Tag: Jonathan Maberry

WWW Wednesday – 22 March 2023

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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?

Judgement Day by Mali Waugh (Trade Paperback)

Judgement Day Cover

I’ve been a little neglectful this year when it comes to reading debut novels, so I decided to check out the intriguing legal thriller from new Australian author Mali Waugh, Judgement Day.  Following a detective as she investigates the murder of a prominent family court judge, Judgement Day looks set to be quite the compelling crime fiction read, and I have heard good things about it from some fellow reviewers.  I only just started Judgement Day today but so far it is proving to be a fantastic and interesting novel.  I will hopefully finish it off over the weekend and I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

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Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry (Audiobook)

Son of the Poison Rose Cover

I have been making some major progress with the audiobook version of the epic dark fantasy novel Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry.  The sequel to Maberry’s epic and exceptional 2022 novel, Kagen the Damned, Son of the Poison Rose continues to follow Maberry’s doomed protagonist as he attempts to navigate a dark and deadly fantasy realm while seeking revenge on the man who took everything from him.  I have gotten about halfway through Son of the Poison Rose in the last week and I am still going strong.  The story has been pretty exceptional so far and I am really liking how Maberry is slowly developing his brutal fantasy setting while also throwing his protagonist into some desperate and insane situations.  I am hoping to knock Son of the Poison Rose off this weekend, especially as I am going to have quite a lot of audiobook listening time and I am very excited to find out how Maberry ends the second book in this outstanding series.

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What did you recently finish reading?

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (Trade Paperback)

How to Sell a Haunted House Cover

I finally finished reading How to Sell a Haunted House this week and it proved to be a very interesting horror read.  I am currently working on a review for it and I will hopefully get that up soon.

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Going Zero by Anthony McCarten (ebook)

Going Zero Cover

I was in the mood for something different and exciting this week so I quickly powered through an early copy of the upcoming book, Going Zero.  An intriguing and fun standalone novel that saw a group of 10 people attempt to avoid an intense government surveillance program, Going Zero proved to be exceedingly addictive and I ended up finishing it off in a single day.  I had a great time reading this book and I will get a review for it up closer to its official release date.

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What do you think you’ll read next?

Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow

Dead of Night Cover

I am hoping to dive into the awesome historical murder mystery Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow next, which should be a pretty exceptional read.  The sequel to Scarrow’s previous novel, Blackout, Dead of Night looks set to be an amazing book that follows an honest detective in Berlin during World War II who attempts to solve a murder against the wishes of his Nazi masters. Scarrow is already one of my absolute favourite historical fiction authors and I had a fantastic time reading Blackout.  As such, I have no doubt this will be an exceptional read and will probably be one of the top historical reads of the year.

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City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky

City of Last Chances Cover

If I manage to get through Son of the Poison Rose in the next week my plan is to start listening to another massive fantasy audiobook with City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky.  Tchaikovsky is a very highly regarded fantasy and science fiction author who has created some elaborate and powerful stories over the years.  I really loved his Warhammer 40,000 debut last year, Day of Ascension, and I am very curious to see what happens in his new book.  The plot synopsis promises revolution, war and intrigue, and I cannot to find out what masterful tale Tchaikovsky has woven together this time.

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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.

WWW Wednesday – 15 March 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW WednesdayLeave a comment

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?

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (Trade Paperback)

How to Sell a Haunted House Cover

I am still getting through the new Grady Hendrix horror book, How to Sell a Haunted House, which has so far proven to be quite the compelling read.  Following a woman trying to sell her parent’s haunted house, this fantastic book is building up to its big horror reveals while also feature some compelling family drama.  I cannot wait to see how this entire novel ends up and I am having an excellent time reading it at the moment. 

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Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry (Audiobook)

Son of the Poison Rose Cover

I just started listening to the awesome fantasy novel Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry.  The sequel to Maberry’s epic and exceptional 2022 novel, Kagen the Damned, Son of the Poison Rose continues to follow Maberry’s doomed protagonist as he attempts to navigate the dark and deadly new fantasy realm he finds himself in.  Sure to be one of the best books and audiobooks of 2023, I am very excited to see how this epic book turns out and I am sure it will feature a ton of deadly action, brutal depravity, and some major twists.

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What did you recently finish reading?

Warhammer: Giantslayer by William King (Audiobook)

Giantslayer Cover

I managed to quickly finish off Giantslayer last week and it turned out to be a very fun addition to the Gotrek and Felix series.  Make sure to check out my Throwback Thursday post from last week covering it.

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Warhammer 40,000: Caves of Ice by Sandy Mitchell (Audiobook)

Caves of Ice Cover

I also managed to get through the fun Warhammer 40,000 novel, Caves of Ice.  The sequel to the first Ciaphas Cain novel, For the Emperor, Caves of Ice sees Mitchell’s iconic Warhammer protagonist engage in another desperate battle for survival, this time on an ice planet loaded with all manner of aliens and monsters.  A highly entertaining and action-packed novel, I am hoping to write a Throwback Thursday review about it later this week.

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Star Wars: The High Republic: The Battle of Jedha by George Mann

Star Wars - The Battle of Jedha Cover

The latest fun addition to the High Republic sub-series of Star Wars fiction, The Battle of Jedha is a full-cast audio production that sees all out war engulf the Jedi holy city of Jedha.  An intriguing and explosive addition to the High Republic series, The Battle of Jedha is well worth a listen and I am hoping to get a review up for it soon.

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What do you think you’ll read next?

The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan

The Tyranny of Faith Cover

I am still planning to dive into the fantasy/crime fiction hybrid novel, The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan, next.  The sequel to Swan’s highly regarded debut, The Justice of Kings, The Tyranny of Faith will contain another powerful adventure, filled with magic, mystery and political intrigue.

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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.

WWW Wednesday – 8 March 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday1 Comment

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?

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (Trade Paperback)

How to Sell a Haunted House Cover

I have just started the new Grady Hendrix horror book, How to Sell a Haunted House, which looks set to be quite a fun and compelling read.  I am only a very short way into this book at the moment, but I am so far enjoying the intriguing story about a woman trying to sell her parent’s haunted house.  Knowing Hendrix, this will end up being an excellent homage to classic haunted house movies, and I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

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Warhammer: Giantslayer by William King (Audiobook)

Giantslayer Cover

I was in the mood for some classic Warhammer Fantasy action so I dived back into the always fun Gotrex and Felix series, with the 7th book in the series, Giantslayer.  Following the series’ fun duo as they land upon a deadly island, full of monsters, wizards and deadly foes, Giantslayer is an amazing and entertaining addition to the series and one I had a great time getting through.  I only have a little left of this audiobook to listen to and I will probably end up finishing it first thing tomorrow.

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What did you recently finish reading?

Burner by Mark Greaney (Audiobook)

Burner Cover

Greaney once again shows why he is one of the best spy thriller authors in the world today with his latest Gray Man book, Burner.  An epic and action-packed read that had me hooked from the very beginning, I will hopefully get a review for this one up soon.

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Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman (Trade Paperback)

Unnatural History Cover 2

Another fantastic and very clever murder mystery novel from the master Jonathan Kellerman.  Unnatural History had an excellent and compelling mystery to it and I loved how everything came together.

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Cold People by Tom Rob Smith (Trade Paperback)

Cold People Cover

A complex and unique science fiction read that sees a group of human refugees get up to all sort of genetic chaos in Antarctica.  A great read that I am really glad I got the chance to read.

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What do you think you’ll read next?

The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan

The Tyranny of Faith Cover

I am planning to dive into the fantasy/crime fiction hybrid novel, The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan, next.  The sequel to Swan’s highly regarded debut, The Justice of Kings, The Tyranny of Faith will contain another powerful adventure, filled with magic, mystery and political intrigue.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry

Son of the Poison Rose Cover

I am hoping to start listening to the awesome fantasy novel Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry next.  The sequel to Maberry’s epic and exceptional 2022 novel, Kagen the Damned, Son of the Poison Rose will continue to follow Maberry’s doomed protagonist as he attempts to navigate the dark and deadly new fantasy realm he finds himself in.  Sure to be one of the best books and audiobooks of 2023, I am very excited to finally listen to Son of the Poison Rose.

