Tag: fantasybooks

House of Salt and Sorrows Review

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Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods. Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with? When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.

Storm Front Review

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Harry is the best at what he does – and not just because he’s the only one who does it. So whenever the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal capabilities, they look to him for answers. But business isn’t just slow, it stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry’s seeing dollar signs. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name. And that’s when things start to get . . . interesting.

The Hod King Review

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Fearing an uprising, the Sphinx sends Senlin to investigate a plot that has taken hold in the ringdom of Pelphia. Alone in the city, Senlin infiltrates a bloody arena where hods battle for the public’s entertainment. But his investigation is quickly derailed by a gruesome crime and an unexpected reunion. Posing as a noble lady and her handmaid, Voleta and Iren attempt to reach Marya, who is isolated by her fame. While navigating the court, Voleta attracts the unwanted attention of a powerful prince whose pursuit of her threatens their plan. Edith, now captain of the Sphinx’s fierce flagship, joins forces with a fellow wakeman to investigate the disappearance of a beloved friend. She must decide who to trust as her desperate search brings her nearer to the Black Trail where the hods climb in darkness and whisper of the Hod King. As Senlin and his crew become further dragged in to the conspiracies of the Tower, everything falls to one question: Who is The Hod King?

Have I Read? NPR’s Top 100 Fantasy and Sci-fi

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So this post was completely inspired by MeltingPage’s post of the same name. I just really loved the idea, I thought it would be fun!

So there is a bit of a key to this task.

  • Bold titles means I have read the book.
  • Titles in italics denotes book/series I am currently reading.
  • Underlined titles denotes books I would like to read eventually but don’t own.
  • A single asterix (*) denotes books I own and plan to read.

So, let’s get into it. I will give a bit of info along the way.

