Tag: The Last Kingdom

Top Ten Tuesday – Covers with Ships on the Cover

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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 covers with an item of the blogger’s choice on them.  This is an interesting topic that I have done in the past, producing a striking list about book covers featuring dragons that I felt really popped.  However, I’ve been in a nautical mood lately, so I’m going to do a list focusing on book covers where ships are prominently featured.

For this list I am envisioning old, classic seafaring ships, or at least something that could be sailed in a terrestrial setting.  As such, I am excluding spaceships from this list, primarily because I think that is a separate list that I could do at some other point.  Even with this restriction I was able to come up with a fun collection of book covers where ships are featured prominently.  This list looks really awesome, and I had a fun time pulling it together.

Honourable Mentions:

The Poisoned Island by Lloyd Shepherd

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Black Leviathan (German Cover) by Bernd Perplies

I’m slightly cheating by featuring the German version of this cover, but as its cool, I’ll allow it.  I loved this whole book, and it was fun to follow an airship crew (technically a ship) as they hunt dragons.

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Seas of Swords by R. A. Salvatore

The use of the ship is subtle in this cover, but I just love seeing Drizzt framed by the rigging.

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Top Ten Tuesday:

The Fury of the Gods by John Gwynne

I just had to feature the cover of the book I’m reading now, The Fury of the Gods, which looks so damn awesome.  Gwynne’s Bloodsworn trilogy has featured some brilliant covers the last couple of years, although this one might be my favourite.  The ship featured in this cover is really small, but it’s placement in front of the rampaging snake god ensures it has a lot more impact.  I love the contrast in sizes between the ship and the giant monster, and it helps to make this such an amazing cover.

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Jingo by Terry Pratchett

A cover that has long been stuck in my mind, as Jingo was one of the first Discworld novels I ever read.  The original cover art of Jingo featured two ships bordering the main battle on the weathercock, with various characters from the books dawn in Josh Kirby’s distinctive style.  Later versions of the cover removed the ships and only featured the central conflict.  This meant that I had a bit of a hard time finding a good picture of the cover that fully showcased the two ships in detail, so sorry if the full awesomeness doesn’t come across in the above shot.

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Heastward Ho! by Garry Kilworth

Few covers are as much fun as the one for Heastward Ho!.  The final book in Garry Kilworth’s Welkin Weasels series, which is set in a world with sentient rodents, Heastward Ho! featured a great adventure tale that I loved when I was younger.  The cover for Heastward Ho! is very distinctive, especially with the weasel crewed ship firing cannons, and I love the fantastic blend of colourful elements.  An overall excellent cover, although I must give a special mention to the other Welkin Weasels’ novel, Windjammer Run, which also featured a cool ship-focussed cover.

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Pieces of Eight by John Drake

An awesome historical fiction book that provided a new take on the Treasure Island characters, Pieces of Eight has a fantastic cover that not only shows a cool pirate ship in the background, but also had two of the character’s fighting in the ships rigging.

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Queen of Storms by Raymond E. Feist

The hardcover copy of Queen of Storms featured a great seascape shot with the titular ship, Queen of Storms, right in the middle.  An excellent cover that really captures the imagination.

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The Eagle’s Prophecy by Simon Scarrow

The sixth book in Simon Scarrow’s Eagles of the Empire series, The Eagle’s Prophecy, took the protagonists on a very different adventure, as they stopped fighting the British and took on pirates instead.  The have been a few different versions of the cover released over the years, although the one I originally got was the simple, but effective, cover with the ship’s sail above.  A great cover with some detailed art that immediately tells the reader that there is something nautically themed about this book.

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Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

The second Gentleman Bastards novel, Red Seas Under Red Skies, features quite a lot of nautical elements, including a good half of the book spent out at sea, so it’s inevitable that they would feature some fantastic ships on the cover.  There have been several different covers for Red Seas Under Red Skies released over the years, all of which look quite excellent and matched the themes of the book very well.  However, my favourite is the one above that really captures the chaotic nature of the plot.  The ship on fire references a key scene in the novel, and it blends beautifully with the titular red skies and red sea to create a striking image.  An awesome and memorable cover that I have a lot of love for.

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The Fathomless Caves by Kate Forsyth

Kate Forsyth’s brilliant Witches of Eileanan fantasy series featured some great covers throughout its run, although the best one with a ship is The Fathomless Caves, which was the last book in the original series.  Setting the ship in front of an erupting volcano, the original The Fathomless Caves cover has always stood out to me, and I love the contrasting colours and imagery.  There were actually a few books in this series I could have used, with The Forbidden Land and The Skull of the World also featuring distinctive original paperback covers that also made great use of ships, but I think the above cover for The Fathomless Caves is the only choice.

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The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell

There is a lot of Viking imagery in the Last Kingdom books by Bernard Cornwell, and I love the various shots of longboats and other watercraft that are routinely featured on the cover.  One of the best can be found on the first book in the series, The Last Kingdom, which features two cool longships ploughing the waves to battle.  Viking/Danish ships are so damn awesome, and I think this is one of the better cover art versions of them in this series.

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Mossflower by Brian Jacques

The final book cover I want to feature on this the fantastic novel Mossflower by Brian Jacques.  Like many fantasy fans I spend my youth reading the fun and distinctive Redwall series by Brian Jacques that featured some brilliant art depicting the animal protagonists in action.  Quite a few of these covers features boats or ships to some degree, so I was spoiled for choice here.  Of them, I love the cover for Mossflower the most, as it really captures the magic of the plot and features outstanding artwork of the ship in question.  This was a great cover and an awesome final inclusion for this list.

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Well, that’s my list.  As you can see there are some incredible books out there that make great use of ships and boats on their cover.  All the above books are really awesome as well, and you can have an incredible time reading them while also appreciating their great covers.  I had a lot of fun coming up with this list, and I will have to think about replicating it with another item in the future.  In the meantime, let me know what your favourite books with ships on the cover are in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I was Assigned to Read in School

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Top Ten Tuesday I s a weekly feature 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 ten books that they were assigned to read in school, with bonus points awarded if you provide a little review or your thoughts on the book in question.  This proved to be a rather interesting topic, and it really got me thinking about the random works of fiction I read or had assigned to me during my turbulent school years.  My resulting list on the subject proved to be an eclectic mixture or classic novels and several distinctive reads that have followed me into my later reviewing/blogging career.  A such, I rather like the list below and I think it is a simultaneously fun and depressing look back at my academic past.

Top Ten List:

Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts

Whilst in college (year 11 in my school system) I signed up to do a fantasy fiction course which I thought sounded fun.  Unfortunately, the teacher was absolutely rubbish, but luckily there was a silver lining in that Daughter of the Empire was a required reading.  A deep and compelling fantasy book about a young woman forced to take up the reigns of leadership of her noble family, Daughter of the Empire was a brilliant read and the first book in the Empire trilogy.  As a fantasy nerd, I was very familiar with Feist, having read multiple books in his Riftwar Cycle already, but I hadn’t made the leap over to the Empire trilogy yet.  Naturally I loved this required reading and powered through Daughter of the Empire faster than anyone in the class.  I even went a step beyond and grabbed the next two books in the series, Servant of the Empire and Mistress of the Empire, that’s how much I loved it.  Daughter of the Empire remains one of my favourite fantasy books to this day (see my blog’s review for the series here), and I cannot recommend this series enough.  Literally the only good thing to come out of a terrible, semester-long class.

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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A true American classic, To Kill a Mockingbird was an excellent coming-of-age story that also featured a complex tale of racial inequality in small-town America.  I read To Kill a Mockingbird as part of a pretty good general English course, and it proved fascinating and insightful to analyse this book.  We also watched the Gregory Peck film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird in the same class, which proved to be an impressive black and white watch.  A wonderful read whose message still resonates to this day.

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Tomorrow series by John Marsden

A series I particularly enjoyed having to read at school was the Tomorrow series by John Marsden.  An iconic Australian young adult series that follows a group of teenagers caught up in an invasion of Australia by a foreign army, the Tomorrow books are an exceptional series with a brilliant story behind it.  I love all seven books in this excellent series, and I really got into them thanks to some required reading in high school.  I honestly read more of this series than I needed to for school purposes, and the Tomorrow series really influenced me growing up.  I remember doing some basic reviews of this book back at school, and I have since done a more detailed review of the series on my blog.  A highly recommended series that still holds up.

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Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Thanks to a holiday project, I read Jurassic Park during my summer break one year and it proved to be very epic.  As a fan of the film and a massive reader, even as a teenager, it honestly wasn’t a great trial for me to read Jurassic Park during my holidays, and I really got caught up in Michael Crichton’s unique science fiction thriller.  Another classic, Jurassic Park really stands on its own as a novel and I can see why a movie adaptation from it was so successful.  It is quite fascinating to see the differences between the novel and the later film, and I really liked Crichton’s original science focussed and darker story.  I honestly need to read this book again at some point, but I enjoyed reading it while younger, and it’s a book all science fiction and thriller fans should check out at some point.

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The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

One of the more memorable novels I was assigned to read in college was the emotionally charged book, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.  A dark and powerful read that followed the aftermath of a tragic murder, The Lovely Bones proved to be an interesting addition to my reading list while at school.  While not something I probably would have chosen to read on my own, The Lovely Bones had a distinctive and intense story behind it, that dealt with the aftermath of tragedy and regret by following the victim’s surviving family.  An outstanding book that allowed for a lot of literary analysis, The Lovely Bones is an excellent addition to this list.

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The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett

Required to give a presentation on a specific fantasy novel, I of course chose one of my favourite books, The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett.  A particularly hilarious Pratchett novel, set in the Discworld’s equivalent of Australia, The Last Continent proved fertile ground for an in-depth presentation, and I made sure to re-read the book in advance.  I have a lot of love for this book (see my review for it on this blog), and I’m sure that came through in my passionate presentation. 

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Odyssey by Homer

A particularly interesting English class studying myths and legends let to me reading the Greek epic poem Odyssey.  The stylised and distinctive tale of legendary figure Odysseus, Odyssey was a great read to get lost in as a student, and it really appealed to my love of Greek mythology.  While I remember struggling with the classic prose and language, Odyssey lived up to epic in epic poem, and I had a great time learning about it at school.

