Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was one of those books that had insane praise, that you almost felt you had to read.  So, I did, and I was rewarded with an incredible, unique reading experience.  That being said, you have to commit if you are to read it. It takes a good 100-200 pages to really get into the flow of the story.  Clarke creates a system of magic for early 19th century England that seems perfectly believable.  And she does it with a flare and style few authors achieve. 

The relationship between Norrell and Strange is what makes this book so special. Their worldviews are so different, their philosophies collide and yet, there clearly is a level of respect between them. It is interesting that Norrell is the meticulous, more careful magician but it is his reckless use of magic in summoning the Faerie that caused much of the problems later on. At 850 pages, this book reads even longer because of the inordinate number of footnotes (Clarke often goes on for pages), but those footnotes color the entire story and give the reader a great understanding of magic in England.  Clarke blends beautiful prose, a unique style, and an intriguing story to create a reading experience like no other novel. 

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

While Prisoner of Azkaban is the best individual novel in the series, Half Blood Prince combines a great individual novel with a perfect book for its place as the penultimate novel in the series.  This novel is the most focused on Voldemort but in the best way. 

And most importantly, the titular character (spoiler warning) is also Rowling’s best literary creation.  Severus Snape is the best part of the Harry Potter series.  He’s the complicated antagonist that brings out the best in this series.  I finished this book and knew fans would be debating Snape until the final novel was released.  He’s that important to the narrative.  For as long as Half-Blood Prince is, it doesn’t feel like it meanders around nearly as much as the prior 2 novels (and Deathly Hallows) because every scene really matters to the overall narrative of the series.  This novel is Rowling at her best.

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

I have two Harry Potter novels on this list.  It’s hard to deny the sheer impact of this series.  Every novel is enjoyable, but for me there are two that truly stand out among the best Fantasy and Science Fiction novels.  The first two novels are fun children’s novels.  Azkaban is where the series moves up a level.  It’s also the tightest plotted novel in the series, with the most unique plot. 

                It’s the one novel that doesn’t center around Voldemort.  Voldemort is a compelling villain, but it is refreshing to have a different antagonist.  Instead, we get Sirius Black and we get the twists that come along with it.  Rowling avoids her tangents from the later novels and keeps compelling tension throughout, with a quickly moving story.  Dementors are incredible foils for Harry and the climax of this novel, which feels like half the book, is riveting.  As an individual novel, this is the best in the series.

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

            The second Culture novel was so different from the first.  The Culture is unquestionably the good guys in this novel.  I love the way Banks has shown the Culture and how it works, without really detailing it in a straightforward manner. You learned about the Culture first in Consider Phlebas from a changer hostile to the Culture and then in this book from a Culture Citizen who has dedicated his life to games. This book deals head-on with a specific example of what Contact does to incorporate other races as peacefully as possible.

In it we learn of a younger Empire that’s entire power structure revolves around a game (what an awesome idea). Our protagonist, Jernau Morat Gurgeh, is sent to play against the Empire of Azad in their game also known as the Azad. We learn of the strengths and moral weaknesses of the Azad largely through the lens of the Culture. The pacing of this story is good, many of the action sequences are intense and interesting (particularly the last on the fire planet) and the characters are engaging.

The Player of Games is probably the most straightforward of Banks’ culture novels.  It’s crisper, with fewer flaws than Consider Phlebas.  It doesn’t have the unique, challenging structure of Use of Weapons.  It doesn’t have the sprawling, divergent stories that many of the later culture novels have.  As much as I love the direction Banks took his later culture novels, there is something refreshing about the straightforward plotting of Player of Games.  In that sense, it’s probably the Culture novel that has the most universal appeal. 

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

            Book 6 in a 10-book series never drags.  This is one of 5 books in the series you could reasonably argue is Erikson’s best.  It has many of the strengths of my favorite book of the series, Memories of Ice, specifically huge, incredible set pieces throughout the novel. The battle in Y’Ghatan was one of the craziest chapters (clocking in at like 100 pages) I’ve ever read and it’s only about 1/3 of the way through the book. The tension in those scenes just builds and the momentum is relentless. Likewise, the climax of the novel is thrilling.

So many huge things happen in the 1200 pages. There are some more disparate threads, and the novel isn’t quite as tightly plotted as Memories of Ice and Midnight Tides (still my favorites in the series).  That’s the only thing preventing this novel from being right there with my favorite Malazan novels.  But nonetheless, this is every bit as epic as any novel in the series and an example of Erikson continuing to deliver in enormous ways.

