So, the start of a new books thread for 2025...Martha Wells & Shauna Lawless were both superb in very different ways. I highly recommend them. Mark Hayden was on fine form with Eight Kings, too. TJ Klune's Wolfsong wasn't far off 5⭐️ but not quite there.
#amreading #books #bookstodon
amreading
Very late start, but it's time for a 2026 thread of books I read. Heather Fawcett was excellent (although book 1 was better). Andrew Cartmel was on form. Elle Hartford was sweet seashorecore (if that's a thing!) & Laura Laakso was an excellent start to a new to me crime fantasy series with an mc with chronic pain. #amreading #books #bookstodon
Both the first and second book of the Desolation saga will be available on my new Kickstarter, at a discount. Jump on in to the series critics are calling: "exciting and multifaceted", "Fun, thrilling and sharp" & "imaginative and fast-paced".
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dharrigon/desolation-keep-your-imaginary-friends-close
Edited 1y ago
I've finished: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Shabon
I didn't grow up with comics and don't have any nostalgia for them.
I do have an interest in history, culture, art and speculative fiction.
I'm also Jewish and Kavalier & Clay spoke to me on so many levels.
It is the story of Jewish refugees behind the golden age of comic books, about their experiences and motivations. It is the story of the comic book as an art form and cultural phenomena.
It is not speculative fiction, but it contains descriptions of the comics the characters create, as part of their journey and emotional development. Breaking the fourth wall Chabon gives us a glimpse into the creative process and the sociology behind the super hero comic book as a story telling art form.
There are points where the lines between the comic story lines and the characters reality seem to blend.
It is a very Jewish novel, but a secular Jewish novel, involving Jewish culture, history and oppression, but without involving belief in god and religious practices.
I really cared about the trio of characters, their successes, failures and distress, as they live through this terrible historical period .
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/dd9685a5-0499-46f4-8ee0-3e3de6d4b057
@bookstodon @audiofiction
#Comics #HistoricalFiction #Jewish #ComicBooks #amReading #bookstodon #AudioBooks
Enjoy SF, fantasy or paranormal fiction? Here's a selection of books for all tastes you can read with a Kobo Plus subscription.
https://books.bookfunnel.com/kobo-plus-sci-fi-fantasy-paranormal/xnae85w0ez
I've finished: I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
While I Cheerfully Refuse hits most of the usual post apocalyptic genre tropes, it is no regular post apocalyptic adventure novel.
Rainy is a quietly competent protagonist, and viewing this dystopian world from his perspective is what setts this novel apart.
Reminiscent of Station 11, it is a more literary work.
Literally (Actually) pitting Rainy and Lark, with her used book shop, against the illiterate anti-intellectualists.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/73d19b03-b69f-476b-9e63-6e3d9f6ab14b
@bookstodon @audiofiction
#dystopia #postapocalyptic #literary #amReading #bookstodon #AudioBooks
August is Kobo Plus Fantasy month! Got a subscription (or thinking about one) and not sure where to start? Try this selection: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/p/kobo-plus-fantasy-reads
I've finished: Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson
I'm not a big fan of horror.
I loved Knock Knock, Open Wide, mostly because the physical horror bits are few and far between.
Sharpson is mostly interested in how the horrific events traumatize the victims. We follow two timelines, two generations trying to live and love while a curse hangs over them.
Following their struggle, their failures and successes is what Knock Knock is about.
The thing that captured me was that at the core of this dysfunctional family are two couples that truly love each other. The proposal scenes just melted my heart. These scenes of mutual consent stand in stark contrast to the coercive powers that haunt them.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3aea5cb7-513b-4e83-a4a9-7e27101aac81
@bookstodon @audiofiction #horror #fantasy #amReading #bookstodon #AudioBooks
Edited 32d ago
I've finished: Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
I accidentally entered Gladstone's Craft universe through the wrong door. Starting with: Dead Country, The Craft Wars #1. I decided to go back to the beginning of the Craft Sequence.
Thee Parts Dead was a delight. So many neat ideas, such a rich world.
It is a perfect mix: of the ancient and modern, of the magical and scientific, of old tropes and new.
I love the glimpses we get of a wider world and a deeper history. Hinting at a bigger universe beyond the limits of this novel.
It is both a light read and a complex tapestry of original twists on old tropes and new ideas that will peak the interest of an experienced fantasy reader.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/320caeca-00f8-4312-a2ba-7c04f7a5405a
@bookstodon @audiofiction
#fantasy #SFF #amReading #bookstodon #AudioBooks #MaxGladstone
In January 2026, a group of Hugh Cook fans began republishing his 10 book series, Chronicles of an Age of Darkness.
This is noteworthy since these novels were basically out of print and weren't available in e-book or audio. Untangling them from copyright limbo was no small feat.
