Top Ten Tuesday – Books with Geographical Terms in the Title

On September 13, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn List4 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this latest Top Ten Tuesday participants are tasked with listing their top books that have geographical terms in the title. Geographical terms in this case include terms such as mountains, islands, lands, deserts, oceans, valleys and much, much more. Participants were actually provided a link of hundreds of potential geographical terms on Wikipedia to use as examples to help with the task here, and while I didn’t get some of the more exotic terms, it did help me select a couple of fun books to include. I did have a bit of a struggle coming up with a full list here, as it turns out a lot of the books I have read didn’t feature geographical terms, but I was eventually able to pull together a descent list in the end. All the books below are excellent reads and I liked how the authors used these terms in the titles.

Honourable Mentions:

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Amazon Book Depository

The Lawless Land by Beth Morrison and Boyd Morrison

Amazon Book Depository

In a Great Southern Land by Mary-Anne O’Connor

Amazon Book Depository

Half Moon Lake by Kirsten Alexander

Amazon Book Depository

Top Ten Tuesday:

Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 21: The Mother of Mountains by Stan Sakai

Amazon Book Depository

Streams of Silver by R. A. Salvatore

Amazon Book Depository

The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett

Amazon Book Depository

The Girl and the Mountain by Mark Lawrence

Amazon Book Depository

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Amazon Book Depository

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

Amazon Book Depository

River of Gold by Anthony Riches

Amazon Book Depository

Star Wars: Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith: The Burning Seas by Charles Soule

Amazon

Glacier’s Edge by R. A. Salvatore

Amazon Book Depository

The Grove of the Caesars by Lindsey Davis

Amazon Book Depository

Well, that’s the end of this list. As you can see there is some fantastic novels out there that use geographical terms in their titles, and there are some interesting usages throughout fiction. All the above novels are wonderful and highly recommended reads, and I had an incredible time reading them. I look forward to potentially revisiting this list in the future and it will be interesting to see what new books will feature these sorts of terms in their titles. Let me know which books with geographical phrases in the titles you enjoyed the most in the comments below.

WWW Wednesday – 23 September 2020

On September 23, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday5 Comments

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

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

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

River of Gold by Anthony Riches (Hardcover)

I was in the mood for a good historical fiction read so I thought I would check out River of Gold, the latest entry in Anthony Riches’ Empire series. I am about halfway through this book at the moment and so far it is proving to be an enjoyable read.

Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendency: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn (Audiobook)

I finally got a chance to check out the latest Thrawn novel from legendary Star Wars author Timothy Zahn. Chaos Rising is the first novel in Zahn’s new Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy which serves as a prequel to his previous Thrawn series (made up of Thrawn, Alliances and Treason). This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2020 and so far it is not disappointing as Zahn has come up with another amazing adventure for his most iconic character.

What did you recently finish reading?

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini (Trade Paperback)

The Black Hawks by David Wragg (Audiobook)

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie

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

Canberra Weekly Column – Best of Three

On September 23, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn Canberra Weekly ColumnLeave a comment

Canberra Weekly Column - Best of Three - 17 September 2020-1

Originally published in the Canberra Weekly on 17 September 2020.

This review can also be found on the Canberra Weekly website.

Make sure to also check out my extended reviews for How to Rule and Empire and Get Away with It and V2.

WWW Wednesday – 16 September 2020

On September 16, 2020September 16, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday3 Comments

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

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini (Trade Paperback)

I am still getting through this massive book, but it is quite an impressive and expansive science fiction novel that is well worth the time you need to set aside to read it.

The Black Hawks by David Wragg (Audiobook)

The Black Hawks is a fun and exciting fantasy debut from last year that I have been meaning to check out for a while now. I am about a third of a way through it at the moment and it is proving to be quite an entertaining and enjoyable read.

What did you recently finish reading?

Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry (Audiobook)

What do you think you’ll read next?

Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendency: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn

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

WWW Wednesday – 9 September 2020

On September 9, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday2 Comments

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

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini (Trade Paperback)

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars Cover

I have just started to read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, the epic new science fiction novel from Christopher Paolini, author of the bestselling The Inheritance Cycle. This is so far proving to be a rather compelling read and I cannot wait to see how it turns out. This is a massive book, so it’s probably going to take me a while to get through it. Still it will be worth it if some of the early buzz I’m hearing around this novel is true.

Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry (Audiobook)

Dogs of War Cover

I was in between audiobooks so I thought that this would be a good time to listen to Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry. Falling in between Kill Switch and Deep Silence, this is the only Joe Ledger novel I have so far not read and I am eager to finish this series off this year. I am making some very steady progress with this awesome audiobook so far and I should get through it in the next few days.

What did you recently finish reading?

V2 by Robert Harris (Ebook)

V2 Cover

Redshirts by John Scalzi (Audiobook)

Redshirts Cover

Relentless by R. A. Salvatore (Audiobook)

Relentless Cover

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton (Trade Paperback)

The Devil and the Dark Water Cover

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

WWW Wednesday – 2 September 2020

On September 2, 2020September 2, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday2 Comments

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

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

V2 by Robert Harris (Ebook)

V2 Cover

V2 is the latest historical fiction novel from bestselling author Robert Harris. This new book follows a World War II espionage mission to stop the German’s deadly V2 rocket attacks. I only started this one today, but so far it is proving to be a rather interesting read.

Relentless by R. A. Salvatore (Audiobook)

Relentless Cover

I started listening to this a few days ago and I have been powering through it ever since. Relentless is the final book in the latest trilogy of Drizzt Do’Urden novels, following on from Timeless and Boundless. This has so far been another epic read from Salvatore and I am having an amazing time listening to it. I cannot wait to see how this current trilogy ends and I should hopefully finish this audiobook off in the next day or so.

What did you recently finish reading?

Blunt Force by Lynda La Plante (Trade Paperback)

Blunt Force Cover

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Audiobook)

Harrow the Ninth Cover

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (Trade Paperback)

The Space Between Worlds Cover

What do you think you’ll read next?

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini (Trade Paperback)

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars Cover

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

Book Haul – 10 August 2020

On August 10, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn Book Haul2 Comments

Over the last couple of weeks I have been lucky enough to receive a fantastic collection of recent and upcoming releases. Most of these books are pretty amazing and a couple are some of my most anticipated releases for the second half of the year. As a result, I thought I best do a book haul post in order to share what I have gotten. Each of the following books should be pretty fantastic and I look forward to reading them all.

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It by K. J. Parker

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It

The first book I am going to feature on this list is How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It by K. J. Parker. This is an incredible novel that I have been really looking forward to as it serves as a sequel to one of my favourite books of last year, Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City. I have actually already finished How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It (I honestly could not resist reading it) and it turned out to be another outstanding and wildly entertaining read. I am hoping to get a review up for it soon, and I am planning to award it a full five-star rating due to how amazing it is.

Execution by S. J. Parris

Execution Cover

Execution is an awesome sounding historical murder mystery that I have been eagerly awaiting for some time. I am a big fan S. J. Parris’s Giordano Bruno series of books and I look forward to seeing how its fantastic sounding mystery unravels.

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Moonflower Murders Cover

Now this one sounds interesting. The Moonflower Murders is a new murder mystery novel from bestselling author Anthony Horowitz, and it has a rather cool premise to it. This should prove to be an interesting read and I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars Cover

This is another one that I have been really looking forward to for a long time. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is an impressive sounding science fiction epic from Christopher Paolini, author of the iconic Inheritance Cycle series of young adult fantasy novels. I am a major fan of Paolini’s prior novels and I am rather excited to see how his new book turns out. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a pretty massive book, so I am going to have to carve out a bit of time read it properly.

Hidden in Plain Sight by Jeffrey Archer

Hidden in Plain Sight Cover

Hidden in Plain Sight is the upcoming book from Jeffery Archer which will serve as a sequel to his 2019 release Nothing Ventured. This new book looks set to feature some intriguing new criminal cases for the protagonist and I am excited to read this book soon.

Malorie by Josh Malerman

Malorie Cover

Malorie is an intriguing sounding novel that will serve as a sequel to Bird Box, Malerman’s best selling novel. I am not too familiar with Bird Box, but this sequel sounds rather interesting and I am curious to see what happens in it.

