Book Haul – 22 December 2023

On December 22, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Book HaulLeave a comment

We are nearing the end of 2023, and it has been a pretty exceptional year for books, all things considered. While the year is wrapping up and we are heading into the Christmas break, I am still receiving a few good books here and there, which I thought I would quickly highlight in my final Book Haul post of 2023. This final list includes a couple of late 2023 releases, some books I picked up myself, as well as several great novels from early 2024 that I received from both publishers and Netgalley. This worked out to be a pretty eclectic collection of books, but they should make for excellent reads, and I am looking forward to all of them.

Deadly Game by Michael Caine

Deadly Game Cover

The first book that I want to highlight in this Book Haul post is the fun thriller, Deadly Game. Set around the theft of nuclear material in London, Deadly Game is a fantastic novel that I was very happy to receive, mainly because it was written by legendary actor Michael Caine. I have actually already read Deadly Game (literally finished it an hour ago), and it was a pretty good debut, with a captivating narrative and distinctive writing style. I am hoping to get a review up for Deadly Game soon, and it ended up being a great read.

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Argylle by Elly Conway

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The next book I recently received is potentially the most intriguing and mysterious, with the spy thriller Argylle. A compelling book set around a maverick spy attempting to stop a series of devastating events, Argylle sounds pretty fun. However, it’s the behind-the-scenes elements of Argylle that may prove to be the most fascinating, especially as there is a major movie adaptation for this book coming out in a few months, as well as some serious questions about who the author of this novel is (there are some very interesting theories online). I am hoping to read Argylle in the next week or two and I am very, very curious to see how the book ties into the upcoming movie, as well as who actually wrote this debut novel.

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Saevus Corax Captures the Castle by K. J. Parker

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After having an amazing time reading the Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead, I went out and grabbed the next two Saevus Corax books, including Saevus Corax Captures the Castle. A cool trilogy from one of my favourite fantasy authors, K. J. Parker, all three Saevus Corax books were released within a month of each other, which was a very interesting choice. Following professional battlefield looter, Saevus Corax, as he gets dragged into all manner of over-the-top trouble, the first book in this series was very fun and it was easily one of my favourite books of 2023. I am hoping to get into the sequels soon, and I have no doubt that both of them will be extremely fun, highly detailed, and featuring some unique stories. The second book in the trilogy, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle sounds extremely awesome, as the tricky Saevus Corax finds himself in the awkward position of having to besiege a castle to survive.

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Saevus Corax Gets Away With Murder by K. J. Parker

Saevus Corax Gets Away With Murder Cover

The other Saevus Corax book I got was Saevus Corax Gets Away With Murder. The final entry in the trilogy, this novel will see the titular character try to finally retire, while also trying to get away with murder. No doubt another funny and clever read, I am looking forward to this novel and it should be extremely awesome.

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The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Tainted Cup Cover

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of the new Robert Jackson Bennett novel, The Tainted Cup. One of the most anticipated fantasy novels of 2024, The Tainted Cup will see two unique investigators attempt to solve an impossible magical death in one of the author’s elaborate fantasy worlds. The Tainted Cup has the potential to be one of the top books of 2024 and I cannot wait to dive into it.

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A Clean Kill by Steven Konkoly

A Clean Kill Cover

A fantastic and intriguing thriller that sees a FBI agent attempt to stop a deadly serial killer leaving a swathe of bodies alongside America’s roads. A Clean Kill sounds like an amazing piece of crime fiction and I am very keen to check it out.

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Behind a Closed Door by J. D. Barker

Behind A Closed Door Cover

The final book I recently received was the fantastic horror thriller, Behind A Closed Door by J. D. Barker. Set around a malicious app that forces its participants to complete in deadly games, Behind A Closed Door sounds like an intense and compelling novel and I am excited to dive into the author’s twisted tale. Barker is a great author, and I have previously enjoyed some of his collaborative work, including Death of the Black Widow and Dracul. I look forward to reading this solo novel from him, especially as it sounds very awesome and dark.

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Well, that’s the end of this latest Book Haul post. As you can see I have quite a bit of reading to do at the moment thanks to all these awesome books that have come in. Let me know which of the above you are most interested in and make sure to check back in a few weeks to see my reviews of them.

Waiting on Wednesday – The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

On December 13, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Murder Mystery, Waiting on Wednesday6 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this week’s entry, I check out one of the most anticipated fantasy novels of early 2024 with The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett.

The Tainted Cup Cover

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Robert Jackon Bennett is a highly regarded fantasy author who has been producing captivating reads since 2010. Have started out writing several intriguing standalone novels, such as his debut, Mr. Shivers, Bennett is probably best known for his complex fantasy series, including The Divine Cities trilogy and The Founders trilogy, both of which had elaborate settings and compelling stories behind them. I personally had a wonderful time with his awesome novel, Foundryside, and while I haven’t had the chance to read anymore from Bennett since then, I have been keeping my eye out to see what he comes out with next. As such, I heard some interesting stuff about his next novel, The Tainted Cup, which is already getting a lot of love from fantasy fans.

The Tainted Cup, which is set for release in February 2024, is the first book in Bennett’s new Shadow of the Leviathan series. This first entry has a great story behind it that looks to combine a complex murder investigation with inventive fantasy elements and two fantastic sounding central characters. The synopsis below sounds pretty damn amazing and I love the idea of a brilliant, if highly eccentric, detective, trying to solve a murder caused by the spontaneous growth of a tree in someone’s body. Everything about this book sounds extremely cool and if Bennett is on his usual form this will probably be one of the top fantasy releases of 2024.

