2024 Reading Recap

I thought it would be fun to look back at what I read last year in fantasy. 2024 was a bit of a disappointment because I only read five things: four books and a short story. This was down from the nine I read in 2023. I'm happy with what I read, but wish it had been more. Oh well, there's always this year.

Convergence by Craig Alanson, read by R.C. Bray.

This was free on Audible, and wanting to read (or rather, listen) to urban fantasy that wasn't Dresden Files, I decided to give it a try.

It was fine. The story is about Kazimir Wolf, a guy who's also possibly the only wizard in the world just as magic starts to make its return. because of this, he finds himself constantly on the run from people trying to capture or kill him. He's soon joined a talking golden retriever named Duke who is possessed by an ancient Babylonian wizard, and two warriors from the middle ages: Markius from Egypt, and Giselle from France. On top of this, Kaz has to deal with an impending event called the Convergence that could spell doom for the world.

I had two main problems with Convergence. First, it dragged on for too long. The audiobook is only 16 hours, but it honestly felt longer because the plot moved at about fast as a glacier. Alanson spent too much time writing funny scenes with Kaz and Duke that didn't serve any purpose whatsoever. Second, the bad guys were practically a footnote. They appeared in a couple of brief scenes in the first half, then disappeared until near the end. It was the same for these two other characters who were nominally supposed to be trying to find Kaz to help and protect him, but worse: they made a brief appearance in the first half and likewise didn't pop back up until the end. If Alanson had cut out some of the needless fluff and wrote more scenes featuring those aforementioned other characters, I would have enjoyed this a lot more.

Having said that, I do plan on reading or listening to the second book in the series, Dragonslayer.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Redemption's Blade by Adrian Tchaikovsky, read by Nicola Barber.

I loved this story. Redemption's Blade is about what happens after the evil dark lord is defeated and it's not a happily ever after. Celestaine is one of a band of heroes who managed to kill the evil demigod known as the Kinslayer and put an end to his war of conquest and annihilation. That was ten years ago and the world is still reeling from the devastation. Now, she's on a quest to undo an evil the Kinslayer inflicted on one of the many races he conquered and has to contend with the aftermath of the war.

This was a good fantasy story and I enjoyed seeing a fairly realistic portrayal of what a fantasy world would look like after a massive and destructive war.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Goblins & Greatcoats by Travis Baldree.

This was a fun short story that Subterranean Press released for free on their website. It's set in the same world as Baldree's Legends & Latte series. In this, a little goblin named Zyll arrives at an inn one rainy night and has to solve a murder. Nothing much I can add to this other than to say that I really liked it.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark.

A very interesting novella set in an alternate timeline where America is still divided by the Civil War (which is a frozen conflict IIRC), and Haiti is a regional, if not a world power with its own fleet of airships. The main character is Creeper, who's a young thief in an independent New Orleans who wants to join the crew of the airship Midnight Robber. To do this, she shares information with the Robber's captain, Ann-Marie about a kidnapped Haitian scientist who possesses knowledge of a weapon that could kill thousands if it falls in the wrong hands. At the same time, Creeper has to deal with an African goddess in her head.

I enjoyed this and wouldn't mind revisiting the world if Clark ever writes sequels.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny, read by Matt Godfrey.

I read, or rather, listened to this as part of a book club. The book is set over the course of the 31 days of October as a varied group of characters in Victorian era England prepare for a ritual event at the end of the month. All of them are supposed to be famous historical figures and fictional characters, which quickly becomes clear. What makes this story interesting is that it's told from the POV of Snuff, a dog belonging to one of the players, Jack, as he goes about his duties and interacts with the animal companions of the other players. Another interesting bit is that a lot of the book's fans will read one chapter a day for the entire month o October. I didn't because I was listening to the audiobook, but I may try it next October.

I enjoyed listening to this book. Zelazny doesn't miss.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Blood Song by Anthony Ryan.

As you can see above, I didn't read or listen to much in the way of epic fantasy, but I did manage to fit one in. Blood Song tells the story of Vaelin Al Sorna, a man who was forced to join an order of warrior monks as a child and eventually grew to be a renowned champion of his kingdom. The book is set up with a framing device that a captive Vaelin is sent to fight another kingdom's champion and die. He's accompanied on the journey by a historian who wants to record his life story, which Vaelin relates. It's a tale of love, grief, pain, triumph, and tragedy.

