2011 Book Roundup
In which I read rather a lot.
1. The Great Fables Crossover - Bill Willingham - It would appear I started the year with comics, comics stolen from Dave no less, as I'm fairly sure this was his xmas present. It wasn't bad, but as I haven't read any of the Jack of Fables stuff, I was just a wee bit lost.
2. Eternals - Neil Gaiman - more comics. Mine this time. I don't really know a whole lot about the Marvel-verse, but this was good. Solid writing and lovely artwork. It felt like there were a couple of plot gaps that didn't quite make sense, but overall I was willing to forgive that.
3. Deathscent - Robin Jarvis - Dave made me read this. It was weird. At some point in the past, England suffered some kind of cataclysm that meant that all animals died, people stopped dying of old age, and the country, if I remember correctly, is a series of islands floating in the air. Elizabeth I has ruled for a couple of centuries, and animals have been replaced with clockworks inside which a sort of protein is grown in place of meat. Into all of this, a strange alien crashes, and things go downhill from there. I think there was supposed to be a sequel, but it has never materialised. Technically a young adult book, it works just as well for adults, I think.
4. One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson - I love the Jackson Brodie books, they're chewing gum with characters who actually resemble real people. A series of people witness a violent road rage attack, and as the solution to what really happened closes in, things get even more complicated. A little confusing, but entertaining as well.
5. Fables vol.14 - Witches - Bill Willingham - the conclusion of the big plot arc, this was amazing. I won't say any more for fear of spoilers, but this series is well worth reading. While more plot has now spun off from this, it was a bloody good ending.
6. When Will There Be Good News - Kate Atkinson - more Jackson Brodie (I found a bunch of them in a charity shop). This was slightly more solidly written than One Good Turn, and Reggie was made of more win than Jackson, by far.
7. Swiftly - Adam Roberts - oh god this book (in a bad way). In a world where the races discovered by Gulliver have basically been enslaved, some stuff happens. It's messy, it's clumsily written, it is downright revolting in places and what could be an interesting plot is lost in the mess. Dave asked me to read it as he wanted a second opinion on whether it was actually any good or not. It isn't.
8. The Neon Court - Kate Griffin - not perfect, and I agree with Dave when he says the author needs to stop using personifications of forces as the enemy, but this is a world of urban fantasy that I really like. The magic works in an interesting way, there's a mass of politics and backstory but they don't get in the way, and while I will admit to not liking Penny at the end of the last book/start of this one, she grew on me, if only because she's quite happy to slap Matthew round the head when needed.
9. Memories of Ice - Steven Erikson - oh god this book (in a good way). I finished this the day I passed my driving test, and by finished, I mean I sat and read for about 4 hours straight, crying for most of it. I love Erikson's writing (it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's still good), I love his characters, the world is fascinating and I hate the man for making me care so much. I'm not joking when I say I sobbed for 100 pages as war took its toll.
10. Poison Elves 11 - Drew Hayes - I will never quite forgive Mr Hayes for dying when he did. Sure, the art's all tits and arse when women are involved, but those women are pretty badass, and I love Luse. He's an idiot, but he was slowly starting to get it. This wasn't bad, I just badly want a conclusion to the plot.
11. House of Chains - Steven Erikson - apparently the sobbing of Memories of Ice wasn't enough to stop me going straight into this one, which introduces new characters and does some suitably unpleasant things to others. I actually can't remember a lot of this one, other than Karsa Orlong and the fact that no one bloody warned me about the death of the dogs, just after having had my own dog put down (yep, I cried at the deaths of some hunting dogs, and that was, I think, about it).
12. A Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages - Martyn Whittock - I think this had more promise than it delivered on. An interesting look at what made lower class life tick in the Middle Ages. Informative, but in places a little bit dull and dry.
13. Madness or Magic - Justine Larbalestier - I strongly hope this series picks up in pace. Interesting premise, but it spent a bit too long wandering round with the main character being utterly clueless and angry at everything. Young adult urban fantasy, sort of. I'll probably read the others if I can get hold of them cheaply, but it'll be no great loss if I can't.
14. Midnite Tides - Steven Erikson - I think this one took me a while to bother with as it introduced a whole new host of characters, and I'm not sure that I really cared about any of them (by the stage I'm at now, I do, but that's now, and then, they were just taking up page time from the awesome). In many ways, this would be the perfect book (out of a perfect series) to write a paper on colonialism in fantasy fiction. The other vague problem I had with it was that Dave had used an artefact similar to one in this book in a D&D game he had run, so that tainted things a bit.