Plot Synopsis:

In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even in this canton at the borders of the Empire, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible.

Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears–quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.

Top Ten Tuesday – Books on my Summer 2023-24 To-Be-Read (TBR) List

On November 28, 2023 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 Top Ten Tuesday topic for this week looked at books set in specific location or period of the blogger’s choice. However, as I’m mucking around with my Top Ten List schedule, I actually did this list last week when I covered my favourite books set in the Roman Empire. As a result, I have a topic free this week and as we are just about to enter Summer (Winter for those up in the Norther Hemisphere) I decided to move up my quarterly post about the best upcoming books to-be-read (TBR) for the following three months. This is a regular post I do at the start of each season, and I honestly should have pulled this together a couple of weeks ago.

For this list, I have come up with 10 of the most anticipated novels that are coming out between 1 December 2023 and 29 February 2024. There are quite a few very cool novels set for release in the next few months that I am extremely excited for, including some of the top books from each respective year. Due to how impressive some of these upcoming books are, it took me a little while to finalise my list but I was eventually able to whittle it down into a Top Ten list (with a few honourable mentions). I have primarily used the Australian publication dates to reflect when I will be able to get these awesome novels, and these might be somewhat different to the rest of the world. I have previously discussed a number of these books before in prior Top Ten Tuesdays and Waiting on Wednesday articles and I think all of them will turn out to be pretty incredible reads. I have extremely excited for the next three months as quite a few up these upcoming reads are easily going to be amongst the best reads of their respective years.

Honourable Mentions:

Midnight by Amy McCulloch – 2 January 2024

Midnight Cover

A cool science fiction mystery that I’m keen to sink my teeth into.

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The Burning Land by David Hair – 1 February 2024

The Burning Land Cover

The compelling start to a new fantasy series.

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The Holy Terrors by Simon R. Green – 6 February 2024

The Holy Terrors Cover

A fun sounding horror book that parodies reality television.

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Top Ten List (by release date):

House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky – 7 December 2023

House of Open Wounds Cover

Let us start this list off with a book I actually started reading today, House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky. A dark and complex fantasy novel that follows the deranged inhabitants of an experimental magical healing unit in a hostile army, House of Open Wounds is the sequel to Tchaikovsky’s City of Last Chances, which is one of the best books and audiobooks I enjoyed in the first half of 2023. I’m currently around 150 pages into House of Open Wounds and I am loving the complex, multi-character narrative that sees a huge cast of distinctive and troubled figures attempt to survive in a cruel world. Featuring a brilliant story and Tchaikovsky’s trademark inventive setting, House of Open Wounds is an amazing read and one I look forward to reviewing in the coming weeks.

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The Ascent by Adam Plantinga – 2 January 2024

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A fun and action-packed debut thriller that will see a former cop attempt to survive a rioting prison filled with deadly convicts. The Ascent is going to be a very entertaining book and I am sure I will have a blast getting through it.

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Dark Arena by Jack Beaumont – 3 January 2024

Dark Arena Cover

An awesome book coming out very early in 2024 is Dark Arena by Jack Beaumont. The sequel to one of my favourite debuts from 2021, The Frenchman, Dark Arena looks set to continue Beaumont’s compelling and detailed depiction of French espionage, this time hunting down a mysterious group of operators seeking to destabilise Europe.

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Goodbye Girl by James Grippando – 9 January 2024

Goodbye Girl Cover

A fun upcoming legal thriller from a new-to-me author that will see a lawyer get dragged into a contentious case involving internet piracy, music contracts and bad romances. However, the case gets even more complicated when both the protagonist’s client, and the ex-husband suing her, are charged with the same murder. I love the sound of the amazing plot for the next upcoming book by James Grippando and Goodbye Girl should prove to be an excellent read.

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The Ghost Orchid by Jonathan Kellerman – 6 February 2024

The Ghost Orchid Cover

A series I have really grown to love reading at the start of each year is the amazing long-running Alex Delaware murder mystery series by Jonathan Kellerman. Following a psychiatrist and a detective who team up to solve unusual murders in L.A., the Alex Delaware books are really impressive pieces of crime fiction and I always get drawn into Kellerman’s amazing narratives such as those of The Wedding Guest, The Museum of Desire, Serpentine, City of the Dead and Unnatural History. The next book in the series, The Ghost Orchid, will see the protagonists investigate a double homicide of two wealthy lovers with troubled pasts. Sure to be a complicated mystery with loads of compelling suspects, I cannot wait to dive into The Ghost Orchid and it should be something special.

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Lone Wolf by Gregg Hurwitz – 13 February 2024

Lone Wolf Cover

Gregg Hurwitz look set to continue his outstanding Orphan X series in early 2024 with the excellent sounding Lone Wolf. This series, which has featured awesome books like Out of the Dark, Into the Fire, Prodigal Son, Dark Horse and The Last Orphan, follows a fugitive government assassin codenamed Orphan X, who attempts to save people as a secretive vigilante. This latest book will see an emotionally compromised Orphan X go up against a mysterious billionaire and a deadly serial killer, which is sure to result in an outstanding story. I am very excited for this novel and it should turn out to be pretty awesome.