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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.

Quick Review – I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights by Jonathan Maberry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Quick Review, Short StoriesLeave a comment

I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights Cover

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (Audiobook – 29 November 2022)

Series: Kagen the Damned – Book 1.5

Length: 1 hours and 20 minutes

My Rating: 4.5. of 5 stars

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Get ready to dive back into the crazy world of Jonathan Maberry’s epic Kagen the Damned series with the intriguing and fun novella, I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights.

Readers of this blog will know that I am a pretty big fan of acclaimed thriller/horror author Jonathan Maberry, and my experiences getting into his books are well documented across The Unseen Library.  I have been a particular fan of his impressive Joe Ledger science fiction thriller books (which includes books like Patient Zero, The Dragon Factory, Code Zero, and Dogs of War), his sequel Rogue Team International series (made up of Rage and Relentless), as well as his standalone horror read Ink.  These excellent thrillers cleverly feature science heavy villains or reimagined supernatural foes to great effect, and I love the dark and elaborate stories they contain.

Maberry changed his game around last year when he presented his very first pure fantasy novel, Kagen the Damned.  An extremely dark and shocking read set in a new fantasy realm, Kagen the Damned follows Kagen Vale, a former hero and royal protector who loses everything in a single night when the force of the Witch-king of Hakkia suddenly invade, destroying his home, family and the children he was sworn to defend.  Traumatised by the carnage he witnesses and forsaken by his gods, Kagen believes himself truly damned and walks around the country in a daze before managing to pull himself together to launch a counterattack.  I had an outstanding amount of fun with Kagen the Damned, especially as Maberry made great use of his trademark writing style and successfully combined it with a fantasy setting and narrative.  Kagen the Damned ended up being one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022, and I have been very keen to continue the series.  While I haven’t had a chance to listen to the recently released sequel, Son of the Poison Rose (one of my most anticipated fantasy novels of 2023) yet, I did manage to quickly listen to the connected novella, I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights, which proved to be a lot of fun.

I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights is a short and sweet novella that showcases a quick and brutal adventure around Kagen during the period where he drunkenly wanders around the lands.  Featuring an intriguing new enemy, this is a very typical Maberry read, with a ton of violence, sex and some impressive horror iconography.

Plot Synopsis:

Kagen Vale—disgraced former palace guard, damned by his own gods, on the run from bounty hunters and assassins—discovers that no matter where you try to hide, evil can find you. In this standalone short story, Kagen the Damned squares off against a clan of ferocious supernatural predators in service to the Witch-king.


I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights was an excellent read that is guaranteed to whet reader’s appetites between Kagen the Damned and Son of the Poison Rose.  The plot itself is fast-paced and action packed as Kagen, drunk and depressed in the woods, comes across a young woman being chased by a pack of deadly wolves and rushes to her defence.  However, Kagen soon finds himself at the mercy of his supposed damsel as she is revealed to be a deranged werewolf hired by the Witch-king to kill him.  Maberry tells an effective and exciting story around this concept, which doesn’t take long to unfold.  For example, the audiobook version I listened to was only an hour and 20 minutes long, which I finished in a single setting.  As such, you really breeze through I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights, since Maberry ensures that it has a very concise and comprehensive story to it.

I really liked how this entire narrative came together, and it was fun to see Maberry’s typical writing style compacted down into novella form.  The action is brutal and bloody, the characters are very over the top, and it serves as an interesting continuation of the previous narrative from Kagen the Damned.  The plot itself is very self-contained, and at times it felt more like an extended interlude from the first book.  As such, fans of the first novel will have the most fun with I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights, although anyone familiar with Maberry and his horror-based books will know what they are in for.  The author has a lot of experience writing werewolf fiction, and the brutal transformations, excessive violence and inhuman nature of the characters, which really freak the protagonist out, make for some striking and compelling scenes.  Due to the length, there isn’t a great deal of universe expansion here, which isn’t too surprising, as the author focuses more on the story.  However, there are a few hints at the changing world, such as Kagen being forced to deal with more and more supernatural monsters, and he luckily comes across a useful weapon that may aid him in the future.  Plus, Maberry really showcases the continued assistance/stalking that Kagen receives from the mysterious nightbirds, which hints at things to come while also increasing the Lovecraftian feel of the entire story.

A good deal of the focus of I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights is once again on the depressed and broken Kagen Vale.  Just like with Kagen the Damned, Kagen is severely damaged and drunk, having still not recovered from the devastating events of the first book.  While the action and events of the story briefly recover his wits, he is still forced to again deal with horrors outside his understanding and watching him try and overcome the odds whilst being severely outclassed is a fantastic part of this outstanding story.  Kagen of course reverts to his more bloodthirsty and deadly persona to survive, but it takes every aspect of his being to get there, and you really feel his pain, both physical and emotional.  The audiobook version really encapsulate this, especially with the always impressive narration of Ray Porter, who is such an expert at diving into Maberry’s complex and brooding protagonists.  I deeply enjoyed seeing a struggling Kagen through Porter’s narration again, and it adds some great layers and impact to the overall experience.

Unsurprisingly, I loved my latest Jonathan Maberry experience, and I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights is an impactful and captivating read.  Serving as an electrifying and compelling companion novella to the wider Kagen the Damned series, I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights provides a fun and brutal new adventure for fans to sink their teeth into, and anyone who loved Kagen the Damned will have an epic time here.  I highly enjoyed this cool novella, especially in its audiobook format, and it has got me particularly excited for the next entry in the series.  I am planning to start listening to Son of the Poison Rose this week, and I know I am going to have an exceptional time doing so.

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WWW Wednesday – 8 February 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW WednesdayLeave a comment

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?

The Death of John Lacey by Ben Hobson (Trade Paperback)

The Death of John Lacey Cover

I just started this intriguing Australian western from excellent author Ben Hobson.  Following several distinctive characters during the height of Australia’s goldrush era, The Death of John Lacey is already proving to be quite an awesome read and I am hoping to finish it off in the next few days.

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Warhammer 40,000: Bloodlines by Chris Wraight (Audiobook)

Warhammer 40,000 - Bloodlines Cover

Yeah, so I needed another fix of Warhammer Crime and the remaining major novel left to me is Bloodlines by Chris Wraight.  Featuring a dark missing persons case in the despair filled city of Varangantua, Bloodlines is another outstanding addition to the fantastic Warhammer 40,000 canon and I am having an epic time listening to this audiobook.  I will hopefully get through this by the end of the week and I will love every second of it.

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What did you recently finish reading?

Downfall by Louise Carey (Trade Paperback)

Downfall Cover

An epic ending to the awesome Inscape series, review to follow soon.

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Warhammer 40,000: Hereticus by Dan Abnett (Audiobook)

Warhammer 40,000 - Hereticus Cover

The perfect follow-up to Xenos and Malleus, Hereticus was an incredible Warhammer 40,000 novel that I read in no time at all.

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How to Kill a Client by Joanna Jenkins (Trade Paperback)

How to Kill a Client Cover

A cool and twisty Australian legal thriller from debuting author Joanna Jenkins.  I loved the fun story within which sees a backstabbing legal firm devolve into manipulation and murder.

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I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights by Jonathan Maberry (Audiobook)

I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights Cover

Before I read Jonathan Maberry’s next epic novel, Son of the Poison Rose, I chose to quickly listen to his associated short story, I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights.  A cool companion story to his 2022 release, Kagen the Damned, this tale was a dark and entertaining tale loaded with werewolves and other freaky occurrences.  I had a fun time with this short story and I am planning to listen to Son of the Poison Rose very soon.

Amazon

What do you think you’ll read next?

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

I Will Find You Cover

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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.

Top Ten Tuesday – Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2023 (Fantasy and Science Fiction)

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, List, Science Fiction6 Comments

Welcome to my second Top Ten Tuesday list of the week, were I look at my most anticipated fantasy novels coming out in the first half of 2023.  Traditionally I usually only do one list to represent the top upcoming books for the year, however, I was inspired to separate out the fantasy and science fiction novels into a second list due to all the awesome and impressive reads from these genres coming out extremely soon.

