2023 Reading Year in Review

Two years in a row with a Reading Year in Review, crazy right? Well, since I resurrected the blog earlier in the year, I’ve been much more consistent with posting my reading wrap-ups so of course that calls for a year in review, right? As I’ve done every year I've posted a Reading Year in Review, here are the previous years I’ve put up a reading year in review, 2022, 2021, 2018, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006.

As I've done every year for the past decade and a half, I've contributed to SFFWorld's Favorite of the Year lists: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, and Film/TV. For those yearly recaps, Mark Yon and I focused only on 2023 releases. Here I will not limit the list to just 2023/current year releases because there are a lot of good books out there from previous years I haven’t read although most are from 2024. I'm still very actively reviewing for both SFFWorld.

Two years in a row, Horror was the dominant genre for me, with Fantasy a fairly close second. Horror continues to be in a fantastic place within the genre, both in printed form and filmed. The breakdown/full statistics of the 93 books I read in 2023:

• 41 2023/current year releases
• 53 can be considered Horror
• 44 can be considered Fantasy
• 9 can be considered Science Fiction
• 47 reviews posted to SFFWorld
• 28 books by authors new to me 
• 47 Books by women
• 13 total debut
• 18 audiobooks
• 7 Book reviews posted here at the Blog o' Stuff
• 4 books I DNF'd

How did I come up with this list? For years, I've been keeping track of the books I read in an Excel workbook and assign each book a rating between 1 and 10. All the books I’ve called out are books I’ve rated 9 (out of 10) or higher. For the purposes of this post, I've listed the books alphabetically by author last name, outside of the first book in this post which was the book I enjoyed the ost.  If I've reviewed the book, the title will link to the review either here at the blog or over at SFFWorld with an excerpt of that review below the cover image. If I haven't given the book a full review, then I've provided a brief summary/reaction to the book.

So, without further adieu, below are the books I enjoyed reading the most over the past year.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
(My Favorite Overall Novel Published in 2023 even though I read it in late 2022)

Balancing out the creeps is another thing that Hendrix has excelled at portraying in his previous novels: relationships, family or close friends (who might as well be family). Family is an important part of this novel, not just the siblings, but the extended family who reside in and near Charleston, SC. Louise and Mark’s aunts and cousins who are wonderfully drawn supporting characters help to provide some humor and idiosyncrasies that help to make the family unique. Family is who helps us through grief and a lot of this novel is about grief, too. Frankly, many haunted house stories have grief as a major theme and component, and Hendrix’s very human and empathetic characters navigate this complicated human emotion with plausibility…if you factor in creepy haunted puppets into the mix

Grady Hendrix has become must read for me, he’s grown into a modern master of the genre and each new book he publishes shows his growth as a storyteller in everything that word encompasses. He’s a smart, savvy writer who spins emotional stories featuring very human people and themes with the best of them.

 

The Vagrant Gods by David Dalglish

I was incredibly impressed with my first experience reading a novel by David Dalglish, which happened to be the first book in this series so I was very excited to dive into book 2. That excitement was warranted. 

The Sapphire Altar picks up shortly after the conclusion of The Bladed Faith with The Vagrant (a.k.a. Prince Cyrus) questioning the rebellion, his place in it, and the man pulling the strings of the rebellion. But Cyrus knows the Empire must be taken down, regardless of his misgivings because the fist of the Everlorn Empire is clenching harder on Thanet. Violent executions of disbelievers are the norm while they try to capture the Vagrant.

What impresses me the most about the characters is that none of them seem short-changed. They all feel incredibly well-wrought to the point that I wouldn’t be surprised if Dalglish has a notebook on each of them with details that we as the readers will never see and that the characters most definitely have lived.

In The Sapphire Altar, Dalglish has managed to craft a second book of a series that improves upon the original in layers of world-depth, character building, and stakes. It doesn’t merely tread water waiting for the next volume of the trilogy. I’d call this more of the Second Chapter of the Vagrant Gods series than anything else.

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

When Robbie's white neighbor Lyle McCormack, the son of a fairly influential man in Gracetown, makes advances on Robert’s sister, Robert steps into the situation. There’s a minor physical altercation between Robert and Lyle. As a result, Robert is beaten by Lyle’s father, handcuffed, and shipped off to the Gracetown School for Boys. As it turns out, Gracetown is a recurring town in Due's fiction and if anything screamed the opposite of what its name implied, it is this “home for boys.”

Due has a very personal connection to the history that informs the backdrop of the novel. Without knowing that, the novel feels intimate and personal. Knowing the connection only hammers home that part even more. Her prose and storytelling is gut-wrenching, addictive, and powerful. None of this would work nearly as well if Tananarive Due wasn't a marvelous writer and storyteller. She pulled me into the story immediately, I felt empathy for young Robert and Gloria and felt their anger, pain, and frustration. Her skill at portraying youthful protagonists dealing with adult horrors is powerful, engaging, and enthralling. This is the kind of book that entertains and enlightens. It is simply transcendent.

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
 

The novel is told from Vera’s perspective, but in a unique and fascinating way. We get the “current” timeline of the novel with Vera returning home in the past tense, but when we focus on a pre-teen / teenaged Vera, it is told in the present tense. We only get her perspective, either way. Her wariness in the present about her mother, or Daphne as she’s been calling her mother since she was thirteen becomes understandable the more the past chapters reveal about their lives together. Vera’s whiplash of emotions from being protected and adored by her father to only be verbally and psychologically abused by her mother is raw, it felt real, and I felt a great deal of sympathy for Vera.