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The Murder Inn by James Patterson and Candice Fox – 13 February 2024

The Murder Inn Cover

An intriguing new thriller from the winning team of the legendary James Patterson and Australian author Candice Fox. The sequel to one of their previous collaborations, The Murder Inn looks set to be an intense and quick paced book, loaded with intrigue and murder.

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The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett – 13 February 2024

The Tainted Cup Cover

I had to feature the awesome upcoming fantasy novel The Tainted Cup by the always impressive Robert Jackson Bennett. The start of an intriguing new series from Bennett, The Tainted Cup will see an intriguing duo investigate a mysterious magical death, one that could change everything and doom their entire nation. The Tainted Cup sounds like a wonderful character driven fantasy book with a great murder mystery element to it, and Bennett has proven to be an exceptional author in the past. As such, I am very keen for The Tainted Cup, and I feel it has the potential to be one of the top fantasy books of 2024.

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The Chaos Agent by Mark Greaney – 20 February 2024

The Chaos Agent Cover

Perhaps the book I’m most excited for at the start of 2024 is The Chaos Agent by Mark Greaney, which will serve as the 13^th novel in his epic Gray Man series. I have had a blast with this series over the years, and previous novels like The Gray Man, Mission Critical, One Minute Out, Relentless, Sierra Six and Burner have all been exceptional reads, loaded with action, clever narratives and damaged characters. The Chaos Agent looks set to continue this trend with an intriguing new adventure which will force the protagonist to go up against old friends and new enemies as he tries to stop a plot involving artificial intelligence.

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The Atlas Maneuver by Steve Berry – 20 February 2024

The Atlas Maneuver Cover

The final entry I want to highlight on this list is the fantastic upcoming thriller The Atlas Maneuver by Steve Berry. The latest book in Berry’s long-running Cotton Malone series (make sure to check out my reviews for previous entries like The Malta Exchange, The Warsaw Protocol, The Kaiser’s Web and The Last Kingdom), The Atlas Maneuver will see the protagonist become involved in an insidious financial attack linked to looted Japanese war gold and a long-simmering war between the CIA and the world’s oldest bank. Sure to feature Berry’s trademark blend of an exciting and suspenseful modern thriller and fascinating historical secrets, I already know I am going to love The Atlas Maneuver and it is going to be so much fun.

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

Top Ten Tuesday – Books From My Past Seasonal TBR Posts I STILL Haven’t Read

On July 26, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn List5 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. In this latest Top Ten Tuesday participants need to go back to their old Seasonal TBR lists and see which books from them they have still not read. This was a very interesting and useful topic to look at as this once again reminds me about all the awesome books out there that I was excited for but which I never got around to reading.

There are quite a few books out there now that I have been meaning to read for a very long time. Many of these books have been featured to a degree on my blog either through optimistic Waiting on Wednesday posts or in shameful “I wish I had read” Top Ten lists, where I air my great regrets about not checking out a certain release (to be fair, I only have so much time and there are so many awesome books out there). So now again it is good to go back and see which ones I have missed to remind me of what I need to read and provide some motivation for it. I just did a similar post last week regarding books from the first half of the year that I still need to read, however, I like the idea of going back and looking at some previous Top Ten Tuesday posts and seeing what other books lie there.

To appear on this list, a potential book needed to be both unread by me and have appeared on a previous Top Ten Tuesday Seasonal TBR post that I have done. I chose to exclude a couple of my more recent Seasonal TBR posts, namely those from 2022, as that would have just doubled up my list from last week. Despite these exclusions, there were still several lists to scour for potential entries and I was able to determine several books that would be appropriate for this list. However, this wasn’t as easy as I had thought, as it turns out I’m pretty good at getting through the books on these TBR lists, and most had been read and reviewed by me. In the end, I did manage to find 10 entries, as well as a few honourable mentions, and the results below are quite intriguing. So let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

Providence by Max Barry

Star Trek: Rogue Elements by John Jackson Miller

The Liar’s Knot by M. A. Carrick

Top Ten Tuesday:

The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston

Gamora & Nebula: Sisters in Arms by Mackenzie Lee

The Righteous by David Wragg

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

A Fool’s Hope by Mike Shackle

Star Trek: The Dark Veil by James Swallow

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso

Eagle Station by Dale Brown

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett

Daughters of Night by Lauren Shepherd-Robinson

Well, that ended up being a rather interesting list. As you can see from the above, there are still several outstanding novels that I really need to read, and I hope that I get the chance at some point in the future. All 10 of the above sound like incredible reads, and I honestly have not purposely chosen not to read any of them, I just haven’t had the time or ability to check them out. Hopefully that will eventually change, as I am extremely keen for several of them, and I have no doubt they will be epic reads.

Top Ten Tuesday – Book I Need to Clear Off my to-read List

On March 9, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn List3 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, Top Ten Tuesday participants have been given a spring-cleaning freebie where we can do any list we want provided it falls within the general them of spring-cleaning. In this spirt (even though it is autumn where I am) I have decided to list the top ten books that I need to “clean” off my to-read list by reading and reviewing them.

Over the years I have received or written about a huge number of different awesome novels, many of which I would love to read and feature on this blog. However, there are only so many hours in the day, so quite a few books fall through the cracks, or more accurately they end up on a bookshelf, silently judging me. I do fully intend to read these books at some point, especially as in several cases I have enjoyed previous entries in the series. So, in the spirit of spring-cleaning, I have decided to focus this list on books I want to read that are currently clogging up my bookshelf (or digital equivalent).

