Tag: Max Brooks

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Horror Novels (Halloween 2024)

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Horror, List6 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 them is encouraged.  So, with that in mind, I thought I would take this opportunity to update some previous lists where I highlighted my favourite horror novels.

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 absolute favourite genre, I ended up producing a rather interesting list with some unique entries that I was very happy with.  I must admit that many of my entries are hybrid books which combine horror elements with other genres I prefer to read, however, I think they make for good Halloween fare.  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 produced some interesting updates to this list in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and I have once again decided to come back to it again this year, 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 and while I was sad to see some of the previously featured novels removed, I honestly felt that the new entries are better overall horror novels.  This resulted in a fun new version of this list, and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Honourable Mentions:

You Like it Darker by Stephen King

The master of horror, Stephen King, is going to appear a few times on this list, primarily because I’ve been having an epic time reading more of his stuff lately.  One of the first books on this list is the recent short story collection, You Like it Darker, which gets an honourable mention here.  Featuring a range of compelling and powerful stories, including some very memorable dark reads and even a sequel to the classic novel Cujo, You Like it Darker is an amazing horror book for all fans of Stephen King.

Amazon

 

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

While more of a fantasy/superhero story than a pure horror comic, The Sandman did have some amazing horror sequences in it, including the infamous diner scene.  These horror elements are greatly enhanced in the full-cast audiobook and you will end up cringing away from how dark this gothic comic gets.  I also must highlight the Act II and Act III audiobooks that were released in subsequent years, especially as they also featured great stories and terrifying scenes.

Amazon

 

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

Fans of this blog will know I’m a big thing of all things Warhammer, and that includes the intriguing Warhammer Horror range.  I’ve only read a couple of these so far, but my favourite is The Bookkeeper’s Skull by Justin D. Hill.  A haunting and brilliant tale that makes full use of the grim Warhammer 40,000 setting, The Bookkeeper’s Skull was an amazing read, and I look forward to exploring more Warhammer Horror books in the future.

Amazon

 

Ink by Jonathan Maberry

I had to feature one of Maberry’s best pure horror reads, Ink in the honourable mentions. While most of the other Maberry novels with horror elements focus either on zombies or Lovecraftian monsters, Ink features a particularly horrendous tale of a depraved being who steals a person’s tattoos and the precious memories associated with them.  Set in one of Maberry’s most iconic settings, Ink had a very disturbing narrative, and I deeply appreciated this unique book.

Amazon

Top Ten List (unranked):

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

I think it says a lot about my horror choices that the first book on my list is about killer mermaids.  Into the Drowning Deep is exceptional book that actually turns a mermaid attack into a pretty terrifying experience.  Grant did an amazing job of this book and Into the Drowning Deep comes very highly recommended.

Amazon

 

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Patient Zero Cover

I had a ton of awesome Jonathan Maberry novels that I could have featured on this list, but the obvious choice was the fantastically dark thriller Patient Zero.  An epic book that features an elite counterterrorist unit as they attempt to stop terrorists spreading a deadly zombie virus across America, Patient Zero was the first book in a brilliant science fiction thriller series, all of which have a great horror edge to them.  I have a lot of love for the thriller aspects of Patient Zero, however, the highlights of this book are the gruesome and terrifying zombie sequences, which sees the protagonists get overwhelmed by hordes of the infected.  This results in some truly impressive horror scenes, and I had to include this book on my list as a result.

Amazon

 

Holly by Stephen King

Holly Cover

One of my favourite books from horror icon Stephen King, Holly, is primarily a thriller that sees the titular protagonist investigate a missing persons case.  However, there are some devastatingly insidious and horrifying elements loaded into the story, especially with how exceptionally evil the excellent antagonists were.  I found myself shuddering multiple times throughout the course of Holly and if that doesn’t make it a horror book, I don’t know what will.  This was easily one of the best books and audiobooks of 2023, and I had to feature it on this list as a result.

Amazon

 

The Dark by Jeremy Robinson

I had to add this brilliant and compelling horror/science fiction read onto this list.  The Dark is one of the best novels I have so far read from author Jeremy Robinson that focuses on an apparent demonic invasion of Earth.  Filled with gore, monsters and body mutations, The Dark gets pretty gruesome and scary in places, which blends perfectly with the intense action and Robinson’s quirky humour.  An outstanding read, this fantastic horror novel comes highly recommended and was one of my top novels and audiobooks of 2021.

Amazon

 

The Gathering by C. J. Tudor

One of the newer entries on this list is the impressive and memorable novel The Gathering by C. J. Tudor.  A complex murder mystery set in a remote Alaskan town, The Gathering follows a vampyr expert as they attempt to determine whether a teenage was killed by members of the local vampyr colony, or other outside forces.  Cleverly introducing a vampire focused alternate history and using it as a basis for a tense and fascinating mystery, The Gathering was an exceptional read that perfectly utilised its horror elements to enhance the entire thrilling narrative.

Amazon

 

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

The Anomaly is an excellent horror novel from 2018 which follows an unfortunate film crew after they get trapped in a series of ancient caves and are forced to face the terrible horrors waiting for them inside.  There are a lot of amazing elements to this book, but I personally appreciated the intense and claustrophobic atmosphere that Rutger was able to produce, especially as most of the novel takes place in the dark.  Highly recommended, especially in its audiobook format that deeply enhances the claustrophobic nature of the story.

Amazon

 

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, especially on audiobook which features an extremely stacked cast.  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.

Amazon

 

Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber

I am a big fan of Star Wars fiction, but I had never been scared while reading a Star Wars novel until I came across Death Troopers.  Death Troopers is part of the Star Wars Legends canon and features an Imperial prison ship, which of course contains Han and Chewie, encountering an abandoned Star Destroyer filled with a zombified crew.  Watching a bunch of Star Wars characters attempt to escape from zombies is really cool, and Schreiber comes up with a number of gruesome scenes that will definitely stick in your mind.  Also, if you really want to get a fright out of this book, make sure to check out the audiobook version of Death Troopers, as the various sound effects they include are extremely disturbing.

Amazon

 

Devolution by Max Brooks

In addition to World War Z, Max Brooks also gets featured on this list for the brilliant novel Devolution.  Expertly making use of a whole new horror monster when he explores the fate of an isolated community who are attacked by a tribe of sasquatches, Brooks really turns these creatures into a frightening and deadly force of nature, and readers are in for an exciting and well-written tale of survival and brutality.

Amazon

 

The Outsider by Stephen King

The final book I want to highlight is the incredible Stephen King book, The Outsider.  An extremely tense and disturbing thriller, The Outsider features a captivating narrative that sees local town hero charged with the gruesome murder of a child, with ironclad evidence indicating that he did it.  However, the suspect continues to plead his innocence and has an impossibly perfect alibi for the time of the murder.  While primarily a thriller, there is some brilliant initial personal horror as you witness a potentially innocent man and town hero so thoroughly painted as a monster before your eyes.  King pivots to more supernatural horror elements as the book progresses, which fits perfectly with the dark narrative already ongoing, and the result is an exceptional book that proves deeply disturbing on multiple levels.  An incredible read and a worthy final entry on this list.

Amazon

 

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.

Quick Review – Tiger Chair by Max Brooks

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Quick Review, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Thriller1 Comment

Tiger Chair Cover

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories (ebook – 1 June 2024)

Series: Standalone

Length: 50 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Amazon

I was recently lucky enough to receive a copy of the new short story from acclaimed author Max Brooks, Tiger Chair, which instantly grabbed my attention.  Brooks is an author I have a lot of love for, especially as his two main novels are huge favourites of mine.  This includes his most iconic work, World War Z, which I had an exceptional time listening to a few years ago due to its complex story and the impressive array of celebrity narrators associated with the audiobook version of it.  Brooks followed this up a couple of years ago with the compelling horror read, Devolution, that saw an isolated community attacked by sasquatches in an outstanding and exciting read.  Devolution ended up being one of my favourite books of 2020 and ensured that I would check out anything else that came my way from Brooks.  As such, I made sure to read through Tiger Chair as soon as a got it, as I was intrigued by the content.

Plot Synopsis:

When China invades America, guerrilla warfare explodes on the streets of Los Angeles in this provocative short story about the future of war from Max Brooks, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of World War Z.

China thought it would be a quick war, an easy war. But now, years later, as the insurgency on the streets of Los Angeles escalates but the propaganda never changes, a Chinese officer can’t keep silent any longer. Torn between loyalty to his country and loyalty to his troops, he writes a brutally honest—and possibly suicidal—letter home to unmask the truth.

Brooks combines his signature meticulous research with unforgettable characters in this landmark work of speculative fiction.