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Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell

As part of a decent crime fiction English course at school, we dove into the debut novel of Patricia Cornwell, Postmortem.  The first book in her long-running Kay Scarpetta series, Postmortem introduced readers to world of modern forensic fiction with this in-depth and dark murder mystery.  Postmortem proved to be a fantastic read, and my class had an excellent time examining the clever mystery it contained.  While this is another book from school that I should probably re-read at some point, I did deeply enjoy Postmortem and I recall writing a descent essay about it.

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The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell

One of the more entertaining recommendations/assigned readings I had during my education occurred in a hectic Post-Roman Britain archaeology course while attending university.  The professor, an occasionally funny figure, would often provide us with a list of suggested readings to help us with the course.  While most of these readings were academic books and papers, he also recommended The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell, which he believed perfectly captured the period we were studying.  I was already a fan of this series before taking on this class, but I dutifully read more The Last Kingdom books to benefit my academic career (and for no other reason).  Cornwell clearly did a ton of research on the setting for his books, and I appreciated the historical and archaeological detail he included in his story, as well as the fantastic and intense narrative that accompanied it.  While I’m slightly stretching the definition of assigned reading with this entry, I’m going to leave The Last Kingdom in, as I did technically read it after a university lecturer told me to.

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Animal Farm by George Orwell

The final book I want to feature on this list is the classic book, Animal Farm by George Orwell.  More suggested reading than an assigned book, I read Animal Farm in my high school library over the course of several lunchtimes and classes (I was popular at school as you can no doubt tell).  While I didn’t get all of Orwell’s clever satyr and commentary on the Soviet Union, I still found Animal Farm to be an interesting read that has stuck with me years after.  A clever and unique examination of complex history and society, Animal Farm is a classic for a reason, and I’m glad I made an effort to read it at school.

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That’s the end of my list.  As you can see, I had some intriguing and memorable assigned reading during my school years.  Despite often being forced to read the above, I had a great time with all these classic and distinctive books, and they are really worth checking out.  I hope you find this list interesting and make sure to let me know what books you had to read in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Books of 2023

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  As we roll into the new year I am going to list my absolute favourite books of 2023, which is something I look forward to every year.  This is a continuation of several lists that highlighted the authors and books I have been most impressed with this year.  Previous lists for last year included my favourite pre-2023 novels, and my favourite audiobooks, sequels and new-to-me authors of 2023.  However, this list here is the big one as it covers my absolute favourite releases of the year, of which there are quite a few.

I think we can all agree that 2023 has been another roller-coaster year for the world, but thankfully readers got a bit of solace as this was an amazing year for books, with a huge range of incredible releases coming out across the genres.  Not only did several outstanding new series start but we had some exceptional debuts, and some big continuations of established works.  I have had an amazing time reading or listening to some outstanding books this year and quite a few releases have become instant favourites.  I must admit that I somewhat struggled to pull this list together, as there were so many books that deserved to be mentioned.  Therefore, because I am a very soft touch, and because the quality of the books I read this year was so impressive, I have decided to expand this list out to 20 entries (just like I have the last four years).  These 20 books are my absolute favourites from 2023, and I would strongly recommend every one of them to anyone interested in a great read.

To make it onto this list a book only needed to be released here in Australia during 2023.  I have naturally excluded anything I have not read yet, even though there were quite a few awesome-sounding books I sadly didn’t squeeze into my reading schedule.  I decided to leave off my usual Honourable Mentions section as the extra 10 entries make it unnecessary.  There will be a bit of crossover between the below entries and some of my previous lists.  For example, several of these novels appeared on my Top Ten Favourite Audiobooks of 2023 list and my Top Ten Favourite Books from the First Half of 2023 list, which I ran back into July.  Overall though, I am very happy with how this Top 20 list turned out and I think it contains a pretty good range of novels that showcase the different types of books that I chose to read this year.  So without further ado, here is the list.

Top Twenty List (no particular order):

City of Last Chances and House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky

City of Last Chances and House of Open Wounds Covers

For my first entry, I am doing a double entry with the first two books in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s The Tyrant Philosopher’s series.  City of Last Chances was technically released late 2022 but I am including it here because I only got it in Australia earlier this year.  Both books are exceptional fantasy novels set in a compelling world where a relentlessness army of anti-religious zealots are conquering everything.  The first book, City of Last Chances, was an excellent character-focused novel set in an occupied city with several big personalities try to survive a turbulent period of revolution.  House of Open Wounds is a loose sequel that follows one of the best protagonists from the first book as he gets drafted into an army hospital full of eccentric and forbidden healers.  Both novels were outstanding, with a great blend of complex characters, intricate overlapping storylines and a subtle humour, and they make for a very worthy inclusion on this list.

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Holly by Stephen King

Holly Cover

I had to feature one of my favourite horror novels on this list with the latest release from Stephen King, Holly.  The latest story featuring one of King’s most distinctive protagonists, Holly Gibney (introduced in Mr Mercedes), Holly is an intense and gripping novel that sees the protagonist investigate a missing person’s case.  However, the more she digs the more disturbing things get as she uncovers a pair of terrifying antagonists with a dark, dark secret.  Honestly one of the best Stephen King novels I have so far read, Holly had me hooked the entire way through, especially as it features two of King’s most disturbing villains.  Highly recommended, especially in its audiobook format narrated by Holly’s Mr Mercedes’ actor, Justine Lupe.

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Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry

Son of the Poison Rose Cover

It was a very good year for fans of Jonathan Maberry as we got two amazing books from him, both of which feature on this list.  This first of these, Son of the Poison Rose, was the sequel to Maberry’s first foray into fantasy fiction, Kagen the Damned (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022).  This gritty and brutal read continued to see the protagonist attempt to get revenge on an evil empire and their Witch-king after they slaughtered the royal family he was sworn to protect.  However, his enemy has some terrible weapons at their disposal, including zombies, unkillable magical constructs and much, much worse.  An excellent inclusion to one of the darkest fantasy series out there, Son of the Poison Rose was an outstanding read that continues to showcase how good Maberry’s distinctive style works in the fantasy genre.

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Burner by Mark Greaney

Burner Cover

Mark Greaney continues to impress with his outstanding Gray Man spy thriller series, the last several books of which have appeared on prior year’s versions of this list (including One Minute Out, Relentless and Sierra Six).  This latest novel, Burner, sets Greaney’s lethal main protagonist and his conflicted former lover against a determined kill team, determined to keep Russia’s foreign influences secret.  A powerful read that tastefully features contemporary conflicts, Burner was one of Greaney’s best books yet and I had an awesome time getting through it.

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The Armour of Light by Ken Follett

The Armour of Light Cover

One of my favourite historical fiction authors continued to showcase his impressive writing ability this year with The Armour of Light.  The latest book in Follet’s iconic Kingsbridge series (previous novels include The Evening and the Morning and A Column of Fire), The Armour of Light took the reader back to the start of the Industrial Revolution in England as the town of Kingsbridge struggles with the march on progress.  Following a vast cast of colourful and complex characters, The Armour of Light was an outstanding and massive read that I powered through in no time at all.  A five-star piece of historical fiction that comes highly recommended.

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The Book that Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence

The Book That Wouldn't Burn Cover

One of the most inventive and bold fantasy novels of 2023 was The Book that Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence.  Primarily set inside an impossibly large library in a unique fantasy location, The Book that Wouldn’t Burn follows two protagonists with very different experiences of the library as they try to discover its secrets.  Impressive in its scope and creativity, The Book that Wouldn’t Burn was a brilliant read that perfectly starts a captivating new trilogy from one of fantasy fiction’s best authors.

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Cave 13 by Jonathan Maberry

Cave 13 Cover

My second Maberry novel on this list is Cave 13, which continues the outrageous adventures of Maberry’s most iconic and mentally traumatised protagonist, Joe Ledger.  The third book in the Rogue Team International sequel series, Cave 13 follows on from Rage (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019) and Relentless (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021) and sees Ledger and his team of specialists investigate a new terrorism case involving high-tech weapons.  Cave 13 has one of Maberry’s more creative stories, as the protagonists try to stop a deadly plot involving ancient magic, the Dead Sea Scrolls, a traumatising bio-weapon and nukes in the Middle East.  Fast-paced, wildly brutal, and featuring a cast of intriguing, over-the-top characters, Cave 13 was an amazing addition to one of my favourite series and I had an epic time listening to it.

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The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

The Last Devil to Die Cover

One of the most moving, captivating and hilarious books of the year had to be the fourth Thursday Murder Club book by Richard Osman, The Last Devil to Die.  Following on from Osman’s previous epic books, The Thursday Murder Club (one of the best books, debuts and audiobooks of 2020), The Man Who Died Twice and The Bullet that Missed, The Last Devil to Die follows four retirees who investigate the murder of a close friend.  This latest entry had a fascinating case involving drug dealers, antiquities and other villains, all of whom are completely outclassed by four entertaining seniors.  However, the best part of The Last Devil to Die was the outstanding characters, each of whom goes through their own emotional journeys in this series, which can be both extremely funny and brutally heartbreaking.  One storyline in this book was particularly tragic and you will not be able to keep the tears from your eyes as you read it.  One of the most moving, yet hopeful books of 2023, I cannot recommend this entire exceptional series enough.

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Usagi Yojimbo: The Green Dragon by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo - Volume 38 - The Green Dragon Cover

The 38th volume in my absolute favourite comic book series, The Green Dragon was another fantastic and beautiful addition to the Usagi Yojimbo series.  Once again following Stan Sakai’s rabbit ronin through three more compelling adventures, The Green Dragon was an excellent addition to a creative and well-drawn series, and I read through this great volume the very second I got my hands on it. 

