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[Jaybe]

Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion.

Came across Hyperion mentioned in several several best sci-fi books ranked videos and in discussion forums.
They are basically one book split into two given the length of them combined being around 1,200 pages.
The first book is especially great with its mystery and story telling. Though the ending is weak since it's really just a break between two books.
The second book marches much more straightforward narratively and I like how 75% of the plot is resolved.
Overall, I recommend them.
Back to non-fiction for me with The Splendid and the Vile.

 

[AJUMP23]

The Coral island - Old school young adventure novel. Fun stuff.

 

[kikkis]

Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion.

Came across Hyperion mentioned in several several best sci-fi books ranked videos and in discussion forums.
They are basically one book split into two given the length of them combined being around 1,200 pages.
The first book is especially great with its mystery and story telling. Though the ending is weak since it's really just a break between two books.
The second book marches much more straightforward narratively and I like how 75% of the plot is resolved.
Overall, I recommend them.
Back to non-fiction for me with The Splendid and the Vile.

Have you read the expanse? I am currently on tiamats wrath.

 

[Jaybe]

Have you read the expanse? I am currently on tiamats wrath.

No, I haven't read the Expanse yet. I've heard it's great. I started the TV show a couple years ago but got wrapped up in other things at the time.

 

[Critical Hit]

The first book is especially great with its mystery and story telling. Though the ending is weak since it's really just a break between two books.
The second book marches much more straightforward narratively and I like how 75% of the plot is resolved.

I came to this thread to write about Hyperion, and it's already here. Personally, I found the second book the best - the main focus of the first one are personal stories and not all of them are great.
I started reading Endymion yesterday.

 

[Rien]

Halfway in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer. 1140 page whopper with a very tiny font. But it's good!

 

[IDKFA]

Coming off my dopamine detox, I started to get back into re-reading the Red Rising series (Red God will be out next year fingers crossed).

Recently finished Dark Age. It's been a few years since I first read, and I remember loving it the first time, but the second read was a struggle.

My first issue, and this is minor, but why is it that the some people in the Republic now call the Society fascist? I cannot remember them ever being referred to as fascist in any previous books, but in this book the F word gets dropped a number of times. However, it doesn't make sense? For those who haven't read it (and I'll keep this short) the Society are heavily and intentionally based on the Roman Empire, blended significantly with influences from Ancient Greek civilization and mythology. That is their culture. Their names, values, traditions etc are based on Rome, and like Rome their big into slavery. However, nothing about them is fascist. It's just so bizarre hearing the fascist term used when this story is set so far into the future. It's like calling the Roman Empire fascist. It makes no sense. I don't know why Mr Brown did this.

The structure of the book is very chaotic. The first three books were very tight because we only had the POV from Darrow, but from book 4 (Iron Gold) we've had a lot more POVs introduced. I love almost all of them, Virginia Ephraim (his last few chapters are epic), Darrow and Lysander are all brilliant, but I can't stand Lyria. Her chapters were hard to get through because she's just such an annoying prick. I'd rather have a POV for Servo or Victra.

The POV chapters are all over the place. The first 120 pages is just a back and fourth between Darrow and Lysander who both caught in the war on Mercury, which involves an Iron Rain, mecha assaults, nuclear bombardments, man made hypercanes (The "Storm Gods") , genocide, torture, mass human impalings and somebody getting half their face melted off. It is just pure carnage. We then get into the other POV's with Darrow and Lysander making later apperences, but rather than spacing them out we might get one Ephraim POV, then five in a row of Lyria, then four for Virginia, then a random Darrow POV.........It makes it a slog to read. Darrow and Lysander are the highlights as they are both so ideologically opposesd, and this is the book where these two mix it up. Darrow has always been a bad-ass, but Lysander is far more complex and this is the book where readers coming into it for the first time will question who really is protagonist.

Chaos is a theme in this book as everything has gone to shit so much plot wise (IIRC it gets a bit more tidy in Lightbringer) It's not just the Republic fighting what is remaining of the Society. We now have factions splintering off from other factions at a rapid pace. It makes sense, but it's just a little hard to keep track who is fighting with who and what the goals are of each faction. The book is also FAR too long. It doesn't need to be almost 800 pages!

4/5 - Probably the weakest in the series because of the length and chaotic pacing. However, the action is still breath-taking. I don't think there is a writer alive today who can write action as good as Pierce Brown. the ending with the "Charge of the Sunbloods"...........wow. Fucking wow.