This was a very interesting read from Brooks that I was able to power through in a short amount of time.  Set in the future, Tiger Chair is written as a secret letter from a Chinese officer involved in a fictional invasion of the United States to a friend back home.  In this letter, the officer describes the various hardships of the invasion, including the escalating insurgency in Los Angeles, who are pushing his soldiers to the limit with their intense attacks and low-tech strategies.  However, his priority in writing this potentially treasonous letter is to highlight his despair at the ineffective and inflexible strategies of his side, which care more for propaganda than the lives of their soldiers and the civilians, and his desire to see the war come to an end.

I felt this was a rather interesting choice of story for Brooks to write, and it reminded me of the cynical memories of a professional soldier during the zombie wars of World War Z.  Brooks paints a grim and gritty story of survival and duty in the Tiger Chair, and you can easily feel the frustration and fear of the protagonist as he attempts to highlight his feelings about how the war is being run and the various lies he and his soldiers have been fed by their superiors.  The author really captures the way that the protagonist is caught between loyalty to his country and his anger at how events have unfolded, especially as he is powerless to impart any effective change to the situation.

I was quite impressed by the various scenarios that Brooks imagined for this future war in Tiger Chair, and his vision for how events might unfold in this scenario, as well as the technology that would be utilised for it, is very fascinating.  While I am sure that there will be some criticism of Brooks trying to imagine the feelings of Chinese soldiers in a war they might not even undertake, I felt that the Tiger Chair was more of a general warning about the futilities of war, and the frustrations of the lower ranks at the mistakes of their politically motivated superiors.  Indeed, many of the issues the protagonist raises could be applied to many other historical or current wars, and there are several allusions to them in the plot.

Brooks does also attempt to get into the Chinese mindset, which I honestly think he did a good job of considering he had less than 50 pages in which to do so.  There is an interesting examination of the national identity and how their history and culture would influence them into going to war, and the various opinions people within the country would have about these battles.  Brooks also includes some commentary of recent well-known events and controversies involving China, which is more geared towards central criticism than specific critiques of the Chinese.  For example, while he mentions the way in which China influences American media and movies for their own purposes, the protagonist’s resulting criticism are more directed towards the media companies that allowed them to happen as they sacrificed their principles for money.  These and other observations an about current society are quite interesting and make for quite a compelling story.

Overall, I felt that Tiger Chair was a compelling and intense short story from Brooks that brings together some intriguing ideas and predictions.  While I probably would have avoided Tiger Chair if it weren’t Brooks writing it, mainly because I prefer full-length novels to short stories, I’m glad I checked this out, and it ended up being a fascinating and powerful read.

Amazon

Top Ten Tuesday – Authors I’d Love a New Book From

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List2 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants are tasked with listing the top authors that they’d love a new book from.  This could be because the author hasn’t written anything for a while, has passed away, or because the blogger has loved the author’s work so much that they have outpaced their writing.

This proved to be a rather interesting topic to pull together and I was eventually able to come up with a good ten entries, including my typical honourable mention section.  I ended up with a good mixture of authors, many of whom haven’t released a book quick enough for my liking for various reasons.  I have cheated a little bit in places when it comes to some writers, but I did try to avoid authors who had a new book out in the last year, even if said book wasn’t part of a series that I was interested in.  I think my final list turned out rather well and there are several awesome authors I wish I could get a new book from.

Honourable Mentions:

Brian McClellan

In the Shadow of Lightning Cover

I really enjoyed McClellan’s last book, In the Shadow of Lightning, and I am desperate for a sequel.  However, I should also read his Powder Mage series properly to get some epic fantasy adventures.

 

Andrew Shvarts

It Ends in Fire Cover 2

Shvarts is an excellent young adult fantasy author who had been really growing on me thanks to his Royal Bastards trilogy (Royal Bastards, City of Bastards and War of the Bastards) and his standalone novel, It Ends in Fire.  Unfortunately, we haven’t had anything from Shvarts for a couple of years, which is a real shame.

 

Chris Wooding

The Shadow Casket Cover

Chris Wooding probably shouldn’t be on this list, considering he did have a book out last year.  However, I am extremely keen to get a copy of his next novel in his Darkwater Legacy series, especially after how good his first two books, The Ember Blade and The Shadow Casket, were.  I’m mostly including Wooding here because I know it will be a while until we get a third Darkwater Legacy novel, and I am very impatient.

 

Suzanne Collins

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Cover

I’m of the firm belief that there is even more that can be pulled from The Hunger Games universe, and I really hope Collins develops some additional awesome books.

Top Ten Tuesday:

Terry Pratchett

Guards! Guards! Cover

Let’s start this list off very strong with the late, great Terry Pratchett.  I have made it no secret that Terry Pratchett is one of my absolute favourite authors, and his books have been a big part of my literary journey, including inspiring the name of this blog.  I have had the great pleasure of reading all his books over the years many times, and if we could get at least one more, I would be very happy.  I would especially love another entry in the Discworld universe, mainly because there are still a few questions that need to be answered, but alas that is not to be.  As such, Pratchett was the easiest choice I made for this entire list, and I am sure many other readers out there would agree with my desire for another Pratchett novel.

 

Jim Butcher

Battle Ground Cover

The second entry on this list is another pretty obvious one for me, as I have been absolutely powering through Jim Butcher’s iconic Dresden Files series the last couple of years.  All 17 books in this series, such as Storm Front, Dead Beat, Changes and Skin Game have been so damn epic, and I have loved every second I spent reading it.  However, we haven’t had a new Dresden Files book since 2020, when the last two books, Peace Talks and Battle Ground came out.  Now that I have read through the entire series, I am desperate for a new book, and the 18th entry in the series cannot come soon enough.

 

Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind Cover

An author who will no doubt appear on many participants lists is Patrick Rothfuss.  An excellent writer of epic fantasy fiction, Rothfuss deeply impressed readers with his first two novels, The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear, both of which are part of his iconic Kingkiller Chronicles.  Unfortunately, we have not had a new book in the series since The Wise Man’s Fear came out in 2011, and people are very, very keen for a third entry.  While Rothfuss did recently release the novella, The Narrow Road Between Desires, I would give anything to finally get my hands on the long promised third book, The Doors of Stone.

 

Sam Hawke

Hollow Empire Cover 2

One series I have been particularly upset not to see anything from recently is the Poison War series by Sam Hawke.  Hawke really impressed me with her first two novels, City of Lies and Hollow Empire, and I have been eagerly awaiting a third entry in the series, or even a new book from Hawke, for a while.  Unfortunately, we haven’t had anything from Hawke since 2020, and I hope that changes at some point in the future.

 

Max Brooks

Devolution Cover

Max Brooks is another great author who hasn’t written a new novel for a while.  Brooks, who shot to fame with the exceptional World War Z, has only really written another full novel, Devolution, which was another amazing book.  Devolution came out in 2020 and that was the last book we’ve seen from Brooks, excluding his Minecraft novels (I might be a snob by leaving them out, but oh well).  I would absolutely love another clever horror novel or unique thriller from Brooks, and hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later.  Brooks does have a cool sounding novella coming out later this year, so that might hold me over for a while.

 

Joe Abercrombie

The Wisdom of Crowds Cover

I am a huge fan of Joe Abercrombie, and his awesome and addictive dark fantasy novels are so damn good, especially those that are part of his First Law universe.  His last trilogy, the Age of Madness books (A Little Hatred, The Trouble With Peace and The Wisdom of Crowds), were particularly epic, and Abercrombie left The Wisdom of Crowds on an intriguing note.  However, it has now been three years since we’ve seen a new book from Abercrombie, and I am really eager to see more from him.  Abercrombie does have a new book, The Devils, coming out next year, and while it’s not part of the First Law series, I cannot wait to check it out.

 

Scott Lynch

The Lies of Locke Lamora Cover

Another major author who many people would include on this list is Scott Lynch, whose Gentleman Bastards series has inspired many fantasy fans.  Made up of The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies and The Republic of Thieves, the Gentleman Bastards novels are so damn good, and I had an amazing time reading them.  Unfortunately, it has been over 10 years since we got a new entry, and the fourth book, The Thorn of Emberlain, still has no firm release date.  Many fantasy fans, including myself, are still hopeful that we will get The Thorn of Emberlain at some point, and I know I am going to love it when it finally comes out.

 

Timothy Zahn

Thrawn Cover

After falling in love with his epic Star Wars novels, including Thrawn, Alliances, Treason, Chaos Rising, Greater Good, Lesser Evil and Scoundrels, I would love another book from Zahn, especially if he returns to the Star Wars universe again.  I think there is a need for Zahn’s talents in the Star Wars extended fiction space, especially as his most iconic character, Grand Admiral Thrawn, recently had his live action debut in the Ahsoka television series.