15. Mistborn: The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson - could I just have a novel about Kelsier and his crew? They are far more interesting than Vin and Elend. I mean really. And Mr Sanderson, have you ever actually talked to a teenage girl? The world building for this is brilliant, but I despised Vin by the end of the book for being an overpowered little brat (if it were fanfiction, she'd be a Mary Sue of massive proportions) and didn't really care about her or her love interest. Oh well.
16. The Giver - Lois Lowry - I read this years ago, and just reread it for fun. A weird world, one that breaks my heart. Very much for a younger age group than me though.
17. Melting Stones - Tamora Pierce - I hate the binding on this series. This and The Will of the Empress started falling apart by the time I'd got half way through. I do love Rosethorn though. A nice solid book, a little didactic in places, but Pierce often is, especially with the Emelan books.
18. Side Jobs - Jim Butcher - Dresden fix since the next novel was delayed. Not bad, but I think Butcher actually works better as a novel writer than he does as a short story writer. I'd also already read most of these elsewhere, and I was sad that the Thomas story didn't have the artwork with it, although it was expected that it wouldn't.
19. White Cat - Holly Black - I picked this up on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. Alt history Earth where magic (curse work) has been prohibited. Nice world building, realistic characters, and a nasty twist at the very end. Yes, it's YA fiction, but it's not stereotypical mush.
20. Blue Fire - Janice Hardy - more YA fantasy. The second book in a series, I adore these books for their world building. I'm not wholly sold on the characters, who are bordering in places on a little too saintly, but the magic is fascinating and the politics, while fairly simple, make sense. I'm looking forward to more of this world.
21. Wish I was Here - Jackie Kay - this was a book of short stories that I was supposed to have read at uni, but never bothered. I wish dearly that I had stayed not bothering. Can be summarised as miserable lesbians making everyone around them miserable. None of the stories had any hope in them; they were just broken relationships getting more broken and more miserable.
22. Marvel Civil War - Mark Millar - technically I read this as a stack of .cbr files on my computer, but whatever. I still read it. It's taken me about a year, but I got there. I hate Reed Richards; he's a dick. I don't really have much context for Marvel, so some of it was probably lost on me (I had Wikipedia open pretty much constantly while reading this) but it was an entertaining slog of politics and nastiness. And I'm still not convinced I like Peter Parker.
23. Dark and Stormy Knights (stort story collection) - I think I only actually read the Dresden Files story out of this. I'm not sure. It was the Marcone one, which was quite fun. If I did read any of the others, they obviously didn't make much of an impression.
24. Fables vol 15: Rose Red - Bill Willingham - another solid performance, dealing with Rose Red and the aftermath of the last plotline. It was fairly painful in places, but a good read.
25. The Losers vol 1-2 - Andy Diggle - so I saw the film and then figured I should pick up the comics. Different to the film, but equally hilarious. Some of the art is a bit iffy (when it's not done by Jock).
26. Fantasy Art of the New Millenium - Dick Jude - coffee table book of fantasy artists working in everything from paint to computer graphics. Interesting, but some of the art in there is awful.
27. Gallows Thief - Bernard Cornwell - see me start to clear my bookshelves in anticipation of moving out for a few months. I picked this up in a charity shop a few years ago and hadn't got round to reading it. A down on his luck dandy is assigned to prove the innocence of a man and steal him from the gallows. Well researched, tightly written and entertaining.
28. The Losers vols 3-5 - Andy Diggle - a much more bitter ending than the film, and again, there were some iffy bits of art, but a good solid comic series.
29. Water Babies - Charles Kingsley - I read most of this at uni, but I thought I'd reread it and actually finish it this time round. And I did. But dear god it hurt. Very much of its time, and as an example of that, worth reading, but that's probably the only reason it's worth reading.
30. The Book of Dead Days - Marcus Sedgewick - so in the summer, I busted my back, and due to the painkillers I was given, couldn't drive home from Dave's for an extra day. So I sat and read this. It was weird, and if it hadn't had some kind of weird romance plot, it would have been a really creepy book. As it was, the romance completely screwed with the atmosphere, and so it kind of sucked.
31. The Amulet of Samarkand - Jonathan Stroud - interesting alt history YA fantasy, where wizards are the ruling class and everyone else is scum. The main character is thoroughly unlikeable, but Bartimaeus, his demon, is made of awesome. Watch as a 12 year old obnoxious, privilidged brat foils everyone's plans and gains the ear of the Prime Minister. There are hints of rebellion (well, not hints, the resistance is a hated group, but they're not really seen in this book) and it is seriously needed in a world where classism has been taken to an extreme.
