My Top Ten Favourite Reads of 2018 So Far… #Brainfluffbookblog

Now that we are more than halfway through 2018, what are my standout reads? So far this year, I’ve read 73 books and in no particular order, my top 10 favourites of the year so far are:-

The Stone Sky – Book 3 of The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin
This whole series blew me away. The extraordinary viewpoint and the worldbuilding that takes a science fiction premise and pushes it right to the edge. It has an epic fantasy feel with a strong family dynamic and remarkable characters – and perhaps most important, concluded this series with sufficient drama and conviction.

 

 

The Hyperspace Trap by Christopher G. Nuttall
This space opera adventure, set on an intergalactic cruise-ship liner, was an unusual and riveting setting for this alien encounter. I liked the fact that the protagonists came from both the crew and passengers and enjoyed the growing tension as things slid away into a major emergency.

 

 

Blunt Force Magic by Lawrence Davis
I loved this one. A half-trained apprentice with loads of ability and no finesse finds himself having to stand against formidable antagonists. The chippy narrator and gritty take on this well-trodden path made this a memorably enjoyable read.

 

 

The Bitter Twins – Book 2 of The Winnowing Flame trilogy by Jen Williams
I’ve been a fan of Williams’ vibrant, energetic prose since I picked up The Copper Promise, but this one is an awesome braiding of both science fiction and fantasy. No mid-book slump here!

 

 

 

The Cold Between – Book 1 of the Central Corps novels by Elizabeth Bonesteel
This space opera focuses on the characters with ferocious intensity and we get a ringside seat as layered, plausible people grapple with their own lives in amongst the stars. Needless to say, there is also politics, greed and the need for revenge and love blended to make this one unputdownable once I’d started.

 

 

The Green Man’s Heir by Juliet McKenna
This is one of the reading highlights of the year so far. Set in England and steeped in the myths and folklore of this ancient land, the story follows the fortunes of a half-dryad man trying to trace his lineage. Needless to say, he is pitchforked into the middle of something dangerous and old…

 

 

 

Head On – Book 2 of the Lock In series by John Scalzi
I loved the first book in this futuristic crime series, Lock In, where victims of a terrible illness leaving them completely paralysed are able to upload their consciousness into robotic bodies. Our protagonist is now working for the police, investigating the murder of a sporting star, who plays a savage version of American football. Mayhem and action all the way…

 

 

 

Before Mars – Book 3 of the Planetfall series by Emma Newman
I’ve loved every one of these stories – and this one charting the fortunes of a woman newly arrived on a Martian outpost is another riveting read. It’s rare that motherhood is examined with any depth in science fiction stories – yet the protagonist has left a baby behind and is grappling with feelings of guilt and inadequacy. There is a terrible twist that those who have read the previous two books are waiting for…

 

Child I by Steve Tasane
You won’t have read anything quite like this one. The cover alone tells you it is something different – and yet I plunged into it, thinking it was set on a near-future, post-apocalyptic Earth. I was devastated to learn it is set right now and based on the testimonies of children alive today…

 

 

 

All Systems Red – Book 1 of the Murderbot Diaries novella series by Martha Wells
Hard enough to write a well-paced novella – writing convincingly as a security robot assigned to keep scientific teams out of harm is far more difficult. Yet Wells triumphantly pulls it off. A marvellous read – I just wish I could afford to read the rest of the series…

 

 

There were other near misses it hurts to omit – Isha Crowe’s quirky Gwithyas: Door to the Void, L.E. Modesitt’s Outcasts of Order and Children of the Shaman by Jessica Rydill to name but three. What about you – what are your favourite reads of the year, so far?

Review of NETGALLEY arc Blunt Force Magic – Book 1 of The Monsters and Men trilogy by Lawrence Davis

I read several positive reviews of this one and took one look at the cover – and requested it…

Janzen Robinson is a man lost between two worlds. Five years removed from a life as an apprentice to a group of do-gooding heroes who championed the fight against supernatural evils, the once-promising student is now a package courier going through the daily grind, passing time at a hole-in-the-wall bar and living in a tiny, run-down apartment on the south side of Cleveland, Ohio. Then fate (or a case of bad timing) brings him face to face with a door that’s got his old life written all over it. From the ancient recesses of unyielding darkness known as the Abyss, a creature has been summoned: a Stalker, a predator whose real name is forbidden to be spoken aloud. It’s a bastardization of the natural order, a formidable blend of dark magic and primal tenacity. Its single-minded mission? Ending the life of a fiery, emerging young witch.

