Top Ten Tuesday -My Top Books of 2019

On December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn List93 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday will be the final instalment of a series of lists I have been doing over the last couple of weeks which highlighted some of the authors and books I have been most impressed with this year. So far, I have looked at my favourite audiobooks of 2019, favourite debut novels of 2019, my favourite new-to-me authors and my favourite pre-2019 books I read this year. I have covered a pretty interesting range of novels in these lists, but as this is the last Top Ten Tuesday of 2019, it is time to showcase my absolute favourite releases of the year.

I think we can all agree that 2019 has been a pretty amazing year for books, with a huge range of incredible releases coming out across the genres. I have had the great pleasure of reading or listening to so many outstanding books this year, and quite a few of this year’s releases have become instant favourites to me. I have to admit that I somewhat struggled to pull this list together, as there were so many books that deserved to be mentioned. Therefore, because I’m a soft touch, and because the quality of the books I read this year is so impressive, I have decided to expand this list out to 20 entries. These 20 books are my absolute favourites from 2019, and I would strongly recommend each and every one of them to anyone who is interested.

There is a going to be a bit of crossover between the below entries and the other lists I mentioned above, as I have featured some of these books before. In particular, several appeared on my Top Ten Favourite Audiobooks of 2019 list, as I enjoyed a great many of my favourite books this year on audiobook. In addition, I also featured some of these entries on my Top Ten Favourite Books from the First Half of 2019, which I ran back in July. As a result, I may have mentioned a couple of these books several times before on my previous lists, so I have kept the descriptions below a little brief. That being said, I managed to include a few books that haven’t made any of the previous lists for several reasons, and I think that this Top 20 list contains a pretty good range of novels that really showcases the different types of books I chose to read this year. I decided to leave off my usual Honourable Mentions section, as the extra 10 entries kind of make it unnecessary. Here is the list, with my ratings for each book included:

Top Ten List (no particular order):

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson – Five Stars

Rage by Jonathan Maberry – Five Stars

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker – Five Stars

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly – Five Stars

The Bone Ships by R. J. Barker – Five Stars

Spaceside by Michael Mammay – Five Stars

Supernova by Marissa Meyer – Five Stars

Commodus by Simon Turney – Five Stars

Red Metal by Mark Greaney and Hunter Ripley Rawlings – Five Stars

War of the Bastards by Andrew Shvarts – Five Stars

Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson – Five Stars

Dark Forge by Miles Cameron – Currently Unrated

The first entry on this list I haven’t had the chance to write a review for yet. Dark Forge is the sequel to 2018’s Cold Iron, which I quite enjoyed earlier in the year, and this second book is a gripping and exciting read. I am probably going to give this book a full five stars in the future; it’s a fantastic novel to check out.

Tiamat’s Wrath by James S. A. Corey – Five Stars

Recursion by Blake Crouch – Currently Unrated

Another really good book that I need to hurry up and write a review for. Recursion is a clever and compelling read that I really enjoyed, and I am planning to rate it five out of five stars.

The Unbound Empire by Melissa Caruso – Five Stars

Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio – Five Stars

Usagi Yojimbo – Vol 33: The Hidden by Stan Sakai – Five Stars

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie – Currently Unrated

Another currently unrated novel that I will probably end up giving five stars to. A Little Hatred is actually the book I am currently listening to, so I have not had a chance to write anything about it yet. That being said, I am over two-thirds of the way through it at the moment and it is clearly an outstanding novel which also does a fantastic job of continuing Abercrombie’s entertaining The First Law series.

Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn – 4.5 Stars

I had to include at least one Star Wars book on this list, and Treason is easily my favourite Star Wars book of 2019. I cannot wait for Zahn’s next book, Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising, which should be pretty epic.

God of Broken Things by Cameron Johnston – 4.75 Stars

Well that’s my 20 most-favourite books of 2019. It turned out to be quite a good list in the end, and I am very glad that I was able to highlight so many fantastic books. 2020 is also set to be another excellent year for amazing reads, and I will be examining some of my most anticipated books for the first half of the year next week. In the meantime, let me know what your favourite books of 2019 are in the comments below, and make sure you all have a happy New Years.

Guest Review: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

On December 31, 2019April 6, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Drama, Five-Star Books, Guest Review2 Comments

In her latest guest review, the Unseen Library’s editor, Alex, checks out one of the biggest releases of the year, and also sets herself up to do some more reviews for the blog in the future.

Publisher: Chatto & Windus (Hardcover – 10 September 2019)

Series: The Handmaid’s Tale – Book 2

Length: 419 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Unlike the Unseen Librarian himself, who seems to have no problem zipping through several books a week, I tend to buy books faster than I read them. I was very pleased, and not at all surprised, to find there’s a phrase for this in Japanese: tsundoku, meaning one who acquires books with every intention of reading them, but who never gets around to it. Well, it’s high time that I try to kick this habit and delve into my shelf of unread books, beginning with The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.

We received a copy of The Testaments way back in September 2019, before the honeymoon hiatus, but unfortunately the large, heavy hardback wouldn’t have fared well in my suitcase, so although I was keen to read it I was forced to leave it behind. Unfortunately several other distractions (including Eoin Colfer’s The Fowl Twins) meant it wasn’t until the post-Christmas calm that I took the time to finish it off, but I am so glad that I did, because this is a first-rate book that didn’t deserve to wait so long for my attention.

The Handmaid’s Tale reported the experiences of Offred, a Handmaid to a powerful Commander in the post-revolutionary United States, the totalitarian Republic of Gilead. The Testaments picks up the story several years later, and features accounts of three women and their own struggles for survival in Gilead. I won’t go into detail about the plot of the book (I’m sure reviewers with better time management skills have beaten me to it), only to say that it was incredibly engaging and suspenseful. Those who enjoyed The Handmaid’s Tale will love to see how the world has changed over the years.

