2014 Reads
2014 was a pretty decent year for books. It had some duds, but also some very fine reads. For those not already aware, I re-booted my book blog, The Deckled Edge, this year. We'll see how long it lasts this time. I think this time around I will only do full reviews for the books I really feel like doing. Otherwise, I'll just do a very short review and call it a day.
I've bold the exceptional reads, and italicized the boring and disappointing ones.
I should also note that I have a few stories by Benjanun Sriduangkaew on my list, but this was before I found out she is supposedly a notorious hate blogger.
Non-Fiction
Zealot, Reza Aslan
The Vanished Library, Luciano Canfora
Herculaneum: Past and Future, Andrew Wallace-Hadrill
Novellas
Return, Peter S. Beagle
Messenger’s Legacy, Peter V. Brett
The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, Ted Chiang (re-read)
The Madonna and the Starship, James Morrow
The Slow Regard of Silent Things, Patrick Rothfuss
Scale Bright, Benjanun Sriduangkaew
Dream Houses, Genevieve Valentine
Anthologies/Collections
Upgraded, Neil Clarke
Midnight and Moonshine, Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter
Twenty-First Century Science Fiction, David G. Hartwell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Conservation of Shadows, Yoon Ha Lee
Lowball, George R.R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass
Dangerous Women, George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Rogues, George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Forever in the Memory of God, Peadar O’Guilin
The Sword of Destiny, Andrzej Sapkowski
Reach for Infinity, Jonathon Strahan
Lights in the Deep, Brad Torgersen
Beyond the Rift, Peter Watts
Novels
Foxglove Summer, Ben Aaronovitch Half a King, Joe Abercrombie
The Widow’s House, Daniel Abraham
Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
vN, Madeline Ashby
Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
Ruin and Rising, Leigh Bardugo
Lexicon, Max Barry
Turbulence, Samit Basu
Resistance, Samit Basu
A Fine and Private Place, Peter S. Beagle
The Innkeeper’s Song, Peter S. Beagle
The Tropic of Serpents, Marie Brennan
Existence, David Brin
Red Rising, Pierce Brown
Hurricane Fever, Tobias S. Buckell
Skin Game, Jim Butcher
A Darkling Sea, James L. Cambias
Cibola Burn, James S.A. Corey
Unwrapped Sky, Rjurik Davidson
Enemies at Home, Lindsey Davis
Terra Incognita, Ruth Downie
Food for the Gods, Karen Dudley
Kraken Bake, Karen Dudley
Zadayi Red, Caleb Fox
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
Full Fathom Five, Max Gladstone
Hild, Nicola Griffith
The Volunteer, Peadar O’ Guilin
The Gospel of Loki, Joanne M. Harris
The Secret of Abdu el Yezdi, Mark Hodder
The Mirror Empire, Kameron Hurley
The Memory of Water, Emma Itäranta
The Leopard, K.V. Johansen
The Way to Babylon, Paul Kearney
Riding the Unicorn, Paul Kearney
The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin
Ancillary Sword, Ann Leckie
The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu
A Taste fur Murder, Dixie Lyle
The World of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin, Elio M. Garcia Jr., and Linda Antonsson
Travel Light, Naomi Mitchison
All Those Vanished Engines, Paul Park
The Bees, Laline Paull
Feet of Clay, Terry Pratchett
Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
The Causal Angel, Hannu Rajaniemi
Swamplandia!, Karen Russell
Blood Song, Anthony Ryan
Tower Lord, Anthony Ryan
Veil of the Deserters, Jeff Salyards
Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson
The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski (re-read)
Blood of Elves, Andrzej Sapkowski (re-read)
Time of Contempt, Andrzej SapkowskiBaptism of Fire, Andrzej Sapkowski
Wild Cards X: Double Solitaire Melinda M. SnodgrassThe Septembers of Shiraz, Dalia Sofer
Something More Than Night, Ian Tregillis
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, Genevieve Valentine
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer
Echopraxia, Peter Watts
The Great Glass Sea, Josh Weil
The Martian, Andy Weir
Three Princes, Ramona Wheeler
Benighted, Kit Whitfield
The People in the Trees, Hanya Yanagihara
Land of Love and Drowning, Tiphanie Yanique
Total: 90
Some Stats:
Science Fiction - 33 36.7%
Fantasy - 45 50%
Fiction - 15 16.7%
Anthologies - 12 13.4%
2014 Releases - 46 51.2%
Debut Novels - 20 22.3%
New Authors - 32 35.6%
Women Authors - 35 38.9%
Compared to last year I read a few less science fiction, fiction/literature, and anthologies/collections. Debuts and new authors held steady. Books I read more of include fantasy, new releases, and women authors.