 

Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead by K. J. Parker

Saevus Corax Deals With the Dead Cover

One of the funniest fantasy authors out there, K. J. Parker (who also writes as Tom Holt), had a ripper of a year, releasing several outstanding books.  Parker, whose Siege series has been heavily featured on this list in the past with books like Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It and A Practical Guide to Conquering the World, released a complete trilogy in the later half of 2023 with the Corax books.  Following a battlefield looter with a complex past as he gets caught up in all manner of conflicts, the Corax series is an intriguing trilogy that combines some amazing comedy with Parker’s unique outlook on life and fantasy fiction.  I have only had the chance to read the first book of this trilogy so far with Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead, and it was something very special, as the protagonist finds himself embroiled in an over-the-top situation with substantial implications for the entire world.  I loved every second spent reading Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead and if I had been able to read the sequels (both of which are currently sitting on my shelf), I have no doubt they would be featured on this list as well.

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The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry

The Last Kingdom (Steve Berry) Cover

I have been really impressed with Steve Berry’s long-running Cotton Malone thriller series in recent years, thanks to great books like The Malta Exchange, The Warsaw Protocol and The Kaiser’s Web, but his latest novel, The Last Kingdom, might be one of his best yet.  Cleverly combining a modern-day spy thriller storyline with an intriguing historical conspiracy about an iconic king of Bavaria, The Last Kingdom really got the right balance of modern-day excitement and fascinating history.  There is so much to love about this exciting and insightful book and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next upcoming entry of the series coming soon.

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The Will of the Many by James Islington

The Will of the Many Cover

One of the best new fantasy authors I tried out in 2023 was James Islington who produced the outstanding novel, The Will of the Many, which has been topping all of my recent end-of-year lists.  Following a runaway who is drafted into a war against an oppressive regime and forced to infiltrate their elite academy, The Will of the Many was pretty damn epic on a number of levels.  Not only did it have an amazing magic school plot (something I am a big fan of), but it also featured some cool and unique fantasy elements while following a compelling protagonist.  I was absolutely hooked the entire way through this impressive story and I cannot recommend this brilliant novel enough.  I am really hopeful that we get a sequel this year, and I plan to read it the second it is released.

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Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone on this Train is a Suspect Cover

After wowing the world with his impressive 2022 Australian novel, Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone, author Benjamin Stevenson provided an outstanding follow-up with Everyone on this Train is a Suspect.  Amplifying the clever and hilarious homage to murder mystery classics by forcing the protagonist to participate in a mystery writer’s convention aboard Australia’s version of the Orient Express, Everyone on this Train is a Suspect lovingly made fun of many classic crime fiction sub-genres while also presenting the reader with a compelling new mystery.  Featuring an excellent blend of suspense, misdirection and comedy, Everyone on this Train is a Suspect was an amazing sequel that had me laughing the entire way through as Stevenson has fun roasting his fellow crime fiction authors and enthusiasts.

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The Fall of Cadia by Robert Rath

Warhammer 40,000 - The Fall of Cadia Cover

There were so many amazing Warhammer 40,000 novels released in 2023, but one of the absolute best was The Fall of Cadia by the very impressive Robert Rath.  Rath, who previously wowed me with his other Warhammer novels, Assassinorum: Kingmaker and The Infinite and the Divine, attempted to novelise one of the biggest lore events from the Warhammer 40,000 canon.  Featuring a ton of cinematic battles and larger-than-life characters, The Fall of Cadia had me riveted from start to finish, and I loved just how well Rath was able to capture this climatic event.  One of my new favourite Warhammer 40,000 books, The Fall of Cadia was so damn epic in every way possible.

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The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding

The Shadow Casket Cover

After waiting years for a continuation to Chris Wooding’s epic fantasy novel, The Ember Blade, readers were finally gifted a sequel in 2023 with The Shadow Casket, which was everything we hoped it would be.  Featuring a massive and elaborate tale of revolution, comradery and difficult decisions, The Shadow Casket set a disparate group of friends against an oppressive empire in an outstanding read.  Featuring some amazing character arcs, compelling world building, and massive war sequences, The Shadow Casket was such a great read and one of the best fantasy novels of 2023.  I loved The Shadow Casket so much, and my biggest disappointment about it is that we are probably going to have to wait a few years to get the third book.

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Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly

Resurrection Walk Cover

One of the world’s best crime fiction authors, Michael Connelly, is an author who always manages to impress me, and several of his books, including The Night Fire, The Dark Hours, Desert Star and Fair Warning, have appeared on prior year’s version of this list.  Therefore, it should be unsurprising that his latest novel, Resurrection Walk, also needs to be featured here, as it was one of the best books I read all year.  A new addition to his Lincoln Lawyer series, Resurrection Walk was a wonderful legal thriller that saw two of Connelly’s best protagonists team up to get an innocent woman out of prison.  Wildly entertaining and featuring a fascinating and unique legal case, Resurrection Walk was one of the better Connelly books I have so far enjoyed and I had such an exceptional time reading it.

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Mr Einstein’s Secretary by Matthew Reilly

Mr Einstein's Secretary Cover

An elaborate and compelling historical novel that followed a fictional secretary who was dragged into some of the biggest events of the early 20th century.  Mr Einstein’s Secretary was an exciting novel that saw Matthew Reilly tell a particularly unique historical tale of love, determination and sacrifice, which cleverly inserted his protagonist into the lives of several major historical figures as their secretaries.  This novel had so many compelling elements to it, from the bold characters, intriguing historical details, and a curious writing style, that I ended up finishing Mr Einstein’s Secretary off in a single day.  I absolutely loved this book and I had to feature it here as a result.

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The Traitor by Anthony Ryan

The Traitor Cover

Anthony Ryan ended his outstanding Covenant of Steel trilogy in 2023 with The Traitor.  Serving as an excellent conclusion to The Pariah and The Martyr, The Traitor saw Ryan’s complicated and scruffy scribe protagonist caught in the middle of a bloody civil war as his beloved risen martyr attempts to unite the country and force out all the evil she believes corrupts it.  However, nothing is as it seems, and the protagonist soon finds himself trying to decide whether he is actually on the right side.  Filled with heartbreak, treachery, and damaged characters trying to do the right thing, The Traitor was an epic and moving piece of fantasy fiction that I had such an amazing time getting through.  An epic end to a particularly impressive fantasy trilogy.

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The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks

The Lion - Son of the Forest Cover

Another amazing Warhammer 40,000 book I have to highlight on this list is The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks.  A key piece of Warhammer 40,000 fiction that covers the return of a major lore figure, The Lion: Son of the Forest was a thoughtful and moving character-driven read loaded with symbolisms and intriguing takes on established pieces of Warhammer 40,000 history.  I had an amazing time with this particularly strong piece of Warhammer fiction and Brooks really impressed me as an author in 2023.

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Battle Song by Ian Ross

Battle Song Cover

The final book I want to highlight on this list is the exciting and compelling historical fiction read, Battle Song by Ian Ross.  Following an ill-tempered knight and his unlucky squire as they become embroiled in a lesser-known English civil war, Battle Song was a powerful and compelling historical adventure that had me hooked the entire way through.  Smart, intriguing, and full of fun action, Battle Song comes highly recommended, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel coming out in the next couple of months.

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Well, those are my 20 favourite books of 2023. It turned out to be quite a good list in the end, and I am very glad that I was able to highlight so many fantastic books.  2024 is set to be another excellent year for amazing reads, and I will be examining some of my most anticipated books next week.  In the meantime, let me know what your favourite books of 2023 were in the comments below, and make sure you all have a happy New Years.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobooks of 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List54 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  The official topic for this list involved listing the ten most recent additions to your bookshelf, which is a topic I would usually try to address.  However, I am afraid I’m going to have to skip this topic and instead I will continue my annual end of year wrap up of some of the best books of 2023.  In previous weeks I have highlighted some of the best pre-2023 novels, best new-to-me-authors and the best 2023 sequels I read in the last year.  However, this week I am going to look at something near and dear to my heart, the best audiobooks of 2023. 

Readers of this blog only need to check out my extensive audiobook category to know that I have a lot of love for the audiobook format.  In my opinion, the audiobook is often the best way to experience a good book and in many cases this format makes a novel far more enjoyable.  As a result, I listened to quite a few audiobooks this year, and while a good chunk of them were books released before 2023 and featured in my Throwback Thursday posts, most were released this year.  There were some truly outstanding and impressive audiobooks released in 2023 and I knew going in that I was going to have an extremely hard time coming up with a final version of this list.

For this list I have only included audiobooks released in 2023 that I have listened to, which left me with a long list of extremely impressive audiobooks which I wanted to include in this post.  To help cut this down, I considered a range of factors, including the quality of the original novel, the skill of the narrator, production value, pacing and other features.  Looking at all this I was eventually able to cut the list down to the absolute best 10 audiobooks, with my typical generous honourable mentions section.  I had to make some very hard decisions here, and I ended up excluding several extremely good audiobooks from the main list.  Still, I think it really represents the best audiobooks I enjoyed this year and there are some amazing productions below.

Honourable Mention:

The King of the Spoil, written by Jonathan D. Beer and narrated by Gabrielle Nellis-Pain

The King of the Spoil Cover

A fun and intense Warhammer 40,000 book that effortlessly blends gothic science fiction with a great crime fiction narrative.

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The Last Kingdom, written by Steve Berry and narrated by Scott Brick

The Last Kingdom (Steve Berry) Cover

Intriguing European history and modern-day espionage combine perfectly in this new Cotton Malone novel by Steve Berry, which is expertly brought to life by veteran narrator Scott Brick

Amazon

 

Cypher: Lord of the Fallen, written by John French and narrated by Jon Rand

Cypher - Lord of the Fallen Cover

The very talented Jon Rand does a wonderful job of bringing one of the most mysterious Warhammer 40,000 figures to life in this cryptic and fast-paced audiobook by John French.

Amazon

 

Murtagh, written by Christopher Paolini and narrated by Gerard Doyle

Murtagh Cover

Christopher Paolini cleverly adds to his iconic Inheritance Cycle with original series audiobook narrator, Gerard Doyle, returning as well, bringing some familiar and compelling voices to this epic piece of fantasy fiction.