I was absolutely thrilled by all of the world-building in The Testaments. The new regime of Gilead is fascinating, but in The Handmaid’s Tale details are limited to what Offred chooses to share in her narrative, which itself is limited by what Offred knows, given the sheltered and isolated life she is forced to live as a Handmaid. The Testaments, on the other hand, with its multiple narrators, presents a far broader view of life in Gilead. The first narrator is an Aunt, one of the powerful matrons who train the Handmaids and teach the children. In fact, she is none other than Aunt Lydia, the indomitable battleaxe responsible for the indoctrination of Offred who features so prominently in the original book. The second narrator is Agnes Jemima, the daughter of a powerful Commander. Her story is recorded after her liberation from Gilead and provides a fascinating insight into the experiences of a child growing up in the regime. The third narrator is Daisy, a child growing up in Canada. From her we get an outside view of Gilead—how the terrible society is viewed by its near neighbours and how the Mayday resistance seeks to help its people. The three tales are each engaging in their own right, but as they become more and more intertwined the story only gets better.

There are elements of the story that tie into the television adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, but literary purists who have not watched the show will enjoy The Testaments just the same. Since it is a sequel, however, I would say that it will be best enjoyed by those who have read The Handmaid’s Tale or seen at least the first season of the show. The Testaments is a book that was 35 years in the making, but it was well worth the wait.

Traitors of Rome by Simon Scarrow

On December 30, 2019August 20, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction15 Comments

Traitors of Rome Cover

Publisher: Headline (Trade Paperback – 12 November 2019)

Series: Eagles of the Empire – Book 18

Length: 447 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon Book Depository

From one of my favourite historical fiction authors, Simon Scarrow, comes the 18^th book in his long-running Eagles of the Empire series, Traitors of Rome, which once again sends his protagonists, Cato and Marco, into another dangerous scenario against Rome’s enemies. This is another of Scarrow’s books I have really been looking forward to, especially after enjoying the previous entry in the series, The Blood of Rome.

In AD 56, Rome and its great eastern rival, Parthia, are on the brink of war. Both the Roman Emperor Nero and Parthia’s king, Vologases, are in need of a great victory to fully secure their rule, and Rome’s territory has already begun to experience raids from a Parthian noble. Into this chaos Tribune Cato and Centurion Marco have been sent. Leading a cohort of Praetorian Guards, Cato and Marco have been assigned to serve under General Corbulo, who has gathered a force of over 20,000 Roman soldiers to fight against the Parthians. Unfortunately, most of the men under his command are badly trained and ill-prepared for battle, and Corbulo is desperate for more time to get them into shape.

To that end, he orders Cato to lead an embassy into Parthia to negotiate a peace treaty with Vologase. This embassy’s purpose is to delay the Parthian offensive long enough for Corbulo to finalise his preparations. Leading a small group of soldiers and accompanied by one of the general’s agents, Cato makes his way into Parthia, beset by raiders and pirates, with an uncertain reception from Vologase and his nobles awaiting him.

At the same time, the small kingdom of Thapsis on the border near Parthia has risen in revolt against Roman rule. Determined to swiftly end the revolt Corbulo leads a force to retake the kingdom with Marco at his side. However, what was initially believed to be an easy victory quickly turns into an arduous campaign as the Romans encounter heavy resistance. Worse, the harsh conditions and the even harsher discipline of Corbulo soon begin to wear on the soldier’s morale and loyalty. As Cato and Marco attempt to succeed in their missions, both officers are beset by unexpected setbacks and suspicious activities. It soon becomes apparent that a Parthian spy has infiltrated the Romans and is sabotaging their efforts and stoking a mutiny amongst the Roman ranks. Can Cato and Marco catch them before it is too late, or will this be their final mission?

This latest book from Scarrow is a fantastic and enjoyable read which features a cool new story with some unique and intriguing elements to it. I really like where Scarrow took the plot in Traitors of Rome, as he utilises two separate but equally enjoyable storylines by splitting up the two protagonists and sending them on separate missions. Both of the storylines are fairly different from each other, with Marco’s storyline being the more classic Roman military operation, while Cato’s storyline features a clandestine operation behind enemy lines with major political and espionage ramifications to it. This makes for a more complex narrative, but I found that the two different storylines worked very well together, and I really enjoyed seeing both of these plots progress. Scarrow does a good job of splitting the book between these two thrilling adventures and both of these storylines are a lot of fun.

I like some of the different elements that Scarrow featured in this fantastic, action-packed story. For example, the Cato plot had a really good team-up between Cato and the mysterious “clerk” Apollonius of Perga, a shrewd and ruthless agent of the general who lives to be mysterious and who Cato does not know if he can trust. Their relationship eventually evolves into grudging mutual respect, especially after they are forced to escape from Parthia in a great part of the book which sees them pursued by the army and other opportunists across the land. The Marco plot is also really intriguing, as it focuses on the difficult campaign to conquer Thapsis and the resultant hardships faced by the Romans when their supply lines are broken. This devolves into a messy situation where the men are fast losing their morale and General Corbulo’s harsh and unjust punishments to maintain military order and discipline start to push them in the direction of a mutiny. How this whole situation breaks down over the course of the campaign is rather fascinating, and of course Marco is caught in the middle of it. These two separate storylines come together in a great way towards the end of the book, and it looks like the series will be going in a new direction for the next book.

As always, Scarrow is a master of writing excellent historical action sequences, and after 18 books his depictions of Roman military combat have gotten pretty darn good. There are a few large-scale battle scenes throughout this book which show off Roman close-combat fighting, and the reader gets to see several other Roman battle strategies put into play. There are also several smaller-scale fights, especially in the Cato storyline, where Cato and his men face off against a more disparate array of opponents, from Parthian patrols to pirates. All of these action sequences are really well written and provide the reader with all their required excitement and thrills.

Overall, Traitors of Rome was another fantastic addition to Scarrow’s outstanding Eagles of the Empire series. Scarrow has produced another intense and exciting adventure story which goes in some cool new directions and once again puts his likeable protagonists in the middle of some major conflicts with their lives on the line. This is still one of my favourite historical fiction series of all time and is probably the best long-running Roman military sagas out there. It does feel like this series is starting to wrap up, especially as Marco gets married in this book and starts talking about retirement; however, this might be some sort of prelude to a great tragedy that keeps him in the army. Still, I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series, and I cannot wait to see where the story goes next.

Amazon Book Depository

Canberra Weekly Column – Suggested Holiday Reads

On December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn Canberra Weekly ColumnLeave a comment

Canberra Weekly Column - 19 December 2019 - Holiday Reads-Adjusted.jpg

Originally published in the Canberra Weekly on 19 December 2019 and done in conjunction with Jeff from Murder, Mayhem and Long Dogs.