2023 is shaping up to be an outstanding year for fantasy and science fiction with a ton of epic and amazing sounding novels set for release throughout the year.  I am particularly excited about the next six months as there are some deeply impressive books coming out that I am extremely excited for.  This includes some fantastic sounding sequels, continuations to brilliant series, and several cool new novels from some very talented authors.  I have already highlighted several of these books in some previous lists and Waiting on Wednesday articles which has made me really appreciate just how awesome the upcoming year is going to be fantasy wise, hence this list.

Just like with my other list of the night, I am only featuring books that are set for release in Australia between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2023 which I have some descent details about.  Despite only being fantasy and science fiction books, I ended up with a huge collection of exceptional novels that I wanted to feature, which made completing this list surprisingly difficult.  I was eventually able to break it down to the best 10 books (with honourable mentions), and I feel that I have capture the books that are going to be the best fantasy reads of 2023.  So let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

Star Wars: The Battle of Jedha by George Mann – 3 January 2023

Star Wars - The Battle of Jedha Cover

The High Republic is set to continue in a big way in the coming days with the full-cast audiobook, The Battle of Jedha that will see a massive confrontation break out between the various Force cults on Jedha.

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Engines of Chaos by Richard S. Ford – 4 April 2023

Engines of Chaos Cover

The follow-up to Ford’s 2022 novel, Engines of Empire, Engines of Chaos will continue to explore Ford’s great steampunk fantasy world and the massive revolution brewing within.

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The Will of the Many by James Islington – 23 May 2023

The Will of the Many Cover

A fun upcoming fantasy read that will put a darker face on the classic magic school story.

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Top Ten List

Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry – 10 January 2023

Son of the Poison Rose Cover

2023 is off to a very strong start on the fantasy front with the next upcoming book from the always amazing Jonathan Maberry, Son of the Poison Rose.  The follow-up to one of the best books and audiobooks of 2022, Kagen the Damned, Son of the Poison Rose will continue to follow broken warrior Kagen Vale as he attempts to save his kingdom from the reign of the murderous Witch-king.  Set to feature more adventures, deadly action and complex characters, Son of the Poison Rose is another guaranteed five-star book, and I cannot wait to see what happens in this complex series next.

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Downfall by Louise Carey – 10 January 2023

Downfall Cover

One of the best, underrated science-fiction series of the last couple of years has been Louise Carey’s Inscape trilogy.  Featuring the excellent novels, Inscape (one of my favourite debuts of 2021) and Outcast, this great series follows two damaged protagonists through a dark dystopian future of advanced technology and warring corporations.  Carey ended her second novel, Outcast, on a great cliff-hanger and I am really keen to find out how she plans to conclude this amazing trilogy with Downfall.

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Seven Faceless Saints by M. K. Lobb – 7 February 2023

Seven Faceless Saints Cover

A fantastic and fun upcoming young adult fantasy read that will set two different protagonists on a deadly mission to uncover a murderer within a corrupt fantasy city.  An intriguing fantasy mystery that has already grabbed my attention.

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The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan – 14 February 2023

The Tyranny of Faith Cover

After wowing the world with his 2022 novel, The Justice of Kings, Richard Swan will continue his epic Empire of the Wolf series this year with The Tyranny of Faith.  Following two supernatural peacekeepers in a deadly fantasy empire, The Tyranny of Faith will once again feature the great combination of mystery, politics, intrigue and magic that made The Justice of Kings such a great book.  I have no doubt this will be one of the most popular fantasy novels of 2023 and I look forward to reading it very soon.

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The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding – 16 February 2023

The Shadow Casket Cover

One of the fantasy books that I am most excited for in 2023 is The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding.  The follow up to his epic novel, The Ember Blade, I have been waiting for years for The Shadow Casket to come out and I luckily, I only have a month left before I can dive into to.  The Ember Blade was an exceptional and massive read and the sequel will see the surviving protagonists continue to try and ignite a rebellion against their despotic occupiers.  Sure to be one of the very best fantasy books of 2023, I am so very glad that I can finally continue this exceptional series.

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Star Wars: Cataclysm by Lydia Kang – 4 April 2022

Star Wars - Cataclysm Cover

I have been deeply enjoying the current phase of the outstanding High Republic Star Wars series, and the next major entry is coming out in April with Cataclysm by Lydia Kang.  While we don’t currently have a lot of plot detail about Cataclysm, it will no doubt continue the elaborate prequel narrative of this second phase and should produce an epic read.  All the books in this second phase have been really good and I am confident that will continue with Cataclysm.

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The Sword Defiant by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan- 2 May 2023

The Sword Defiant Cover

After absolutely killing it with his highly acclaimed Black Iron Legacy series, Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan is once again looking to set the fantasy world on fire with The Sword Defiant.  An outstanding upcoming book with a very cool cover to it, The Sword Defiant will follow a legendary hero has he attempts to rally his former companions on a new quest to save the world.  However, the dark swords they claimed during this first mission together has corrupted them all, leading to a deadly and tragic new mission that will pit the protagonist against his former friends.  The Sword Defiant has an outstanding plot behind it and I feel it has the potential to be one of the very best books of 2023.

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The Book that Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence – 11 May 2023

The Book That Wouldn't Burn Cover

It is always a very safe bet that Mark Lawrence will have one of the best fantasy/science fiction books of a year and I am already hyped up for his next novel, The Book that Wouldn’t Burn.  Set in a massive fantasy library, The Book that Wouldn’t Burn is the first entry in a bold new fantasy series, filled with adventure, blood and knowledge, and I cannot wait to dive into it later this year.

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Witch King by Martha Wells – 30 May 2023

Witch King Cover

One of the biggest names currently in science fiction, Martha Wells returns to her fantasy roots in 2023 with Witch King.  Set to follow a deadly demon who awakens from his trap to find himself being controlled by a lesser mage, Witch King has a fun and entertaining plot to it, and I have a feeling I am really going to love this amazing upcoming read.

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Gods of the Wyrdwood by R. J. Barker – 27 June 2023

The final entry on this list could be one of the very best as one of the hottest and most wildly inventive fantasy authors of the current age presents an amazing new story with Gods of the Wyrdwood by R. J. Barker.  Barker has consistently been one of the very best fantasy authors of recent years with The Wounded Kingdom (featuring Age of Assassins, Blood of Assassins and King of Assassins) and The Tide Child (featuring The Bone Ships, Call of the Bone Ships and The Bone Ship’s Wake) trilogies.  Each of Barker’s books have been outstandingly complex and powerful dark fantasy reads, so I am very excited for Gods of Wyrdwood which will set up The Forsaken Trilogy.  While we currently don’t have a cover for Gods of the Wyrdwood, the plot sounds pretty damn exceptional as it will follow a former chosen one, whose destiny was stolen from him as he once again forced into the spotlight.  Sure to be one of the most compelling and powerful reads of 2023, Gods of the Wyrdwood is going to be so damn epic.

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Well that’s the end of this second list.  As you can see, there are some mighty impressive fantasy and science fiction books coming out the first half of this year.  All the above entries on this list have an incredible amount of potential and I have a feeling I am going to deeply enjoy every single of one of these great reads.  2023 is going to be an outstanding year for these two genres, not only with these amazing books, but because of some of the other ones potentially coming out later this.  I look forward to seeing how all these cool novels turn out and I think I am going to have an incredible time reading fantasy and science fiction in 2023.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Books of 2022

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List16 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.  In this final Top Ten Tuesday for the year, I am going to list my absolute favourite books of 2022, which is something I look forward to every year.  This is a bit of a continuation of a series of lists I have been doing over the last month which have highlighted some of the authors and books I have been most impressed with this year, including my favourite audiobooks, favourite debuts and my top pre-2022 books I read this year.  However, this list here is the big one as it covers my absolute favourite releases of the year, of which there are quite a few.

I think we can all agree that 2022 has been another roller-coaster year for the world, but thankfully readers got a bit of solace from the fact that this was an amazing year for books, with a huge range of incredible releases coming out across the genres.  Not only did several outstanding new series start but we had some exceptional debuts and several incredible trilogies conclude in a big way.  I have had an amazing time reading or listening to so many outstanding books this year and quite a few releases have become instant favourites.  I must admit that I somewhat struggled to pull this list together, as there were so many books that deserved to be mentioned.  Therefore, because I am a very soft touch, and because the quality of the books I read this year was so impressive, I have decided to expand this list out to 20 entries (just like I have the last three years).  These 20 books are my absolute favourites from 2022, and I would strongly recommend every one of them to anyone interested in a great read.

