Five of the best, part 1
Dec. 28th, 2014 05:55 pmSince we're almost at the end of the year, I thought I'd post a number of my top 5 lists of things for 2014:
Top 5 books:
1. Ancillary Justice and Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie - I can have these two as one, can't I? Cracking space opera, first book very rightly won All The Awards, can't wait for book 3.
2. Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter - a great WorldCon find, again the first of a trilogy, this one about genetic manipulation. Highly recommended.
3. Three Parts Dead and Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone. IMHO, Max should have won the John W Campbell award this year, as I loved both these books, which are set in a universe where accountancy and magic are very closely related. Again, highly recommended, need to get my hands on book 3 (Full Fathom Five), with book 4 (Last First Snow) also due out soon.
4. Holy Bones, Holy Dust by Charles Freeman - after all that science fiction and fantasy, how about a little non-fiction for the last 2? First off there's this, an absolutely fascinating look at the business of relics.
5. To the Edge of the World by Christian Wolmar - this was my other non-fiction highlight of 2014, a history of the building of the Trans-Siberian railway. As with any endeavour of this sort, it's a wonder it ever got built at all, but I hadn't realised that its very building had played such a pivotal part in Russian history.
E.T.A: Honourable mentions to Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman and Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron, among others...
Top 5 graphic novels:
1. Saga volumes 1 & 2 - I'd heard a lot of good things about this series, all of which were true. Clever and funny, with some great characters, it's also stunningly drawn.
2. Hawkeye volumes 1 & 2 - how can anyone not love a series where a storyline is written from the perspective of the hero's dog? Rightly or wrongly, I don't think I can ever divorce this version of Hawkeye from my head-canon regarding that character.
3. The Wicked and the Divine volume 1 - again with the stunning artwork, can't wait to see where this goes next.
4. Rat Queens volume 1 - after all those superhero storylines, here's something a little different, described by the publishers as 'sass-and-sorcery'.
5. Sex Criminals volume 1 - again, something different, this time someone who discovers that when she has sex, time stops. When she meets someone else with the same ability, they decide to use it to rob a bank; naturally, hijinks ensue!
Honourable mentions to The Fuse volume 1, Captain Marvel volume 1 and Pretty Deadly volume 1, as well as a bunch of stuff I haven't got around to yet (Ms Marvel and Black Widow being primary among them).
Top 5 books:
1. Ancillary Justice and Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie - I can have these two as one, can't I? Cracking space opera, first book very rightly won All The Awards, can't wait for book 3.
2. Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter - a great WorldCon find, again the first of a trilogy, this one about genetic manipulation. Highly recommended.
3. Three Parts Dead and Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone. IMHO, Max should have won the John W Campbell award this year, as I loved both these books, which are set in a universe where accountancy and magic are very closely related. Again, highly recommended, need to get my hands on book 3 (Full Fathom Five), with book 4 (Last First Snow) also due out soon.
4. Holy Bones, Holy Dust by Charles Freeman - after all that science fiction and fantasy, how about a little non-fiction for the last 2? First off there's this, an absolutely fascinating look at the business of relics.
5. To the Edge of the World by Christian Wolmar - this was my other non-fiction highlight of 2014, a history of the building of the Trans-Siberian railway. As with any endeavour of this sort, it's a wonder it ever got built at all, but I hadn't realised that its very building had played such a pivotal part in Russian history.
E.T.A: Honourable mentions to Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman and Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron, among others...
Top 5 graphic novels:
1. Saga volumes 1 & 2 - I'd heard a lot of good things about this series, all of which were true. Clever and funny, with some great characters, it's also stunningly drawn.
2. Hawkeye volumes 1 & 2 - how can anyone not love a series where a storyline is written from the perspective of the hero's dog? Rightly or wrongly, I don't think I can ever divorce this version of Hawkeye from my head-canon regarding that character.
3. The Wicked and the Divine volume 1 - again with the stunning artwork, can't wait to see where this goes next.
4. Rat Queens volume 1 - after all those superhero storylines, here's something a little different, described by the publishers as 'sass-and-sorcery'.
5. Sex Criminals volume 1 - again, something different, this time someone who discovers that when she has sex, time stops. When she meets someone else with the same ability, they decide to use it to rob a bank; naturally, hijinks ensue!
Honourable mentions to The Fuse volume 1, Captain Marvel volume 1 and Pretty Deadly volume 1, as well as a bunch of stuff I haven't got around to yet (Ms Marvel and Black Widow being primary among them).
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