(Image used under Flickr Creative Commons License, photo by Kreg Steppe)
There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.
~Ray Bradbury
Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.
~Joseph Addison
2013 has been an interesting year of reading, in large part because of my choice to indulge in reading more current short genre fiction, which I reviewed on a regular basis for SF Signal. This meant that while the amount of reading I accomplished was consistent with recent years, if not greater, but the number of “books” read dropped significantly.
Don’t weep for me. While it occasionally happens that an otherwise great read will go pear-shaped in the end, the majority of the time I come away from a novel with the pleasure of having had a satisfying reading experience. It may not be profound to say it, but I read what I like and like what I read. If I start to read something and am not enjoying it, I quit reading it. Life is too short for me to invest my time in a book simply to say I finished it and a negative review is generally not something I want to give time too either.
So when it comes to looking over my reading for the year to choose favorites, brevity becomes an issue. Thus I generally wait until the very last minute to post my thoughts about books that have stuck with me, wanting to give a fair shake to all the books that guided me on reading adventures throughout the year.
Setting aside web-based short fiction and short fiction periodicals, for which I posted an annual review at SF Signal, I completed 34 books. Of those books, the following are the stand-outs as I look back over the year. Of those that did not make the cut, there is only one I did not enjoy, and even that worked out well because its sequel (which did make the list) showed that novel in an entirely different light.
In order read:
Edge of Infinity ~edited by Jonathan Strahan
This is one of the best anthologies of science fiction short stories that I have ever read. The stories infuse an air of optimism into the heart of those who long to see humanity explore the wonders in our immediate universe. Having grown up with the surety that we would be traveling the reaches of space in my lifetime, inspired by childhood exposure to Star Wars and Star Trek, this anthology breathes on that flicker of foolish hope with several exciting stories.
Edge of Infinity collects stories set within the confines of our solar system. Many of the authors in this collection bring the common experiences of life to an imagined future with an aura of plausibility that makes these stories accessible to those who do not regularly read science fiction while instilling a sense of wonder in all who look to the stars and long to see the marvels of our Solar System first hand.
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter ~Cassandra Rose Clarke
How could she possibly forget that firefly-lit night, the night she sneaked up to the screened-in porch to find a stranger sitting there with her father? An inquisitive child, Cat quickly overcame her shyness and was soon introduced to Finn, a being she would later grow to understand was an android. But before that understanding came Finn would be settled in to the family primarily as an assistant to Cat’s father, Dr. Novak, an expert in the field of cybernetics, and secondarily as a tutor to young Cat. Yes, that was a special night, a night that would not fade from her memory, for that night which started out like any other ordinary night would be the night that changed Cat’s world forever.
This is an unconventional love story set in a technologically advanced future and though it has the trappings of science fiction it is a highly accessible novel for all readers who enjoy strong storytelling. The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is a character-driven story that takes an intimate look at the complexity of human relationships. It does not shy away from the reality that we all make myriad choices that lead us to places where we look back and wish someone would have told us to ‘snap out of it’ before we wasted so much precious time. At the same time it paints a picture of hope because the reality is that it is never too late.
When I finished The Mad Scientist’s Daughter I wanted to embrace my wife and daughter while simultaneously calling all of my family and friends to tell them how much I love them. All because of a young girl and a robot. You have got to love the power of the written word.
First Shift: Legacy ~Hugh Howey
Author Hugh Howey returns readers to the ideas introduced in his hugely popular Wool series [my favorite read of 2012] with the first of a trilogy of prequel novels. Alternating between the pre-silo days in the year 2049 and a six-month period sixty years later inside of the silo, Howey gives us the story of two men drawn inexorably into events far beyond their control. Donald Keene is a freshman congressman arriving in Washington, D.C. to represent the electorate of the state of Georgia. Troy is a man awoken from cryo-sleep for the first of his six “shifts” as the man who will be in charge of the ongoing silo projects for the next six months. Armed with the knowledge the reader possesses from the previous Wool series, Howey injects the novel with early suspense and deftly increases it as the chapters fall away and the mystery deepens.
Howey’s prequel is masterful in the way that it capitalizes on the knowledge of the silo system that readers already possess. The reader naturally knows more than the two protagonists and Howey builds off of that, lulling the reader in while creating a growing sense of tension that results in a really first rate thriller.
