). I wanted to re-read it after seeing the CGI telly version on the BBC at Christmas. Most of it stands the test of time, except the occasional sentence about rabbits being like ‘primitive peoples’ which are a bit racist.
33. Semiosis by Sue Burke (science fiction). Fantastic first contact story – with an alien plant as one of the main viewpoint characters.
34. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (science fiction). Loved this. Will definitely buy the sequel.
35. The Green Man’s Heir by Juliet McKenna (urban fantasy… or should it be called rural-urban fantasy as it is set in the countryside?). Loved this too. It’s really two stories set in two locations, with a plot thread linking the first and second half of the book.
36.The Green Man’s Foe by Juliet McKenna (urban fantasy). Just as good as the first one.
37. Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon (science fiction). I almost gave up on this. I only finished it because it is a very thin book. There are two plot strands: one is a present day character being dragged through a ‘tell don’t show’ tour of a Utopian future society and (eventually) discovering some secrets. The other plot thread is interminable soap opera about two 1960s neighbouring families doing such thrilling stuff as… going to the shops, looking after the kids, going bowling, etc. I think the message in the soap opera bits might have been that if men babysit or cook it will mean the collapse of civilisation as we know it. But I’m not really sure.
38. How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N. K> Jemisin (fantasy, science fiction). Anthology. There are some terrific stories in this and the writing is lovely. Will look out for more by this author.
39. No Time to Cry by James Oswald (crime). Slow start, but enjoyable.
40. Natural Causes by James Oswald (crime). Inspector McLean vol 1. Strays into another genre, but saying which one is a spoiler!
41. My Name is Monster by Katie Hale (science fiction).
42. A Stallion Free & Wild by John ??? (western).
43. Ghost Marines: Integration by Jonathan P. Brazee (military science fiction). Vol 1 in the series. Contains boot camp, but it was actually interesting because it skipped over the usual stuff and concentrated on the culture clash and racism suffered by the main character.
44. Ghost Marines: Unification by Jonathan P. Brazee (military science fiction). Vol 2 in the series.
45. The Strike of Midnite by John Peel & Andrew Skilleter (science fiction). The Doctor Omega Chronicles Vol 1.
46. Lucky Legacy by Joshua James (military science fiction). Lucky’s Marines vol 2.
47. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (science fiction).
48. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (fantasy).
49. Star Path by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O’Neal Gear (prehistorical). People of Cahokia Vol 4. Ends on a cliffhanger – dammit! Now I’ll have to wait for book 5.
50. Sky Dragons by Anne McCaffrey & Todd McCaffrey (science fantasy). Dragonriders of Pern volume n. Meh. Too much dialogue, not enough description. The dragons have no discernible personalities, and lots of potentially interesting scenes, such as 90 dragon eggs hatching out simultaneously are not described. But we do get to read a scene about washing nappies.
51. A Gift of Dragons by Anne McCaffrey (science fantasy anthology).
52. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham (crime). Enjoyed this. Might see if there are more with this character.
53. Outpost by W. Michael Gear (science fiction). Donovan volume 1.
54. The Tiger & the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fantasy). Very cool ideas in this. Had me thinking it would make a nice setting for an RPG… even though I don’t really like fantasy RPGs.
55. Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). Cephalopods in spaaaace – hurrah! I always enjoy Adrian Tchaikovsky’s books. I must read more.
56. The Stallion by Helen Gould (science fiction).
57. Tracker by C.J Cherryh. Foreigner series volume 16. Nothing really happens in this book. Lots of recap about the previous volume, lots of anticipation about what’s going to happen in the next volume. So it doesn’t really get going until the final third, when there is a crisis involving the kids on the space station.
58. Murder by the Book by Susanna Godfrey (crime). Seemed to have a lot of padding and took a long time to get around to the actual detective work.
59. Breach Team by J.R. Handley & Chris Winder (military science fiction). Marines versus endless waves of killer maintenance robots, so it got a bit repetitive. The intriguing stuff about who built the weird automated ship and why there were war heroes from centuries ago in cryotubes in its cargo bay was never resolved.
60. The Best of Us by Karen Traviss (science fiction). Nomad #1 (Galaxy’s Edge shared universe). I disliked some of Anspach and Cole’s Galaxy’s Edge books (Star Wars with the serial nubers filed off). But Karen Traviss writes terrific stuff so I bought this. It doesn’t disappoint. Good post-apocalyptic stuff, and set centuries before the ‘Star Wars’ era of Galaxy’s Edge. I shall be getting the rest of the series.