I remember liking Lightbringer more, so I'll re-review that when I get round to it.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

No, I haven't read the Expanse yet. I've heard it's great. I started the TV show a couple years ago but got wrapped up in other things at the time.

I started the first book, I don't think I ever finished, was just too boring and bland. Maybe it's because it was an audiobook?

I really need a good space opera - I cannot read Dune all the time. Legend of Galactic Heroes is very, very good but at the same time it's a little too basic for my taste. So I need a middle ground between that and Dune.

I don't think this ever came in English - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Oceans - but I need to get to reading it, I think I started it 5 times over the last 15 years. It's an incredible book, but holy shit, sci-fi doesn't get much harder than this.

Got a new e-reader recently and jumped straight into Night Lords Omnibus from Warhammer 40K - I have to say it blew my mind a bit with how I saw Chaos Space Marines in the lore before. Great read, only 35% done.

 

[Paasei]

Reading through the Greek saga from Stephen Fry. Finished the first one, Mythos a while ago. About halfway in Heroes at the moment.

 

[kikkis]

I started the first book, I don't think I ever finished, was just too boring and bland. Maybe it's because it was an audiobook?

I really need a good space opera - I cannot read Dune all the time. Legend of Galactic Heroes is very, very good but at the same time it's a little too basic for my taste. So I need a middle ground between that and Dune.

I don't think this ever came in English - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Oceans - but I need to get to reading it, I think I started it 5 times over the last 15 years. It's an incredible book, but holy shit, sci-fi doesn't get much harder than this.

Got a new e-reader recently and jumped straight into Night Lords Omnibus from Warhammer 40K - I have to say it blew my mind a bit with how I saw Chaos Space Marines in the lore before. Great read, only 35% done.

If you don't want to read the expanse books, I would recommend at least given the tv show a shot.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I started the first book, I don't think I ever finished, was just too boring and bland. Maybe it's because it was an audiobook?

I really need a good space opera - I cannot read Dune all the time. Legend of Galactic Heroes is very, very good but at the same time it's a little too basic for my taste. So I need a middle ground between that and Dune.

I don't think this ever came in English - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Oceans - but I need to get to reading it, I think I started it 5 times over the last 15 years. It's an incredible book, but holy shit, sci-fi doesn't get much harder than this.

Got a new e-reader recently and jumped straight into Night Lords Omnibus from Warhammer 40K - I have to say it blew my mind a bit with how I saw Chaos Space Marines in the lore before. Great read, only 35% done.

I got two Warhammer 40k Omnibuses on physical which are Eisenhorn and The Founding (Gaunt Ghost). I'm pretty new to 40k, I was wondering if those are good starting points to get into that series?

I've been watching YouTube lore videos to get myself familiarized with the world building

 

[Poppinfresh]

Anyone here read any Bernard Cornwell?

Any suggestions on where to begin with him or his best books?

 

[TexMex]

One of my favorites of the year and definitely the most well written

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

One of my favorites of the year and definitely the most well written

The Secret History of what?

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I got two Warhammer 40k Omnibuses on physical which are Eisenhorn and The Founding (Gaunt Ghost). I'm pretty new to 40k, I was wondering if those are good starting points to get into that series?

I've been watching YouTube lore videos to get myself familiarized with the world building

Eisenhorn is considered widely to be one of the best starting points, although if you watched the lore videos you will probably already be familiar with a lot of it. It's also a really good inquisition / detective / chaos story, if you like that (I do). Alternatively if you are willing you can try reading the first three Horus Heresy novels back to back, they are really a great start (not all the books in the series are good).

After Eisenhorn you can also try Ravenor later (another inquisitor trilogy).

The Secret History of what?

I guess it's a secret.

 

[TexMex]

This kept getting recommended, and it's pretty short (104 pages) but I loved it. Really great idea. Grab it if you have a flight or commute, you could knock it out in one sitting.

 

[Nintendo's Witch]

Reading King Sorrow atm and enjoying it a great deal. I just love dragons

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Reading King Sorrow atm and enjoying it a great deal. I just love dragons

I'm reading that next year, compared to his dad, how would you say his writing style is like?

 

[Nintendo's Witch]

I'm reading that next year, compared to his dad, how would you say his writing style is like?

