It’s that time of year again! Every July I look back and evaluate what I’ve read in the last twelve months or so. And today… it’s the top ten books/series that I read this year!
In no particular order:
Envoy to New Worlds
by Keith Laumer
Jame Retief serves the Diplomatic Corps, helping earth make connections to other worlds, other civilizations. He’s rather low in the pecking order, though, and constantly getting in trouble. He doesn’t treat other civilizations with respect and certainly doesn’t respect the real ambassadors. And yet, somehow, he always ends up on top…
Anytime I see an old flipbook, with one novel on one side and then you flip it to read a totally different novel, I’m dazzled. I must have it. (It’s a dream of mine to write two novellas and publish them in this style!)
And this collection of short stories that made up half of a flip book are uproariously funny, immensely imaginative, and just so worth the time. Laumer creates such great alien species, and his main character’s understanding and ability to communicate across cultures is so inventive. I wish there were more stories about this “Machiavelli of cosmic diplomacy!”
Legends and Lattes
by Travis Baldree
Half-orc adventurer Viv is ready to retire and finally achieve her dream: opening a coffee shop. Not everyone wants a half-orc in their end of town, though, and how do you sell coffee to a city that’s never heard of it?
When I read the tagline of this novel, I was hooked: “A novel of high fantasy and low stakes.” This book has almost single-handedly created a new subgenre: cozy fantasy. And I am here for it. I love the idea of people in a high fantasy setting just going along with their lives. Where do you get a good cup of coffee in this town?
It’s not just the concept that sings, though. Viv as a character is not only instantly likable, but almost every character is someone that you could live next to. You wouldn’t get along with all of them, no, but it’s such a great setting and such a great cast, I’m looking forward to visiting Viv’s shop again.
Last Day on Mars
by Kevin Emerson
The earth is gone. Soon Mars will be swallowed by the sun. Humanity must flee. Liam, though, can’t leave yet. His parents are conducting important experiments on Mars to make sure humanity will be able to survive at their new colony. There’s twenty-four hours left before they need to leave. Of course nothing could go wrong…
This book hooked me from the first page. Liam and his friend Phoebe make fantastic protagonists, and the struggles of humanity trying to leave the solar system gripped me. Nearly the entire book really does focus on just the last twenty-four hours on Mars, and because of that, it doesn’t slow down for even a paragraph. Buckle in. Read this, and you won’t want to stop.
Drawn in Ash
by John W. Otte
Narius must marry to remain emperor. He chooses Everys, a lowly woman. He has no idea. His grandfather destroyed her homeland and scattered her people. She has every reason to even the score. Everys has much to fear, though. Narius’s people consider her a witch. She can do magic with ink. She could be killed for who she is at any moment. Oh, and there are assassins after Narius, too. They have no reason to trust each other, but they’re going to have to if either of them want to survive.
I backed this book on Kickstarter a couple years back, and now I’ve backed book two in the saga as well. It was billed as a science fiction retelling of the biblical book of Esther, and Esther is one of my very favorite narratives from Scripture. That said, while you can definitely see the framework from Esther, this is a thing unto itself. Dramatic characters, great twists in the story, and a fascinating magic system all come together to create a book that leaves me eager to read more!
The Dinocalypse Trilogy
Dinocalypse Now by Chuck Wendig
Beyond Dinocalypse by Chuck Wendig
Dinocalypse Forever by Carrie Harris
The Century Club prevents the assassination of FDR, but then things get weird. Warmongering gorillas riding psychic dinosaurs from the dawn of time attack New York City. Now the pulp heroes of the Century Club must band together, travel to the future, and then to the distant past of Atlantis if they hope to save the world!
Look, having read that description, you already know if these books are for you. They are just as bonkers and amazingly action-packed as they sound. The first book in particular is so insanely gripping. Wendig is an amazing author; I’ve read a chunk of his stuff and never once been disappointed. I don’t know why there’s a different author for the third volume. Had Wendig not written the first two, I would have loved it, but because there’s that obvious comparison, it doesn’t hold up as well.
Having said that, this trilogy launches an entire universe of books. Most of these heroes get their own novels, from Professor Kahn, an intelligent gorilla with an aversion to violence, to Sally Slick, an inventor who just likes making things, there are a lot of great stories that spin out of these books!
