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 this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants get a freebie so I thought I would continue my literary examination of the first half of 2022 by looking at the top books from the first half of the year that I still need to read.

While I have already enjoyed some amazing reads in 2022, there are still quite a few impressive novels that have come out in the first half of the year that I have yet to read.  Many of these were on my most anticipated reads lists for 2022 (both fantasy and other), and while I was really excited for them, I have honestly not had a chance to check all of them out.  Therefore, I am going to use this freebie session to shame myself in the hopes that it gets me into gear to finally get around to checking out these epic reads.  This was a very easy list to pull together for me, as many of these books had been weighing on my mind for a while.  All 10 novels below (plus honourable mentions) sound really, really good, and I hope I get a chance to read all of them soon.

Honourable Mentions:

Queen’s Hope by E. K. Johnston

 

The Bladed Faith by David Dalglish

 

An Empty Throne by Robert Fabbri

 

Road of Bones by Christopher Goldin

Top Ten List:

The Omega Factor by Steve Berry

I am probably going to listen to an audiobook version of The Omega Factor next, so hopefully this will not be on my to-read list for too much longer.

 

The Martyr by Anthony Ryan

Following on from last year’s epic read, The Pariah, I have been extremely keen for this book, and I know I am going to love it.  I got a physical copy of The Martyr a few weeks ago but I have not had a chance to pick it up yet.  I was actually holding out for an audiobook version of The Martyr (I really enjoyed The Pariah audiobook last year), although apparently The Martyr’s audiobook isn’t out till September.  Not sure if I will be able to wait that long to find out what happens in this cool sequel, although it might be worth it to enjoy it in audiobook.  No matter what though, I will be reading The Martyr before the end of the year.

 

The Girl and the Moon by Mark Lawrence

I definitely need to find out how this cool series from the sensational Mark Lawrence ends and this will be a major reading priority for me during the next six months.

 

Star Wars: Midnight Horizon by Daniel Jose Older

I have been trying really hard to keep up with the impressive new High Republic sub-series of Star Wars tie-in novels, and Midnight Horizon ended up being one of the first ones I have missed.  This is a real shame as it is apparently quite a good book, and I am very curious to see what else happened in this universe around the same time as the main novel, The Fallen Star.  I should really carve out a few days to listen to Midnight Horizon before the next batch of High Republic books come out later this year, especially as I know that I am going to have a great time with it.

 

In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan

I was very excited to check out this new novel from highly acclaimed fantasy author Brian McClellan, and I have plans to read this in the next few weeks.  I am already hearing some excellent stuff about this book though and I am sure that if McClellan keeps up his usually impressive writing style, it will be an outstanding read.

 

Kingdoms of Death by Christopher Ruocchio

There is no way that I am going to miss out on the fourth book in the Sun Eater Sequence, especially after having such a good time with Empire of Silence, Howling Dark and Demon in White.  However, the trick is finding the time to read or listen to this big book amongst all the other novels on my reading list.  I reckon I’ll have to try soon though, as Ruocchio apparently has the fifth book in the series, Ashes of Man, coming out in December.

 

The Starless Crown by James Rollins

Another awesome fantasy novel from the start of the year that I need to check out!  The Starless Crown is supposed to be a very good read, and I will have to try and fit it in at some point in the next few months.

 

Catachan Devil by Justin Woolley

I have been having a great time with some of the recent Warhammer 40,000 novels, especially those that focus on the ordinary human soldiers, such as Steel Tread, Krieg, and The Vincula Insurgency.  However, due to the sheer number of Warhammer novels released each year, I haven’t had a chance to read them all (I’m only one man), and this includes the very cool sounding Catachan Devil by Justin Woolley.  Following a regiment of the elite Catachan jungle fighters as they engage in a brutal battle, this sounds like an extremely awesome and action-packed read and I look forward to checking it out as soon as I can.

 

Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham

One half of the writing team behind The Expanse series returned to his fantasy roots at the start of the year with Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham.  A massive and sprawling fantasy epic that serves as the introduction to a new series, Age of Ash is a key book I missed earlier this year and I will hopefully fix that mistake before the end of the year.

 

The Misfit Soldier by Michael Mammay

The final book that I most regret not reading in the first half of 2022 is The Misfit Soldier by Michael Mammay, who has previously wowed me with his Planetside trilogy (made up of Planetside, Spaceside and Colonyside).  This latest novel from Mammay, which I have honestly just not had time for, sounds very fun, as it follows a new science fiction protagonist in a Kelly’s Heroes-esque escapade on a futuristic battlefield.  I really need to take the time to read this outstanding book, especially as Mammay has just released a new audiobook that I will also try and enjoy this year.

 

 

Well, that is the end of this latest list.  As you can see, there are a bunch of exceptional novels from the first half of the year that I need to check out.  All the above books sound incredibly epic, and I know that I will have a brilliant time getting through all of them.  So, I am going to have to try a lot harder to start reading through them as soon as I can.  In the meantime, let me know which books released in the first half of the year you most regret not reading in the comments below.