It's really, really good. Love his style, very different from King tho. The book is awesome.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Eisenhorn is considered widely to be one of the best starting points, although if you watched the lore videos you will probably already be familiar with a lot of it. It's also a really good inquisition / detective / chaos story, if you like that (I do). Alternatively if you are willing you can try reading the first three Horus Heresy novels back to back, they are really a great start (not all the books in the series are good).

After Eisenhorn you can also try Ravenor later (another inquisitor trilogy).

Well my favorite Chaos God is Slannesh lol

And yeah I heard Eisenhorn is considered to be a fantastic starting point

I have the Gaunt Ghost Omnibus too and I heard that one is really good too

When it comes to The Horus Heresy, I was planning on reading those first as my introduction to 40k, but 10 Pages into the first book had me very confused to the point I just put the book down. I have all of The Horus Heresy on Kindle and yes I plan to read them in order once I read a good amount of other 40k books

As for the lore videos, I watched just enough to understand the general lore. Also I used a reading guide when I was looking for sugguestions on where to start reading 40k. I really like Weshammer and his deep dives into the lore and mysteries of 40k

It's really, really good. Love his style, very different from King tho. The book is awesome.

That's good to hear. I love King but when you read him a lot you tend to notice the tropes he leans into a lot more.

 

[Nocty]

has there been any decent epic fantasy releases this year I shoud be reading?

I haven't gotten into a good series in ages, I think the last one was Game of Thrones and well.. that shit is never getting finished.

 

[TexMex]

has there been any decent epic fantasy releases this year I shoud be reading?

I haven't gotten into a good series in ages, I think the last one was Game of Thrones and well.. that shit is never getting finished.

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie. I just loved it, and I don't normally like fantasy.

 

[TexMex]

I wanted to reread this to see if it was just the combination of it being required reading and also being a dumb teenager made me hate it.

I didn't hate it, but 40 year old me didn't like it either. I don't think I'll ever understand the extreme reverence for this.

 

[Sand Dan Glokta]

has there been any decent epic fantasy releases this year I shoud be reading?

I haven't gotten into a good series in ages, I think the last one was Game of Thrones and well.. that shit is never getting finished.

I can't wait for GRRM ro die so that some one else might possibly finish the series.

I'm halfway through book 6 of Malazan Book of The Fallen. I've read ASOIAF twice and it has nothing on Malazan in terms of sheer epic grandeur and scale of the worldbuilding.

 

[IDKFA]

Anyone here read any Bernard Cornwell?

Any suggestions on where to begin with him or his best books?

Yes. I've read everything he's put out.

Regarding recommendations, it probably depends on what era of history takes your fancy and how much you want to commit into a series.

The Sharpe books and the Saxon (Last Kingdom) books are all great, but they're very long. The Saxon series is 13 books and Sharpe is currently 24 books.

I'd recommend starting with the Grail Quest series. It's only 4 books and probably the best work Cornwell has produced. Set in the 14th century during the Hundred Year War between England and France, it tells the story of an English Archer, Thomas of Hookton, who is drawn into an epic search for a mysterious holy relic during the chaos of the Hundred Years' War. The series blend gritty medieval warfare (the battle scenes are insane) with a mythic, quest driven adventure.

There are 4 books, however originally it was just a trilogy. The first 3 books make a perfect trilogy, but then for some reason we got a fourth book, which is okay, but it's not really connected to the trilogy and didn't have the same level of quality.

The order of the books go as follows:

1) Harlequin (If you're in the US, for some reason they changed the name of this book to An Archers Tale)

2) Vagabond

3) Heretic

4) 1356

 

[Nocty]

I can't wait for GRRM ro die so that some one else might possibly finish the series.

I'm halfway through book 6 of Malazan Book of The Fallen. I've read ASOIAF twice and it has nothing on Malazan in terms of sheer epic grandeur and scale of the worldbuilding.

have been recommended that previously, by the boss EviLore himself I believe, but t'was far too dense for my mashed potato brain to read after work tbh.

No doubt they seemed good but I struggled massively with how many characters, wars and events were going on at once.

 

[Sand Dan Glokta]

have been recommended that previously, by the boss EviLore himself I believe, but t'was far too dense for my mashed potato brain to read after work tbh.

No doubt they seemed good but I struggled massively with how many characters, wars and events were going on at once.

The books are notorious for throwing you in the thick of it, but after a while you get used to not understanding wtf is going on and just jive with it lol

 

[calico]

Anyone here read any Bernard Cornwell?