The reviews of Traitors of Rome (make sure to check out the extended review here) and The Light at the Bottom of the World were done by me, while Jeff reviewed The Last Resort, Would Like to Meet and The Siberian Dilemma.

The Bone Ships by R. J. Barker

On December 27, 2019February 22, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books24 Comments

Publisher: Hachette Audio (Audiobook – 24 September 2019)

Series: The Tide Child – Book One

Length: 17 hours and 2 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon Book Depository

From one of the brightest new stars in fantasy fiction, R. J. Barker, comes The Bone Ships, a remarkable and extremely captivating new adventure that can be described as Gaunt’s Ghosts meets Moby Dick in an incredibly inventive new fantasy world.

Barker has been making some serious waves in the fantasy genre over the last couple of years, ever since bursting onto the scene in 2017 with his debut novel, Age of Assassins, which started The Wounded Kingdom trilogy. He quickly followed this up in 2018, when he released the second and third books in this trilogy, Blood of Assassins and King of Assassins. I absolutely loved all three books in this trilogy, although I haven’t yet reviewed King of Assassins. Spoiler: it does get five out of five stars from me and recently made my Top Ten pre-2019 Books list.

As a result, I was very excited earlier in the year when I found out that Barker was writing a whole new series. The Bone Ships is the first book in The Tide Child series, and it has been pretty high up on my to-read list for a while, as I have featured it on both my Top Ten Most Anticipated July-December 2019 Releases and my Top Ten Books I Would Like to Read by the End of 2019 lists. I ended up listening to the audiobook version of The Bone Ships, narrated by Jude Owusu, and what I found was an excellent and inventive fantasy read that might just be one of my favourite books of 2019.

For generations the rival nations of the Hundred Isles and the Gaunt Islands have been fighting each other for dominance of the vast oceans that make up their world. In order to fight this bitter conflict, great ships of war were constructed using the bones of the giant sea dragons, the arakeesian, as only these boneships could withstand the rigours of battle and all the horrors the seas contain. However, years of warfare and shipbuilding has taken a terrible toll, as the arakeesian are now all extinct, and both sides’ supplies of dragon bone are nearing their end.

Of all the remaining boneships in the Hundred Isles fleet, none are considered lower than a black ship. Black ships are ships of the dead, where every crewmember aboard has been condemned to die in shame, unless they can redeem themselves through some great act of bravery. However, the crew of the black ship Tide Child have no intention of performing any acts of bravery, and they and their shipwife, Joron Twiner, are content to drink themselves into oblivion—that is, until the arrival of “Lucky” Meas Gillbryn.

Meas is one of the most respected and feared commanders in all the Hundred Isles, but she has recently been disgraced and banished to Tide Child. Quickly taking control of the ship from Joron, Meas works to turn Tide Child and its crew around and make it into an efficient and proud crew of sailors, because they have a dangerous mission to undertake. The first sea dragon in a generation has been spotted, and whichever side hunts it down and claims its bones will gain a distinct advantage in the war. However, Meas has a different plan in mind, and sets out to protect the dragon from all who want it. Facing off against rival ships, raiders, pirates and treachery from within, can the crew of Tide Child survive to become the stuff of legend, or will their death sentence finally be carried out?

Well damn! Now that was a pretty awesome read! This latest offering from Barker was a superb and elaborate tale of redemption, adversity, camaraderie and adventure on the high seas. Not only is it based on an inventive premise and an elaborate new fantasy world but it contains a first-rate and compelling story that I absolutely loved. This is an absolutely fantastic story which is paced out extremely well and, after the necessary introductions, quickly turns into an addictive yarn with a number of clever elements to it. The end result is a powerful and enjoyable tale which is a wonderful self-contained story but which also sets up some intriguing storylines for any future instalments of this new series.

At the heart of The Bone Ships is an excellent story of camaraderie, respect and selfish people coming together to be part of something bigger. The main setting for the book, the boneship Tide Child, is completely crewed by condemned men and women, most of whom have given up on any form of redemption and are more concerned with petty crime and getting drunk. However, when Meas enters the picture, she quickly turns them into an efficient crew and reignites their pride as sailors and soldiers for their nation. This evolves into a really good redemption arc, as the entire crew really starts to come together as a close-knit team and are eventually given a task which could make them all heroes. The vast majority of the crew subsequently rise to the challenge, so much so that their usually hard-as-nails and determined shipwife is at one point willing to sacrifice everything to save them. This is a pretty fun and amazing part of the story, and it helps that Barker spends time introducing a number of key members of the crew and building them up as likeable characters. There are quite a few fantastic and enjoyable characters scattered throughout the story, and their inclusion really helps the reader grow to care about the people on the ship.

The best character relationship in the book can be seen between the two main characters, Joron Twiner and Meas. Joron is book’s point-of-view character and starts the story off as a drunken, apathetic wreck. Upon losing the position of shipwife to Meas, he expects to be placed at the bottom of the ship’s pecking order, but Meas keeps him on as her deckkeeper (first mate), despite her evident low opinion of him. Throughout the course of the book, these two characters grow closer and eventually become something closer to friends, while at the same time they both show considerable growth as characters. Meas spends a lot of time mentoring Joron, and he slowly moves on from his personal despair to become a respected and capable officer on the ship. Moreover, Joron slowly begins to lose the resentment he holds for Meas for taking his position as shipwife, and starts to really respect her, and see why she is a better commander of the ship. At the same time, Joron also starts to better understand what drives Meas, and why she is so determined to succeed in her mission. The two make for a wonderful partnership, and I think that Barker did a particularly fantastic job with the character of Meas, and I loved his portrayal of her as a rough, tough captain with a secret heart of gold.

While all the character elements I mention above are pretty spectacular, to my mind, one of the most striking and enjoyable things about The Bone Ships is the excellent nautical elements that the author was able to work into the story. I have to say that I was very impressed that Barker, whose previous series was set entirely on land, was able to come up with a detailed and exciting story set mostly aboard a ship, especially as he was utilising these elements for the first time in this book. The author installs a huge amount of nautical detail into his story, and the depictions of life and work aboard a ship of war was pretty amazing, so much so that at times, the reader feels like they are actually aboard this ship. I felt that Barker did an amazing job of combining these cool nautical details with the new fantasy elements he introduced in this book to produce a truly unique adventure on the high seas. I also loved all the shipboard action and combat that occurred throughout the course of the book. There were some really elaborate battles set throughout the story, from an attack on the Tide Child from a flotilla of smaller boats, to a wide-ranging battle between opposing groups of larger ships. The utilisation of unique tactics and fantasy elements, such as powerful crossbows, wind magic and the fact that they are fighting above a giant sea dragon, make for some truly thrilling and exciting battle sequences, which were an absolute treat to read. I am so glad that Barker decided to set this story on the open seas, as it made for truly amazing novel.

