Tag: The Name of the Wind

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Debut Books – July 2024

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List3 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is 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 challenged to list their favourite debut novels.  I actually have listed my favourite debuts in the past, both at the end of the last few years, and in a 2020 list, where I looked at some of the very best debut novels I have ever read.

Over the years I have had the great pleasure of reading a number of impressive and captivating debut novels, many of which formed the start of an amazing series, or which helped launch the writing career of some of the best authors of a variety of different genres.  Some of these debuts have been so good that they have stuck with me for life, and I look forward to once again listing my absolute favourites.  I am taking a rather broad stroke approach with this list, and I am going to make any debut that I have read eligible to be included.  It does not matter if I read this book out of order, whether I enjoyed later entries from the author first, or whether I have gone back and read this book years after it came out; as long as it is the first full-length novel from an author, it can appear on this list.

This proved to be a rather intriguing list to pull together, as I had a rather large collection of debut novels to sort through, and I ended up discarding several great books from the previous version of this list.  I think that my new Top Ten list (with a generous Honourable Mentions section), has a much better selection of debut books, and I quite like how it turned out.  Unsurprisingly, as many of these books are written by my favourite authors, I have mentioned some of these entries and their authors before in prior lists, and for many of these authors, I am still reading a number of their current novels. So let us see what I was able to come up with.

Honourable Mentions:

Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow

The very first book in Simon Scarrow’s Eagles of the Empire series, Under the Eagle was a fantastic and exciting debut, and one that made me a huge fan of the historical fiction genre.

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Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

While the author may have shown her true colours, you still have to respect this classic debut that spawned an iconic world.

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Fire In the East by Harry Sidebottom

Another iconic historical fiction debut from a great author, Fire in the East is an amazing book that features one of my very favourite sieges.

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Planetside by Michael Mammay

A particularly epic science fiction thriller guaranteed to keep you on your toes.  Planetside was an amazing read with an exceedingly epic ending that served as the perfect introduction to talented author Michael Mammay.

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Top Ten List:

Magician by Raymond E. Feist

Right off the bat we have Magician by Raymond E. Feist, which may be one of my favourite fantasy novels of all time.  I first read this book years ago, and its clever story and substantial universe building has helped make me a lifelong fan of both the author and the fantasy genre.  This was the first book in the epic and long-running Riftwar Cycle, which included the fantastic spinoff series, The Empire trilogy.  I am still enjoying Feist’s books to this day, and I am planning to read his newest novel, A Darkness Returns, in the next couple of weeks.

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Storm Front by Jim Butcher

A massive debut I finally got around to reading after my first version of this list was Storm Front by Jim Butcher.  The first book in his iconic Dresden Files urban fantasy series, Storm Front was an outstanding novel that I decided to check out after reading the explosive 17th novel in the series, Battle Ground.  Going back to Storm Front after that was an interesting experience, but it proved to be an amazing first novel that expertly set up the rest of the series.  I have so much love for everything that followed Storm Front, and the Dresden Files wouldn’t be what it is today without this excellent first novel.

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Legend by David Gemmell

Back in 1984, fantasy readers were gifted with an outstanding debut in the form of Legend by the late, great David Gemmell.  A debut that is epic in every sense of the word, Legend saw an unstoppable army attempt to take the world’s greatest fortress, defended by a legendary hero.  A simple, but highly effective premise, that produced an exceptional and highly addictive read, Legend ended up being an incredible read, and one that all fans of fantasy fiction, especially awesome sieges, need to check out.

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The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

A more recent debut that I need to feature on this list is The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.  A highly entertaining crime fiction novel, The Thursday Murder Club followed four residents of a retirement village who decide to solve murders in their spare time, including the deaths of several people around their community.  Osman did a very impressive job with The Thursday Murder Club, blending a complex mystery with some intriguing characters and his trademark subtle, but highly effective humour.  I cannot emphasise just how enjoyable this debut proved to be, and Osman showed himself to be an immensely skilled author with this outstanding read, and the following books, The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed and The Last Devil to Die, all of which were exceptional five-star reads.  A highly recommended debut, I look forward to seeing how the film adaptation currently in production turns out.

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Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan

Another particularly epic fantasy debut is Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan.  A compelling and intense flintlock fantasy story, Promise of Blood sets up McClellan’s The Powder Mage trilogy, which follows a compelling group of protagonists, including several mages whose magic is derived from gunpowder, as they attempt to save a nation from revolution, war, and their own vengeful god.  It is frankly impossible not to love this amazing debut, and McClellan produced an outstanding story in Promise of Blood that was impossible to put down.  I really need to read the rest of The Powder Mage books, although McClellan’s most recent novel, In the Shadow of Lightning, proved to be extremely impressive.

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The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

This was an exceedingly entertaining and wildly impressive fantasy novel which followed a group of conmen in a dangerous, magical city. The Lies of Locke Lamora was a really good book, and I think it would be impossible for someone to read it and not instantly fall in love with it. This book also served as the first entry in the outstanding Gentleman Bastards series, which currently contains three amazing books, with the fourth novel, The Thorn of Emberlain, hopefully coming out at some point in the future.

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The Gray Man by Mark Greaney

A great spy thriller debut I had to feature here was The Gray Man.  The first novel from one of the world’s current premiere thriller authors, The Gray Man was an action-packed extravaganza that pitted a legendary assassin against a raft of hit-teams and contract killers.  Fast-paced, fun and featuring some truly exceptional action sequences, The Gray Man was extremely awesome, and I honestly could not stop listening to this outstanding book.  Greaney has since parlayed this debut into an iconic thriller series of the same name, and the Gray Man books are routinely my favourite thrillers of the year (such as the latest Gray Man book, The Chaos Agent).

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The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

One of the best fantasy debuts of all time has to be The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie.  An outstanding and epic dark fantasy novel that follows several complex and highly flawed protagonists through a brutal journey, The Blade Itself is an exceptional debut that perfectly sets up the rest of Abercrombie’s The First Law series.  I have been a massive fan of the author ever since I read The Blade Itself, and I cannot wait to read his next novel, The Devils, in 2025.

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The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell

Another recently released debut I had to feature here was The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell.  The first book in the author’s Legacy of the Mercenary Kings series, The Kingdom of Liars was an amazing 2020 release, that proved to be a particularly complex and impressive read.  Following the scion of a disgraced noble house who attempts to clear his father’s name and find out who is trying to destroy his city, The Kingdom of Liars was a particularly complex and captivating novel that I could not get enough of.  One of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020, The Kingdom of Liars was so much fun when I first read it, and my appreciation for it has only grown in hindsight after seeing where all the outstanding storylines Martell set up here ended up going.  An epic debut that starts something truly wonderful.

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The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The final book I want to feature here is The Name of the Wind, which might be one of the best fantasy novels of all time.  The debut novel of Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind is a particularly impressive, character-driven story that follows the early days of a man destined to become an infamous legend.  I cannot emphasise how much I loved this book, and it is pretty much the epitome of the chronicle narrative.  While many have started to fall out of love with this series due to lack of progress on the final entry, The Name of the Wind is still an exceptional novel, made even more impressive with-it being Rothfuss’ very first book.

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Well, that’s my Top Ten List for this week.  I rather liked the new version list that I came up with here, and there are some incredible novels here, although it is still very fantasy heavy.  Each of these books comes very highly recommended, and they all proved to be exceptional first outings from some very talented authors. This is probably a list that I will come back to again in the future, as there are always impressive new debuts coming out, and I cannot wait to see what new author is on the horizon.

Top Ten Tuesday – Longest Audiobooks That I Have Listened To – Part IV

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List6 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants were given a love themed freebie in honour of Valentine’s Day.  As such, I’m going to focus on something that I have a lot of love for, the audiobook format, as I once again revisit and update a fun post I last looked at nearly two years ago.

As readers of this blog will be aware, I am a massive fan of audiobooks, and it is often the best way to enjoy a good book.  I have been lucky enough to listen to an impressive collection of audiobooks over the years, with some of them being extremely long, often taking me weeks to get through.  Back in 2019, I got curious about all the audiobooks I had listened to, and I wanted to know which was the longest one that I had ever listened to.  As a result, I sat down and worked out which ones had the longest run time and turned it into a massive list.  This ended up being such an interesting endeavour that I posted it on my blog here, with the longest 20 books featured.  I had such an amazing time doing this that a year later I had a go at updating it, adding in a few additional audiobooks I had listened to, and then I once again updated it in 2022.