Any suggestions on where to begin with him or his best books?

I haven't read enough to tell you what his best is, but I read a bunch of Sharpe, a bunch of Last Kingdom, the King Arthur trilogy and The Fort. I liked everything I read from him well enough, but I'd say he's consistently decent rather than great in my experience.

I preferred Conn Iggulden's Rome series a little more.

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series (where Master & Commander comes from) is in a different league imo.

 

[IDKFA]

have been recommended that previously, by the boss EviLore himself I believe, but t'was far too dense for my mashed potato brain to read after work tbh.

No doubt they seemed good but I struggled massively with how many characters, wars and events were going on at once.

The books are notorious for throwing you in the thick of it, but after a while you get used to not understanding wtf is going on and just jive with it lol

I do remember the boss glazing this series. It made me very interested to get started with them. Is there an order of books? What is the first one? Might see if I can get a Kindle edition to give them a go.

I preferred Conn Iggulden's Rome series a little more.

I feel like he shat the bed with Blood of the Gods. It is supposed to continue the Emperor Series, but it is littered with plot holes that made me wonder if Mr Iggulden even referred back to the previous books. It was like he was writing a stand along book, but then just decided to make it part of the Emperor series. For example:

In Blood of the Gods, Brutus and Antony hardly know Octavian and treat him like a stranger, which is very bizarre considering how much time they spent together in previous books. That really rubbed me up the wrong way.

 

[calico]

What is the first one?

Gardens of the Moon.

They are normally sold with Book 1, Book 2 etc. in the title. I made it to 8 I think.

 

[Poppinfresh]

I really need a good space opera - I cannot read Dune all the time. Legend of Galactic Heroes is very, very good but at the same time it's a little too basic for my taste. So I need a middle ground between that and Dune.

Have you read any Peter F. Hamilton?

I suggest starting with either the Night's Dawn books or the Commonwealth Saga (Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained).

 

[Queso de Grande]

Have you read any Peter F. Hamilton?

I suggest starting with either the Night's Dawn books or the Commonwealth Saga (Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained).

The audible sales makes the commonwealth series around $3.50 a piece. That's like 90 hours for less than $10. It is a steal.

 

[Poppinfresh]

The audible sales makes the commonwealth series around $3.50 a piece. That's like 90 hours for less than $10. It is a steal.

Damn good books too

 

[Nocty]

Any of you guys into collecting limited edition / premium print versions of books?

I have a couple from this website in my collection and they have released a really nice LOTR trilogy set that temps me.

I realise that £160+ for 3 old books is insane, but I love this shit.

The Lord of the Rings | The Folio Society Fiction

Get your special edition of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien—an illustrated masterpiece from The Folio Society.

www.foliosociety.com

I own their Dark Materials set, and it's quality is next level.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Any of you guys into collecting limited edition / premium print versions of books?

I have a couple from this website in my collection and they have released a really nice LOTR trilogy set that temps me.

I realise that £160+ for 3 old books is insane, but I love this shit.

The Lord of the Rings | The Folio Society Fiction

Get your special edition of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien—an illustrated masterpiece from The Folio Society.

www.foliosociety.com

I own their Dark Materials set, and it's quality is next level.

I put the quality of The Folio Society Special Editions up there with The Broken Binding Editions. I'm insanely jealous that you got the Dark Materials set

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion.

Came across Hyperion mentioned in several several best sci-fi books ranked videos and in discussion forums.
They are basically one book split into two given the length of them combined being around 1,200 pages.
The first book is especially great with its mystery and story telling. Though the ending is weak since it's really just a break between two books.
The second book marches much more straightforward narratively and I like how 75% of the plot is resolved.
Overall, I recommend them.
Back to non-fiction for me with The Splendid and the Vile.

Don't know if this is considered a hot take or not but skip the third book - Endymion.

Finished up Dresden 5 this week and started 6 yesterday. It's just pulp fantasy but I love'em. Trying to get through all of them before the new one next month.

Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6)

For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, …

www.goodreads.com

 

[Nocty]

I put the quality of The Folio Society Special Editions up there with The Broken Binding Editions. I'm insanely jealous that you got the Dark Materials set

it was gifted to me by my other half.. still available I believe https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/his-dark-materials

 

[JusticeForAll]

I probably spend more time reading in my free time than playing games, but i'm not on a forum for that, haha. Will have finished 45 to 50 books by the end of the year.