In August, these fans, operating as Zenphos Press, published the first audio edition of The Wizards and the Warriors. The first novel in the series.
I was lucky enough to snag an early copy via the r/hughcook sub.
The narrator, Morgan Scott, is also a fan, and does an excellent job, you can feel that this is a labor of love for him.
Originally published from the mid 1980s to the early 90s, Chronicles of an Age of Darkness stands out as a critique of the heroic fantasy tropes so common in that era.
While other novels in the series use humor as part of this deconstruction, The Wizards and the Warriors is deadly serious. It is not Pratchett's The Color of Magic. It is more like Saving Private Rian. Working within the format of a heroic tale, exposing its dirty underbelly.
Cook takes the wizards and the warriors, two major examples of toxic masculinity and exposes the folly in their quest for power.
I originally learned of Cook's novels in the early 2010s. As a blind person I had to use a synthetic voice to listen to them.
Cook had a website on the early internet where he published the full text of, The Wordsmiths and the Warguild, the second book of the Chronicles. After reading that I had to resort to bootleg e-book versions scanned and uploaded by fans.
I'm very glad this series is finally getting a proper audiobook edition.
This is my original 2013 review:
Hugh Cook inserts some reality into his Fantasy.
While the setting is fantastic, Cook makes sure to break our expectations of a regular fantasy adventure, with his less than heroic heroes and less than clear path to ultimate goal.
My favorite scene is a battle where we first hear about the general's well laid plans and then watch them crumble in the face of reality.
So many books place a brilliant commander in charge and then you watch his brilliant plan unfold like clockwork. Hugh Cook is way beyond that kind of fantasy.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/95351200-2bf6-40d0-86ee-83dbe316e541
@bookstodon @audiofiction #fantasy #HughCook #AudioBooks #ChroniclesOfAnAgeOfDarkness #SFF #classics #amReading
I've finished: The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed
It is hard to discuss The Fortunate Fall without spoiling it.
The first half is great mid 90s Cyber Punk. With some neat ideas and much more depth than just; Maya is a camera.
I enjoyed the historical aspects of the novel, as Maya works to uncover past atrocities that the current regime is working to memory hole.
The cycle of revolution where the alternative is just another type of repression is the main theme.
The second half of the novel goes off the beaten path and I guess that's why I only heard about this novel in the 2020s.
It is definitely worth it, despite some bad writing. This is a novel that will make you think about the author's intent.
I think it's championing free will and consent.
That's why I accept the notion that The Fortunate Fall may exist in the same universe as the author's new novel (published 30 years later), What We Are Seeking.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/authors/36be4c2d-6059-4151-bc43-c87147f8aa0a
PS.
I enjoyed the Wizards vs. Lezbians episode about The Fortunate Fall.
Note that the episode is from 2021, before the author's transition. So they are still referring to her by her former name.
https://wizlez.libsyn.com/the-fortunate-fall
@bookstodon @audiofiction
#ScienceFictioni #CyberPunk #dystopian #lgbtqia #amReading #bookstodon #AudioBooks
I've finished: Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson
This is my first Wilson novel since the Spin trilogy.
This time the quarantine is of a scientific facility, not the entire planet.
Blind lake starts as an examination of the scientific method, as it applies to studying alien intelligence. At first I thought I was going to get something in the vain of His Master's Voice by Stanislav Lem.
I'm happy to say this was not the case, it is a much more human story, focusing on the characters and their relationships.
It is strange to read a novel published in 2003, so close to the mobile data revolution yet not quite there. It has some good predictions but the mix of correct projections of technological progress and outdated concepts is uncanny.
Printing out documents in order to read them is so 2003.
Worth it for a good aliens, and some sympathetic humans. Content warning for a bunch of workplace and relationship stress.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e35c8323-c7c4-42a8-ac58-7c9a29feabd2
@bookstodon @audiofiction #ScienceFictioni #Aliens #amReading #bookstodon #AudioBooks
I've finished: Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gabriel Kay
This is my first encounter with Guy Gabriel Kay. I can understand why he is so beloved by his fans.
I really enjoyed his writing and his complex and competent characters. He writes so well, he managed to make me enjoy Byzantine court intrigue, not an easy task.
I really loved the historical perspective, and the central part the art of mosaic laying holds within the novel.
I studied history and art history and really connected with these themes as well as the characters.
If you are looking for a fantasy novel, you may be disappointed, as the magical elements only play a small part. though they do eventually represent an important aspect of the overall theme.
This is mainly alt history.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/ef5c3355-a637-4569-ae53-025cb30995d5
@bookstodon @audiofiction
#history #altHistory #artHistory #Byzantium #amReading #bookstodon #AudioBooks