November still had a linger of horror to start, but it the month saw traipses through fantasy, horror, and science fiction. I didn’t post any reviews to SFFWorld in November, but all the reviews I posted in October made up for that, I’d hope. However, two books I read in November will end up being reviewed for SFFWorld (The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu which posts tomorrow 12/6 and The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal which will post 12/13) so as usual, I’ll focus on the other books I read.
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia kicked off November in a great way. I’d read the author’s 80s love letter, Signal to Noise a few years ago and had my eye on this book for a while, especially since Tor Nightfire acquired the rights and wrapped the pages in a gorgeous cover by John Picacio.
Garcia plays with vampire mythology and noir in this fantastic novel set in Mexico City. A young man named Domingo finds himself drawn to vampire Atl and despite her attempts at pushing him away, he continues to find her. Vampires are real and very much a part of the world in Garcia’s novel, although they aren’t quite welcome in Mexico City. Atl and her Doberman are on the run from a gang of “Necro” vampires led by Nick, who has a long-held grudge against Atl.
I loved how the relationship between Domingo (not quite a “Renfield”) and Atl played out over the course of the novel. He was bright and optimistic, she a bit closed off (understandably). What I enjoyed even more was the deep vampire mythology Garcia built for this novel. It isn’t in your face world-building, rather, the backbone of the story that informs the conflicts Atl is forced to deal with in her life.
Certain Dark Things is an immediate classic vampire novel.
The book that took up the most significant portion of my reading time in November was Chuck Wendig’s Wayward, the sequel to his epic apocalyptic Wanderers. Chuck picks up those threads and weaves a powerful, gripping story of how the survivors of a plague-apocalypse (White Mask) try to survive as humanity with the “help” of an extremely powerful and convincing AI (Black Swan) who helped to “hand pick” a select group of people and protect them from the plague as a last hope for humaity. Picking up about five years after the events of Wanderers, Chuck keeps the pace addictive over the course of the novels lengthy 800 pages. There’s a sense of anger in this novel that is completely believable, especially with the returning characters like Shana Stewart and “President” Ed Creel, though scientist Benji Ray and rocker Pete Corley balance out that anger with signs of hope.
There’s something about “road stories” and “apocalyptic” stories that work so well when brought together, traversing a barren landscape with potential dangers out of sight makes for great storytelling. That’s one strong element of the Wayward and I again felt resonance with Robert McCammon’s Swan Song. In fact, characters in Wayward specifically called out Swan Song.
There’s also the Very Good Dog Gumball, who along with Radar from Stephen King’s Fairy Tale are co-winners of the goodest dog of the year. Many authors try to tell stories from the point of view of dogs, not all of them succeed, Chuck does.
Chuck did a pre-release signing at the Doylestown Bookshop the Saturday before the book published, with the bookshop about an hour away from me, there was no way I was going to miss it even though I chatted with Chuck at NY Comic Con.
In the end, Wayward was a fantastic novel, I was consumed by it for the week-and-a-half I was reading it. Never did I want to leave, never did the novel drag, never did things happen in the novel that didn’t make sense even if what unfolded over the course of the novel was not what I expected. I was surprised by where the story went, and at times even scared by a lot of what the characters had to confront.
Put simply, a fantastic novel.
On the audio side of things, I dipped into another V.E. Schwab novel, This Savage Song, the first of Monsters of Verity duology. Set in a world where monsters are real, the story focuses on two young characters – Kate Harker, daughter of a powerful monster hunter who oversees on portion of the city and August Flynn, adopted son of man who runs another portion of the city.
I've read a good handful of novels by Schwab and what I enjoyed in those novels was on display here - deft characterization. Kate and August felt real, genuine, and I wanted to believe them. I also appreciated Schwab's world-building especially when it comes to the various monsters who live in this world side-by-side with humans. She balances the details with the elements that are mysteries to the readers but taken for granted by the characters very well.
Lastly, I started (and am still listening to) A Crown of Swords, the seventh Wheel of Time novel. I was trucking along pretty well diving into Randland on an almost monthly basis for the first portion of the year, but it was July when I finished the preceding installment, Lord of Chaos. At this point, what can I say about a Wheel of Time novel. I knew this book is where many fans of the series see the "slog" creeping in, but so far I'm feeling very comfortable back in the world. It has been just over a decade since I re-read this book so this makes the audio version I'm currently consuming the third time I'm reading the book.
Another month, another batch of books read
and shelved. Let’s start with the lone book I reviewed for SFFWorld, In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan
In the Shadow of Lightningis an enormously entertaining, inventive, and smart novel. As a series starter, it does everything perfectly…lays the ground for the world and the people, invites speculation about where the plot can go, provides some closure, but leaves the door open for the inevitable second novel. I was a fan of Brian’s Powder Mage Trilogy and this book reminded my why I like his writing and storytelling so much…it is FUN! I could feel how much Brian enjoyed
crafting this magic system and have his characters play in it, the feeling was infectious. That’s something he has always infused his work with and reminds me I need to catch up with the sequel trilogy to Powder Mage Trilogy.