Amazon

Top Ten List:

Son of the Poison Rose/Cave 13, written by Jonathan Maberry and narrated by Ray Porter

Son of the Poison Rose and Cave 13 Cover

In 2023, we were lucky to get two novels from one of my favourite authors, Jonathan Maberry, as he continued some of his best series.  These novels were the dark fantasy epic, Son of the Poison Rose and the science fiction thriller, Cave 13, which continued the outstanding Rogue Team International series.  Both books were awesome in their own way, but I chose to combine their audiobooks into a single entry here, due to the fact both shared the same narrator in the legendary Ray Porter.  Porter, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, is synonymous with Maberry, having lent his voice to most of his books, and he always provides an exceptional performance that works so well with Maberry’s style and captures his complex and damaged protagonists.  The combination of Maberry and Porter is always a winner, and the resulting audiobooks are something extremely special.  As such, both come highly recommended, and both are some of the best audiobooks of the year.

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Holly, written by Stephen King and narrated by Justine Lupe

Holly Cover

I have been really enjoying some of the legendary Stephen King’s more recent books and my favourite so far is his latest novel, Holly.  A continuation of the adventures of Holly Gibney that started in Mr Mercedes, Holly was a complex and dark thriller that saw the protagonist investigate a missing persons case, only to discover something truly disturbing and horrifying.  This was such an incredible novel, that featured great characters and some shocking twists, and I can honestly say that my love for Holly was even more enhanced because of its amazing audiobook as the producers cleverly brought in actress Justine Lupe to narrate the book.  Lupe, who played the character of Holly Gibney in the Mr Mercedes television series, once again dove into the character and really brought her to life.  Combined with her great take on several other impressive characters, including two of King’s most surprisingly sinister villains, and Holly was a joy to listen to from start to finish, and indeed proved to be an excellent accompaniment for a fun road trip.

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The Will of the Many, written by James Islington and narrated by Euan Morton

The Will of the Many Cover

One of my favourite fantasy novels of 2023 was the inventive and exciting release from Australian author James Islington, The Will of the Many.  A powerful read that saw a clever teenager with secrets attend a prestigious magical academy while also trying to bring down a destructive empire, The Will of the Many was one of the most impressive books of the year and I got really addicted to its elaborate storytelling and unique new world.  The audiobook version of The Will of the Many proved to be extremely good, especially as it allowed me to absorb more of the compelling world detail and envision some of the more elaborate elements of the story.  Narrator Euan Morton also provided a unique voice to the story, and this ended up being on of the best fantasy audiobooks of the year.

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The Last Devil to Die, written by Richard Osman and narrated by Fiona Shaw

The Last Devil to Die Cover

After wowing me with his previous Thursday Murder Club books, including The Thursday Murder Club (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), The Man Who Died Twice (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021) and The Bullet That Missed (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Richard Osman produced another outstanding release this year with The Last Devil to Die.  Thanks to its clever mystery, subtle humour, and some of the best character work you likely to see, The Last Devil to Die was Osman’s best book yet, and I cannot emphasise how wonderful and moving it ended up being.  The audiobook version proved to be particularly good, as they once again brought back actress Fiona Shaw to narrate.  Shaw has an amazing handle on all the characters, and her excellent voice conveyed all the intense and powerful emotional that this book contained.  I honestly teared up in placed while listening to this audiobook and I cannot recommend it enough as a result.

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The Fall of Cadia, written by Robert Rath and narrated by Mark Elstob

Warhammer 40,000 - The Fall of Cadia Cover

I’m still listening to this next entry; however, I’m having such a great time with it that I had to include it here.  This book is a fantastic Warhammer 40,000 book, The Fall of Cadia.  Covering one of the most important events from the Warhammer 40,000 canon, the end of the 13th Black Crusade, The Fall of Cadia follows the epic last stand of the fortress planet of Cadia to the forces of Chaos.  Massive in its scope and carnage, The Fall of Cadia is a difficult book to pull together but Robert Rath, who massively impressed me with his prior novels Assassinorum: Kingmaker and The Infinite and the Divine, does an incredible job of tying everything together into an exciting and manageable read.  I am particularly loving the audiobook version as narrator Mark Elstob moves the lengthy novel along at an excellent pace and provides a huge range of voices to cover all the over-the-top personalities featured in the book.  His narration also perfectly captures the full intensity of the many battles featured within The Fall of Cadia and he makes it sound as epic and brutal as possible.  I am loving every second with this audiobook and I look forward to seeing how well the big finish comes out.

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City of Last Chances, written by Adrian Tchaikovsky and narrated by David Thorpe

City of Last Chances Cover

Probably one of the cleverest fantasy books I got to read in 2023 was City of Last Chances by the unstoppable and highly talented Adrian Tchaikovsky.  Set in an occupied city loaded with rogues, revolutionaries and other lost souls, City of Last Chances was a clever, character-driven read, loaded with unique personal stories and unusual scenarios.  This fascinating and entertaining narrative was expertly expressed by narrator David Thorpe who really dove into the strange characters and showcased all the absurdities and deep dramas perfectly.  A wonderful audiobook from start to finish that I honestly could not stop listening to.

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Burner, written by Mark Greaney and narrated by Jay Snyder

Burner Cover

One of the leading authors of spy thriller fiction, Mark Greaney, produced another outstanding entry in his Gray Man series this year with Burner.  Setting his infamous protagonist against both his former lover and a desperate Russian special forces unit, Burner was an amazing and intense read that expertly and tastefully utilised contemporary events to tell a complex story.  The resulting action, spy craft, personal drama and carnage was expertly showcased by narrator Jay Snyder, who has lent his voice to all the Gray Man books.  The resulting audiobook was extremely moving and intense, and Burner was one of Greaney’s best releases yet.

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The Shadow Casket, written by Chris Wooding and narrated by Simon Bubb

The Shadow Casket Cover

The longest audiobook I listened to in 2023 was the epic fantasy novel, The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding.  The sequel to Wooding’s previous novel, The Ember Blade, The Shadow Casket was an outstanding listen that saw a desperate group of freedom fighters try to turn the tide against their relentless oppressors.  Perfectly continuing the story set up in The Ember Blade while also featuring some impressive character interactions and a ton of worldbuilding, The Shadow Casket was a brilliant book, and I was so glad to get a continuation of this series.  I deeply appreciated the audiobook version of The Shadow Casket, narrated by Simon Bubb, as it really helped me absorb this massive read so much better.  Bubb did an outstanding job of making this lengthy story easy to follow, and I loved the fitting voices he gifted to all the complex characters.  A captivating and extensive listen, I don’t think I would have enjoyed The Shadow Casket as much in any other format.

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

The Traitor Cover

Bestselling fantasy author, Anthony Ryan, brought his Covenant of Steel trilogy to an awesome end this year with The Traitor.  The fantastic follow-up to The Pariah and The Martyr, The Traitor showcased the end of Ryan’s scribe protagonist’s big adventure, and the inevitable fall to darkness that accompanied it.  Intense, highly detailed, and featuring an outstanding antagonist, The Traitor was such a good conclusion, and I had such an incredible time listening to the audiobook version.  Steven Brand, who did such a great job narrating The Pariah and The Martyr, provided another brilliant bout of narrating in this finale, and he perfectly captured the protagonist’s despair and determination as they fought to do the right thing one final time.  A highly recommended audiobook and the only way to enjoy the Covenant of Steel books.

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The Lion: Son of the Forest, written by Mike Brooks and narrated by Timothy Watson

The Lion - Son of the Forest Cover

The final entry on this list is another Warhammer 40,000 audiobook, The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks.  Brooks, who is quicky becoming one of the best authors of Warhammer 40,000 fiction (a quick shoutout to Brook’s other 2023 release, Warboss), sought to bring back one of the canon’s most significant characters, and did so with this deeply personal and symbolism laced novel.  Intense, moving, and featuring some compelling characters, The Lion: Son of the Forest was extremely good, especially in the audiobook format narrated by Timothy Watson.  While all Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks are pretty special and fun, I really enjoyed this one as Watson captures the gravitas of the main character perfectly while also highlighting the complex plot and pivotal action.  One of the best Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks of 2023 as a result, this is really worth a listen. 

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Well that is the end of this latest Top Ten list, and as you can see, I have been lucky enough to listen to some awesome audiobooks this year (although I clearly focused a little too much on Warhammer fiction).  All the above audiobooks are extremely good and I would highly recommend each of them in their audiobook format.  Let me know what your favourite audiobooks of 2023 were in the comments below, and make sure to check back next week to see what my overall favourite novels of the year were.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobooks from the First Half of 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List20 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.  Top Ten Tuesday participants get a freebie this week so I chose to have a look at my favourite audiobooks from the first half of 2023.  This is a continuation of my Top Ten list from a few weeks ago that featured my favourite overall novels from the first half of 2023.

I have a great deal of love for the audiobook format, and it is one of the main ways that I tend to check out books.  Each year I enjoy a great number of different audiobooks and use the format to check out recent releases and older novels.  I have been enjoying audiobooks for years, and it is amazing the various ways in which listening to a book can enhance your enjoyment.  A great narrator can really bring you into the story, and I find that listening to a book enhances the amount of detail that you can take in.  In addition, other features, such as captivating voices, music and sound effects can really make an audiobook something special, and there some great examples of that out there.  This year alone I have listened to several outstanding audiobooks, includes some of my favourite books from early 2023.  Because I love this format so much, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight my favourite audiobooks from the first half of the year.

To pull this list off I had a look at all the 2023 releases that I listened to on audiobook to figure out my favourites.  It turns out that I have already gone through quite a few this year so there was a very large collection of potential additions to this list.  I was eventually able to whittle it down to the ten audiobooks I consider to be the best.  There is a bit of a crossover with my previous Favourite Books from the First Half of 2023 list, but I think there are enough new additions to make this list worthwhile.  I made sure to feature only the very best audiobooks on this list, and, in addition to the quality of the baseline novel, I also looked at audiobook production and narration.  In my experience an outstanding narration or use of music and sound effects can enhance the plot, and I think that all the audiobooks listed below were exceptional listens that are really worth checking out.

In addition, as I had also listened to a few pre-2023 audiobooks in the first half of the year, I decided to also included a few of the best in a honourable mentions section.  I had an epic time diving back into some classic reads, especially those of the Warhammer variety, and I really wanted to highlight which ones made for the best audiobooks.  With these honourable mentions, I am very happy with how the overall list turned out and I think that the below entries really highlight what my favourite audiobooks from the first half of the year are.