In the present, Vera is continually left unbalanced by her mother’s mood swings which can contradict the spiteful woman she knew growing up. The verbal confrontations with James only amplifies Vera’s sense of unease. To the point that she hears noises, thinks she sees shadows moving, and is convinced *something* is under her bed to the point she goes out and buys a new bed. The icing on the cake of these creepy and potentially supernatural moments are the folded pages she randomly finds that are written in her father’s handwriting. There are more creepy/supernatural elements, I’ll just leave it at that. The timing of the instances of these creepy scenes is expertly doled out by Gailey. She’s got a wonderful sense of pace in the novel. That incredible pacing is also on full display in how Gailey reveals Vera’s past and how she grew closer to her father.

 

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

Harrison has proven to be very incisive with her ability to marry horror tropes with societal challenges like werewolves and sisterly love/competition in Such Sharp Teeth, friendship (ranging from true friendship bonds and toxic friendship) and supernatural/demonic possession. Here, Harrison takes her writerly scalpel to cultish religions and familial relationships. There’s a point, about 1/3 into the novel that is one of those “kick wham” moments that is best enjoyed without knowing it, and even that is too much of a spoiler. I’ll just say that I had to re-read it a couple of times.

Within the novel’s pages is a powerful examination of family, truth, what it feels like to be an outsider everywhere, and betrayal. Rachel Harrison sets these important themes against the backdrop of dark, engaging, and delightfully sinister cult novel. Another great Rachel Harrison novel that continues to establish her as one of the preeminent voices in modern horror..

 

101 Horror Books to Read You're Murdered by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

What Sadie has done with 101 Books... and its focus on books published (mostly) between 2000 and 2023 is serve up a perfect modern companion to Hendrix’s Bram Stoker Award winning book. Just like Hendrix’s Paperbacks from Hell, Sadie Hartmann’s love letter to modern horror should be honored with the Bram Stoker Award for Non-Fiction. … 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered is a definitive look at horror fiction in the early 21st Century by a smart and engaging voice who has her finger on the pulse of the genre. … If I haven’t made it clear by this point, this is a MUST-OWN book for any horror fan and a great book for anybody with a passing interest in the genre.

Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin

(My Top 2023 Debut)

Damn, is this a potent novel. Kerin painfully depicts the co-dependent bordering on parasitic relationship dynamic in Night’s Edge. I’ve had family members who found themselves in a familial caregiver type of relationship and damage and negativity can grow over the years… even when the caregiver and caretaker love each other like family. I was at a remove from that relationship, but other members of my family with whom I was close heard a lot of that negativity. The relationship between Mia and Izzy is ratcheted up a couple of levels, after all, Izzy is literally taking her daughter’s blood as sustenance. 

I can’t recall if Kerin actually used the word “vampire” in the novel and in that regard, I found a parallel to Mike Flanagan’s masterpiece, Midnight Mass. While Night’s Edge is a bit more intimate and personal, the effect is similar. I was also reminded of another vampire (and zombie) masterpiece, Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend in the way the vamprisim is more of a plague/disease and how it halts civilization.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

The Plot was one of the rare non-genre books I read in 2023. My wife read it and recommended it to me and I loved it. The story concerns a promising young writer, Jacob Finch Bonner, who manages to publish a bestselling novel, but struggles to find his next book. He is teaching an MFA program when Bonner encounters a very strange student whose story is so unique and different, it sticks in the professor’s mind. The student dies under mysterious circumstances, but the story he told Bonner won’t leave him…so he decides to publish it. The novel is a fascinating and taut thriller, a mediation on authorial voice, authenticity, truth in fiction, and the inner fears many writers experience. I still question things about it months later after breezing through the 320 pages in just two days.

Be Sure (Wayward Children Omnibus #1) by Seanan McGuire

BE SURE collects the first three, Every Heart a Doorway, Down Among the Sticks and Bones, and Beneath the Sugar Sky. … Seanan McGuire has done it again. She’s hooked me on yet another of her long running series. I’m about a dozen books into her October Daye series, just started her Incryptid series, and loved the Newslfesh saga under her Mira Grant pseudonym. As fun as those series and books are and were, Wayward Children feels like it may be her may be her defining work. It is enthralling, tackles some really important themes (not that she doesn’t in all of her work), and has some of the most endearing characters in her many works. This is a series that will stand the test of time and BE SURE has more than earned a spot on the shelf of my personal Omnibus Hall of Fame.

The September House by Carissa Orlando

...this story isn’t about somebody trying to escape their haunted house, our protagonist Margaret has embraced her haunted house. It was the dream house she and her husband Hal purchased and she is not giving it up. … Of course, haunted house stories are always about more than just a dwelling being haunted. Margaret is the narrator of the story and Orlando all but begs the reader to question how reliable of a narrator she is. We know from her conversations with her daughter, Margaret is not sharing very much information. Margaret is haunted and the pacing at which Orlando reveals Margaret’s past is handled with measured precision. Details about her marriage to Hal come to light, which helps to give reason for Margaret’s actions.