Well, it has been nearly two years since I last updated this list and I always intended to keep coming back to this list to see how the recent long audiobooks I have listened to stacked up against the books already on this list.  Since the last update in 2022 I have managed to listen to quite a few new audiobooks, several of which had an excellent run time.  The list below is similar to the list I posted a couple of years ago, with several new additions added in (see the highlight posts).  I ended up returning the list back to the original 20 entry format I previously had, and the resulting post turned out pretty damn well.

Top Twenty List:

  1. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading – 45 hours and 48 minutes

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  1. The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, narrated by Nick Podehl – 42 hours and 55 minutes

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  1. Magician by Raymond E. Feist, narrated by Peter Joyce – 36 hours and 14 minutes

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  1. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, narrated by Roy Dotrice – 33 hours and 45 minutes

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  1. The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding, narrated by Simon Bubb – 32 hours and 37 minutes

The Shadow Casket Cover

The longest new entry on this list is the exceptional audiobook, The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding.  The sequel the Wooding’s previous novel, The Ember Blade (the audiobook version of which also appears on this list), The Shadow Casket proved to be a remarkable piece of epic fantasy fiction, and I loved the elaborate narrative that emerged.  The impressive narration by Simon Bubb helped to turn this massive audiobook into something very fun to listen to, and The Shadow Casket ended up being one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023.

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  1. Mistress of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts, narrated by Tania Rodrigues – 32 hours and 1 minute

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  1. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerrard Doyle – 31 hours and 29 minutes

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  1. Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts, narrated by Tania Rodrigues – 30 hours and 42 minutes

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  1. The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding, narrated by Simon Bubb – 30 hours and 40 minutes

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  1. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerrard Doyle – 29 hours and 34 minutes

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  1. The Will of the Many by James Islington, narrated by Euan Morton – 28 hours and 14 minutes

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Another exceptional audiobook from last year was The Will of the Many by James Islington.  An awesome and complex fantasy book that saw a young, fugitive prince infiltrate an elite academy of his enemies, The Will of the Many had so many fun elements to it, and I was quickly enthralled by its brilliant narrative.  Narrator Euan Morton added his unique voice to the mix, and this helped to turn The Will of the Many into a pretty fun listen, and one I managed to power through quickly despite its over 28 hour long run time.  A highly recommended audiobook, especially if you are looking for a long listen to get lost in.

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  1. Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio, narrated by Samuel Roukin – 28 hours and 3 minutes

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  1. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, narrated by Nick Podehl – 27 Hours and 55 minutes

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  1. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas, narrated by Elizabeth Evans – 27 hours and 50 minutes

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  1. Dragon Mage by M. L. Spencer, narrated by Ben Farrow – 27 hours and 18 minutes

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An intriguing and powerful fantasy audiobook from a couple of years ago.  Dragon Mage was an impressive book, that featured some great classic fantasy elements to it.  Following two young protagonists dragged into a deadly war for the fate of magic and its dragon protectors, Dragon Mage was an awesome listen that I couldn’t get enough of.

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  1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling, narrated by Jim Dale – 27 hours and 2 minutes

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  1. Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry, narrated by Ray Porter – 25 hours and 55 minutes

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One of my favourite author and narrator combos, Jonathan Maberry and Ray Porter, made its way onto this list with Son of the Poison Rose.  The sequel to Kagen the Damned, Son of the Poison Rose is an excellent and very brutal dark fantasy read that I could not get enough of.  Maberry makes full use of the extra runtime of this novel to tell an impressive story, and this audiobook comes highly recommended, especially with Porter’s exceptional voice work.

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  1. Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, narrated by Michael Page – 25 hours and 34 minutes

Red Seas Under Red Skies

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  1. In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan, narrated by Damian Lynch – 24 hours and 52 minutes

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An epic and highly addictive new fantasy novel by Brian McClellan, In the Shadow of Lightning was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022, and I really fell in love with its elaborate story.  I honestly flew through In the Shadow of Lightning’s near 25-hour runtime, and narrator Damian Lynch ensures the action and intrigue laden narrative really flows along.  An exceptional piece of fantasy fiction that comes alive in its audiobook version.

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  1. Murtagh by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerard Doyle – 24 hours and 32 minutes

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Considering how some of the other original Inheritance Cycle audiobooks dominate the top half of this list, it is unsurprising that Christopher Paolini’s latest addition to the series, Murtagh, also makes an appearance.  Featuring original narrator Gerard Doyle, Murtagh was a great addition to the series, and I had a wonderful time getting through this lengthy audiobook at the end of last year.

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Well, those are some cool new additions to this list.  I am pretty happy with how this new version of the list turned out, although I should work on listening to some longer audiobooks in the coming year.  I will have another go at updating this list in a couple of years or so, but in the meantime let me know what the longest audiobook you have listened to is in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – Books with Weather Events/Words in the Title

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List3 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly task that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  For this latest Top Ten Tuesday, participants are tasked with listing their top books that have a weather event or weather-related word in their title (i.e. wind, storm, flood, frost and more).  This was a pretty interesting topic and it is one I had a lot of fun pulling together as it forced me to look at some of the more obscure novels that I have read.  I eventually managed to work out a full list of novels that qualified, although it turned out to be a somewhat harder challenge than I imaged and I possibly ended up with too many books where “Storm” was the defining title word.  Still, I am pretty happy with the final result and each of the entries below are quite exceptional.

Honourable Mentions

Stormblood by Jeremy Szal

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Before the Storm by Christe Golden

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Season of Storms by Andrzej Sapkowski

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Top Ten Tuesday:

In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan

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The first entry on this list was a very easy one with In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan.  One of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022, In the Shadow of Lightning is an addictive and clever introduction to a new fantasy world where battles are fought using magical glass.  The weather event in the title is referring to the man character, who goes by the monicker “the Lightning Prince” and the many shadows that cover his life.  A highly recommended read for those looking for a new fantasy series.

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Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill

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The next book I want to highlight is a fantastic and very fun Warhammer 40,000 novel that sees a literal storm of iron descend on a fortress in the form of the infamous Iron Warriors Chaos Space Marines.  A clever and dark siege novel, Storm of Iron is an outstanding read and one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels.

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The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden

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One of the easiest inclusions for this list had to be The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden which is the third book in the Tomorrow series.  I have a lot of love for this iconic Australian young adult series, and The Third Day, The Frost is probably my favourite book in the series, especially is this is where things get particularly dark for the protagonists.  The weather themed title has a lot of meanings to the plot, as well as being a reference to Shakespeare and I was very glad I got to highlight this excellent book here.

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Queen of Storms by Raymond E. Feist

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I had to feature one of the latest books from one of my favourite fantasy authors here with Queen of Storms.  The second book in The Firemane Saga, Queen of Storms is a very cool read with some bloody surprises hidden in its centre.

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Star Wars: The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott

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Probably one of my favourite books so far from the High Republic range of Star Wars fiction, The Rising Storm is an exciting and complex read, and the title refers to the catch phrase and motifs of the insidious antagonists.

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The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

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I feel this is going to be a popular entry for many fantasy fans participating in this Top Ten Tuesday as The Name of the Wind is a pretty iconic and bellowed novel for very good reason.  The first entry in Rothfuss’s exceptional Kingkiller Chronicles, The Name of the Wind is such a damn good novel and the catchy title refers to a key magical concept that sees the protagonist harness the ability to control wind.

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Storm Front by Jim Butcher

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The first epic book in one of the best urban fantasy series out there.  The title Storm Front refers to intense weather magic that is being used as a clever murder weapon, and I have so much love for this epic book.

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We Are Blood and Thunder by Kesia Lupo

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A brilliant debut where the title refers to an unnatural storm surrounding a doomed city.

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Warriors of the Storm by Bernard Cornwell

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A bold and fun inclusion in one of my favourite historical fiction series.

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Usagi Yojimbo: Seasons by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo Seasons

Now I may be slightly cheating with Seasons, however, as the name refers to the four different seasons featured throughout the book which results in distinctive weather and landscape shots for the story, I felt it was very appropriate to feature here.

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Well, that is the end of this list.  As you can see there are some fantastic novels out there that uses weather-based terms in their titles, and there honestly some very interesting usages for it throughout fiction.  All the above novels are wonderful and highly recommended reads, and I had an incredible time reading them.  Let me know which books with weather-based phrases or terms in the title you have enjoyed the most in the comments.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Books with Magical Schools

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List7 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  For this latest Top Ten Tuesday participants are given a School Freebie to with what they will.  That means its up to me to come up with any sort of list about a school, which left me pretty open to list the best books with one of my favourite settings, a magical school.

