As always, 2024 is shaping up to be a packed reading year for me, with many more books I want to read than I have the time to read. I am catching up on a few older series this year, but there are also quite a few new releases that I want to make time for in 2024. Since there are so many, and because release dates are often clearer for traditionally published books, I decided to split my list between trad and indie books. If I had to pick my most anticipated release for the year, it would probably...
Quinn’s Top 10 Reads of 2023
2023 was my best reading year yet, both in quantity as well as quality. I am currently sitting at 95 books read, all of them either sci-fi or fantasy. This was the year I discovered the wonderful self-published SFF community, which completely derailed my reading plan for the year (sorry Wheel of Time), and also skewed my list heavily towards self-pub. Narrowing down the list to only 10 was extremely challenging, but it had to be done. I present my top 10 reads for 2023, with a few caveats. Numbers 10-4 are in no particular order, only 1-3 are ranked...
Bold Ascension by Vaughn Roycroft
Summary The gods favor the bold, they say, and Vahldan believed it. His boldness had led him to victory against the Spali, earned him the futhark sword, and made him the Lion Lord of the Amalus. Now he sought the power to lead his clan back to glory, and to bring those who oppressed his people to justice. He was well on his way to fulfilling the oath he’d made to his dying father. But his father had never seen the wealth of the stone cities that lined Pontea’s shores… The seeress had prophesied that Vahldan was the Bringer of...
The Hunter’s Lament by Steve Pannett
Summary Infamous bounty hunter Bitter Sweet has led his crew of like-minded miscreants for nearly three decades. They can track and capture any man or woman in the known world…for a price. But Sweet is tired. Decades of pursuing the lowest reaches that humanity has to offer have taken their toll. The grime, the lies, the danger, the death. He’s sick of it all. But it’s the only business he knows, and business is good in the aftermath of a long and bloody war. The unstoppable armies of the Vol Empire have conquered Pratia, obliterating all opposition and occupying the...
The Way of Mortals by Blake Carpenter
Summary In the city of Bhai Mandwa, towers of steel and glass reach for the sky while boiler-cars roll along streets that are inhabited by gangsters, demonic assassins, inept policemen and wandering ghosts. More than a million people call the city home, one in the midst of an industrial revolution, torn between the traditions of the old world and a new, frightening future. Below, the Genja River flows, waters possessed by spirits and magic from ancient times. Prem Marantha, third of four royal sisters, was kidnapped and trained to kill as a child. Upon returning home after her long absence,...
Shadows of Nyn’Dira by H.C. Newell
Summary Deep within the forests of Nyn’Dira, darkness rises, and Neer finds herself hunted at every turn. Fleeing from relentless enemies and vicious creatures of darkness, she embarks on a treacherous journey through the dangerous woodlands in search of strength and salvation. As the humans push further into the forbidden lands, the Nasir and his men close in, finding strength in the blood of the innocent. With the balance beginning to shift, Neer is caught in a war she was never meant to be in, and is forced to make a decision that could change the tides of fate, or...
All of Our Sins by Yuval Kordov
Summary “The mountains became plains, and the seas boiled into deserts.” So went the earth. First came the World War, humanity’s suicide. Then came the War against Hell, humanity’s redemption. Esther, the Eternal One, led the way from darkness to light. A new order, by her will. So went civilization. For a time. But as history fades and the Eternal One’s yoke tightens, man turns upon man once more. Ancient dreams of independence rise in Cathedral’s shadow. Bastion’s vengeance awakens. War beckons. And Hell is watching. Review The best word I can use to describe All of Our Sins is...
No Safe Haven by James Lloyd Dulin
Summary Anger will not be quenched by blood alone. The Missing, a rebel army that is little more than a rumor, may be Kaylo’s only path to exact his vengeance against the empire that claimed his home and killed his family. If it means a chance to balance the blood he owes, he will steal spirits and become the Missing’s tool, as long as they aim him in the right direction. Eighteen years later, a war is raging between factions for control of Ennea. With Tayen, Kaylo, and Nix caught in the middle of a power struggle—Kaylo will have to...
Marked for the Pyre by M.T. Fontaine
Summary To overthrow the Stewards’ hold on the kingdoms, Kaianne and Andreiyes strike a tenuous alliance between their people – the Marked and the Carved. Yet uniting the two factions is proving a greater challenge than either of them anticipated. The Carved blame the Marked for centuries of genocide. The Marked are conditioned by the belief that all Carved are heartless and savage. If they cannot put aside their differences, the rebellion is doomed. As more Stewards close in and with the king nearly on his deathbed, their window of opportunity is closing. Meanwhile, Master Rau knows the royal couple...
The Fall Is All There Is by C.M. Caplan
Summary All Petre Mercy wanted was a good old-fashioned dramatic exit from his life as a prince. But it's been five years since he fled home on a cyborg horse. Now the King—his Dad—is dead—and Petre has to decide which heir to pledge his thyroid-powered sword to. As the youngest in a set of quadruplets, he’s all too aware that the line of succession is murky. His siblings are on the precipice of power grabs, and each of them want him to pick their side. If Petre has any hope of preventing civil war, he'll have to avoid one sibling...