 

The Justice of Kings and The Tyranny of Faith (The first two books of The Empire of the Wolf) by Richard Swan

Two books for one slot, largely because I read them sort of back-to-back and they are part of the same story. With The Justice of Kings, his fantasy debut from Orbit, Swan bursts onto the traditionally published scene and kicks off the Empire of Wolf trilogy. The novel is told from the first person perspective of Helena Sedanka, the law clerk of Sir Konrad Vonvalt, a King’s Justice of the Imperial Magistratum of the Sovan Empire. Not unlike Watson relaying the events of Sherlock Holmes’s investigations, except that Vonvalt is not an independent investigator. He is the Emperor’s voice, he is judge, jury, and executioner, when necessary. … the gut of the story is a murder mystery/conspiracy story. The world of the novel is at the precipice of a shift in power, and much of the conflict is between secular law and religious law. Those kinds of conflicting ideologies make for great story and Swan does a very good job of presenting this conflict through his characters. … Swan’s novel is one of the best series starters and fantasy debuts I’ve read the past decade. He has absolutely captured a “voice” in this tale. … Swan picks up the tale of Konrad and Helena in The Tyranny of Faith. Picking up shortly after the events of the previous novel, Helena and Konrad Vonvalt head to the capital of the Empire to investigate how deep the corruption they discovered in The Justice of Kings runs. … The somewhat subtle supernatural elements introduced in the first novel grew in prominence in this second novel in the trilogy. I am immensely impressed with Richard Swan’s Empire of Wolf trilogy thus far. He has set the story up for a thrilling, heart-rending, dark, and tension-filled finale and I cannot wait to read it.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Yes, there are quite a few Messages in Camp Damascus, neurodivergent people matter and can strive; let people be who they are and love how and who they love; trying to squeeze everybody into a myopic worldview and narrow vision of love is evil. But this book wouldn’t work if it didn’t tell a damned good story. I’ve pointed out the incredible character of Rose, there are true moments of horror and terror, some great horror images evoked in the pages. It works as a gripping horror novel as much as it has a message. It is a thrilling story and it is the kind of story that just may help people suffering in some of the same ways as Rose is suffering.

Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig

It has become predictable at this point for me to include a Chuck Wending novel in my favorite/best-of-the-year post. Blame him, not me. Evil apples, that’s the core (pun intended) of the MacGuffin in this novel. A strange, delicious apple variety that is addictive and drives people to some of their darker instincts. In this character-driven novel, the town of Harrow, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania town becomes obsessed with a new strand of apple. (I'm a short drive over the river from Bucks County so it was kind of fun to hear some locales I'm familiar with being referenced in the book.)

A down-on-his luck famer named Dan Paxson comes across this strain of apples after a chance encounter with a mysterious individual. When he brings the fruits to the local farmer's market, he realizes he's got something special. These apples, named "Ruby Slipper" by Dan's daughter Calla, makes people feel good, allows them to give into some of their more base desires. As it turns out, Calla does not like apples, much to her father's chagrin.

Chuck also focuses on a couple named Emily and Meg, who move back to the countryside of Pennsylvania to Meg's hometown after life in the big city didn't quite work out for them. As Meg eats more of the apples, the dark side of their relationship becomes more evident to Emily, who also does not like apples. 

There's also an "apple hunter" named John who seeks out lost strands of apples and he knows a little bit about the apple known as "Ruby Slipper" though under a different name. 

Small town drama and pettiness play out on a grand scale, all because that most American of fruits, the apple. Granted, all those unsavory elements were lurking beneath the surface (and right on the surface for some), but the Ruby Slippers enhance, exaggerate, and highlight those unsavory aspects to an even more uncomfortable degree. Wending naturally weaves in themes of gaslighting, bullying, the growing facist sect in America (and how it is impacting Bucks County, PA in real life), queer representation, sexual freedom, parenthood, just to name a handful. 

With every book he publishes, Chuck Wending grows his resume as a modern master of horror and dark fiction and is a must buy and read for me.

The Foxglove King (The Nightshade Crown#1) by Hannah Whitten

The Foxglove King covers a lot of bases, there are political elements; faith & belief; trust; Whitten touches on parental abandonment issues on a couple of potent levels; there’s a romance triangle between Lore, Gabriel, and Bastian; the plot follows something of a mystery thread, it has the feel of a city fantasy and almost urban fantasy even though set in a secondary world. She pulls these elements together masterfully for a unique story. 

The milieu in which the story takes place has enough details as well, there’s a mythology/religion that provides a strong foundation, but also seems to have more details yet to be revealed. I found a pleasant resonance between the world Whitten has created in The Foxglove King with the world Tad Williams revealed in The War of the Flowers as well the world of League of Legends as revealed in the Netflix show Arcana and the novel Ruination by Anthony Reynolds.… 

I was enthralled with this novel from beginning to end, Whitten’s characters came alive as real people with emotions, snark, and annoyances that real people posses.

Honorable mentions: Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives by  Adam Cesare, Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson,  Engines of Chaos (The Age of Uprising #2) by R.S. Ford, Nightborn: Coldfire Rising by C.S. Friedman, All Hallows by Christopher Golden, Starling House by Alix E. Harrow, Good Girls Don't Die by Christina Henry, The Gwendy Trilogy by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry, The Bloody Chorus by John Marco, The Mary Shelly Club by Goldy Moldavsky,  The Endless Vessel by Charles Soule, and White Horse by Erika T. Wurth.