I have long had a great love of the magical school setting in fantasy fiction (just check out the name of this blog).  In many ways, magical schools are the absolute backbone of some of the better examples of fantasy out there, and who doesn’t love a fun and wonderful story set within the halls of a magical environment.  There are so many cool stories and scenarios that can be imagined in these sorts of scenarios, and I have always had an amazing time with these sorts of settings from some of the earliest fantasy books I have read.  As such, I thought it only fitting to examine the absolute best examples of this setting here.

In order to appear on this list, the book in question needed to have either a school, academy or university of some description magic is taught or the school itself is magical and fantastic in nature.  This school must be a major setting of a descent part of the plot and must feature some sort of magical teaching or some variety of magical education in it.  I have been a little lenient in places throughout this list and I have included a few examples where rather than the traditional magical school, you have a bit of an interesting or dark reimagining, which can often be quite fun.  I ended up with an interesting collection of books in the end that I was able to whittle down to my top ten.  All these books are really fun, and I think that they use their magical school setting extremely well.

Honourable Mentions:

The Witches of Eileanan series by Kate Forsyth

Dragonclaw Cover

All the books in Kate Forsyth’s fantastic The Witches of Eileanan series featured some cool magical learning and school elements in them, and the author sets some impressive storylines around them.  However, I would probably recommend the first book in the series, Dragonclaw, as the best example of this magical training.  Not only are their multiple scenes of the protagonist learning magic, but it also features a fantastic magical trial scene at her initial place of learning.

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Master of Sorrows by Justin Call

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Features an interesting ninja school where the participants learn to recover magical items.

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Magician by Raymond E Feist

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Many of Feist’s Riftwar Cycle books featured a magical school of some description, but nothing compares to the various magical learning scenes that occur in the fantasy classic Magician.  The protagonist learns from several schools and teachers in this book before starting the path to create his own magical school.

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The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso

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A fun recent fantasy book that revolves around a fantasy nation where all magicians are captured and leashed so that they aren’t in complete control of their faction.  Known as Falcons, these mages are sent to the Mews, where they learn to control their magic for the greater good of the nation.  An interesting, if darker, take on the magical school system that worked really well.

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Top Ten List:

The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

The Order of the Phoenix Cover

Let’s face it, it would be impossible to write a list about magical schools without featuring the Harry Potter books here.  J. K. Rowling created something very special with Hogwarts, and it is now the magical school setting that all others are measured up against, for very good reasons.  All seven books in this series used the Hogwarts setting extremely well, from the introduction in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to the epic final battle in Harry Potter in the Deathly Hallows.  It is honestly very hard to single out one in particular for their use of the magical school setting, however, if I had to, I would probably go with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, because it had some great scenes where the protagonist took over teaching, as well as the extended sequence with the O.W.L.S test.

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The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

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The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss gets a lot of credit from fantasy fans for many of its elements, but one of my favourites is the setting of the University, where the protagonist winds up is as a teenager.  The centre of knowledge for this fantasy world, the university teaches many subjects, including various forms of magic, including runic metalworking, sympathy (magic that links one object to another for manipulation), and the ultimate magic, naming, where one calls something’s true name (for example the wind) and takes control of it.  This proves to be an exceptional setting for much of this book, and the protagonist spends a substantial amount of time with some great narrative results.  While the University is also a major setting of the sequel, The Wise Man’s Fear, I think that it was used a little better in The Name of the Wind and is one of the better magical school settings out there.

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Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

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Yeah, there was no chance I wasn’t going to feature a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett here.  So many of his books feature the epic and entertaining setting of the Unseen University, where the world’s wizards gather to learn magic and get up to all manner of other shenanigans.  Most of the books feature the Unseen University as a setting, however, I’m going to limit myself to two entries on this list, the first of which is Moving Pictures.  Moving Pictures is one of the more entertaining Discworld novels Pratchett wrote, and part of the reason is how he utilises the Unseen University in the plot.  After several books with a rotating cast of senior wizards, Pratchett settles on a permanent staff for the university in Moving Pictures (helped by the introduction of an unkillable Archchancellor) and starts strongly developing their various members here.  There are many brilliant scenes set around the university, especially ones that show the eccentric new Archchancellor setting in and upsetting the delicate wizards with his wild ideas.  This book has some of the funniest scenes set in the Unseen University, and this book is a major favourite of mine.

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A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

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Easily the series that has been featuring magical schools the best recently is the Scholomance books by acclaimed author Naomi Novik.  This series in the deadly Scholomance, an automated enchanted school where vulnerable magical teenagers are educated and partially protected from various monsters who want to eat them.  Introduced perfectly in the first book, A Deadly Education, you soon get to know all the unique quirks of this fantastic school, as the protagonist tries to survive the lethal lessons, killer fellow students, and multiple monsters living within.  I have so much love for the setting in A Deadly Education, and the exquisite story that Novik set around it made it one of my favourite books of 2020.  The sequel, The Last Graduate, also featured the school extremely well, but I think that A Deadly Education is the best example for this list.

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Van Horstmann by Ben Counter

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You can’t be too surprised that I managed to slip a Warhammer novel in here somewhere.  Van Horstmann was an awesome Warhammer Fantasy novel that explore the origin and problems of the human magical colleges that sprouted up in the heart of the Empire.  In particular, Van Horstmann explores the College of Light through the eyes of enigmatic new student, Egrimm van Horstmann, who has his own nefarious reasons for journeying to the school.  This is an excellent and captivating take on the classic magical school setting, as you get to watch this obvious villain learn everything about the school, all so he can gain ultimate power and gain revenge for a past wrong.  A very clever Warhammer Fantasy novel that makes perfect use of its magical school setting.

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Cold Iron by Miles Cameron

Cold Iron Cover 1

Another great fantasy book from recent years that featured a cool magical university setting is Cold Iron by Miles Cameron.  Much the narrative of Cold Iron takes place in The Academy and its surrounding city and follows the protagonist as he excels as a student, while also attempting to unravel a massive conspiracy that threatens the lands.  I deeply enjoyed the use of the Academy setting in Cold Iron, and while there is a substantial focus on learning sword work, the character does spend time learning magic, which comes in help during this book.  I loved many of the more classic fantasy elements featured in Cold Iron, especially the cool school setting, and this is a must-read book for all fantasy fans.

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Homeland by R. A. Salvatore

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I had to slip something in from R. A. Salvatore on this list, and naturally that book ended up being one of my favourite Salvatore novels, Homeland.  Set in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan, Homeland follows the childhood of Salvatore’s long-running protagonist Drizzt Do’Urden.  While there are a lot of excellent settings and locations in, I loved the multiple scenes that take place in the combat school of Melee-Magthere.  While technically not a magical school per say, it is filled with dark elves with inherent magical talent, who often use magical techniques to complement their swordcraft, so I think it deserves to be on this list.  Personally, I just love the various tournament scenes set in this school, and it was a fantastic and epic setting for this great fantasy book.

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It Ends in Fire by Andrew Shvarts

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Another fantasy book that had a great alternate take on the magical school concept is It Ends in Fire by Andrew Shvarts.  Featuring a compelling fantasy world where wizards rule over the non-magical, this book follows a rebellious young magic user who infiltrated the premier magical school, Blackwater Academy, to burn it down from the inside.  This was a fun and compelling read with many fantastic homages to Hogwarts, and it was an outstanding book to check out.

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Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Hogfather Cover

The other Discworld book that I had to include here was Hogfather, which makes fun of many aspects of Christmas.  While there is a focus on Death and his granddaughter, quite a lot of the book takes place in the Unseen University and shows the eccentric faculty attempting to understand the constant creation of multiple new minor gods around their grounds.  The outrageous antics of the senior faculty blends well with the more education focused ambitions of the students, all with the Archchancellor watching on in exasperation.  I loved all the university scenes in Hogfather and it was one of the better uses of it in the Discworld series.

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Eldest by Christopher Paolini

Eldest Cover

The final book I want to include on this list is Eldest by Christopher Paolini, the second book in his Inheritance Cycle.  While the first book from Paolini, Eragon, featured a lot of magical tutelage, it didn’t really feature a school setting.  The sequel though, Eldest, does, as it shows the protagonist journey to the homeland of the elves to learn magic there.  The protagonist spends a substantial chunk of the book there expanding his magical knowledge and skills.  While most of this tutelage does occur one-on-one, there is enough alternate teachers and characters to qualify it as a magic school in my mind, and I feel that Paolini did a great job introducing it and using it to expand the character’s knowledge.  An overall epic book that made really great use of the magic school concept.