I’ve slowly been making my way through Chuck Wendig’s Miriam Black series and I tore through the fourth book, Thunderbird early in the month in about a day or two. With each book I read from Chuck Wendig, he climbs my top 10 list of favorite writers. This series is a horror/mystery/noirish hybrid that focuses on title character Miriam Black who can tell you when you die. In this fourth novel, Miriam is even more broken. This installment finds Miriam hoping to get rid of her ability to see people’s deaths, which she considers a curse. Of course, it isn’t that easy for Miriam because she gets caught up with drug dealers in the Southwest and bad things happen. I’ve got two more books in the series and I’m vacillating between consuming them quickly because they are so damned good and stretching out that consumption because well, then they won’t be new to me any longer. DAMN YOU WENDIG!
After bouncing off of Ava Reid’s newest novel, Juniper & Thorn, I dove into S.P. Miskowski’s The Worst is Yet to Come. This one is a few years old (2019), but I’ve been seeing it mentioned with some frequency in some of the horror social media circles I’ve been following. None of that prepared me for what was in store in this dark, sort-of-coming-of-age story. Tasha is a 14 year-old girl who befriends Briar, a new girl in town, much to the chagrin of her mother. Miskowski brilliantly tells this story from multiple points of view and each layer of dread that unfolds reveals a new layer of dread. Miskowski has more stories set in this town of Skillute and I think I need to get my hands on them. Also, that cover is just hauntingly gorgeous.
After a couple of dark tales, I jumped into a book I’ve had sitting on Mount Toberead since late 2017 – Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft, the first novel in his Books of Babel. This book was a self-published sensation when Orbit republished it and the second book, Arm of the Sphinx, in 2018. What makes this novel so enchanting is how it is everything an Epic Fantasy novel should be, but has similarities to so very few Epic Fantasy novels I’ve read. The closest two novels that come to mind for me are Alastair Reynolds’s Terminal Worldand Gregory Frost’s Shadowbridge. Those comparisons really don’t do justice to the magic of what Josiah Bancroft has done with this novel and world. Bancroft sets his story in a world that has many similarities to our own, but is clearly just echoing that familiarity, the story has a fable-like feel too it, as well.
Title character Thomas Senlin takes his wife Marya to the Tower of Babel for their honeymoon. The tower is an enormous, continuously growing structure with each vast level, or "ringdom," essentially a world unto itself. Thomas and Marya are separated almost immediately and he spends the bulk of the novel searching for her. Bancroft’s prose is elegant, it lulls you in like a comforting blanket, but the stories it reveals over the course of Senlin’s journeys through four of the forty "ringdoms" are harrowing, enchanting, and often dark. The fourth and final novel published November 2021, so I may have to binge the three remaining books I’ve yet to read.
If there’s one author I’ve “discovered” in the sense that I hadn’t read them before the last year or so who has jumped up my must buy list it is Jonathan Janz. The third book I’ve read by him over the last year, The Raven is a post-apocalyptic/horror/adventure hybrid. Prior to the events depicted in the novel, in order to avert what was thought to be a guaranteed nuclear holocaust a group of rogue scientists played with human genes that triggered monsters of legend, like werewolves, zombies, cannibals, and vampires, to reemerge from our “junk DNA” in the world. They were always real in the world of The Raven, but mankind all but erased them from memory. The titular character, The Raven, is Dez, a man trying to survive in this broken world and find the woman he loves. Dez
is guilt-ridden for the lives he couldn’t save, which drives him to find and hopefully save her. This one is a blast and Janz is releasing a second book (hopefully of many) later in the year.
Audio
Books
I mentioned last month I was in the home stretch for Lindsay Buroker’s fantastic Star Kingdom saga and I finished the last book in the series, Layers of Force about halfway through the month. I can’t recommend this series highly enough, fun, light-hearted, and optimistic with some interesting SF tropes on display. The narration by Fred Berman is awesome.After that, I tried a new series from a trusted author: Seanan McGuire’s Discount Armaeddon, the first novel in her InCryptid series. If the first book in the series is any indication, I’m going to enjoy these books. They focus Verity Price a ballroom dancer and part of a family of Cryptozoologists, who were once monster hunters. Verity's family realized a couple of hundred years ago that hunting and killing innocent monsters might not be such a good thing. There are some similarities with Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter International series, but those are mostly superficial. McGuire’s series, at least based on this first book, is far less
militaristic and a little more upbeat and flavored with more romance. Enormously fun in every way.
I went back to The Wheel of Time with book six, Lord of Chaos. I’ve only just begun, but I think this is one where the
bloat starts to creep into the series. I’m enjoying it on what is either my third or fourth re-read. The audiobook is 40 hours so I may not finish it in July!
I read a few books in April, one of which is a May release. I’ll be posting my review to SFFWorld on May 3, the day of publication. I also posted a couple of book reviews in April, books I read in March: The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne, the spectacular second entry in his Norse-inspired Bloodsworn saga. Bottom line: this is shaping up to be a stellar fantasy saga.
The other book review was T. Kingfisher’s Nettle & Bone a modern take on the tried and true fairy tale about the princess who wants to marry the prince. In the case of this delightful novel, a princess wants to kill the prince. I highly recommend this one, too.
On the audiobook front, the entire month was consumed joyfully with book four of The Wheel of Time, The Fires of Heaven wonderfully narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading.
I continued with my descent into the Horror genre with two gems from small presses.