 

Nick Martell

The Voyage of the Forgotten Cover

Nick Martell is an author who greatly impressed me over the last few years.  His debut trilogy, the Legacy of the Mercenary Kings series, was exceptional, and I loved the elaborate story he told.  All three books, including The Kingdom of Liars (one of my favourite books, debuts and audiobooks of 2020), The Two-Faced Queen (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021) and The Voyage of the Forgotten (one of my favourite books of 2022), were exceedingly good, and I had an outstanding time reading them.  However, it has been nearly two years since Martell’s last book, and we have yet to have any details about his future works.  While I don’t want to rush Martell, I sure would love another book from him, especially if it continues the elaborate narrative he set up in his initial trilogy.

 

Andy Weir

Project Hail Mary Cover

The last entry on this list is acclaimed science fiction author Andy Weir.  Weir deeply impressed me with his 2021 novel, Project Hail Mary, which featured an exceptional and highly clever story, and I am also a big fan of his iconic book The Martian.  Due to these, Weir is on my instant-read list, and anything new that comes from him will be grabbed and enjoyed on sight.  However, we haven’ seen anything from him for a while, and I hope that he pulls something together soon.  Still Weir is known for having a big gap between books, so I’m sure something will turn up at some point.

 

 

That’s the end of my list.  As you can see, there are several great authors I would love another book from, and hopefully I won’t have to wait too long for some of them.  I think this list turned out great, and I look forward to seeing which of these authors will provide me my desired book first.  Let me know which authors you would love another book from in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Horror Novels (Halloween 2023)

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Horror, List7 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 some previous lists 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.  I must admit that many of my entries are hybrid books which combine horror elements with other genres I prefer to read, however, I think they make for good Halloween fare.  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 a good update to it in 2021 and 2022 with several awesome novels, and I have decided to come back to it again in 2023, 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 and while I was sad to see some of the previously featured novels removed, I honestly felt that the new entries are better overall 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

An excellent read from one horror mastermind Stephen King.  While primarily a character-driven story about a complicated youth’s life, Later gets pretty scary in places especially once the protagonist encounters true evil.  A deeply compelling read with some interesting connections to one of King’s most iconic horror novels, this is an excellent and unique book that is worth reading.

Amazon

 

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Sandman Act 1 Cover

While more of a fantasy/superhero story than a pure horror comic, The Sandman did have some amazing horror sequences in it, including the infamous diner scene.  These horror elements are greatly enhanced in the full-cast audiobook and you will end up cringing away from how dark this gothic comic gets. 

Amazon

 

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

How to Sell a Haunted House Cover

One of horrors most compelling current authors, Grady Hendrix, came up with a brilliant book earlier this year that really showcased his appreciated for the horror genre.  A fantastic and spooky examination of haunted house stories, How to Sell a Haunted House was gripping and creepy from the get-go and I loved it, even if I will never look at puppets the same way again.

Amazon

 

Warhammer 40,000: Sepulturum by Nick Kyme

Warhammer 40,000 Sepulturum Cover

The epic Warhammer 40,000 universe features a range of intense and dark horror novels and one of my favourites is the compelling novel Sepulturum by Nick Kyme.  A terrifying read set in a grim city overrun by strange zombies, Sepulturum is a gripping read that showcases just how dark Warhammer fiction can get.

Amazon

Top Ten List (unranked):

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Into the Drowning Deep Cover

I think it says a lot about my horror choices that the first book on my list is about killer mermaids.  Into the Drowning Deep is exceptional book that actually turns a mermaid attack into a pretty terrifying experience.  Grant did an amazing job of this book and Into the Drowning Deep comes very highly recommended.

Amazon

 

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Patient Zero Cover

The first of two Jonathan Maberry novels I featured on this list, Patient Zero is an awesome book that features an elite counterterrorist unit as they attempt to stop terrorists spreading a deadly zombie virus across America.  I have a lot of love for the thriller aspects of Patient Zero, however, the highlights of this book are the gruesome and terrifying zombie sequences, which sees the protagonists get overwhelmed by hordes of the infected.  This results in some truly impressive horror scenes, and I had to include this book on my list as a result.

Amazon

 

The Dark by Jeremy Robinson

The Dark Cover

I had to add this brilliant and compelling horror/science fiction read onto this list.  The Dark is one of the best novels I have so far read from author Jeremy Robinson that focuses on an apparent demonic invasion of Earth.  Filled with gore, monsters and body mutations, The Dark gets pretty gruesome and scary in places, which blends perfectly with the intense action and Robinson’s quirky humour.  An outstanding read, this fantastic horror novel comes highly recommended and was one of my top novels and audiobooks of 2021.

Amazon

 

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

The Bookkeeper's Skull Cover

Another intriguing Warhammer Horror novel, 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 gritty depictions 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.

Amazon

 

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

The Anomaly Cover

The Anomaly is an excellent horror novel from 2018 which follows an unfortunate film crew after they get trapped in a series of ancient caves and are forced to face the terrible horrors waiting for them inside.  There are a lot of amazing elements to this book, but I personally appreciated the intense and claustrophobic atmosphere that Rutger was able to produce, especially as most of the novel takes place in the dark.

Amazon

 

Holly by Stephen King

Holly Cover

The latest book from Stephen King, Holly is primarily a thriller that sees the titular protagonist investigate a missing persons case.  However, there are some devastatingly insidious and horrifying elements loaded into the story, especially with how exceptionally evil the excellent antagonists were.  I found myself shuddering multiple times throughout the course of Holly and if that doesn’t make it a horror book I don’t know what will.  This was easily one of the best books I have read all year and I must include it on this horror list as well.

Amazon

 

World War Z by Max Brooks

World War Z Cover 2

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.

Amazon

 

Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber

deathtrooperscover

I am a big fan of Star Wars fiction, but I had never been scared while reading a Star Wars novel until I came across Death Troopers.  Death Troopers is part of the Star Wars Legends canon and features an Imperial prison ship, which of course contains Han and Chewie, encountering an abandoned Star Destroyer filled with a zombified crew.  Watching a bunch of Star Wars characters attempt to escape from zombies is really cool, and Schreiber comes up with a number of gruesome scenes that will definitely stick in your mind.  Also, if you really want to get a fright out of this book, make sure to check out the audiobook version of Death Troopers, as the various sound effects they include are extremely disturbing.

Amazon

 

Devolution by Max Brooks

Devolution Cover

In addition to World War Z author Max Brooks expertly makes use of a whole new horror monster when he explores the fate of an isolated community who are attacked by a tribe of sasquatches in Devolution.  Brooks really turns these creatures into a frightening and deadly force of nature, and readers are in for an exciting and well-written tale of survival and brutality.

Amazon

 

Ink by Jonathan Maberry

Ink Cover

For the final entry on this list there was no way I could exclude one of Maberry’s best pure horror reads, Ink.  While most of the other Maberry novels with horror elements focus either on zombies or Lovecraftian monsters, Ink features a particularly horrendous tale of a depraved being who steals a person’s tattoos and the precious memories associated with them.  Set in one of Maberry’s most iconic settings, Ink had a very disturbing narrative, and I deeply appreciated this unique and book that the author came up with.

Amazon

 

 

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.

Top Ten Tuesday – Books With One-Word Titles

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List4 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 week’s Top Ten Tuesday involved listing characters from different books that the participants believe should team up.  While this is certainly a unique list, it wasn’t anything I felt I could contribute to, so I instead went back and did the July 18 topic of books with one-word titles, which I missed a few weeks ago.

This is a simple, yet interesting topic that requires people to list their favourite books whose title is a single word.  This actually proved to be a rather difficult list for me to pull together, mainly because there are so many good books out there that have a single word title to them.  To make this easier, I tried to limit myself to only one entry from each author or series, although I did fail that in places.  Even with this limitation, I still ended up by a ton of books to use, so I went big and instead make this a full 20 book list.  I am pretty happy with how this turned out, so let us see what made the cut.

Top Twenty List:

Xenos by Dan Abnett

Warhammer 40,000 - Xenos Cover

A fantastic and complex thriller set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  All three books in the Eisenhorn trilogy (including Malleus and Hereticus) could be used here, but I decided to feature the first book only as it expertly sets the great series up.

Amazon

 

Legend by David Gemmell

Legend

A classic and exceptional piece of fantasy fiction that features one of the best sieges you’ll ever read.

Amazon

 

Burner by Mark Greaney

Burner Cover

There are several great books in Mark Greaney’s outstanding Gray Man series that have a one-word title, however, my favourite is probably the most recent entry Burner, which was an impressive read from start to finish.