Leviathan Wakes and Caliban’s War ~James S.A. Corey
I read the first two novels of James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series this year, coupled with three short stories set in that same universe. The writing team of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck have created something grand in the space opera tradition. These novels follow a set of characters in alternating chapters, weaving their stories together in a series that includes adventure, romance, politics, war, mystery, all while imagining a future in which mankind has not mastered interstellar travel but has developed intersystem travel, allowing us to populate various areas of our own solar system.
Fans of Star Wars or Firefly and those who like to see drawn out stories where the reader can really get to know characters, while also experiencing grand science fiction adventure, should look no further. The James S.A. Corey novels are some of the most recent evidence that science fiction can still be rip-roaring fun.
On a Red Station, Drifting ~Aliette de Bodard
Aliette de Bodard is one of the best new-to-me authors I have read this year, and her small press, much lauded novella is a big reason why. This is one of a series of stories written by the author imagining a future in which the Vietnamese culture is butting up against a more homogenous Galactic culture. It is a story that examines culture and identity and the role of women and does all this in a relatively short number of pages without in any way sacrificing page-turning story.
I wrote in my review: “Aliette de Bodard’s novella is one that invites incoherent fannish babbling while at the same time inspiring one to write a review worthy of her story. I will make a valiant attempt, and I will fail, but in the effort I hope to convey some of what I took away from this unique work of fiction”. And a difficult review it was, in large part because of the feeling that I needed to create context in order to describe the novel. Check out my full review and trust me on this one, it is worthy of an addition to your must-read-soon list.
This Alien Shore ~C.S. Friedman
Fifteen years may not seem like a long time ago, but that is an eternity in tech years when you think about how much technology has changed and advanced in the last decade and a half. This Alien Shore is a book filled with mystery, intrigue, and drama featuring humans, genetically altered humanity, technologically altered humanity, hackers, government officials, characters with questionable loyalties and none of it feels dated. This Alien Shore reads as if it could have come off the presses yesterday and I credit Friedman’s foresight and narrative skill in writing a novel that holds up so remarkably against the advances in technology that we have already seen. It does not shy away from scientific concepts and ideas while also being a novel highly accessible to readers who do not normally partake of genre fiction.
The various characters in Friedman’s world are quite unique. The process which gave mankind the ability to travel among the stars created what is known as the Haussman Effect, which genetically altered humanity in a wide variety of ways. These humans, termed Variants, invariably frightened and disgusted the “true humans” who promptly stopped interstellar travel and no longer supported those humans spread across the galaxy. Eons later, despite much protest, the Gueran people, those blessed with the ability to pilot humanity through space, came back to offer Earth one and only one chance to join the rest of the human race. Because of the Haussman Effect the people in Friedman’s world maintain a degree of humanity which makes it easy to relate to them while at the same time creating several unique races which are fascinating to discover.
This is character-driven space opera at its finest.
Falling Free ~Lois McMaster Bujold
I became a new reader of Bujold’s long-running Vorkosigan series late last year and this prequel novel, set 200 years before Miles Vorkosigan’s story begins, is one of two Bujold novels I have read and enjoyed this year. In a habitat orbiting the planet Rodeo, a genetically engineered people, nicknamed the “Quaddies”, have been created as a labor force to work in null gravity, their lower appendages being arms rather than legs as in standard humans, or “downsiders”. The quaddies are not human in the eyes of their creators. Though many of the quaddies are technically adults, their carefully structured upbringing gives them the attitude and dependency of children.
Leo Graf is a fortysomething welding engineer, brought to Cay Habitat to teach a select group of quaddies how to build reliable, stable structures in space. From his arrival the treatment of the quaddies as little more than property grates on his sense of right and wrong. Leo Graf can teach these young people how to do quality work that will last a lifetime, but can he teach one thousand quaddies, one thousand children, what it means to be free?
I liked these characters so much and found the story to have just the right amount of excitement and romance to keep me up until the wee hours of the morning to discover how it would all end.
The Best of All Possible Worlds ~Karen Lord
The humanoid Sadiri have been the victims of a planetwide genocide. The remaining members of their race reach out to their adopted homeworld, Cygnus Beta, as there is a shared genetic heritage among the people. The Sadiri hope to find genetically matched tribes willing to partner with them to maintain their genetic and cultural lineage.