Using these criteria, I was able to come up with a list filled with an interesting variety of different books. I tried to mainly feature amazing-sounding books that have been on my shelf for an extended period, but in a few cases I chose some more recent novels that I particularly want to check out. I have featured several of these books in Waiting on Wednesday articles in the past, which adds to the reasons why I want to check them out. Hopefully, this list will light a bit of a fire under me to encourage me to read some, if not all of these books, soon. So let us see what was on the list.

Honourable Mentions:

Duplicity by Richard Evans

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett

Ashlords by Scott Reintgen

Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw

Top Ten List:

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

The first entry on this list is one of the books that I most regret not reading last year, The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton. The Devil and the Dark Water is the second novel from Turton following his epic debut, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, which was one of my favourite books of 2018. Due to how awesome Turton’s first novel was, I have been really keen to check out The Devil and the Dark Water for a while but have just not been able to add it into the reading schedule. This is definitely one of the top books I want to read soon, and I look forward to seeing what sort of outstanding narrative Turton came up with in his second novel.

Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton

I have been meaning to check out Salvation Lost for a very long time ever since I finished off the preceding novel, Salvation. Salvation was an exceedingly epic science fiction novel set on a futuristic Earth, filled with some cool technology, fantastic mysteries, and a subtle alien invasion. I am a little annoyed with myself that I have completely failed to read Salvation Lost, especially as the third novel in the series, The Saints of Salvation, came out last year. I really want to read this book this year and I know that I am going to love the complex tale contained within.

War Lord by Bernard Cornwell

This is another book that I am quite surprised I have not gotten around to reading yet. War Lord is the latest book from one of my favourite authors, Bernard Cornwell, and serves as the final entry in his long running The Last Kingdom series. I have loved this series for a very long time, and I think I may be holding off reading it because I don’t want the series to end. Still, this is one that I really must read this year and it should turn out to be another fantastic historical read.

#MurderFunding by Gretchen McNeil

The young adult thriller #MurderFunding is the intriguing sequel to the insanely entertaining #MurderTrending. It sees several teenagers get brutally murdered on live television as they get caught up in a dangerous conspiracy. I love the premise of this series and I am hoping to read this book soon, especially after I just finished off the prequel novel #NoEscape a couple of months ago and absolutely loved it.

Star Wars: A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I love Star Wars novels, so it should come as no surprise that one will show up on this list. While I have plans to eventually read all the Star Wars tie-in novels, both in the current canon and in the Star Wars Legends range (an admittedly big job), the entry that I have been meaning to check out the longest is A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller. Serving as a tie-in to the outstanding Star Wars Rebels animated series, A New Dawn is an awesome-sounding origin tale of two of the series’ main characters, and I have had it loaded on my phone for over a year. I am particularly keen to check it out after enjoying one of Miller’s other novels last year, Star Trek Discovery: Die Standing, which was a particularly clever and impressive read. Hopefully I will get through A New Dawn at some point this year, although I may have to prioritise several upcoming Star Wars novels first.

Alien: Echo by Mira Grant

This next entry is an intriguing young adult science fiction novel that ties into the Alien franchise, Alien: Echo. I must admit that while I have never had an amazing amount of interest in the Alien films or expanded universe, this is one book that I am particularly keen to check out. The main reason for this is that it was written by the outstanding Mira Grant. Grant is a talented author who has come up with some epic horror reads, including the incredible Into the Drowning Deep (killer mermaids!), the cool-sounding Newsflesh trilogy, and even a great entry in a Night of the Living Dead anthology. Due to how awesome her previous books are, I really want to see her take on an Alien novel and I have a feeling that Alien: Echo is going to be pretty amazing.

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons

The Ruin of Kings is an intriguing fantasy novel that I have been trying to read for over two years now. I really loved the concept of The Ruin of Kings, the first book in the A Chorus of Dragons series, when I received it and I then went on to hear some amazing reviews from a substantial number of fellow reviewers, making it an extremely appealing option to check out. I will have to read it at some point, especially as I also received copies of The Ruin of Kings’ two sequels, The Name of all Things and The Memory of Souls. A fourth book in the series, The House of Always, is set for release in a couple of months (with a really gnarly octopus cover on it), and it would be cool if I could read The Ruin of Kings before that.

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

I had to include the epic novel Words of a Radiance on this list as I have been thinking about reading it for some time. The second novel in Brandon Sanderson’s massive and highly acclaimed Stormlight Archive series, Words of Radiance follows on from the outstanding The Way of Kings, which is quite frankly one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. Words of Radiance continues the amazingly complex story started in The Way of Kings, and I really want to see what happens to the captivating characters next. However, I honestly have just not had the time to check out Words of Radiance due to the sheer length of the book. The Way of Kings was the longest audiobook I ever listened to and Words of Radiance is even longer, with a 48+ hour runtime. Finding that sort of window in my reading schedule is hard, but it will probably be worth it, especially as it will allow me to finally get onto the copies of the third and fourth books of The Stormlight Archive that are currently on my shelf (I received copies of Oathbringer and Rhythm of War), both of which I have not touched because I wanted to read Words of Radiance first.

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso

This is the latest novel from rising fantasy star Melissa Caruso, set in the same world as her awesome Swords and Fire series. I absolutely loved all three novels in the Swords and Fire series (The Tethered Mage, The Defiant Heir and The Unbound Empire), so I am extremely keen to see how Caruso continues her epic universe. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to read The Obsidian Tower when it came out and it has languished on the shelf ever since. I really want to read this book and I will have to check it out soon before Caruso releases her next novel, The Quicksilver Court, in November this year.