John F.D. Taff’s The Fearing, which was originally published in serialized format as short novels/novellas, much like Stephen King’s The Green Mile. Grey Matter Press released a “Definitive Edition”/omnibus slightly re-worked by Taff to be more of a novel. Boy-howdy did I enjoy this book. In it, all the fears of the world have been unleashed and it is up to a handful of characters to figure out how to navigate this world in the midst of transforming. Seemingly at the head of this release of fears is a man named Adam. Taff follows Adam’s journey across America and his affect on the people he encounters along with a few groups of characters who manage to survive the catastrophies and monsters unleashed in the world.
Have I said I loved this book? Well, Robert R. McCammon’s Swan Song, Stephen King’s The Stand, and Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers now have another book joining them on my proverbial top shelf of Epic, Apocalyptic Horror. Love the cover on this one, too.
Gwendolyn Kiste’s The Rust Maidens received the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel and it has been appearing on several lists when I'm looking for a good creepy read.
Set in 1980, Kiste paints a very bleak picture of a Cleveland manufacturing town in the process of dying. The factory which employs the majority of men in town may be closing or cutting back. Phoebe is our protagonist who is returning to town when her mother is about to move from the family home and the area is even more rundown in 2008 than it was in the 1980. Phoebe is powerfully devoted to her friends, even when they exhibit strange maladies like leaking water, glass fingernails, and showing metal bones.
Kiste does a fantastic job with character and place in this novel. I could have used a little bit more of an explanation of why these girls were transformed, but sometimes in life, things happen without explanation.
I’ll be reading more from Gwendolyn Kiste in the future.
Unfortunately, one book did not work for me and it is from an author whose work I typically adore. Seanan McGuire’s Season Fears is the “companion” novel to her masterpiece, Middlegame. I found the book to be an overwrought world-building exercise, with one of the main characters taking far too long to actually believe what was happening. The plot momentum was extremely sluggish and everything was bogged down with dense, complicated, and confusing world building.
It has been a few years since I did a reading year in review here at the Blog o’ Stuff, the most recent being 2018, and before that, 2015 so apparently, I update this blog every 3 years. That's a far cry from the multiple posts per week I'd publish in this blog's heyday.
For completeness sake, here are the other previous years I’ve put up a reading year in review, 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. Where those book lists are focused only on 2021 releases, here at the dusty old Blog o' Stuff, I don't limit the list to just 2021 releases. I'm still very actively reviewing for both SFFWorld and The Tap Takeover
2021 was a tougher year than 2020 in some ways. We thought normalcy would return, but that did not happen. We are still in a pandemic. The year began for me with surgery on my shoulder (which I scheduled in 2020, but still) and for the better part of the first half of the year, our sweet dog Sully was fighting major health issues, passing away at just over 11 years old on May 4, 2021. My wife and I were heart-broken, but we realized how much joy Sully brought to us over those years. In the summer; however, our spirits were brightened by the arrival of our new puppy, Dusty! She brings a smile to our face constantly and she was and is the perfect dog at the right time, she is exactly what we needed.
Of the nearly 100 books I read in 2021, here are some stats:
30 2021/current year releases
33 reviews posted to SFFWorld
40 can be considered Fantasy
32 can be considered Horror
18 can be considered Science Fiction
32 books by authors new to me
47 Books by women
15 total debut
17 audiobooks
I also have to give a huge shout out to a couple of book folks on social media who have re-invigorated my love for the Horror genre. It isn't like I didn't read horror in the past, but it usually made up only about 20% to 25% of the books I read in any given year. In 2021 Horror was 34% of what I read. Fantasy is usually about 50%. Those shout outs: My college pal Dave Aldrich who started up his own booktube channel, Book Blather. Sadie Hartmann, AKA Mother Horror, who runs the Night Worms Book Box subscription service with Ashley Sawyers aka Spookish Mommy, maybe the best cheerleader/advocates for horror fiction I've come across in years as well as Neil McRobert's Talking Scared podcast. All positivity from them and quite a few books and writers I discovered this year are a result of following Sadie on Twitter and Instagram. Also, shout out also to my former SF Signal colleague Derek Austin Johnson (twitter), who has been posting one horror book per day for the whole year on his Instagram.
So, without further adieu, below are the books I enjoyed reading the most in 2021. There's no order outside of the first two on this post. If I've reviewed the book, the title will link to the review.
The Book of Accidentsby Chuck Wendig (My favorite overall novel of 2021, Favorite Horror)
What can I say about this novel without giving away too much of what makes it tick, from the dark and supernatural point of view? Nothing really, because this book turned into something quite unexpected. What I will say is that Oliver is a wonderful creation, despite the pain he feels from others, he does not crumble or wither. He finds strength in how this ability makes him want to help others. Like Oliver, what Chuck has done in The Book of Accidents is powerfully build up empathy in the characters he’s created in this novel. On the whole, their motivations seem genuine, their actions understandable if not approved, and the characters simply come to life.
In my review of Wanderers, I mentioned Chuck Wendig’s affinity for the fiction of Stephen King and parts of this novel (in addition to the elderly, friendly neighbor) definitely evoke the best of King’s work. The genius here; however, is that Chuck Wendig completely owns everything in The Book of Accidents. The result, a modern masterpiece of Dark/Horror Fiction.