The Best of All Possible Worlds is a unique reading experience. It is in part an anthropological study of a fictional race told in diary format from the point of view of Grace Delarua, a delegate of the planet sent on this year-long journey to visit the various tribes of Cygnus Beta with delegates of the Sadiri people. It is also a story of budding romance. As a recorded journal the story has understandable gaps which actually serve to give it an authentic feel. The reader develops a greater awareness of these fictional humanoid races as Lord’s story unfolds.
In addition to the way in which the story is different than most science fiction one would pull from the shelf, the reason it stands out is that you get to know these characters and develop an emotional bond with them. You care about what happens to them and you keep reading hoping that your desires will find fulfillment. This was my first experience with the work of Karen Lord. It will not be my last, she is a true talent.
The Best of All Possible Worlds has garnered both fanatic praise and sound criticism, often because of similar reasons, the crux being whether or not the story structure works for you. I enjoyed it not just because it was different, but also because it offered much in the way of character exploration that I enjoy.
MY TOP THREE:
Love Minus Eighty ~Will McIntosh
“In the future, love is complicated and death is not necessarily the end. Love Minus Eighty follows several interconnected people in a disquieting vision of romantic life in the century to come. In this daring and big-hearted novel based on the Hugo-winning short story, the lovelorn navigate a world in which technology has reached the outer limits of morality and romance.”
Author Will McIntosh’s new novel, Love Minus Eighty, is the book you give to your friends in hopes of igniting a passion for science fiction. With its focus on deeply connected interpersonal relationships, the novel draws in the literary fiction reader and with its ever-present science fictional elements it also holds a strong attraction for fans of genre fiction.
Worldbuilding? This world is already built. With a deft touch Will McIntosh has imagined a highly-interactive future that is built so solidly on the foundation of our present internet-driven, social-media-obsessed culture that it succeeds in being both imaginative and accessible. This future and the characters who inhabit it are initially quite shallow, but as circumstances stir the waters McIntosh plumbs the depths of several interesting characters. The reader will find themselves having conflicting emotions regarding various characters as the story unfolds, making the act of reading Love Minus Eighty an engaging experience.
Speaking From Among the Bones ~Alan Bradley
With their financial woes and the ongoing mystery of their missing mother Harriet, the de Luce family is ripe for any kind of distraction and the 500th anniversary of the death of their beloved St. Tancred, coupled with the Easter holiday, is just the distraction they need. To a degree.For nothing really distracts eleven-year-old chemist and amateur sleuth Flavia de Luce except a really good mystery. Fortunately for her, that comes along fairly quickly with her discovery of the missing church organist, Mr. Collicut. As is always the case in the life of Flavia de Luce, one mystery begets another and before the crime, or crimes, are solved she will acquire more knowledge about life, the human condition, her family relationships and herself than she ever bargained for.
This, the fifth novel in the Flavia de Luce series, is arguably the best yet, though to be fair the ongoing de Luce saga in each novel provided the foundation for the character growth in Speaking From Among the Bones. With a shocking set up for the next novel, due out in January 2014, this story arc is set to wow when The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches is released.
How the Light Gets In ~Louise Penny
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is fighting a losing battle. His once respected homicide department, the pride of the Quebec de Surete, has been decimated, good officers replaced by those who don’t care. People he nurtured and trusted may no longer be in his camp. The investigation into a bigger conspiracy is going nowhere and the always stable facade of Armand Gamache is starting to crack. What better time for a murder to take his mind off of his current problems?
After my frustration with the execution of events in her previous novel, The Beautiful Mystery, my expectations were at an all-time high and Louise Penny was going to have to deliver something more than special to rid me of the sense of betrayal I carried into this read. She delivered that and then some. How the Light Gets In is a layered, complex and compelling novel packed with moments of gut-wrenching drama and heart-racing suspense.
I closed the book after reading the last dozen or so pages with tears streaming down my face and the kind of satisfied smile that can only come from being immersed in a cracking good read.
And which of the three is my favorite read for 2013?
Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh.
It was a difficult choice made easier by the fact that both Penny’s and Bradley’s novels are successful because of all the previous novels they are built upon, whereas Will McIntosh took an award-winning short story, used it as inspiration, and created a stand-alone novel that dares to predict a possible course of technological development imagined from the world we currently inhabit and immerses a set of interesting, complex characters into that future to examine love and friendship. Such a great book, and one I passed on to others immediately, who then had similar reactions to mine.