61. Speak Gigantular by Irenosen Okojie (anthology, with some genre stories). Nice writing, but because I read the whole collection in a week (it was due back at the library) I got a bit fed up of the characters who
62. I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes (thriller). This is a fun thriller and I enjoyed it. But it wins this year’s prize for most bollocks science in a novel plot… when the hero takes a couple of antique mirrors and develops their silver nitrate backing into photographs…
63. Blood Hunt by Ian Rankin, writing as Jack Harvey (thriller).
NON-FICTION
1. Them: Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson.
2. Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II by Keith Lane. Highly recommend this. It isn’t an easy read because of all the horrific stuff covered, but it is fascinating and enlightening.
3. Witches, Witch-hunting & Women by Silvia Federici. Collection of essays.
4. M2/M3 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle 1983-1995 by Steven J Zaloga & Peter Sarson.
5. Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World by Nick Lane. Terrific pop science book.
6. War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line by David Nott
7. Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith. Consciousness, octopuses and cuttlefish.
8. Seven Types of Atheism by John Gray.
9. Armoured Warfare: A Guided Tour of an Armoured Cavalry Regiment by Tom Clancy.
10. Animal Powered Machines by J. Kenneth Major.
11. Painting the Sand: One Man’s Fight Against the Taliban Bomb Makers of Helmand by Kim Hughes GC.
GRAPHIC NOVELS
1. Bitch Planet: Extraordinary Machine by Deconnick & De Landra.
2. Haunted Tank by Frank Marraffino & Henry Flint. I’d been to Tankfest, so re-reading this was the obvious next step
3. Gender Queer by Maia Cobabe.
4. War Mother by Van Linte, Segovia, Giorello & Dalhouse.
BOOKS I DIDN’T FINISH
1. Fire & Blood by George R. R. Martin (fantasy). This is a ‘history’ of the Targaryen Kings. However I found it a slog to read. I want character viewpoint in my fiction. I want analysis and context in my history. This had neither.
2. Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James (fantasy). When the characters got on with the plot it was good. However, there were large chunks where the protagonist bickers and squabbles with travelling companions, lovers, relatives… basically with everyone and anyone he meets. Eventually I got fed up reading those bits.
3. Lost Gods by Micah Yongo (YA fantasy). Too many viewpoint characters, some of whom have no discernible personality. And despite being about assassins, there is zip, zilch, zero about what the young trainee assassins think or feel about being sent to kill random people. No sense of duty, no hint they feel proud or have doubts or have been brainwashed, no joy in the kill or ‘it’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it’. The action is described nicely, but on an emotional level they may as well have been doing their tax returns or stacking shelves in Tesco.
4. Lightless by C.A. Higgins. The terrible world building and nonsensical plot kept squashing my sense of disbelief. Like no-one on the heroine’s spaceship notices another ship approach and enter their docking bay. Because. Hacking. Or the captain on a tiny ship with a crew of 3 having to ask his computer expert how many entrances and exits his ship has. Or the computer expert being unable to stop a hacking attack by an escaped prisoner (which she can see taking place on CCTV) because she doesn’t know what the serial number of the particular terminal he’s hacking into is, and there is no way of working it out even when you can see it is the one in corridor C, just down from the galley and opposite the toilets…
5. Facing the Ocean: The Atlantic and its Peoples by Barry Cunliffe (history/archaeology). I might try this one again, but was struggling with the writing style being a bit of a slog to read.
RPG BOOKS READ IN 2019
Battleship Alamo
Archives of the Sky
Blue Rose
Summerland (2nd ed)
Vampire the Masquerade 5th ed (re-read)
Anarch sourcebook for VTM5e
Camarilla sourcebook for VTM5e
Role Play Relief: The Beginners Book (ed by Simon Burley)
Role Play Relief: The Expert Book (ed by Simon Burley)
Flotsam: Adrift Amongst the Stars by Joshua Fox
The Expanse
Afterverse
Tags:
Books read in 2017
31/12/17 18:33FICTION
1. The Power by Naomi Alderman (science fiction).
2. The High Ground by Melissa Snodgrass (military science fiction). I think this book cemented my feeling that I really don’t want to read about the aristocracy. Which is weird, because I love Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series and C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series, which have aristocrats and court intrigues all over the place.
3. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (fantasy).
4. Blood in the Water by Juliet E. McKenna (fantasy). Lescari Revolution vol 2.
5. Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald (science fiction).
6. Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga (mainstream).
7. Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga (mainstream).
8. Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fantasy).
9. Inkarna by Nerine Dorman (urban fantasy).
10. The Derring-Do Club and the Empire of the Dead by David Wake (steampunk fantasy/humour).
11. The Other Christmas Carol by David Wake (fantasy/humour).
12. Grunt Life by Weston Ochse (military science fiction). Task Force Ombra vol1. Apart from an unfortunate Thoggism in an early chapter, this is fantastic. It’s rare a mil SF book has the emotional punch to make me cry, but this one does.
13. Blood, The Phoenix and a Rose by Storm Constantine (fantasy). A Wraeththu Mythos book. This is a series of 3 linked novellas. This is mostly set in the early years of Wraeththu, which is the time period I am most interested in.
14. A Raven Bound With Lilies by Storm Constantine (fantasy). A Wraeththu Mythos book. Finally! All the short stories collected in one volume.
15. Echoes of Light & Static by E.S. Wynn (fantasy). A Wraeththu Mythos book. Really disappointing. I absolutely adore E.S. Wynn’s first Wraeththu novel. This one felt less like a complete book and more like the set up for a story. Also the characters do something really, really dumb, then do it AGAIN several pages later. This bad decision-making appears to be required for the plot to work, but broke my suspension of disbelief, and shattered any respect I had for the characters.
16. Songs to Earth & Sky: Stories of the Seasons ed. by Storm Constantine (fantasy). A Wraeththu Mythos book – an anthology themed around seasonal festivals.
17. The Trials by Linda Nagata (military science fiction). The Red vol 2. The first volume of this series was one of my favourite books of last year, and the sequels are equally great.
18. Going Dark by by Linda Nagata (military science fiction). The Red vol 3.
19. Black Run by Karen Traviss (thriller/military science fiction). 2nd in the Ringer series.
20. The Beautiful Dead by Belinda Bauer (crime).
21. Flesh Wounds by Chris Brookmyre (crime).
22. Black Widow by Chris Brookmyre (crime).
23. Want You Gone by Chris Brookmyre (crime).
24. Alexandria by Lindsay Davis (historical). Volume mumble mumble in the Falco series.
25. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel (science fiction).
26. Dissidence by Ken McLeod (science fiction). Corporation Wars #1.
27. Abaddon’s Gate by James S. A. Corey (science fiction) Expanse vol 3.
28. Cibola Burn by by James S. A. Corey (science fiction) Expanse vol 4.
29. Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey (science fiction) Expanse vol 5.
30. The Hard Way by Lee Child (crime). Jack Reacher vol 10. I think I’m starting to think like Lee Child (or Jack Reacher?) as I figured out what the twist was fairly early on.
31. Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child (crime). Jack Reacher vol 11. Didn’t figure out the plot twists but I did immediately think of the answer to what the mysterious number patterns were.
32. Nothing to Lose by by Lee Child (crime). Jack Reacher vol 12 And I figured out what the valuable stuff was in this one. However, I’m still really enjoying the Reacher books, so will continue with the series.
33. Gone Tomorrow by by Lee Child (crime). Jack Reacher vol 13.
34. The Nelson Touch by Chris Nuttall (military science fiction). Ark Royal vol 2. I liked the first one, but wasn’t as keen on this volume. The plot took a while to get going and the author seemed to have become much more obviously of the “always mention a female character’s breasts” school of description. Could you, just for a bit of variety, have a male character who pervs on female bums?
35. Ashamet: Desert Born by Terry Jackman (science fiction disguised as fantasy). Quite enjoyed it, but although I know the world building to enable males to outnumber females dozens to one was deliberate to normalise gay relationships, the complete dehumanising of the females of the species was making me twitchy all the way through.
36. War In Heaven by Gavin Smith (military science fiction). Okay, but not as good as the first volume.
37. Andromeda’s Fall by William C. Dietz (military science fiction).
38. A Calculated Life by Anne Charnock (science fiction).
39. HWJN by Ibraheem Abbas & Yasser Bahjat (fantasy).
40. Eye of the Red Tsar by Sam Eastland (crime). Inspector Pekkala vol 1.
41. People of the Morning Star by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O’Neal Gear (prehistorical). The first in a mini-series within their First North Americans ‘series’. All the usual good stuff – politics, murder, culture clash.