Though the cool cover shouts otherwise – at least to me, who thought this was going to morph into epic fantasy, this story is very much within the urban fantasy genre. That said, there are some striking differences that make this one stand out. Yes, Janzen has been selected as an apprentice due to his natural talent – however, that was a while ago. In the meantime, something terrible has happened to his mentor and he has spent the last five years just getting by. Therefore, while he does have raw talent, there is relatively little skill or finesse in his workings. I really like the idea that he is only half trained and that because of his chippy, mouthy character, he is also tricky to help, as he is often his own worst enemy.

That doesn’t stop him plunging into a desperate situation against a very dangerous opponent without too much thought about the consequences. This is partly due to his own bloody-minded nature and partly due to the survivor guilt he still feels.

While I’m always wary of assuming authors necessarily shoehorn their own lives into their writing, I was interested to read that Davis is a war veteran who served in Iraq. The young soldier who befriends Janzen is very well depicted and all the action scenes are effective and realistic.

In short, this one held me throughout. I liked the dynamic and the fact that there was no romantic relationship running throughout – a refreshing change in urban fantasy, these days. I also liked the scrabbling, somewhat desperate nature of Janzen’s opposition to the nasties ranged against him. I particularly appreciated the monsters – especially the stalkers, which are truly terrifying creatures.

All in all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable new series and I very much look forward to reading another slice of Janzen’s adventures – I hope Davies writes quickly. While I obtained an arc of Blunt Force Magic from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

Sunday Post – 4th March, 2018

This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.

It’s certainly been a different week… I loathe the snow – particularly driving in it, so was very relieved when Northbrook announced on Tuesday morning that it would be cancelling the afternoon and evening classes. In the event, the weather cleared up and there was bright sunshine, but throughout the week we had flurries and then blizzards, though fortunately it never snowed long enough to create any real depth or the drifts that afflicted other parts of the country. What was miserable was the bitterly cold easterly which howled through the cracks in our double-glazed windows and revealed just what a shoddy job the installers did when fitting them. Shame on you Anglian Windows! After I sellotaped over the cracks, I couldn’t believe the difference it made to the temperature in the house.

I was very lucky to be able to stay indoors for the duration of the sub-zero temperatures and when we woke up yesterday to the significant rise in temperature and everything once more snow and ice-free, I did a happy dance. My heart goes out to those who were stranded, or homeless and those families who are running out of supplies.

The only damage we sustained was that the tap in the outbuilding sheared off after the water pipe was frozen, creating a stream of water shooting across shed and soaking me as I attempted to put on the washing machine for the first time in three days.

Writing-wise, it has been a week where I’ve slowed down to take stock and ensure I’m on the right track, but I’m hoping now to be able to get the final third of Miranda’s Tempest rewritten this month.

This week I have read:

Blunt Force Magic – Book 1 of the Monsters and Men trilogy by Lawrence Davis
Janzen Robinson is a man lost between two worlds. Five years removed from a life as an apprentice to a group of do-gooding heroes who championed the fight against supernatural evils, the once-promising student is now a package courier going through the daily grind, passing time at a hole-in-the-wall bar and living in a tiny, run-down apartment on the south side of Cleveland, Ohio.

Then fate (or a case of bad timing) brings him face to face with a door that’s got his old life written all over it. From the ancient recesses of unyielding darkness known as the Abyss, a creature has been summoned: a Stalker, a predator whose real name is forbidden to be spoken aloud. It’s a bastardization of the natural order, a formidable blend of dark magic and primal tenacity. Its single-minded mission? Ending the life of a fiery, emerging young witch.

I loved this! Attracted by that amazing cover, I had thought I was getting an epic fantasy, swords and sorcery adventure – but this is firmly in the territory of urban fantasy, which plenty of gritty action and an intriguing, sympathetic protagonist. I shall be reviewing this one in due course.

 

The Bitter Twins – Book 2 of The Winnowing Flame trilogy by Jen Williams
The Ninth Rain has fallen, the Jure’lia have returned, and with Ebora a shadow of its former self, the old enemy are closer to conquering Sarn than ever.

Tormalin the Oathless and the Fell-Witch Noon have their hands full dealing with the first war-beasts to be born in Ebora for nearly three hundred years. But these are not the great mythological warriors of old; hatched too early and with no link to their past lives, the war-beasts have no memory of the many battles they have fought and won, and no concept of how they can possibly do it again. The key to uniting them, according to the scholar Vintage, may lie in a part of Sarn no one really believes exists, but finding it will mean a dangerous journey at a time of war…

Meanwhile, Hestillion is trapped on board the corpse moon, forced into a strange and uneasy alliance with the Jure’lia queen. Something terrifying is growing up there, in the heart of the Behemoth, and the people of Sarn will have no defence against these new monsters.