32. The Bonehunters - Steven Erikson - on the grounds that I've only just finished book 7 (The Bonehunters is book 6) this one must have hurt more than I remember. Ah, no, I do remember. Two characters who I adored bought it at the end of the book, and everything got very very unpleasant for a lot of other characters. Definitely a step up from Midnite Tides, but that's probably because I care about this set of characters more. The only problem I have with this book is Hellian, but I knew that was coming, and hey, it could be worse (I don't hate the character, I just find it hard to laugh at her, and can't find her in the slightest bit sympathetic).
33. Tongues of Serpents - Naomi Novik - I was disappointed with this. It just felt rushed (and I know the author has done things like have a baby and stuff, but if that was the case, why not delay the book?) and like she wanted it over and done with. I'm not sure if its a final end or if there will be more; I think either is possible, but it was just a bit too whiny and there wasn't enough of the natives (why don't they have dragons, what about the weird sand crawler creatures that they do have). Meh. I was hoping for more, but it didn't quite deliver.
34. Faceless Killers - Henning Mankell - picked up in a charity shop, I figured since I'd seen some of the BBC Wallander adaptation, I'd try the books. The books are better.
35. Ghost Story - Jim Butcher - finally. Oh god Molly! (I love Molly, actually, I love the whole Carpenter clan) This did funny things to me, and it was both what I was expecting, and not. I guessed right at who did the deed, but not the why. Needed more Marcone.
36. Guardian of the Dead - Karen Healy - urban fantasy set in a non-European country! ZOMG! I'm trying to work out if Dave would like this or not, and I think the fact that it's YA means he might not. I really liked the characters, the setting and the fact that there isn't a happy ending (I like real endings, rather than ones where everything is wrapped up all nicely).
37. Black Ships - Jo Graham - this was a reread, and while it's a bit iffy history and mythologically-wise (according to other people) I do enjoy the series. They're comfortable.
38. My Life as a White Trash Zombie - Diana Rowland - everyone mocked this when I got it for my birthday, and ok, it wasn't high class literature, but you know what, it was funny, and not all doom and gloom. I am dubious as to just how 'white trash' the main character was, she seemed to be a fairly standard character with some trailer trash characteristics tacked on, but that might just be my English perspective not knowing what makes a person white trash. I'm not really sure it should be a series, it worked well enough as a stand alone, but I suppose people have to pay the bills.
39. Knight of the Black Rose - James Lowder - I found it for 20p in a charity shop. That is my only excuse. So very of its time and genre, and we shall leave it at that.
40. The Fifth Elephant - Terry Pratchett - I've never read Discworld in order, and even this far down the line, with only the most basic knowledge of the characters, this was still fun.
41. The Golem's Eye - Jonathan Stroud - the second of the Bartimeus series, and more about the rebellion. The main character is still hateful, the main female lead is not actually much better, and the world starts to not quite work for me. I need to know more about it; some things have obviously not happened because of magic, but how were they replaced? How did some parts of history go down differently? There are just a few too many holes that I'm noticing as an adult reader that I'm fairly sure a younger reader, such as the books are aimed at, wouldn't notice (not to say kids are dumb, I just read a lot, and have done a lot of world creation). I still want to read the last book, I just wish the library had it in paperback rather than the massive hardback, it's easier to carry.
42. Started Early, Took My Dog - Kate Atkinson - I was really looking forwards to this, and then it kind of failed. Not enough Jackson, I didn't really like Tracy, and I'm not entirely sure that it wrapped up at the end (not even that it wrapped up untidily, it just seemed to fade out, which was a bit pathetic). I'm wondering perhaps if Jackson Brodie needs to be retired.
43. The Alchemy of Stone - Ekaterina Sedia - this got bought for me because my Amazon wishlist is a mess that I used to use for putting books that I thought other people would like on. This got recommended because it was apparently vaguely steampunk-esque, and I was trying to find books for a friend who was rather into that a couple of years ago. And I forgot to remove it. As much as it was a mistake though, I really enjoyed it. It was weird enough and the world was interesting enough for me to not care about the steampunk elements (which weren't actually all that pronounced) and want to know more about the gargoyles and the alchemists and all the other things that were going on. I'm not sure I would have read it if it hadn't been given to me, but I'm quite glad I did.