Bright Steel by Miles Cameron

The final entry on this list is the outstanding sounding release Bright Steel by Miles Cameron. Bright Steel is the third and final entry in the Masters & Mages series, which charts the adventures of a farmer’s son who is thrust into the midst of world-altering events. I had an incredible time reading the first two novels in the series, Cold Iron and Dark Forge, both of which were amazing five-star novels, and I have been hoping to read this final book for some time. I will probably get around to finishing this trilogy off later this year, although I will be reading Cameron’s latest novel, Artifact Space, first.

That is the end of this latest Top Ten list. I think it came out quite nicely and hopefully it will entice me to read some of the above novels soon. All of the above sound really cool and I am highly confident that I will have a blast reading each and every one of them. While I get around to doing that, why don’t you let me know which books you want to clean off your to-read list, as well if you have enjoyed any of the above

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Meant to Read in 2020 but Didn’t Get To

On January 20, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn 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. For this week’s topic, Top Ten Tuesday participants need to list the books they most regret not reading in 2020. I ended up having an outstanding reading year in 2020, managing to get through a solid collection of cool new releases and older novels, most of which proved to be amazing and entertaining reads. However, no matter how hard one tries, there are always a couple of books each year that I did not get a chance to read, either due to time constraints, lack of access or from being overwhelmed with other books that I really wanted to read. As a result, this is a list that is rather tinged with regret, as each book I plan to mention below is one that I really wish I had taken the time to read.

In order to complete this list, I pulled together some of the more interesting and compelling sounding novels that I did not get a chance to read in the last year. Each entry was released last year and while I knew that they were coming out, I did not get a chance to read any of them. In many cases I have these books sitting on my shelf at this moment, silently and constantly judging me, and I think I will have to try and read them to stop their bookish glares. I was eventually able to cull my list of regret down to 10 entries with an honourable mentions section. The final list is an interesting collection of books from across the genres and includes a couple of big 2020 releases I did not get a chance to look at.

Honourable Mentions:

Sons of Rome by Gordon Doherty and Simon Turney

Sons of Rome Cover

Black Canary: Breaking Silence by Alexandra Monir

Black Canary - Breaking Silence Cover

I only found out about this book a few days ago, and I had no idea that it was coming out in advance of the end of 2020. This is the fifth novel in the DC Icons young adult fiction series, a fantastic series that sets teenage versions of some of the biggest DC superheroes on some compelling standalone adventures (check out my reviews for Catwoman: Soulstealer and Superman: Dawnbreaker). Black Canary: Breaking Silence sounds particularly good as it features a teenage Black Canary in a dystopian future Gotham City ruled over by the tyrannical Court of Owls, where women have no rights. I am really keen to check this book out and I am planning to grab it in the next few weeks. While this is a really cool sounding novel, I decided to leave this book on my Honourable Mentions section because it was only released on 29 December 2020, and even if I had known it was coming out I would have been hard pressed to read it last year anyway. Because of that, I may try to consider Breaking Silence as a 2021 novel, but I am still a tad annoyed I did not get a chance to read it last year.

Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanagh

Fifty-Fifty Cover

Providence by Max Barry

Providence Cover

Top Ten List:

War Lord by Bernard Cornwell

Either Side of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson

Either Side of Midnight Cover

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso

The Obsidian Tower Cover

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

The Devil and the Dark Water Cover

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett

Shorefall Cover

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs

The Sandman

This next entry is for the full cast The Sandman audio drama that was released in the second half of 2020. I currently have a copy of this cool-sounding audio drama loaded up on my phone and I hope to listen to it soon, I have just been a bit overwhelmed with audiobooks in the last few months. This audio drama features an amazing collection of celebrities who are helping to bring Neil Gaiman’s iconic The Sandman comic to life in a new format. I have heard some amazing things about both the comic and the audio drama and I cannot wait to see how this adaptation turns out.

The Bluffs by Kyle Perry

The Bluffs Cover

The Bluffs is a grim and dark Australian crime fiction novel that came out a few months ago. The debut novel of Australian author Kyle Perry, The Bluffs sounds like a fantastic read set deep within the wild Tasmanian bush, and I hope to get a chance to read it soon.

Gallowglass by S. J. Morden

Gallowglass Cover

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

The Bone Shard Daughter Cover

This is another debut that I am particularly sorry I have not read yet. The Bone Shard Daughter is a very cool-sounding fantasy novel by Andrea Stewart that deals with bone magic and the fate of a nation. I have heard some very impressive things about The Bone Shard Daughter and I will need to read it in the first half of the year in order to grab any potential sequels coming out in 2021.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Black Sun Cover

The final entry on my list is Black Sun by acclaimed author Rebecca Roanhorse. Roanhorse has released a lot of interesting novels in the last few years, and while I did enjoy her Star Wars tie-in novel, Resistance Reborn, I have not had the chance to read any of her original series. I was hoping to check out her 2020 release, Black Sun, which served as the first entry in a new series, but alas I failed to do so. This is a real shame, as Black Sun was another Roanhorse novel that got an immense amount of praise from reviewers. I must try and read this one soon as I am sure it is going to be an epic and outstanding read.