The Bone Makerby Sarah Beth Durst (My Favorite Fantasy Novel of 2021)
Getting the gang back together is a popular motif in many stories, fantasy stories included. One of the most popular (and one of the foundational fantasy sagas in this vein for me) is the DragonLance Chronicles, so I suppose I’m pre-disposed to liking stories that begin in this fashion. In The Bone Maker, the evil sorcerer was defeated 25 years ago, but at no small cost to the heroes who took him down.
Durst examines some deep things here, grief, forgiveness moving on (or not) from a powerful traumatic experience, faith/belief in ideals, and life being more than just one event. She does so this all while weaving a wonderful story and a fascinating, potent magic system in the back drop. The characters a mature, fully rounded, breathing, emotive people whose experiences so completely inform every action they take. Small things in the background of Durst’s writing, storytelling, and world-building make the story and characters on the page come across very elegantly.
In a shelf-filled with multi-volume fantasies it is not only refreshing to see and enjoy a single-volume Epic Fantasy novel, but truly something special for the book to be this amazing.
I’m a big horror fan, but the slasher sub-genre was never my go-to subset of the genre. It isn’t that I dislike it, I just prefer some of the other flavors of horror. Of course, I’m familiar with a couple of the big ones like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and one of my overall favorite horror movies, A Nightmare on Elm Street, so some of the character stand-ins/homages didn’t land with me 100% since I’m not super well-versed in Slasher films. Again, that isn’t necessarily the point nor are those connections required to be made to completely enjoy the novel, more like a dash of whip cream on a delicious scoop of ice cream. In fact, Dr. Carol Elliott is likely an homage to Professor Carol J. Clover, who coined the term “Final Girl” and theory in her 1992 book, Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. All of that said, The Final Girl Support Group was an enormously fun, extremely smart, thrill ride of a novel. It is a novel that both entertains and Makes a Statement, which in my mind, is what great literature should do. I continue to say this when I write about Grady Hendrix’s work, but with each novel or thing (non-fiction like Paperbacks from Hell or films he’s written) he produces in the genre, he’s cementing himself as a foundational voice in early 21st Century Horror. His novels have become appointment reading for me at this point.
In everything I’ve read from Django Wexler, especially Blood of the Chosen, the action and combat scenes are essential, and extremely fun to experience. I didn’t feel like I was just reading the words on the page, I felt like I was a proverbial fly on the wall in the action. This is especially true of the final conflict of the novel, so much of the narrative was slow burn build that the explosive ending was extremely compelling. The slow burn of the novel’s beginning made the build-up and the action of the finale that more enjoyable. That ending also sows seeds in some verdant land for a potent continuation in the third novel.
As thick as this novel was, just over 400 pages, I read through it rather briskly. Wexler is a damned fine storyteller and his love of the fantastic comes through the page as a catchy thing.
The Ghost Tree: Henry does a great job with the pacing of the novel as she goes between the multiple threads of the novel. Alongside that strong element of the novel are the emotions of the characters and how strongly the come across the page. From the loneliness Lauren feels, to the awful feelings conveyed by Mrs. Schneider, to the anger the Lopez family feels, Henry makes each character unique.
The Ghost Tree plays on some popular tropes in the horror genre, a 1980s setting, a small town with secret, haunted woods/tree, a hidden lineage and plays with them extremely well. One of my favorite horror novels over the past decade and a half is Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge and I found some really nice resonance between the two novels – small, isolated town with a dark secret being the most prominent.
Near the Bone: This is the second book I read by Henry, but it will be far from my last. Set in a remote, secluded mountain cabin, Mattie is in what can be considered an unhealthy relationship with her husband William. She is confined to the cabin, except when William needs her help and William wants nobody to know of their presence on the mountain. When she discovers a mutilated fox, William decides to hunt down the thing that left the corpse near their house. Strange, inhuman voices begin to cry out in the night and visitors stumble upon Mattie and William. Part psychological thriller, part monster story, Henry tells a taut, gripping horror story here.
Wizard of the Pigeonis a novel that can work on multiple layers, and the power of Lindholm’s prose is in the ambiguity that allows the reader for that kind of experience. It can easily be readable as a novel with real magic in Seattle while it can also be read as an account of a man suffering from severe PTSD whose coping mechanism is thinking of himself as a wizard. The third alternative is a combination of the two. For me, I see magic.
I must also comment on the physical book itself. As I intimated above, this book has largely been out of print for well over a decade. Sean Speakman, owner of Grim Oak Press decided to publish this 35th Anniversary edition and it is a book whose beauty does justice to the powerful story told between its covers. With evocative full-page color art pieces by Tommy Arnold, the book gets a truly Artistic treatment in terms of a physical book being a piece of art or an artifact.
This book is a must read, must own for readers of the genre especially if you’ve enjoyed anything by Robin Hobb. Wizard of the Pigeons is a progenitor of the Urban Fantasy genre in the truest sense of magic in the cityscape and not leather-clad vampires and vampire hunters. Not that there’s anything wrong with leather clad vamps and vamp hunters, but this book is not that. This book is a beautiful testament to the power of prose, how beauty can be found and carved out of pain and through suffering.
