Unlike the stock market, my fantasy reading isn't in a slump

TOPICAL HUMOR.

Anyways, here's a list of recent fantasy reads since the last time I posted about it:

The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny: This has to be the oddest, quirkiest series I've ever read. It's like modern fantasy mixed with portal fantasy and like high/epic fantasy.

Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence: I owned this book for many, many years, but didn't read it because I had mixed feelings about The Broken Empire trilogy, of which I had read Prince and King of Thorns years ago. I didn't dislike the two books, but I wasn't exactly fawning over them either.  I decided to finally give it a chance once I had slain the slump and boy, am I glad I did. I enjoyed this book a lot and I'm planning on reading book 2, The Liar's Key next year.

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree: Yes, I hopped on the bandwagon and followed the hype train for this book and you know what? WORTH IT. The book lived up to expectations and I eagerly await the sequel.

Now, do I think that everybody is going to enjoy this novella? No. I don't see every fantasy reader sitting down to read a novella about a female orc warrior who quits the life of an adventurer to open a coffee shop. And that's fine because not everybody is going to enjoy reading the same things.

Storm Front and Fool Moon by Jim Butcher: I decided rather spontaneously to give the Dresden Files another shot and re-read (and in the case of Storm Front, re-re-re-read) the first two books. My plan is to try and read at least two books a month until I'm caught up. I'd prefer three, but I don't see that happening every month.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the year. I've got a couple of books in my reading pile and more that I haven't started yet. The slump is gone and good riddance!

Finished: King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, Book Two)

Ten books in a year isn't great, but it's still pretty decent. A really excellent book, better than Prince of Thorns. That'll probably do it for the year, unless I manage to finish up this Star Trek novel I've been reading on the side. I'm shooting for fifteen books in 2016.

Guess I wasn't in a reading slump after all

I thought I was because it felt like I hadn't laid a hand on a fantasy novel let alone read one straight through in a while and boy, was I ever wrong. I tallied up all the books I've read this year and while the number currently stands at only eight, I was very pleased that four of them were fantasy novels: Prince of Thorns, Furies of Calderon, Legacies, and The Crown Tower. I'm currently working on adding a ninth book before the year ends, Dark Jenny. Five fantasy novels in a year? Not great, but I'll sure as hell take it!

What will I read after Dark Jenny? Well, it depends on whether or not I feel like picking up another fantasy book or if I make a brief incursion into SF. If I stick with it, I might read King of Thorns, followed by The Mirror Empire or something from my own shelves. I really want to get my hands on some Joe Abercrombie, and that Ken Scholes book, Lamentations. Truth be told, if I ever made out a list of fantasy novels I want it would comprise several scrolls.

Read some fantasy books recently

I'm still alive! My lack of posting recently is due entirely to being lost in a dungeon while trying to find a bathroom. I was sure that door said "Men's". Suffice to say, I know now why those places are dank. In any case, my fantasy reading drought broke this month and I packed away two, count 'em, TWO books!

(via Amazon)

(via A Fantasy Reader)

Both were enjoyable, but Prince of Thorns was a rough and tough one to get through because of how grimdark it was. I'm used to being able to sympathize with the protag, but Jorg is not a sympathetic character at all, even after you learn his life story and how he became the bastard he is in book.

I plan on doing separate posts about each book soon, so look for those. Furies is probably going to fuel several posts because of its magic system - furycrafting.