Well, that is the end of my latest list and it looks like I have a lot catch-up reading to do if I am going to make a dent in it. There are some truly amazing-sounding novels on this list and I fully intend to get through all of them at some point, although with all the outstanding books coming out in 2021, it might take me a little time. In the meantime, let me know what books you most regret not reading in 2020 in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Want to Read Before the End of 2020

On November 10, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn 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. For this latest Top Ten Tuesday participants are supposed to list the Top Ten Book Titles that Would Make Great Song Titles. However, I am going to do something a little different today and I am instead going to list the Top Ten novels I want to read before the end of 2020.

This is a bit of a continuation of a list I did this time last year when I realised that there were only 50 days left in the year and I was freaking out about all the books I still wanted to read. Well, as crazy as it sounds, this year has nearly come to an end and there are currently only just over 50 days left in it. While I for one will not be sorry to see the backend of 2020, I am very mindful of the big pile of novels from this year currently sitting on my table (my editor/wife Alex wants to point out that it is actually tables, plural, plus a couple of bookshelves). So with that in mind I thought I would do another version of this list to inspire me to read these books and knock them out before this year from hell comes to an end.

For this list I have had a decent look through my many book piles to work out which novels I really need to finish off before the year ends. In order to focus this list on books that are cluttering up the house a little, I decided to exclude novels that I do not currently have copies of (such as Call of the Bone Ships by R. J. Barker, which is hopefully on its way). I also decided to exclude novels that I am definitely going to read before the end of the year because I am planning to review them for a Canberra Weekly Christmas column (for example, Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke or The Emperor’s Exile by Simon Scarrow). Using these parameters, I was able to come up with a list of 10 books (with some honourable mentions), that I would really like to read before the year ends. This list includes an interesting range of novels, from some of the top releases of 2020 to some novels that came in a little under the radar. However, all 10 sound really good and I cannot wait to try and read them all.

Honourable Mentions:

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett

Shorefall Cover

TRUEL1F3 by Jay Kristoff

TRUEL1F3 Cover

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club Cover

Top Ten List:

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso

The Obsidian Tower Cover
I am honestly surprised and a little ashamed that I have not made time to read this awesome-sounding novel yet. The Obsidian Tower is the latest book from rising fantasy star Melissa Caruso and it is set in the same universe as her Swords and Fire trilogy. I am a major fan of the Sword and Fire books (made up of The Tethered Mage, The Defiant Heir and The Unbound Empire) and this is the book I will try the hardest to make time for in the coming weeks.

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

The Devil and the Dark Water Cover

Another book I am very much berating myself for not making time for. The Devil and the Dark Water is the second novel from Stuart Turton, who wowed me so much in 2018 with his debut novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I have a lot of love for Turton’s previous release and I am sure that this new book is going to be just as awesome.

Either Side of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson

Either Side of Midnight Cover

Either Side of Midnight is an intriguing-sounding Australian crime fiction novel that I am really looking forward to reading. The sequel to Stevenson’s debut novel, Greenlight, Either Side of Midnight follows a fascinating and complex murder scenario following an apparent suicide on live television. This should make for a fun read, and I cannot wait to check out this awesome sounding book.

The Wolf of Oren-Yara by K. S. Villoso

The Wolf of Oren-Yaro Cover

This exciting and action-packed fantasy novel caught my eye earlier in the year, and I have been curious to check it out ever since. I have heard some good things about The Wolf of Oren-Yara, which serves as the first book in the fantastically titled Chronicles of the Bitch Queen series, and I think I am really going to enjoy this impressive sounding novel.

The Return by Harry Sidebottom

The Return Cover

Acclaimed historical fiction author Harry Sidebottom has been on a real roll over the last couple of years, producing two unique and enjoyable Roman historical fiction novels (The Last Hour and The Lost Ten) that each had the characteristics of a particular genre of thriller/crime fiction. The Return apparently contains some elements of Scandi-noir fiction, and I look forward to seeing how this distinctive murder mystery style blends with a classic Roman historical fiction story.

Cyber Shogun Revolution by Peter Tieryas

Cyber Shogun Revolution

I had an absolute blast reading Tieryas’s previous novel in the United States of Japan series, Mecha Samurai Empire, and have been really looking forward to reading Cyber Shogun Revolution ever since it was announced. This new United States of Japan novel should be another incredible and distinctive novel and I need to make a real effort to check it out soon.

The Bluffs by Kyle Perry

The Bluffs Cover

The Bluffs is another Australian crime fiction novel that I am quite keen to read before the end of the year. The Bluffs is the debut novel of Kyle Perry and it sounds like quite an intriguing novel set deep within the wilds of the Tasmanian bush. I have heard some good things about The Bluffs from some fellow reviewers and I am quite keen to read it in the next few weeks.

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs

The Sandman

I am a major comic book fan, but I have to admit that I have never had the opportunity to read Neil Gaiman’s iconic The Sandman comics. Luckily, an audio drama adaptation of this classic comic was released earlier this year featuring a first-rate voice cast and helmed by radio production stalwart Dirk Maggs, and I am looking forward to seeing how this audio depiction of the comic turns out.

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

The Bone Shard Daughter Cover

The Bone Shard Daughter is an impressive-sounding fantasy debut that came out a little while ago. This is another novel that I have heard some really good things about and it should hopefully turn out to be a first-rate book.

War Lord by Bernard Cornwell

The last entry on this list is War Lord by Bernard Cornwell. War Lord is the final book in Cornwell’s long-running The Last Kingdom series. I am a major fan of The Last Kingdom novels and I am extremely curious to see how this outstanding historical fiction series finally comes to an end.