To make it onto this list a book needed to be released here in Australia during 2022 and I had to have read it.  I have naturally excluded anything I haven’t read yet, even if there were quite a few awesome-sounding books I sadly didn’t squeeze into my reading schedule for this year, although I am sure that several of those would have made the cut.  I decided to leave off my usual Honourable Mentions section as the extra 10 entries kind of make it unnecessary.  There will be a bit of crossover between the below entries and some of my previous lists.  Several novels also appeared on my Top Ten Favourite Audiobooks of 2022 list and my Top Ten Favourite Books from the First Half of 2022 list which I ran back into July.  Overall, I am fairly happy with how this Top 20 list turned out and I think it contains a pretty good range of novels that really showcases the different types of books that I chose to read this year.  So without further ado, here is the list.

Top Ten List (no particular order):

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

The Bullet That Missed Cover

The first entry on this list was a real no-brainer with the new Thursday Murder Club novel, The Bullet That Missed by British comedian Richard Osman.  The Bullet That Missed follows on from The Thursday Murder Club (one of my favourite books, audiobooks, and debuts of 2020) and The Man Who Died Twice (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021) and might be one of Osman’s best novels yet.  Featuring his deeply likeable cast of pensioner crime solvers, The Bullet That Missed introduced another compelling murder investigation, loaded with intrigue, comedy and some deeply human moments.  Impossible to put down once you start, The Bullet That Missed was a very easy entry for this list and comes extremely highly recommended.

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A Practical Guide to Conquering the World by K. J. Parker

A Practical Guide to Conquering the World Cover

One of the very first books I read in 2022 was another easy pick for this list with the awesome fantasy comedy novel, A Practical Guide to Conquering the World.  The third and final book in K. J. Parker’s loosely connected Siege series, A Practical Guide to Conquering the World is an addictive and wildly funny read that sees a scholar become ruler of a fantasy world through a series of schemes and strange coincidences.  Featuring another wildly unreliable narrator, A Practical Guide to Conquering the World is a brilliant continuation of the outrageous tales told in Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City (one of my favourite books of 2019) and How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It and it is easily one of the most hilarious and cleverest books of the year.

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Usagi Yojimbo: Tengu War! and Usagi Yojimbo: Crossroads by Stan Sakai

Usagi Joint Cover

Ok, so I am slightly cheating by combining two books into one entry, but when it comes to one of my favourite comic book series, the excellent Usagi Yojimbo comics by Stan Sakai, I have a hard time picking favourites.  Usually this isn’t an issue as Sakai generally only releases one volume of his comic a year.  However, in 2022, there were two Usagi Yojimbo volumes, the intense and compelling 36th volume, Tengu War! and the fast-paced 37th volume Crossroads.  Loaded with clever stories, complex characters, and some absolutely gorgeous artwork, both of volumes were extremely good and there was no way I could exclude either from this list.

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Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! by Nate Crowley

Ghazghkull Thraka - Prophet of the Waaagh! Cover

2022 was a very, very good year for Warhammer 40,000 fiction and I have had an outstanding time getting through some of the best additions to this delightful extended universe.  Out of all this year’s releases, one of the best was Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! by Nate Crowley, which features a unique and hilarious take on an iconic and ultra-destructive ork character.  A brilliant story told across multiple narrators (something that really pops in the audiobook format), Crowley featured all the right notes of action, comedy, dark treachery, and a clever examination of one of the game’s most iconic alien factions.  I had such an amazing time reading Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh!, and this is an absolute must-read for all fans of Warhammer fiction.

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Kagen the Damned by Jonathan Maberry

Kagen the Damned Cover

I doubt anyone is too surprised that the new Jonathan Maberry novel has shown up here.  I have featured several of Maberry’s recent releases on previous iterations of this list, although usually they are either horror or science fiction thriller releases, such as Ink, Rage and Relentless, however, in 2022 Maberry made the jump to epic fantasy fiction in a big way with the dark and despair-laden novel, Kagen the Damned.  The first book in an epic new series, Kagen the Damned follows a broken and devastated former hero who, after his royal charges are brutally murdered, finds himself damned by the gods.  But even hunted and damaged beyond all believe, he is still the deadliest man in the kingdom, and he sets off on a bloody mission of revenge.  Intense from the very first scene, Kagen the Damned was an exceptional read that gives you Maberry’s usual serving of blood, traumatised characters and dark deeds, this time in a great new fantasy setting.  I deeply enjoyed this exceptional read and I look forward to the next book which is being released very, very soon.

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Desperate Undertaking by Lindsey Davis

Desperate Undertaking Cover 2

The master of the historical mystery, Lindsey Davis, came up with another wonderful entry in her long-running Flavia Albia series this year with Desperate Undertaking.  A compelling murder mystery set in ancient Rome, Desperate Undertaking follows intrepid and clever investigator Flavia Albia as she tries to catch a deadly serial killer who stages their kills to mimic iconic scenes from ancient plays.  A very entertaining, compelling and dark tale, Desperate Undertaking is one of Davis’s best books yet and I was hooked almost instantly with it.

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The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne

The Hunger of the Gods Cover

I was very excited to read the new fantasy epic from John Gwynne, The Hunger of the Gods, this year, and it was a very worthy addition to this best-of-2022 list.  The sequel to last year’s exceptional novel, The Shadow of the Gods, The Hunger of the Gods continues Gwynne’s Norse-inspired fantasy tale, which follows several distinctive protagonists as they embark on multiple epic quests across a war-torn world whose destructive gods are re-awakening.  The Hunger of the Gods perfectly continued the amazing story started in the first book, and I once again fell in love with the detailed battles, intriguing dark fantasy world and the brilliant characters.  I had such an incredible time with this book and I cannot wait to see how Gwynne continues this awesome story in the future.

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Desert Star by Michael Connelly

Desert Star Cover

I have a very hard time excluding Michael Connelly from this list ever year and 2022 is no exception as I had a fantastic time with his latest book, Desert Star.  Once again teaming up two of his best characters, Desert Star was a complex and captivating crime fiction read that featured two great and emotionally charged cases.  I loved how this amazing book came together and I was especially impressed with the deeply personal tale Connelly told of his long-running protagonist, Harry Bosch, as he becomes obsessed with solving a murder that has long haunted him.  An excellent crime fiction book with a rich, character-driven narrative, Desert Star was an easy choice for this list and I am really intrigued to see what happens with this book’s main characters next.

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Sierra Six by Mark Greaney

Sierra Six Cover

Mark Greaney continues to shine with another great entry in his ambitious Gray Man series this year.  Following on from impressive reads like The Gray Man, Mission Critical, One Minute Out and Relentless, Sierra Six was another outstanding read that I really got drawn into.  Telling a multi-layered story set in both the past and the present, Sierra Six followed protagonist Court Gentry as he attempts to get revenge for one of his first missions with an enemy, he long thought was dead.  A tight, captivating read that makes excellent use of multiple timelines, Sierra Six was an amazing read that is highly recommended for all fans of the spy thriller.

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Against All Gods by Miles Cameron

Against all Gods Cover

Miles Cameron continues to showcase his writing range in 2022 with another five-star read in Against All Gods.  Set in a unique, bronze-age inspired fantasy world were angry gods rule humanity with an iron fist, Against All Gods follows a group of rebel humans who are dragged into a deadly, divine conspiracy by a crazed god of chaos who seeks the end of all her fellow deities.  A powerful and captivating read, Against All Gods was so much fun and I look forward to the upcoming sequel.

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Assassinorum: Kingmaker by Robert Rath

Assassinorum Kingmaker Cover

The other outstanding Warhammer 40,000 entry I had to include on this list was the incredibly epic Assassinorum: Kingmaker by Robert Rath.  This non-stop book follows three elite assassins as they must plot to assassinate a king, bonded to a massive mecha suit, while also ending an insidious conspiracy.  Extremely over-the-top, but with a compelling and well thought out narrative, Assassinorum: Kingmaker was a very addictive read that had so many great elements to it, from intense mecha warfare, to some complex and enjoyable characters.  An easy five-star read; this was one of the best Warhammer books I have ever read.