42. Tall Tales for Dark Nights by Owen Elgie. Anthology of dark and humorous genre stories. This is one of the few self-published books I’ve finished.
43. Master Sergeant by Mel Odom (military science fiction). I almost gave up on this several times. It went from interesting and engaging, to dull chapters which were all infodumpy conversations about setting and backstory, then back to interesting. Definitely needed a bigger dose of ‘show, don’t tell’. I also wasn’t quite convinced by the idea that corporate security teams had better gear and weaponry than the Terran military. “Dear Shareholders, we could have given you all oodles of money from our annual profits, but instead we decided to spend it all on a space station, power armour and making all our security guards bionic.”
44. Intruder by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction). Volume 13 in the Foreigner series. This one is a bit talky, and not much action. The bits with Cajeiri and the chaos arising from his new pet are lovely.
45. Protector by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction). Volume 14 in the Foreigner series. I thought I’d missed a bit from the last book, because this one has lots of people talking about how grandfather Komaji tried to get into Cajeiri’s quarters with (possible) evil intent, and I didn’t recall that at all. But I re-read the relevant chapters and all there is in the previous volume is Cajeiri hearing some noise in the corridor and thinking it is his father’s entourage coming home.
46. Peacemaker by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction). Volume 15 in the Foreigner series.
47. The Faded Sun: Kesrith by by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction). Re-reading one of Cherryh’s early series.
48. The Faded Sun: Shon’jir by by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction).
49. The Faded Sun: Kutath by by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction).
50.Barricade by Jon Wallace (science fiction).
51. Katya’s World by Jonathan L. Howard (YA science fiction). Jonathan was Guest of Honour at Bristolcon this year, so I thought I ought to read some of his books. I picked this one because it was science fiction.
52. The Truth of Valor by Tanya Huff (military science fiction).
53. Bad II The Bone by Anton Marks (urban fantasy).
54. SFerics 2017 ed. by Rosie Oliver and Roz Clarke (science fiction anthology). I have a story in this anthology. When Rosie asked for submissions the remit was extrapolations from current developments in technology. Some of the stories stuck to that instruction better than others!
55. The Killing Thing by Kate Wilhelm (science fiction).
56. Higgs & Soap: Galaxy Delivery by Tony Cooper (science fiction, humour). Good lord! A humorous self-published book which is actually funny! Features a LOL scene of a self-driving car which is more concerned about the terms of its insurance policy than the well-being of its passengers.
57. Adam’s Empire by Evan Green (historical – if the 30s count as history).
58. Five Give Up the Booze by Bruno Vincent (humour).
60. The Darkest Midnight in December: Ghost Stories for the Winter Season ed. by Storm Constantine. Anthology of spooky stories. I nominated one for the BSFA awards.
61. A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge (fantasy). Yay, Frances Hardinge! This is one of my favourite books of the year.
62. Places in the Darkness by Chris Brookmyre (science fiction).
So I read a lot fewer novels this year than in normal years. I guess this is a combination of not having a daily commute for several months, plus subscribing to New Scientist, so those are taking up a chunk of my reading time.
NON-FICTION
1. World Building: A Writer’s Guide to Constructing Star Systems and Life-Supporting Planets by Stephen L. Gillet.
2. In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood. Various articles about the SF she loves, and an explanation why she thinks her works aren’t SF: she (formerly) had a very narrow definition of SF, which tends towards pulp type stuff and an assessment of whether things in the novel really exist. So Atwood believes War of the Worlds is SF, because Martian Fighting Machines don’t and can’t exist, but she’d say that Andy Weir’s The Martian isn’t SF, because NASA could really send an astronaut to Mars if they had the funding.