I really dug Blood Song and plan to continue the Raven's Shadow series this year.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

And that brings us to the end of the recap. Like I said, I'm not happy with how few fantasy stories I read, but I plan on at least doubling the number this year. Hopefully, I'll do more than that.

I read fantasy? #fakenews

But wait, it isn't, for I have indeed been reading fantasy fiction! True, it's just one book out of the fifteen books I've read so far this year, but hey, it's a start. So what did I read? A classic.

Yes, the first book in Roger Zelany's classic Chronicles of Amber series. What drove me to read this was two things: First, Daniel Greene included Nine Princes in Amber in a video of books that he wanted to read this year and that planted the seed. While I've read classic fantasy before, NPIA didn't really catch my interest for some reason. Seeing someone include it in their TBR in a YouTube video was evidently enough to do so. The second thing is that my favorite used bookstore happened to have a copy and I felt like it was worth the $2.50 to at least see if it was something I wanted to read. And it was.

So how was it? It was fine. I liked the way Zelany mixed the real world with a wholly fantastical one. I didn't expect it to go where it did in the last part, but I liked that it did. I plan or hope to read the next book in the series, provided I can find a copy.

I do feel like I'm starting to recover from this slump I'm in. I've been reading The Black Prism, which I need to get back to soon. My hope is that I can read at least four or five more fantasy novels before the end of the year. Far from what I've read in the past, but it's something.

Finished reading: Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey

Or should I say I finished re-reading Arrows of the Queen. Books are always better on the second go around. You remember some things while forgetting enough that it doesn't feel like you're just retreading.

Fun fact: I started writing a review for this novel after I read it for the first time, but never finished it. It was too long, over 7,000 words and was more of a synopsis than a review. Spoilery too.

Oh a whole, Arrows of the Queen still holds up as I remembered it on the first go. The same parts still gave me a lot of the "feels" (as the Internet calls emotions) as they did before.

Review: Devlin's Justice is an only okay ending to the Sword of Change trilogy (SPOILERS)

Click the links to read my reviews for the first two books, Devlin's Luck and Devlin's Honor.

First off, let's talk about that cover. The only thing accurate about the cover (besides the title, author's name and such, obviously) is the Sword of Light, which matches the description of it in Devlin's Honor. Everything else isn't remotely accurate, including the blurb. "His own magic"? Aside from the Geas spell that binds him to his duties as Chosen One, Devlin has no magic whatsoever. I feel like whoever did the cover didn't read the book beforehand. But that's just the cover, let's talk about the book itself.

It's only okay. Going by the blurb on the back of the book, I was expecting a lot of excitement, drama, and adventure. Unfortunately, expectations slammed into reality like a race car into a wall at 190 miles per hour. Devlin's Justice felt rushed, as if Ms. Bray was just trying to get the thing done and out the door or she was trying to meet a specific word or page count. As a result, a lot of meat was left on the bone. There were so many ways the story could have been expanded or enhanced and none of them were used.

Before I go on, let me tell you what happens in this book. Devlin is returning to Kingsholm after successfully retrieving the Sword of Light in the previous book. Upon returning, he's betrayed by King Olafur of Jorsk and handed over to the Selvarat Empire as part of their deal to send "aid" to help the Kingdom of Jorsk stave off an invasion by an unknown enemy, along with like a third of the kingdom itself as it turns out. So Devlin spends a good chunk of the book imprisoned and tortured by the main antagonist while his friends believe him dead and struggle to find a way to save the kingdom from both the Selvarats (who, "shocker", are the unknown enemy) and the king himself. Four of them - Drakken, Stephen, Didrik, and Oluva - are forced to escape the city and go in search of Devlin once they discover that he is in fact still alive. Devlin eventually escapes, joins up with the others and the rest of the book is them leading a guerrilla campaign against the occupying Selvarat forces and setting things to right.

All of that sounds exciting, but as I said, a lot of meat was left on the bone and what we got instead didn't live up to the potential. For example, there's never an explanation given for why King Olafur did anything he did. Yes, he was led to believe that there was a major threat to the kingdom and yes he had a big legacy to live up to, but betraying Devlin and giving away a huge chunk of the kingdom for aid just doesn't make any sense and there was no indication that he was being manipulated by the Prince Arnauld, the main antagonist of the series or anybody else for that matter. It also doesn't explain his slide into despotism which is both sharp and sudden.