Short Stories
“Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy”, Saladin Ahmed
“Little Knife”, Leigh Bardugo
“Gordon, the Self-made Cat”, Peter S. Beagle
“Exhalation”, Ted Chiang
“The Water that Falls on You from Nowhere”, John Chu
“The Weight of a Blessing”, Aliette de Bodard
“Ship’s Brother”, Aliette de Bodard“In the Age of Iron and Ashes”, Aliette de Bodard
“Wakulla Springs”, Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages
“La Santisima”, Teresa Frohock
“The Angelus Guns”, Max Gladstone
“The Astronomer Who Met the North Wind”, Kate Hall
“The Ink Readers of Doi Salet”, Thomas Olde Heuvelt
“The Ninety-Ninth Bride”, Catherine F. King
“The Lady Astronaut of Mars”, Mary Robinette Kowal
“Mountain Ways”, Ursula Le Guin
“The Pirate Captain’s Daughter”, Yoon Ha Lee
“Architectural Constraints”, Yoon Ha Lee
“Wine”, Yoon Ha Lee
“The Contemporary Foxwife”, Yoon Ha Lee
“The Bonedrake’s Penance”, Yoon Ha Lee
“The Plague”, Ken Liu
“Build-a-Dolly”, Ken Liu
“The Silk Merchant”, Ken Liu
“The Litigation Master and the Monkey King”, Ken Liu
“The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species”, Ken Liu
“A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel”, Ken Liu
“The Clockwork Soldier”, Ken Liu “Reborn”, Ken Liu
“The Long Haul From the ANNALS OF TRANSPORTATION, The Pacific Monthly, May 2009”, Ken Liu
“Seventh Day of the Seventh Moon”, Ken Liu
“Driftings”, Ian McDonald
“Observations About Eggs from the Man Sitting Next to Me on a Flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa”, Carmen Maria Machado
“‘Possum Trot”, J. Harley McIlrath
“The Lost Sepulcher of Huascar Capac”, Paul Park
“I Met a Man Who Wasn’t There”, K.J. Parker
“The Things We Do For Love”, K.J. Parker
“Heaven Thunders the Truth”, K.J. Parker
“Safe House”, K.J. Parker
“The Last Log of the Lachrimosa”, Alastair Reynolds
“Dawn and the Maiden”, Sofia Samatar
“Selkie Stories Are for Losers”, Sofia Samatar
“Wake-Rider”, Vandana Singh
“Woman of the Sun, Woman of the Moon”, Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“Chang’e Dashes from the Moon”, Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade”, Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love”, Rachel Swirsky
“Sing”, Karin Tidbeck
“86,87,88,89”, Genevieve Valentine
“Six-Gun Snow White”, Catherynne M. Valente
“Salvage”, Carrie Vaughn
“The Colonel”, Peter Watts
“Daedalum, the Devil’s Wheel”, E. Lily Yu
“The Urashima Effect”, E. Lily Yu
I've bold the exceptional reads, and italicized the boring and disappointing ones.
I should also note that I have a few stories by Benjanun Sriduangkaew on my list, but this was before I found out she is supposedly a notorious hate blogger.
Non-Fiction
Zealot, Reza Aslan
The Vanished Library, Luciano Canfora
Herculaneum: Past and Future, Andrew Wallace-Hadrill
Novellas
Return, Peter S. Beagle
Messenger’s Legacy, Peter V. Brett
The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, Ted Chiang (re-read)
The Madonna and the Starship, James Morrow
The Slow Regard of Silent Things, Patrick Rothfuss
Scale Bright, Benjanun Sriduangkaew
Dream Houses, Genevieve Valentine
Anthologies/Collections
Upgraded, Neil Clarke
Midnight and Moonshine, Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter
Twenty-First Century Science Fiction, David G. Hartwell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Conservation of Shadows, Yoon Ha Lee
Lowball, George R.R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass
Dangerous Women, George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Rogues, George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Forever in the Memory of God, Peadar O’Guilin
The Sword of Destiny, Andrzej Sapkowski
Reach for Infinity, Jonathon Strahan
Lights in the Deep, Brad Torgersen
Beyond the Rift, Peter Watts
Novels
Foxglove Summer, Ben Aaronovitch Half a King, Joe Abercrombie
The Widow’s House, Daniel Abraham
Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
vN, Madeline Ashby
Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
Ruin and Rising, Leigh Bardugo
Lexicon, Max Barry
Turbulence, Samit Basu
Resistance, Samit Basu
A Fine and Private Place, Peter S. Beagle
The Innkeeper’s Song, Peter S. Beagle
The Tropic of Serpents, Marie Brennan
Existence, David Brin
Red Rising, Pierce Brown
Hurricane Fever, Tobias S. Buckell
Skin Game, Jim Butcher
A Darkling Sea, James L. Cambias
Cibola Burn, James S.A. Corey
Unwrapped Sky, Rjurik Davidson
Enemies at Home, Lindsey Davis
Terra Incognita, Ruth Downie
Food for the Gods, Karen Dudley
Kraken Bake, Karen Dudley
Zadayi Red, Caleb Fox