Honourable Mentions (Pre-2023 audiobooks):

Eisenhorn Trilogy, written by Dan Abnett and narrated by Toby Longworth

Warhammer 40,000 - Xenos Cover

Some of the very best Warhammer audiobooks I listened to this year are the epic Eisenhorn novels by Dan Abnett.  Thanks to Toby Longworth’s exceptional narration, all three Eisenhorn novels, Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus were a joy to listen to from start to finish.

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Dead Beat, Proven Guilty and White Night, written by Jim Butcher and narrated by James Marsters

White Night Cover

Few audiobooks are better than Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files novels narrated by actor James Marsters.  I’ve gotten through three of these audiobooks in 2023 with Dead Beat, Proven Guilty and White Night, and all of them were outstanding five-star reads that I had such a great time listening to.

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The Infinite and the Divine, written by Robert Rath and narrated by Richard Reed

The Infinite and the Divine Cover

A highly clever, utterly hilarious and very impressive Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that focused on two rival Necron lords, battling it out over the centuries in a petty feud.  I laughed myself silly with this audiobook and Richard Reed’s awesome narration made it even better.

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

Warhammer 40,000 - For the Emperor Cover

Another particularly funny Warhammer 40,000 audiobook I enjoyed this year is the first Ciaphas Cain novel by Sandy Mitchell, For the Emperor.  This entertaining audiobook about a cowardly war hero truly comes alive with the outstanding narration team of Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory, who compliment themselves marvellously throughout the entire production.

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Top Ten List:

Son of the Poison Rose, written by Jonathan Maberry and narrated by Ray Porter

Son of the Poison Rose Cover

I had to start this list off with the new Jonathan Maberry novel, Son of the Poison Rose.  The sequel to Kagen the Damned (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Son of the Poison Rose was another epic and bloody novel that proves hard to put down.  The always exceptional narration of Ray Porter turns it into an utterly addictive and impossibly good listen, which I cannot recommend enough.

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Warhammer 40,000: Warboss, written by Mike Brooks and narrated by Harry Myers

Warhammer 40,000 - Warboss Cover

Rising Warhammer 40,000 author Mike Brooks is having a stellar 2023, and one of the first audiobooks of his I listened to was the very funny Warboss.  Focusing on feuding warband of Orks attempting to determine a new leader through conquest, Warboss was a riot the entire way through, especially with Harry Myer’s fantastic narration perfectly capturing the chaotic yet complex nature of the Ork characters.

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The Last Kingdom, written by Steve Berry and narrated by Scott Brick

The Last Kingdom (Steve Berry) Cover

History and conspiracy really come to life in the hands of Steve Berry, especially when narrated by Scott Brick.  This latest Cotton Malone audiobook, The Last Kingdom, was pretty damn good, and I have so much love for the amazing combination of a modern-day thriller and intriguing historical mysteries.

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The Lake House, written by Sarah Beth Durst and narrated by Karissa Vacker

The Lake House Cover Better

A fantastic and haunting young adult thriller that saw three teenagers thrust into a deadly situation on a remote summer camp.  Sarah Beth Durst produced a pretty amazing book here and Karissa Vacker does a great job of portraying the three teenage protagonists with her excellent narration.  I had an amazing time with The Lake House and I am hoping to get a review up for it soon.

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Warhammer 40,000: The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks and narrated by Timothy Watson

The Lion - Son of the Forest Cover

The second Mike Brooks audiobook on this list is The Lion: Son of the Forest, which was probably one of the best Warhammer 40,000 novels of 2023 so far.  Following the return of a mythical hero, this fantastic book had a compelling and powerful plot that had me hooked very early.  Narrator Timothy Watson ensures that the audiobook version is particularly epic as he brings some outstanding gravitas to an already legendary main character.

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Burner, written by Mark Greaney, narrated by Jay Snyder

Burner Cover

Few thriller series impress me as much as the Gray Man books by Mark Greaney, and I have been having an amazing time listening to their audiobooks, especially with the very talented Jay Snyder narrating them.  The latest Gray Man audiobook, Burner, was particularly special, and I could barely stop listening to it as Greaney wove together a captivating and highly relevant spy story.  A must listen, especially with Snyder’s great take on the characters.

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The Will of the Many, written by James Islington and narrated by Euan Morton

The Will of the Many Cover

One of the audiobooks I am most glad I listened to in the first half of 2023 was the brilliant fantasy novel, The Will of the Many by James Islington.  A highly elaborate, entertaining and moving novel, The Will of the Many is one of the best fantasy books of the year so far and represents the start of an outstanding new series.  I particularly enjoyed the amazing audiobook version, which thanks to the narration of Euan Morton, really popped, and helped to cram every detail of Islington’s new world into my head.  Highly recommended!

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Warhammer 40,000: Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter, written by Phil Kelly and narrated by Helen McAlpine

Warhammer 40,000 - Shadowsun Cover

A slick, action-packed, and occasionally gruesome Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that I had a lot of fun with was Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter.  Combining Phil Kelly’s love of the T’au faction with Helen McAlpine’s great narration is a winning combination, and I powered through this cool audiobook in no time at all.

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City of Last Chances, written by Adrian Tchaikovsky and narrated by David Thorpe

City of Last Chances Cover

Another particularly impressive and captivating fantasy novel from the start of the year was City of Last Chances by the very talented Adrian Tchaikovsky.  Following multiple unique protagonists around a troubled fantasy city, City of Last Chances is a must read for all fantasy fans, and you will find your experience of it greatly improved with the outstanding audiobook version.  Narrator David Thorpe perfectly captures all of the many complex characters and ensures that Tchaikovsky’s brilliant story elaborate setting is expertly conveyed to the listener.  I cannot recommend this audiobook enough and I cannot wait to see how Tchaikovsky follows it up.

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Warhammer 40,000: Leviathan, written by Darius Hinks and narrated by Theo Solomon

Warhammer 40,000 - Leviathan Cover

The final audiobook on this list is the one I’m listening to now, Leviathan by Darius Hinks.  An intense and fast-paced book that follows a deadly alien invasion, this is a great Warhammer 40,000 read that really grew on me.  Leviathan has a very good audiobook format, thanks to the narration of Theo Solomon, and I am having an outstanding time seeing this dark tale of insanity, invasion and hope, come to fruition.  I should knock this off in the next day or so, and I will try to get a review up for it soon.

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Well, that’s the end of this latest list.  As you can see, there have been some very good audiobooks out in the first half of 2023, even my list is a little Warhammer 40,000 heavy.  It will be interesting to see which books make the cut later in the year, especially as I currently have several major 2023 audiobooks currently sitting on my phone, waiting to be listened to.  While I get to that, make sure to let me know what your favourite audiobooks of 2023 so far are in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Books From the First Half of 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List22 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 your favourite book covers in the colours of your country’s flag.  While this was an interesting idea, I had already decided in advance of seeing this topic that I would take this opportunity to celebrate the fact that we are already into the second half of 2023 by highlight some amazing books from the first half of the year.

2023 has already proven to be a pretty fantastic year for books, and I have already read some incredible 2023 releases, including impressive standalone books, amazing new entries in established series and fantastic debuts.  Because of this, I thought that I would take the time to work out what my top ten favourite books from the first half of 2023 were.  To be eligible, a book had to be released in the first half of this year in some form.  I have also excluded any books released during this period that I have not so far read, although a couple of releases I have my eye on might have appeared on this list if I had read them in time.

Coming up with this list proved to be a rather bigger task than I originally intended, as I ended up amassing nearly 20 releases, all of which I consider to be some pretty outstanding reads.  I was eventually able to whittle this down to an acceptable Top Ten list, although I did include my typical generous honourable mentions section.  I am rather happy with how this list turned out, although I am surprised at some of the great recent books that ended up being excluded.  Still, the entries below represent what I considered to be some of the best books from the first half of 2023, and I would strongly recommend each and every one of them. 

Honourable Mentions:

The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien De Castell

The Malevolent Seven Cover

An ultra-fun, ultra-violent fantasy read that pitted a group of amoral mercenary mages against the worst the world had to throw at them.  A highly entertaining read.

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Fatal Legacy by Lindsey Davis

Fatal Legacy Cover

Another excellent addition to Davis’ long-running Flavia Albia historical murder mystery series. Fatal Legacy featured another compelling case, this time based around an extensive family feud in ancient Rome and is well worth the read.

Amazon

 

Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman

Unnatural History Cover 2

Veteran crime fiction author Jonathan Kellerman delivered another brilliant entry to his iconic Alex Delaware series this year with the fantastic and clever Unnatural History.  A powerful and well-written crime fiction read with a clever solution behind it, this was an amazing addition to the series.

Amazon

 

Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow

Dead of Night Cover

One of my favourite historical fiction authors, Simon Scarrow, delivered an amazing sequel to his previous World War II thriller, Blackout, with the impressive Dead of Night.  Set in Nazi controlled Berlin, Dead of Night had a unique and historically powerful narrative, and this proves to be quite the memorable novel.

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Top Ten List (no particular order):

The Book that Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence

The Book That Wouldn't Burn Cover

Acclaimed author Mark Lawrence produced one of his best fantasy books ever with the outstanding and epic, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn.  Set in a massive fantasy library, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn contains a complex and twist-laded narrative that had me hooked from the very beginning.  Lawrence really outdid himself with The Book That Wouldn’t Burn and this is such an incredible read.

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Burner by Mark Greaney

Burner Cover

I always make sure to check out the new Gray Man novel by top thriller author Mark Greaney each year and I am never disappointed, especially with the latest book Burner.  Burner was a hyper-intense and action packed read that didn’t stop once during its entire run.  Perfectly exploring contemporary history and tying it into ongoing storylines, Burner was a particularly strong addition to the already great Gray Man series and it comes very highly recommended.