In trying to keep this list to an even dozen I was forced to leave off other enjoyable reading experiences including Neil Gaiman’s latest, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Colleen Gleason’s first teen steampunk mystery, The Clockwork Scarab, my first foray into the Elric universe with Michael Moorcock’s first three Elric of Melnibone novels and the list could go on and on. This was a science fiction and fantasy heavy reading year and though I wish I had been able to get even more books read, I am not in the least disappointed due to the quality of the reading I experienced.
If you have done a post about your favorite reads of the year, regardless of genre, I would love to see it. Please share a link to your post below. You may also feel free to share your favorites in the comments section and comment for or against mine.
And if you missed it, don’t forget to check out my favorite film and television experiences of 2013 and share your own too.
If you liked the first two Expanse novels, you are going to love the Third. 🙂
I’ve got it lined up and ready to go, need to get to it before the fourth comes out. Glad to hear the next one keeps up the tradition.
Thanks for sharing your list with us, Carl! I’m really happy to see Alan Bradley on your list! I’ve just started the second in the series, and I just love these books. My list goes up tomorrow so I’ll come back and link. 😉
Too much fun to do it, believe me.
Bradley has been on consistently with each novel. I love the de Luce family. I’ve listened to the last two on audio and love the reader. Jane Entwhistle makes these even more special than they already are. I highly recommend the audio experience.
I am enjoying both the Flavia de Luce series and the Armand Gamache series. I will be reading Speaking From Among the Bones very soon. Several of the other novels on your list sound good too.
Aren’t they both so great? I was so overwhelmed with emotion reading that last Gamache book. I think I read the final two hundred pages or so in one sitting, I just couldn’t put it down. Glad Louise Penny has another one for us next year, and am also happy that (at least it seems) like some of the story lines will be put to bed and the characters can hopefully grow beyond them.
Nice list of books that you read.
I completely forgot about Love Minus Eighty. I am glad of the reminder because I really wanted to read that book. Knowing its a favorite of yours…well…I need to not forget about it again.
I only read one book of the Inspector Armand Gamache series and really loved it. I have the second book in queue on my kindle.
I am reading very slowly these days, and at that it’s mostly non-fiction stuff. When I do want a fiction book, I want a quick read. That means, much of what I’ve read – fiction wise – have been stories without a whole lot of layers, even so, they’ve been entertaining. I am like you, if I don’t like the book or am not getting into it, I put it down, no need to waste valuable readng time.
Not only am I reading slowly, my blog posts have been reduced to a snail pace and almost nil. I have tons of posts sitting in my head. And I actually have several book related posts sitting in draft format. Yet, they’re not making it to the published phase. Soooo….I have to let the year end type posts slide by without one authored by me. Maybe I will publish the drafts and write the ones sitting in my head even if they are”old news”.
Happy New Year, Carl.
The Gamache books just keep getting better. My only word of advice: have number 9 queued up when you finish 8, you’ll need it.
Love Minus Eighty is really a must read and I’m hoping it gets some award love come nominating time.
I don’t mind reading stories that don’t have a lot of layers and plenty of books that could have made this list, because they’ve stuck with me, are just those kind of books.
I hear you on the blog front. There is always more to do than time to do it, and you’ve also got kids still to be a daily mom too on top of work and everything else so your priorities have to be in a different place.
Happy New Year to you as well!
Had I not limited my best of the year to a top 10, Love Minus Eighty and the James S.A. Coreys would have easily made my list.
I’d like to read that Karen Lord and Edge of Infinity soon as well.
You had the same problem I did, choosing a number to limit it to and then having a bunch of books that you wish were also on the list.
Enjoyed yours, btw, thanks for putting the link up.
I love how the books you have here are very different from a few other sites I read, and indeed my own. It does mean that I have to try and find the time to read even more stuff, but that’s a pretty nice problem to have, eh?
Keep up the good work in 2014 Carl, and here’s to many more enjoyable difficulties.
It is a nice problem to have…and an exasperating one at times, isn’t it? I have the same thing happen. I read these lists and wonder where I’ve been, how I missed certain books, etc. And then the ol’ pile grows!
I love James S.A. Corey. We still reading book 3 together? I am hoping to get to Louise Penny this year. I have the first book in the series now. I kind of think I should have waited until after the Best of lists to buy books with my Christmas gift cards because there are others I want/forgot about. Ah, well…
Yes, we should still do that. How soon are you ready to start? January 6th?