One of the other things that I liked about The Bone Ships was the excellent new dark fantasy world that Barker created for this new series. Barker has a real talent for this, as seen in The Wounded Kingdom trilogy, and he did it again for this latest book, where the reader is given a fascinating glimpse into a large, ocean dominated world, with all manner of unique fantasy elements in it. This new world is a harsh and deadly place, filled with a huge number of deadly sea beasts that can kill a man in a number of gruesome ways. Into this, Barker also introduces a fun new ship-based culture, complete with a matriarchal society, an intriguing religion and enslaved wind-controlling bird-people. In addition, the two nations that are showcased in this first book are locked in a massive, generations-old conflict, which has completely consumed their societies. I felt that the author did a good job of introducing all the elements of his new world to the reader in a timely and complete manner, and there was never any deficit of knowledge that reduces the reader’s enjoyment of the book. There are so many tiny details that Barker installs in this world, such as the use of paint for good luck, the rarity of metals (island nations, not much room for mines) and the gender bending of ship names and titles (ships are thought of as male, while the captain is called shipwife, no matter their actual gender). All of this, as well as the cool new fantasy elements that Barker comes up with for the story, such as the giant sea-dragons whose bones are used for shipbuilding (what a concept!), make for an exceedingly fascinating background for this fun story.

As I mentioned above, I chose to listen to the audiobook version The Bone Ships, narrated by the talented Jude Owusu. It ran for just over 17 hours in length, which I was able to power through extremely quickly, especially once the story really got going. I have to say that I was really glad that I decided to utilise the audiobook format, as I felt that it helped me visualise all the cool action and excitement that was occurring aboard Tide Child. In addition, I always find that the audiobook format helps me appreciate all the details of a story’s universe, and this was definitely true for The Bone Ships, as I was really able to dive in and fully experience the great new fantasy world in all its glory.

I also have to say how impressed I was with Jude Owusu’s excellent narration of this audiobook. Owusu has a fantastic voice, which I felt really fit into the nautical theme of the entire book. He also comes up with some very distinctive and fitting voices for the various characters that feature within the book, which I felt helped bring out many of these characters personalities. I was particularly impressed with the harsh and commanding voice that he utilised for Meas, and the various sequences where she was barking out orders and threats aboard the ship were a real treat to listen to, as it perfectly encapsulated the shipwife. Other standout characters that Owusu brought to life include Mevans, who the narrator gifted with an exceedingly cheerful voice which fit his personality perfectly, and the mysterious Gullaime, whose narration contained a certain birdy quality to. I also have to commend the real and obvious enthusiasm that Owusu brought to the role. I have always found that enthusiastic narrators can make an audiobook truly come to life, and Owusu was a really good example of this. Not only did his voice contain some noticeable excitement when he narrated the various action sequences throughout the book, but he really got into voicing elements of the story, such as the various shanty-like rhymes that Barker installed throughout the story, or the various nautical response of the crew. The way that he shouted out “Ey” (the sailor’s way of saying yes) multiple times throughout the book was a lot of fun, and I could feel the infectious enthusiasm of the crew while he did this. The sheer passion and vocal skill that Owusu puts into this audiobook is just fantastic, and I cannot recommend this format enough, as it was an amazing way to enjoy this epic book.

The Bone Ships by R. J. Barker is an absolutely outstanding read that I cannot recommend enough. Barker is quickly becoming one of the most impressive new fantasy authors out there, and he honestly gets better with every book he writes. The Bone Ships had so many cool elements to it, and any readers who check it out will be quickly hooked by its captivating story and bold adventure. I cannot wait to see where Barker will take this story next, and I would strongly encourage any reader looking for their next amazing fantasy tale, to check out this great new book. Also, how awesome is the cover for this book!!

Amazon Book Depository

WWW Wednesday – 25 December 2019

On December 25, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday2 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

Magnus and the Crossroads Brotherhood by Robert Fabbri (Hardcover)

Magnus and the Crossroads Brotherhood Cover.jpg

I only just started reading this book a little while ago and have not made too much progress with it yet. Magnus and the Crossroads Brotherhood is a collection of short stories which follow one of the supporting characters in Fabbri’s Vespasian series, the titular Magnus, as he navigates the dangerous criminal underbelly of ancient Rome. As Fabbri is one of my favourite authors, I was very excited to get a copy of this, and it should hold me over until Fabbri’s next book, To the Strongest, comes out in a few months.

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie (Audiobook)

A Little Hatred Cover

I am still going with A Little Hatred and I will hopefully get it finished by this time next week. It is a really good book though, and I am really enjoying listening to it.

Nuking the Moon by Vince Houghton (Trade Paperback)

Nuking the Moon Cover

I have not actually made any progress with this book since last week, but I am planning to try and read a bit more of it and will hopefully finish it off soon.

What did you recently finish reading?

Legacy of Ash by Matthew Ward (Trade Paperback)

Legacy of Ash Cover
I made an effort to read a lot of Legacy of Ash this week, and managed to finish it off. It was a pretty good book in the end, and I will get a review of it up soon.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Sword of Kings by Bernard Cornwell (Trade Paperback)

That’s it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.

Waiting on Wednesday – Eagle Station by Dale Brown

On December 25, 2019December 25, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday4 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday I check out the latest book in one of my favourite military thriller series, Eagle Station by Dale Brown.

Eagle Station Cover

For the last 30 years, Dale Brown has been one of the leading authors in the military thriller genre, writing some deeply entertaining and extremely exciting novels packed full of intense action and advanced military technology. His main body of work has been the Patrick McLanahan series, which revolved around the titular character of Patrick McLanahan defending America from high-tech attacks from the country’s various enemies, including Russia, China and several countries in the Middle East. In recent years, the series has switched its focus to Patrick McLanahan’s son, Brad McLanahan, who continues the same fight as his father (who, after being blown up, is essentially a cyborg) on whole new battlefields. Eagle Station will be the 24^th book in the Patrick McLanahan series, and the seventh book in the Brad McLanahan series.