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Usagi Yojimbo: The Green Dragon by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo - Volume 38 - The Green Dragon Cover

Unsurprisingly, I had to include the new Usagi Yojimbo comic in this list, as it still one of my all-time favourite comic series.  Despite the series’ age, Stan Sakai is still pumping out some outstanding stories, and The Green Dragon was a pretty amazing addition to the series.  Following the titular rabbit ronin as he journeys through his version of Feudal Japan, The Green Dragon featured three amazing stories, each one perfectly showcasing the complex characters and Sakai’s striking art style.  Another masterful entry in this amazing series, I loved The Green Dragon and I’m hoping to get a proper review up for it soon.

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Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry

Son of the Poison Rose Cover

One of my favourite authors, Jonathan Maberry, continued to explore the dark fantasy genre in a big way with his violent and captivating novel, Son of the Poison Rose.  The epic sequel to Kagen the Damned (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Son of the Poison Rose continues to follow the adventure of a doomed and damned protagonist, desperate for revenge, while also cleverly expanding Maberry’s awesome new fantasy realm.  Brutal, uncompromising, but utterly addictive, Son of the Poison Rose was another incredible book from Maberry and I had an exceptional time reading it.

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Battle Song by Ian Ross

Battle Song Cover

A new author I tried out in the first half of 2023 was historical fiction author Ian Ross, who presented a cool medieval adventure story.  Battle Song was an outstanding read, that saw a naïve squire follow a cynical knight through tournaments, politics and civil war, in a deeply entertaining and powerful story.  Set amongst a unique period of English history, I got pretty damn hooked on Battle Song and I was really impressed with his style, fun characters, and awesome action sequences.  A very exciting novel that all fans of historical fiction will enjoy, Battle Song is really worth checking out.

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The Will of the Many by James Islington

The Will of the Many Cover

Easily one of the best books I have read so far this year was the outstanding fantasy novel, The Will of the Many by Australian author James Islington.  An addictive and inventive read set primarily in a magical school (one of my favourite fantasy settings), The Will of the Many follows a rebellious student with secrets who is dragged into multiple conspiracies.  Featuring a bold new universe, a complex story, and some great characters, The Will of the Many was a joy to read from start to finish and I cannot recommend it enough, especially those looking for a new series to dive into.

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The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks

The Lion - Son of the Forest Cover

I had to include at least one Warhammer 40,000 novel on this list and few new books from this franchise impressed me as much this year as The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks.  Brooks, whose work I previously enjoyed with Warboss and Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom, produced one of his strongest books yet with The Lion: Son of the Forest.  Following the return of an iconic character from the franchise lore, The Lion: Son of the Forest was a powerful and action-packed read that told a great story of return, redemption and revenge.  A must-read for all Warhammer 40,000 fans, The Lion: Son of the Forest was an outstanding book and Brooks is proving to be one the best rising authors in the franchise.

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Her Sweet Revenge by Sarah Bonner

Her Sweet Revenge Cover

Following on from the success of her first novel, Her Perfect Twin (one of my favourite debuts of 2022), Sarah Bonner released another awesome thriller this year with Her Sweet Revenge.  Following a grieving protagonist who wants revenge for her best friend’s murder, Her Sweet Revenge is fantastic series of twists, turns and clever reveals, all of which is so damn fun to read.  I loved this great second book from Bonner and I cannot wait to see what she writes next.

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City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky

City of Last Chances Cover

I’m slightly cheating by including City of Last Chances here because it was initially released in 2022.  However, the version I managed to get didn’t come out in Australia until earlier this year, so I’m counting it for this list.  It helps that City of Last Chances was an exceptional and highly inventive fantasy read that blew me away with its scope, cleverness and complex characters.  Featuring a very distinctive and fun style, City of Last Chances was a particularly amazing book from Adrian Tchaikovsky (Ogres and Day of Ascension), and I had an outstanding time diving into this cool and memorable setting.  An epic read that comes very, very highly recommended.

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The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry

The Last Kingdom (Steve Berry) Cover

The final book I want to highlight on this list is the awesome Cotton Malone thriller, The Last Kingdom, by veteran author Steve Berry.  Set around a unique conspiracy from Bavaria, The Last Kingdom is an outstanding combination of modern-day thriller and an impressive dive into Bavaria’s complex past.  I have so much love for Berry’s outstanding ability to weave together a fantastic historical conspiracy, and this was probably one of the better entries in the Cotton Malone series that I have had the pleasure of reading.

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Well, that’s the end of this latest list.  As you can see, I have already read some amazing and epic books so far in 2023 and we are only halfway through the year.  I am pretty happy with how this list turned out, and it will be interesting to see which of these books ends up being amongst my top reads of the year.  All the novels above come very highly recommended, and you are guaranteed to have a wonderful time reading them.  Let me know what your favourite releases for the first half of the year are in the comments below and make sure to check out my two most anticipated reads lists (fantasy and science fiction and other), as well as which of the above books you liked the most.

The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Thriller12 Comments

The Last Kingdom (Steve Berry) Cover

Publisher: Hachette Audio (Audiobook – 21 February 2023)

Series: Cotton Malone – Book 17

Length: 14 hours and 20 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for a remarkable and captivating mystery from out of history as acclaimed thriller writer Steve Berry presents another outstanding and riveting novel in The Last Kingdom.

Ever since I started reading thrillers a few years ago, one of my favourite authors in the genre, as well the most consistently entertaining, is the fantastic Steve Berry.  A veteran author who has been producing compelling reads since the early 2000s, Berry has over 25 books to his name that blend intense modern thriller narratives with intriguing history elements.  His most iconic body of work is his long-running Cotton Malone series, which follows a US Justice Department agent as he investigates unique historical conspiracies or secrets whose revelation will have major implications in the modern world.  I first fell in love with Berry’s writing back in 2019 when I read The Malta Exchange.  Since then I have gone on to read several more Cotton Malone novels including The Warsaw Protocol and The Kaiser’s Web, as well as the standalone novel The Omega Factor, each of which have contained some addictive stories that I’ve deeply enjoyed.  As such, I made sure to read his 2023 release, The Last Kingdom, as a soon as I could.  The 17th Cotton Malone novel, The Last Kingdom presented the reader with another brilliant conspiracy from history that was pretty awesome to behold.

There are many strange tales scattered throughout the history of Europe, but few are more unusual than that of King Ludwig II of Bavaria.  An unstable and fanciful figure who loved stories, solitude, and magnificent castles, King Ludwig dreamed of a magical kingdom, one far different from the lands he ruled.  Determined to find such a kingdom, he despatched agents throughout the world before his murder in 1886.  History suggests that he never found what he was looking for, but what if he did?

Now, in modern day Bavaria, freelance intelligence agent Cotton Malone has been hired by his old friend and protégé Luke Daniels to help him infiltrate a small group of radical separatists with dreams of securing Bavaria’s independence from Germany.  The focus of Luke’s investigation is the prince of Bavaria who seeks to usurp his older brother, the duke, and restore the ousted Wittelsbach monarchy with himself as king.  But to achieve his dreams, the prince needs the ultimate leverage, the Last Kingdom of King Ludwig II.

Following clues throughout several significant sites in Bavaria, Cotton and the Prince’s men are soon caught in a race to find a mysterious deed, one that Germany, China and the United States would kill for and which could greatly shift the balance of power in the world.  With the White House, Chinese intelligence, a mysterious Bavarian secret society and a rogue group of former CIA agents all vying for the prize, Cotton desperately attempts to solve the puzzle of the Last Kingdom and the terrible legacy it holds.  But can Cotton once again defeat the odds and keep the word safe from another historical mystery, or will the world be irrevocably altered by a secret form another century?

Well damn, now that was a pretty awesome read.  I have so much damn love for Steve Berry’s work, and The Last Kingdom is probably one of my favourites so far.  Perfectly combining an excellent thriller storyline with an elaborate and deeply captivating tale of history, The Last Kingdom was an exceptional read and one that I honestly could not stop listening to.

Berry has produced an amazing and addictive masterpiece of a thriller in The Last Kingdom with a particularly strong story behind it.  Like most of Berry’s books, The Last Kingdom is primarily a modern day thriller that introduces an original conspiracy that took place in history and has remained hidden until Cotton Malone wanders along (that man finds ancient mysteries wherever he goes).  As such, what starts as a simple infiltration at a famous Bavarian palace soon devolves into an elaborate treasure hunt for unique piece of history.  This latest historical mystery revolves around the eccentric and tragic final kings of Bavaria, and their desires to either retain power or find their own place in the world.  Berry expands on this historical detail throughout the entire course of the book, providing a good combination of real facts and some exaggerated fictional elements, which works into the main plot extremely well.  This modern day storyline gets some legs really early on as the protagonist and his companions are dragged into a major shadow war with several different factions attempting to take advantage of the situation and the hunt for the historical mystery.  Cotton soon finds himself working for several old colleagues, including a reckless CIA agent, while other groups, including the Bavarian prince and a rogue group of former CIA agents, start to use deadly force to solve the clues and find the hidden deed.

Berry keeps the pace of The Last Kingdom quick and compelling by raising the various stakes of the book while still showing off the entirety of Bavaria and its historic beauty.  There is a good reveal of why everyone is after the deed about halfway through which sets everyone on the road to a big confrontation.  While the full details of the conspiracy are a little over-the-top, Berry fits it into the story well, and the examination of modern and historical concerns surrounding is quite clever and intriguing.  The final half of the book is an intense thrill ride in several great ways, as Berry loads up the story with fun reveals, clever twists and so many betrayals.  I loved how the mystery of the King’s deed unfolded, and Berry really mixed the various original puzzle pieces of his conspiracy with the overlying historical detail to create a fantastic scavenger hunt.  The modern day thriller elements flitted around this extremely well, and watching the various participants in the hunt betray or outwit each other to try and get the prize was deeply exciting and led to some big moments.  The conclusion to the story is very good, and readers will come away extremely satisfied, both with how the story came together, and with all the extra knowledge Berry leaves you with.