                                                                                                               

That brings my 2023 read wrap-up/review to a close. Hopefully, 2024 will bring just as much quality fiction into our lives.

December 2022 Reading Round Up

The 4 book reviews at SFFWorld in December made up for the the lack of any book reviews I posted in November. However, two of these books mentioned in my November post. There was also a 2023 release I read, the review of which I’ll be posting in January, but I’ll just say it was from a favorite horror author.  The standard drill follows...excerpts of what went up at SFFWorld this past month followed by brief review/reactions to the other books I read in December 2022.

The Art of Prophecy (The War Arts Saga #1) by Wesley Chu - What the novel then turns out to be is a lengthy and entertaining answer to the question of “What if the Prophecy was wrong?” Well…it turns out the true nature of the Eternal Khan was very misunderstood by Jian’s people, but we learn more about the Eternal Khan and the Katuia Hordes of the Sea of Grass who worship him through the character of Salminde (Sali). Sali finds herself on a quest to a new Eternal Khan. This also allows readers to gain a sympathy with the “other side” because Sali is a fantastically realized character. I appreciate when characters buck the “expected” in favor of logic and reason and Sali has a great wit about her that makes her particular journey quite enjoyable.

 The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal - Perhaps the word that I can best use to describe this book (and it has already appeared in this  review) is the word charming. Tesla and Shal are charming, so is Gimlet, and the story is just a fun romp that itself is charming. Charming can sometimes come across as “too cute” for its own good, but MRK is a smart enough writer to keep that charming element that is a comforting blanket over the whole novel at just the right level. Although The Spare Man is not marked as the first book in a series, it certainly can work that way. I for one would love to follow Tesla and Shal throughout the galaxy solving crimes and having adventures.

The Bladed Faith (The Vagrant Gods #1) by David Dalglish - David Dalglish has published over 25 novels since 2010, many of them in the same secondary world of Dezrel (The Half-Orcs, Shadowdance). With The Bladed Faith, Dalglish launches a new world and a new series entitled Vagrant Gods. In it, young prince Cyrus of Thanet watches his parents and gods Endarius the Lion and Lycaena the Butterfly murdered by an invading army of the Everlorn Empire. Cyrus is shocked to see this transpire before his eyes. ... A lot happens in this novel, The Bladed Faith very much fits the term Epic. But is only the first installment of a trilogy! Dalglish reveals his story and characters at a measured pace I very much appreciated, with a balanced approach to character, action, backstory, and worldbuilding. It was fun, it was epic, energetic, and addictive. In short, The Bladed Faith is very strongly in my Epic Fantasy wheelhouse. Even before I finished the novel, I knew the second book in the series, The Sapphire Altar would be very high on my anticipated reads list.

Lucky Girl: or How I Became A Horror Writer: A Krampus Story by M. Rickert - This is by no means an uplifting Christmas ghost story, but it is gripping and rife with dread and tension. The only minor issue I had with the story was that for a horror writer, Ro was not quite genre-savvy to recognize some of the horrific elements she was experiencing. That in itself is a trope, characters of horror stories being somewhat unaware of the nature of the darkness plaguing them so perhaps that is what Rickert was playing with in this story.

 

T. Kingfisher published two genre works this year, and I read both of them, moist recently What Moves the Dead, which is a retelling of Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” with a non-binary character who happens to be a retired lieutenant named Alex Easton. Alex visits the Ushers to help her friend, Madeline thanks to Roderick (Madeline’s brother) request. The Ushers are not in good shape, they seem to be affected by a strange affliction. Adding another layer of creepiness are a few factors constantly seen on the grounds of the Usher mansion – staring, white rabbits, the strange lake on the grounds, and the proliferation of fungi. 

 There is a quirky cast of characters who surround Alex: Eugenia Potter, the mycologist (a scientist who studies fungi) and the American doctor James Denton. The three of them try to figure out what is plaguing the Ushers and if it can be remedied. 

 This was a strange, weird, and fascinating story. Largely because of the fungus element, I was reminded of Jeff VanderMeer’s Ambergris stories. Kingfisher has one of the more unique and enjoyable points-of-view in the genre and I’ll continue to read her work as it publishes. 

Rachel Harrison’s Such Sharp Teeth is a Mount Rushmore-level Werewolf novel. I read Harrison’s debut novel The Return earlier in the year and I was very impressed so I was excited to try her new (in 2022) novel which was about werewolves. Well, one werewolf in particular. Harrison tells the tale of Rory (short for Aurora) Morris, who returns to her hometown to be by the side of her twin sister Scarlett during the last weeks of her pregnancy. On the way there, Rory is bitten by a creature and she finds her body going through changes. She’s stronger and transforms during the full moon. Harrison does a fantastic job of paralleling the experiences of the twin sisters, and telling a compelling, addictive story. I read it over the course of two days. 

I had to bail on the second book in an epic fantasy series I was really looking forward to reading, I just couldn't connect as the narrative felt very scattered. I think it may have been a case of “me, not the book,” but a book that size (and the predecessor was just as large) would very much benefit from a recap page and cast of characters page. 