I only started getting into this series in the last couple of years, when I picked up a copy of 2018’s The Moscow Offensive. After really enjoying The Moscow Offensive’s plot about advanced Russian combat suits invading America, I went on to listen to the audiobook version of the next book in the series, The Kremlin Strike, earlier this year, and was once again really impressed by the fun and exciting story it contained. This is now a bit of a must-read series for me, as I am planning to grab every new Patrick/Brad McLanahan book that comes out in order to see what amazing adventures Brown writes next.

As a result, I was really excited when I saw that the latest book in the series, Eagle Station, is coming out in May 2020. Eagle Station will continue the storylines from the previous couple of books and will once again pit the protagonists against America’s opponents in the space race. The plot synopsis for this upcoming book sounds really cool, and I think that Eagle Station is going to be a truly amazing read.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Because its enemies never stop trying to undermine the United States’ security, the men and women who serve to protect America must always be vigilant. Few know this better than warriors Brad McLanahan and Nadia Rozek. Newly married, the two are just beginning to settle into their new life together when they are called back into action.

Though the Russians were badly defeated by Brad and the Iron Wolf Squadron in their previous bid for world dominance, they are back and doubling down on their quest for control of outer space. In addition to their cutting-edge weaponry, they have a formidable new ally: China’s energetic and ruthless leader, President Li Jun.

To protect America and the rest of the free world from the Russians and the Chinese, the Americans plan to mine the moon’s helium-3 resources, which will allow them to fully exploit the revolutionary fusion power technology Brad and his team captured from the Russians aboard the Mars One weapons platform.

But Leonov and Li have devised a daring plan of their own. They are building a joint secret base on the moon’s far side fortified with a powerful Russian plasma rail gun that can destroy any spacecraft entering lunar orbit. If the heavily armed base becomes operational, it will give America’s enemies control over the world’s economic and military future.

As this latest skirmish in the war for space accelerates, Brad, Nadia, and their compatriots in the Space Force must use their cunning and skill—and America’s own high-tech weaponry—to derail the Sino-Russian alliance and destroy their lunar site before it’s too late for the U.S. . . . and the entire world.

There are a lot of awesome plot elements contained within the above synopsis and I really like that Brown is continuing to focus on the space-based storyline from the last book. The examination of what a war for the control of Earth’s orbit could look like was one of the most interesting parts of The Kremlin Strike, and Brown crafted together an outstanding story about orbital weapons stations, advanced spaceships and powerful potential weapons. It looks like he is upping the ante in Eagle Station, as not only will the protagonists be facing off against both Russia and China this time, but their opponents have also constructed a secret moon base. I am really looking forward to seeing the eventual battle to take control of that base, especially as Brown did an excellent job coming up with some zero-gravity space combat sequences in the last book, which are sure to be replicated in this upcoming book. The idea of an alliance between China and Russia should also be a fascinating part of this book, especially as the author likes to mirror modern geopolitics into his stories.

Overall, I think that Eagle Station is going to be another incredibly fun and enjoyable book, and I am confident that Brown will craft another compelling and exciting story. I will probably end up grabbing the audiobook version of Eagle Station when it comes out, as I enjoyed listening to The Kremlin Strike’s audiobook earlier this year. However, I am sure that no matter which format I grab, this should prove to be one of the highlights of my May reading list and I am really looking forward to it.

Top Ten Tuesday – Pre-2019 Books

On December 24, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn List9 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For the last couple of weeks I have been using these Top Ten Lists to highlight some of my favourite books of 2019. So far, I have already examined my favourite debut novels of 2019, my favourite audiobooks of 2019 and my favourite new-to-me authors. For this week, I am going to look at books I read for the first time this year that were released before 2019.

This year I have ended up reading quite a few books and comics that were published at some point prior to 2019. I have checked these various books out for a number of reasons, such as the book had an awesome plot synopsis, it was part of a series or an expanded universe that I had been exploring, or because I wanted to see an author’s earlier works. Most of these older releases are really good, and in some cases they are amongst my favourite books I read all year. I have also featured quite a few of these books as part of my Throwback Thursday series, and pretty much all of them receive a full five out of five stars from me. As a result, I wanted to highlight which books amongst these series are my absolute favourites and decided to feature them in their own Top Ten list.

For this list, any book with a pre-2019 release date is eligible for inclusion, and I was able to come up with my 10 absolute favourites, as well as a generous honourable mentions section. I am pretty happy with the below collection of pre-2019 releases, although it is hard to ignore that quite a few are part of either the Star Wars franchise the excellent Joe Ledger series. This was mainly because those were the books I was in the mood for, and I was really happy to check all of those books out. All of the below books are quite fantastic, and I would highly recommend each of them to anyone looking for an awesome read.

Honourable Mentions:

Cold Iron by Miles Cameron

Cold Iron was one of three books that feature on this list which were released last year and which I featured on my Top Ten Books I Wish I Had Read in 2018 list. This was an outstanding novel that featured an amazing story and an excellent new fantasy world. Unfortunately, I just could not fit Cold Iron in the top ten. Still, Cold Iron comes highly recommended, and I really enjoyed its sequel, Dark Forge.

Star Wars: Tarkin by James Luceno

The first of several Star Wars novels that are featured on this list, 2014’s Tarkin was an enjoyable novel which presented a whole new history for the titular character in the current Star Wars canon.

The King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry

The King of Plagues is the third book in the Joe Ledger series, several entries of which are going to be featured in the list below. The King of Plagues was a really solid entry in this great range of thriller books, and I gave it a full five stars when I reviewed it.

Star Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn

The only book from the old Star Wars Legends range of books in this article, Scoundrels by legendary Star Wars author Timothy Zahn was a fun and exciting novel that featured a heist set in the Star Wars universe. A fantastic read, this one was a lot of fun to check out, and after reading it I am very much tempted to check out more Star War Legends books in the future.

Top Ten List (in no particular order):

Legend by David Gemmell

Legend was a classic from 1984 that I had an incredible time with earlier this year. Featuring perhaps the best siege storyline I have ever had the pleasure of reading; Legend is an outstanding fantasy novel that I had been meaning to check out for some time. I am extremely happy that I had the opportunity to enjoy Legend, and it is one of the top books I read all year.