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The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer

The German Wife Cover

Last year I was extremely wowed by the deep and captivating historical drama, The Warsaw Orphan by Australian author Kelly Rimmer, which was such an exceptional read.  As such, I was very happy to receive a copy of Rimmer’s new book this year, The German Wife, which also blew me away.  Another complex historical drama, The German Wife examined the compelling story of the family of a former Nazi rocket scientist who are relocated to America as part of Operation Paperclip.  Facing prejudice from their new neighbours who only see them as the enemy, Rimmer reveals the true story behind this troubled family and the various evils they faced during the Nazi reign.  Heartbreaking, incredibly touching and a timely examination of the insidiousness of evil, The German Wife was a powerful and poignant book that I had to include on this list.

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In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan

In the Shadow of Lightning Cover

Another amazing and highly addictive fantasy read was In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan.  The first book in an intriguing new series centred around glass-based magic, In the Shadow of Lightning was a very compelling read that followed four great characters as they get involved with elaborate conspiracies, deadly politics and a massive war.  Near impossible to put down, In the Shadow of Lightning was such an incredible read and I cannot rave about this new series enough.

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The Lawless Land by Boyd and Beth Morrison

The Lawless Land Cover

One of most entertaining reads of 2022 had to be the very fun historical adventure novel, The Lawless Land, by new-to-me writing duo, Boyd and Beth Morrison.  Set in the 14th century amongst war and plague, The Lawless Land follows a disgraced knight and a runaway bride as they attempt to keep a precious holy relic out of the hands of a corrupt cardinal and a deranged English noble.  A continuously exciting and historically detailed book, The Lawless Land really grabbed my attention and I had such an amazing time reading this awesome historical novel.  I hope this great writing team present more fantastic books in the future and I look forward to reading them.

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The Martyr by Anthony Ryan

The Martyr Cover

Few books impressed me as much this year as The Martyr, the gripping and action-packed sequel to Anthony Ryan’s 2021 book, The Pariah.  Continuing the tale of Alwyn Scribe, a former outlaw who now works for a religious zealot, The Martyr is an elaborate tale of war, politics and fate as Alwyn finds himself amid a deadly war for the future.  Filled with some amazing action, including two exceptional sieges, The Martyr was a blast the entire way through, and I had such an incredible time reading it.

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Death of the Black Widow by James Patterson and J. D. Barker

Death of the Black Widow Cover

I had so much damn fun this year reading the cool thriller, Death of the Black Widow, written by the superb writing team of James Patterson and J. D. Barker.  Following a cop who becomes obsessed with a mysterious woman he meets his first night on the job, Death of the Black Widow sees the protagonist get caught in a decades long investigation to find her and stop the strange deaths that follow her appearance.  An excellent and highly exciting thriller that features some clever horror elements, I had a fantastic time reading this amazing read and I just had to include it on this list.

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The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

The Golden Enclaves Cover Better

After really showcasing her skills in the last two years with her excellent, dark homages to the magical school genre with A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate, Naomi Novik brings her Scholomance trilogy to an incredible end with The Golden Enclaves.  Now set outside of the magic school, The Golden Enclaves sees main protagonist, Galadriel “El” Higgins, attempt to save the magic world while also getting over the traumatic cliff-hanger Novik left us on at the end of The Last Graduate.  Living up to all its potential, The Golden Enclaves had a fantastic story that perfectly wrapped up the series while hitting the reader with some well-foreshadowed twists and revelations.  I cannot wait to see what Novik will write next, but I know I am going to love it.

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Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch

Amongst our Weapons Cover

I was very lucky to receive a copy of the latest Rivers of London book by Ben Aaronovitch this year, Amongst Our Weapons, and it quickly became a favourite 2022 read of mine.  Seamlessly blending a classic police procedural story with a unique fantasy setting, Amongst Our Weapons sees main character Peter Grant investigate a series of magical murders across London that were apparently committed by an angel.  The book’s tight mystery and well-thought-out fantasy elements are expertly combined to produce an exceptional narrative that I had a blast with.  An outstanding read that once again shows why Aaronovitch is one of the best urban fantasy writers now.

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The Unbelieved by Vikki Petraitis

The Unbelieved Cover

There were many amazing debuts in 2022 but one that I found particularly impressive was the gritty Australian crime fiction read, The Unbelieved by Vikki Petraitis.  Set in rural Australia, The Unbelieved follows a damaged cop as she attempts to investigate a series of sexual assaults in her seemingly quiet small town, only to run into a wall of silence from the locals.  A slick and powerful read that contains a great story, The Unbelieved also served as a commentary on the perception of sexual violence in modern society which really hits you hard.  Petraitis really showed herself to be an outstanding new writing talent this year and I am very glad I was able to include The Unbelieved on this list.

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The Voyage of the Forgotten by Nick Martell

The Voyage of the Forgotten Cover

The final entry on my list is another slightly cheeky entry, mainly because I haven’t finished it yet.  This book is The Voyage of the Forgotten by Nick Martell, one of my most anticipated fantasy reads of 2022 which I only just started listening to last week.  The third and final book in Martell’s Legacy of the Mercenary King trilogy, The Voyage of the Forgotten follows on from the exceptional novels, The Kingdom of Liars and The Two-Faced Queen, which introduced and expanded a massively complex and elaborate fantasy tale of betrayal, world-ending plots, magic, and battles between hidden immortals.  I had such a great time with the previous two books in the series and I am deeply intrigued to see how Martell wraps everything up in the final book.  I am about halfway through The Voyage of the Forgotten and it is proving to be a particularly epic and captivating read that I am having a very hard time putting down, especially as every scene seems to reveal a new secret or answer a question from the previous books.  I cannot wait to find out how Martell ends this incredible trilogy and based on how good the first half of this book has been, there was no way I could exclude The Voyage of the Forgotten from this best of 2022 list.

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Well, those are my 20 favourite books of 2022. 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.  2023 is 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 2022 were in the comments below, and make sure you all have a happy and safe New Years.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobooks of 2022

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List16 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.  The official topic for this list was Books I Hope Santa Brings, and, while this did sound like a fun topic, I instead decided to continue my annual end of year wrap up of some of the best books of 2022.  In previous weeks I have highlighted some of the best debuts of 2022, as well as the best pre-2022 novels I read in the last year, but this week I am going to look at something near and dear to my hear, the best audiobooks of 2021.

Readers of my blog only need to check out my extensive audiobook category to know that I have a lot of love for the audiobook format.  In my opinion, the audiobook is often the best way to experience a good book, and in many cases, this format makes a book a lot more enjoyable for me.  As a result, I listened to quite a few audiobooks this year, and while several of them are books that had been released before 2022 and featured in my Throwback Thursday posts, a large majority of them were released this year. There were some truly outstanding and impressive audiobooks released this year, and I already know that I am going to have an extremely hard time coming up with the final version of this list. 

For this list I have only included audiobooks released in 2022 that I have listened to and completed, so I am excluding a few audiobooks that were probably pretty awesome, but which I didn’t have a chance to listen to.  Despite this, I still ended up with a long list of extremely good audiobooks, all of which were extremely worthy of appearing on this post.  To help cut this down, I too into account a range of consideration, including quality of the original novel, skill of the narrator, production value, pacing and other factors, including any featured music or sound effects.  Looking at all this I was eventually able to cut the list down to the absolute best 10 audiobooks (as well as an extended honourable mentions section).  I had to make some very hard decisions here, and I ended up losing several extremely good audiobooks from this list.  Still, I think it really represents the best audiobooks I enjoyed this year, and there are some amazing productions down below.  So let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

Sylvanas, written by Christie Golden and narrated by Patty Mattson

World of Warcraft - Sylvanas Cover

An outstanding tie-in audiobook to the Warcraft video game franchise, Sylvanas provides a fresh retelling of the origins of one of the game’s most complex characters, Sylvanas Windrunner, all narrated by the voice of Sylvanas herself, Patty Mattson, in an awesome performance.