44. The Devil in Green - Mark Chadbourn - in 2010 I finished the Kingdom of the Serpent trilogy by Chadbourn and realised that it was the third of three trilogies. In 2011 I managed to convince my library to transfer the second trilogy (The Dark Age) into their stock (they had book 1, but not 2 or 3, which were in another of the county libraries) and lo, I did read. Where the Serpent trilogy was all about a world being reborn, the Dark Age trilogy is a world that has suffered and is suffering still. At the end of the first trilogy, magic returned to the world, and now everything is going a bit weird. In this book you meet Sophie and Mallory, the first of the new group of Brothers and Sisters of Dragons who are supposed to protect Existence. What I liked about this book was that it wasn't all "rararar, paganism is better than Christianity" which had been a bit of a problem with the Serpent trilogy (the sentiment was still there, just far better disguised and not as much of a plot point). I was fairly ambivalent to most of the plot in this, and Sophie kind of annoys me, but Mallory is quite cool.
45. The Painted Man - Peter Brett - another Dave book (I steal from his shelves a lot) and while I enjoyed it, I think I wanted less of the waffling around at the start and more of the time the main character spends in the desert, more of the actual action. I also badly want the Arab influenced culture to be more than just a culture of second class women and cripples and religious zealot warriors. Please? It kind of failed badly on that front. Apparently they get more page time in the second book, I just haven't got round to reading that.
46. Black and White - Jackie Kessler - I'm always a bit wary of superheroes in text rather than comic form, it doesn't always translate too well, and some of the action here is a bit stodgy, but it's not bad. The two leads are interesting; they're strong characters who happen to be female, rather than strong female characters, and the world, while perhaps not pleasant is at least well constructed (I couldn't find any major gaps in it). I found this in one of the discount bookstores in town, and I keep hoping I'll find the second one there, but I suspect I will be foiled in that.
47. The Queen of Sinister - Mark Chadbourn - the second of the Dark Age trilogy deals with Caitlin, the third of the new Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, and it hurts. I knew she was a tragic character from her time in the Serpent trilogy, but her humanity makes what happens to her even worse. She tries so hard to do things right, but she is only human, and she fails. The fact that Chadbourn's version of the Morrigan is fucking scary also makes this book a win.
48. The Hounds of Avalon - Mark Chadbourn - the final part of the Dark Age trilogy brings in Hal and Hunter, the final two of the group, working for the new baby government, trying to track down the other three, and trying to cope as winter descends. This takes a lot of the action to the Fae realm, and all the weirdness that goes on there, and also brings in the remaining three Brothers and Sisters from the first trilogy. I knew what was coming at the end, having read the Serpent trilogy, but the way it happens, and exactly what happens still hurts.
49-53. Freak Angels vols 1-5 - Warren Ellis - finally got round to reading these. I am quite fond of Warren Ellis as a writer, and the art is good. And the characters are excellent. Solid plot and just enough weird.
54. The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins - one of the things that I'm trying to do is read at least a few of the books that my students have to read. And this sounded vaguely interesting. Once I got past the first section of the head of house, it was interesting, but dear lord, those first 200 pages. Ugh. It is a classic though, and for good reason, just remember that it was written in the 19th century and does carry that periods attitudes with it.
55. Mistborn: The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson - oh god I still hate Vin and Elend. And why do all the female characters (such few as they are) mostly have to die? There is far too much love struck angst from both sides, all of it solvable if the two of them actually talked to each other. The pacing felt really odd, and I'm not sure I'm happy at the balance of power by the end of the book, it felt a bit like Elend had to be as special as Vin else they couldn't be in love, and then that would be awful. It just felt tacked on and like without equal power, they could never be happy (unless they actually put some work in, which I guess is too boring to write about).
56. I, Lucifer - Glen Duncan - someone once told me I should read this. I now want to hunt them down and maim them. It is pretentious and vulgar for the sake of being vulgar to see how far a writer can push. And it's not all that interesting. I was not impressed.
57. Freak Angels vol. 6 - Warren Ellis - the final volume, and what an ending. While I would love more of the Freak Angels, it was a good ending that wrapped up enough to be satisfying, but not everything so as to be cloying.
And that was everything I read last year. Quite a bit of YA fiction, mostly fantasy, and a bit of crime on the side. I started Reaper's Gale (book 7 of the Steven Erikson series) and didn't finish that until Jan 2nd 2012, and I started a non-fiction book that I have yet to finish because I can't find where I put it. What I didn't read was the new GRR Martin (I am rapidly failing to care, and only continuing because I have an OCD streak about finishing series) and the new Janny Wurts (I haven't had time as it came out right when I was reading other stuff, and I need to borrow it off someone).
