January '14 Book List
And another year of just getting these under the wire of my own self-imposed time limit. First finished book of the year was Kate Elliott's Cold Steel, which finished up her alt history/fantasy "Cold Magic" trilogy. With gods and ghouls and dragons and rebellions...
Did a reread of Snuff after picking up a cheap e-copy. Still fun but definitely the weakest of the "Vimes/Watch" books of Pratchett's Discworld...
Another new Grantville Gazette e-book, with volume 51 still edited by Paula Goodlett. And the current cycle of stories continues to really catch hold of me. I mean I like the polygamous German noble and his family and friends, but not where I want the stories collected or to have full length books like I did with the Sewing Circle/Barbie Consortium, Musicians or Russians...
Then got into a new supers writer, Kevin Hardman. Sensation introduces his teen hero (from another highly regulated supers setting) Kid Sensation who is trying to have a second attempt at joining the high school hero community. After a disaster of a first go. Mutation has Kid Sensation at the supers high school in its own pocket dimension. And Infiltration has him going undercover with a new super-villain mob. Enjoyable, but the writer is constantly having to handicap his lead after loading him down with half the super-powers out there...
Six-Gun Snow White is a Western revamp of the classic fairy tale by Catherynne M. Valente. Full of Valente's rich, evocative descriptions and vibrant setting and heart-breaking characters...
The John Joseph Adams & Douglas Cohen edited Reimagined Oz is a strong collection of new takes on the Oz setting. I'm glad I'd read more of the original Oz series before though. Also a lot of dystopian Oz stories in the collection...
Finally got around to On Stranger Tides the Tim Powers novel they loosely adapted into both the first and fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Great stuff for those wanting pirates and magic and revenge and Blackbeard and sword fights and such...
Francessco Marciuliano's two collections of poetry written by pets, I Could Pee on This and I Could Chew on This are quick, little fun books. Like poem versions of those voiced-over cat or dog YouTube videos...
A new "Ex" supers vs. zombies book from Peter Clines, Ex-Communication with the heroes of the previous volumes living in a world with neither supers or zombies...
After the disappointing sort of Twin Peaks/Prisoner book from Blake Crouch I was much happier with Sunset Key. A very noir-ish about a ex-junkie thief who gets hired to seduce and rob a wealthy investment banker type on his private island before he goes to federal prison...
I honestly don't know what prompted me to get the e-book of Tales From the Cobra Wars, a G.I. Joe anthology edited by Max Brooks. Some of the stories were dumb, some were interesting and all leave you frustrated with how in a military/espionage series the main terrorist bad guys are uncatchable or kill-able. Still the bonus story at the end with the Joe's PTSD therapist almost makes it worth the 4 or 5 bucks I probably paid for the book...
You know what is disappointing about Karin Lowachee's Gaslight Dogs? Not the alt earth/fantasy setting. Or the characters. Or the magic. Or the mysterious church gunslingers hinted at. No, its that apparently the book wasn't popular enough that the writer thinks she'll ever go back to the series to put out a second book...
Cauldron of Ghosts is the soon to be latest of the Eric Flint/David Weber "Honorverse" books from the super-spy section of that setting. Good if you're a fan of the series, definitely not the book to introduce or win back someone who isn't though...
Countdown City is Ben H. Winter's sequel to his Last Policeman. In this one Hank Palace agrees to try and find a missing husband even though he's no longer a cop and the world is set for an apocalyptic asteroid collision in 74 days...
Seanan McGuire into the modern fairy tale style of urban fantasy with Indexing, about a government agency of people afflicted with storybook lives who try to keep the rest of the world safe from same. Secretly. My favorite throwaway line was probably how the agency made sure to never make a payday error for the young woman who was Indexed as a Pied Piper...
Chuck Wendig's Under the Empyrean Sky is a dystopian future, where America is a blighted wasteland covered in mutated corn. With various villages eking out an existence while being overlorded by flying city people...
Mike Shevdon's latest "Feyre" novel the Eighth Court ends up being a Break the Board and Restart the Game kind of book...
And ended the month with Jasper Fforde's the Song of the Quarkbeast, a sequel to his Last Dragonslayer YA book. Offbeat and very Jasper Ffordery...
Also in January the usual collection of of uncollected short fiction. Extraction is Kid Sensation story from Hardman, with his lead and friends rescuing some kids from a super-secret government facility. And Jessica Brody's the Intelligence Director is a similar story, but feels more like the opening chapter to full-length book. Which always annoys me with a short story. The Pain of Others by Blake Crouch is a prequel to previously mentioned Sunset Key, with a murder-for-hire story where the actual bad guy changes up during the story. Ken Liu's Reborn is post-alien invasion story of the benevolent conqueror style. And the Cartography of Sudden Death by Charlie Jane Anders is future setting time travel adventure...
