On Vox: Best of 2009 and New Year's Resolution for 2010

[janicu]

I liked looking back last year at 2008 so this year I'm also looking back at 2009. I didn't make my goal of reading 100 books, but at 79 books I was above last year's number (77). Anyway, here's my Best of 2009 list, broken down in the same way I broke down books last year: The Books that Blew Me Away - This is a very small list, just three books

Comments

hehe ^^

[estara]

Well, there are four novels so far (and one short story collection), but the 5th will come out in March. They're very, very good epic fantasy, but because the writer only managed to be published by smaller publishers and had writer's block for some years, they fell through the cracks of most fans and haven't gotten a lot of reviews. Since last year she got a contract with BAEN, her first major publisher... but I still haven't seen much pr from said publisher (and their covers have always been hideous - although the ebooks have beautiful covers, because she's also a stained glass artist and created them herself). I've been a fan since I found the first two collected in the UK in the 80s as Chronicles of the Kencyrath.

Let me just link you various places to make you decide (I'd be just as pleased if you'd review/read even one, although I do think the first two are so much of an entity that to stop after the first one loses half of her worldbuilding and background - and development for Jamethiel Dreamweaver).

http://www.webscription.net/p-643-god-stalker-chronicles.aspx
That's the big collection I bought, all the ones released before she came to BAEN (I could probably at least buy the two duologies they've collected them in anew - which would actually be cheaper, heh - and send the files to you, because BAEN doesn't believe in DRM in ebooks, yay! You'd only be missing the collected short stories that aren't inside the books or even retold inside the books)

First five chapters of God Stalk (aka book 1):
Sample Chapters
First five chapters of Dark of the Moon (book 2 - has a synopsis of the first book at the start):
Sample Chapters.

See, I don't have a well-known book blog and I so wish more people would know her and BAEN would be happy to give her more than one additional contract. The whole story is epic and she writes that way - in the 80s I can't remember a female fantasy heroines with as much empowerment and chaos in her wake. She's now a professor emeritus and has much more time to write than she did, from what I gather the new book was finished within about a year. She's already writing the next in the series on spec.

Her LJ, where she sometimes asks for opinions or posts tidbits or whatever is tagmeth. Actually once she asked us to help proofread parts of the first duology before BAEN republished them: Another entry in: I love the internet. Here's the by far oldest and most faithful fanpage for her work: The Kencyr Page.

Re: hehe ^^

[estara]

Oh here's a Wiki I hadn't seen before: http://kencyr.wikia.com/wiki/Kencyr_Wiki

Re: hehe ^^

[janicu]

You may be THE EVIL. SO in an effort to cling to my New Years Resolution like.. 2 days into it.. I say I will try one book because after tonight I will have read two books this year. And then we can talk later after I read it? How is that? Le sigh, I sense my resolution is *so not* going to hold up.

Re: hehe ^^

[estara]

Sure ^^, but anyway the first resolution you posted was to read 100 books a year, so by sending you the first duology you can count that as two books already!!

Re: hehe ^^

[estara]

sent you and LJ message with link.