Amazon

 

Homeland by R. A. Salvatore

Homeland Cover

Quite a few of Salvatore’s fantasy books only have one word in the title, however I had to include his very best book, Homeland, which serves a perfect origin story for his most iconic character.

Amazon

 

Tombland by C. J. Sansom

Tombland Cover

A gripping and exceptional historical murder mystery/legal thriller, Tombland was one of the best books of 2018.

Amazon

 

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Eragon Cover

I had to include at least one of the books from Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle on this list, as it is one of my very favourite fantasy series.  While all four books in the series could be featured here, I decided to go with Eragon, mainly because it serves as such an excellent introduction to this entire fun series.

Amazon

 

Devolution by Max Brooks

Devolution Cover

A very captivating and entertaining horror that cleverly features sasquatches as a terrifying and intriguing monster.

Amazon

 

Bloodlines by Chris Wraight

Warhammer 40,000 - Bloodlines Cover

One of the best novels in the outstanding Warhammer Crime series.

Amazon

 

Magician by Raymond E. Feist

Magician Cover

One of the seminal pieces of fantasy fiction out there, Magician is a brilliant read that honestly got me into the genre years ago.

Amazon

 

Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

Thrawn Cover

A highly entertaining novel that perfectly reintroduces the iconic Star Wars character of Grand Admiral Thrawn to the current canon.

Amazon

 

Outgunned by Denny Flowers

Warhammer 40,000 - Outgunned Cover

A powerful and moving Warhammer 40,000 novel that shines a whole new light on a unique battlefield in the chaotic future.

Amazon

 

Blackout by Simon Scarrow

Blackout Cover

An excellent and intense murder mystery set in Nazi controlled Berlin by one of my favourite historical fiction authors.

Amazon

 

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Skyward Cover

The first book in Sanderson’s awesome Skyward series, Skyward is a powerful and addictive read about a young girl who attempts to become a pilot to save her planet.  The sequels, Starsight and Cytonic, are also very good, and would have been worthy additions to this list.

Amazon

 

Later by Stephen King

Later Cover

A quick, compelling and highly entertaining read from the master of fiction, Stephen King.

Amazon

 

Necropolis by Dan Abnett

Warhammer 40,000 - Necropolis Cover

One of the best entries in the exceptional Gaunt’s Ghosts series of Warhammer 40,000 fiction, Necropolis is an outstanding siege novel that I powered through in no time at all.

Amazon

 

Relentless by Jonathan Maberry

Relentless Cover

While I was tempted to feature the first book in the Rogue Team International series, Rage, I decided to instead go with the sequel Relentless, as it has a much darker story with some major character moments.

Amazon

 

Planetside by Michael Mammay

Planetside Cover 2

A brilliant debut novel that followed a gruff solider as he investigated a sinister disappearance on an alien planet.  This was such a great read, and the sequels, Spaceside and Colonyside, would also be worthy additions here.

Amazon

 

Redshirts by John Scalzi

Redshirts Cover

A hilarious and captivating novel that cleverly parodies classic Star Trek tropes by telling a story from the perspective of a doomed redshirt.

Amazon

 

Recursion by Blake Crouch

Recursion Cover

One of the most intriguing and captivating science fiction novels I have ever read, I have so much love for this outstanding novel and its cool time travel concepts.

Amazon

 

Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn

Star Wars Scoundrels Cover

The final book I want to finish here is the fantastic standalone Star Wars novel, Scoundrels.  Set in the now defunct Star Wars Legends canon, Scoundrels is an awesome heist book featuring your favourite rogues, Han, Lando and Chewie.

Amazon

 

 

Well that’s the end of this latest list.  As you can see, there are a ton of brilliant books out there at feature a single-world titles and it is amazing the sheer variety of different novels I have read over the years that use this naming convention.  I think the above list does a great job capturing my absolute favourite single-word title novels, and I would strongly recommend all the above for anyone looking for an exceptional read.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobooks with Multiple Narrators

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, 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 topic of this week’s Top Ten Tuesday looked at books participants have read or wanted to read because of other Top Ten Tuesday posts.  While this is a very interesting topic, it’s not one that I felt I could really participate in.  However, I did have a couple of audiobook-focused lists I’d been cooking up in the background, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to post one here.

My list for this week revolves around audiobooks with multiple narrators.  Now fans of my blog will be well aware that I am a massive fan of the audiobook format, and I honestly find it the best way to enjoy a range of cool novels and series.  I have so much love for audiobooks, and a great narrator can exceptionally increase how much I enjoy an epic book.  In some particularly awesome cases, the audiobook format can feature more than one narrator, and that is what I want to focus this list on.  I have had the pleasure of listening to some very impressive audiobooks that feature a large cast of voice actors and frankly the range of voices and talents involved can add an even greater layer of awesomeness to the proceedings.  As such, I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to highlight some of the very vest multi-narrator audiobooks I have listened to so far.

To appear on this list, the audiobook in question had to have two or more narrators attached to it, with the second narrator having more than a cameo appearance to it.  I actually had quite a few options to include here, but I was eventually able to whittle it down to a satisfying top-ten list, with my typical generous honourable mentions section as well.  I think this list came up pretty well, and I really liked some of the books I selected.  All the below choices come very highly recommended on audiobook, and their great collection of narrators ensured that this format was particularly epic.

Honourable Mentions:

Caves of Ice, written by Sandy Mitchell and narrated by Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory

Caves of Ice Cover

Amazon

 

Dredge Runners, written by Alec Worley and narrated by Jon Rand, Paul Putner, Emma Noakes, Kelly Hotten, David Seddon and Andrew James Spooner

Dredge Runners

Amazon

 

Dark Sacred Night, written by Michael Connelly narrated by Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin

Dark Sacred Night Cover

Amazon

 

The Battle For Jedha, written by George Mann and performed by a full cast

Star Wars - The Battle of Jedha Cover

Amazon

Top Ten Tuesdsay:

For the Emperor, written by Sandy Mitchell and narrated by Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory

Warhammer 40,000 - For the Emperor Cover

Let us start off with one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks, For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell.  The first book in the acclaimed and hilarious Ciaphas Cain series, For the Emperor is a very entertaining novel that follows the exploits of a cowardly Commissar who has managed to convince everyone that he’s a brilliant war hero.  This is an extremely funny read, and it’s audiobook version is greatly enhanced by the use of its three narrators, Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory.  All three narrators are extremely good in their roles, and I love how they split the load, with Perring voicing much of the main story, Rawlins voicing hilarious notes from an outside observer, and Gregory voicing several intentionally badly written book excerpts in an over-the-top manner.  This unique narration works extremely well and you will fall down laughing as a result.  This cast (with a few more additions), lend their voices to the entire Ciaphas Cian series, and I look forward to checking out more entries in this series in the future, especially with this brilliant cast behind it.

Amazon

 

The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman and narrated by a full cast

Sandman Act 1 Cover

I had to include the first epic audio adaptation of the iconic Sandman comic here on this list, as it is a particularly exceptional listen.  This adaptation features a massive and highly talented voice cast to bring Gaiman’s elaborate story to life, including a cool mixture of celebrities and professional voice actors, who mesh extremely well together to tell a brilliant story.  Celebrities, including James McAvoy, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton, Andy Serkis, Michael Sheen and Riz Ahmed, as well as iconic audiobook narrators like Ray Porter, do an exceptional job bringing their characters to life, and in some cases they are even better than the live-action cast from the Netflix show.  I absolutely flew through this adaptation, and the sheer range of great voices involved is so damn epic you won’t be able to turn it off.

Amazon

 

World War Z, written by Max Brooks and narrated by a full cast

World War Z Cover

Another massive audiobook production that benefits incredibly from an extensive celebrity cast is the adaptation of the awesome zombie novel, World War Z.  This large cast works extremely well to bring Brooks’ interview-style story to life, as they each take on the role of a specific character being interviewed.  With Brooks acting as the interviewer, each of these actors tell their character’s specific story of the zombie apocalypse in impressive fashion, diving into their charaters and telling their terrifying tales.  Honestly all 30+ actors do an incredible job here, but some of the standouts include Alfred Molina as former astronaut (with a decent Australian accent), Alan Alda as a business strategist, Masi Oka as a Japanese otaku who is totally unprepared for the zombies, and Rob Reiner and an almost unrecognisable Simon Pegg as politicians.  However, my favourite is easily Mark Hamill, who has several of the best chapters as a jaded former solider caught up in the very worst moments of the war.  This cast is just exceptional, and their use in this audiobook turns this into a first-class listen.