That’s the end of this week’s Top Ten list. I am extremely happy with how this list turned out as I am really keen to read each and every one of the novels listed above. All of them have an amazing amount of potential and I think several could end up being some of my favourite books of 2020. Make sure to check back in a few weeks to see if I have managed to get around to reading any of them yet. In the meantime, let me know which books you really want to read before the end of 2020 and best of luck getting through them.

Top Ten Tuesday – Autumn 2020 TBRs

On March 17, 2020March 17, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn 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. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants need to list the top ten books on their Autumn 2020 (or Spring 2020 for those up in the Northern Hemisphere) to be read (TBR) list.

There are a huge number of novels coming out in the next couple of months which I have my eye on. Many of these are very impressive sounding books, and I am extremely excited for several of them. As a result, I was able to come up with a good list of Autumn TBR books, and each of the entries below are some of my most anticipated releases coming out in March, April and May 2020. I have previously addressed several of these books before in my weekly Waiting on Wednesday posts, and there is also likely to be some crossover between this list and some of my previous Top Ten Tuesday lists, such as My Most Anticipated Book Releases for the First Half of 2020 list and my Predicted Five Star Reads list. So let’s get to it and see which books I am most looking forward to reading in the next three months.

Honourable Mentions:

Providence by Max Barry (31 March 2020)

Providence Cover

Execution by S. J. Parris (30 April 2020)

Execution Cover

Lionheart by Ben Kane (14 May 2020)

Lionheart Cover

Top Ten List (By Release Date):

Cyber Shogun Revolution by Peter Tieryas (3 March 2020)

Cyber Shogun Revolution

The Grove of the Caesars by Lindsey Davis (2 April 2020)

The Grove of the Caesars Cover

Usagi Yojimbo: Bunraku and Other Stories by Stan Sakai (21 April 2020)

Usagi Yojimbo Bunraku and Other Stories Cover

There was no way that I wasn’t going to include the new Usagi Yojimbo on this list (especially after I just did Throwback Thursday posts for the first three volumes in the series, The Ronin, Samurai and The Wanderer’s Road). This has been one of my favourite series for years, and I really enjoyed Sakai’s last two entries, Mysteries and The Hidden. This upcoming volume, Bunraku and Other Stories, has a lot of potential and some cool features to it. Not only is it the first volume to be released completely in colour but it sounds like it is going to have some fantastic stories, including one that revisits the very first Usagi Yojimbo comic.

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett (21 April 2020)

Shorefall Cover

Firefly: The Ghost Machine by James Lovegrove (28 April 2020)

Firefly The Ghost Machine Cover

The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell (5 May 2020)

The Kingdom of Liars Cover

The Lion Shield by Conn Iggulden (14 May 2020)

The Lion Shield Cover

Iggulden is one of the top historical fiction authors in the world today, and he has created some exceptional novels in the past, including his Emperor and War of the Roses series, as well as the 2018 standalone novel The Falcon of Sparta. I have deeply enjoyed Iggulden’s work in the past, and I cannot wait to check out his new novel later this year. The Lion Shield is the first book in a new series that will focus on the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. This is an extremely fascinating historical conflict that is criminally underutilised in the historical fiction genre. I cannot wait to see what outstanding novels Iggulden weaves around this conflict, and I am sure that The Lion Shield is going to be an impressive first entry in this series.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (19 May 2020)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Cover

Eagle Station by Dale Brown (26 May 2020)

Eagle Station Cover

Fair Warning by Michael Connelly (26 May 2020)

Fair Warning Cover

Michael Connelly is an author that needs very little introduction, having produced some amazing and creative murder mysteries over the years. I have only recently started reading his books, but I loved his last two novels, Dark Sacred Night and The Night Fire (the latter of which was one of the best books I read in 2019, as well as one of my favourite audiobooks of 2019). As a result, I am extremely keen to check out his next novel, Fair Warning, which will be his third Jack McEvoy novel. Fair Warning sounds like it is going to be a thrilling and exciting novel, and I cannot wait to see Connelly’s reporter protagonist go up against a deadly and well-hidden serial killer.

Well that’s my latest top ten list. I am very happy with the final list that I pulled together, especially as this is a great mixture of impressive sounding novels. I think each of the books listed above have incredible potential, and I cannot wait to read each and every one of them. Let me know which of these books interests you the most in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday -Books with Single-Word Titles

On March 3, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn List3 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 books with single-word titles.

It turns out that I have read quite a few such books in the last couple of years, and I was actually a little surprised by how many there were. In order to cull this list down to 10, I decided to focus on the best single-word title books I have featured on this blog and go from there. Many of the entries on this list were amongst some of the best books I have read in recent years, and most of them have featured on my Top Ten Books lists for 2018 and 2019.

I may have been a bit cheeky and added in more than then 10 books on this list. In instances where authors decided to give every book in their series a single-word title, I may have blended a few books together into one entry, especially if I loved each of the books in the series equally. I have also included a rather generous Honourable Mentions section as well, just to showcase how many amazing single-word title books have recently been published. While this is cheating somewhat, I think it makes this list more interesting so I’m sticking with it.