I have included the entire blurb for this one – something I rarely do – as this time, it was a shame I didn’t read it before I plunged into the novel. It was a while since I’d read The Ninth Rain and this book picks up immediately from the end of the last one, without any kind of pause or roundup to give readers a chance to rebond with the main characters and recall exactly what was going on. And as you can see – a lot is going on… So it took me a while to get back into the fray. However, once I became immersed in the story once more, I thoroughly enjoyed the action. Aliens and dragons in the same adventure – what’s not to love?

My posts last week:

Sunday Post – 25th February 2018

Review of Split Feather – Book 1 of The Daughter of the Midnight Sun series by Deborah A. Wolf

Teaser Tuesday featuring Blunt Force Magic – Book 1 of the Monsters and Men trilogy by Lawrence Davis

Can’t-Wait Wednesday featuring Meet Me in the Strange by Leander Watts

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Into the Fire – Book 2 of the Vatta’s Peace series by Elizabeth Moon

Friday Face-off – The king is dead, long live the king… featuring The King Must Die – Book 1 of the Theseus series by Mary Renault

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of The Hyperspace Trap by Christopher G. Nuttall

 

Interesting/outstanding blogs and articles that have caught my attention during the last week, in no particular order:

Explorer Chick Adventure Co., The Perfect Reason To Get Outside and Play https://roamwildandfree.com/2018/03/03/explorer-chick-adventure-co-the-perfect-reason-to-get-outside-and-play/ For those of you in the process of compiling your bucket list…

Melfka’s Birthday Week: The Sweet Tooth Witch http://melfka.com/archives/2683 As Joanna gleefully lists her favourite guilty pleasures, other than chocolates, of course – it got me wondering what the rest of you lovely folks like eating from the sweetie aisle in the supermarket…

Little Walter: 50 Years Dead but he will never be gone! The King of the Blues Harmonica
https://theimmortaljukebox.com/2018/02/19/little-walter-50-years-dead-but-he-will-never-be-gone-the-king-of-the-blues-harmonica/ Do yourselves a favour and click on some of these recordings – you will never have heard harmonica playing quite like it before – unless you’re already a fan of this extraordinary musician.

Wrting Microfiction: The Sometimes Stellar Storyteller Six Word Story Challenge https://thenaptimeauthor.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/writing-microfiction-the-sometimes-stellar-storyteller-six-word-story-challenge/ Sometimes, short can be very sweet…

#Snowmaggedon And if you don’t happen to live this side of the pond and have been wondering what the fuss is about regarding the weather – put this hashtag into the Twitter searchbox and take a look at what we’ve all been obsessing about this week…

Have a great week and thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to visit, like and comment on my site.

Teaser Tuesday – 27th February, 2018

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is my choice of the day:

Blunt Force Magic – Book 1 of the Monsters and Men trilogy by Lawrence Davis

97% I walked out of the filthy den of forfeited hopes and dead ambitions into the blinding light of midday.
“You ducking the hard stuff again?” Kaycee asked, walking over from her store which was only a few feet down from the underground bar.
“Food.” I lifted the to-go bag up for her to see.
“From there? That’s brave.”
“Bravery is my middle name.”

BLURB: Janzen Robinson is a man lost between two worlds. Five years removed from a life as an apprentice to a group of do-gooding heroes who championed the fight against supernatural evils, the once-promising student is now a package courier going through the daily grind, passing time at a hole-in-the-wall bar and living in a tiny, run-down apartment on the south side of Cleveland, Ohio.

Then fate (or a case of bad timing) brings him face to face with a door that’s got his old life written all over it. From the ancient recesses of unyielding darkness known as the Abyss, a creature has been summoned: a Stalker, a predator whose real name is forbidden to be spoken aloud. It’s a bastardization of the natural order, a formidable blend of dark magic and primal tenacity. Its single-minded mission? Ending the life of a fiery, emerging young witch.

This is only part of the rather chatty blurb – and as you can see I’ve nearly finished this one. It’s been great fun and Janzen’s scruffy magic is a nice addition to the urban fantasy vigilantes keeping all those monsters at bay. I’ll be reviewing this one in due course.