The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry

While I first started listening to the Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry in 2018 with Deep Silence and Patient Zero, 2019 was the year that I fully invested myself in these excellent thriller novels. The first one of these that I enjoyed this year was the second book in the series, The Dragon Factory, which was just all sorts of amazing. In my opinion, Maberry started to really hit his stride in this second book, as he was able to produce some fascinating antagonists with a complex plan and some astonishing plot twists that really got the story going. This was an outstanding novel, and I am really glad that I decided to continue exploring this series.

The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding

The Ember Blade was another novel that I wish I had checked out in 2018. Featuring a massive and elaborate fantasy storyline with some complex and detailed characters, The Ember Blade was a powerful and impressive read that is very much worth investing the time it takes to get through this substantial book.

Darth Vader (2015) series by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca

I am going to cheat a little here and include all four volumes of the clever and captivating Darth Vader (2015) comic book series, as well as the Vader Down crossover volume, as a single entry. While there were a few comic book series which I read this year that I could have included here, such as the first volume of the Star Wars (2015) series or the ever-entertaining Doctor Aphra comics, in my opinion, the Darth Vader (2015) series was the easily the best and most consistent out of all of them. All five of these volumes get an easy five stars from me, and while I have only reviewed Volume One so far, I will hopefully get reviews up for the others soon. This Darth Vader series contained a deeply compelling storyline that really helps to redefine one of the most iconic film villains of all time while also showing off how dangerous and determined he really is. Not only was this an epic comic, but it also introduced one of the best new Star Wars characters of the decade, Doctor Aphra. These comics are a must-read for fans who want to see how incredible the franchise can truly be.

Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch

I ended up reading this book early in 2019, and I was so annoyed that I did not read it any sooner. Lies Sleeping is one of the best urban fantasy books I have ever read, which has a perfect combination of fantasy and crime fiction elements. A fantastic read that ensured that all of Ben Aaronovtich’s books are very high up on my to-read list from now on.

Assassin’s Code by Jonathan Maberry

The fourth book in the Joe Ledger series, Assassin’s Code, was a fast-paced and action-packed novel that introduced some amazing new characters into this franchise and featured an epic group of modern vampiric antagonists. A thrill ride from start to finish, this was a lot of fun to read and a terrific book to boot.

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan

I had been hearing some incredible things about the Powder Mage series for a long time and decided that this was the year that I would finally check it out by reading the first Powder Mage book, Promise of Blood. I was in no way disappointed, as Promise of Blood more than lived up to the hype, containing a deeply compelling and extremely enjoyable tale of betrayal, revolution and war, while mages whose powers are derived from gunpowder unleash hell across an inventive and embattled new world. This is fantasy writing at it’s very best, and I really need to read more of these books in the future.

Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

This is the second entry in this article from Timothy Zahn, which isn’t too surprising as he has been dominating the Star Wars novel scene for over 20 years at this point. After enjoying the second book in the Thrawn trilogy, Alliances, last year, I decided to go back and check out the first novel in the trilogy, Thrawn, before the third and final book, Treason, came out this year. While I knew I was going to love this book as the titular character of this series, Grand Admiral Thrawn, is one of my favourite Star Wars characters of all time, I was nonetheless surprised at how deeply impressive I found this book. Featuring an incredibly addictive story set around a calculating tactical genius, Thrawn absolutely blew me away, and it is easily the best Star Wars novel I have so far had the pleasure of reading.

King of Assassins by R. J. Barker

I had been meaning to read this book ever since it’s 2018 release, especially as the first two books in The Wounded Kingdom trilogy, Age of Assassins and Blood of Assassins, were pretty spectacular. I ended up listening to this book earlier in the year, and it was an amazing end to the trilogy that provided the reader with a deeply captivating story. I still have to finish off my review for this book, although it gets a full five stars from me, and Barker’s latest book, The Bone Ships, is going to appear on my upcoming Top Ten Favourite Books of 2019 list.

Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry

The final book on this list is Code Zero, the sixth book in the Joe Ledger series, and the latest one that I have been able to read. Code Zero was an extremely clever entry in the series, which featured an exception story, a compelling antagonist and a plot that utilised and paid respect to some of the best parts of the previous Joe Ledger books. This was easily one of the best books in the series, and I am really excited to check out the final three Joe Ledger books that I haven’t yet had a chance to read.

I like how the above list turned out, although I think it really highlights how much time I spent reading Star Wars and Joe Ledger books this year. I am planning to keep up with a similar reading pattern of new releases and awesome older books in 2020. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish off the Joe Ledger series next year, and I will definitely try to listen to more of David Gemmell and Brian McClellan’s books in the future. I also see myself listening to bunch of other Star Wars novels in 2020, because there are some amazing gems there. In the meantime, which pre-2019 books did you enjoy this year? Let me know in the comments below. Make sure to check in next week as I list my favourite 2019 releases in the final Top Ten Tuesday for the year.

Guest Review: The Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer

On December 20, 2019April 6, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Guest Review, Young Adult6 Comments

For this entry, my lovely and talented editor Alex steps out of the shadows once again (after previously reviewing Pan’s Labyrinth) and provides us with a guest review of a book she recently picked up.

Publisher: Harper Collins (Trade Paperback – 5 November 2019)

Series: The Fowl Twins – Book One

Length: 432 pages

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

The Unseen Library occasionally raises the topic of auto-buy authors, and Eoin Colfer is one of mine. I’m already hyped for Highfire, so you can imagine my excitement when I happened upon a display of The Fowl Twins in a department store the other day. I didn’t even break my stride or pause to read the back cover; as soon as I saw the words “Colfer” and “Fowl” I picked up a copy and had started reading it before I reached the checkout queue. The eight Artemis Fowl books followed the eponymous juvenile criminal mastermind and his many run-ins with the People, the secret civilisation of magical beings living deep underground. The series ran from 2001 to 2012 and was one of my favourites growing up, so I was absolutely thrilled to discover that Colfer is now continuing the saga.

The Fowl Twins picks up the story several years after Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian, the final book in the original series. Artemis himself gets a rest; this story follows his younger brothers, Myles and Beckett. Myles is undoubtedly cut from the same cloth as Artemis and their father, with a talent for the sciences, an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a penchant for fashionable suits and cutting insults. Beckett is more interested in active pursuits and making friends with wildlife, but he shares the same cunning and passionate loyalty that Fowls are famous for. The twins were only toddlers in Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian and have no memory of the People, and it appears that their lives have been relatively quiet since those events. But in the Fowl world quiet never lasts for long, and when a rare troll surfaces on the family estate the twins suddenly find themselves in the midst of a cat-and-mouse game with an LEP specialist, an immortal duke and a knife-wielding nun.