   Amazon     Book Depository

 

 

Well, that’s the end of this latest list.  As you can see there are some great books out there that feature a fun magical school concept in their plot.  It is no surprise that many of my favourite books of all time feature a magical school in some capacity and there are so many exceptional stories that can be set around it.  All the above books come very highly recommended and if you love magical schools, all of them are worth checking out.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Books Written Over Ten Years Ago

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List6 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  For this latest Top Ten Tuesday, participants had to list their top books that were written over ten years ago. 

This is a very intriguing, if difficult, topic to look at, as there are an absolute ton of amazing books released over 10 years ago (written before 2012) that I can think about for this list.  I kind of did a similar list on this subject a few years ago, with my list that looked at books written before I was born, however, there are a lot more intriguing entries that could be featured here, so I am going to have to think long and hard about what to include.

To limit my potential choices down (or make the decision harder), I chose to limit my entries to one book from each series or author, which will save me listing multiple Discworld novels for a start.  I also chose to exclude any comic book series from this list, mainly because pretty much every entry on my previous favourite comic series list ran or started more than 10 years ago.  Even with some of these restrictions, there were still an amazing number of books that I wanted to feature on this list, and I had to make some very hard decisions and cuts to figure it out.  However, I am very happy with how the final list turned out and I think it represents the absolute best books written over ten years ago that I have read.  So let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling – 2003

The Order of the Phoenix Cover

A classic from childhood and my favourite book in the series.

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World War Z by Max Brooks – 2006

World War Z Cover 2

I only recently read this, but it is pretty damn epic, especially in the full-cast audio adaption with some amazing actors behind it.

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Fire in the East by Harry Sidebottom – 2008

Fire in the East Cover

Still one of the best historical fiction books I have ever read with an awesome siege premise behind it.

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The Gray Man by Mark Greaney – 2009

The Gray Man Cover

The debut book from Mark Greaney, this was a very cool novel which the movie adaption honestly didn’t do justice to.

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Top Ten List:

Magician by Raymond E. Feist – 1982

Magician Cover

There were multiple books from Feist written more than 10 years ago that I could have featured on this list, including The Empire trilogy he cowrote with Janny Wurst.  However, I had to feature the book that started it all, Magician.  Magician sets the entire universe up perfectly and has one of the strongest stories in the series.  A truly iconic fantasy read, Magician has inspired generations of fantasy fans and is well worth checking out.

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Legend by David Gemmell – 1984

Legend

Another fantasy classic I had to include, Legend was a brilliant and iconic debut from the legendary David Gemmell that I checked out a few years ago.  Easily one of the best siege novels of all time, Legend sees an impossibly large army besiege the world’s best fortress, defended by a small number of heroes.  Powerful, action-packed, and wildly addictive, this was an outstanding read that you will fly through.

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Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett – 1989

Guards! Guards! Cover

Since pretty much the entirety of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series was written before 2012 (only Raising Steam and The Shepherd’s Crown were released after), I could have filled this list with Discworld novels and left happy.  Instead, I had to feature just one book from the series, which was pretty impossible, as nearly all of them rank amongst my favourite books.  I decided in the end to feature Guards! Guards!, not only because it is one of the strongest books in the series, but because it introduced the City Watch sub-series, which feature many of my favourites.  Guards! Guards! has a brilliant story to it that perfectly combines comedy, fantasy and crime fiction elements into one epic read, when the maligned Night Watch of Ankh-Morpork have to solve a series of murders caused by dragon.  Hilarious, clever, and impossible to put down, this is an incredible read that will make you a Pratchett fan for life.

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Homeland by R. A. Salvatore – 1990

Homeland Cover

Another author who I could have featured multiple books from, R. A. Salvatore is one of the best fantasy authors in the world for a reason and he has a ton of great reads released more than 10 years ago.  However, I limited it to my favourite book of his, Homeland, which expands on the early life of his standout character Drizzt Do’Urden.  Taking place in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan, this book shows the character’s complex youth in the treacherous Dark Elf society and helps to established Drizzt as one of fantasy’s most distinctive and likeable protagonists.  This was a truly impressive novel I have read multiple times, and its impacts can still be felt in Salvatore’s more recent books, such as Timeless, Boundless and Relentless, which show alternate perspectives to events of Homeland through other character’s eyes.

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The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden – 1995

The Third Day, the Frost Cover

I have long talked up the epic Tomorrow series by Australian author John Marsden, and it remains some of the best books I have ever read.  Following a group of teenagers as they attempt to survive a foreign invasion of Australia, the Tomorrow series is a powerful and deeply addictive young adult series that should be compulsory reading for all Australian kids.  I have so much love for this series that I had to feature one of the books from it here.  I ended up choosing the third (and probably the best) book, The Third Day, The Frost, which sees the protagonists attempt their biggest attack yet, only to suffer from some major consequences.  Not only is this one of the most actions packed and intense novels in the series, but it is also one of the most emotional damaging as the characters you have grown to love, go through some major events that leave them deeply traumatised.  An epic read that I cannot recommend enough.

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The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch – 2006

The Lies of Locke Lamora Cover

Few books have ever caught my imagination and attention than the brilliant fantasy heist book, The Lies of Locke Lamora.  The first book in Scott Lynch’s The Gentleman Bastards series, The Lies of Locke Lamora is an insanely good read that sees a group of conmen get dragged into a battle for a corrupt and dangerous city’s soul and must try to survive while also getting their score.  Perfectly balancing great characters with cool fantasy and impressive thriller elements, The Lies of Locke Lamora is so much fun to read and I would strongly recommend it to any fantasy fan.  I could have also featured the second book Red Seas Under Red Skies (released in 2007) here, as it was also extremely good, but I do think the first book was the best.  Highly recommended!

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The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – 2007

The Name of the Wind Cover

I had to include The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss on this list as it is honestly one of my favourite fantasy books of all time.  Following a legendary figure as he recounts the early days of his life, you find yourself getting dragged into the tale of Kvothe, a man destined to kill a king and become infamous.  The Name of the Wind perfectly introduces the character and sets you deep into his intense and massive life story, which features tragedy, triumph, music, and an epic amount of time spent in a cool magic school.  I love this book so much, and I really need to read it again and give it a proper review.  The sequel, The Wise Man’s Fear is just as good, but I think the first book is a better one to include here.

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Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie – 2009

Best Served Cold Cover

I honestly could have featured any of the three books from Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy on this list, as all three are a masterclass in dark fantasy fiction.  However, I decided to go with the third and final book in the trilogy, Best Served Cold, as I think it was the best book.  Not only did it bring together all the epic storylines from the first two novels perfectly, but all the main characters who you have been getting extremely close to, have their defining moments here.  There is so much awesomeness crammed into this book, and its impacts will be felt from years to come, as the sequel Age of Madness trilogy (made up of A Little Hatred, The Trouble With Peace and The Wisdom of Crowds), follows on from it perfectly.

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The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry – 2010

The Dragon Factory

I had to feature an entry from the epic Joe Ledger series here on this list, and luckily a couple of fun entries were released more than 10 years ago.  While I could have gone with the first book, Patient Zero (modern zombies) or the fantastic third release, The King of Plagues (a world-ending cabal in action), I went with the second book, The Dragon Factory, which I think was one of Maberry’s best.  The Dragon Factory takes damaged protagonist Joe Ledger on a deadly mission to save the world from two warring teams of advanced genetic engineers who have their own insidious plans.  Intense, action-packed, and featuring some heart-rending tragedy, The Dragon Factory was an instant favourite of mine, and I cannot talk it up enough.

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The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – 2010

WAY OF KINGS MM REV FINAL.indd

The final book I want to highlight on this list is the massive and deeply impressive The Way of the Kings by impossibly talented Brandon Sanderson.  This was the first book in Sanderson’s iconic The Stormlight Archive and follows several impressive and highly developed characters on an epic journey throughout a bold new fantasy world.  This novel has everything you could possibly want, and I cannot emphasise the sheer level of creativity and universe building it contains.  There is so much to love about this book, especially the complex and highly damaged characters, and I would recommend this to all fantasy fans.