3. Fifty Minerals Which Changed the Course of History by Eric Chaline. Full of interesting facts, including the slightly horrifying one that the US banned asbestos in construction, and then unbanned it due to lobbying…
4. Dispatches by Michael Herr. War correspondent in the Vietnam War.
5. The Black Archive 8: Black Orchid by Ian Millsted. Analysis of the Doctor Who story, Black Orchid.
6. I Think You’ll Find It’s a Bit More Complicated Than That by Ben Goldacre. Science writing and sarcasm. Great stuff.
7. Salerno 1943: The Allies Invade Southern Italy by Angus Konstam.
8. Postcapitalism: AGuide to Our Future by Paul Mason.
9. Boys in Zinc by Svetlana Alexievich (military history).
10. The British Army Since 2000 by James Tanner (military not long enough ago to be history).
11. Science (ish): The Peculiar Science Behind the Movies by Rick Edwards and Dr Michael Brooks.
12. Soviet Paratrooper vs Mujahideen Fighter: Afghanistan 1979-1989 by David Campbell.
GRAPHIC NOVELS
1. World of Tanks: Rollout by Garth Ennis, Carlos Ezquerra, PJ Holden & Michael Atiyeh.
2. Letter 44 volume 2: Red Shift by Soule, Alburquerque & Jackson.
3. Letter 44 volume 3: Dark Matter by Soule, Alburquerque & Jackson.
4. Letter 44 volume 4: Saviours by Soule, Alburquerque, Jackson & Stern.
5. Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol. This is terrific. One of the sweetest, creepiest stories I’ve read in ages.
6. Saga Vol 2 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples.
7. Waltz With Bashir: A Lebanon War Story by Ari Folman & David Polonsky
BOOKS I DIDN’T FINISH
1. A Small Colonial War by Robert Frezza (military science fiction). I gave up about 60 pages in, because I didn’t care who was fighting who, nor did I care why they were fighting, nor did I give the proverbial fetid dingo’s kidney about any of the characters.
2. Deathgift by Ann Tonsor Zeddies (science fiction). Despite the fact this has a shuttle/dropship on the front cover, the first chapters read like a fantasy novel, with horse archers and warring city states. Not a particularly engaging fantasy novel at that. Even when the science fiction bits of the plot began they weren’t much better, so I gave up in sheer boredom…
3. The Fallen Blade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. Just couldn’t get into it, which is weird as I’ve enjoyed all the other books of his I’ve read.
4. Star Wars: The Paradise Snare by A.C. Crispin. A friend loaned me this and I was too polite to say “But I don’t like the Star Wars universe”. I really tried to read it, but it was the cliché of Han Solo as one of Fagin’s child thieves. And it had the annoying style of Han translating into his own dialogue anything a wookie growled or a droid bleeped. So it reads like one of those public information cartoons with Charlie the cat: “Charlie says that you should never play with matches.”
5. The Elysium Connection by L. E. Modesitt Jr. Couldn’t engage with any of the characters.
6. The Tabit Genesis by Tony Gonzales. Couldn’t engage with any of the characters.
7. Darkly Dreaming by Chloe Hammond (urban fantasy). If it isn’t written by David Wake or Tony Cooper I must STOP buying self-published novels at cons… Especially ones with pages and pages of non-genre soap opera backstory on the characters’ old relationships.
8. Daily Life of the Aztecs by Jacques Soustelle. Very old fashioned and stilted style. That might be because it IS an old book (written in 1955) or because it is a translation (from 1961). Anyway, it was too plodding, so I gave up.
9. The Copper Promise by Jen Williams (fantasy). Jen Williams was Guest of Honour at Bristolcon this year, so I thought I ought to read some of her books. But… meh. Too dungeon crawly and I didn’t care a jot whether most of the characters lived or died. Sebastian was okay. I have no idea why people rave about how cool The Copper Cat character is.
10. Salvage Marines by Sean-Michael Argo (military science fiction). Book 1 in the Necrospace series. Someone recommended this to me (can’t recall who). But it was all explosions and no plot. Go somewhere, have a battle. Next location, next battle. Next location, next battle. No discernible story arc, no character development.
11. 2121: A Tale of the Next Century by Susan Greenfield (science fiction). The first few chapters were pretty much all infodump without plot. No dialogue, no action – just diary entries and internal monologues where people thought extensively about how things work in their society. The sort of things that people wouldn’t in reality think about, because they’d accept it as normal. It would be like me having a 3 paragraph internal monologue on the history of the postal system every time a parcel is delivered to my house. In addition, the book really, really needed an editor who was willing to insert some proper punctuation into the abundance of long sprawling sentences or – preferably – cleave them in two. I gave up before I discovered if there was a plot.
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