Given that this is the ninth book set in the Fowl universe, the story is built upon a great deal of already-established Fairy lore and, indeed, laws. However, it does not wholly rely on readers having a certain level of assumed knowledge; Colfer ensures that no reader gets left behind. The appropriate backstory and important details are provided where necessary in his usual elegant style so that new readers are informed and old fans aren’t bored by the rehashing of exposition. As an old fan myself, albeit one with an appalling memory, I really appreciated the unobtrusive reminders of previous events in the Fowl canon.

There is of course a lot for fans of the original series to enjoy, including some excellent cameos. I found that many elements of the story mirrored the original Artemis Fowl. Myles and Beckett are around the same age Artemis was in his first Fairy adventure, and it was amazing to see how their different upbringings shaped them. When we first meet Artemis, he is in a desperate pursuit to rescue his father from a Russian mafia and his mother from her rapidly deepening delirium. Myles and Beckett, on the other hand, have enjoyed an upbringing with an intact, stable family and without the inherent danger that comes with being part of an active criminal empire. They are, as a result, far more well adjusted 11-year-olds, and it was so enjoyable to see the bond the boys all share.

Also like Artemis Fowl, The Fowl Twins features at its core a plot to kidnap a Fairy creature for personal gain, but this time the Fowls are innocent. Instead, the baddie is the whimsically named Lord Teddy Bleedham-Drye, who I can’t help but imagine as a scoundrel in the style of Terry-Thomas, whose ruthless quest for immortality leads him to the Fowl estate to tackle a troll. No Fowl story would be complete without the involvement of the LEP, and Specialist Lazuli Heitz finds herself in an uncomfortably similar position to Captain Holly Short, in that her supposedly straightforward surface mission goes immediately haywire as soon as the Fowls get involved. Lazuli is an excellent addition to the main cast of characters, and her talent for quick-thinking and creative problem-solving perfectly complement those of the boys she finds herself teamed up with.

The Fowl Twins is an excellent blend of suspense and action, and Eoin Colfer’s impeccably charming style of omniscient narration means there’s never a dull moment. The story is also incredibly fast-paced, with 400-odd pages covering only a couple of days, and so compelling that I finished reading it in no time. This book is fun for all ages and would make an excellent Christmas gift for a young new reader, a 20-something who loved the original series, or really anyone who enjoys a suspenseful story with a magical element. I can’t wait to see more adventures of Myles, Beckett and Lazuli.

Amazon

Throwback Thursday – Star Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn

On December 20, 2019May 2, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel23 Comments

Publisher: Random House Audio (Audiobook – 1 January 2013)

Series: Star Wars Legends

Length: 13 hours and 57 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

If you like the sound of a widely entertaining read that combines a clever heist-themed storyline with iconic Star Wars elements, then you need to check out Star Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn.

Scoundrels is set shortly after the events of A New Hope and follows Han and Chewie after they have temporarily left their friends in the Rebel Alliance to return to their old jobs as smugglers. The two are desperate to make some money in order to repay Han’s debt to Jabba the Hutt and have travelled to the planet of Wukkar to meet a contact. Instead of their contact, Han and Chewie are approached by a local businessman who wishes to recruit the pair to help him break into a local crime lord’s supposedly impenetrable vault to recover a vast fortune in stolen credits.

Lured in by the promise of a rich reward, Han sets about recruiting a team of highly skilled thieves, con artists and specialists, including their old friend Lando Calrissian, to help them pull off the heist. However, as they start to put together a master plan to enter the vault, they make a startling discovery: their target is a high-ranking member of the notorious Black Sun crime syndicate, who is currently hosting one of the organisation’s most powerful leaders. More importantly, in addition to the stolen credits, the vault now contains a collection of Black Sun’s blackmail files, which are a vital and closely guarded part of their operation.

Still determined to pull off the job, Han and his team need to work out a way to break into the unbreakable vault without painting a massive target on their backs. However, they are not the only group interested in the blackmail files, as an ambitious Imperial Intelligence agent is determined to capture them. Caught between two of the most powerful organisations in the entire galaxy, these scoundrels will need every trick up their sleeve to survive and raid the vaults. But when the stakes are this high, can any of them really be trusted?

Scoundrels is a fast-paced and well-written novel that does an outstanding job setting a compelling and entertaining heist story inside the Star Wars universe. This book was written by legendary Star Wars author Timothy Zahn, who I have mentioned several times before on my blog, especially for his recent Thrawn trilogy (Thrawn, Alliances and Treason). Scoundrels is a standalone novel that was released in 2013 and was the last Star Wars novel Zahn wrote before the Disney buyout of Lucasfilm. As a result, Scoundrels technically never happened in the current canon of the franchise and is instead part of the Star Wars Legends range.

At the heart of this novel is a complex and amazing heist storyline that sees the protagonists attempt to steal a vast fortune from a high-security vault. Scoundrels, or Solo’s Eleven, as I started to think of it, features a pretty classic heist set-up, with an impossible job offered and accepted, Solo building up a team of skilled criminals to help him pull off the job, recon, various complications, and then the attempt to break into the vault. I did find in some ways this part of the story was a bit typical and derivative of other examples of the heist genre, although I think a lot of the reason why I was having these thoughts is because I saw Rick and Morty’s excellent take-down of heist movies, One Crew over the Crewcoo’s Morty, immediately before I started reading this book (literally all I could think whenever a new crew member was recruited was “You son of a bitch, I’m in”).

However, this was still an incredibly entertaining novel and Zahn did create a storyline that was unique in a number of ways. In particular, Zahn makes excellent use of the technology (a combination of pre-introduced technology and stuff that Zahn made up himself) and the political turmoil in the Star Wars Legends universe to create a truly captivating piece of crime fiction. The story is loaded with all manner of twists, turns and doublecrosses, and I really enjoyed a number of the big reveals that were featured throughout the book (the character reveal at the very end of the book was pretty cool, for example). The entire plan for breaking into the vault and stealing its contents was also extremely clever and memorable, containing an excellent combination of subtly, manipulation, improvisation and number of massive explosive distractions. Also, the way they actually got out of the heavily armed compound was very cool, and definitely one of the best heist moves I’ve ever seen. All of this results in a first-rate heist thriller storyline which I deeply enjoyed and which has actually put me in the mood for more heist-centric books.