Total: 21
Did a reread of Snuff after picking up a cheap e-copy. Still fun but definitely the weakest of the "Vimes/Watch" books of Pratchett's Discworld...
Another new Grantville Gazette e-book, with volume 51 still edited by Paula Goodlett. And the current cycle of stories continues to really catch hold of me. I mean I like the polygamous German noble and his family and friends, but not where I want the stories collected or to have full length books like I did with the Sewing Circle/Barbie Consortium, Musicians or Russians...
Then got into a new supers writer, Kevin Hardman. Sensation introduces his teen hero (from another highly regulated supers setting) Kid Sensation who is trying to have a second attempt at joining the high school hero community. After a disaster of a first go. Mutation has Kid Sensation at the supers high school in its own pocket dimension. And Infiltration has him going undercover with a new super-villain mob. Enjoyable, but the writer is constantly having to handicap his lead after loading him down with half the super-powers out there...
Six-Gun Snow White is a Western revamp of the classic fairy tale by Catherynne M. Valente. Full of Valente's rich, evocative descriptions and vibrant setting and heart-breaking characters...
The John Joseph Adams & Douglas Cohen edited Reimagined Oz is a strong collection of new takes on the Oz setting. I'm glad I'd read more of the original Oz series before though. Also a lot of dystopian Oz stories in the collection...
Finally got around to On Stranger Tides the Tim Powers novel they loosely adapted into both the first and fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Great stuff for those wanting pirates and magic and revenge and Blackbeard and sword fights and such...
Francessco Marciuliano's two collections of poetry written by pets, I Could Pee on This and I Could Chew on This are quick, little fun books. Like poem versions of those voiced-over cat or dog YouTube videos...
A new "Ex" supers vs. zombies book from Peter Clines, Ex-Communication with the heroes of the previous volumes living in a world with neither supers or zombies...
After the disappointing sort of Twin Peaks/Prisoner book from Blake Crouch I was much happier with Sunset Key. A very noir-ish about a ex-junkie thief who gets hired to seduce and rob a wealthy investment banker type on his private island before he goes to federal prison...
I honestly don't know what prompted me to get the e-book of Tales From the Cobra Wars, a G.I. Joe anthology edited by Max Brooks. Some of the stories were dumb, some were interesting and all leave you frustrated with how in a military/espionage series the main terrorist bad guys are uncatchable or kill-able. Still the bonus story at the end with the Joe's PTSD therapist almost makes it worth the 4 or 5 bucks I probably paid for the book...
You know what is disappointing about Karin Lowachee's Gaslight Dogs? Not the alt earth/fantasy setting. Or the characters. Or the magic. Or the mysterious church gunslingers hinted at. No, its that apparently the book wasn't popular enough that the writer thinks she'll ever go back to the series to put out a second book...
Cauldron of Ghosts is the soon to be latest of the Eric Flint/David Weber "Honorverse" books from the super-spy section of that setting. Good if you're a fan of the series, definitely not the book to introduce or win back someone who isn't though...
Countdown City is Ben H. Winter's sequel to his Last Policeman. In this one Hank Palace agrees to try and find a missing husband even though he's no longer a cop and the world is set for an apocalyptic asteroid collision in 74 days...
Seanan McGuire into the modern fairy tale style of urban fantasy with Indexing, about a government agency of people afflicted with storybook lives who try to keep the rest of the world safe from same. Secretly. My favorite throwaway line was probably how the agency made sure to never make a payday error for the young woman who was Indexed as a Pied Piper...
Chuck Wendig's Under the Empyrean Sky is a dystopian future, where America is a blighted wasteland covered in mutated corn. With various villages eking out an existence while being overlorded by flying city people...
Mike Shevdon's latest "Feyre" novel the Eighth Court ends up being a Break the Board and Restart the Game kind of book...
And ended the month with Jasper Fforde's the Song of the Quarkbeast, a sequel to his Last Dragonslayer YA book. Offbeat and very Jasper Ffordery...
Also in January the usual collection of of uncollected short fiction. Extraction is Kid Sensation story from Hardman, with his lead and friends rescuing some kids from a super-secret government facility. And Jessica Brody's the Intelligence Director is a similar story, but feels more like the opening chapter to full-length book. Which always annoys me with a short story. The Pain of Others by Blake Crouch is a prequel to previously mentioned Sunset Key, with a murder-for-hire story where the actual bad guy changes up during the story. Ken Liu's Reborn is post-alien invasion story of the benevolent conqueror style. And the Cartography of Sudden Death by Charlie Jane Anders is future setting time travel adventure...
Total: 21