Mount Fitz Roy by Scott Sigler
Mount Fitz Roy is the sequel to Sigler’s hugely popular novel Earthcore. I listened to both books via audible. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read from Sigler and when he re-released Earthcore with the great Ray Porter on audio, I finally read it…and immediately wanted to read Mount Fitz Roy. The premise is that an something on is hiding in the caves of large mountains where knives form an ancient civilization are found. It really isn’t a spoiler to point out this civilization aren’t human. Sigler builds up tension incredibly well and is a master at science fiction horror. Porter is maybe the best narrator I’ve had the pleasure to hear.
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
A run down motel, murders in the past connected to our protagonist Carly who decides to work in the hotel to try to solve the unsolved murder of her aunt Viv 35 years earlier. St. James tells the story in parallel timelines, Carly in the present and Viv in the past, which makes the pages fly by because of St. James’s ability to end each chapter in a way that forces you to continue reading. The Sun Down Motel was a near pitch-perfect supernatural murder mystery, one of those books I wish I could read again for the first time.
Ava Reid
has boldly announced herself as a literary force with The Wolf and the
Woodsman. The novel is impressive in its beauty, characters, and uncompromising
nature and is all the more impressive for being Reid’s debut novel. I would not
be in the least bit surprised if The Wolf and the Woodsman lands
on multiple “Best of the Year” lists for 2021.
Sarah Chorn’s second novel, Of Honey and Wildfires, is the start of a new series/new world and new characters. Set in a world that evokes the old West/Frontier, the Shine and mining of it dominates everything. The closest analogue I can think of is that Shine is kind of like Spice from Dune. It heals, it is a source of power, it can be consumed, it is everything. …
Human emotion, tragedy, and pain are wrought beautifully on these pages through Sarah Chorn’s carefully constructed prose. There’s a sliver of hope throughout the undercurrent of despair and pain that helps to drive the narrative. Of Honey and Wildfires is a compulsively readable novel whose relatively short page count for the genre (barely 300 pages) belies the epic story and gamut of emotions and purely powerful storytelling on display.
Chapman takes very real-life events and uses that as a launching pad to spin a gripping story out of those events. He does a fantastic job of humanizing the participants of what would seem to be a larger-than-life bombastic news story. I’ve long been fan of parallel narratives and here in Whisper Down the Lane, Chapman builds up the tension in both Sean and Richard’s stories. It is probably not much of a secret that these stories converge in some fashion, but how Chapman builds towards this convergence is extremely effective. He has a knack for creating a compulsive narrative, which is why I burned through the novel in a couple of days, Whisper Down the Lane was extremely challenging to set down.
Whisper Down the Lane is a potent, compulsive thriller with horrific elements that is one of the most gripping novels I’ve read this year.
Much of the story feels like a historical fantasy / fairy tale, but then Brom shifts the tone into something darker and a story firmly entrenched in horror. That build of tension and build of Abitha’s character is like a powder keg that explodes in what at one time could be considered dark magic. Here also is what Brom does so well…he upturns the historical perspective and turns the “good” on its head into something not quite so pleasant. He does this via the simmering of tension I mentioned earlier as well as the path Abitha’s nemesis Wallace takes. Brom gives readers a character to root for in Abitha and an antagonist that is unlikeable in Wallace. Brom doesn’t just make Wallace a cardboard cut-out of a villain, he balances the character by showing some insight into the Wallace’s motivation. We see why he feels the way he does, even if his reaction to those feelings are villainous.
Brom’s art, a half-dozen color plates in the center of the book and chapter icons that take up half the page, enhance the immersive experience of Slewfoot. His words are just as potent at telling the story as is his art. The obvious comparison in recent years is to the film The VVitch because the timeframe, horrific elements, witchcraft, but except maybe a bit more hopeful.
Brom has created a story that feels familiar and fresh and is the kind of powerful story that could last through the generations as a book/novel/story to revisit every Hallowe’en.
Star Kingdom by Lindsay Buroker
This is the second series I’ve read from Buroker and she has a great knack for character and storytelling in her work. She’s self-published (one of the biggest names in genre self-published authors), but most of her work is also available via audible. This series takes place thousands of years in the future when humanity has left Earth. The Star Kingdom series focuses on robotics professor Casmir Dabrowski, who is forced to flee his comfortable life when he is being hunted for reasons he can’t imagine. Joining Casmir is his best friend and roommate Kim Sato and filled with great character development, thrilling action, and are just pure fun. These audio books are available as omnibus editions and are fantastic listens.
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
I guess I re-read this series about once every ten years. Or when the TV Show starts up. Either way, I am in the midst of re-reading the series via audiobook and I’m loving it. I’ve said quite a bit about this series in the past, and as of this writing, I had just finished The Dragon Reborn.
Maradaine by Marshall Ryan Maresca
Maresca’s interlinked series of series has been a delight. I read The Thorn of Dentonhill back in 2015, dove back into some of the Maradaine novels last year, and have continued to make my way through the various series this year, in chronological order not in series order, which is what Mr. Maresca recommends. These books are relatively short (barely 400 pages at most) in mass market paperback and have a sword and sorcery feel to them, taking place in a shared location. In many ways, his Maradaine saga is not unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe, four trilogies that eventually tie together. You don’t necessarily need to read one of the trilogies to get what is going on in the other, but it makes for a more rewarding experience. Maresca has a handy "reading order" guide.