I suspect that 2012 is going to be just as book heavy (at least I hope so) and if you're even remotely interested, I sort of review the stuff I read over at my GoodReads
1. The Great Fables Crossover - Bill Willingham - It would appear I started the year with comics, comics stolen from Dave no less, as I'm fairly sure this was his xmas present. It wasn't bad, but as I haven't read any of the Jack of Fables stuff, I was just a wee bit lost.
2. Eternals - Neil Gaiman - more comics. Mine this time. I don't really know a whole lot about the Marvel-verse, but this was good. Solid writing and lovely artwork. It felt like there were a couple of plot gaps that didn't quite make sense, but overall I was willing to forgive that.
3. Deathscent - Robin Jarvis - Dave made me read this. It was weird. At some point in the past, England suffered some kind of cataclysm that meant that all animals died, people stopped dying of old age, and the country, if I remember correctly, is a series of islands floating in the air. Elizabeth I has ruled for a couple of centuries, and animals have been replaced with clockworks inside which a sort of protein is grown in place of meat. Into all of this, a strange alien crashes, and things go downhill from there. I think there was supposed to be a sequel, but it has never materialised. Technically a young adult book, it works just as well for adults, I think.
4. One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson - I love the Jackson Brodie books, they're chewing gum with characters who actually resemble real people. A series of people witness a violent road rage attack, and as the solution to what really happened closes in, things get even more complicated. A little confusing, but entertaining as well.
5. Fables vol.14 - Witches - Bill Willingham - the conclusion of the big plot arc, this was amazing. I won't say any more for fear of spoilers, but this series is well worth reading. While more plot has now spun off from this, it was a bloody good ending.
6. When Will There Be Good News - Kate Atkinson - more Jackson Brodie (I found a bunch of them in a charity shop). This was slightly more solidly written than One Good Turn, and Reggie was made of more win than Jackson, by far.
7. Swiftly - Adam Roberts - oh god this book (in a bad way). In a world where the races discovered by Gulliver have basically been enslaved, some stuff happens. It's messy, it's clumsily written, it is downright revolting in places and what could be an interesting plot is lost in the mess. Dave asked me to read it as he wanted a second opinion on whether it was actually any good or not. It isn't.
8. The Neon Court - Kate Griffin - not perfect, and I agree with Dave when he says the author needs to stop using personifications of forces as the enemy, but this is a world of urban fantasy that I really like. The magic works in an interesting way, there's a mass of politics and backstory but they don't get in the way, and while I will admit to not liking Penny at the end of the last book/start of this one, she grew on me, if only because she's quite happy to slap Matthew round the head when needed.
9. Memories of Ice - Steven Erikson - oh god this book (in a good way). I finished this the day I passed my driving test, and by finished, I mean I sat and read for about 4 hours straight, crying for most of it. I love Erikson's writing (it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's still good), I love his characters, the world is fascinating and I hate the man for making me care so much. I'm not joking when I say I sobbed for 100 pages as war took its toll.
10. Poison Elves 11 - Drew Hayes - I will never quite forgive Mr Hayes for dying when he did. Sure, the art's all tits and arse when women are involved, but those women are pretty badass, and I love Luse. He's an idiot, but he was slowly starting to get it. This wasn't bad, I just badly want a conclusion to the plot.
11. House of Chains - Steven Erikson - apparently the sobbing of Memories of Ice wasn't enough to stop me going straight into this one, which introduces new characters and does some suitably unpleasant things to others. I actually can't remember a lot of this one, other than Karsa Orlong and the fact that no one bloody warned me about the death of the dogs, just after having had my own dog put down (yep, I cried at the deaths of some hunting dogs, and that was, I think, about it).
12. A Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages - Martyn Whittock - I think this had more promise than it delivered on. An interesting look at what made lower class life tick in the Middle Ages. Informative, but in places a little bit dull and dry.
13. Madness or Magic - Justine Larbalestier - I strongly hope this series picks up in pace. Interesting premise, but it spent a bit too long wandering round with the main character being utterly clueless and angry at everything. Young adult urban fantasy, sort of. I'll probably read the others if I can get hold of them cheaply, but it'll be no great loss if I can't.
14. Midnite Tides - Steven Erikson - I think this one took me a while to bother with as it introduced a whole new host of characters, and I'm not sure that I really cared about any of them (by the stage I'm at now, I do, but that's now, and then, they were just taking up page time from the awesome). In many ways, this would be the perfect book (out of a perfect series) to write a paper on colonialism in fantasy fiction. The other vague problem I had with it was that Dave had used an artefact similar to one in this book in a D&D game he had run, so that tainted things a bit.