I have a very deep appreciation for how Berry writes his outstanding novels and I think that The Last Kingdom was a particularly impressive example of this.  The blend of a high-intensity modern thriller storyline wrapped around a mystery loaded in historical detail is always entertaining, and I felt it turned out well again in The Last Kingdom.  The way that Berry splits the story out using alternate perspective chapters is particularly useful, as you get to see each of the characters interpreting the historical elements from different perspectives.  At the same time, several of the chapters are set in the 19th century and provide some deeper historical context to the story, which I felt was particularly useful and fun.  Berry really excels in simultaneously showing the different aspects of his story, and readers come away from The Last Kingdom having had fun with the thriller elements, while also learning so much more about some fascinating topics.  I really think that The Last Kingdom had one of the better thriller storylines associated with it thanks to inclusion of spies, disaffected royals, and several warring governments, and the way that story element unfolded had me pretty damn hooked the entire way through.  Like most of the Cotton Malone novels, The Last Kingdom can be read as a mostly standalone book, and readers don’t need to have any real knowledge of the previous entries in the series to enjoy this great novel.  While there are references to previous adventures and mysteries, the relevant details of these are well explained and new readers won’t be thrown by them.  However, long-term fans of the series will appreciate the continuation of several recent storylines, especially around Cotton’s feud with the US President, and I liked how that unfolded.

As I have mentioned a few times already, one of the best things about The Last Kingdom, and indeed all of the Cotton Malone novels, is the way that Berry dives into unique and intriguing parts of history to really give his stories a captivating kick.  In The Last Kingdom, this takes the form of a focus on the unique history of the kingdom of Bavaria, specifically the last 19th and early 20th century and the last three monarchs of the Wittelsbach line.  I have to admit, this was an area of history that I was not familiar with, but that changed after reading The Last Kingdom.  Berry conveys an immense amount of detail about this period and the relevant kings to the reader throughout the course of the book, so by the time you are done, you know so much about them.  However, Berry does it in such a way that ensures that the reader don’t get bored with it, as he showcases the more compelling elements of their reigns and the nation’s history around it, while also hinting at how it ties into the big conspiracy/mystery of the story.  I particularly enjoyed the detailed and fascinating examination of eccentric King Ludwig II.  Berry covers so many parts of his compelling life in this story, including his complex reign, his unusual outlook on the monarch, and his infamous end that saw him deposed and murdered.  The mysteries of Ludwig II and his search for a new kingdom proved to be a deeply compelling centre for the entire plot and I am really glad I got to learn more about them.  Another nation’s history, which I mention for spoiler reasons, is also concisely featured here, and I liked how Berry tied it together with Bavaria, resulting in a cool mixture that perfectly fed into the modern-day thriller.  The author clearly has so much fun researching and utilising all this historical detail in his books, especially if the extensive author’s notes section at the back is anything to go by.  Featuring all this historical detail works to create a great story, and I cannot emphasise how awesome it can be, especially in Berry’s capable hands.

In addition to all the historical elements of the book, I also really need to highlight how well Berry showcased Bavaria as a whole throughout the course of The Last Kingdom.  Many of the Cotton Malone novels act like a tourist brochure as the protagonists travel from one picturesque area of the country to the next, visiting all manner of historical sites.  This is very much the case for The Last Kingdom as the characters are forced to travel to several impressive locations throughout Bavaria, including iconic cityscapes, famous cathedrals, and beautiful landscapes.  Berry really spares no detail when it comes to describing these locations, and you can easily visualise them in all their stunning glory.  Some of the best descriptions are the iconic three castles that King Ludwig II built, which were strongly connected to his life story.  These castles form the basis for much of the plot’s historical scavenger hunt, and Berry really goes into the history and layout of them, even describing the furniture and the decorations.  You really grow to appreciate these locations around Bavaria, and I know that if I ever get the chance to visit, several of them are going to be on the top of my list of places to check out.  However, it is not just these iconic locations that are explored.  Berry also spends substantial time trying to show off the intangible nature of Bavaria, including its politics, its current attitudes, the state of its old monarchy, its place within larger Germany, and various other elements of its culture, including a real secret society dedicated to King Ludwig II.  All these elements are masterfully researched, examined, and showcased throughout The Last Kingdom, and all of them add to the authenticity of the story in immeasurable ways.

Aside from the excellent story and complex historical details, I also need to mention the great characters featured throughout The Last Kingdom.  Berry always writes fantastic figures, and it was awesome to see more of his central protagonist, Cotton Malone, as well as recurring supporting character Luke Daniels.  Both are well utilised throughout The Last Kingdom, and it was always great to see them working, especially as they have some major veteran presence at this point and work well against the various forces coming for them.  I did think that there was not a lot of development between the two, as both are essentially the same people they were in their last appearances, but they still make solid and likeable central focuses for the story.  However, there was some fantastic character development occurring outside of these main characters, especially as Berry introduces an amazing supporting cast of aging spies, angry deposed royalty, intriguing members of Bavarian society and deadly foreign agents.  Several of these characters have key roles in the book and Berry utilises them perfectly as great alternate perspectives for large swathes of the plot, producing a complex and powerful extended plot.  I loved the utilisation of Derrick Koger, a veteran CIA agent who has history with Cotton and has worked with him/against him in the past.  The funny and morally ambiguous Koger plays off the honourable Cotton perfectly as they work together in this book, and it was interesting to see them teaming up.  I liked how several of the antagonists, as well as Koger, shared a compelling character theme of people who believe they were overlooked or betrayed by their peers or people, and it serves as a great driving force for them to do bad things.  This group of characters and their conflicting priorities are an excellent part of The Last Kingdom and I had an outstanding time following them along this powerful quest.

I once again chose to check out this latest Steve Berry novel on audiobook, which is always a pretty epic experience.  Coming in at nearly 14 and a half hours, The Last Kingdom is medium length audiobook, although once you get caught up in the compelling story it flies by extremely quickly.  I personally love the Cotton Malone audiobooks as the narration really enhances all the elaborate detail of the story, especially the historical background, and ensures that they stick in the mind.  Hearing the key historical facts again and again really drives them home and I find that this helped me get even more fixated on the narrative as I was extremely eager to see how everything came together.  It helps that The Last Kingdom once again features narration from Scott Brick, one of the premiere thriller audiobook narrators out there who has lent his voice to all the previous Cotton Malone audiobooks.  Brick has a great voice for thrillers and I find his narration really fits Berry’s cool stories, especially as he gives some gravitas and complexity to both the modern day events and the historical elements.  Brick also has a great array of accents that he employs to full effect throughout The Last Kingdom, which I deeply appreciated.  His various American accents, which includes one from the wilds of Tennessee, are very well done, and I was once again extremely impressed by his dazzling array of German and European tones.  Even his Australian accent, something I am particularly sensitive about, was passable, if slightly stereotypical, and this fantastic choice of voices enhanced the audiobook experience.  Due to this outstanding voice work, as well as the great impact this format has on some of the key parts of the book, I would strongly recommend The Last Kingdom audiobook, and it is always one of my favourite ways to enjoy a good Steve Berry novel.

Steve Berry continues to impress with his latest outstanding Cotton Malone novel, The Last Kingdom.  Featuring his typical blend of exciting and intense thriller storylines and fascinating historical detail, The Last Kingdom is a brilliant read that powerfully showcases Bavaria in all its glory.  Examining key elements of the state’s past, as well as its current beauty, and perfectly working them into an excellent story, this was an exceptional outing from Berry and one that I had such an amazing time reading. Highly recommended!

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WWW Wednesday – 10 May 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday1 Comment

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

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

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading? 

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence (ebook)

The Book That Wouldn't Burn Cover

I have started reading the new Mark Lawrence novel, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn, which is proving to be a particularly epic read.  Set around a massive and elaborate library, this book follows two very different protagonists as they attempt to understand its mysteries.  I am about 100 pages into this brilliant book at the moment and I am already quite intrigued and addicted to the impressive narrative that Lawrence is setting up.  Based on what I have read so far, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is something truly special that will probably end up being one of the best fantasy books of 2023. I am hoping to finish The Book That Wouldn’t Burn off in the next few days, although I’m going to have to buckle down a bit to achieve that.

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The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst (Audiobook)

The Lake House Cover Better

I have also just started listening to the interesting young adult thriller, The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst.  Set around a very remote summer camp, The Lake House follows three teenage girls as they find themselves trapped in an unexpected and sinister situation. I am already quite familiar with Durst as an author thanks to her amazing fantasy novels, Race the Sands and The Bone Maker, and I was very interested in seeing her take on the classic teen slasher narrative.  I haven’t made too much progress with this audiobook yet, but it is so far proving to very compelling.  I look forward to unwinding the whole elaborate plot and I will probably finish off The Lake House before next week’s update.

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What did you recently finish reading?

The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman (Trade Paperback)

The Isles of the Gods Cover

I managed to get through the exciting young adult fantasy novel, The Isles of the Gods by Australian author Amie Kaufman in the last week and it proved to be an outstanding and inventive novel. I have already written a review for it here, and thanks to its great characters and captivating narrative, it comes highly recommended.

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The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry (Audiobook)

The Last Kingdom (Steve Berry) Cover

I also finshed the latest captivating thriller from veteran author Steve Berry, The Last Kingdom this week, which was extremely awesome. Berry came up with another exceptional and elaborate conspiracy for this new novel which was so much fun to get through. Another outstanding novel to check out, I will hopefully get a review up for it soon.

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What do you think you’ll read next?

Battle Song by Ian Ross

Battle Song Cover

If I get a chance in the next week my plan is to start reading the awesome sounding historical adventure, Battle Song by Ian Ross.  I have been in love with the plot of this cool novel since I first saw it and I really want to see what epic historical adventure Ross has come up with.

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

WWW Wednesday – 3 May 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW WednesdayLeave a comment

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

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

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading? 

The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman (Trade Paperback)

The Isles of the Gods Cover

I just started reading the intriguing and exciting young adult fantasy novel, The Isles of the Gods by Australian author Amie Kaufman. I have been a big fan of some of Kaufman’s previous works, including the Aurora Cycle series she wrote with Jay Kristoff (Aurora Rising, Aurora Burning and Aurora’s End), and I have been interested in this new book for a while.  Set in a new fantasy world, The Isles of the Gods follows several different young protagonists as they attempt to stop two warring gods from awakening and bringing back their destructive wrath.  I have made a bit of progress on this novel so far and I am really enjoying it’s great story and compelling style.