Honourable Mentions:

Timeless/Boundless by R. A. Salvatore

Timeless and Boundless Cover

Supernova by Marissa Meyer

Supernova Cover

Commodus by Simon Turney

Commodus Cover

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

Foundryside Cover

Top Ten List (No Particular Order):

Eragon/Eldest/Brisingr/Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Inheritance Cycle

Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

Thrawn Cover

Legend by David Gemmell

Legend

Skyward/Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

Skyward, Starsight cover

Rage by Johnathan Maberry

Rage Cover

Planetside/Spaceside by Michael Mammay

Planetside, Spaceside Covers

Tombland by C. J. Sansom

Tombland Cover

Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton

Salvation Cover

Restoration by Angela Slatter

Restoration Cover

Deceit by Richard Evans

Deceit Cover

And that rounds out my latest Top Ten list. I think it turned out pretty well, and there is an interesting range of different novels there. Let me know which of the above novels you enjoyed as well as what your favourite books with single-word titles are in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – Books on my TBR I Predict Will Be 5 Star Reads

On February 4, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn List14 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly series that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. In this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, we need to list the top ten upcoming books on our to-read list that we think will be five-star reads. To that end, I have scoured through those upcoming books that I want to read for those exceptional sounding entries that I think I will end up awarding a full five stars rating to.

There are actually quite a few novels I am planning to read that I think have the potential to get a five-star rating from me. I have already identified several of these books in my Waiting on Wednesday posts, as well as in my prior Top Ten Most Anticipated Book Releases for the First Half of 2020 list. Not only do all of these books have amazing-sounding plots, but quite a few of them are either written by an author I really like or part of a series that contains entries that I have previously awarded five-star reviews to.

There were quite a few upcoming books that I felt could have been included this list, but I ended up culling it down to my top ten favourites (in addition to my usual honourable mentions section). I decided to only include those books whose titles and plot synopsis have been officially revealed, as that made it easier to determine whether I am likely to award it a five-star rating. This does mean that I had to exclude several books that are coming out in the next year which have not been officially announced or which we know very little detail about. This includes sequels to some of my favourite books of 2019, include Rage, The Bone Ships, Starsight and A Little Hatred, which, while I know nothing about them now, I am extremely confident that they are going to be incredibly awesome. In the end, I was able to come up with a great list of books that I am happy with, so let us get to it.

Honourable Mentions:

The God Game by Danney Tobey – 14 January 2020

The only book on this list that I currently have a copy of, The God Game sounds like an amazing read, and I have heard some great things about it from some other reviewers. I am planning to read this book next, and based on its cool plot, I think this book has a real shot of getting a full five stars from me.

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett – 21 April 2020

The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell – 7 May 2020

Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson – 25 June 2020

Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s debut book, Blood & Sugar, was an outstanding piece of historical crime fiction that got a full five stars from me and was one of my favourite debuts of 2019. This second book is set to explore another intriguing murder in 18^th century London, and I am hopeful that the author’s second novel will be just as good as her first.

Top Ten List (By Release Date):

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch – 20 February 2020

Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn – 7 May 2020

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – 19 May 2020

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso – 2 June 2020

Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio – 9 July 2020

Queen of Storms by Raymond E. Feist – 14 July 2020

This is the sequel to 2018’s excellent King of Ashes, which is written by one of my favourite authors, Raymond E. Feist. I am a huge Feist fan and I have been looking forward to this book for a long time. I really enjoyed the intriguing new story that Feist came up with in his previous novel and I cannot wait to see where the story goes from here.

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It by K. J. Parker (cover not yet released) – 25 August 2020

One of my favourite books of 2019 was Parker’s exceptional fantasy novel, Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, which featured a desperate attempt to save a besieged city by a bunch of engineers and their duplicitous commander. This new novel, How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It, appears to contain a similar story, except that this time the book will focus on a playwright whose talents are utilised to win a siege. Based on how incredible his previous novel with, I am really excited for this upcoming book, and I fully expect it to be another funny and compelling five-star read.

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett – 15 September 2020

There is absolutely no way that the new epic novel from Ken Follett is not going to get a full five stars from me when it comes out later this year. Follett is another one of my favourite authors, and he has produced some incredible pieces of historical fiction over the years. The Evening and the Morning is the prequel to Follett’s iconic The Pillars of the Earth, and is set over 100 before during the Dark Ages. This is sure to be another captivating examination of history that explores the lives of several great characters over a period of years, producing a truly compelling story. This is going to be a massive read, but I am sure I will deeply enjoy every single page of it.
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff – 17 September 2020

The next book on my list is an incredible-sounding novel from Australian author Jay Kristoff. Kristoff, who is best known for his young adult fiction, is working on an adult fantasy novel which focuses on a world where vampires rule after the sun failed to rise one day. This book will apparently chronicle the life of the last vampire hunter, who attempted to save the world but is now imprisoned by the vampires and awaiting his execution. I have to admit that I really like the sound of this upcoming book, and I think that Kristoff is onto a real winner with this intriguing story.

Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke – 1 December 2020

Hawke’s debut novel, City of Lies, was a fantastic story about a family of poison experts as they tried to win a siege and keep their king safe from treachery, which was easily one of my favourite books of 2018. I have been looking forward to Hawke’s sequel for a while now, and Hollow Empire is currently set for release later this year. I have really high hopes for this sequel, especially as Hawke is apparently branching out into witchcraft and war in this new book.

Well, that’s it for this week’s list. I truly think all of the above books have the potential to be five-star reads, and I cannot wait to get my hands on all of them. Let me know what you think of the above books in the comments below, and tell me which upcoming pieces of fiction you think have the potential to be five-star reads.