There are other examples I could point out but I don't want this post to run too long, so we'll leave off them. The other thing that I found disappointing is the lack of a big finish. I was expecting to see Devlin and Arnauld face off in a big fight, but it never happened. It was a letdown given that Arnauld was the mind-sorcerer that had been plaguing Devlin since the first book. Instead, he's brushed off like some mid-level villain and we're denied the payoff that should have been.

The ending was also lackluster as it felt rushed. Olafur commits suicide just before Devlin arrives back at Kingsholm to confront him and Devlin names himself regent until Olafur's daughter is old enough to rule in her own right. He also marries Stephen's sister which comes straight out of left field and makes about as much sense as Olafur's actions. Devlin also secures the independence of his homeland of Duncaer which I liked.

All in all, I found Devlin's Justice a letdown. It had a lot of potential that was largely squandered. I would rank it as the weakest of the trilogy.

Rating: 5/10.

You can('t) go home again: Devlin's Honor by Patricia Bray (The Sword of Change #2) (Spoilers)

This review took longer to get around to than I had expected. Add to it that my memory is piss poor, and this shouldn't be a long review.

Devlin's Honor is the second book in Patricia Bray's Sword of Change trilogy and while a good story, it doesn't quite match-up with its predecessor, Devlin's Luck. Still, it's worth reading.

The story picks up four months after the events of the previous book. Devlin has spent those months trying to shore-up the defenses of the Kingdom of Jorsk against the threats that he feels are imminent. Unfortunately, he hasn't had that much success and every attempt at strengthening the kingdom is a struggle due partly to the usual power plays and politics you see in most any fantasy novel, but with the added invective that Devlin is still looked down upon because he's a member of a conquered people and not a Jorskian. He later discovers via one of his few friends, the minstrel Stephen, that his very status as Chosen is questioned in the Jorsk circles of power because he lacks the Sword of Light (the sword on the covers of all three books and a pretty accurate description to boot).

The Sword of Light is one of the badges of office of the Chosen, but was lost during the conquest of Duncaer, Devlin's homeland. We get a brief rundown of how the conquest happened: Basically, the Caerfolk practiced a form of elective monarchy where a woman would be elected queen for a term, then either re-elected or replaced with another queen when their first term ended. Duncaer's final queen was a two-termer who wasn't going to get a third and so she went full asshole and "invited" the Jorskian army for a *ahem* visit. It's explained that only one city, Ynnis (or Yniss, I can't remember the proper spelling) resisted the invasion. That's not because the Caerfolk were a docile people but because the rest of the country was more focused on waging a bloodfeud against this queen and her entire family tree. And man, I'm not even exaggerating about that. Caerfolk are dead serious when it comes to blood feuds and the resulting conflict really didn't end until every single member of Queen Asshole's family going as far as distant relations were six feet under.

Devlin's Luck (The Sword of Change #1) by Patricia Bray (spoilers)

This year has been a tough one for reading fantasy. I've spent most of 2017 in a slump that for some strange reason, only dulled my interest in fantasy fiction with almost every attempt to jump back into it turned into a route. Thankfully, I've finally managed to break the slump, thanks in no small part to Devlin's Luck, the first book in Patricia Bray's The Sword of Change trilogy. I'd seen the book on the shelf at the local public library several times, but always ignored it because of the slump. Then about two weeks ago, I had the sudden impulse to take it home and damn near devoured it I would have torn through it like dysentery in a medieval army camp if not for the fact that I was reading a Jules Verne book at the same time, but once I was finished with that, I turned my full attention to this tome and finished it off in double time.

So what is Devlin's Luck about? It's a story of a man broken by tragedy who desires nothing more than to make amends for a past tragedy and die with dignity. At the beginning of the book, Devlin arrives in Kingsholm, the capital of the Kingdom of Jorsk, to take the office of Chosen One. It's a bit hard to explain what the Chosen One is, but essentially, they're the kingdom's official problem solver. If something needs to be investigated, for example, the Chosen One could be dispatched to do it. The same goes with quests and any situation that may require their services. The position itself was quite prestigious in days past, being equal to King's Champion and subservient only to the ruling monarch.

But those days are long gone. By the time Devlin arrives to take the oath, the office has declined into largely a ceremonial position so undesirable that the kingdom has to offer ten gold disks¹ in order to get anyone to take the job. Why? The office is seen as certain death because all of Devlin's immediate predecessors have lasted less than a year, each typically dying during or after their first quest.