I just finished the Edan trilogy by Philip Chase. Well written fantasy, I can recommended it.

I'm currently enjoying the Washington Poe books by M.W. Craven as well. Excellent police procedural based in Cumbria.

On top of that I'm reading some local non- fiction that wouldn't be of any interest to people here.

I noticed a lot of people tend to like Malazan here. I have tried to read the first book in the series a few times, but somehow I always lose interest and don't get through it. In theory it seems like something I would love, so I don't know why I doesn't click for me.

Always open for recommendations. I like a lot. Can be fantasy, historical fiction, thrillers, scifi,...

Wellknown writers I enjoy: Tolkien, GRRMartin, Abercrombie, Grisham, Coben, Ken Follet, Bernard Cornwell, Daniel Abraham, Lee Child, Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, Rothfuss,... Quite a long list to be typing here.

However, I do prefer series that are finished or where the last book is soon to come out. For example, I own all the books of The Bound and the Broken by Ryan Cahill, but I will not start reading them until the last book is close to being published. I don't have enough spare time to catch up for a new book by rereading whole series, especially not with the backlog I already have. Recaps often don't do it for me either.

 

[Jaybe]

Don't know if this is considered a hot take or not but skip the third book - Endymion.

Finished up Dresden 5 this week and started 6 yesterday. It's just pulp fantasy but I love'em. Trying to get through all of them before the new one next month.

Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6)

For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, …

www.goodreads.com

Yeah, I read Endymion is quite a drop off and seems to have been written 6 or 7 years after so I just ended up stopping with fall of Hyperion.

I started the first book of the Expanse series, Leviathan Wakes and I find it really gripping, the writing style works for me and I like how the plot unfolds. 80% down the book and will probably continue with the series.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Yeah, I read Endymion is quite a drop off and seems to have been written 6 or 7 years after so I just ended up stopping with fall of Hyperion.

I started the first book of the Expanse series, Leviathan Wakes and I find it really gripping, the writing style works for me and I like how the plot unfolds. 80% down the book and will probably continue with the series.

ohhhh you are going to really like those and there are quite a few so a great series to dive into!

 

[TexMex]

Reasonably entertaining but massively overrated.

 

[TexMex]

Any of you guys into collecting limited edition / premium print versions of books?

I have a couple from this website in my collection and they have released a really nice LOTR trilogy set that temps me.

I realise that £160+ for 3 old books is insane, but I love this shit.

The Lord of the Rings | The Folio Society Fiction

Get your special edition of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien—an illustrated masterpiece from The Folio Society.

www.foliosociety.com

I own their Dark Materials set, and it's quality is next level.

I have a few from Folio Society and they've been worth every penny every time.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I have a few from Folio Society and they've been worth every penny every time.

Some nice gets in there. Especially love The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier And Clay and The Way of Kings editions you got

 

[Escape Goat]

 

[TexMex]

Some nice gets in there. Especially love The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier And Clay and The Way of Kings editions you got

Kavalier and Clay is what got me into reading over 20 years ago. Maybe my all time favorite, love it. Been waiting 10 years for his next book!

(way of kings isn't Folio to be clear, Sanderson sells those direct)

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Kavalier and Clay is what got me into reading over 20 years ago. Maybe my all time favorite, love it. Been waiting 10 years for his next book!

I read that book last year and loved it

(way of kings isn't Folio to be clear, Sanderson sells those direct)

The Way of Kings is the first book I read of his and is still my favorite out of all the Cosmere books

 

[IDKFA]

Not the best James Bond novel.

This is an origin story set in 1950. It has most of the Bond tropes you'd expect, such as casinos, the 'Bond girl', villain monologue etc.

But then it flips the script by making the Bond girl (in this case, a mysterious figure known as Madame Sixteen) more of a bad ass than Bond.

Story wise it makes sense. Bond is fresh from getting his 00 status, where Sixteen is older and has far more experience. However, although Bond is new to role, for a majority of the book he's helpless and needs Sixteen and her goons to bail him out on a number of occasions.

The book also doesn't really get going until the final third. Before that, Bond is like a deer in the headlights just pottering around the south of France.

Going back to tropes, the classic villain monologue, made my eyes roll. Slight spoiler here, but rather than killing Bond, the two antagonists decided to

Spoiler

Explain in great detail their evil plan, then lock Bond up and get him addicted to heroin. Why not just shoot him in the head?