Amazon

 

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

Ghazghkull Thraka - Prophet of the Waaagh! Cover

One Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that particularly benefitted from multiple narrators was the impressive and exceedingly fun Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh!.  Featuring a fantastic story that dives into the origins of a legendary figure in Warhammer 40,000 lore, this audiobook featured three talented narrators, Kelly Hotten, Paul Putner and Jon Rand.  These three narrators switched throughout the book, depending on which unique figure was the perspective character for that chapter.  This worked to really immerse the listener in the clever, multi-tiered narrative, and I had an awesome time listening to Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh! as a result.  This was one of my favourite books and audiobooks from 2022 and this fantastic narration is a very strong reason for that.

Amazon

 

Doctor Aphra, written by Sarah Kuhn and narrated by a full cast

Doctor Aphra Audio Cover

One thing that Star Wars fiction excels at it is producing high quality and addictive audiobook versions of their novels.  This is particularly true for their audio exclusive productions that feature huge casts of talented audiobook narrators, many of whom have lent their voices to previous Star Wars audiobooks.  One of the best was probably the impressive Doctor Aphra audio production, which served as a very clever and funny adaptation of several fantastic Star Wars comics.  I had an absolute blast with this production and the sheer range of cool voices that were featured throughout really enhanced the clever storytelling and witty humour.  While there were several distinctive narrators for this production, the standout was probably Emily Woo Zeller, who voiced the titular protagonist and provided a perfect and fantastic take on the opportunistic archaeologist.  A must listen for all Star Wars fans, especially if you’ve had the pleasure of reading the Doctor Aphra comics.

Amazon

 

Engines of Empire, written by Richard S. Ford and narrated by Alison Campbell, Ciaran Saward, Phoebe McIntosh, Ewan Goddard, Andrew Kingston, Martin Reeve and Stephen Perry.

Engines of Empire Cover

One of the more unique fantasy audiobooks from last year was the awesome Engines of Empire, which told a story of revolution and betrayal in a fresh new fantasy realm.  This audiobook featured a huge cast of point of view characters, and the audiobook production seeks to enhance that by featuring a large group of narrators.  Each narrator voices the chapter told from a specific character, helping to create a rich and powerful audio tapestry as they capture the personalities of their respective protagonists.  This helps to turn the Engines of Empire audiobook into a great listen and I really had fun with it as a result.

Amazon

 

Tempest Runner, written by Cavan Scott and narrated by a full cast

Star Wars - Tempest Runner Cover

Another excellent Star Wars audio production with a large cast was the excellent Tempest Runner by Cavan Scott.  A fun addition to the High Republic subseries of Star Wars fiction, Tempest Runner followed one of the standout villains of the previous books and gives some fantastic context to her actions.  Tempest Runner featured an awesome cast of actors, and I loved some of the great performances that emerged.  Standouts included Jessica Almasy, who voiced the main character, January LaVoy who voiced a spiteful antagonist, and the leading Star Wars narrators, Marc Thompson and Jonathan Davies, who bring their very impressive skills to the fore again.  An outstanding audiobook that makes perfect use of its exceptional cast.

Amazon

 

The Night Fire, written by Michael Connelly, narrated by Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin

The Night Fire Cover

I have had fun with several of Michael Connelly’s audiobooks in recent years, but some of my favourites have to be the Ballard and Bosch books, that bring together two of Connelly’s best police protagonists.  One of the things that make these audiobooks so cool are the use of dual narrators, Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin, who do a particularly awesome job in the second Ballard and Bosch book, The Night Fire.  The audiobook is evenly split between each of the characters, so Welliver and Lakin split the narration down the middle, with Welliver voicing all the chapters from Bosch’s perspective, while Lakin takes on Ballard’s chapters.  This helps to produce a very intriguing and compelling audiobook, with both actors inhabiting their respective role perfectly (unsurprisingly for Welliver, who plays Bosch in the recent television adaption).  I absolutely flew through this audiobook and I cannot recommend this format enough when enjoying the epic Ballard and Bosch crossovers.

Amazon

 

The Way of Kings, written by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading

WAY OF KINGS MM REV FINAL.indd

Another great audiobook that benefited from two separated narrators was the massive and iconic fantasy read, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.  I had a brilliant time listening to The Way of Kings in this format, especially as the audiobook allows for a greater appreciation of all the detail Sanderson chucked in, and the dual narrators of Michael Kramer and Kate Reading definitely helped here.  Kramer and Reading split their duties along gender lines, with Kramer narrating all the chapters and interludes told from a male perspective, while Reading does the same for the parts of the book told from the female perspective.  This helps to produce a very elaborate listen, especially as both narrators are particularly skilled, and I liked having a variety of voices in this extremely long audiobook.  This is such a great way to enjoy this fantatic novel, and you will have an awesome time with these two narrators.

Amazon

 

Dooku: Jedi Lost, written by Cavan Scott and narrated by a full cast

Dooku - Jedi Lost Cover

The final multi-narrator audio production I wanted to highlight here is the Star Wars audiobook, Dooku: Jedi Lost.  Diving into the past of iconic Star Wars villain Count Dooku, Jedi Lost was an excellent and entertaining listen, that features a brilliant cast of voice actors who bring several fantastic figures from the canon to life.  This includes Euan Morton, who breaths great life into the titular Count Dooku, Orlagh Cassidy who has a great take on fan favourite villainess Asajji Ventress, and Jonathan Davis and Marc Thompson, whose respective portrayals of Qui-Gon Jinn and Yoda, are pretty damn spot on.  I had such a great time with this Star Wars production, and you have to love the dedication and power that the big cast of voice actors really brought to the table.

Amazon

 

 

That is the end of this latest list highlighting some of my favourite audiobooks that feature multiple narrators.  Let me know what you think in the comments below and make sure to recommend your favourite audiobooks with a range of narrators behind it.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Pre-2022 Novels

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List7 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  This week participants of Top Ten Tuesday get a freebie to list whatever topics they want.  So, I am going to take this opportunity to start my annual end-of-year lists here by looking at my favourite pre-2022 novels that I read this year.

Each December I have a lot of fun looking at some of the best and most impressive books and comics that I have read throughout the year in a series of Top Ten Lists.  While these lists usually focus on 2022 releases, for the last few years, I have also taken the time to list out some of the best novels with pre-2022 release dates that I have read in the last 12 months.  There are some excellent older novels out there that I haven’t had the chance to read before this year, and it is always fun to go back and explore them.  I ended up reading a bunch of awesome older books throughout 2022, including some pretty incredible novels that got easy five-star ratings from me and are really worth checking out.

To come up with this list I had a look at all the novels I read this year that had their initial release before 2022.  This list includes a range of pre-2022 releases, including quite a few that I had been meaning to read for a while.  I was eventually able to cull this down to a workable Top Ten list, with a descent honourable mentions section.  This new list ended up containing an interesting combination of novels, although there was a bit of an overload of entries from the Dresden Files’ series by Jim Butcher, as well as some Warhammer 40,000 novels, both of which I really got into throughout this year.  Still this honestly reflects the best pre-2022 novels I read throughout the year, so let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

Space Wolf by William King – 1999

Space Wolf Cover

I was lucky enough to find a copy of this book in a second-hand shop and started reading it as soon as I could.  A brilliant start to a great Warhammer 40,000 series about a group of Viking inspired, werewolf Space Marines, Space Wolf was an awesome, classic Warhammer read that I am really glad I got a chance to read.

Amazon

 

Tribe by Jeremy Robinson – 2019

Tribe Cover 2

After having an epic time with Jeremy Robinson’s epic 2021 novels, The Dark and Mind Bullet, I went back to check out the preceding novel, Tribe.  Following a mismatched pair of newly discovered Greek demi-gods as they are chased by a deranged cult, Tribe was a fun and fast-paced read, loaded with so much action and excitement.  I can’t wait to continue this series in the future, as everything Robinson writes is pure fun.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Dredge Runners by Alec Worley – 2020

Dredge Runners

A compelling and impressive Warhammer 40,000 audiobook presentation, Dredge Runners was a clever listen that followed two dangerous abhuman criminals as they navigate the deadly underbelly of an industrial planet.  Thanks to a clever story and some amazing narrators, this was an outstanding presentation, although I left it as an honourable mention due to it being a short story.  However, it did inspire me to check out Worley’s follow-up release, the 2022 book The Wraithbone Phoenix, which was particularly epic.

Amazon

 

Unforgiven by Sarah Barrie – 2021

Unforgiven Cover

A dark and captivating Australian crime thriller from last year, Unforgiven was an excellent book I checked out towards the start of 2022, which proved to be a gritty and memorable read.

