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.