A Darker Shade of Magic
by V. E. Schwab
Four Londons. Gray London: ours. No magic. Drab. Boring. Red London: magic and life! White London: a city where only bones remain. And Black London. Best not talk about that one. Kell is one of the very few people who can travel between the Londons. It’s his job to bring communications between the kings. But now someone has marked him for death. Who could possibly follow him between worlds?
I saw this book when it was a new release and salivated. My wife bought it for me for Christmas, and I inhaled it. The worlds Schwab sets up are so distinct, and yet you can tell they all belong together. Kell is also an instantly likable protagonist trying his best in a very complex world. The book is in turns brutal and hilarious. I highly recommend this one!
Daybreak Colony
Skies Falling
Surviving Daybreak
Daybreak Sentinel
by Kendra Merritt
She’s jarred awake from cryosleep. “Get to the pods.” The ship trembles. It’s crashing. They were supposed to be in orbit, with plenty of time to wake, get reacclimated, and finish training before settling in the colony. No time now. Everything’s on fire. They’re all going to die. Anikka barely gets to the pods… and she’s the only survivor. What happened to Daybreak Colony? Why did the ship crash? And will she find a way to survive a planet bent on killing her?
I’ve already reviewed both these books, and I will continue to say: They’re great. Read them if you want something like Hatchet in a science fiction setting. Worth it!
Aztlan
Aztlan: Investigator for the Empire
by Michael Jan Friedman
The Aztec Empire never fell. Today, it needs investigators to keep everything running. Maxtla Colhua gets into trouble an awful lot for an investigator, though. He asks questions that are better off not being asked. These mysteries take him from the darkest slums to the emperor’s palace, all to bring killers to justice.
Here’s another series I backed on Kickstarter from an author I knew best from his Star Trek work. I love mashing genres up, and the idea of murder mysteries in an alternate universe where the Aztec Empire never fell intrigued me. It helps that Friedman is a master storyteller, and his research here is deep. I can smell the food and cheer for the sports in this lived-in world. I hope he writes more mysteries in this setting. I’ll be eager to read them!
The Farshore Chronicles
A Thief in Farshore
Into the Shattered City
Crown of the Mad King
Vaults of the Undergloom
The Flowers of Belhame
The Siege of Farshore
by Justin Fike
Charity finally got caught. As punishment, she’s sipped off to the literal other side of the world from the great empire. Rumor has it there are mythical creatures like elves and dwarves across the ocean. But when Charity arrives, she finds not only those creatures, but so many more. At first she’s purchased to fight in the arena, and then she’s sent on a mad quest to find some crown with a bunch of mythics… and it gets even crazier from there. She needs to forge new friendships if she’s going to survive the far side of the world!
Look, another Kickstarter find! I got the full set, all six books in this series. Now, calling them “books” might be overselling it. Each one is a little less than 150 pages long, but altogether they make a good, quick story. This is LitRPG, and very clearly. You’ve got a band of adventurers going on quests. If you hate that kind of thing, you’ll hate this. However, if you enjoy short stories with great drama and exciting action sequences, you’re going to love this.
I did really enjoy the interplay between the humans and the other races, and the explanation as to why the races even put up with the humans colonizing in their territories. The entire series is available in two omnibi now, so if sounds like your thing, it’s worth your time.
Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse
Apocalypse? Not Now!
Pestilence in Pumpkin Spice
Famine in French Vanilla
War in White Chocolate
Death in Double Mocha
by Suzan Harden
Four moms, just trying to get by. Four very different moms, but their kids play together on the same soccer team. And then… things start happening. Like, end-of-the-world things. Demons boil under the skin of ex-husbands. Someone wants to destroy the coffee shop they all religiously hang out at. And then they learn… they are heaven’s chosen. They will usher in the apocalypse. They are the four soccer moms of the apocalypse.
Yet another Kickstarter find! The first book was a hoot. Think of it as a cross between a Hallmark movie and Supernatural, and you’ve got a good idea of the tone. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but the characters are still well drawn and people you want to root for. The first three books are solid stories. The fourth book… didn’t hold up as well, but I suspect that’s because of the religious turn it took. It just wasn’t to my liking.
Still, the entire series was just so much fun, yes, I’m recommending it, even though I’m definitely not the target audience!
Jonathon Mast: Author 