Amazon     Book Depository

Top Ten List (by original publication year):

Vampireslayer by William King – 2001

Vampireslayer Cover

This year I made an effort to continue the excellent Gotrek and Felix series that was part of the awesome Warhammer Fantasy franchise.  Following on from such fantastic reads as Trollslayer, Skavenslayer, Daemonslayer, Dragonslayer and Beastslayer, Vampireslayer was a particularly epic entry in this series, that saw the protagonists chase a powerful vampire across the continent to most dangerous place imaginable.  A quick paced and exciting novel that explored vampires in the Warhammer Fantasy setting, Vampireslayer was an excellent read and one I powered through very quickly.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill – 2002

Storm of Iron Cover 2

I was in the mood for some cool siege warfare this year, so I turned to the outstanding sounding Warhammer 40,000 book, Storm of Iron by one of the franchises best authors, Graham McNeill.  Storm of Iron sees a vast futuristic citadel besieged by the Iron Warriors, legendary siege experts, resulting in a massive and bloody battle to the very end.  I had an outstanding time with this elaborate and wildly entertaining read, especially as McNeill did a wonderful job setting the focus on the villains and showcasing their twisted tales.  A highly recommended read, this is easily one of the best siege novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Amazon

 

Death Masks by Jim Butcher – 2003

Death Masks Cover

After all the amazing fun I’ve been having with Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files (see my reviews for Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Battle Ground and The Law), I had to continue this series in 2022 and I am exceedingly happy that I did.  I started by going back to the fifth book in the outstanding urban fantasy series, Death Mask, which placed the protagonist in the middle of a bloody battle to recover a sacred artifact from criminals and fallen angels.  Tense, powerful and so much fun, this was a particularly epic entry in the series, and I had an exceptional time reading it.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher – 2004

Blood Rite Cover

I had so much fun with Death Masks that I immediately listened to the next book in the Dresden Files series, Blood Rites, which saw the protagonist once again tangling with vampires.  While this was one of the more controversial entries in the series, I deeply enjoyed it, especially as Butcher featured several great enemies, a compelling murder mystery, and some major revelations that will haunt the protagonist for books to come.  A very fun and highly addictive read, I can’t wait to get through more of these books in the new year.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

World War Z by Max Brooks – 2006

World War Z Cover 2

I finally got the chance to listen to the iconic zombie novel, World War Z, by Max Brooks, who previously impressed me with Devolution.  World War Z lived up to all the hype surrounding it as it explored a world-ending zombie apocalypse through a series of testimonials from survivors on the ground.  Extremely clever and highly inventive, this was an exceptional book, and it is made even better by its epic audiobook format which contains a ton of brilliant actors doing the narration.  Easily one of the best books I have read in a long time, World War Z comes highly recommended and I am exceedingly glad I managed to listen to it this year.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno – 2012

Star Wars - Darth Plagueis Cover

I was in a Star Wars mood earlier this year, so I went back and listened to the deeply intriguing Star Wars Legends novel, Darth Plagueis.  Telling the story of the Emperor’s hidden master, Darth Plagueis, this is a very compelling read that explores a never before seen figure in Star Wars lore, while also giving some insight into his apprentice, Darth Sidious.  Despite no longer being canon, this is a very compelling read for Star Wars fans, and I loved how it filled in several gaps in the Legends lore.  Highly recommended, this is one of the best Star Wars books I have ever read.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Van Horstmann by Ben Counter – 2013

Van Horstmann Cover

Warhammer Fantasy fiction really does not get much better than the clever standalone read, Van Horstmann by Ben Counter.  A twisted tale of ambition, revenge and change, Van Horstmann gives history to an old-school character from the Warhammer game and showed the reader his complex youth as a student wizard in the enlightened and pure Light Order.  However, Van Horstmann has his own plans, which see him burn the order down from the inside to get what he wants most in the world.  This was a brilliant and very intense read, and I loved all the awesome twists and turns that Counter featured throughout it.

Amazon

 

Star Wars: Kenobi by John Jackson Miller – 2013

Star Wars - Kenobi Cover

Another excellent Star Wars Legends book I checked out this year was the intriguing Kenobi by John Jackson Miller.  An outstanding, currently non-canon, book that explored the early years of Kenobi’s exile, this great read sees the titular character caught up in all manner of trouble as he tries to settle down on Tatooine.  I mainly read it in preparation for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series this year, but this book really stands on its own and is very much worth a read.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Dragon Mage by M. L. Spencer – 2020

Dragon Mage Cover

The most recent pre-2022 book I read was Dragon Mage by M. L. Spencer, a massive fantasy epic that has been on my radar for a while.  Following a gifted protagonist and his friend as they discover their inner magic and learn to ride dragons, Dragon Mage is a highly compelling read with a great, classic fantasy vibe to it.  While it took me a while to get through this book, it was extremely worth it, and I am very happy I managed to cross this off my to-read list this year.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

The Sandman – Act 1 by Neil Gaiman – 2020

Sandman Act 1 Cover

The final entry on this list is the audiobook adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s epic comic series, The Sandman.  Read by an all-star cast, this audiobook production perfectly brought to life the first several The Sandman comics and told the elaborate story of Dream, who is captured and imprisoned by a magician, who must escape and reclaim his kingdom.  I loved the complex and multifaceted narrative contained within this comic, and I cannot emphasise how impressive the audiobook version was, especially as you have some major talented really diving into these insane characters.  Easily one of the best audio productions released in recent years, this is a highly recommended listen that I could not get enough of.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

And that is the end of this list.  As you can see I have managed to check out a bunch of epic pre-2022 novels this year.  Each of the above were exceptional and fun reads and I would strongly recommend them, especially if you are in the mood for some fun fantasy or science fiction adventures.  I look forward to reading some other older books in 2023, and it will be interesting to see what makes my next version of this list then.  I imagine it will end up looking a little similar, especially as I have plans to continue several of these series, especially the Dresden Files, as well as examining some other outstanding Star Wars and Warhammer novels.  Make sure to check back in next week for some other end-of-year lists as I continue to highlight some of my favourite reads from 2022.

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

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Horror, List8 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

Amazon     Book Depository

 

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.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

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

A History of the Vampire Uprising Cover

Amazon     Book Depository

 

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.

Amazon     Book Depository

Top Ten List (unranked):

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Into the Drowning Deep Cover

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Patient Zero Cover

Amazon     Book Depository

 

The Dark by Jeremy Robinson

The Dark Cover

Amazon     Book Depository

 

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.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

The Anomaly Cover

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Code Zero Cover

Amazon     Book Depository

 

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.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber

deathtrooperscover

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Devolution by Max Brooks

Devolution Cover

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Ink by Jonathan Maberry

Ink Cover

Amazon     Book Depository

 

 

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.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Sieges in Literature

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List12 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 week’s Top Ten Tuesday revolves around favourite words, which, while interesting, isn’t something that I felt I could really contribute to.  So instead, I thought I would dive into one of my favourite story elements from fiction, the good old-fashioned siege.

Now I have made it very clear over multiple reviews that I absolutely love sieges in fiction.  To me, there are few battle scenarios more awesome, more epic, and more impressive than watching a powerful attacker attempting to wipe out a fortress garrisoned by a group of desperate defenders.  Whether you are rooting for the besiegers or the defenders, there are so many outstanding moments that can be woven into a siege scenario.  From fighting on the walls, to a desperate stand in a breach, to watching an attacker slowly gain ground on the defender by a careful and elaborate series of siegeworks, artillery bombardments and the careful administration of traitors from within the walls, everything about a siege is just so amazing to me and I love reading about them in fiction.  Sieges don’t even have to be that long or epic, as even a quick and bloody siege can be pretty impressive, especially if the attackers are desperate to achieve their goals.

Fans of this blog might have noticed that in recent weeks I have read a couple of books that contain some great sieges.  Well, after getting really caught up in a few of them, it started making me think back to all the other awesome sieges scenes I have enjoyed over the years.  Naturally my only option then was to come up with a list of my favourite sieges in literature and it did not take long for me to come up with an intriguing list of books.