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That’s the end of this latest Top Ten Tuesday.  As you can see, I have had the great pleasure of reading several outstanding novels that were published more than ten years ago, and some of them are counted amongst my favourite all-time books.  All the novels featured above are extremely epic and I would recommend all of them to readers looking for their next obsession.  I had a lot of fun pulling this list together, and this might be one I revisit in the future, especially after I go back and read some more older novels.

Top Ten Tuesday – Longest Audiobooks That I Have Listened To – Part III

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List16 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, I’m veering away from the official topic (this week it was Top Ten Books with your Favourite Trope/Theme), and instead I chose to revisit and update a fun post I last looked at nearly two years ago.

As readers of this blog will be aware, I am a massive fan of audiobooks, and it is often the best way to enjoy a good book.  I have been lucky enough to listen to an impressive collection of audiobooks over the years, with some of them being extremely long, often taking me weeks to get through.  Back in 2019, I got curious about all the audiobooks I had listened to, and I wanted to know which were the longest ones that I had ever listened to.  As a result, I sat down and worked out which ones had the longest run time.  This turned into such an interesting endeavour that I ended up posting on my blog here, with the longest 20 books featured.  I had such an amazing time doing this that a year later I had a go at updating it, adding in a few additional reads.

Well, it has been nearly two years since I last updated this list and I always intended to keep coming back to this list to see how the recent long audiobooks I have listened to stacked up against the books already on this list.  Since the last update in 2020 I have managed to listen to quite a few new audiobooks, several of which had an excellent run time.  As I just reviewed one of these yesterday, I thought this would be a good time to update the list again and see what differences have been made in the last year.  The list below is similar to the list I posted a couple of years ago, with several new additions added in (see the highlighted posts).  I ended up extending the list to 25 entries, mainly to fit a couple of extra recent audiobooks in, so prepare for even more awesome covers.

List:

1. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading – 45 hours and 48 minutes

WAY OF KINGS MM REV FINAL.indd

 

2. The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, narrated by Nick Podehl – 42 hours and 55 minutes

The Wise Mans Fear Cover

 

3. Magician by Raymond E. Feist, narrated by Peter Joyce – 36 hours and 14 minutes

Magician Cover

 

4. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, narrated by Roy Dotrice – 33 hours and 45 minutes

A Game of Thrones Cover

 

5. Mistress of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurst, narrated by Tania Rodrigues – 32 hours and 1 minutes

Mistress of the Empire Cover

 

6. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerrard Doyle – 31 hours and 29 minutes

Inheritance Cover

 

7. Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurst, narrated by Tania Rodrigues – 30 hours and 42 minutes

Servant of the Empire Cover

 

8. The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding, narrated by Simon Bubb – 30 hours and 40 minutes

the ember blade cover

 

9. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerrard Doyle – 29 hours and 34 minutes

Brisingr Cover

 

10. Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio, narrated by Samuel Roukin – 28 hours and 3 minutes

Howling Dark Cover

 

11. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, narrated by Nick Podehl – 27 hours and 55 minutes

The Name of the Wind Cover

 

12. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas, narrated by Elizabeth Evans – 27 hours and 50 minutes

House of Earth and Blood Cover

 

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling, narrated by Jim Dale – 27 hours and 2 minutes

The Order of the Phoenix Cover

 

14. Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, narrated by Michael Page – 25 hours and 34 minutes

Red Seas Under Red Skies

 

15. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch, narrated by Michael Page – 23 hours and 43 minutes

The Republic of Thieves Cover

 

16. The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie, narrated by Steven Pacey – 23 hours and 36 minutes

The Wisdom of Crowds Cover

The longest book I am adding to this list is the epic dark fantasy novel, The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie.  This incredible book, which was one of the best novels and audiobooks of 2021, ends Abercrombie’s Age of Madness trilogy on a very high note.  Containing a brilliant story, some incredible characters, and some major twists, this is an essential read for all fantasy fans.  At nearly 24 hours in length, this is a pretty hefty audiobook, although once you get caught up in the epic story, you will power through it.

 

17. Eldest by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerrard Doyle – 23 hours and 29 minutes

Eldest Cover

 

18. Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil by Timothy Zahn, narrated by Marc Thompson and The Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick, narrated by Nikki Massoud, 23 hours and 13 minutes

Lesser Evil and The Mask of Mirrors Covers

I was very surprised to find myself with a tie for the number 18 position, especially as both were audiobooks I only recently listened to.  These two awesome audiobooks, which come in at 23 hours and 13 minutes each, are the third book in the epic Thrawn Ascendancy Star Wars trilogy, Lesser Evil by Timothy Zahn, and the excellent fantasy epic The Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick.  Both novels were impressive 2021 releases, with Lesser Evil perfectly wrapping up the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy (which included Chaos Rising and Greater Good), while The Mask of Mirror ended up being one of the best debuts of 2021.  Both audiobooks were very good, with Lesser Evil featuring legendary narrator Marc Thompson, while The Mask of Mirrors was expertly told by Nikki Massoud (loved her various accents).  Both outstanding performances really helped me to enjoy these great books and I powered through them in no time.

 

19. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie, narrated by Steven Pacey – 22 hours and 38 minutes

Before they are Hanged Cover

 

20. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, narrated by Steven Pacey – 22 hours and 15 minutes

The Blade Itself

 

21. Engines of Empire by R. S. Ford, narrated by various – 22 hours and 3 minutes

Engines of Empire Cover

The most recent book on this list that I have listened to, Engines of Empire was an epic fantasy novel that introduced readers to an excellent new world.  Filled with intrigue, action and magic, I had a lot of fun with this audiobook, and I particularly liked how it featured several separate narrators.  This impressive team of narrators ensured that Engines of Empire turned out to be a pretty awesome audiobook, and it was one that I had a lot fun getting through.

 

22. The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie, narrated by Steven Pacey– 21 hours and 56 minutes

The Trouble with Peace Cover

Wow, this list is just loaded with Joe Abercrombie’s epic novels, as another book from his Age of Madness trilogy is featured here.  The Trouble with Peace is the second entry in the series, and it perfectly follows up the first book, A Little Hatred.  I deeply enjoyed this cool book, especially as it once again featured the cool narration of Steven Pacey, and this was easily one of the best books and audiobooks of 2020.  Easy to power through thanks to the incredible story and brilliant characters, this near 22-hour long audiobook will just fly by.

 

23. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, narrated by Michael Page – 21 hours and 59 minutes

The Lies of Locke Lamora Cover

 

24. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling, narrated by Jim Dale – 21 hours and 36 minutes

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Cover

 

25. Altered Realms: Ascension by B. F. Rockriver, narrated by Maximillian Breed – 21 Hours and 26 minutes

Altered Realms Cover 2

The final new audiobook on this list is the interesting novel, Altered Realms: Ascension by B. F. Rockriver.  An intense and clever LITRPG novel, Ascension featured an NPC who is given the powers of a player and must adventure through his world with a whole new set of eyes.  Not only was this a great novel (one of the best debuts of 2020), but the audiobook version of it was a lot of fun, especially as narrator Maximillian Breed perfectly captures the computer-generated voice anyone who has played an RPG will be familiar with.  A cool audiobook that is worth the substantial time investment.

 

Well, those are some pretty cool new additions to this list.  I am probably being a little over generous moving it up to 25 entries, but I think it turned out alright.  I am a little disappointed that none of my recent books got anywhere the top ten, so I think I will have to work on listening to some longer audiobooks this year.  I will hopefully have another go at updating this list in a year or so, but in the meantime let me know what the longest audiobook you have listened to is in the comments below.

 

 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List3 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  For this latest Top Ten Tuesday, participants are encouraged to list the top ten books that they wish they could read again for the first time.  This was a very interesting choice of topic and it is one that really resonated with me.

Like many readers and reviewers, I have enjoyed some absolutely cracking novels over the years and there are many that I really wish I could forget having read just so I could have the pleasure of checking them out once again in order to have the same amazing reactions.  As a result, the moment that I saw this week’s topic I immediately started gathering a mental list of some great books I would love to enjoy for the very first time once again.  There are several reasons why I would like to read a book for the first time again, whether it is to be blown away by a crazy twist, be once again embroiled in the great action, or because some of the outstanding jokes have lost a little bit of impact as I have heard them multiple times.  Whatever the reason, I ended up pulling together a decent list containing some pretty fantastic reads, many of which I have praised in prior Top Ten Tuesday articles or in detailed reviews.  So let us see what made the top ten.