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

Another cheat.  Since these books are similar level and are back-to-back books in a trilogy…they join together at 36.  This is a spectacular trilogy.  One of the best trilogies of all time.  These are the second and third novels in the trilogy, two novels that deliver on the promise of the utterly brilliant, The Fifth Season. 

The Obelisk Gate is an incredible sequel that builds on the brilliance of book 1. The world is uniquely realized and the characters both true to that world and relatable to the reader. The prejudices between types of people in this world feel real in a completely relatable way.

We continue to follow Essun as she develops her abilities hoping to find her daughter and possibly save the world from thousands of years of winter. We get to spend time with her daughter half a continent away as she uses her growing abilities to survive threats from her resentful father and the guardians in the north.

The Stone Sky, the final book in Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy, lived up to the promise of the first two. The stakes were just as high, and the central character continued to work perfectly as she has throughout. The unique point of view Jemisin chose to use in writing the series makes sense as the series reaches its fascinating conclusion. If you’ve read the first two, I’m sure you’re finishing the series without my review. However, if you haven’t read the series, rest assured it works from book 1 through book 3 and the end is satisfying in all the right ways.

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

I am guessing I have this novel ranked higher than most, but I absolutely adored it.  You would think Simmons going back to the well of blending classic literature with science fiction in the most literal sense couldn’t work again, but it did.  Ilium blends the Iliad and Science Fiction brilliantly. 

Hockenberry is a scholar “Scholic” observing the trojan war being played out in real life and reports about it to the Gods.  But obviously, this is Science Fiction and something else is going on.  The way Simmons can connect the pieces of the story (and the other point of views) to give us both the appreciation of the classics and the telling of a new, unique science fiction story, is something to behold.  Simmons’ science fiction is so unique and maybe not for everyone, but if it connects with you it will stay with you.  Ilium is no exception.

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

If you wondered whether Corey could build on the brilliance of Leviathan Wakes you didn’t have to wonder long.  Caliban’s War takes the strengths of Leviathan Wakes and improves on them.  The pacing is great, the action is well written, and the dialogue is fun. For a television similarity, think Firefly. I probably did not care about the two romantic relationships as much as the authors wanted me to but the relationship between the crew is what makes these novels work and this is the one where that really began to come into its own.

Though it is not as sprawling as other space opera (or as sprawling as The Expanse would eventually become), to me this is still space opera because though everything takes place within the solar system, there are galaxy wide implications. I read the last 175 pages in one night because I simply could not put it down. I highly recommend you read Leviathan Wakes and follow up with this spectacular sequel. 

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

It’s really hard to conclude a 9-book series in a way that continues to build and yet ends in a satisfactory manner.  Leviathan Falls manages to do just that.  If you’re planning to read this book you’ve already bought in to the series so there is not a ton to say. Leviathan Falls brings home this epic series with its fittingly fun style. Everything feels earned. 9 books and they basically all deliver. Quite an accomplishment.

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!

Every Banks reader has the Culture novel that really stood out to them, in a way it probably didn’t to others.  This one is it for me.  I loved this book.  Iain M Banks never fails to deliver riveting, action packed science fiction. I strongly believe Surface Detail is among his best overall Culture novels. I would place it below Use of Weapons, but above almost everything else (there is one more similarly good novel coming soon to my reviews). Its action sequences are probably second only to Consider Phlebas, though the story has far fewer holes than Phlebas. The visual landscapes created in Surface Detail are second to none.

There are basically six main point of view characters we follow throughout though I would consider Lededje Y’breq the main protagonist. Her story of revenge is probably smaller in the overarching universe sense, but also probably the one we care about most. Banks’ descriptions of the Hells created by species for punishment in the afterlife are unbelievable. His wit and humor are evident throughout, particularly with the ship “Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints.”

Like all of Banks’ culture novels Surface Detail can stand on its own, but I think having a background from a couple of his early culture novels does help. With this book particularly there is a reference at the end that sheds more light on what is happening throughout that you will not get without having read a specific one of his early novels. I highly recommend Surface Detail…it is truly a tremendous read.

Felan’s Rescue is now available on Audiobook!

Felan’s Rescue is now available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), Hardback, and Paperback!