After that unfortunate book, I moved onto R.S. Belcher’s Six-Gun Tarot, which is the first book in his Golgotha Weird-Western fantasy series. This guy is criminally under-read, he writes wonderful, genre-bending stories. The kinds of books/stories that when you look at the superficial ingredients, you shake you head and ask yourself, how in the hell is this going to work. But he makes it work. I read the third book, Queen of Swords five(!) years ago and liked it very much. This one introduces readers to a young man named Jim on his way to Golgotha. Jim’s got a magic eye from his deceased(?) father and somehow gets deputized shortly before arriving at Golgotha. Maude, a young witchy woman, is another featured character. Belcher tells the novel going between the “current” storyline as well as Flashbacks that show the “origins” of Maude and Jim. There’s also a powerful, dark presence (maybe it is an Elder God like Cthulhu?) on the outskirts of Golgotha and oh yeah, we see chapters that peek into the War in Heaven or what lead to the War in Heaven and Lucifer’s fall. Heady, all over the place stuff, but it makes sense within the pages. 

All of my Audiobook time in December was dedicated A Crown of Swords, the seventh Robert Jordan Wheel of Time novel. I’m still enjoying the trek through Randland.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2013-10-23)

A larger than what has been normal batch of arrivals here at the o' Stuff. Mainly, Orbit's November/December releases.


A Dance of Blades (Volume 2 of Shadowdance) by David Dalglish (Orbit, Trade Paperback 11/05/2013) – Orbit really knows what they are doing in publishing series book, ensuring the quick succession of their publishing. This is the second installment of Dalglish’s self-published series.

It's been five long years since the city learned to fear...

The war between the thief guilds and the powerful allegiance known as the Trifect has slowly dwindled. Now only the mysterious Haern is left to wage his private battle against the guilds in the guise of the Watcher - a vicious killer who knows no limits. But when the son of Alyssa Gemcroft, one of the three leaders of the Trifect, is believed murdered, the slaughter begins anew. Mercenaries flood the streets with one goal in mind: find and kill the Watcher.

Peace or destruction; every war must have its end.

Fantasy author David Dalglish spins a tale of retribution and darkness, and an underworld reaching for ultimate power.

Malice (The Faithful and the Fallen Book One) by John Gwynne (Orbit Trade Paperback 11/26/2013) – Gwynne’s debut, published in the UK earlier in the year through Tor UK, receives US release at the end of the year from the fine folks at Orbit. Although the promo material does not mention this is the launch of a series, this is the launch of a series.

The world is broken...

Corban wants nothing more than to be a warrior under King Brenin's rule - to protect and serve. But that day will come all too soon. And the price he pays will be in blood.

Evnis has sacrificed - too much it seems. But what he wants - the power to rule -- will soon be in his grasp. And nothing will stop him once he has started on his path.

Veradis is the newest member of the warband for the High Prince, Nathair. He is one of the most skilled swordsman to come out of his homeland, yet he is always under the shadow of his older brother.

Nathair has ideas - and a lot of plans. Many of them don't involve his father, the High King Aquilus. Nor does he agree with his father's idea to summon his fellow kings to council.

The Banished Lands has a violent past where armies of men and giants clashed in battle, but now giants are seen, the stones weep blood and giant wyrms are stirring. Those who can still read the signs see a threat far greater than the ancient wars. For if the Black Sun gains ascendancy, mankind's hopes and dreams will fall to dust...

...and it can never be made whole again.


MALICE is a dark epic fantasy tale of blind greed, ambition, and betrayal.

Last to Rise (Rojan Dizon Book Three) by Francis Knight (Orbit Trade Paperback 11/26/2013) – Third in the sequence with began with to Knight’s interesting debut novel Fade to Black, which I read and enjoyed earlier in the year.

The towering vertical city of Mahala is on the brink of war with its neighboring countries. It might be his worst nightmare, but Rojan and the few remaining pain mages have been drafted in to help.

The city needs power in whatever form they can get it -- and fast. With alchemists readying a prototype electricity generator, and factories producing guns faster than ever, the city's best advantage is still the mages. Tapping their power is a risky plan, but with food in the city running out, and a battle brimming that no one is ready for, risky is the best they've got...

The spectacular conclusion to the adventures of Rojan Dizon, which began with the thrilling fantasy debut Fade to Black.

Dangerous Women edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (Tor, Hardcover 12/03/2013) – This is the second themed anthology from this power-house duo on the shelves this year. I read (and enjoyed) Old Mars from them and this one has a very impressive line-up including a number of my favorite writers including Joe Abercrombie, Jim Butcher, and George R.R. Martin. This thing is huge, a dead raccoon was under the package containing the book; I only noticed the raccoon after moving the package.

All new and original to this volume, the 21 stories in Dangerous Women include work by twelve New York Times bestsellers, and seven stories set in the authors’ bestselling continuities—including a new “Outlander” story by Diana Gabaldon, a tale of Harry Dresden’s world by Jim Butcher, a story from Lev Grossman set in the world of The Magicians, and a 35,000-word novella by George R. R. Martin about the Dance of the Dragons, the vast civil war that tore Westeros apart nearly two centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones.

Also included are original stories of dangerous women--heroines and villains alike--by Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Sherilynn Kenyon, Lawrence Block, Carrie Vaughn, S. M. Stirling, Sharon Kay Penman, and many others.

