Best things...
Oct. 30th, 2010 12:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
graculusAnyone who's hung around here for more than five minutes will realise I read a lot of books, so in a similar vein to my last post I would like to present the best of what I've read in the past couple of years:
Science fiction:
The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson - looking forward to reading the rest of his works, after this one unexpectedly grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go...
City of Pearl by Karen Traviss - hope the rest of the series lives up to this but it'll be a tough act to follow!
Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon - shame the author has embarrassed herself in public since I read this...
Cordelia's Honor and The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold - I'd always wondered what all the fuss was about where her Vorkorsigan novels were concerned. I understand now and am piling up the rest of the series for one long Bujold binge!
Belarus by Lee Hogan - newly colonised planet is not so empty after all. It's an old idea given new legs by this author, with a distinctly Slavic turn.
The Arabesk trilogy by Jon Courtenay Grimwood - a darkly entertaining alternate history series that starts with Pashazade.
Fantasy:
Blackbringer by Laini Taylor - fairies and such, but not like you've seen them before.
Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky - so far I've read the first two (Empire in Black and Gold and Dragonfly Falling) and really enjoyed both for their world-building in particular.
Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre - fed up with urban fantasy? Me too, but I made an exception for this book and so should you...
The series featuring Mercedes Thompson, written by Patricia Briggs - if you like your heroines self-reliant, this is a series for you (starts with Moon Called).
The Court of the Midnight King by Freda Warrington - combining the sidhe and the court of Richard III, how could this fail?
Crime:
The Gil Cunningham books, by Pat McIntosh - set in 13th century Glasgow, the series starts with The Harper's Quine and is well worth checking out!
Other fiction:
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver - I was already a fan, Prodigal Summer reminded me why...
My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due - it's an odd tale about immortality and its implications and is absolutely fantastic, read it now!
E.T.A. - forgot to say more detailed reviews of many of these can be found over at my book blog, which is here.
Science fiction:
The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson - looking forward to reading the rest of his works, after this one unexpectedly grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go...
City of Pearl by Karen Traviss - hope the rest of the series lives up to this but it'll be a tough act to follow!
Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon - shame the author has embarrassed herself in public since I read this...
Cordelia's Honor and The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold - I'd always wondered what all the fuss was about where her Vorkorsigan novels were concerned. I understand now and am piling up the rest of the series for one long Bujold binge!
Belarus by Lee Hogan - newly colonised planet is not so empty after all. It's an old idea given new legs by this author, with a distinctly Slavic turn.
The Arabesk trilogy by Jon Courtenay Grimwood - a darkly entertaining alternate history series that starts with Pashazade.
Fantasy:
Blackbringer by Laini Taylor - fairies and such, but not like you've seen them before.
Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky - so far I've read the first two (Empire in Black and Gold and Dragonfly Falling) and really enjoyed both for their world-building in particular.
Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre - fed up with urban fantasy? Me too, but I made an exception for this book and so should you...
The series featuring Mercedes Thompson, written by Patricia Briggs - if you like your heroines self-reliant, this is a series for you (starts with Moon Called).
The Court of the Midnight King by Freda Warrington - combining the sidhe and the court of Richard III, how could this fail?
Crime:
The Gil Cunningham books, by Pat McIntosh - set in 13th century Glasgow, the series starts with The Harper's Quine and is well worth checking out!
Other fiction:
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver - I was already a fan, Prodigal Summer reminded me why...
My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due - it's an odd tale about immortality and its implications and is absolutely fantastic, read it now!
E.T.A. - forgot to say more detailed reviews of many of these can be found over at my book blog, which is here.
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 03:01 pm (UTC)I'm surprised you haven't read Vorkosagan already. I love those books, they are among the few that I can reread and reread. I really recommend Curse of Chalion and its sequel Paladin of Souls by the same author. They are fantasy rather than S.F., and are brilliant.
Have you ever ready any Guy Gavriel Kay? I love his books, though the latest one wasn't his best. His world building is second to none.
JJ
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Date: 2010-10-30 03:04 pm (UTC)Though you might want to read your way through the books first. :)
JJ
no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 07:42 pm (UTC)I think I may have read some Guy Gavriel Kay a long time ago but seem to be discovering (re-discovering?) writers all the time. Not that my bookshelf thanks me for it, but that's another matter... ;)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-31 02:50 pm (UTC)I read the first Sharing Knife book, but it didn't do anything for me either. The first couple of chapters of each book is available on the internet somewhere, but they just don't grab me. I don't care about the characters at all.
JJ
no subject
Date: 2010-11-06 02:39 pm (UTC)...and the third one in that series (same story-'verse but not the same time & place): THE HALLOWED HUNT.