Reading List 2013
Title Author Length Rating
The Kingkiller Chronicle 1: The Name of the Wind ¹ Patrick Rothfuss 722 5.0 [short summary/excerpt] 'I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me.'
So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature - the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man's search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend. The Kingkiller Chronicle 2: The Wise Man's Fear ¹ Patrick Rothfuss 1345 5.0 [short summary/excerpt] The man was lost. The myth remained. Kvothe - the dragon-slayer, the renowned swordsman, the most feared, famed and notorious wizard the world has ever seen - vanished without warning and without trace. And even now, when he has been found, when darkness is rising in the corners of the world, he will not return. But his story will live on and, for the first time, Kvothe is going to tell it... The Road to Avalon ¹ Joan Wolf 358 4.2 [short summary/excerpt] The pageantry and passionate intrigues of King Arthur’s court are expertly re-created in this historical novel - the only Arthurian novel in which all of the central characters are portrayed as intrinsically good people. This realistic retelling of the legend shows Arthur severing the bonds of bastardy, vanquishing the Saxons, and loving one woman. As the daring teenage warrior prepares for the throne, he discovers true love with Morgan of Avalon, the youngest of Merlin’s daughters, but fate cruelly thwarts their hopes for a future together. The White Queen ¹ Philippa Gregory 529 3.7 [short summary/excerpt] Elizabeth Woodville, a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition, secretly marries the newly crowned boy king of England. While she rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become the central figures in a famous unsolved mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the lost princes in the Tower of London. The Red Queen ¹ Philippa Gregory 424 3.5 [short summary/excerpt] Heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, Margaret Beaufort fervently believes that her house is the true ruler of England. Ignored by her sainted cousin Henry VI, mocked by her mother, married at age twelve, and endangered by childbirth, she vows to put her son on the throne. Naming him Henry, she sends him into exile and pledges him in marriage to the daughter of her sworn enemy.
Margaret charts her own way through loveless marriages, treacherous alliances, and secret plots. Finally, she gambles her life to mastermind one of the greatest rebellions of all time - all the while knowing that her grown son and his army await the opportunity to win the greatest prize. Gentlemen Bastards 2: Red Seas Under Red Skies ¹ Scott Lynch 760 4.7 [short summary/excerpt] After a brutal battle with the underworld, Locke and his sidekick, Jean, fled to the exotic shores of Tal Verrar to nurse their wounds. But they are soon back to what they do best - stealing from the rich and pocketing the proceeds. Now, however, they have targeted the grandest prize of all: the Sinspire, the world's most exclusive, most heavily guarded gambling house. But there is one cardinal rule: It is death to cheap at any game.
Brazenly undeterred, Locke and Jean have orchestrated an elaborate plan to lie, trick, and swindle their way straight to the Sinspire's teeming vault. But someone knows the duo's secret - and has every intention of making them pay for their sins. The Farseer 1: Assassin's Apprentice ¹ Robin Hobb 435 4.7 [short summary/excerpt] Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father's gruff stableman. He is treated as an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz's blood runs the magic Skill - and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family. As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom. The Farseer 2: Royal Assassin ¹ Robin Hobb 675 4.9 [short summary/excerpt] Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king's assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family. The Farseer 3: Assassin's Quest ¹ Robin Hobb 757 4.8 [short summary/excerpt] King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz - or so his enemies and friends believe. But with the help of his allies and his beast magic, he emerges from the grave, deeply scarred in body and soul. The kingdom also teeters toward ruin: Regal has plundered and abandoned the capital, while the rightful heir, Prince Verity, is lost to his mad quest - perhaps to death. Only Verity's return - or the heir his princess carries - can save the Six Duchies. The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough 704 2.5 [short summary/excerpt] There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to outcarol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain… Or so says the legend. The Forest House Marion Z. Bradley 480 3.0 [short summary/excerpt] Prequel to "The Mists of Avalon".