15. Mistborn: The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson - could I just have a novel about Kelsier and his crew? They are far more interesting than Vin and Elend. I mean really. And Mr Sanderson, have you ever actually talked to a teenage girl? The world building for this is brilliant, but I despised Vin by the end of the book for being an overpowered little brat (if it were fanfiction, she'd be a Mary Sue of massive proportions) and didn't really care about her or her love interest. Oh well.
16. The Giver - Lois Lowry - I read this years ago, and just reread it for fun. A weird world, one that breaks my heart. Very much for a younger age group than me though.
17. Melting Stones - Tamora Pierce - I hate the binding on this series. This and The Will of the Empress started falling apart by the time I'd got half way through. I do love Rosethorn though. A nice solid book, a little didactic in places, but Pierce often is, especially with the Emelan books.
18. Side Jobs - Jim Butcher - Dresden fix since the next novel was delayed. Not bad, but I think Butcher actually works better as a novel writer than he does as a short story writer. I'd also already read most of these elsewhere, and I was sad that the Thomas story didn't have the artwork with it, although it was expected that it wouldn't.
19. White Cat - Holly Black - I picked this up on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. Alt history Earth where magic (curse work) has been prohibited. Nice world building, realistic characters, and a nasty twist at the very end. Yes, it's YA fiction, but it's not stereotypical mush.
20. Blue Fire - Janice Hardy - more YA fantasy. The second book in a series, I adore these books for their world building. I'm not wholly sold on the characters, who are bordering in places on a little too saintly, but the magic is fascinating and the politics, while fairly simple, make sense. I'm looking forward to more of this world.
21. Wish I was Here - Jackie Kay - this was a book of short stories that I was supposed to have read at uni, but never bothered. I wish dearly that I had stayed not bothering. Can be summarised as miserable lesbians making everyone around them miserable. None of the stories had any hope in them; they were just broken relationships getting more broken and more miserable.
22. Marvel Civil War - Mark Millar - technically I read this as a stack of .cbr files on my computer, but whatever. I still read it. It's taken me about a year, but I got there. I hate Reed Richards; he's a dick. I don't really have much context for Marvel, so some of it was probably lost on me (I had Wikipedia open pretty much constantly while reading this) but it was an entertaining slog of politics and nastiness. And I'm still not convinced I like Peter Parker.
23. Dark and Stormy Knights (stort story collection) - I think I only actually read the Dresden Files story out of this. I'm not sure. It was the Marcone one, which was quite fun. If I did read any of the others, they obviously didn't make much of an impression.
24. Fables vol 15: Rose Red - Bill Willingham - another solid performance, dealing with Rose Red and the aftermath of the last plotline. It was fairly painful in places, but a good read.
25. The Losers vol 1-2 - Andy Diggle - so I saw the film and then figured I should pick up the comics. Different to the film, but equally hilarious. Some of the art is a bit iffy (when it's not done by Jock).
26. Fantasy Art of the New Millenium - Dick Jude - coffee table book of fantasy artists working in everything from paint to computer graphics. Interesting, but some of the art in there is awful.
27. Gallows Thief - Bernard Cornwell - see me start to clear my bookshelves in anticipation of moving out for a few months. I picked this up in a charity shop a few years ago and hadn't got round to reading it. A down on his luck dandy is assigned to prove the innocence of a man and steal him from the gallows. Well researched, tightly written and entertaining.
28. The Losers vols 3-5 - Andy Diggle - a much more bitter ending than the film, and again, there were some iffy bits of art, but a good solid comic series.
29. Water Babies - Charles Kingsley - I read most of this at uni, but I thought I'd reread it and actually finish it this time round. And I did. But dear god it hurt. Very much of its time, and as an example of that, worth reading, but that's probably the only reason it's worth reading.
30. The Book of Dead Days - Marcus Sedgewick - so in the summer, I busted my back, and due to the painkillers I was given, couldn't drive home from Dave's for an extra day. So I sat and read this. It was weird, and if it hadn't had some kind of weird romance plot, it would have been a really creepy book. As it was, the romance completely screwed with the atmosphere, and so it kind of sucked.
31. The Amulet of Samarkand - Jonathan Stroud - interesting alt history YA fantasy, where wizards are the ruling class and everyone else is scum. The main character is thoroughly unlikeable, but Bartimaeus, his demon, is made of awesome. Watch as a 12 year old obnoxious, privilidged brat foils everyone's plans and gains the ear of the Prime Minister. There are hints of rebellion (well, not hints, the resistance is a hated group, but they're not really seen in this book) and it is seriously needed in a world where classism has been taken to an extreme.