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Steel Tread, written by Andy Clark and narrated by Remmie Milner

Steel Tread Cover

The first of many Warhammer 40,000 novels that are going to appear on this list, Steel Tread is a dark and gritty war story that follows a ragged tank crew into the hell of war, all of which is deeply enhanced by a fantastic audiobook format.

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Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star, written by Claudia Gray and narrated by Marc Thompson

Star Wars - The Fallen Star

Star Wars audiobooks are always pretty damn awesome, but the one for The Fallen Star, which details a disastrous day in the High Republic, was exceptionally good, especially as the music, sound effects and excellent narration, helped to bring the listener right into the heart of the chaos.

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Outgunned, written by Denny Flowers and narrated by Phillip Sacramento

Warhammer 40,000 - Outgunned Cover

Denny Flowers continues to grow as an author with his second Warhammer 40,000 novel, Outgunned, this time following a propaganda expert as he follows a chaotic pilot into a strange new warzone.  This entire compelling scenario, as well as the distinctive main characters, are perfectly showcased in this audiobook, which is really worth a listen.

Amazon

Top Ten List:

The Hunger of the Gods, written by John Gwynne and narrated by Colin Mace

The Hunger of the Gods Cover

After really wowing me with the first book in The Bloodsworn Saga series, The Shadow of the Gods (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), John Gwynne returns with the epic sequel, The Hunger of the Gods.  Perfectly continuing the incredible narrative from the first book, The Hunger of the Gods was an exceptional book, which really comes to life in the audiobook format.  Featuring amazing narration by Colin Mace, The Hunger of the Gods was a remarkable listen that I cannot recommend enough.

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Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh!, written by Nate Crowley and narrated by Kelly Hotten, Paul Putner and Jon Rand

Ghazghkull Thraka - Prophet of the Waaagh! Cover

I had a lot of success listening to Warhammer 40,000 novels in 2022, so it is no surprise that a few are going to show up on this list.  Easily one of my favourites would have to be the new novel by Nate Crowley, who previously did such a great job with The Twice Dead King books, Ruin and Reign.  His latest release was Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh!, which retold the tale of the legendary ork warlord from a crazy new perspective.  While the story itself is pretty damn clever and highly entertaining, the real joy came from the amazing audiobook production which featured three talented narrators.  I loved how the narrators switched around multiple times throughout the production to correspond with which character was telling the story and it made for a distinctive and highly exciting listen that was a great deal of fun.

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Sierra Six, written by Mark Greaney and narrated by Jay Snyder

Sierra Six Cover

Mark Greaney had a very good year in 2022 as, in addition to his Gray Man movie and action-packed novel, Armored, he also produced another impressive Gray Man thriller with Sierra Six.  I have had an amazing time with Greaney’s previous Gray Man novels, including The Gray Man, Mission Critical, One Minute Out and Relentless, and Sierra Six was another excellent addition to the series.  Featuring an intense and highly addictive narrative that set protagonist Court Gentry against a dangerous threat in India while also diving into his deadly, tragic past, Sierra Six was an exciting and powerful read that I had a wonderful time listening to.  The audiobook format of this book was extremely good, primarily thanks to the excellent narration of Jay Snyder, and I was dragged right into the middle of the action when I listened to Sierra Six on audiobook.

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Assassinorum: Kingmaker, written by Robert Rath and narrated by Gareth Armstrong

Assassinorum Kingmaker Cover

Another exceptional Warhammer 40,000 audiobook I enjoyed in 2022 was the brilliant and high-octane Assassinorum: Kingmaker by Robert Rath, which saw three elite assassins travel to a feudal Knight World and attempt to reign in the mecha-suit wearing elite by killing a deranged king permanently bonded to a massive war machine.  This book was as awesome as it sounds and Rath wove together an exceptional and complex story of politics, conspiracies and assassins, focused around several impressive characters.  I deeply enjoyed the elaborate and powerful plot of this great book, which was further enhanced by the exceptional audiobook format.  Not only did narrator Gareth Armstrong perfectly encapsulate the fantastic characters, but his amazing tones allowed you to envision all the epic carnage in amazing detail.  I had so much damn fun listening to this audiobook and it is a must read for all Warhammer fans, as well as anyone who is interested in seeing assassins go up against mechas.

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Kagen the Damned, written by Jonathan Maberry and narrated by Ray Porter

Kagen the Damned Cover

One of my absolute favourite authors, Jonathan Maberry, made an interesting leap this year from science fiction thrillers to dark epic fantasy with Kagen the Damned.  Combining his typical writing style with a compelling new fantasy world, Maberry wove together the captivating tale of Kagen Vale, a once noble warrior and hero who is broken and damned after the royal children he was sworn to protect are ruthlessly murdered during a sudden and destructive military invasion.  An exceedingly intense and brutal fantasy read, I got extremely hooked on this impressive novel, especially as I made sure to grab the audiobook version.  I have always had an exceptional time with Maberry’s audiobooks and I was very excited to see that one of my favourite audiobook narrators, Ray Porter, was returning for this book.  Porter always captures the dark tone of Maberry’s writing perfectly, and Kagen the Damned was no exception as he imparts every gruesome detail of this story in his powerful tones.  At the same time, Porter effortless inhabits the multiple complex characters in this book, and really brings them to life in some amazing ways.  I absolutely loved this amazing audiobook and I cannot wait to grab the sequel, Son of the Poison Rose, in a few weeks time.

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The Bullet That Missed, written by Richard Osman and narrated by Fiona Shaw

The Bullet That Missed Cover

There was no way that the new Thursday Murder Club audiobook by Richard Osman, The Bullet That Missed, was going to be excluded from this list.  Following on from his awesome first two novels, The Thursday Murder Club (one of my favourite books, audiobooks and debuts of 2020), and The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed sees your favourite group of crime solving pensioners return for another complex mystery.  Osman came up with another exceptional mystery storyline in this third book and I loved seeing his delightful and utterly hilarious protagonists once again use their unique insights and skills to solve it.  The audiobook version was once again exceptional, and I deeply enjoyed new narrator, Fiona Shaw, who I have been a fan of for years.  Shaw does a remarkable job narrating this third Thursday Murder Club book, and I loved how she provided a great range of fitting accents and tones for the distinctive characters, while also moving the plot along quickly with her fantastic voice.  An incredible audiobook that is near impossible to turn off.

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The Martyr, written by Anthony Ryan and narrated by Steven Brand

The Martyr Cover

Next up we have the outstanding second book in Anthony Ryan’s Covenant of Steel fantasy series, The Martyr.  The sequel to Ryan’s excellent 2021 novel, The Pariah, The Martyr continues to tell the unique story of Alywn Scribe, a former bandit turned scribe, who finds himself in the middle of tumultuous events that will change the world forever.  This time he must accompany his religious fanatic master on a deadly military mission to a foreign land, which will see him get involved in politics, espionage, assassinations and two epic sieges.  I actually held off reading this book until I got the audiobook copy, mainly because of how much I enjoyed the audiobook version of The Pariah last year.  Steven Brand provides some amazing narration for this compelling read and I really found myself absorbing more of the complex details of this fantasy word when listening to it.  Easily the best way to enjoy this exceptional read, I cannot wait to get my hands on the third Covenant of Steel audiobook.

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The Wraithbone Phoenix, written by Alec Worley and narrated by Harry Myers

The Wraithbone Phoenix Cover

The final Warhammer 40,000 audiobook on this list is the gripping Warhammer Crime book, The Wraithbone Phoenix by Alec Worley.  Set in a massive and crime-ridden city, The Wraithbone Phoenix follows an unlikely duo of abhuman criminals as they attempt to pay off their debts by recovering an ancient artefact from decommissioned space ship.  However, when the entire city becomes aware of their scheme, they are soon forced to go up against a range of over-the-top killers, thieves and bounty hunters, all determined to kill them and take the prize for themselves.  This was an extremely fun and captivating read, which was even more enjoyable as an audiobook as narrator Harry Myers had to voice a ton of unusual characters.  I had an outstanding time listening to The Wraithbone Phoenix and I look forward to more fun and fantastic Warhammer Crime audiobooks in the future.