6/10.

 

[TexMex]

I read 28 books this year, here is my top 5:

1. Wind Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami - One of those one in a million life changing books. Right book right time.
2. The Secret History - Donna Tartt - A book that is always on every must read list and has been for thirty years that somehow ended up being just as good as everyone said it would be. Incredible.
3. Last Picture Show - Larry McMurtry - Loved it. After Lonesome Dove lived up to the hype last year, I'm excited to keep going with Terms of Endearment this year.
4. The Shining - Stephen King - Not much to say here but probably the last one on earth to read it.
5. The Devils - Joe Abercrombie - I'm not a fantasy guy at all but this was a total blast. Starting The First Law trilogy this year.

Honorable Mention: A Short Stay in Hell by Steven Peck. It's only 100 pages so I felt weird about it being in the top 5 being a novella, but it has stayed with me and I won't stop recommending it.
Worst book: Neuromancer by William Gibson. I cannot believe anyone likes this so much. Just an unimaginably bad piece of shit. This is the book that made me resolve to not finish books just because I've started. 2026 will be the year of the DNF if the book isn't for me.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I read 28 books this year, here is my top 5:

1. Wind Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami - One of those one in a million life changing books. Right book right time.
2. The Secret History - Donna Tartt - A book that is always on every must read list and has been for thirty years that somehow ended up being just as good as everyone said it would be. Incredible.
3. Last Picture Show - Larry McMurtry - Loved it. After Lonesome Dove lived up to the hype last year, I'm excited to keep going with Terms of Endearment this year.
4. The Shining - Stephen King - Not much to say here but probably the last one on earth to read it.
5. The Devils - Joe Abercrombie - I'm not a fantasy guy at all but this was a total blast. Starting The First Law trilogy this year.

Honorable Mention: A Short Stay in Hell by Steven Peck. It's only 100 pages so I felt weird about it being in the top 5 being a novella, but it has stayed with me and I won't stop recommending it.
Worst book: Neuromancer by William Gibson. I cannot believe anyone likes this so much. Just an unimaginably bad piece of shit. This is the book that made me resolve to not finish books just because I've started. 2026 will be the year of the DNF if the book isn't for me.

Here are mine

1. Deadhouse Gates (Steven Erikson) - This one was a gripping read for me. The amount of things that happened in the plot really surprised me especiallly with the direction the author took things. I love all the characters and really felt for them during the whole book. I'm gonna to be reading a lot more Malazan this year. I want to get to at least Book 5 or Book 6

2. God Emporer of Dune (Frank Herbert) - This is my favorite one and I know this one is the most divisive due to being a more dialogue heavy book Would you love me if I was a worm?

3. Senlin Ascends (Josiah Bancroft) - It started out just good and I thought it was nothing special. But when it got to Part II, that's when I started to get hooked. The story takes an interesting turn and the cast are all memorable

4. Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir) - This was my last read of 2025 and I loved it. It interesting how he used hard sci fi to tell the story. There was a lot of interesting twists in the story that I didn't see coming. Overall a great book and I can't wait to watch the movie coming out this year

5. Children of Time (Adrian Tchaikovsky) - It was nice learning about Spider behavior and culture. It was interesting reading about how the nanovirus changed the spiders mental capabilities etc over the thousands of years. The human chapters were really good too. Great book

Honorable Mentions

1. The Rose Fields (Philip Pullman) It ended on a good note but the book could have been better. La Belle Sauvage is still the best book in this trilogy.

2. Isle of The Emberdark (Brandon Sanderson) - Still a way better book than Wind and Truth but I'm not as into the Cosmere as I used to be thanks to that book. This book was actually pretty good. The story and magic system was good but the characters once again (which is a weakness that Sanderson has) are not memorable at all.

I read comics (Marvel Comics mostly) more than I read books and manga last year. This year I want to read books and manga more than I want to read comics

 

[bender]

Just ordered:

Lone Wolf and Cub Deluxe Edition Volumes

The groundbreaking samurai masterpiece of stark beauty, kinetic fury, and visceral thematic power! The shogun’s executioner, Ogami Ittō, has fallen from grace after false accusations by a rival clan. With his wife murdered and with his three-year-old son to protect, he chooses the path of the...

www.darkhorsedirect.com

Paging EviLore since he likes Lone Wolf and Cub.