32. The Bonehunters - Steven Erikson - on the grounds that I've only just finished book 7 (The Bonehunters is book 6) this one must have hurt more than I remember. Ah, no, I do remember. Two characters who I adored bought it at the end of the book, and everything got very very unpleasant for a lot of other characters. Definitely a step up from Midnite Tides, but that's probably because I care about this set of characters more. The only problem I have with this book is Hellian, but I knew that was coming, and hey, it could be worse (I don't hate the character, I just find it hard to laugh at her, and can't find her in the slightest bit sympathetic).
33. Tongues of Serpents - Naomi Novik - I was disappointed with this. It just felt rushed (and I know the author has done things like have a baby and stuff, but if that was the case, why not delay the book?) and like she wanted it over and done with. I'm not sure if its a final end or if there will be more; I think either is possible, but it was just a bit too whiny and there wasn't enough of the natives (why don't they have dragons, what about the weird sand crawler creatures that they do have). Meh. I was hoping for more, but it didn't quite deliver.
34. Faceless Killers - Henning Mankell - picked up in a charity shop, I figured since I'd seen some of the BBC Wallander adaptation, I'd try the books. The books are better.
35. Ghost Story - Jim Butcher - finally. Oh god Molly! (I love Molly, actually, I love the whole Carpenter clan) This did funny things to me, and it was both what I was expecting, and not. I guessed right at who did the deed, but not the why. Needed more Marcone.
36. Guardian of the Dead - Karen Healy - urban fantasy set in a non-European country! ZOMG! I'm trying to work out if Dave would like this or not, and I think the fact that it's YA means he might not. I really liked the characters, the setting and the fact that there isn't a happy ending (I like real endings, rather than ones where everything is wrapped up all nicely).
37. Black Ships - Jo Graham - this was a reread, and while it's a bit iffy history and mythologically-wise (according to other people) I do enjoy the series. They're comfortable.
38. My Life as a White Trash Zombie - Diana Rowland - everyone mocked this when I got it for my birthday, and ok, it wasn't high class literature, but you know what, it was funny, and not all doom and gloom. I am dubious as to just how 'white trash' the main character was, she seemed to be a fairly standard character with some trailer trash characteristics tacked on, but that might just be my English perspective not knowing what makes a person white trash. I'm not really sure it should be a series, it worked well enough as a stand alone, but I suppose people have to pay the bills.
39. Knight of the Black Rose - James Lowder - I found it for 20p in a charity shop. That is my only excuse. So very of its time and genre, and we shall leave it at that.
40. The Fifth Elephant - Terry Pratchett - I've never read Discworld in order, and even this far down the line, with only the most basic knowledge of the characters, this was still fun.
41. The Golem's Eye - Jonathan Stroud - the second of the Bartimeus series, and more about the rebellion. The main character is still hateful, the main female lead is not actually much better, and the world starts to not quite work for me. I need to know more about it; some things have obviously not happened because of magic, but how were they replaced? How did some parts of history go down differently? There are just a few too many holes that I'm noticing as an adult reader that I'm fairly sure a younger reader, such as the books are aimed at, wouldn't notice (not to say kids are dumb, I just read a lot, and have done a lot of world creation). I still want to read the last book, I just wish the library had it in paperback rather than the massive hardback, it's easier to carry.
42. Started Early, Took My Dog - Kate Atkinson - I was really looking forwards to this, and then it kind of failed. Not enough Jackson, I didn't really like Tracy, and I'm not entirely sure that it wrapped up at the end (not even that it wrapped up untidily, it just seemed to fade out, which was a bit pathetic). I'm wondering perhaps if Jackson Brodie needs to be retired.
43. The Alchemy of Stone - Ekaterina Sedia - this got bought for me because my Amazon wishlist is a mess that I used to use for putting books that I thought other people would like on. This got recommended because it was apparently vaguely steampunk-esque, and I was trying to find books for a friend who was rather into that a couple of years ago. And I forgot to remove it. As much as it was a mistake though, I really enjoyed it. It was weird enough and the world was interesting enough for me to not care about the steampunk elements (which weren't actually all that pronounced) and want to know more about the gargoyles and the alchemists and all the other things that were going on. I'm not sure I would have read it if it hadn't been given to me, but I'm quite glad I did.