This proved to be quite a fun list to come up with, and it was really interesting to dive back into some books from the past to see what great sieges I could find.  I didn’t put a lot of limits on this list, and if the scenario in the book could be considered some sort of siege, I would consider it for this list.  I did try to come up with a few examples that were outside the traditional medieval castle situation most people would associate with a siege, and I wanted to show a little variety.  Despite that, most of the books I have featured on this list ended up being fantasy reads, which isn’t too unexpected.  There are a few good historical fiction reads thrown into the mix, as well as entries from other genres, and I think this ended up being a very well-balanced top ten, with my usual generous honourable mentions section.  So, lets dive into the breach and find out which glorious sieges made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

River of Gold by Anthony Riches

River of Gold Cover

A fantastic historical fiction read that saw an outnumbered group of elite Roman soldiers take control of an abandoned fort in the middle of Africa to stop an invading army.  An excellent example of a Roman siege from historical fiction.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Devolution by Max Brooks – Siege of Greenloop

Devolution Cover

One of the more unusual examples I could think of was the fantastic novel Devolution by World War Z author Max Brooks.  Devolution sees the residence of a small, elite community get cut off from the rest of the world by a natural disaster, only to be then attacked by a group of sasquatches driven out of hiding by the same calamity.  Forced to defend themselves against the hungry beasts, the community finds themselves in an impromptu siege against a group of monsters, which results in a very inventive and intense read.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Warhammer: Beastslayer by William King – Siege of Praag

Beastslayer Cover

William King has featured several awesome sieges in his legendary Gotrek and Felix Warhammer Fantasy series, however, my favourite so far had to be the siege of Praag in Beastslayer.  This book-long siege sees the doomed duo face off against all manner of monsters and demon worshipers on the walls, while traitors attempt to destroy them from within.  A classic siege scenario that fit perfectly into the iconic Warhammer setting.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini – Siege of Aroughs

Inheritance Cover

I have a lot of love for Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle, especially as it features several awesome sieges.  However, my favourite probably occurred in the final book, Inheritance, when the protagonist’s cousin, Roran, is sent to take the fortified town of Aroughs with a small force.  Running out of time and resources, Roran uses some unconventional tactics to invade it.  Not only did this show how much Roran had grown as a tactician and commander over the series, but it featured some fantastic scenes of a great siege.

Amazon     Book Depository

Top Ten Tuesday

Legend by David Gemmell – Siege of Dros Delnoch

Legend

Let us start this list off with the book that might have the very best siege scenario I have ever read, with Legend by David Gemmell.  Legend is an exceptional read that sees an invincible army attempt to conquer their world’s most impregnable fortress, Dros Delnoch.  Utterly outnumbers, the defenders of Dros Delnoch have one advantage aside from their six walls, they are led by Druss the Legend, the greatest hero of all time.  This is such an epic siege, which the late, great, David Gemmell, set up perfectly.  Loaded with amazing characters, you really grow close to the defenders as you watch their desperate battle to hold off an unstoppable enemy till the very end.  A must read for all fans of the siege; you will not be disappointed by this book.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist by Janny Wurts – Siege of the Acoma Suite

Servant of the Empire Cover

Next, we have a book that shows that sieges don’t have to feature giant fortresses to be epic, with Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts.  The second book in the outstanding Empire trilogy, Servant of the Empire has many amazing moments, but the best is the compelling and intense siege of the Acoma Suite in the Imperial Palace.  Following a massive calamity that plunges the Empire into chaos, all the great lords flock to the Imperial Palace to be close to the action.  However, many take this as an opportunity to take out their rivals and the protagonist, Mara of the Acoma, finds herself one of the main targets.  Barricaded in her suite in the palace, Mara, her allies, and their bodyguards must fight off waves of assassins that come for them during the night.  This proves to be extremely impressive, and you really get caught up in the action watching the defenders attempting to hold a luxury apartment against an unending horde of assassins.  A clever and amazing siege that makes full use of its smaller setting and intriguing scenario to create some exciting moments.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker – Siege of the City

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City Cover

I had to feature the brilliant and hilarious Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker, as it contained an extremely fun take on the siege concept.  This hilarious read sees the massive City besieged by an army of vengeful folk, intend on killing everyone within.  With their army already destroyed, the defence of the city falls to a conman siege engineer, who uses his engineering knowhow and ability to BS anyone, to establish one of the most elaborate and inventive defences ever.  This ended up being an incredible story, that perfectly blends humour and fun characters with the compelling siege scenario, to create an utterly addictive read.  I have so much love for this siege novel, and Parker followed it up with the equally good How to Rule and Empire and Get Away With It, that showed the surprising outcome to the siege, which I really loved.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Fire in the East by Harry Sidebottom – Siege of Arete

Fire in the East Cover

While much of this list is focussed on fantasy fiction, I had to include the outstanding historical fiction read, Fire in the East, the debut novel of the amazing Harry Sidebottom.  Set in AD 255, this book follows Roman siege specialist, Ballista, who travels to the Roman town of Arete to reinforce it against a besieging Persian army.  Forced to hold out for months with no reinforcements, Ballista prepares a complex and deadly defence, while dealing with traitors and discontent from within his walls.  A fast-paced, but extremely detailed read, this is easily one of the best historical sieges I have ever read, and it made me a life-long fan of Harry Sidebottom, who is still releasing distinctive and captivating historical fiction reads.

Amazon

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling – Siege of Hogwarts

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Cover

After six books spent within the magical castle of Hogwarts, it was appropriate that the Harry Potter series end there, and the author chose to finish everything off in a big way.  With Harry, Ron and Hermione attempting to find and destroy the final Horcrux, Lord Voldemort sends all his forces in a massive assault on the magical school, facing off against students, teachers and the Order of the Phoenix.  This is a pretty epic siege, which, while great in the movie, comes across as a lot more exciting and complex in the novel.  Seeing the various dark forces attempt to destroy the castle you have come to know and love is pretty heartbreaking, and you can’t help but cheer at the desperate defence the supporting characters put up to give Harry time.  Throw in a ton of tragic deaths, as many of your favourite characters are brutally killed off, and this becomes a key moment in the series that you will never forget.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

The Martyr by Anthony Ryan – Sieges of Walvern Castle and Highsahl

The Martyr Cover

One of the more recent siege-based books I have read, The Martyr is the second Covenant of Steel novel by Anthony Ryan, and its elaborate chronicle narrative quickly drags the reader in with an amazing siege scenario.  The Martyr actually has two sieges in it, but as they occur back-to-back early in the book, I decided to combine them.  The first, sees the protagonists occupy and defend a dilapidated castle against a massive host in a foreign land, which proves to be a lot of fun as the series canny protagonist and his apparently blessed leader, engage in quite an elaborate defence of their new bastion.  I got pretty stuck into this book during the first siege and was pleasantly surprised when Ryan immediately followed it up with a second siege, with the protagonists this time acting as the attackers.  Using the lessons they learned from defending the first time, they soon attempt a deadly attack on the city, which results in a particularly bloody and intense struggle through the breach.  I had an outstanding time with this book, and I was absolutely spoiled with the two sieges it contained. 

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie – Siege of Dagoska

Before they are Hanged Cover

The First Law trilogy is one of the bloodiest dark fantasy series out there, so naturally it is going to feature at least a couple of great sieges.  There are actually several impressive sieges I could talk about here, especially in the third book, Last Argument of Kings, but my favourite siege occurred in the second book, Before They Are Hanged.  This novel sees fan-favourite character, the crippled Inquisitor Glokta, take control of the city of Dagoska and hold it against a massive Gurkish army.  Striking a devil’s bargain with a mysterious benefactor for resources, Glokta is able to fund a sustained defence, while trying to keep the city from turning against his forces.  However, his greatest threat is within the walls, as several magical assassins are planning to kill and eat him to win the battle.  This is such an awesome siege, especially as it sees Glokta in his element as a master manipulator, and there are some amazing scenes set around it.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkein – Siege of Helm’s Deep

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers Cover

I was never not going to include a siege from The Lord of the Rings on this list, and naturally I had a couple of good choices here, such as the siege of Minas Tirith in The Return of the King.  However, based on the recommendation of my wife, who recently re-read these books, I went with the siege of Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers.  A much more fast-paced siege, the battle of Helm’s Deep sees a small force from Rohan face off against a giant army of Uruk-hai over a single night in their ancestral fortress.  A classic siege which got an easy place on this list.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill – Siege of Hydra Cordatus

Storm of Iron Cover 2

I had a hard time coming up with any good science fiction books for this list, but luckily, I only just finished reading an older Warhammer 40,000 novel, Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill, that was essentially one giant siege.  This book sees the defender of the planet Hydra Cordatus, come under attack by a massive army of Iron Warriors Chaos Space Marines, who besiege the planet’s seemingly impregnable fortress.  However, the Iron Warriors are the universes’ best siege engineers, and they soon start smashing down the walls to get to their foes.  A very elaborate and detailed siege book, there is so much incredible action in this book, and McNeill did an outstanding job setting up a siege story in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Amazon

 

City of Lies by Sam Hawke – Siege of Silasta

City of Lies Cover

The final entry on this list is the extremely impressive City of Lies by Australian author Sam Hawke.  Another great fantasy read, this novel sees the culturally rich city of Silasta suddenly come under attack by a mysterious army, intent on destroying it.  With their army mostly away, the cities artists are forced to abandon their works and take up weapons.  At the same time, the book’s protagonists, a pair of poison-eating siblings, work to defeat a massive conspiracy that is building within their walls.  The encroaching attackers adds a great layer to the intrigue and politics going on within the walls in City of Lies, and I loved how well Hawke established this siege in this fantastic book.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