  1. The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R Tolkien
    Got to be honest here. I read The Hobbit and absoutley loved it. I also read The Fellowship of the Ring and wasn’t as fussed about it, I struggled with the pacing a lot. Finally, I read The Two Towers but I couldn’t finish it. The pacing was so slow and even the action sequences couldn’t get me into the story.
  2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
  3. Ender’s Games – Orson Scott Card
  4. The Dune Chronicles – Frank Herbert
  5. A Song of Ice and Fire series – George R.R. Martin
  6. 1984 – George Orwell
  7. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
  8. The Foundation Trilogy – Isaac Asimov
  9. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
  10. American Gods – Neil Gaiman*
  11. The Princess Bride – William Goldman
    I read this book due to the movie. I plan on re-reading this book next year as I unintentionally DNFed it. I didn’t consciously decide to DNF it but I was reading multiple books at that time and I left it for too long. So I want to re-read it and a bunch of other DNF’s.
  12. The Wheel of Time Series – Robert Jordan
    I am currently reading The Eye of the World and I am loving it. It is taking more time than I anticipated, due to my Netgalley reads, but I am still loving it. I am also listening to the Wheel Weaves podcast which is a great spoiler-free companion podcast.
  13. Animal Farm – George Orwell
    I read this for school and enjoyed it. Wasn’t my favourite story but still enjoyable.
  14. Neuromancer – William Gibson
  15. Watchmen – Alan Moore
  16. I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
  17. Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert A. Heinlein
  18. The Kingkiller Chronicles – Patrick Rothfuss
  19. Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
  20. Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
  21. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Phillip K. Dick
  22. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
  23. The Dark Tower series – Stephen King
  24. 2001: An Space Odyssey – Arthur C. Clarke
  25. The Stand – Stephen King
  26. Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
  27. The Martian Chronicles – Ray Bradbury
  28. Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
  29. The Sandman Series – Neil Gaiman
  30. A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
  31. Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein
  32. Watership Down – Richard Adams
  33. Dragonflight – Anne McCaffery
  34. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
  35. A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M. Miller Jr.
  36. The Time Machine – H.G. Wells
  37. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Jules Verne
  38. Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
  39. The War of the Worlds – H.G Wells
  40. The Amber Chronicles – Roger Zelazny
  41. The Belgariad – David Eddings
  42. The Mists of Avalon – Marion Zimmer Bradley
  43. The Mistborn Trilogy – Brandon Sanderson
    So I put this title in italics and underlined. It’s in italics as I am currently reading the series. I read The Final Empire earlier this year and loved it. But it’s underlined as I don’t own the next two books.
  44. Ringworld – Larry Niven
  45. The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin
  46. The Silmarillion – J.K.K Tolkien
  47. The Once and Future King – T.H White
  48. Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman
  49. Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke
  50. Contact – Carl Sagan
  51. The Hyperion Cantos – Dan Simmons
  52. Stardust – Neil Gaiman
    Very similar situation to The Princess Bride, an unintentional DNF. I also read this book after watching the movie. I read this at the beginning of the year and I did not enjoy it.
  53. Cryptonomicon – Neal Stehenson
  54. World War Z – Max Brooks
  55. The Last Unicorn – Peter S. Beagle
  56. The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
  57. Small Gods – Terry Pratchett
    Very similar to the Mistborn series. I am currently reading the series only on book 5. But I don’t own any of the unread books.
  58. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever – Stephen R. Donaldson
  59. The Vorkosigan Saga – Lois McMaster Bujold
  60. Going Postal – Terry Pratchett
  61. The Mote in the God’s Eye – Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
  62. The Sword of Truth series – Terry Goodkind
  63. The Road – Cormac McCarthy
  64. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell – Susanna Clarke
  65. I Am Legend – Richard Matheson
  66. The Riftwar Saga – Raymond E. Feist
  67. The Sword of Shannara Trilogy – Terry Brooks
  68. The Conan the Barbarian series – Robert E. Howard and Mark Schultz
  69. The Farseer Trilogy – Robin Hobb
  70. The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
  71. The Way of Kings – Brandon Sanderson
  72. Journey to the Centre of the Earth – Jules Verne
  73. The Legend of Drizzt series – R.A. Salvatore
  74. Old Man’s War – John Scalzi
  75. The Diamond Age – Neal Stephenson
  76. Rendevous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke
  77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series – Jacqueline Grey
  78. The Dispossessed – Ursula K. LeGuin
  79. Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury
  80. Wicked – Gregory Maguire
    I DNFed this one. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style and the pacing was very slow.
  81. Malazan Book of the Fallen Series – Steven Erikson
  82. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
  83. The Culture series by Ian Banks
  84. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
  85. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
  86. The Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher
  87. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
  88. The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn
  89. The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
  90. The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock
  91. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
  92. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
  93. A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
  94. The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
  95. The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
  96. Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
  97. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
  98. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
  99. The Xanth Series by Piers Anthony
  100. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis

Just a small post for the weekend 🙂

The Last Smile in Sunder City Review

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Welcome to Sunder City. The magic is gone but the monsters remain. I’m Fetch Phillips, just like it says on the window. There are a few things you should know before you hire me: 1. Sobriety costs extra. 2. My services are confidential. 3. I don’t work for humans. It’s nothing personal–I’m human myself. But after what happened, to the magic, it’s not the humans who need my help.

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The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep Review

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For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can’t quite control: he can bring characters from books into the real world. His older brother, Rob – a young lawyer with an utterly normal life – hopes that this strange family secret will disappear with disuse, and he will be discharged from his duty of protecting Charley and the real world from each other. But then, literary characters start causing trouble in their city, making threats about destroying the world, and for once, it isn’t Charley’s doing. There’s someone else out there who shares his powers and it’s up to Charley and a reluctant Rob to stop them – before anyone gets to The End.

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Stardust Review

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Author: Neil Gaiman Series: Standalone No. of pages: 248 Dates read: 03.01.20 – 10.01.20 Rating: 2 stars Challenge: 2nd Chance Challenge Plot: Life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall—named after the imposing stone barrier which separates the town from a grassy meadow. Here, young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart […]