2018 reading list

[dagibbs]

I read 76 books in 2018, and I've finally gotten around to posting the list!

Back in the day, I would have lj-cut this, but I don't figure anyone's reading page is going to be overwhelmed by content anymore.

Blood and Iron - Elizabeth Bear (another celtic/faerie/Tamlin retelling, but still pretty good)
The Prey of Gods - Nicky Drayden (good, different)
Whiskey and Water - Elizabeth Bear (sequel to Blood and Iron, not bad)
The Wizard Hunters (Fall of Ile-Rien book 1) - Martha Wells (good, buy more)
The Ships of Air (... book 2) - Martha Wells

The Scorpion Rules - Erin Bow (YAish, good, buy more in series)
Spells of Blood and Kin - Claire Humphrey (a tad dark for me, but quite good)
Provenance - Anne Leckie (good space opera)
Thick as Thieves - Megan Whelan Turner (YAish, good)
The Healer's War - Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (not what I expected, almost more magic realism, mostly about the Vietnam War)
10

Sinless - Sarah Tarkoff (good, YA?, buy more in this series, if available)
Everything but the Squeal - John Scalzi (meh, part of a shared world (METAtropolis), might be better in context?)
Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb (good, buy rest of series)
The Sword-Edged Blonde- Alex Bledsoe (readable, wouldn't avoid others, but wouldn't chase either)
Green Light Delivery - Anne E. Johnson (meh)

Echo - Alicia Wright Brewster (ok)
Shadow Magic - Patricia C. Wrede (good enough to read more, as I have them already)
Daughter of Witches - Patricia C. Wrede
The Harp of Imach Thyssel - ibid
Caught in Crystal - ibid
20

The Raven Ring - ibid (entire series was quite enjoyable)
Magician's Ward - ibid (Mairelon the Magician was a bit better)
Issola - Brust
Dzur - Brust
Jhegaala - Brust

Sethra Lavode - Brust
Changing Planes - Ursula K. Le Guin (more a series of sketches of places, than a novel or collection of short stories. Interesting, well written (of course), but not totally to my taste.)
Iorich - Brust
Tiassa - Brust (not a novel, despite the cover. Not my favourite.)
Hawk - Brust
30

Vallista - Brust (I generally like the Vlad Taltos books)
Extremes - Kristine Kathryn Rusch (good)
The Gate of the Gods (fall of Ile-rien book 3, conclusion) - Martha Wells (continues to be good, though the happy-happy right at the end might have been too nice-nice)
Royal Assassin (Farseer 2) - Robin Hobb (good)
Assassin's Quest (Farseer 3) - Robin Hobb (fitting conclusion)

To Shape the Dark - Athena Andreadis (ed) (good collection of short stories about woman scientists, also mostly by women. Good cross-culture variance, too.)
Consequences - Kristine Kathryn Rusch (good. Like that none of the "bad guys" are "evil". buy more retrieval artist, if there are any.)
Kitty and the Midnight Hour - Carrie Vaughn (fun, read more. Definitely LK Hamilton influences -- Cormac/Edward, to start.)
Trouble in Double - Laura Anne Gilman (fun, but short. Self-labels as a "novel", but feels far closer to novella length.)
Black Borne (Warrior Slave #1) - LL Farmer (ok, not worth chasing down more)
40

Howl's Moving Castle - Dianne Wynne Jones (meh, not bad, might have appreciated it more when it was published in the 80s, but now meh)
The Swan Riders - Erin Bow (good. Still YAish, but good.)
Batman: The Killing Joke - Alan Moore, Brian Bolland (meh - supposed to be one of the classic Batman stories, maybe I need more context?)
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Leguin (excellent. re-read for Jex' book club, but well worth it, as last time was 30+ years ago)
Late Eclipses - Seanan McGuire (good, Toby levels up noticeably in this one. I guess it had to happen?)