She was Eilan, the daughter of a Druidic warleader and giftet with visions. In a land struggling to survive both Roman conquerors and her own people's enemies, surely fate had marked her to become a priestess of the Forest House. But first Eilan had chosen a different, forbidden path - to love Gaius, a soldier of mixed blood among the legions sent to subdue her country. And so, she must hide a terrible secret when she is anointed as the new High Priestess. With mighty enemies poised to ursurp the wealth of magic the Forest House sheltered, Eilan could only trust in the power of the great Goddess to find her destiny amidst the treacherous labyrinth in which fate had placed her... The Bartimaeus Trilogy 1: The Amulet of Samarkand ¹ Jonathan Stroud 496 4.9 [short summary/excerpt] Nathaniel is eleven years old and a magician’s apprentice, learning the traditional arts of magic. All is well until he has a life-changing encounter with Simon Lovelace, a magician of unrivaled ruthlessness and ambition. When Lovelace brutally humiliates Nathaniel in public, Nathaniel decides to speed up his education, teaching himself spells way beyond his years. With revenge on his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all and summons Bartimaeus, a five-thousand-year-old djinni, to assist him. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal Lovelace’s greatest treasure, the Amulet of Samarkand, he finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, and rebellion. Lady of Avalon Marion Z. Bradley 480 3.0 [short summary/excerpt] Prequel to "The Mists of Avalon", sequel to "The Forest House".
Through the generations the woman of Avalon prepare for the coming of the Defender, the sacred king who will guard the old ways of the Britons and save their land from destruction. On the holy isle of Avalon, hidden in the mists between the world of Faerie and the world of men, they wait...
For High Priestess Caillean, facing the Roman foe, salvation comes not through victory, but bitter sacrifice. Two hundred years later her successor Dierna faces a new enemy: the Saxon hordes who assail her people like savages. By the time of Viviane, Britain seems wholly lost. But a Merlin is made amongst the Druids once more, and the day of the Defender, who will come to be known as Arthur, draws close. The Mists of Avalon (yup, again) Marion Z. Bradley 912 5.0 [short summary/excerpt] And so, perhaps, the truth winds somewhere between the road to Glastonbury, Isle of the Priests, and the road to Avalon, lost forever in the mists of the Summer Sea. Caspar Hauser: Inertia of the Heart Jakob Wassermann 419 3.0 [short summary/excerpt] In 1828, a ragged young man of about sixteen wandered into the city of Nuremberg in Germany. He could barely speak, and appeared to have been released from a strange captivity. Many people at the time were drawn to him and felt great compassion, not just for his fate, but because of the impression his presence made on them. Kaspar Hauser had a remarkable purity and innocence, and people were touched by his sensitivity and perception. In 1833, he was stabbed and died in mysterious circumstances. A Song of Ice and Fire 1: A Game of Thrones George R.R. Martin 807 5.0 [short summary/excerpt] His fur was white, where the rest of the litter was grey. His eyes were as red as the blood of the ragged man who had died that morning. Bran thought it curious that this pup alone would have opened his eyes while the others were still blind. "An albino," Theon Greyjoy said with wry amusement. "This one will die even faster than the others." Jon Snow gave his father's ward a long, chilling look. "I think not, Greyjoy," he said. "This one belongs to me." Bright Empires 1: The Skin Map ¹ Stephen R. Lawhead 403 4.2 [short summary/excerpt] Had he but known that before the day was over he would discover the hidden dimensions of the universe, Kit might have been better prepared. At least, he would have brought an umbrella. The Bartimaeus Trilogy 2: The Golem's Eye ¹ Jonathan Stroud 576 4.9 [short summary/excerpt] In the Amulet of Sarmakand the young magician Nathaniel won wide acclaim for his daring exploits in saving the powerful jewel for the government; now he seems set to continue his meteoric rise through the ministerial ranks. But the mysterious Resistance inflicts terrifying destruction on London, and soon Nathaniel's job and his very life are under threat, not only from the elusive Kitty and her companions, but from an unknown and bewildering source. Nathaniel is forced to embark on a perious mission to the enemy city of Prague and to summon once again the troublesome, enigmatic and quick-witted djinni, Bartimaeus. The Bartimaeus Trilogy 3: Ptolemy's Gate ¹ Jonathan Stroud 528 4.9 [short summary/excerpt] Two thousand years have passed since the djinni Bartimaeus was at the height of his powers - invincible in battle and befriended by the great magician Ptolemy. Now, trapped on Earth and treated with disdain by his master Nathaniel, Bartimaeus finds his energies fading fast.