Writes Gardner Dozois in his Introduction, “Here you’ll find no hapless victims who stand by whimpering in dread while the male hero fights the monster or clashes swords with the villain, and if you want to tie these women to the railroad tracks, you’ll find you have a real fight on your hands. Instead, you will find sword-wielding women warriors, intrepid women fighter pilots and far-ranging spacewomen, deadly female serial killers, formidable female superheroes, sly and seductive femmes fatale, female wizards, hard-living Bad Girls, female bandits and rebels, embattled survivors in Post-Apocalyptic futures, female Private Investigators, stern female hanging judges, haughty queens who rule nations and whose jealousies and ambitions send thousands to grisly deaths, daring dragonriders, and many more.”

SFFWorld Round-up: Bach, Dalglish, Robertson, Paolini, and Wexler

Another round up of what's been posted to SFFWorld in today's blog post....

Last week, I posted my review of a contender for my favorite Science Fiction novel of the year, Fortune's Pawn, the first Paradox novel by Rachel Bach:

Devi meets and interacts with the motley crew of the Glorious Fool, – Captain Caldswell, who runs the ship with near military precision; Rupert who is “just a cook” (not); the bird like aeon pilot Basil who literally navigates from a nest; the tall lizard-like xith’cal doctor Hyrek (right, a doctor from a race which enjoys the taste of human flesh); the captain’s daughter Ren who is protected by Rupert; Cotter, the other security mercenary who joined the ship with Devi; and Mabel, the ship’s engineer who has the longest relationship with Captain Brian Caldswell; and Nova, who oversees the ships diagnostics. . Amidst this backdrop, the Glorious Fool is a trading vessel, not unlike the Serenity of Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Of course, we’d have very little story if the vessel were a simple trader. The character with whom Devi has the closest relationship as the novel progresses is Rupert; he is the love interest. He is the unconquerable man who doesn’t give into Devi’s charms immediately; Rupert is initially something of a stonewall. If anything, he may be a little too perfect. The romance between the two takes up a significant portion o

f the narrative energy.

...

I was a fan of the Eli Monpress novels written under the author’s real name Rachel Aaron, so when I learned she was shifting to space-based science fiction (so far, these books seem an equal mix military science fiction, space opera, and adventure SF), I was excited. That excitement was fulfilled. In the Eli Monpress novels, Aaron played with some genre conventions, but here writing as Bach she does much more upending of the genre tropes. For starters, the protagonist is a woman where a majority of protagonists in military SF have been male. That said, Devi is as aggressive on every level of her character as any male protagonist who preceded her in the genre. She goes after the men she wants, goes after the targets at which she aims, and tackles just about every obstacle in her way. She names her weapons and her power armor. Point being, she’s larger than life and in your face and I felt as if I got along well with her voice.

Mark had a look at self-published sensation turned newest Orbit fantasy author, David Dalglish and his fantasy novel, A Dance of Cloaks:

As a debut book in the series, A Dance of Cloaks is a ting-out-the-stall’ kind of book, where the reader is introduced to characters and places that it is clear will all be developed later, and undoubtedly with paths that will cross at some point. There are quite a few different characters to follow here, some major, others minor, but who may become more important later. Of the families, much of the plot deals with the life-changing events around two main characters. In the Trifect group, Alyssa Gemcroft, is the main heroine, the heir to the Gemcroft family fortune, used as a political device by her father Maynard, available for marriage to the right suitor. As you might expect, she rejects this.

...

Whilst the characters are nothing really new, and the plot admittedly rather generic, this is a book that revels in, and can be enjoyed for, its familiarity. With such a book, a reader does not need to spend time wrestling with deep concepts or revelatory stylistic touches. Readers can be assured that what they expect is what they get, to enjoy the plot developments as they happen, feel engaged with a story that uses straightforward language and enjoy a tale that basically is done well. Its purpose is to entertain.

Most recently, I reviewed Freya Robertson's debut novel, Heartwood. Robertson also recently provided SFFWorld with a guest post. Here's the cover, link, and review snapshot:

Robertson introduces many of the players at this gathering including the Holy Knights of the Heartwood, elite defenders of the Arbor as well as the many nations gathering to meet for a potential halt to hostilities. The protagonist, at least for the first third of the novel, seems to be Chonrad, a man who tried but was unsuccessful at becoming a Holy Knight and is sent to represent his nation at the Congressus. The Knights are led by Procella, a woman with whom Chonrad feels a great connection. Other knights include Beata, another female knight and Dean at Heartwood; twins Gravis and Gavius. Additionally, members of other nations, such as Fionnghuala of the Hanairean and Grimbeard, of the Wulfian where war rules all and men just take women are introduced.

...

What started as a novel with great potential conflict and interesting, if familiar, world and story fell under the weight of info-dumps and backstory. I liked the characters, I liked the world, but after the ample world-building in the first third of the novel, I felt ready for the story, particularly since it seemed to be pointed in the direction of multiple quests, to move at a more brisk pace. With each of the quests the characters were split up to undertake, we learned more about the characters. Too many weighty details are revealed about the characters by the characters themselves as inner monologue to allow for narrative the move along at a good pace.

We've also got some new interviews, including:

Christopher Paolini

Django Wexler

Blake Crouch

Books in the Mail (W/E 2013-09-21)

A larger assortment than usual here at the O’Stuff household.