One Salt Sea - Seanan Mcguire (very good -- better than Late Eclipses)
The Stone Sky - N. K. Jemisin (good. "Only" good. I like it least of the trilogy, and perhaps least of her works that I've read. )
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - Becky Chambers (fun, a bit rambling)
Skeen's Leap - Jo Clayton (good, buy rest of set)
Dreadnought - April Daniels (YA, good, trans, buy more)
50

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen - Lois McMaster Bujold (good, not readable without having read at least most of the other Vorkosigan books)
Nebula Awards Showcase 2013 - Catharine Asaro, ed (good, variable)
Under the Pendulum Sun - Jeannette Ng (probably good, finished it, but not to my taste)
The Core - Peter Brett (fitting conclusion to the series -- started a bit slow, but came together well)
Ephemera - Jude McLaughlin (ok; very, almost heavy-handedly intersectional; I maybe over-done with celtic sidhe/faerie stuff right now)

The Mirror Prince - Violette Malan (more faerie -- but good. Despite starting a series, complete as a novel which is nice.)
Revenant Gun - Yoon Ha Lee (good, fitting conclusion to the trilogy/series)
The Traders' War - Charles Stross (still good, nominally two books re-issued as one)
Just One Damned Thing After Another (fun) - Jodi Taylor
The Birthday Problem - Caren Gossoff (interesting, fragmented story about a fragmented future; mostly pulls together at end.)
60

Shadowlands - Violette Malan (a sequel, not quite as good as the original, but worth reading)
The Revolution Trade - Charles Stross (another double-header. I realized about 1/2 way through, there are no good guys in this story -- just more/less awful. Also, kind of depressing ending. )
The Dalemark Quartet: Cart and Cwidder - Diana Wynne Jones. Ok YA. If the remaining three fall into my hands, I might read the -- but won't chase them down.
A Symphony of Echoes - Jodi Taylor. (Chronicles of St Mary's book 2). Continues to be light (despite all the death) but fun.
Servant of the Underworld - Aliette de Bodard (Blood & Obsidian #1). Very good, interesting setting in Aztec culture, murder-mystery but not light reading. Buy more.

The Fey: The Rival - Kristine Kathryn Rusch. (Book 3) Ok -- not as good as earlier books in series, but have rest so keep going. Hopefully mid-series slump.
The Fey: The Resistance - Kristine Kathryn Rusch. (Book 4). Continues ok, maybe a touch better. Will finish series (one more).
Report to the Men's Club - Carol Emshwiller -- Not generally to my taste; literary, didactically? feminist.
Future Shock - Elizabeth Briggs - YAish. Readable, good story, not sure about the time-travel "science" , but it is always tricky.
An Oath of Dogs - Wendy N Wagner. Good. Starts out "clearly" SF, then wanders into... I'd say myth. Also, not too sure about the economics of shipping lumber interstellar distances.
70

The Fey: Victory - Kristine Kathryn Rusch. (Book 5). Still too many view-point characters, making it a bit fragmented, but pulls together well. Good. Maybe buy next series.
Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories - Chatherine Lundoff. What the label says -- mostly enjoyable, all queer.
A Second Chance - Jodi Taylor. Still enjoyable, but the "realism" is slipping more and more. Also Max isn't a nice person, luckily she's the protaganist.
Jade City - Fonda Lee. Good, get more in the city. Good eastern-magical-gangster fun.
Digger - Ursula Vernon. Re-read. I recommended it to someone, then accidentally reread the whole archive. Oops.

Hunger Makes the Wolf - Alex Wells ("they"). Quite good. I'd read more by them.

Comments

[foms]

I bought and read Metatropolis soonish after it came out and I don't think that I was ever aware that it was a shared world.

[dagibbs]

Authors: Jay Lake, Tobias S. Buckell, John Scalzi, Elizabeth Bear, Karl Schroeder

Edited by Scalzi.

Maybe it was smoothly enough done?

[foms]

I don't remember reading any mention of sharedness in the nonstory information. That doesn't mean that it wasn't there. I remember enjoying the stories and I don't remember any particular clues that they were set in the same world. The stories seem to me (from this distance), to have addressed sufficiently different ideas and parts of the world that I don't remember noticing any mention of place names or future historical events in common.

[ironphoenix]

I'd be interested in borrowing some of these if they're available. I prefer to read series when all the books are available (not "coming soon") if they are tightly linked, so some of them might have to wait.

[dagibbs]

Borrowing in general is fine.

The biggest issue would be that some are ebooks, and while DRM-free, I'm not as clear that I can reasonably hand one to you. At least, not without deleting every copy I have.

[ironphoenix]

I'm not an ebooks person, so only the dead tree ones are in the running!

[dagibbs]

I prefer dead trees, too. But ebooks have a certain convenience factor for travel, and there's some inexpensive bundles I've been buying from which I've found some new authors -- so I've been reading a mixture lately.