I also reviewed, and loved the 2021 entry in this series, An Unintended Voyage, which seems to act as a bridge between "Phase One" of Maradaine and the next phase.
Miriam Black by Chuck Wendig
For all that I’ve read by Chuck Wendig, I’d never read his breakout series, Miriam Black and the only reason I’m not kicking myself for not getting to this series sooner is because I’m not getting to experience these books for the first time. Miriam can tell you how you die and exactly when you die just by touching you. That doesn’t sound fun at all, and Miriam would agree with that sentiment. Horror/thriller/mystery rolled together, I think Chuck has said he envisions these as horror novels. I’m not going to argue with the man. I’ve read the first three thus far, Blackbirds, Mockingbird, and The Cormorant.
I think it might be obvious at this point that my author of the year is Chuck Wendig. Even if I hadn’t met and chatted with him in the past, I’d love his books and writing.
So...not a bad year for reading for me. This year was the first time in probably 15 to 20 years that I got close to reading 100 books in a year.
Impulse (The Lightship Chronicles #2) by Dave Bara (DAW Hardcover 01/05/2016) – Second installment in Bara’s Military SF/Space Opera series. I enjoyed the first, Impulse earlier this year.
THE FIRST EMPIRE HAS RETURNED.
THE NEW GALACTIC UNION HANGS IN THE BALANCE…
The Lightship H.M.S. IMPULSE is gone, sacrificed while defeating First Empire ships the fragile new galactic alliance had hoped it would never see again...
For Peter Cochrane, serving as third officer aboard his world's flagship, H.M.S STARBOUND is a dream that's finally come true. Tasked with investigating a mysterious space station in a newly re-discovered star system, Peter and STARBOUND face a terrible attack. The wounds of that battle may heal with time, but the war is far from over as the First Empire returns, aided by new traitors from within the Union itself!.
Mystic by Jason Denzel (Tor Hardcover 11/03/2015) – This is filmmaker and Wheel of Time uber fan (owner of Dragonmount, the premier Wheel of Time fan website.
Mystic is the start of an enchanting new epic fantasy series from Jason Denzel, the founder of Dragonmount.
I called to the Myst, and it sent us you.
For hundreds of years, high-born nobles have competed for the chance to learn of the Myst. Powerful, revered, and often reclusive, Mystics have the unique ability to summon and manipulate the Myst: the underlying energy that lives at the heart of the universe. Once in a very great while, they take an apprentice, always from the most privileged sects of society. Such has always been the tradition-until a new High Mystic takes her seat and chooses Pomella AnDone, a restless, low-born teenager, as a candidate.
Commoners have never been welcomed among the select few given the opportunity to rise beyond even the highest nobility. So when Pomella chooses to accept the summons and journey to Kelt Apar, she knows that she will have more to contend with than the competition for the apprenticeship.
Breaking both law and tradition, Pomella undergoes three trials against the other candidates to prove her worthiness. As the trials unfold, Pomella navigates a deadly world of intolerance and betrayal, unaware that ruthless conspirators intend to make her suffer for having the audacity to seek to unravel the secrets of the Myst.
The Wheel of Time Companion by Robert Jordan, Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons (Tor Hardcover 11/03/2015) – I think it is fair to say I’m a fan of the Wheel of Time, so this is a very cool book to have. It is *enormous* and very much an encyclopedia of information.
Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time® by Robert Jordan has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters. Over the course of fifteen books and millions of words, the world that Jordan created grew in depth and complexity. However, only a fraction of what Jordan imagined ended up on the page, the rest going into his personal files.
Now The Wheel of Time Companion sheds light on some of the most intriguing aspects of the world, including biographies and motivations of many characters that never made it into the books, but helped bring Jordan's world to life.
Included in the volume in an A-to-Z format are:
An entry for each named character
An inclusive dictionary of the Old Tongue
New maps of the Last Battle
New portraits of many characters
Histories and customs of the nations of the world
The strength level of many channelers
Descriptions of the flora and fauna unique to the world
And much more!
The Wheel of Time Companion will be required reading for The Wheel of Time's millions of fans.
I’ve attended one author signing, George R.R. Martin’s signing for A Dance with Dragons, worked Book Expo America a couple of times and hamet and had Peter V. Brett and Myke Cole sign things for me at NY Comic-Con.
Rear: Me, Bob S, Brandon, Drew; Front: Phil, SaraJane, Harriet, Paul, and Ash
The Brandon Sanderson signing in the Philadelphia Library on February 19, 2013; however, was a bit different. I was one of the helpers, designated as a Memory Keeper whereby seven people in total helped to keep the line of fans (approximately 300-400) entertained; take photos of fans with Brandon and Harriet; and to help with the shuffling of books between Brandon and Harriet when the books were signed.
Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? The event began for me at about 5:15 when I met three of the other seven Memory Keepers (Paul, Phil, and SaraJane) at the Library and proceeded to a nice restaurant close to the Library where we chatted over dinner. Paul, Phil, and Sara-Jane were as enthused as I was. Phil brought several pieces of memorabilia (Wheel of Time playing cards most of which have really great art although the rendition of Rand makes him look like the lead singer of a 1980s hair-metal band, a poster of one of the cards) which we exchanged over dinner.