Blunt Force by Lynda La Plante

The final book featured in this article is Blunt Force by Lynda La Plante, which is the sixth book in the Jane Tennison series. The Jane Tennison novels are a great historical murder mystery series that serve as a prequel to La Plante’s Prime Suspect television series. I have been really enjoying these compelling books (make sure to check out my reviews for Good Friday, Murder Mile and The Dirty Dozen) and I cannot wait to see what happens in this latest entry.

That’s it for this latest Book Haul post. Let me know which books interest you the most in the comments and I will try to get to them sooner. Now, I better get back to reading.

Top Ten Tuesday – Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2020

On June 30, 2020June 30, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn List20 Comments

2020 has so far been a pretty amazing year for books, with some outstanding and impressive novels coming out and blowing me away. However, the year is far from over, and there are a number of incredible and epic-sounding novels set for release in the second half of 2020. In order to fill out this list I have scoured my list of anticipated upcoming releases and tried to work out which of the books coming out between the start of July and the end of December I am most looking forward to.

This proved to be a rather hard list to finalise, mainly because of how many awesome novels are coming out in the next six months. I had to make some hard decisions for this list, and I ended up cutting out several upcoming releases that I am really looking forward to. Despite this, I am rather happy with the eventual choices that I made, and I think that this upcoming list reflects which upcoming novels I am going to have the most fun reading. Due to how impressive they sound and because they have already caught my attention, several of these books in my weekly Waiting on Wednesday articles, and some of them also appeared on my recent Winter TBR list. However, there are also some interesting new books that I am discussing for the first time here, so that should give this list a bit of variety. So let us get to my selections and find out which upcoming novels are my most anticipated releases for the second half of 2020.

Honourable Mentions:

Total Power by Kyle Mills – 15 September 2020

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – 1 October 2020

Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke – 26 November 2020

Hollow Empire was a book that I was really hoping to read last year, but it has faced some delays. Luckily it looks set for release in a few months time and I am rather excited to check it out, especially after how much I enjoyed Hawke’s first novel, City of Lies.

Colonyside by Michael Mammay – 29 December 2020

This is the third book in the incredible Planetside series of science fiction thriller novels that I have been having an outstanding time reading the last couple of years. The first book in this series, Planetside, is one of my favourite debuts of all time, and last year’s follow-up book, Spaceside was also really impressive. Colonyside is set to be another amazing addition to this series, and I cannot wait to see what sort of complex and clever space mystery Mammay cooks up this time.

Top Ten Tuesday (By Release Date):

Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio – 28 July 2020

The Gates of Athens by Conn Iggulden – 4 August 2020

I actually got a copy of this book last week and I am planning on reading it soon. Gates of Athens is set to be one of the top historical fiction releases of the year, and it should prove to be an epic and detailed read.

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K. J. Parker – 18 August 2020

Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn – 1 September 2020

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

The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie – 15 September 2020

I used The Trouble with Peace’s more recent cover for this article because it looks extremely cool and is a nice contrast to the cover I used in the linked Waiting on Wednesday article.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini – 15 September 2020

Assault by Fire by Hunter Ripley Rawlings IV – 29 September 2020

I just want to point out that Assault by Fire is the only debut novel that I have featured in this article. Not only does it have an awesome and exciting story concept behind it, but I really loved the book that Rawlings cowrote with Mark Greaney last year, Red Metal. If Rawlings’ first solo book is anything as good as Red Metal, then this should prove to be a fantastic read that I know I am going to enjoy.

The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly – 10 November 2020

I have been really enjoying Michael Connelly’s books over the last couple of years, including Dark Sacred Night and The Night Fire, both of which were exceptional pieces of crime fiction. I am also in the middle of reading his latest book, Fair Warning, which is so far pretty amazing. Because of this, I was rather excited when I heard that Connelly had another book coming out later this year. The Law of Innocence sounds extremely interesting as it sees the return of the Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller, as he faces the trial of his life. Also set to feature his most iconic protagonist, Harry Bosch, The Law of Innocence should be a particular impressive read and I am very much looking forward to it.