Honourable Mentions:

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

The Blade Itself

 

The Bone Ships by R. J. Barker

The Bone Ships Cover

 

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City Cover

 

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan

promise of blood cover

Top Ten List:

Legend by David Gemmell

Legend

For the first entry on this list, I am going to include the fantasy classic, Legend by David Gemmell.  Legend was an outstanding and impressive fantasy debut that I had been meaning to read for years, but which I only got a chance to finally do in 2019.  However, the moment I finished it, I felt a strong desire to forget everything I knew about it and instantly reread it once again.  Legend is a fantastic novel that contains an intense and compelling story about a massive siege where an invincible army attacks a great fortress garrisoned by a severely outnumbered force of defenders and a few legendary heroes.  This is easily one of the best siege novels I have ever read, and readers are in for an incredible and deeply exciting time as they get through it.  This was an exceptional read, and I really wish I could experience every emotion I felt when I first read this book once again.

 

Planetside by Michael Mammay

Planetside Cover 2

There was no way I could do this list without mentioning the fantastic science fiction debut, Planetside by Michael Mammay.  Planetside was an amazing read, but the main reason it makes this list is because it has an outstanding and explosive ending that I absolutely loved.  This was a perfect and memorable finale to an already great novel, and it be fun to once again experience all the shock and surprise I first felt when I originally read this book. 

 

Any Discworld Novel by Terry Pratchett

The Last Continent Cover

I’m cheating a little here by including a 40+ series of novels in a single post, but I’m going to do it anyway.  This is because the Discworld novels are some of my absolute favourite novels and I have so much love for them.  Written by the legendary Terry Pratchett, these novels are a unique and exceptional collection of fantasy comedies that contains some extremely clever and inventive humour and jokes.  I have read every book in this series, such as Moving Pictures or The Last Continent, multiple times, and I still laugh out loud every time I do.  However, no matter how clever of funny a joke is, if you hear it too many times it starts to lose its impact just a little.  For that reason, I would love to have the opportunity to read the entire Discworld series for the first time once more, although I imagine I would probably die from laughing too much (totally worth it).

 

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

Eragon Cover

Another multi-book entry, The Inheritance Cycle was the debut series of bestselling author Christopher Paolini and featured four great books following a teenage dragon rider, Eragon, as he battles the forces of darkness.  I have a lot of love for this series, and I deeply enjoyed it when I was younger, especially due to the fantastic narrative and impressive world building.  However, after a few rereads of the series, I have noticed some issues that I now can’t ignore whenever I read these books (for example, a winy protagonist and several plot points that bear striking similarities to a certain series of space opera films).  While I still really enjoy these novels, it would be good to reread them for the first time and not have some of these flaws already sitting in my head.

 

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

The Lies of Locke Lamora Cover

An epic fantasy classic that features a group of brilliant conmen as they go up against some extremely dangerous opponents, The Lies of Locke Lamora is one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read.  Containing a lot of fun betrayals, twists and clever ploys that are still stuck in my head years after reading it, this would be an exceptional novel to read for the first time once again, and I think I might have to do a reread of it soon.

 

Battle Ground by Jim Butcher

Battle Ground Cover

The next entry on this list is Battle Ground, the 17th entry in the amazing Dresden Files series.  Featuring an all-out fantasy war in the middle of Chicago, this was an incredible and thrilling read, and it was one of the best books and audiobooks I enjoyed in 2020.  While I had an outstanding time with Battle Ground, it was the first Dresden Files novel I ever read, and I kind of wish I had read the proceeding 16 novels first to give me a little more context and make some of the reveals a little more shocking to me.  This feeling has only grown after I started reading some of the earlier books in the series, such as Storm Front, Fool Moon and Grave Peril, as information from Battle Ground ruins some surprises from the earlier books.  As a result, I wish I had read this series in order and that the first time I enjoyed Battle Ground was after getting through the rest of the series first.  Still, this was a great read, and I have only minimal regrets in jumping the gun on this one.

 

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Into the Drowning Deep Cover

One of the best modern icons of horror fiction, Mira Grant, did the impossible in the outstanding Into the Drowning Deep (one of my favourite books of 2018), but making mermaids scary.  I had an exceptional time reading this fantastic novel the first time, and it would be cool if I could forget all the fun details in it and reread every year on Halloween for the first time.

 

Green Arrow: The Archer’s Quest by Brad Meltzer, Phil Hester, and Ande Parks

Green Arrow Archer's Quest

As one of my all-time favourite comics, The Archer’s Quest storyline from Green Arrow is an amazing and complex comic that I deeply enjoy every time I read.  Author Brad Meltzer really gets to grips with the complex character of a recently resurrected Green Arrow as he travels the country with his old sidekick, collecting important items from his life.  This comic has a powerful focus on Green Arrow’s relationships and shows just how complicated and damaged he truly is.  An essential read for all Green Arrow fans, I know that reading it again for the first time would really blow me away.

 

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Skyward Cover

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Skyward, Brandon Sanderson’s clever and dramatic young adult science fiction epic, when it first came out, and I quickly became a pretty major fan of it.  This was an amazing read, which followed the reviled daughter of a coward as she attempts to prove herself by becoming a pilot to defend her planet from invading aliens.  I really became invested in the powerful story of the central protagonist, and it would be so cool to revisit these emotions for the first time all over again.

 

The Name of the Wind/The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind Cover

The final entry on this list is the exceptional first two books in the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss.  Generally considered to be some of the best fantasy novels of all time, I read these novels a couple of years ago and deeply enjoyed them.  There is so much detail, character development and world building contained within, and I know that reading them for the first time would be an amazing experience, and one that would make me fall in love with these novels once more.  The one downside of this would be once again experiencing disappointment about the seemingly unlikely upcoming third novel.  Still, it would probably be worth it, as these are some outstanding books.

 

 

That’s the end of this list and I think it turned out pretty good.  Each of the above entries are really good reads, and I think that if I was to read them again for the first time, I would have an incredible time.  Let me know which books you would love to read again for the first time in the comments below and make sure to check out some of the above fantastic reads.

Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Debut Books

On By The Unseen LibraryIn List11 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week’s instalment of Top Ten Tuesday, it is actually something of a special occasion as we celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Top Ten Tuesday, as this fun, weekly adventure was first started back in June 2010. As a result of this celebration, the topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a little different, as readers have two options: either redo a Top Ten Tuesday topic they have previously done, or pick a past topic that they wish they had done. In order to meet this challenge, I decided to try and do a topic that was featured well back in the day. For this Top Ten Tuesday, I will be doing the 33rd topic, which ran in February 2011 on Top Ten Tuesday’s original blog, The Broke and the Bookish, listing my favourite debut books.

Over the years I have had the great pleasure of reading a number of impressive and captivating debut novels, many of which formed the start of an amazing series or which helped launch the writing career of some of the best authors of a variety of different genres. Some of these debuts have been so good that they have stuck with me for life, and I look forward to listing my absolute favourites. I am taking a rather broad stroke approach with this list, and I am going to make any debut that I have read eligible to be included. It does not matter if I read this book out of order, whether I enjoyed later entries from the author first, or whether I have gone back and read this book years after it came out; as long as it is the first full-length novel from an author, it can appear on this list.

This proved to be a rather intriguing list to pull together, as I actually had a rather large collection of debut novels to sort through, and I ended up discarding several really good books that I was sure were going to make the cut. I think that my eventual Top Ten list (with a generous Honourable Mentions section), features a rather interesting and diverse collection of debut books, and I quite like how it turned out. Unsurprisingly, as many of these books are written by my favourite authors, I have mentioned some of these entries and their authors before in prior lists, such as my Top Ten Auto-Buy Author list, and for many of these authors, I am still reading a number of their current novels. So let us see what I was able to come up with.

Honourable Mentions:


The Crystal Shard by R. A. Salvatore (1988)

The Crystal Shard Cover

The Crystal Shard is the very first book from one of my favourite authors, R. A. Salvatore, and it was the first book in The Icewind Dale trilogy. I really loved this book, and it served as a fantastic start to a massive fantasy series that is still going to this day. The characters introduced in The Crystal Shard have all recently appeared in a brand-new trilogy, made up of Timeless, Boundless and the upcoming Relentless, which I have had an amazing time reading and reviewing.

The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso (2017)

The Tethered Mage Cover

This was a fantastic debut from a couple of years ago that I instantly fell in love with, especially as it led to two awesome sequels, The Defiant Heir and The Unbound Empire.

