The Best Books I Read in 2018

12/28/2018

It’s the time of year when bookish people look back and make a list of all the new favourite books we met during the preceding months.

My list is simple and lazy because the heatwave hitting SA right now has dried up my brain juices. Some of these are series instead of individual books and most are small press or indie published, which is rather interesting.

Heartstone Series by Nicholas Rinth

Why I loved it:

Teen and child characters that actually sound like their age, with bonus points for normal looking people.
I ship Sylvie and Jack so hard.
The ticking bomb intrigue that splatters your mind against the walls when you get to the big reveal.
That sense of desperation where you need the next book in your greedy paws right now.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Why I loved it:

Teenage antihero in a dark fantasy with a dystopian twist.
Seriously, that dystopian twist.
That witchcraft writers work where they make you root for characters that are neither likeable nor relatable.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky & Steven Brown

Why I loved it:

A Peter Pan retelling in which Wendy gives no fucks for the 1700’s societal norms.
Damn good third person omniscient POV.
Reimagined characters that have all the essence of the originals.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

The Age of the Child by Kristen Tsetsi

Why I loved it:

When art tells the truth so well that it makes you afraid for the world.
Dual narratives explore the outcome of controlling reproductive rights in a way that’s both logical and surprising.
Clear and painful sense of cause and effect.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

The Fall of Lostport by R.J Vickers

Why I loved it:

Stupid laws about inheriting titles as a barrier to everyone seeking competent leadership.
The jungle laughs at your attempts to tame it.
When everyone quietly makes their own plan to save the day at least one of them has to work, right?

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

Kaelandur Trilogy by Joshua Robertson

Why I loved it:

Lord of the Rings vibes but darker
BRANIMIR!!
The lives of the many outweigh those of the few, hence no idiots will be sacrificing the world’s safety because they love their bestie.
The three punch knockout of elegant themes, strong worldbuilding, and a hardcore plot.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

The Electrical Menagerie by Mollie E. Reeder

Why I loved it:

The deviation from steampunk as a world of coal smoke, soot, and high probability of black lungs to floating islands and sky trains
Steampunk meets circus meets mystery
MCs that fight as often as they get along

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

The Forest beyond the Earth by Matthew S. Cox

Why I loved it:

Pastoral life among the post-apocalyptic ruins, but everything you thought you knew is a lie.
When there’s something not quite right but you can’t put your finger on it until the end explains it all
The impossible ache of wanting to be able to read a book for the first time all over again.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

The Gay Teen's Guide to Defeating a Siren by Cody Wagner

Why I loved it:

A homosexuality ‘conversion’ academy as a secret safe place where gay teens are accepted.
Harry Potter vibes
Great balance between humour and the earnest pain of being an lgbt teen rejected by their parents.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

Alternatives to a Frozen Mouse by A.J Mouse

Why I loved it:

A memoir about living with Dissociative Personality Disorder that is enlightening and deeply moving.
This shit actually happened
Death by feels.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

Freyja's Daughter by Rachel Pudelek

Why I loved it:

Mythological creatures and their overseers as a metaphor for feminism.
And the mythological beings actually blend with the modern world convincingly
A star-crossed lovers trope that isn’t murderously annoying.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

Between the Shade and the Shadow by Coleman Alexander

Why I loved it:

Vivid fantasy world and the awesomeness of a well thought out culture.
The body language of sprite ears and the complexities of telepathy
The Shad-Mon! Losna!

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

Fire on the Clouds Trilogy by Michael Ban

Why I loved it:

Parody and nail-biting tension wrapped into one.
That moment where your magical talking sword admits to dreaming of being a baker.
The art of letting your MC fuck everything up when they make bad decisions.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

Superluminary by O. Rising

Why I loved it:

Superhero UF with Marvel vibes.
Lawful good vs neutral good vs chaotic evil vs lawful evil vs everyone must just die.
OMFG the Sleepwalker is horrifying.
It’s a fun, fast-moving read despite being a doorstopper.

Impulse buy the book on Amazon because bullet lists

What books did you love in 2018? Please share your recommendations, or links to your own annual wrap up in the comments.