As is often the case when people like us get together, the discussion strayed a bit and of course it landed on A Song of Ice and Fire and the Game of Thrones show on HBO as well as other authors we enjoyed. As dinner was winding down, Drew, the fifth Memory Keeper arrived. Me being a NJ Devils fan, I of course made sure I wore my NJ Devils hoodie and Drew, a fan of the rival Philadelphia Flyers, had kind words for me (i.e. not kind), but he then joined in with our discussion of A Memory of Light and similar reading tastes (George R.R. Martin, Terry Brooks, Joe Abercrombie and I kept mentioning Peter V. Brett and Myke Cole as authors they should be reading) and hashed out who are favorite WoT characters were. Discussion focused quite a bit on The Last Battle
Phil, Me, Paul & Sara Jane
Dinner concluded and we headed back to the library and donned our red Memory Keepers t-shirts, met up with the remaining Memory Keepers (Bob S. and Ash) and set about our tasks. Initially, we just sort of walked the line of people waiting to go into the auditorium in the library's basement. Phil took photos and helped to herd people into the auditorium, which was eventually filled with some folks standing in the rear. Prior to Brandon and Harriet arriving, I had the opportunity to speak with Joshua Bilmes and Jessie Cammack of JABberwocky Literary Agency, who represents Brandon as well as great authors like Peter V. Brett, Jack Campbell, Myke Cole, David Louis Edelman, Jim Hines, Elizabeth Moon, and T.C. McCarthy among many others. Memory Keeper Paul and I discussed with them some of their clients a. We also discussed the Composite Superman of an author Peter Brent Weeks and the event in general.
Brandon and Harriet arrived after their dinner with the library staff. Brandon apologized for his voice because he’d be sucking on cough drops because, well, he’s been touring and his throat was sore from all the talking at this late stage of the tour. He recounted the story of his introduction to The Wheel of Time and fantasy in general. Brandon told the story (which I’m sure he’s recounted at many of these signings and many interviews) of how Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly (a terrific novel recently re-released by Open Road Media in eBook) was gently forced upon him by his teacher named Mrs. Reader and Brandon was hooked on fantasy. Realizing he liked big books, he found The Eye of the World at his local comic/book/Magic store and was happy to finally have a series that was ‘his’ to share with his friends who were always sharing ‘their’ series with him. When Brandon mentioned submitting his novels for publication, the one novel he submitted directly to Tor rather than through his agent was his first published novel Elantris. Brandon recounted how he didn’t let Joshua (his agent) do his job and negotiate because he wanted to be published by Tor, specifically because they published The Wheel of Time. In 2005 Elantris was published.
Harriet joined in the storytelling when it came to the point where Brandon was offered the gig to finish writing the series
Two natural storytellers keeping the crowd entertained
Harriet also told of how she realized Brandon would be "The Guy" (or as I've sometimes thought, the proverbial Rand Al'Thor tapped on the shoulder by the creator to take up the tale). She also relayed her conversation with Tom Doherty, after being handed a printout of Brandon’s eulogy for Robert Jordan. Doherty was concerned that maybe Harriet didn’t connect with Brandon’s writing because Harriet fell asleep after reading a small portion of Mistborn: The Final Empire. Harriet said because she didn’t want to (a) correct everything in the book due to her Editor’s mindset or (b) throw the book across the room in frustration, she felt comfortable with the story he was telling. She also told Doherty, “Besides, I’m not hiring him to write a Mistborn novel, I’m hiring him to write a Wheel of Time novel.”
Harriet mentioned that when she called information for Provo, Utah, she was given Brandon Sanderson’s phone number, but the person with whom she spoke on the phone had no idea about what she was talking. As it turned out, another Brandon Sanderson lives in Provo, UT but he’s a professional wrestler. When she called Brandon, she told him he was on the short list and held up one finger for the audience. Brandon, after thinking about it, said yes. Again, he didn’t let Joshua do any negotiating, Brandon simply said yes.
Another humorous anecdote involved the many, many, many files Robert Jordan kept regarding The Wheel of Time. Brandon was determined to get a word count of all the notes so he assembled all the word documents into one file. If I recall correctly, Brandon mentioned the page count was at 32,000 pages in his final document when he clicked the word count button. Word stopped at (IIRC) 5 million words and it wasn’t done counting. Word and his PC summarily crashed.
The Q&A session then began, much of which involved questions about The Wheel of Time and Brandon’s experience working in it. He also noted that the second Stormlight Archivebook is tentatively set for the fall/November 2013, and he hopes he can make that date.
When a fan asked about the Outrigger novels and Prequels, Harriet answered “No.” After a moment of silence, she recounted that while Jim very much wanted the mainline Wheel of Time series to be finished, he didn’t want anybody making up things in his sandbox. Jordan’s extensive notes, dictated and written, were the framework for the final three novels while three sentences at most constitute the Outrigger and prequel novels.
When asked why Brandon didn’t write the second Stormlight novel between Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light he indicated writing The Way of Kings simultaneously with The Wheel of Time nearly drove him crazy. (Personal note, it is amazing that he produced two quality novels under that type of pressure.)