City of Lies by Sam Hawke (2018)

City of Lies Cover


Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio (2018)

Empire of Silence Cover

An outstanding science fiction debut with a lot of impressive elements. This was one of my favourite books of 2018, and it led to an amazing sequel last year, Howling Dark, as well as the intriguing upcoming novel, Demon in White.

Top Ten Tuesday (By Release Date):


Magician by Raymond E. Feist (1982)

Magician Cover

Right off the bat we have Magician by Raymond E. Feist, which may be one of my favourite fantasy novels of all time. I first read this book years ago, and its clever story and substantial universe building has helped make me a lifelong fan of both the author and the fantasy genre. This was the first book in the epic and long-running Riftwar Cycle, which included the fantastic spinoff series, The Empire trilogy. I am still enjoying Feist’s books to this day, as his latest novel, King of Ashes, was a lot of fun, while his upcoming book, Queen of Storms, is one of my most anticipated releases for the next couple of months.

Legend by David Gemmell (1984)

Legend


Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling (1997)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Cover

No list about top debuts can be complete without the first book in the world-changing Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. This was an impressive novel, filled with immense amount of world building, that I absolutely loved while growing up. While you kind of have to ignore anything that the author says outside of the books, this is still an outstanding novel, that holds a special place in my heart.

Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow (2000)

Under the Eagle Cover

Under the Eagle was one of the very first historical fiction novels that I ever read, and it really helped me get into the genre (something that would eventually lead to me reviewing books professionally). Under the Eagle is an impressive and compelling Roman history novel that follows two Roman soldiers during the invasion of Britain. Filled with a lot of great action and historical detail, this was the first book in the Eagles of the Empire series, which is still running to this day (make sure to check out my reviews for the last couple of books in the series, The Blood of Rome and Traitors of Rome).

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (2006)

The Lies of Locke Lamora Cover

This was an exceedingly entertaining and wildly impressive fantasy novel which followed a group of conmen in a dangerous, magical city. The Lies of Locke Lamora was a really good book, and I think it would be impossible for someone to read it and not instantly fall in love with it. This book also served as the first entry in the outstanding Gentleman Bastards series, which currently contains three amazing books, with the fourth novel, The Thorn of Emberlain, hopefully coming out at some point in the future.

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (2006)

The Blade Itself

The Blade Itself is an intriguing and inventive dark fantasy novel that follows a complex and damaged group of protagonists in a world full of blood, betrayal and war. This book was the first entry in The First Law series of novels, all of which have been a real treat to read. It has also led to an awesome sequel series The Age of Madness trilogy, the first book of which, A Little Hatred, was one of my favourite releases of 2019.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (2007)

The Name of the Wind Cover

This was an extremely epic and captivating read, which may be one of the absolute best fantasy debuts of all time. The Name of the Wind contains an amazing, character driven story that follows the early days of a man destined to become an infamous hero. I cannot emphasise how much I loved this book, and its sequel, The Wise Man’s Fear, was just as good, if not better. I cannot wait for the third novel in the series, currently titled The Doors of Stone, to come out, and it is probably my most anticipated upcoming release (my kingdom for an early copy of this book).

Fire in the East by Harry Sidebottom (2008)

Fire in the East Cover

Fire in the East is an excellent historical fiction novel that I had an amazing time reading some years ago. The very first novel from Harry Sidebottom, who would go on to write some amazing books like The Last Hour and The Lost Ten, Fire in the East had a very impressive Roman siege storyline, that few other historical fiction authors have come close to matching.

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan (2013)

promise of blood cover


Planetside by Michael Mammay (2018)

Planetside Cover 2

The final book in my list is Planetside, the addictive and exciting science fiction/thriller hybrid whose sudden and destructive conclusion absolutely blew me away. Mammay did an outstanding job with his first book, and last year’s sequel, Spaceside, is also really worth checking out.

Well that’s my Top Ten List for this week. I rather like the list that I came up with, and there is a good collection of novels there, although it is slightly more fantasy-heavy than I intended. For some of these books I really need to go back and reread them at some point so that I can do a Throwback Thursday review of them. This is probably a list that I will come back to in the future as well, as there are always impressive new debuts coming out. For example, this year I have already read a fantastic debut, The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold, and I am also looking forward to several great sounding upcoming debuts like Assault by Fire by Hunter Ripley Rawlins and The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell. In the meantime, be sure to me know which of the books above are your favourites, as well as which debut novels you would add to your Top Ten list.

Top Ten Tuesday –Longest Audiobooks That I Have Listened To – Part II

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List15 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, I’m veering away from the official topic (this week it was Top Ten Books I Enjoyed but Rarely Talked About), and instead choosing to revisit and update a fun post I did last year. I have always been a major fan of audiobooks, and in my mind it is often the best way to enjoy a good book. I have been lucky enough to listen to quite a substantial number of audiobooks over the years, and some of them have been quite long, often taking me weeks to get through. About a year ago, I started getting curious about all the audiobooks I had listened to, and I wanted to know which ones were the longest ones that I had every listened to. As a result, I sat down and worked out which ones had the longest run time. This turned into such an interesting endeavour; I ended up wanting to share it, and turned it into my first Top Ten Longest Audiobooks I Have Listened To list. I actually had an amazing time coming up with this list, and I ended up expanding it to cover 20 books, all of which were substantially long reads.

Now, I always intended to come back to this list and see how the new books I listened to recently stacked up against the books already on the list. In the year since I published that original list, I have managed to listen to quite a few new audiobooks, several of which had a pretty lengthy run time. As I just finished a rather substantial audiobook over the weekend, I thought that this would be a good time to update this list and see what differences have been made in the last year. The list below is going to be pretty similar to the list I posted up last year, just with a few new additions added in, and I’ll make sure to highlight them. This will no doubt change the order around a little, and I am interested in seeing how the new list turns out.

Top Twenty List:

1. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading – 45 hours and 48 minutes

WAY OF KINGS MM REV FINAL.indd

2. The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, narrated by Nick Podehl – 42 hours and 55 minutes

The Wise Mans Fear Cover

3. Magician by Raymond E. Feist, narrated by Peter Joyce – 36 hours and 14 minutes

Magician Cover

4. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, narrated by Roy Dotrice – 33 hours and 45 minutes

A Game of Thrones Cover

5. Mistress of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurst, narrated by Tania Rodrigues – 32 hours and 1 minutes

Mistress of the Empire Cover

6. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerrard Doyle – 31 hours and 29 minutes

Inheritance Cover

7. Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurst, narrated by Tania Rodrigues – 30 hours and 42 minutes

Servant of the Empire Cover

8. The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding, narrated by Simon Bubb – 30 hours and 40 minutes

the ember blade cover

The first new entry on this list is the rather good fantasy novel by Chris Wooding, The Ember Blade. The Ember Blade was an interesting-sounding novel that I had included on my Top Ten Books I Wish I Read in 2018 list and which I managed to get around to listening to last year. It took me a while to get through, but it was really worth it, as this proved to be an excellent book that I really enjoyed. I ended up including this novel on a couple of my best-of lists of 2019, including my Top pre-2019 Books list, and I included Wooding on my Top New-To-Me Authors list. I am eagerly awaiting a sequel to this great book, although nothing has been announced so far.

9. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerrard Doyle – 29 hours and 34 minutes

Brisingr Cover

10. Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio, narrated by Samuel Roukin – 28 hours and 3 minutes

Howling Dark Cover

This was another fantastic audiobook I checked out last year. Howling Dark was the incredible sequel to Empire of Silence, and I ended up having an amazing time listening to this second audiobook from Ruocchio. This book was one of my top books and audiobooks of 2019, and I strongly recommend checking out its audiobook format. I am looking forward to the third book in the series, Demon in White, which is set for release later this year, and I may end up listening to the audiobook version of that as well.

11. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, narrated by Nick Podehl – 27 hours and 55 minutes

The Name of the Wind Cover

12. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas, narrated by Elizabeth Evans – 27 hours and 50 minutes

House of Earth and Blood Cover

The latest addition to this list, I only finished House of Earth and Blood a couple of days ago. This was an incredible audiobook that took me a few weeks to get through, but it was really worth it. I ended up really enjoying this outstanding novel, and I’m hoping to get a review up of it in a few days, but it comes highly recommended from me.