Meanwhile, undercover in London, the fugitive Kitty Jones has been stealthily completing her research on magic and demons. She has a plan that she hopes will break the endless conflict between djinn and humans - but first she must uncover the secrets of Bartimaeus's past. The Outlander Series 1: Outlander Diana Gabaldon 896 5.0 [short summary/excerpt] People disappear all the time. Ask any policeman. Better yet, ask a journalist. Disappearances are bread-and-butter to journalists.
Young girls run away from home. Young children stray from their parents and are never seen again. Housewives reach the end of their tether and take the grocery money and a taxi to the station. International financiers change their names and vanish into the smoke of imported cigars.
Many of the lost will be found, eventually, dead or alive. Disappearances, after all, have explanations.
Usually. The Outlander Series 2: Dragonfly in Amber Diana Gabaldon 976 5.0 [short summary/excerpt] The sight of the stones was fresh in my mind. A small circle, standing stones on the crest of a steep green hill. The name of the hill is Craigh na Dun; the fairies' hill. Some say the hill is enchanted, others say it is cursed. Both are right. But no one knows the function or the purpose of the stones.
Except me. The Outlander Series 3: Voyager Diana Gabaldon 1072 5.0 [short summary/excerpt] When I was small, I never wanted to step in puddles. Not because of any fear of drowned worms or wet stockings; I was by and large a grubby child, with a blissful disregard for filth of any kind.
It was because I couldn't bring myself to believe that that perfect smooth expanse was no more than a thin film of water over solid earth. I believed it was an opening into some fathomless space. Sometimes, seeing the tiny ripples caused by my approach, I thought the puddle impossibly deep, a bottomless sea in which the lazy coil of tentacle and gleam of scale lay hidden, with the threat of huge bodies and sharp teeth adrift and silent in the far-down depths.
And then, looking down into reflection, I would see my own round face and frizzled hair against a featureless blue sweep, and think instead that the puddle was the entrance to another sky. If I stepped in there, I would drop at once, and keep on falling, on and on, into blue space. The Outlander Series 4: Drums of Autumn Diana Gabaldon 1020 5.0 [short summary/excerpt] I've never been afraid of ghosts. I live with them daily, after all. When I look in a mirror, my mother's eyes look back at me; my mouth curls with the smile that lured my great-grandfather to the fate that was me.
No, how should I fear the touch of those vanished hands, laid on me in love unknowing? How could I be afraid of those that molded my flesh, leaving their remnants to live long past the grave?
Still less I could be afraid of those ghosts who touch my thoughts in passing. Any library is filled with them. I can take a book from dusty shelves, and be haunted by the thoughts of one long dead, still lively as ever in their winding sheet of words.
Of course it isn't these homely and accustomed ghosts that trouble sleep and curdle wakefulness. Look back, hold a torch to light the recesses of the dark. Listen to the footsteps that echo behind, when you walk alone.
All the time the ghosts flit past and through us, hiding in the future. We look in the mirror and see the shades of other faces looking back through the years; we see the shape of memory, standing solid in an empty doorway. By blood and by choice, we make our ghosts; we haunt ourselves. The Outlander Series 5: The Fiery Cross Diana Gabaldon 1472 5.0 [short summary/excerpt] I have lived through war, and lost much. I know what's worth the fight, and what is not.
Honor and courage are matters of the bone, and what a man will kill for, he will sometimes die for, too.
And that, O kinsman, is why a woman has broad hips; that bony basin will harbor a man and his child alike. A man's life springs from his woman's bones, and in her blood is his honor chistened.
For the sake of love alone, would I walk through fire again.
→ currently reading, ¹ first-time read 5: Excellent 4: Very Good 3: Good 2: Lacking 1: Poor
Recs
You can always leave me recommendations! I'm mostly into fantasy and historical novels, whereas vampires, sci-fi, crime or horror are not for me, really. (with few exceptions)
As for my own recs: Anything I've rated 3.5 or above is at least worth a read in my opinion, anything rated 5 is obviously a must-read and you should definitely hunt for it now. :)
As a sidenote: I don't analyze the books I read in any way, be it in terms of storytelling, writing-style or characterization; my ratings simply go to show how much I enjoyed reading a particular book, or even what the chances of re-reading it are, and nothing more than that.
Other Years
2010 | 2011 | 2012