Brandon also indicated that he felt selfish about asking if he could create a new character or work with a character which was mostly his own creation for the books. Harriet immediately shushed him for hinting that he was selfish for thinking such a thing, then Brandon continued to tell of the creation of Androl, which allowed him to play with the magic in ways he’d hoped (fannishly) to explore (i.e. Portals). Harriet also provided Brandon with a folder about how leathermaking works in Randland which was perfectly timed to provide Androl with more depth as a character.
The Encyclopedia came up in the discussion as potentially publishing next year. Harriet indicated that this “wouldn’t be just another version of the Big White Book.” It would be an encyclopedia in the truest sense of the word and would likely include some of Jordan’s vast stores of notes. Once the manuscript is finished, it will go off to Tor and illustrating will begin. Unlike the rushed (to be kind) illustrations in the Big White Book, more time will be allowed for the illustrations. No illustrator name was given, so it wasn’t clear if they had one under contract already, if they would have only one illustrator for the entire volume, or if multiple illustrators would be commissioned. Personally, I can see both sides, having one artist’s vision for things in Randland would provide a unified vision versus the chance to see a lot of artists take on things in Randland.
A few more specific questions were asked about things like Asha’man, one person noted that he’d been with his wife for “five books,” another mentioned that she hadn’t read The Wheel of Time and was more of a Brandon Sanderson fan but started The Eye of the World once A Memory of Light published and was really enjoying it.
Questions were asked about the difference between editing Jordan and editing Brandon. Harriet responded that it worked well and Brandon’s insightful answer was that it was not as problematic as one might think. Specifically, Harriet knows more about the characters and world of The Wheel of Time than anybody in the world, so Brandon felt that freed him up a bit in order to flow through the story more easily. After the Q&A/Discussion concluded, everybody headed upstairs to the main foyer of the library for the signing.
Whoo boy.
A small portion of the line.
The line wended its way down a hall, around bookcases and finally outside of the library and around the side of the building. I believe approximately 400 people were on line at one point, with many of them holding onto their minimum 3 items. Brandon would sign only the final three Wheel of Time novels (and none of the ones he didn’t co-author), any of his own novels, and whatever assorted Wheel of Time miscellany (such as the poster one of the Memory Keepers brought). Harriet would sign and Wheel of Time novel or memorabilia and Ender’s Game which she edited. I did not know she edited that novel.
My role at this point was to take pictures of people with Brandon and/or Harriet on fan’s own cameras/devices. Point of information, the camera on the iPhone is FAR superior to the camera on Android devices. Phil was handling overall photo events, and Bob was handling the video. SaraJane sat between Brandon and Harriet preparing the books for Harriet after Brandon’s signature. Drew, Paul, and Ash helped to entertain the crowd/line with Wheel of Time trivia which resulted in people walking away with messenger bags and/or iPhone cases emblazoned with the WOT logo, author’s names and A Memory of Light. Towards the end as the line became more bunched up at the signing table, Paul stepped up and helped to take some photos.
Although I was taking some pictures during the signing, I was able to point my ears into some of the conversations between Brandon and the fans.
First and foremost, Brandon is an awesome person.
He first thanked people for coming, then asked if they had any questions for him. Never once did he rush anybody or shush them. For fans who mentioned they were writers themselves, he offered words of encouragement.
One great bit of information I overheard was the next Mistborn novel would be published in 2014. Brandon also mentioned (and I tried to filter this through all the other discussions circulating) that Hoid would be the main character (I think) of the trilogy or that Hoid would feature as the main character in another trilogy.
I also overheard Brandon say his least favorite Wheel of Time character was Cadsuane, I don’t think he is alone in that. Actually, for I fact I know he isn’t alone because she was probably my least favorite character as well.
One Russian fan brought a Russian edition of Mistborn: The Final Empire to be signed.
Another Bulgarian fan said the Bulgarian translations, which are recent, were done very well.
I spoke to Harriet about the covers in the series, remarking how she indicated when she saw Whelan’s cover for A Memory of Light she said “that is the Rand I have waited to see for twenty years.” Harriet then said how Whelan’s art, though his own style, she felt, was able to mesh with the sensibilities Sweet had always brought to his covers, in particular the landscapes. I asked her what her favorites of the covers were she immediately said The Eye of the World she thought another moment and said she liked The Shadow Rising.
After all the other folks had their books signed it was down to the library staff, Brandon, Harriet, Brandon’s agent Joshua and the seven Memory Keepers. Brandon graciously signed what we brought including my paperback copy of The Way of Kings which quotes my SFFWorld review and calls out my name (!!!).
Still chuffed to see my name in print like that! First time I'm called out by name.
I also had my hardcover copies of Mistborn: The Hero of Ages, A Memory of Light, and Towers of Midnight signed as well as The Alloy of Law signed for one of my wife’s colleagues and paperbacks of Mistborn: The Well of Ascension and Mistborn: The Hero of Ages signed for a friend who was unable to attend.
My SFFWorld review of The Well of Ascencion is on the back flap
So, a long night, but one of the best nights I’ve had as a fan and a reader. It was a blast meeting and chatting with Harriet and Brandon, as well as his agent Joshua and great to get to know some other Wheel of Time fans in real life. A big thanks to the folks at Tor books, Brandon, Robert Jordan, Harriet McDougal and the folks at Dragonmount for making this night possible