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In the Shadow of Lightning, written by Brian McClellan and narrated by Damian Lynch

In the Shadow of Lightning Cover

One of the best fantasy books of 2022 had to be the epic and captivating In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan.  McClellan, who already created magic with his Powder Mage novels (such as Promise of Blood), did a remarkable job of creating a new elaborate fantasy universe where all magic is tied into glass.  Following several complex and damaged protagonists as they attempted to navigate war, politics and a dark conspiracy, In the Shadow of Lightning was a remarkable book that perfectly set up McClellan’s planned Glass Immortals series.  I had a wonderful and incredible time with In the Shadow of Lightning, and I absolutely loved how well it came out in its audiobook format.  Featuring the amazing voice of Damian Lynch, who dove right into the complex roles before him, this audiobook is extremely addictive and I powered through it extremely quickly.  A highly recommended audiobook, I am so damn excited for the sequel.

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Star Wars: The High Republic: Convergence, written by Zoraida Córdova and narrated by Marc Thompson

Star Wars - Convergence Cover

Finally, I had to feature at least one Star Wars book on a list about great audiobooks (it is an Unseen Library rule), and boy was I spoiled for choice this year.  While books like Path of Deceit, Midnight Horizon and Brotherhood all had excellent audiobooks, I ended up going with the Star Wars book I am currently listening to, Convergence by Zoraida Córdova.  Despite the fact that I still have a little more to listen to (I’m probably going to finish it tonight), I have been deeply impressed with Convergence and I think it has the best combination of narrative, characters and audiobook features of all the Star Wars novels I listened to in 2022.  The first adult book in the second phase of The High Republic, Convergence has a great story that explores a deadly war between two planets, while simultaneously introducing elements from an earlier period of Star Wars history.  This excellent story is greatly enhanced by the usual outstanding Star Wars production values of cool sound effects, emotionally charged music, and the fantastic voice work of Marc Thompson, who is one of the best audiobook narrators in the world today.  This was a remarkable read and I look forward to seeing how this new phase of The High Republic continues in 2023.

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Well that is the end of this latest Top Ten list, and as you can see, I have been lucky enough to listen to some awesome audiobooks this year (although I clearly focussed a little too much on Warhammer fiction).  All the above audiobooks are extremely good and I would highly recommend each of them in their audiobook format.  There is still a little time for me to listen to a few more great audiobooks this year, and I cannot wait to see how they all turn out.  Let me know what your favourite audiobooks of 2022 were in the comments below, and I will have to try and check them out as well.

Top Ten Tuesday – Books on my Summer 2022/23 TBR

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List5 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.  The official Top Ten Tuesday topic for this week was around cozy reads, however, I decided to instead move up my quarterly post about the best upcoming books to read (TBR) for the following three months.  This is a regular post I do at the start of each season, and as this Tuesday is just before Summer (Winter for folks in the Northern Hemisphere), this is the ideal time to put this up.

For this list, I have come up with 10 of the most anticipated novels that are coming out between 1 December 2022 and 28 February 2023.  There are quite a few very cool novels set for release in the next few months that I am extremely excited for, including some of my most highly anticipated reads for the end of 2022 and the start of the New Year.  Due to how impressive some of these upcoming books are, it took me a little while to finalise my list but I was eventually able to whittle it down into a Top Ten list (with a few honourable mentions).  I have primarily used the Australian publication dates to reflect when I will be able to get these awesome novels, and these might be somewhat different to the rest of the world.  I have previously discussed a number of these books before in prior Top Ten Tuesdays and Waiting on Wednesday articles and I think all of them will turn out to be pretty incredible reads.

Honourable Mentions:

Three-Edged Sword by Jeff Lindsay – 6 December 2022

Three-Edged Sword Cover

The third book in a super fun heist thriller series by the author of the Dexter novels.  Three-Edged Sword follows on from Just Watch Me and Fool Me Twice and is a guaranteed thrill ride.

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Red Dirt Road by S. R. White – 5 January 2023

Red Dirt Road Cover

One of the more intriguing pieces of Australian fiction in the new year, Red Dirt Road follows on from the outstanding 2021 read, Prisoner, and presents a compelling and unique murder mystery in the Australian bush.

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The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry – 28 February 2023

The Last Kingdom Cover

There is no way that I am going to miss the next Steve Berry book, The Last Kingdom.  The latest entry in Berry’s long-running Cotton Malone series (which has featured such great books as The Malta Exchange, The Warsaw Protocol and The Kaiser’s Web), The Last Kingdom will see Cotton Malone roped into a deep historical conspiracy regarding the Bavarian royal family and sounds pretty damn fantastic.

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City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita – 28 February 2023

City Under One Roof Cover

Iris Yamashita will be bringing in one of the most compelling and highly anticipated debuts of 2023 with her great book, City Under One Roof, which will pit a detective against a mysterious community in Alaska.

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Top Ten List:

Warhammer 40,000: Witchbringer by Steven B. Fischer – 14 December 2022

Warhammer 40,000 - Witchbringer Cover

The first book I need to highlight on this list is the fantastic upcoming Warhammer 40,000 read, Witchbringer by Steven B. Fischer.  Set deep in the battlefields of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Witchbringer will follow an Imperial psyker, a living weapon who is reviled and barely tolerated by the rest of humanity, who is forced to return to her old unit and help them on a deadly mission.  Sure to be extremely exciting, while also diving into the dark side of humanity in the future, Witchbringer sounds extremely awesome and I can’t wait to end my year with another top Warhammer book.

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Star Wars: The High Republic: The Battle of Jedha by George Mann – 3 January 2023

Star Wars - The Battle of Jedha Cover

The new year is already looking pretty good, especially as one of the first books coming out is the fantastic Star Wars: The High Republic audiobook, The Battle of Jedha.  Part of the second phase of the excellent High Republic series, The Battle of Jedha will see an all-out war break out on the planet of Jedha and promises to be one of the more exciting pieces of recent Star Wars fiction, especially when read out by a full cast of talented narrators.

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Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry – 10 January 2023

Son of the Poison Rose Cover

I am exceedingly excited that one of the first books I will be reading in 2023 will be the fantasy epic, Son of the Poison Rose by one of my favourite authors, Jonathan Maberry.  The sequel to Maberry’s exceptional 2022 novel, Kagen the Damned, Son of the Poison Rose will continue the outstanding dark fantasy storyline contained in his first book as a failed royal guard attempts to save the remnants of his fallen kingdom from a dark ruler determined to destroy everything he loves.  Son of the Poison Rose will easily be one of the best books of 2023 and I cannot wait to check it out, especially in its audiobook version narrated by the always epic Ray Porter.

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Downfall by Louise Carey – 10 January 2023

Downfall Cover

I will definitely be grabbing a copy of Downfall by Louise Carey early next year, which sounds extremely awesome.  The final book in Carey’s Inscape series, Downfall will follow on from Inscape (one of my favourite debuts of 2021) and Outcast, and will take the reader back into a technologically controlled dystopian future.  This time the protagonists will have to take down the company they have long served after it uses its insidious technology to take control of everyone they know and love.  I have had an incredible time with this great science fiction series, and I cannot wait to see how it comes to an end, especially after that cool cliff-hanger at the end of Outcast.

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Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman – 14 February 2023

Unnatural History Cover

I have been having a lot of fun getting into Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series over the last few years, with such great and compelling murder mystery books as The Wedding Guest, The Museum of Desire, Serpentine and City of the Dead, and I am quite excited to read another one of his books in 2023.  This new book, Unnatural History, will see Kellerman’s compelling protagonists investigate another complex case, this time involving a dead photographer who made a living exploiting homeless people.  I am going to have an amazing time with Unnatural History and it will probably end up being one of the more impressive mystery novels of the new year.

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The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz – 14 February 2023

The Last Orphan Cover

Few spy thriller series have been more impressive in the last few years that Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X books.  Following a former elite government assassin turned vigilante, the Orphan X books form an action-packed and powerful series that I have really grown to love, especially with great entries like Out of the Dark, Into the Fire, Prodigal Son and Dark Horse.  Naturally, I am pretty excited to see how the series continues and I only have to wait until February to find out.  The next book in the series, The Last Orphan, will see the protagonist dragged back into government service and must choose whether to return to his assassin roots or risk the lives of everyone he loves.  This is set to be an extremely moving and exciting entry in the Orphan X series, and I cannot wait to see what will happen to Hurwitz’s brilliant and complex protagonist next.