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The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry (Audiobook)

The Last Kingdom (Steve Berry) Cover

I have been having a lot of fun this week listening to the latest captivating thriller from veteran author Steve Berry, The Last Kingdom. Part of his long-running Cotton Malone series, The Last Kingdom sees the protagonist uncover another elaborate conspiracy from out of history, this time focusing on the kingdom of Bavaria and it’s complex past.  I have had an amazing time with the Cotton Malone books in the past (check out my reviews for The Malta Exchange, The Warsaw Protocol and The Kaiser’s Web), and this latest novel is proving to be just as impressive.  I am hoping to knock The Last Kingdom off in the next few days and I am looking forward to seeing how this entire elaborate narrative unwinds.

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What did you recently finish reading?

Fire With Fire by Candice Fox (Trade Paperback)

Fire With Fire Cover

I managed to finish off the excellent crime fiction novel, Fire With Fire, by Australian author Candice Fox this week and it ended up being an outstanding read. Focusing on the chaos that follows two desperate parents taking over a police forensic lab and holding all the evidence within hostage to finally get information about their missing daughter, Fire With Fire was an intense and amazing novel.

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Warhammer 40,000: Warboss by Mike Brooks (Audiobook)

Warhammer 40,000 - Warboss Cover

One of the more entertaining, comedic and addictive Warhammer 40,000 novels I have read for a while, Warboss is an outstanding novel and make sure to check out my review for it here.

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Echo Lake by Joan Sauers (Trade Paperback)

Echo Laker Cover

A fantastic and emotionally rich murder mystery novel set in my local area.  I really loved Sauers descriptions of some of the local towns and it was very impressive how she wove her intriguing mystery narrative around this great setting.

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What do you think you’ll read next?

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence

The Book That Wouldn't Burn Cover

I am very keen to start reading the upcoming Mark Lawrence novel, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn, in the immediate future.  An epic and impressive sounding fantasy novel, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn will probably be one of the top releases of 2023 and I am very excited to get to grips on a brand new Mark Lawrence series.

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Battle Song by Ian Ross

Battle Song Cover

If I get a chance in the next week my plan is to start reading the awesome sounding historical adventure, Battle Song by Ian Ross.  I have been in love with the plot of this cool novel since I first saw it and I really want to see what epic historical adventure Ross has come up with.

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

Top Ten Tuesday – Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2023 (Mystery, thrillers, comics and historical fiction)

On By The Unseen LibraryIn 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. For the first Top Ten Tuesday of 2023, I will be listing my most anticipated upcoming books for the first half of the year.  This is a regular post I do each year and I always look forward to highlighting the most awesome looking books for the start of the year. I am actually planning to do two versions of this list, one that will exclusively look at upcoming fantasy and science fiction books, and this one that will focus on upcoming books from other genres, including thrillers, crime fiction, historical fiction, comics and more.

Despite only just starting, 2023 is already shaping up to be an epic and exciting year for books with a huge range of impressive and highly anticipated novels due for release in the next 12 months.  This includes exciting debuts, anticipated sequels and the latest entries in beloved bestselling series.  The first half of the year is looking particularly awesome, with a substantial number of incredible upcoming releases that I am deeply looking forward to. 

Even though I excluded fantasy and science fiction books, this ended up being a rather difficult list to pull together due to all the awesome releases coming out in Australia between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2023.  There were way too many extraordinary upcoming books that I could have included, and I ended up having to make some very tough calls and cutting several novels that have an immense amount of potential.  Despite this, I am rather happy with the eventual choices that I made, and I think that this list reflects the upcoming novels and comics I am going to have the most fun reading.  I have mentioned several of these books before in my weekly Waiting on Wednesday articles, and some of them also appeared on my recent Summer TBR list.  However, there are also some interesting new books that I am discussing for the first time here, so that should give this list a bit of variety.  So let us get to my selections and find out which upcoming novels are my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2023.

Honourable Mentions:

The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry – 21 February 2023

The Last Kingdom Cover

The next entry in Steve Berry’s brilliant Cotton Malone series, The Last Kingdom has a lot of potential for a fun read.  Set to feature a compelling historical conspiracy, I know I’m going to have a lot of fun with this book and I can’t wait to read it.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson – 28 February 2023

The Kind Worth Saving Cover

I have been having a lot of fun with Peter Swanson’s crime fiction books lately and I’m sure his upcoming book, The Kind Worth Saving, is going to be awesome.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Battle Song by Ian Ross – 28 March 2023

Battle Song Cover

A fantastic sounding historical read, loaded with war, corrupt knights and deadly tournaments.

Amazon     Book Depository

Top Ten List:

Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman – 14 February 2023

Unnatural History Cover

I am always guaranteed to have an amazing time in the first half of the year with the latest Alex Delaware novel by Jonathan Kellerman.  I have deeply enjoyed several recent books in this long-running series (including The Wedding Guest, The Museum of Desire, Serpentine and City of the Dead) and I am very excited for the next entry. Set to focus on the murder of a controversial photographer, the always entertaining team of psychologist Alex Delaware and his best friend, Lieutenant Milo Sturgis, must determine if his death was the result of his work or his uber-rich family.  Sure to be one of the best mysteries of 2023.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz – 14 February 2023

The Last Orphan Cover

One of the best current thriller authors, Gregg Hurwitz, continues his deep and action-packed Orphan X series with The Last Orphan.  This latest book will see the former government agent turned vigilante protagonist Evan Smoak forced to decide whether to take one last contract for the United States Government or risk his freedom and his new life by defying the President.  This has been a consistently awesome series (I have had an amazing time with previous entries, Out of the Dark, Into the Fire, Prodigal Son and Dark Horse), and Hurwitz has set up some compelling and emotionally rich storylines heading into The Last Orphan.  I know I am going to love this book and I cannot wait to read it.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow – 16 February 2023

Dead of Night Cover

One of my favourite historical fiction authors, Simon Scarrow, returns with another complex historical murder mystery set in Nazi Germany.  The sequel to his previous novel, Blackout, Dead of Night will present the reader with another dark murder where the principled detective protagonist is forced to go against the wishes of the Nazi regime.  I always deeply enjoy anything Scarrow writes, but I have a feeling this is going to be a particularly epic read.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Burner by Mark Greaney – 21 February 2022

Burner Cover

Few books in the first half of 2023 have me more excited than the new Gray Man novel from Mark Greaney, Burner.  Following on from such epic reads as The Gray Man, Mission Critical, One Minute Out (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), Relentless (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021) and Sierra Six (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Burner has a lot to live up to, but with Greaney at the helm I already know I am going to love it.  This latest book will place protagonist Court Gentry firmly between the CIA and the Russian mob in an explosive and entertaining confrontation.  This will no doubt be another five-star read and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

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

Usagi Yojimbo - Volume 38 - The Green Dragon Cover

I had to include the next entry of one of my favourite comic series on this list with the upcoming Usagi Yojimbo volume, The Green Dragon by Stan Sakai.  I absolutely love this epic comic series and every new volume is a must read for me, especially after some of the recent awesome volumes released in colour (Bunraku and Other Stories, Homecoming, Tengu War! and Crossroads).  This new volume will feature two amazing sounding stories and I already know I am going to have an exceptional time reading it.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita – 28 February 2023

City Under One Roof Cover

One of the more intriguing debuts of 2023 is the excellent sounding murder mystery book, City Under One Roof by screenwriter Iris Yamashita.  Set in a unique community, City Under One Roof has an awesome story behind it and I am very excited to dive into this complex and compelling mystery.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Her Sweet Revenge by Sarah Bonner – 6 April 2023

Her Sweet Revenge Cover

After presenting one of the very best debuts of 2022, Her Perfect Twin, author Sarah Bonner returns with another elaborate thriller in Her Sweet Revenge.  Set around two women who have very different reactions to the same mysterious note, Her Sweet Revenge looks set to be another twisty and addictive read that I have extremely high hopes for.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Fatal Legacy by Lindsey Davis – 11 April 2023

Fatal Legacy Cover

The always impressive Lindsey Davis has yet another book in her long-running Flavia Albia series coming out in a few months with Fatal Legacy.  The 11th entry in this great historical murder mystery series (which has featured excellent reads like Pandora’s Boy, A Capitol Death, The Grove of the Caesars, A Comedy of Terrors and Desperate Undertaking), Fatal Legacy presents the reader with another intriguing case in the iconic setting of ancient Rome.  This time focused on a complex legal dispute between two rival families, Fatal Legacy has a great deal of promise and should be a wildly entertaining read.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst – 25 April 2023

The Lake House Cover Better

I have had an epic time with some of Sarah Beth Durst’s recent fantasy novels such as Race the Sands and The Bone Maker, so I am excited to follow her into a different genre with her upcoming young adult thriller The Lake House.  A fun and intense sounding book with some major horror vibes, The Lake House sees three young women arrive at a remote summer camp to find it abandoned with a dead body in the woods.  I can’t wait to see Durst’s take on a classic horror scenario, and I have a lot of faith that this is going to be an exceptional book.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

Empire by Conn Iggulden – 25 May 2023

Empire Cover

One of the very best historical fiction books of 2023 is definitely going to be the next book by legendary author Conn Iggulden, Empire.  The fourth book in his current series about ancient Athens (which has previously featured The Gates of Athens, Protector and Lion), Empire will follow the rise of Pericles and shows the early stages of the upcoming war between Athens and Sparta.  Set to be filled with exquisite historic details and outrageous figures from the fast, Empire is going to be an amazing read with a great story to it.

Amazon     Book Depository

 

 

That is the end of this list.  I am extremely happy with how my latest Top Ten Tuesday article turned out and this list contains an intriguing collection of upcoming books that should prove to be incredible reads.  I think that nearly every one of these books has the potential to get a full five-star rating from me and I cannot wait to see what amazing and exciting stories they contain.  While I am waiting to get my hands on these books, why not let me know if any of the above interest you, as well as what your most anticipated releases for the next six months are in the comments below.  Also, make sure to check out my other Top Ten List with the top upcoming fantasy books of 2023.