And that's exactly why Devlin wants the job. As I said, Devlin is a man broken by tragedy. I don't count it as a spoiler since you find it out pretty early, but Dev's grief stems from his wife, their daughter, his brother and his son being killed by creatures called banecats. Even though he avenged them by hunting down and killing the banecats, he still blames himself both for their deaths and not being there to defend them. By the time he recovered from fighting the banecats and returned to civilization, he found himself named kinslayer by his sister-in-law and forsaken by all of his kin, a major thing in his people's culture. He goes into exile shortly thereafter and literally walks all the way to Kingsholm to become the Chosen One.

Finished: Pawn of Prophecy

Well, I thought I had already written a post about this book the first time I read it, but a quick check of the archives shows that I apparently didn't. Huh.

(via The A.V. Club)

Just like the first time I read, I enjoyed Pawn of Prophecy a lot. I know that The Belgariad (and most of David Eddings' body of work) aren't looked upon very well because I guess they're generic, but honestly? Don't care. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with generic fantasy.

While I did enjoy it, I felt that parts of the book dragged and Garion's putting up with Polgara's bullshit was just a little annoying. I would have told her off mid-point in the adventure and damn the consequences. :P The lack of action is what dragged the story, in my opinion. There's only two fight scenes in the book (three if you want to get really technical and count the scuffle with Brill. Four if you count the boar). Then again, the book was aimed at children and young adults, so of course none of them are going to be gory.

Rating: 8/10.

Finished Imager

Not much to say that I haven't already said, so I'll just jump to the rating: 8.9/10.

Finished: The Protector's War by S. M. Stirling

I decided to undertake a massive summer reading project, since I tend to read quite a lot during the summer months and I have loads of books that I've been wanting to read or finish. Top of the pile was The Protector's War, which I bought about a week ago from a used book store.

Emberverse Wiki.

The book is the second in Stirling's Emberverse series, which follows several groups of survivors after an unknown event (called the Change) robs the world of electricity, gunpowder, and explosives. Suddenly thrust back into the middle ages, the Bearkillers, Clan Mackenzie, and several other factions are forced to fight for survival in western Oregon and against the machinations of the Portland Protection Association, who desire to control the Willamette Valley as they can. Hit the jump for more, but beware of spoilers.

Finished S.M. Stirling's Dies the Fire

And goddamn, Dies the Fire was excellence. I'll write up a non-review later, but it was excellent. With that out of way, it's time to move on to something else. I have three in mind:

Unofficial S.M.Stirling Fan Page.

The Protector's War is the sequel to Dies the Fire. I'm a bit worried about burning myself out on the Emberverse by jumping to the next book so quickly.

Lord of the Rings Wiki.

Partly because the first part of trilogy is coming out in December, but mostly because I want to read more of the classics. I did read a bit of this last year and enjoyed it.

A Wiki of Ice and Fire.

It's been several months since I finished A Game of Thrones and I'd like to be at least halfway through A Storm of Swords before season three of Game of Thrones airs, so I should probably get to reading A Clash of Kings soon.

What to choose, what the choose?

Speaking of The Hall of the Dead

It was okay, nothing to write home about. I thought the story was far too short at around 26 pages and it was bereft of action. It felt like it was nothing more than a transitional story, something Howard wrote to explain what Conan did after the events of The Tower of the Elephant and to set things up for The God in the Bowl. It also felt rushed. Of the Conan stories I've read so far, The Hall of the Dead is the weakest.

Rating: 3/10.

There and back again - Magician: Master by Raymond E. Feist

Oh look, another post about Riftwars...

Sick of them yet? This will be the last one about Feist's excellent series for a while - after reading the Apprentice and Master in quick succession, I need a break! That, and none of the libraries in the area have the third book of the Riftwars Saga, A Darkness at Sethanon, which puts a bit of a damper on reading the rest of the series at the moment. Unlike the last nonreview, this one won't be as long. Hit the jump.

A boy named Pug

Let's start off with the pros, followed by the cons, then we'll move on to my thoughts.

Pros: Surprisingly good story, considering the tropes involved. Nice pacing. Enjoyable characters and an exciting plot and twits.
Cons: Would've liked more information about Crydee and the Duke. While the characters were enjoyable and fairly deep, some just seemed to blend together or we a tad bland. Would've liked a bit more attention focused on some.