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The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding – 16 February 2023

The Shadow Casket Cover

After years of waiting, we are finally going to get a sequel to Chris Wooding’s outstanding fantasy epic, The Ember Blade.  The Ember Blade was a particularly impressive fantasy novel that saw a group of desperate freedom fighters steal a legendary blade to inspire their country into rebellion.  The Ember Blade was something very special, and I have been eagerly waiting for the sequel, The Shadow Casket, which is set to feature even more blood, rebellion and heroics.  This is definitely going to be one of the top fantasy books of 2023 and I cannot wait to dive into its elaborate and addictive narrative.

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Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow – 16 February 2023

Dead of Night Cover

Few historical mystery books have more potential than the upcoming Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow.  The sequel to Scarrow’s excellent novel Blackout, Dead of Night will return to wartime Berlin and follow a police detective’s attempt to solve a terrible murder while going up against the corrupt Nazi Government.  I am very excited to see how this amazing mystery unfolds, and I know I am going to have a wonderful time reading this book.

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Burner by Mark Greaney – 21 February 2023

Burner Cover

Mark Greaney returns with another amazing entry in his bestselling Gray Man spy thriller series, which has already featured outstanding reads like The Gray Man, Mission Critical, One Minute Out, Relentless and Sierra Six.  The new book, Burner, will see impressive protagonist Court Gentry, go up against both the CIA and the Russian mafia to try and save a man’s life.  However, he will also have to compete with his love interest, as they try to work out why so many people want their target dead.  I have no doubt that this is going to be another epic novel from Greaney and I look forward to see the next chapter of the incredible Gray Man series unfold.

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Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 38: The Green Dragon by Stan Sakai – 21 February 2023

Usagi Yojimbo - The Green Dragon Cover

The final upcoming book I need to highlight is the next volume in the awesome Usagi Yojimbo series by Stan Sakai, The Green Dragon.  Usagi Yojimbo still remains one of my favourite comic series of all time, and I am always extremely eager to get my hands on a new volume as soon as it becomes available.  This next volume will see Usagi and his companions go up against ghosts, ninjas and other dangerous foes, as they continue to journey around their chaotic version of Feudal Japan.  I already know that I am going to love this comic when it comes out, and I am very, very excited to get my hands on it.

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Well, that is the end of my Top Ten list.  I think it turned out pretty well and it does a good job of capturing all my most anticipated books for the next three months.  Each of the above should be extremely epic, and I cannot wait to read each of them soon.  Let me know which of the above you are most excited for and stay tuned for reviews of them in the next few months.  In the meantime, it looks like I have quite a few books to get through soon and they should all be pretty awesome.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Horror Novels (Updated – 2022)

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Horror, List5 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.  In this latest edition of Top Ten Tuesday, readers get a Halloween Freebie, meaning that they can list whatever topic they want, although a horror or Halloween theme is encouraged.  So, with that in mind, I thought I would take this opportunity to update a previous list where I highlighted my favourite horror novels of all time.

Back in 2020 for Halloween, I came up with a list where I looked at my top ten favourite horror novels.  While horror is not my favourite genre, I ended up producing a rather interesting list with some unique entries that I was pretty happy with.  This list got a bit of interest, and I decided I would make a bit of effort to come back to update this list every Halloween, especially if I had some new horror novels to add to it.  I did an update last year with several awesome novels, and I have decided to come back to it again in 2022, especially as I have had the opportunity to check out some excellent and intense horror reads.

To sort out this update, I took a critical look at the previous version of the list and made some hard decisions about whether any of the horror novels I read in the last year might fit in better.  I ended up making a few changes, with new entries replacing some of the existing books (all new entries in red).  While I was sad to see some of the previously featured novels removed, I honestly felt that the new entries are better horror novels.  This resulted in a fun new version of this list, and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Honourable Mentions:

Later by Stephen King

Later Cover

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The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Sandman Act 1 Cover

I had to include the audiobook version of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman here, as it has some great horror elements to it.  While more of a fantasy/comic story than a pure horror comic, The Sandman did have some amazing horror sequences in it, which are really enhanced in the full-cast audiobook.  The Sandman features several great horror scenes, but the most disturbing would have to be the infamous diner scene.  Contained within the sixth chapter/issues, 24 Hours, this epic extended sequence shows a group of customers in a diner slowly driven insane and then brutally killed by the villainous Doctor Destiny using Dream’s stolen ruby.  This entire chapter is masterfully portrayed and you cannot help but shudder at every atrocity the innocent patrons experience during the worst 24 hours of their lives.  This trippy diner sequence was recently adapted in the recent The Sandman television series, and while that was good, especially with David Thewlis playing Doctor Destiny, I felt that the version in the comics was even darker and creepier.  This, and a several other dark scenes, ensure The Sandman an honourable mention on this list and this comic and its audiobook adaptation are highly recommended for all horror fans.

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A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal

A History of the Vampire Uprising Cover

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Death of the Black Widow by James Patterson and J. D. Barker

Death of the Black Widow Cover

Another entry that is not a full horror book, but which features amazing horror elements is the recent novel by James Patterson and J. D. Barker, Death of the Black Widow.  Following a young cop who becomes obsessed with a mysterious woman he encounters on his first day on the job, Death of Black Widow is a twisty and intriguing read that takes the protagonist on a dangerous journey to the edge of sanity.  Initially portrayed as a compelling thriller story, this book eventually develops some excellent horror elements, which led me to include it as an honourable mention.  Extremely addictive, I loved this thriller/horror blend and I look forward to reading more books from this excellent team of writers.

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Top Ten List (unranked):

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Into the Drowning Deep Cover

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Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Patient Zero Cover

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The Dark by Jeremy Robinson

The Dark Cover

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Warhammer 40,000: The Bookkeeper’s Skull by Justin D. Hill

The Bookkeeper's Skull Cover

One of the more recent horror books I had the pleasure of reading was The Bookkeeper’s Skull by Justin D. Hill.  Part of the intriguing Warhammer Horror subseries, The Bookkeeper’s Skull is a haunting and brilliant tale that makes full use of the grim Warhammer 40,000 setting.  The book follows a planetary enforcer as he investigates a mysterious and cursed agricultural community plagued by a series of gruesome murders.  Hill creates a spooky and malevolent atmosphere, and you are constantly left wondering who is going to end up dead next.  Tightly paced and featuring some brilliantly dark examinations of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, The Bookkeeper’s Skull was an amazing read and I look forward to exploring more Warhammer Horror books in the future.

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The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

The Anomaly Cover

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Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Code Zero Cover

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World War Z by Max Brooks

World War Z Cover 2

After years of hearing how awesome it was, I finally got around to enjoying the iconic zombie novel, World War Z by Max Brooks.  One of the more unique zombie books out there, World War Z recounts the history a devastating, world-wide zombie apocalypse and the various people it impacts.  Told through a brilliant chronicle method where multiple interesting characters recount their distinctive personal stories, you get an impressive, multifaceted narrative that covers the beginning, middle and end of the zombie wars.  Epic in its scope and filled with some great stories and characters, it honestly does not take long to get extremely addicted to World War Z.  While the focus is more on exploring the impacts a zombie apocalypse would have on the world, World War Z does have some pretty creepy moment.  The darker tales of underwater zombies, massacres of modern armies, and the mental turmoil suffered by zombie survivors, are excellent horror material that makes this an easy book to include here.  An epic and outstanding book that lived up to all the hype surrounding it.

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Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber

deathtrooperscover

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Devolution by Max Brooks

Devolution Cover

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Ink by Jonathan Maberry

Ink Cover

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That’s the end of this latest Top Ten Tuesday list.  I think that the new horror novels were great additions to the list, and I think this new version of the list turned out really well.  Each of the above novels, both new inclusions and existing ones, are outstanding reads that come highly recommended to all horror fans.  I look forward to seeing how this list evolves once again this time next year, especially as I am sure some amazing and spinetingling horror books are likely to come out in the next 12 months.