Another great part of Scoundrels is the fantastic group of characters that the story focuses on. Not only does the book showcase the classic partnership of Han and Chewie but we also get to see more of the suavest man in the galaxy, Lando Calrissian. Han is a great leader for the team, able to come up with a cool plan and improvise when they are faced with chaos, while Lando shines as the charismatic front man of the operation, able to charm or swindle everyone he comes in contact with. Quite a bit of time is spent exploring the turbulent relationship between Han and Lando at this point of their friendship, as several prior operations (some of which were featured in other novels and comics in the Star Wars Legends range) have fallen through, resulting in some bad blood between them. While both claim that they have forgiven the other for the sake of this operation, they both have a lot of doubts and are worried that the other is going to screw them over. This adds a whole bunch of extra drama to the story and ends in a rather entertaining and typical manner.

In addition to Han, Chewie and Lando, the rest of the heist crew is made up of some strong and distinctive characters who are a lot of fun. All of these characters bring a lot of team, and at no point did any of them feel unnecessary to the plot. Zahn also goes out of his way to establish each of these characters separate backstories and motivations, which adds a large amount of substance to their inclusion. As these different motivations mean that there is also a constant potential for betrayal and sabotage, which is another layer to the heist aspect of the book. There is also a great look at the Black Sun underboss and his main security chief as they attempt to understand the threat coming their way, while also trying to stay on the right side of the powerful Black Sun overlord, who is staying at the manor and playing mind games with them. There is a growing sense of desperation and irrationality from the two of them as the various manipulations push them closer to the edge, so much so that a deal with Darth Vader actually seems like a tempting offer. I also loved the inclusion of the Imperial Intelligence agent who attempts to utilise the planned heist for his own ends. His ambitious attempts to undermine Black Sun are interesting, and he brings a whole new edge to the overall story. All of these amazing characters add so many different things to the books plot and it was a lot of fun to see how their various character arcs progressed.

As I mentioned above, Scoundrels falls within the now non-canon Star Wars Legends expanded universe. While I have not read a lot of fiction from the Star Wars Legends range recently (with the exception of Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber), I have always been impressed with the wide range of different stories and plot lines that make it up, many of which are being utilised or referenced to in the current canon (the inclusion of Zahn’s character of Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Star Wars Rebels animated show is a prime example of this). However, there are some significant differences between the two canons, and some of these can be seen in Scoundrels.

One of the most noticeable differences between these two canons is the dominance of the Black Sun crime syndicate. While they only have a few minor appearances in the current canon (and they potentially would not have been included at all if they did not show up in a couple of episodes of The Clone Wars animated show, which remained canon after the buy-out), there were a major part of the original canon as one of the premier criminal organisations the protagonists would go up against. A lot of this comes out of the 1996 novel, Shadows of the Empire (which I actually read a long, long time ago), which showed the Black Sun leader, Prince Xizor, having nearly as much power and influence as the Emperor, and as a result, was a major rival for Darth Vader. Much of the book’s plot that involves the members of Black Sun or the Imperial Intelligence agent revolves around this rivalry, as the agent is hoping to damage Black Sun to gain favour with Vader. The protagonists, knowing this, also attempt to use this conflict to their advantage, and it becomes a major part of the book. The examination of the various criminal organisations available during this period is also pretty darn fascinating, and it serves as a wonderful, larger setting behind the main story.

In addition to this focus on the criminal underbelly that was featured in the old canon, Zahn made sure to fill his book with all manner of references to other books and comics in the Star Wars Legends canon, especially those that featured Han, Chewie and Lando. No specific knowledge of these events is needed to understand these references, as Zahn makes sure to explain the necessary parts, which mostly revolve around Han having terrible luck when it comes to prior jobs. Other examples of the history and unique storylines that existed in the old Star Wars canon are also pretty fascinating, but you do not need to be an expert on any of this to enjoy Scoundrels. Indeed, anyone who has seen the original trilogy will be fully able to appreciate the cool story contained within, although, as always, those Star Wars fans with a bit more background knowledge of the franchise will get a bit more enjoyment out of this book.

Like a great many of the Star Wars books I enjoy, I ended up listening to the audiobook format of Scoundrels. Narrated by Marc Thompson, it runs for just under 14 hours, which makes it slightly longer than most Star Wars audiobooks. Scoundrels contains all the fun features of a typical Star Wars audiobook format, with the narration permeated with all manner of iconic Star Wars music and sound effects. I love hearing the amazing Star Wars music as I have the story read to me, and in many places having the music played really enhances the emotion or the significance of a scene. Scoundrels also contains an impressive abundance of various sound effects which are utilised in nearly every scene. Having blaster fire sizzling past your ears in a fire fight or listening to the gentle susurration of the crowd in a big party sequence is just amazing, and it helps bring the story to life as you listen. I was also very impressed with the way that they showed how helmets and comm links could distort a character’s voice, and the use of sound effects for Chewbacca’s communications was a smart choice.

I also have to say how impressed I was with Marc Thompson’s narration of this book. Thompson is one of the premier narrators of the Star Wars audiobook, having lent his vocal talents to a number of novels in both the Star Wars Legends and Disney canons, including for the recently released Resistance Reborn. I have previously listened to Thompson’s narration for the first book in Zahn’s recent Thrawn trilogy, and I loved the work he did on that, especially when it came to the voice he produced for the trilogy’s titular character. He also does an extraordinary job with this format of Scoundrels, producing a huge number of unique and memorable voices for the various characters featured within it. His portrayals of Han and Lando were very accurate, especially Han’s voice, and that really helped me enjoy this novel so much more. Scoundrels was a first-rate audiobook, and I would strongly recommend this format to anyone who wishes to enjoy this book.

Star Wars: Scoundrels was an outstanding read, and I cannot praise the clever combination of a heist storyline with Star Wars elements enough. Zahn really is one of the best authors of Star Wars fiction out there, and I was never in any doubt that I would love this novel. He has a new book coming out in a few months, and I am very much looking forward to it. In the meantime, I will have to check out a few more of his earlier books, and I might also look up some other novels in the Star Wars Legends range.

Amazon