August to September Reading Round-up

So I've been reading a few things that I haven't talked of much here so I thought an update was in order. Just because I don't write a review doesn't mean it isn't worth checking out. Some of the below will get a full review while others make me feel like I'd be repeating myself as they are series books.

Except for the first these recent reads also show that I hit another big book wall after The Black Prism and The Way of Kings. Reading lately has tended to be books of less than 500 pages and that will probably continue for the next month or so.

The Passage by Justin Cronin - Every good thing you've heard about the series is true. If you like The Stand and I Am Legend than you can't miss this. Cronin has breathed new life into apocalyptic fiction that is rewarding and memorable. Don't expect sparkly vamps here. They are out for blood and to take over the world. As rich as the world-building it is the characters you'll be drawn to as they make their way through a world out to destroy them. The story is too long at points, but Cronin's style is to fill-in as many gaps as possible even when skipping 80 years of history. Highly recommended.

My Dead Body by Charlie Huston - This is the last of the Joe Pitt casebooks and what a doozy it is. Huston more than managed to close the series out in a big and satisfying way. Almost too satisfying given what Joe Pitt goes through, but Joe is the anti-hero of anti-heroes. He never does it the easy way, but he still gets the job done. On a whole Huston has written one of the most solid vampire series in years. Just be sure to have a shot of whiskey handy to bring you down from the adrenaline rush. Highly recommended.

Clockwork Phoenix 3 Edited by Mike Allen - This was my first Clockwork Phoenix anthology, which have been lauded as being a bastion for strange and wonderful fiction. It definitely lives up to that. I didn't connect with all of the stories, but there were quite a few that stood out. Expect a review of some of my favorites in the future.

The Loving Dead by Amelia Beamer - What a perverted hoot this one was. Expect a full review in the next week or two as well as an interview with the author. Recommended for fans of zombies and lovers of the odd.

Unnatural History by Jonathan Green - The first in Abaddon's Pax Britannia series of Steampunk pulps. This is just a plain fun read. The hero of the tale is a bit too goody-goody for me, but there is a lot going on in this world so I plan on delving in a bit deeper. Recommended for fans of George Mann and classic pulps.

Antiphon by Ken Scholes - Some very big things come to a head in the latest volume in The Psalms of Isaak series. Scholes packed so much in much it felt too rushed. Barely time to breathe before flipping to another point of view. And even though it had some of the biggest revelations in the series it is so far my least favorite. This could be because Rudolfo took a turn for the worse and a back seat role during much of the story and Jin was nearly a nonentity. But we get plenty of Isaak and Neb, which almost makes up for it. Even with problems this is still one of the most original series going and light years ahead of most Fantasy. Recommend, but start with Lamentation.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu - Yu automatically wins the longest title of the year award. Review to come. Highly recommended.

Salute the Dark by Adrian Tchaikovsky - The fourth book in the Shadows of the Apt series brings a resolution to many story lines and character arcs including the big Wasp conflict. I've been loving this series and this arc ender didn't let me down. It still didn't bring me back to the high that was Dragonfly Falling, but it made everything I've read up to now worth all the time spent, which is what should happen in a long running series. With more Shadows of the Apt books on the way I'm eager to see where Tchaikovsky takes the series from here. Highly recommended.

Hellboy: Oddest Jobs edited by Christopher Golden - This is a prose collection of short stories in Mignola's Hellboy universe with stories by China Mieville, Joe R. Lansdale, Tad Williams, Garth Nix, Amber Benson, and Mark Chadbourn. I've been eyeing this collection for a while even though it is the third of the series by Golden. A friend recently gifted me a copy.  It was the Mieville that I really wanted. Most of the stories caught the flavor of Hellboy quite well with a few missteps.  The Lansdale was a standout even though Hellboy's voice was a little too polished, but it mixes in some crazy concepts such as a ghost train.  Tad Williams's story "The Thursday Men" was also quite memorable making use of an old nursery rhyme in a fantastic way. Recommended.

Homeland by R.A. Salvatore - The first in the Drizzit series was selected for me by Sam Sykes as part of his bravest challenge. It was much better than expected, which is all I'll say for now. Review to come.


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