 

Well, that is the end of this list.  As you can see from the above entries, I have had a lot of fun reading about sieges over the years, and I love when they are fit into a good book.  All the above books have some exceptional sieges in them, and they all come highly recommended to those people who love a great siege storyline.  I am pretty happy with how this list turned out, and I will probably revisit this at some point in the future, especially if I am lucky enough to read some more siege-focussed books.  In the meantime, let me know what your favourite sieges in literature are in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I read on Vacation

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List1 Comment

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 are required to list their top ten favourite books that they read of vacation.  This is a rather unique topic that I was quite intrigued to try and implement.  Like many fellow readers, I always enjoy a good book while on vacation, and I have managed to get into some cracking reads while away on holiday.  As such, it was an interesting experience to dive back into my trips for the last few years and try to remember what I was reading.  I ended up coming up with a pretty good list in the end, including a few honourable mentions.  I might have stretched the definition of a book to include audiobooks and other productions, but I am overall pretty happy with how this turned out.  Hopefully this following list will give you some reading ideas next time you are on vacation.

Honourable Mentions:

Asterix series – Foster/Tuncurry

Asterix and the Banquet Cover

I absolutely loved the Asterix comic strips when I was younger (still do to be honest) and I always remember bringing them with me to our regular coast trips as a kid.  These proved to be very fun reads while away at the beach and I would have brought most of them with me at one point or another.  The one I most distinctly associated with coast trips however is Asterix and the Banquet, as my parents got a rather good photo of me reading it, however all make pretty awesome and light reads while your away.

 

Cabin Pressure – Road Trip – Canberra to Coffs Harbour and Back

Cabin Pressure

My editor/wife got me into British radio dramas during several road trips we did, so I thought I would include a couple here, even if they technically aren’t books.  One of my favourites is the outstanding Cabin Pressure series, which she owns on CD.  Made up of 27 episodes and featuring an exceptional British cast (including Stephanie Cole, Roger Allam, Benedict Cumberbatch, and John Finnemore), Cabin Pressure follows the chaotic crew of the world’s smallest airline.  Intensely funny and utterly brilliant, the road flew away as we listened to this and it comes very highly recommended.

 

Inspector Steine – Tasmania

Inspector Steine

In that same vein as Cabin Pressure, I also must recommend Lynne Truss’s outstanding Inspector Steine series, which we listened to while driving around Tasmania.  The Inspector Steine series is set in Brighton in the 1950s and follows an incompetent police station who fail to notice that their charlady is Brighton’s criminal mastermind.  Slick, deeply amusing and well worth a listen, this was a hilarious series to enjoy on a fantastic trip.

 

Unleashed by Amy McCulloch – Nevada

Unleashed Cover

The follow up to the cool young adult science fiction novel, Jinxed, Unleashed made for an excellent and compelling read while we were busing it around Nevada in 2019.  I read most of it on the coach trip up to the Grand Canyon, and I managed to pass a lot of drive time getting through this awesome conclusion to a fantastic story.

Amazon     Book Depository

Top Ten List:

World War Z by Max Brooks – Road Trip – Canberra to Gold Coast

World War Z Cover 2

Let us start this list off with one of the best road trip accompaniments I can recommend, World War Z by Max Brooks.  This iconic and brilliant zombie novel really made a recent length road trip from Canberra all the way up the coast to Queensland really easy, as we got quite hooked on its exceptional audiobook format.  Featuring an unparalleled voice cast and an exceedingly clever narrative, World War Z is a must read for all zombie fans, and this is honestly one of the better audiobooks I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Assassin’s Code by Jonathan Maberry – Sydney to San Francisco

Assassin's Code Cover

Long flights are the bane of my existence as I never get any sleep on them.  Luckily one lengthy flight I had between Sydney and San Francisco proved to be very entertaining as I was listening to one of Jonathan Maberry’s incredible Joe Ledger books, Assassin’s Codes.  Featuring a highly thrilling narrative about modern vampires attempting to end the world, I powered through this audiobook on the flight and even managed to write and post a review for it (written in the airport during our stopover at Fiji).  An amazing read for the best holiday ever.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Age of Assassins by R. J. Barker – Japan

Age of Assassins Cover

I had a lot of fun getting to know one of my favourite new fantasy authors, R. J. Barker, when I was traversing Japan.  While Japan is such an incredible country with so much to see, there were a lot of train rides involved, so I spent a bit of time getting into some great books.  Easily the best was Age of Assassins by R. J. Barker, which was a particularly impressive debut.  Following two assassins as they are tasked to save a life rather than take one in a cursed castle, Age of Assassins was an excellent read and one that made me a lifelong fan of Barker, who has written some amazing stuff since.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman – Road Trip – Gold Coast to Kangaroo Valley

Sandman Act 1 Cover

Another epic audiobook I enjoyed on my recent road trip was the full cast adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s iconic The Sandman comic.  You can really get to grips with the complex and brilliant story contained in The Sandman comics when listening to it, and the exceptional voice cast really helped to bring everything to life.  As such, the second leg of our road trip from Gold Coast to Kangaroo Valley was a lot of fun, especially once we got wrapped up in the powerful narrative.  Another exceptional audiobook that is a very good option if you are looking for some entertainment on the road.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Warhammer: Broken Honour by Robert Earl – Gold Coast

Warhammer - Broken Honour Cover

The next entry on this list is a book I actually picked up while away on holiday.  I managed to grab several great Warhammer novels while visiting a second-hand bookshop in the Blue Mountains and I ended up reading one while away on the same holiday.  That book was Broken Honour, a great fantasy read about a group of prisoners pressed into service as a regiment of soldiers.  Fun and action-packed, this was a great read for a holiday trip.

Amazon

 

Extinction Machine by Jonathan Maberry – San Francisco

Extinction Machine Cover

On the same trip where I listened to Assassin’s Code, I also had fun with the next Joe Ledger book, Extinction Machine.  Featuring a fantastic plot loaded with conspiracies about aliens, advanced aircraft and men in black, Extinction Machine was an amazing read, and one I had fun getting through on a couple of long coach rides between San Francisco and other great locations.  It was very easy for me to just dive into this compelling audiobook amid the long trip and I had a fun time getting through it.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Redshirts by John Scalzi – Dubbo

Redshirts Cover

Another excellent book for road trips is the hilarious Redshirts by the always clever John Scalzi.  A very hilarious parody of Star Trek, Redshirts is a wonderful read and we had an outstanding time getting through it during a road trip to the town of Dubbo.  We had so many amazing laughs during this trip and Redshirts is a great listen for a shorter road trip.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Timeless by R. A. Salvatore – Tasmania

Timeless Cover

Another book I started to read after buying it during a holiday was Timeless by R. A. Salvatore.  I always love a great high fantasy adventure and Salvatore does some amazing work in this genre.  As such, I made sure to grab a copy of Timeless while down in Tasmania during a fantastic trip and I ended up reading it while I was gone.  An excellent and compelling fantasy adventure, Timeless leads into an awesome trilogy by Salvatore and is a must read for fantasy fans.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire by Delilah S. Dawson – Los Angeles (Disney World)

Galaxy's Edge - Black Spire Cover

I always enjoy a good Star Wars read but one book I was enjoying during a recent trip to America proved to be quite a fortuitous read.  That book was Black Spire by Delilah S. Dawson, which, while a fun book, is also a tie-in to Disney World’s Galaxy’s Edge park.  I ended up reading Black Spire while visiting Disney World back in 2019 and it was kind of fun to see the connections between the park and the book.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Mecha Samurai Empire by Peter Tieryas – Melbourne

Mecha Samurai Empire Cover

The final entry on this list is Mecha Samurai Empire, which I picked up and read a few years ago while visiting Melbourne.  I happened across this awesome book while visiting the city’s premier comic shop and I couldn’t walk past a book about mecha combat in an alternate history America.  Mecha Samurai Empire was an outstanding read and I instantly got hooked on its brilliant and captivating story in between enjoying all the fun sights and shows of the beautiful city of Melbourne.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

 

That’s the end of this list and as you can see, I have had the pleasure of reading/listening to some excellent books on some great trips over the years.  All the above make for excellent vacation reading, and I had a blast with all of them.  While I only had a good break a few months ago, I am already excited for whatever trip I have next and hopefully I can chuck in some more international travel now that the world is opening up again.  In the meantime, let me know which books you enjoyed on your vacations in the comments below.