Battleground by Terry A. Adams (DAW Mass Market Paperback 10/01/2013) – New book in a series that was recently re-released in omnibus format. .

Hanna Bassiano, formerly known as Lady H’ana ril-Koroth of D’neera, was, like all the people of the planet D’neera a telepath. Mutated from true-human stock, the D’neerans had claimed a world of their own to escape persecution, and started a flourishing civilization there. Now, accepted by true-humans, some like Hanna had ventured out into the wider universe, using their talents to the benefit of all. Hanna herself had become humanity’s expert in first contact with other sentient races. And though her very first mission had nearly ended in her death and could have resulted in a devastating interstellar war, both Hanna and humanity had survived.

Several additional contacts had seen her firmly established as the person to spearhead this new first-contact mission. She and her handpicked team were now aboard alien contact ship Endeavor Three, following a centuries’ cold trail to a distant world that had sent its own expedition to the human colony world New Earth two hundred years ago.

Long before Endeavor reached the planet they came to know as Battleground, Hanna began to explore the starways with her mind, seeking contact with this legendary race. But when at last she managed to touch the minds she sought, Hanna could scarcely believe what she had found—a race that seemed to exist only to fight, to breed, and to die.

How could they survive for all these years? How had they come to be like this? And how would they respond to a peaceful expedition of humans arriving on their world?

This brand-new science fiction novel follows The D'neeran Factor, an omnibus of Sentience and The Master of Chaos, and continues the adventures of Hanna Bassiano, human telepath and first-contact specialist aboard the spaceship Endeavor.

Year of the Demon (A Novel of the Fated Blades) by Steve Bein (Roc Trade 10/01/2013) – Bein's sequel to Daughter of the Sword.


Detective Sergeant Mariko Oshiro has been promoted to Japan’s elite Narcotics unit—and with this promotion comes a new partner, a new case, and new danger. The underboss of a powerful yakuza crime syndicate has put a price on her head, and he’ll lift the bounty only if she retrieves an ancient iron demon mask that was stolen from him in a daring raid. However, Mariko has no idea of the tumultuous past carried within the mask—or of its deadly link with the famed Inazuma blade she wields.

The secret of this mask originated hundreds of years before Mariko was born, and over time the mask’s power has evolved to bend its owner toward destruction, stopping at nothing to obtain Inazuma steel. Mariko’s fallen sensei knew much of the mask’s hypnotic power and of its mysterious link to a murderous cult. Now Mariko must use his notes to find the mask before the cult can bring Tokyo to its knees—and before the underboss decides her time is up.

The Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler White (Tor Hardcover 09/24/2013) – I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I’ve read by Brust (as pointed out here), this one is getting quite the good buzz. I don’t know much about White, though her name (as I’m has been pointed out to her numerous times in the last few years) is very … familiar.

The Incrementalists—a secret society of two hundred people with an unbroken lineage reaching back forty thousand years. They cheat death, share lives and memories, and communicate with one another across nations, races, and time. They have an epic history, an almost magical memory, and a very modest mission: to make the world better, just a little bit at a time. Their ongoing argument about how to do this is older than most of their individual memories.

Phil, whose personality has stayed stable through more incarnations than anyone else’s, has loved Celeste—and argued with her—for most of the last four hundred years. But now Celeste, recently dead, embittered, and very unstable, has changed the rules—not incrementally, and not for the better. Now the heart of the group must gather in Las Vegas to save the Incrementalists, and maybe the world.

A Dance of Cloaks (Volume 1 of Shadowdance) by David Dalglish (Orbit, Trade Paperback 08/06/2013) – Following in the footsteps of Michael J. Sullivan, David Dalglish makes the leap from success in the self-published arena to traditionally published thanks to the fine folks at Orbit Books.

The Underworld rules the city of Veldaren. Thieves, smugglers, assassins... they fear only one man.

Thren Felhorn is the greatest assassin of his time. All the thieves' guilds of the city are under his unflinching control. If he has his way, death will soon spill out from the shadows and into the streets.

Aaron is Thren's son, trained to be heir to his father's criminal empire. He's cold, ruthless - everything an assassin should be. But when Aaron risks his life to protect a priest's daughter from his own guild, he glimpses a world beyond piston, daggers, and the iron rule of his father.

Assassin or protector; every choice has its consequences.
Fantasy author David Dalglish spins a tale of retribution and darkness, and an underworld reaching for ultimate power.


Ancillary Justice (Volume 1 of The Paradox Series) by Orbit, Trade Paperback 10/01/2013) – I’ve seen nothing but positive squee from the people I follow on twitter who have read this book, so this one jumps up the pile.
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Breq is both more than she seems and less than she was. Years ago, she was Justice of Toren–a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of corpse soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

An act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with only one fragile human body. And only one purpose–to revenge herself on Anaander Mianaai, many-bodied, near-immortal Lord of the Radch.




Tour of the Merrimack: Volume 1 (The Myriad and Wolf Star) by R.M. Meluch (DAW Mass Market Paperback 10/01/2013) – This space opera/military SF has been on my radar for a while, I'd received later books in this series for review and they intrigued me. Moreover, Jo Walton's and Liz Bourke's pieces on Tor.com convinced me (as do many of their pieces) I need to get a start on these books.