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Book Excerpt: The Monster of Selkirk by C.E Clayton

12/20/2018

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Monsters come in many forms, and not everyone knows a monster when they see one. After three hundred years of monstrous, feral elves plaguing the island nation of Selkirk, everyone believes they know what a monster is. Humans have learned to live with their savage neighbors, enacting a Clearing every four years to push the elves back from their borders. The system has worked for centuries, until after one such purge, a babe was found in the forest.

As Tallis grows, she discovers she isn’t like everyone else. There is something a little different that makes people leery in her presence, and she only ever makes a handful of friends. But when the elves gather their forces and emerge from the forests literally hissing Tallis’s name like a battle mantra, making friends is the least of her troubles. Tallis and her companions find themselves on an unwilling journey to not only clear her name, but to stop the elves from ravaging her homeland.

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Excerpt

Tallis’s mind was racing as they went. There was something much bigger than anything they had anticipated at work here. She just didn’t know what it was. She was holding so many pieces of the puzzle and yet none of them fit together to make a whole picture, and yet, she was somehow in the center of it all.

As she walked beside her cousin, weapons at the ready, she whispered, “Why haven’t we come across more elves?”

Donovan gave her a strange look. “What? The ones we have come across haven’t been enough for you?”

“But that’s just it,” Tallis added quickly. “We’ve really only encountered the one and a score of deranged animals. Everyone says that the forests are crawling with elves when you get this far in, and yet we’ve seen blessed few. Doesn’t this seem, I don’t know, just a little bit odd to you?”

Donovan was silent for a long while. Tallis could not tell if he found her questions annoying because they were silly, or because they genuinely caused him pause.

Just as Tallis gave up that her cousin would ever respond to her, he said, “Ever since Aunt Lana died I have said that the elves were changing in their behavior. For whatever reason, they were going back to old camp sites and deciding to fight to the death rather than flee like they used to. For three years I’ve had to listen to my commanding officers and even my fellow knights tell me I was delusional, and I would be stripped of my position if I kept harping on about being vigilant against a threat they couldn’t see. Even you seemed reluctant to believe me when I said that danger was approaching. But now you see it, the elves are seeping across Selkirk like a wave that cannot be stopped until it has washed its corruption over everything we hold dear. I don’t find this behavior odd Tallis, I find it expected.”

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Book Blitz: Song of Sacrifice by Janell Rhiannon

12/12/2018

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The heart of the Trojan War belongs to the women.
Mothers and daughters; wives and war prizes, whisper to us across time…
…remember our songs alongside the mighty men of myth.

As the Age of Heroes wanes, the gods gamble more fiercely with mortals’ lives than they ever have before. Women must rely on their inner strength and cunning to survive the wars men wage for gold and glory.

Clytemnestra of Mycenae struggles for control of her life after Agamemnon ruthlessly rips it apart. Leda of Sparta survives a brutal assault by Zeus, shouldering a terrible secret in silence. Penelope raises Ithaka’s sole heir alone, praying for Odysseus’ swift return. Thetis, the sea nymph, despairs of her son’s destiny and resorts to forbidden magic to save him. Hecuba of Troy mourns the loss of her second son to a dark prophesy. And Shavash of Pedasus prepares her daughter to marry the greatest warrior who ever lived.

In a world where love leads to war and duty leads to destruction, the iron hearts of heroines will conquer all.

Sing, Muse, sing their song of sacrifice…

Replaces Song of Princes as the first book in the Homeric Chronicles.

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The Best Books I Read in 2018

Heartstone Series by Nicholas Rinth

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky & Steven Brown

The Age of the Child by Kristen Tsetsi

The Fall of Lostport by R.J Vickers

Kaelandur Trilogy by Joshua Robertson

The Electrical Menagerie by Mollie E. Reeder

The Forest beyond the Earth by Matthew S. Cox

The Gay Teen's Guide to Defeating a Siren by Cody Wagner

Alternatives to a Frozen Mouse by A.J Mouse

Freyja's Daughter by Rachel Pudelek

Between the Shade and the Shadow by Coleman Alexander

Fire on the Clouds Trilogy by Michael Ban

Superluminary by O. Rising

Book Excerpt: The Monster of Selkirk by C.E Clayton

Excerpt

Book Blitz: Song of Sacrifice by Janell Rhiannon

Giveaway

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