Sure! I pre-ordered the new book so it would be nice to be caught up by then. 🙂 Are you doing audio or reading?
Reading it on the Kindle as I can’t get the audio from the library. For anyone else interested who might be following along, we are going to read this in January. Not a formal read-along, just a couple of fans reading the book so we can experience it together and chat about it.
I will probably switch back and forth between reading and audio like I did with the first two books. We will see. I all ready have the audio from Audible. 🙂
Great list! I’m currently reading Love Minus Eighty, and so far it’s fantastic. The Mad Scientist’s Daughter was on my list as well, and it had me sobbing in public on the metro. Normally I don’t like books that make me cry, but it was so so very good.
I’m a big ol’ softy and though I don’t like a lot of tragic books, I do enjoy a book that will put tears in my eyes. I enjoy being that engaged in a story. Hope you continue to enjoy Love Minus Eighty and look forward to your review.
Okay, I just bought Love Minus Eighty. I need to stop reading both of your blogs…
Awesome!!!
Yes, this can be a dangerous place! 😉
I got The best of all Possible Worlds, too. I hope 2014 is a good reading year…
🙂
I will disagree with you not liking tragic books sir.
I said I don’t like “a lot” of tragic books. I like books that make me cry, but most of those aren’t “tragic”. It is the rare story that truly ends badly that I like, and if I know that is what is going to happen going in I’ll more often than not chose to give the book a pass. Thankfully none of the books I loved this year were tragic, but some were emotional.
I guess I could say it was tragic what Louise Penny put me through with Book 8 of her series, but a few weeks later she saved it with Book 9. What a tease!
Hi Carl, I discovered Karen Lord this year as well. I read her “Redemption in Indigo” for the WoGF challenge on WWEnd. The book is a magical realism take on some African mythological beings. I highly recommend it.
I’m wanting to get to that one in my reading next year, I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.
WWEnd did such a great challenge this year. It was a treat to participate in it.
Ooooooooh, what a great sounding list! I haven’t read any of these, but they all sound fantastic. Lists of books I want to read never do get smaller, it seems… *adds the lot*
Great to hear that you’ve had such a wonderful reading year! ^-^ May 2014 bring you even more books to enjoy!
No, they certainly NEVER get smaller, do they. Nor do the book piles.
Hope your 2014 reading year is great!
I love this time of year – looking at everyone’s favourite reads. I’m definitely going to start the Louise Penny books so thanks for that!
Lynn 😀
I do too, Lynn. Its always so much fun.
I’m happy to be an evangelist for the Louise Penny books. They are so much fun. The fact that I sat down and read the first seven books back to back was such a surprise when it happened last year, but I just couldn’t get enough.
I’m always excited to get this list. I use this list to pick an entire years worth of material.
I’m geeked about what you’ve been reading/listening to this past year and am happy I could push some things your way. It also excites me when you get even MORE excited about books than I am, like the audio version of Ready Player One, for example.
Ready Player One and Robopocalypse are two books I could listen to over and over again.
Amped was good but falls short at the end.
Sorry to hear that. I wish Boneshaker would come in at the library so Mary could listen to it. I’m listening to an MP3 on disc unabridged version of an old Heinlein classic, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, right now (in the little bit of time I’m driving while on vacation). I’m liking it.
Loved reading your post, Carl, and have made a note of several of your choices. Particularly The Mad Scientist’s Daughter and Leviathon Wakes and its sequel. Have used Mr. Linky to link to my post.
Yes, those are both great reads. I’ll check out your post…love Mr. Linky for that!!!
Well I just went and bought On a Red Station on this review! I can’t believe I missed your review earlier this year – it sounds amazing. (The cover could use some work, though.) Thanks for bringing the author to my attention!
I’m happy for you, and for Aliette de Bodard.
I’m not a fan of the cover either. Has the sadly typical small press issues. However, it grew on me a tiny bit when I actually got the book because it is a nice solid little volume.
Please, PLEASE let me know what you think of it.
As usual, I’m coming away from your list with books to add to my reading pile. I’m kicking myself for not reading Karen Lord’s book – something I MUST remedy in the first few months of the year. And Love Minus Eighty looks rally interesting as well. I have to keep my choices from your list to a minimum – but I’m sure I’ll be reading them all at some point.
Do give Love Minus Eighty a try. It is so good.
I just love end of the year posts. Great time to reflect on reads and add to the TBR list. First to reflect on your list.