The U.S.S. Merrimack was the finest battleship class spaceship in Earth's fleet, able to stand up against the best the Palatine Empire could throw at them. They were even able to survive an attack by the deadly swarms of the seemingly unstoppable Hive. Only her sister ship, the Monitor, was her equal. However, with the Palatine forces preparing a massive offensive, and the Hive targeting every living organism in the galaxy for destruction, even these two great battleships may fall....

This omnibus edition includes the first two novels of R.M. Meluch's acclaimed Tour of the Merrimack series, The Myriad and Wolf Star.



The One-Eyed Man by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (Tor Hardcover 09/17/2013) – The latest from Modesitt (whose books I’ve received more of than any other author I think) started out as a short fiction project, but turned into this novel. The stand-alone nature of it has me strongly considering reading it.


The colony world of Stittara is no ordinary planet. For the interstellar Unity of the Ceylesian Arm, Stittara is the primary source of anagathics: drugs that have more than doubled the human life span. But the ecological balance that makes anagathics possible on Stittara is fragile, and the Unity government has a vital interest in making sure the flow of longevity drugs remains uninterrupted, even if it means uprooting the human settlements.

Offered the job of assessing the ecological impact of the human presence on Stittara, freelance consultant Dr. Paulo Verano jumps at the chance to escape the ruin of his personal life. He gets far more than he bargained for: Stittara’s atmosphere is populated with skytubes—gigantic, mysterious airborne organisms that drift like clouds above the surface of the planet. Their exact nature has eluded humanity for centuries, but Verano believes his conclusions about Stittara may hinge on understanding the skytubes’ role in the planet’s ecology—if he survives the hurricane winds, distrustful settlers, and secret agendas that impede his investigation at every turn.

The One-Eyed Man is a thrilling new far-future science fiction novel from New York Times bestseller L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab (Tor Hardcover 08/24/2013) – This is Schwab’s first “adult” book and is a superhero / supervillain story. Though I admit to being close-minded and preferring my superhero stories in the four-color glory, this one really intrigues me. Seems like Schwab is playing a bit on the Reed Richards/Doctor Doom relationship.

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

Books in the Mail (W/E 2013-08-10)

Just one book this week, this time from the fine folks at Orbit.

A Dance of Cloaks (Volume 1 of Shadowdance) by David Dalglish (Orbit, Trade Paperback 08/06/2013) – Following in the footsteps of Michael J. Sullivan, David Dalglish makes the leap from success in the self-published arena to traditionally published thanks to the fine folks at Orbit Books.

The Underworld rules the city of Veldaren. Thieves, smugglers, assassins... they fear only one man.

Thren Felhorn is the greatest assassin of his time. All the thieves' guilds of the city are under his unflinching control. If he has his way, death will soon spill out from the shadows and into the streets.

Aaron is Thren's son, trained to be heir to his father's criminal empire. He's cold, ruthless - everything an assassin should be. But when Aaron risks his life to protect a priest's daughter from his own guild, he glimpses a world beyond piston, daggers, and the iron rule of his father.

Assassin or protector; every choice has its consequences.
Fantasy author David Dalglish spins a tale of retribution and darkness, and an underworld reaching for ultimate power.



Billy Moon by Douglas Lain (Hardcover 08/27/2013 Tor) – The first novel from Lain after many acclaimed short stories.

In Douglas Lain's debut novel set during the turbulent year of 1968, Christopher Robin Milne, the inspiration for his father’s fictional creation, struggles to emerge from a manufactured life, in a story of hope and transcendence.

Billy Moon was Christopher Robin Milne, the son of A. A. Milne, the world-famous author of Winnie the Pooh and other beloved children's classics. Billy's life was no fairy-tale, though. Being the son of a famous author meant being ignored and even mistreated by famous parents; he had to make his own way in the world, define himself, and reconcile his self-image with the image of him known to millions of children. A veteran of World War II, a husband and father, he is jolted out of midlife ennui when a French college student revolutionary asks him to come to the chaos of Paris in revolt. Against a backdrop of the apocalyptic student protests and general strike that forced France to a standstill that spring, Milne's new French friend is a wild card, able to experience alternate realities of the past and present. Through him, Milne's life is illuminated and transformed, as are the world-altering events of that year. 

In a time when the Occupy movement eerily mirrors the political turbulence of 1968, this magic realist novel is an especially relevant and important book.





Shadows of the New Sun: Stories in Honor of Gene Wolfe edited by J.E. Mooney and Bill Fawcett (Hardcover 08/27/2013 Tor) – Many have called Wolfe not just the greatest living writer of SFF, but the greatest living writer, full stop. Thes stories are in honor of his best known work.

Perhaps no living author of imaginative fiction has earned the awards, accolades, respect, and literary reputation of Gene Wolfe. His prose has been called subtle and brilliant, inspiring not just lovers of fantasy and science fiction, but readers of every stripe, transcending genre and defying preconceptions.

In this volume, a select group of Wolfe’s fellow authors pay tribute to the award-winning creator of The Book of the New Sun, The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Soldier of the Mist, The Wizard Knight and many others, with entirely new stories written specifically to honor the writer hailed by The Washington Post as “one of America's finest.”

Shadows of the New Sun features contributions by David Brin, David Drake, Nancy Kress, and many others, plus two new short stories by Gene Wolfe himself.