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
Full Fathom Five, Max Gladstone
Hild, Nicola Griffith
The Volunteer, Peadar O’ Guilin
The Gospel of Loki, Joanne M. Harris
The Secret of Abdu el Yezdi, Mark Hodder
The Mirror Empire, Kameron Hurley
The Memory of Water, Emma Itäranta
The Leopard, K.V. Johansen
The Way to Babylon, Paul Kearney
Riding the Unicorn, Paul Kearney
The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin
Ancillary Sword, Ann Leckie
The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu
A Taste fur Murder, Dixie Lyle
The World of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin, Elio M. Garcia Jr., and Linda Antonsson
Travel Light, Naomi Mitchison
All Those Vanished Engines, Paul Park
The Bees, Laline Paull
Feet of Clay, Terry Pratchett
Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
The Causal Angel, Hannu Rajaniemi
Swamplandia!, Karen Russell
Blood Song, Anthony Ryan
Tower Lord, Anthony Ryan
Veil of the Deserters, Jeff Salyards
Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson
The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski (re-read)
Blood of Elves, Andrzej Sapkowski (re-read)
Time of Contempt, Andrzej SapkowskiBaptism of Fire, Andrzej Sapkowski
Wild Cards X: Double Solitaire Melinda M. SnodgrassThe Septembers of Shiraz, Dalia Sofer
Something More Than Night, Ian Tregillis
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, Genevieve Valentine
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer
Echopraxia, Peter Watts
The Great Glass Sea, Josh Weil
The Martian, Andy Weir
Three Princes, Ramona Wheeler
Benighted, Kit Whitfield
The People in the Trees, Hanya Yanagihara
Land of Love and Drowning, Tiphanie Yanique
Total: 90
Some Stats:
Science Fiction - 33 36.7%
Fantasy - 45 50%
Fiction - 15 16.7%
Anthologies - 12 13.4%
2014 Releases - 46 51.2%
Debut Novels - 20 22.3%
New Authors - 32 35.6%
Women Authors - 35 38.9%
Compared to last year I read a few less science fiction, fiction/literature, and anthologies/collections. Debuts and new authors held steady. Books I read more of include fantasy, new releases, and women authors.
Short Stories
“Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy”, Saladin Ahmed
“Little Knife”, Leigh Bardugo
“Gordon, the Self-made Cat”, Peter S. Beagle
“Exhalation”, Ted Chiang
“The Water that Falls on You from Nowhere”, John Chu
“The Weight of a Blessing”, Aliette de Bodard
“Ship’s Brother”, Aliette de Bodard“In the Age of Iron and Ashes”, Aliette de Bodard
“Wakulla Springs”, Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages
“La Santisima”, Teresa Frohock
“The Angelus Guns”, Max Gladstone
“The Astronomer Who Met the North Wind”, Kate Hall
“The Ink Readers of Doi Salet”, Thomas Olde Heuvelt
“The Ninety-Ninth Bride”, Catherine F. King
“The Lady Astronaut of Mars”, Mary Robinette Kowal
“Mountain Ways”, Ursula Le Guin
“The Pirate Captain’s Daughter”, Yoon Ha Lee
“Architectural Constraints”, Yoon Ha Lee
“Wine”, Yoon Ha Lee
“The Contemporary Foxwife”, Yoon Ha Lee
“The Bonedrake’s Penance”, Yoon Ha Lee
“The Plague”, Ken Liu
“Build-a-Dolly”, Ken Liu
“The Silk Merchant”, Ken Liu
“The Litigation Master and the Monkey King”, Ken Liu
“The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species”, Ken Liu
“A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel”, Ken Liu
“The Clockwork Soldier”, Ken Liu “Reborn”, Ken Liu
“The Long Haul From the ANNALS OF TRANSPORTATION, The Pacific Monthly, May 2009”, Ken Liu
“Seventh Day of the Seventh Moon”, Ken Liu
“Driftings”, Ian McDonald
“Observations About Eggs from the Man Sitting Next to Me on a Flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa”, Carmen Maria Machado
“‘Possum Trot”, J. Harley McIlrath
“The Lost Sepulcher of Huascar Capac”, Paul Park
“I Met a Man Who Wasn’t There”, K.J. Parker
“The Things We Do For Love”, K.J. Parker
“Heaven Thunders the Truth”, K.J. Parker
“Safe House”, K.J. Parker
“The Last Log of the Lachrimosa”, Alastair Reynolds
“Dawn and the Maiden”, Sofia Samatar
“Selkie Stories Are for Losers”, Sofia Samatar
“Wake-Rider”, Vandana Singh
“Woman of the Sun, Woman of the Moon”, Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“Chang’e Dashes from the Moon”, Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade”, Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love”, Rachel Swirsky
“Sing”, Karin Tidbeck
“86,87,88,89”, Genevieve Valentine
“Six-Gun Snow White”, Catherynne M. Valente
“Salvage”, Carrie Vaughn
“The Colonel”, Peter Watts
“Daedalum, the Devil’s Wheel”, E. Lily Yu
“The Urashima Effect”, E. Lily Yu