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling, narrated by Jim Dale – 27 hours and 2 minutes

The Order of the Phoenix Cover

14. Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, narrated by Michael Page – 25 hours and 34 minutes

Red Seas Under Red Skies

15. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch, narrated by Michael Page – 23 hours and 43 minutes

The Republic of Thieves Cover

16. Eldest by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerrard Doyle – 23 hours and 29 minutes

Eldest Cover

17. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie, narrated by Steven Pacey – 22 hours and 38 minutes

Before they are Hanged

18. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, narrated by Steven Pacey – 22 hours and 15 minutes

The Blade Itself

19. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, narrated by Michael Page – 21 hours and 59 minutes

The Lies of Locke Lamora Cover

20. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling, narrated by Jim Dale – 21 hours and 36 minutes

Deathly Hallows

 

Hmm, well that turned out to be a rather interesting result. I was honestly expecting more than three new entries onto the list, but those were the only ones that made the cut. Ironically, three substantial books I had listened to throughout the year, Red Metal by Mark Greaney and Hunter Ripley Rawlings, A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie and Tiamat’s Wrath by James S. A. Corey would have made the old top twenty list, if they hadn’t been booted off by the new entries above. Still, the three new additions altered the list a bit, and it was interesting to see that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Cold Iron and Promise of Blood ended up getting knocked out of the top twenty.

Well, that’s it for this latest Top Ten Tuesday. I plan to revisit this list in another year or so and I will make an effort to listen to some additional audiobooks with a long run time in order to add them to the list. In the meantime, let me know what you think of the results above; I am curious to see what the longest audiobook you ever listened to was. Also, if you are stuck at home, you might want to check out some of the novels above. Each of them are really good and can help pass the time, especially in their audiobook formats, which are a lot of fun to listen to.

Waiting on Wednesday – The Kingkiller Chronicles – Book 3 by Patrick Rothfuss

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday4 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I am going to look at the book that is easily number 1 on my personal must-read list, the third book in Patrick Rothfuss’s epic The Kingkiller Chronicle, which is at the moment tentatively titled Doors of Stone.

Doors of Stone - Fan Cover.jpg

There are several problems with wanting to read this book. I have no idea when it is going to be released, nor do I have a firm idea of the book’s plot. Even the title, Doors of Stone, might change, and the cover I have included above is a fan-made cover that features on Goodreads. Nonetheless, it tops my list mostly due to how exceptionally awesome the first two books in the series were.

The Kingkiller Chronicles is a series of massive fantasy books written by Patrick Rothfuss. The first book in the series, The Name of the Wind, was released in 2007, and the second book, The Wise Man’s Fear, was released in 2011. The series focuses on a young man called Kvothe, a legendary figure known throughout the land as a master magician, swordfighter, musician and adventurer who gained the epitaph ‘Kingkiller’ after killing a king and igniting a war that is still being fought to this day. Kvothe has since hidden himself from the world, disguising himself as an innkeeper in a small town. At the start of The Name of the Wind, Kvothe is recognised by a renowned historian known as Chronicler, who wishes to know and record the true story of Kvothe’s life. Kvothe agrees and tells Chronicler that his story will take three days to tell, with each day of storytelling corresponding to one of the three planned books in The Kingkiller Chronicles.

Over the course of the first two days, Kvothe regales Chronicler with a long and detailed story of his early life, starting with his childhood as a travelling performer, his early training and the violent death of his family and performing troupe by the Chandrian, which are mythical demonic creatures his father somehow angered. Kvothe eventually makes his way to the University, the most prestigious education institute in the world, where he manages to gain admission despite his lack of funds. There he learns various forms of magic, as well as other academic interests, while also gaining a reputation as a musical prodigy. The story told during the first day mainly recounts his first year in the University, while the second day recounts more of his educational experiences, as well as a long and fateful trip outside the University. At the same time as the story is being told, strange events are occurring around Kvothe’s inn, and it soon becomes apparent that Kvothe has somehow lost most of his magic and martial skill since the events he described.

These first two books in The Kingkiller Chronicles are absolutely incredible and are by far two of the best fantasy novels I have ever read. The story of Kvothe is a deeply fascinating, and Rothfuss has an uncanny ability to tell a captivating tale that plucks at the imagination and stays with a reader long after they have read the book. The series is set in an amazingly detailed world, filled with all manner of intriguing secrets and history, many of which the protagonist is destined to unravel. I am a huge fan of fantasy books that feature schools, magical education or extensive training sequences, and The Kingkiller Chronicles is easily the most well-written and enjoyable example of this sort of fantasy sub-genre that I have ever read. I also love how Rothfuss’s story contains such a major focus on music, and the various songs and performances in the two books pretty much flow off the page. There is honestly so much to love about both of these books that I could go on for pages and pages about both of them (something I intend to do in future reviews). Unsurprisingly to anyone who has read these books, The Kingkiller Chronicles is a massive bestseller, and many consider it to be the best fantasy series in the world today. The series has also been optioned for adaption, with rumours of both a movie and television series in the near future. Lin-Manuel Miranda is even attached to the television show and will compose the show’s music, which is pretty darn exciting.

Unfortunately, this series has remained unfinished, and the third book has yet to appear. Readers have been waiting for this third book since 2011, and it is probably one of the most anticipated fantasy releases in the world today, rivalled only by the next book in A Song of Ice and Fire, or perhaps The Thorn of Emberlain (my Waiting on Wednesday review for The Thorn of Emberlain certainly gets a lot a views). The third book in The Kingkiller Chronicles, which will feature the third and final day of Kvothe’s story to Chronicler, will apparently conclude all the events of Kvothe’s life that led to his current life of exile and the loss of his powers. Unfortunately, after eight years of waiting, there is still no sign of the book on the horizon, and no-one is certain when the third book will be published.

Rothfuss has apparently been working on this book for some time, with a note on Goodreads in 2012 indicating he was working on polishing the book and he hoped to transform it from a 3½-star book to a five-star book. Since then there have been innumerable speculations from a variety of sources about when the book would be released, but these potential release dates keep getting pushed back. There has been some recent discussion about the book coming out in 2019, with some interviews or Q&As with Rothfuss apparently indicating this. Rothfuss also sparked speculation in January 2019 when he retweeted some fan art that contained the words “I want to return in 2019 – Kvothe”. However, as we are now in mid-May and there have been no official announcements, a 2019 release date seems incredibly unlikely. I honestly doubt that this book will even be released in 2020. An interview from April 2019 indicates he is still working on it, and I imagine that even when he is finished with it the publication process is going to take a while. I had hoped that the work on the movies or television shows might spur the author on, although progress on both of these projects is also apparently going quite slowly as well. As a result, it might be a while before we see the third book in this series, which is a real shame, as there are so many open plot points that need to be concluded in order to give this story a satisfactory conclusion.

While no plot synopsis for the third book has been released yet, it is possible to puzzle out what needs to happen in it. According to dialogue in the first two books, a number of events need to occur to define the story of Kvothe. These include Kvothe’s banishment from the University; his meeting with his assistant, Bast; the loss of his great love; the battle he apparently had with an angel to bring her back; the events that broke him and his magic; and, most importantly, his meeting with and subsequent murder of a king. In addition to all of these, there ought to be some explanation for all the open plot points, such as the mysterious artefact from the Maer’s new, bigoted wife (who is totally his aunt), the reason for the mysterious stone door in the University archives or the identity and origin of the Chandrian, just to name a few. There also has to be an explanation for the events occurring at the inn, such as the reason he is being hunted by demons, and there also needs to be some indication of where Rothfuss’s universe will go from there.

I actually think that all these open plot points that need to be addressed are why Rothfuss is having such a hard time finishing the book. For the life of me, I cannot see how it is possible to include or explore all of these potential plot points in one book and keep the story as interesting or rich in detail as the first two books in the series. As a result, he may have shot himself in the foot by claiming that the story could be told in just three days/books, and I think that he may have let the story get way more extensive than he originally intended (not that I’m complaining).

Whatever the reason, it seems like we may be waiting a while to read the third book in The Kingkiller Chronicles, although I will make sure to grab a copy as soon as it is available, and I know many readers will be doing the same. The third book is going to be epic, and I am really looking forward to seeing how Rothfuss ends this chapter in his story. I may do another one of these Waiting on Wednesday articles for this book later down the track when more details of the plot are revealed, or when a proper cover comes out. I also intend to eventually post a review of the first two books in The Kingkiller Chronicles at some point in the future; I just need to carve out some time to reread them first.