Call of the Bone Ships by R. J. Barker – 24 November 2020

The final book on this list is a book that I know that I am absolutely going to love, and which is pretty much guaranteed to get a full five stars from me. Call of the Bone Ships is the upcoming sequel to one of the best books of 2019, The Bone Ships, by the always amazing R. J. Barker. This new book will continue the epic nautical fantasy adventures started in The Bone Ships, and I for one am extremely eager to see what outstanding and inventive new narrative that Barker comes up with this time.

That’s the end of this list. I am extremely happy with how my latest Top Ten Tuesday article turned out, and my Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2020 list contains an intriguing list of upcoming books that should prove to be incredible reads. I think that every one of the books I mentioned above has the potential to get a full five-star rating from me and I cannot wait to see what amazing and exciting stories they contain. While I am waiting to get my hands on these books, why not let me know if any of the above interest you, and let me know what your most anticipated releases for the next six months are in the comments below.

Waiting on Wednesday – To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

On March 18, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn Science Fiction, Waiting on Wednesday11 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this latest Waiting on Wednesday, I am going to take a look at an upcoming science fiction novel that I extremely and relentlessly excited for, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars Cover

Can I just take a minute to express how awesome it is that a new Christopher Paolini book is coming out in the next few months. Paolini is a bestselling author who wrote The Inheritance Cycle, an epic young adult fantasy that featured dragons, magic and battles for freedom in an expansive fantasy world. I have a lot of love for The Inheritance Cycle, as I read the first book in the series, Eragon, when I was quite young and instantly fell in love with the book’s cool story and the vast imagination of the author. I absolutely devoured the next three novels when they were released, and this has long been a favourite series of mine. This love of The Inheritance Cycle has continued in recent years, and it is one of those series that I will take the time to regularly reread (or re-listen to, as I have taken to enjoying the audiobook format of this series). I even did a Throwback Thursday review for the entire series back in 2018, which you can check out here. The Inheritance Cycle ended back in 2011, and Paolini has not released any additional novels since, except for a collection of short stories (The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm) that was published at the end of 2018.

As a result, when I heard that Paolini was releasing a new novel this year, I was extremely intrigued and immediately attempted to find out more details about it. Rather than continuing The Inheritance Cycle (although he’s apparently planning to work on a fifth book next), Paolini has written a brand new story which is set for release on 15 September 2020. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is going to be a lengthy science fiction epic that will explore a disastrous first contact between humanity and an alien race. In addition to a recently revealed cover, there a short plot synopsis is currently available:

Goodreads Synopsis:

A brand new space opera on an epic scale from the New York Times bestselling author of a beloved YA fantasy series.

It was supposed to be a routine research mission on an uncolonized planet. But when xenobiologist Kira Navárez finds an alien relic beneath the surface of the world, the outcome transforms her forever and will alter the course of human history.

Her journey to discover the truth about the alien civilization will thrust her into the wonders and nightmares of first contact, epic space battles for the fate of humankind, and the farthest reaches of the galaxy.

Based on the way that I gushed about how much I enjoyed Paolini’s previous series above, it’s pretty obvious that I was going to get a copy of this book no matter what. However, I do have to say that I am also quite intrigued by the cool new premise that Paolini is coming up with. A massive space opera is a bold new step for Paolini and I am extremely interested in seeing how he works with this new genre. Paolini has previously shown that he has an incredible and expansive imagination, so I am really looking forward to finding out what wonders and epic sequences that he is able to come up with this time. I am also curious to see how much he has evolved as an author in the last nine years. While I deeply enjoyed his first four novels, Paolini’s writing was a bit rough in places, and I hoping that the time he has taken for this latest novel will help produce a much more well-rounded read.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is set to be a major and fantastic release for the second half of 2020, and it is one that I am particularly excited about. Words cannot express how much I am looking forward to reading a brand new Christopher Paolini book, and I have high hopes that he has produced another expansive and compelling universe to get lost in, equipped with a powerful and adventure-packed story. I really think that To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is going to be an awesome read and I look forward to diving into this book as soon as possible.