Thoughts: First off, here's the plot (roughly): The novel's plot, while seeming to start out as the standard "orphan destined to become a great hero and oh look, a wizard with a long white beard" type of fantasy story, it quickly morphs into something else. The plot is actually about two worlds. On one side, you have Midkemia, home of Pug and the rest of the heroes. On the other, Kelewan, home to the Tsurani, a warrior race who forged an empire on their world. Through the use of magic rifts (portals, basically), the Tsurani discover Midkemia and decide to conquer it.

Hit the jump for the rest, but beware of spoilers.

Another book read

Review coming soon. Magician: Apprentice was damn good.

Finished The Crown Conspiracy

Several days ago, actually. I then decided to decompress a bit before posting about it. I'm not going to write a review, because, well, I suck at writing reviews. As I said in a previous post, I really liked The Crown Conspiracy and Theft of Swords. I wish there was a bit more fighting in it, but that's just me. Several questions were left unanswered (like Royce's relations to elves), but presumably they're tackled in later stories. I do think there's some roleplay potential with the Riyria-verse. The Crown Conspiracy features fighters, thieves, monks, and spellcasters (male and female). There's also a few scenes in the book that would make for some interesting dungeon crawling.

Tomorrow, I start work on finishing A Game of Thrones.

The Deed of Paksenarrion

I picked this book up at a Goodwill recently and it has quickly proven to be more than worth the dollar it sold for. An omnibus of three novels and 1024 pages, I decided to tackle it in my usual fashion by reading the first book, The Sheep Farmer's Daughter, then coming back for the second and third books at a later point. This tactic will keep me from becoming burnt out and disinterested, which would be a feat, because this is a good read! The trilogy of books follows the life of Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter (Paks for short), the eponymous daughter of a sheep farmer as she flees from an arranged marriage for a life as a hired soldier with a mercenary company. Hit the jump for a spoilery review.

The People of the Black Circle

I just finished reading the first story in the Bloody Crown of Conan and it was good. The reason why it took me so long was because I would stop, go back and reread parts of it in order to absorb the story and really enjoy it. The plot of The People of the Black Circle involves the death of the King of Vendhya and at the hands of the Black Seers, powerful magic users that no one wanted to tussle with, and the swearing of revenge by his sister and subsequent Queen of Vendhya, Yasmina. Conan gets involved because seven chiefs of the Afghuli tribes he leads are captured and held prisoner by a regional governor. Yasmina arrives in secret with the intent to use the hostages to force Conan to hunt down and kill the Black Seers. Conan, on the other hand, just shows up the same night and kidnaps Yasmina, intending to use her as a bargaining chip to get his people released and what follows is one big ole adventure that takes both through treacherous mountains, against wild hill tribes and evil wizards. I don't want to spoil what happens, but I highly recommend reading it.

I've also decided to skip the other two stories in the book, since a quick Google shows that they're not as good as the first. I'm still deciding what the read next, but that shouldn't take long.

Another book down and finally the Cimmerian will be read!

I finished Equal Rites, the third book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, last night. I give it an "eh". It was a bit too short for my tastes (213 pages) and sort of meandered off from the plot. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that good either, the weakest of the three Discworld books I've read so far.


Now though, I can move on to a book I've been wanting to read for a while - The Bloody Crown of Conan by Robert E. Howard. It's part of a three volume series that was released a number of years ago, collecting all of the Conan stories Howard wrote for magazines. Unfortunately, The Bloody Crown is the second volume and my local library doesn't have the first and third, which is a shame because the first volume contains notable Conan tales like The Frost Giant's Daughter and Tower of the Elephant. Oh well, still enjoying it. The book contains three stories: The People of the Black Circle, Hour of the Dragon, and A Witch Shall Be Born, along with some extras, like the synopsis that Howard had written for the three stories, an untitled draft and a some other things. I'm probably just going to read the three stories and maybe peruse the other stuff.

Review: Dragons of Autumn Twilight (spoilers)

Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first book in the Dragonlance Chronicles and written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, follows a group of heroes as they reunite after spending five years apart, looking for signs of the gods of old and of impending war. Their reunion and the chance encounter with a barbarian and her lover leads them on an adventure that turns into a quest to save the world of Krynn.