Well I have defiantly been wanting to read Love Minus Eighty so I was very thankful when you gifted it to me so count me excited to read that one. I have downloaded a sample of the Edge of Infinity and I hope to get to that one as well as it sounds great too. I hope to read some more of Alan Bradley books as I enjoyed the first one and own the next two but theirs to much I more interested in on the ole pile right now ahead of them. I have read the first James SA Corey book Leviathan Wakes and I loved it and am a little ways into Calibans War. I love the Expanse universe. I’ve read one of their short stories as well. I also stalled out halfway through Wool and I need to get back to that one as well as I’m curious how it ends.
I tried A Bodard story but I just didn’t enjoy it so I’m going to have to say that author just isn’t for me. I also didn’t connect with Louise Penny as the second book turned me off. I haven’t read the other authors so I can’t really comment on them but I’m glad you liked them. None jump out me as being up my alley except for the Howey story which is why I need to get back and finish Wool.
I didn’t get as much read this year as I wanted too. My favorites this year were The Human Division by John Scalzi, Levithan Wakes by James SA Corey, The Dragons Path by Daniel Abraham, The Ocean at the End of Lane by Neil Gaiman, around 30 issues of The Knights of Dinner Table Comic, Cover Story by John Picacio, Hellboy in Hell by Mike Mignola, A Calendar of Tales by Neil Gaiman, Chu’s Day by Neil Gaiman, Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman, The Emperors Soul by Brandon Sanderson, and Dr Who Nothing O’clock by Neil Gaiman.
For this year it was a real return to form for Neil Gaiman for me. Next to George RR Martin Neil has has the biggest impact on me as an adult reader. I consumed whatever I could from him this year because I can hear it in his voice and read it through his words that he has “it” back again. His muse had left him through his divorce and remarrying years it seemed but he’s got it back now and is hitting it again out of the park. I believe his second wave started last year with The Graveyard Book and he’s riding high again. Before this week I would have said that The Ocean at the end of Lane was my favorite book of the year but it was replaced after my daughter gifted me Fortunately the Milk for Christmas. It struck me so much of my exact relationship with my two kids and I. That sense of wonder and adventure that I try to give me kids every day is in that book. It’s fun but really it’s message to me is more than that.
Anyhow thanks for another awesome year blogging and I can’t wait to see what you and everyone reads in 2014. I know I’m really looking forward to a new Brandon Sanderson Book in the Storm light Archieves and a John Scalzi book Lock in this August in addition to getting to some new GRRM stories one that is out now in Dangerous Women and another short coming out in another of his books next fall. Plus a Frank Cho Kickstarter book and more new work from John Picacio. 2014 is going to be great.
It is going to be a year of great books added to the ol’ collection.
I’m looking forward to checking out the first Flesk produced Spectrum annual and am hoping there are some other great art books we feel compelled to snag at SFAL3.
I’ll be reading Fortunately, The Milk soon as I ordered it earlier in the week.
Given that you like the Expanse books there is a chance you would like This Alien Shore. The main protagonist is a well-written young female character, the book has the back and forth chapter style that the Expanse books are using, and it is pretty much that same style of space opera. Not sure if you read the longer review but I think that comes across more there.
I also think you would enjoy Falling Free. The protagonist is our age, which is cool, and it reminds me in some ways of an updated Heinlein juvenile in that there is some “real” space physics stuff going on here that Bujold uses in a teaching moment and the quaddies are characters you would like right away as I did. They give it something of a Fuzzy Nation vibe in regards to the way they are being treated. I was happy to get Mary to read it and she really enjoyed it.
Emperor’s Soul wasn’t on my list only because I read it at the end of 2012, then read it a second time in early 2013.
I’m so excited we have the new Stormlight book coming up soon. Also cannot wait to see how the boys who are James S.A. Corey handle my favorite smuggler, Han Solo, and the Star Wars universe when that book comes out in March.
Great list!
I’ve added Edge of Infinity to my list. I like Strahan’s anthologies. He usually takes the time to introduce each story, or at least include a brief summary of what to expect.
I already have a copy of The Mad Scientists daughter, and I’m glad to read positive things about it in advance.
