Best Books of 2015!
Knights Shadow by Sebastian de Castell – The perfect book if you love engaging and hilarious characters, amazingly well sculpted fight scenes and that rush of excitement that only comes with being truly and utterly swept away by a writer of incredible talent. It is action, adventure, fantasy and mystery all at it’s finest and will chew you up and spit you out in that best possible way. I read it straight after discovering Traitor's Blade, the first in the series and loved it and can’t wait for this to continue and also, to get some more recognition. Books like this were why I started reading Fantasy and stylistically, helped by its musketeer influence, I felt like it had a fantastic, authentic, old school feel to it that is very rare in modern works.
Abomination by Gary Whitta – Reminiscent of David Gemmell and an immensely satisfying combination of everything I love about fantasy and horror but so rarely see together in the same book. It’s a real close quarters thrill ride, that is small and intimate in scope but rich and grand in depth. It will get under your skin (and maybe not in a good way) and has one of those endings that leaves you wanting to break out into spontaneous applause.
Golden Son by Pierce Brown – The second book in the Red Rising series takes everything that was amazing about the first book and dials it up a notch. The aggression and sense of competition is more intense, the mobile treachery and plotting that Darrow undertakes to achieve his long term goals are more complicated and with higher stakes. The writing is impressive, the story vast and the characters deeply etched with varying amounts of pain, hope and damage. It just picked up Best Science fiction in the Goodreads and I’d be surprised if Morning Star didn’t earn Brown a clean sweep. This guy is something special.
The Vagrant by Peter Newman – There’s this Goat you see….and…well….there is a lot of other stuff that will blow your mind including demonically warped killing machines, a very strange set of players in the world's political set up and a hero that can make you gasp with a look of his eye but there’s this Goat too, and even if it were just him, you would still have to read it.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins – The biggest surprise of the year. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and really nothing could have prepared me for the reality that Scott has created. Reading this book was like listening to a Rush album for the first time and realising that what they were doing was completely different and seemed to rewrite the rules of rhythm and tempo. Once I relaxed into it, and stopped trying to guess what would happen, I found myself having a great frigging ride.. I cannot recommend this highly enough because I can guarantee you have never read anything like it.
The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence – Hilariously funny with a good measure of brutality, just so you don’t forget who you’re dealing with, Mark’s writing continues to astound and provide an endless source of witty quotes. Every time I pick up a book from this world I feel priviliged to be shown a glimpse into it's machinations, it's themes of destiny, loss, shagging, redemption and many more are relentlessly explored in his own unique style and it is simply one of the absolute best page turners of the year.
Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley – A brilliant follow up to what was already a rip roaring debut into the fantasy arena. The attention to detail, the wonderful dialogue between characters and the constantly shifting nature of the fully realised world Staveley has created are done so well it is downright criminal. This will keep you up into the wee hours, long after you have reminded yourself that daytime you has stuff to do.
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – Not a huge fan of romance and have felt let down by some of my favourite authors YA offerings this year so I was really surprised to find myself rather swept up in this fantastic litte story that really stands out in a market place that is a flush with competition. It’s intimate, it’s smart, it’s angsty and relatable and it’s also a huge galactic size fight between corporations, people, disease and the sort of assholes that will wind up getting us all killed.
Sword of the North by Luke Skull – What I love about this series is it’s truly unique take on the traditional fantasy plot. The usual conventions are subverted and turned on their heads and two books into this series I am still not quite sure who to believe in and who to trust. From the heights of the usurping politicians and future rulers to the lows of the maligned merchants and the scrambling underfoot peasants Skull gives us a feel for the individual as well as the whole and it helps craft a remarkable world where every action has visible ripples of consequence. He wields humour brilliantly and keeps the edge between dark and light so keen it is possible to feel hope in the darkest situations whilst also sensing impending doom any time something is going well.
Humans of New York Stories by Brandon Stanton - A nice reminder that we're all in this together. The stories are all different but all the same in that they reveal tiny pieces of a person's life that in most cases you will find some way to relate to personally. It challanges your prejudices and makes it impossible to sit behind a wall of ignorance or allow others to do so.
Just Good Reads
Malice by John Gwynne, High Rise by J.G.Ballard, Heart of the Sea by Nathanial Philbrick and The Bees by Laline Paull were some great books from previous years that I only recently discovered but enjoyed a great deal. I also enjoyed Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle series but after reading the first three books in quick succession just could not do another so Skull Throne had to wait . Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan is another I have no doubt I will love but simply did not get to. Over all I read about 80 books which is my biggest year yet.
A great year for books!