44. The Devil in Green - Mark Chadbourn - in 2010 I finished the Kingdom of the Serpent trilogy by Chadbourn and realised that it was the third of three trilogies. In 2011 I managed to convince my library to transfer the second trilogy (The Dark Age) into their stock (they had book 1, but not 2 or 3, which were in another of the county libraries) and lo, I did read. Where the Serpent trilogy was all about a world being reborn, the Dark Age trilogy is a world that has suffered and is suffering still. At the end of the first trilogy, magic returned to the world, and now everything is going a bit weird. In this book you meet Sophie and Mallory, the first of the new group of Brothers and Sisters of Dragons who are supposed to protect Existence. What I liked about this book was that it wasn't all "rararar, paganism is better than Christianity" which had been a bit of a problem with the Serpent trilogy (the sentiment was still there, just far better disguised and not as much of a plot point). I was fairly ambivalent to most of the plot in this, and Sophie kind of annoys me, but Mallory is quite cool.
45. The Painted Man - Peter Brett - another Dave book (I steal from his shelves a lot) and while I enjoyed it, I think I wanted less of the waffling around at the start and more of the time the main character spends in the desert, more of the actual action. I also badly want the Arab influenced culture to be more than just a culture of second class women and cripples and religious zealot warriors. Please? It kind of failed badly on that front. Apparently they get more page time in the second book, I just haven't got round to reading that.
46. Black and White - Jackie Kessler - I'm always a bit wary of superheroes in text rather than comic form, it doesn't always translate too well, and some of the action here is a bit stodgy, but it's not bad. The two leads are interesting; they're strong characters who happen to be female, rather than strong female characters, and the world, while perhaps not pleasant is at least well constructed (I couldn't find any major gaps in it). I found this in one of the discount bookstores in town, and I keep hoping I'll find the second one there, but I suspect I will be foiled in that.
47. The Queen of Sinister - Mark Chadbourn - the second of the Dark Age trilogy deals with Caitlin, the third of the new Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, and it hurts. I knew she was a tragic character from her time in the Serpent trilogy, but her humanity makes what happens to her even worse. She tries so hard to do things right, but she is only human, and she fails. The fact that Chadbourn's version of the Morrigan is fucking scary also makes this book a win.
48. The Hounds of Avalon - Mark Chadbourn - the final part of the Dark Age trilogy brings in Hal and Hunter, the final two of the group, working for the new baby government, trying to track down the other three, and trying to cope as winter descends. This takes a lot of the action to the Fae realm, and all the weirdness that goes on there, and also brings in the remaining three Brothers and Sisters from the first trilogy. I knew what was coming at the end, having read the Serpent trilogy, but the way it happens, and exactly what happens still hurts.
49-53. Freak Angels vols 1-5 - Warren Ellis - finally got round to reading these. I am quite fond of Warren Ellis as a writer, and the art is good. And the characters are excellent. Solid plot and just enough weird.
54. The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins - one of the things that I'm trying to do is read at least a few of the books that my students have to read. And this sounded vaguely interesting. Once I got past the first section of the head of house, it was interesting, but dear lord, those first 200 pages. Ugh. It is a classic though, and for good reason, just remember that it was written in the 19th century and does carry that periods attitudes with it.
55. Mistborn: The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson - oh god I still hate Vin and Elend. And why do all the female characters (such few as they are) mostly have to die? There is far too much love struck angst from both sides, all of it solvable if the two of them actually talked to each other. The pacing felt really odd, and I'm not sure I'm happy at the balance of power by the end of the book, it felt a bit like Elend had to be as special as Vin else they couldn't be in love, and then that would be awful. It just felt tacked on and like without equal power, they could never be happy (unless they actually put some work in, which I guess is too boring to write about).
56. I, Lucifer - Glen Duncan - someone once told me I should read this. I now want to hunt them down and maim them. It is pretentious and vulgar for the sake of being vulgar to see how far a writer can push. And it's not all that interesting. I was not impressed.
57. Freak Angels vol. 6 - Warren Ellis - the final volume, and what an ending. While I would love more of the Freak Angels, it was a good ending that wrapped up enough to be satisfying, but not everything so as to be cloying.
And that was everything I read last year. Quite a bit of YA fiction, mostly fantasy, and a bit of crime on the side. I started Reaper's Gale (book 7 of the Steven Erikson series) and didn't finish that until Jan 2nd 2012, and I started a non-fiction book that I have yet to finish because I can't find where I put it. What I didn't read was the new GRR Martin (I am rapidly failing to care, and only continuing because I have an OCD streak about finishing series) and the new Janny Wurts (I haven't had time as it came out right when I was reading other stuff, and I need to borrow it off someone).
I suspect that 2012 is going to be just as book heavy (at least I hope so) and if you're even remotely interested, I sort of review the stuff I read over at my GoodReads