I read Wool just recently (I should link the review to your SciFi Experience doohickey), and liked it a lot. The sequels and prequels are on my digital TBR list, which means I’ll probably buy them with the physical TBR list (a shelf housing some 300 books) looks impossible again. 😀
We discussed the Expanse novels over on my blog, so on to This Alien Shore. It’s a great book, isn’t it? I don’t often reread books, but I think I could reread that one. I’ve read only a couple of books by C.S. Friedman. I’ve always meant to read more. I have a few of them on my TBR bookshelf.
The Vorkosigan Saga is one of my favourite science fiction series. I could fill a page with excited and positive ramblings. Glad to meet another fan. Falling Free is a good entry as it’s both typical of the series, but also a nice departure in that we meet a new hero.
I really enjoyed The Best of All Possible Worlds. It felt like an indulgent read. I appreciated that Karen Lord took so much time over her characters, developing them and their diverse relationships.
I have not heard of any of your top three! But, I have dutifully added them to my reading list. 🙂
You’ll enjoy Edge of Infinity then. This is my favorite of his anthologies thus far.
Yes, do link your review to the SF Experience Review Site. Glad you enjoyed it and I look forward to reading your review.
This Alien Shore was my first experience with Friedman and it won’t be my last. I too can see myself re-reading it at some point, which is rare for me considering I tend to shy away from large books like this.
I’m so happy that I finally gave Bujold’s books a try. I’ve enjoyed all three that I’ve read. I think Falling Free hit a note because the protagonist is my age. I’m enjoying my first foray into Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s Liaden Universe.
Happy to read another positive review of The Best of All Possible Worlds.
Thanks for sharing, Kelly! Hope you are having a wonderful start to the new year.
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter was such an interesting book! I’m so glad my library finally got it so I could read it.
I am too, Amanda, and I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Ah, Love Minus Eighty, I had that book in my hands but put it back, I think I opened it at the wrong page (the thought of reading about social media sites was a turn off) but I should give it another chance. Now I can go to the bookstore with a purpose. 🙂
I’m working on my “best of” list, will come back and link to it.
Oh yes, do, as that aspect is really just background to the relationship story lines.
A great list Carl, I want to continue Alan Bradley’s series with the wonderful character Flavia. I keep saying to read Louise Penny, haven’t yet though.
Personal note – I remember your posts about the new healthy you and when I looked at picture today my thought was Carl is quite handsome 🙂 (not hitting on you or being weird on internet, lol, just wanted to compliment)
Thank you Marce. You certainly need to give Penny a try. The first book is great but a little uneven, and they just get better and better. The characters have a lot of personality and that is one of the main reasons why I think you’ll enjoy them.
Thanks so much for the kind words. I’m happy that two years have gone by and I’ve maintained good habits and am hovering around my lost weight accomplishment. I plan on being focused on specific races this year and may shoot for doing another half marathon this year.
Great list Carl. I have heard good things about How the Light Gets In as well as about Alan Bradley.
Happy New Year!
They are great stories, Naida. Happy New Year to you!
I was too lazy to do a favorites post this year, but I have really enjoyed reading other peoples’. My TBR list for the year is already GINORMOUS! Speaking of, THE MAD SCIENTIST’S DAUGHTER looks really good. I’m definitely adding that one to my TBR mountain (chain).
Happy New Year, Carl!
It was a really great book, Susan. Well worth adding to the pile…just do so carefully so you don’t get buried under an avalanche of books!
Happy New Year to you as well.
A bit late to the party but great to see your round up. I’d forgotten that I meant to get my hands on The Mad Scientists Daughter & The Best of All Possible Worlds so looks like I am going to have an action packed end to the Sci-Fi Experience!
Just wanted to say thanks again for putting me onto some great books – several here that I really enjoyed too and in particular you’re the person who introduced me to Louise Penny and I just adore her books. Roll on August!
Wishing you, and yours, a very happy 2014 indeed.
So glad to be able to share good books, Peta. And your thanks goes back past me to Richard who turned me on to Louise Penny’s books. I’m happy you are enjoying them and hope you like the two SF books. Hope this last half of The Sci-Fi Experience is a great one for you.
Mine is now up. We share one title, and you may be surprised.
I checked it out, thanks Richard. I had forgotten that you initially felt a little let down with How the Light Gets In, so it wasn’t the surprise it could have been to see it on your list. Great list, btw.
My husband is currently reading Love Minus Eighty and really enjoying it. It might eventually end up on my reading pile too.
I am so excited to hear that. Referencing today’s Hugo post, Love Minus Eighty will be one that I nominate and hope to see on the ballot.