New Procurements

My shelves seem to be overflowing more than ever before. This is despite cutting back drastically on the number of review copies I actually request for the last year. This is even the case after donating more than 4 large bags of books (at least 70 books) to a nearby library that was hard hit by Sandy and lost much of their collection. Hopefully their regular patrons are big Sci-Fi and Fantasy fans because, man, I just filled that place up with lots of new books and some older books I decided I could live without. So what do I do after all that? Well, I, of course add to the collection. The first pic is of my recent buys and the second 2 are review copies that have come my way.

For Christmas I received only 1 book, which was self-published phenomena Wool by Hugh Howey. I did however also get quite a few gift cards, which fuel the purchase of most of this pile. I read the first of Seanan McGuire's October Daye last year and want to continue on this year hence the next 2 books in the series A Local Habitation and An Artificial Night. I also started David Brin's much loved Sundiver series last year and grabbed the third book so I'll have nothing to hold me back from continuing on in the series along with his Earth, which is a standalone. Did you hear I loved Robert Jackson Bennett's The Troupe? If not I LOVED IT. Buy it. Now. That's not a request. This also meant I had to get his previous book The Company Man so my shelves looked complete.

Yes, I already own The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. But no I didn't own a first edition, first printing of the hardcover. I nabbed it for $8, which is a steal from prices I've seen online. A Once Crowded Sky is Tom King's debut novel, which is a prose superhero story that has gotten a decent rep so far. I also filled out my HC collection of Tobias Buckell's Crystal Rain series with Sly Mongoose and Ragamuffin. The last in the pile is Unidentified Funny Objects, which is a Sci-Fi/Humor anthology I Kickstarted last year. On to review copies.

I lucked into an ARC of probably one of my most anticipated titles for the year with NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. Especially since Hill's last was an incredible read. Blood Oranges is Caitlin Matthews aka Kathleen Tierney's start to a new Urban Fantasy series. It seemed like Caitlin considers this her less serious work hence the nom de plume. The Explorer by James Smythe has already been devoured and very much enjoyed. I hope to do a review soon. Karen Lord's The Best of All Possible Worlds is another I've been looking forward to this year. Blind God's Bluff is Richard Lee Byers debut, which intrigues me, but I generally don't care for books with a gambling theme for some reason. Maybe because I'm not much of a gambler. The Kassa Gambit is M.C. Planck's debut Sci-Fi, which I've heard mixed things about. Impulse by Steve Gould is his latest Jumper novel. I loved the original and liked the sequel so I may take it for a spin though I was hoping for another 7th Sigma related story from him. Five Autobiographies and a Fiction is Lucius Shepard's latest collection. Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe is a new collection coming from John Varley. Doktor Glass is Thomas Brennan's debut which looks to be a Steampunk/Horror of some sort. Looks interesting.  Stephen Baxter's The Wheel of Ice is the latest Doctor Who novel. Though I'm a latecomer to Who I have fallen for it, even the old stuff.

The fat daddy at the top is another of my most anticipated: The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett. Though I haven't done proper reviews of the first two in the series it has quickly become one of my favorites from the last 5 years. The man knows how to do a dark Epic. I've already read Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier by Myke Cole, which is a marked improvement over Control Point. More on that later. The Six-Gun Tarot is R.S. Belcher's Weird West debut and I love the Raymond Swanland cover art. Wolfhound Century is Peter Higgin's debut, which I just heard called Ian Fleming meets China Mieville. That's sounds mighty good to me. The Many-Coloured Land is the first in a reissued series by Julian May that should be hitting the shelves in the UK soon. It sounds like the TV show Terrra Nova only much more interesting. No word on US reissues, but the Kindle editions appear to be up.  Exile is Betsy Dornbusch's debut, which I don't know much about.  Yet Night Shade usually comes out with Fantasy books I like and it seems to be a revenge story, which I like. The Departure is the start to a new Sci-Fi series from Neal Asher that might work if a hard Sci-Fi mood hits me.

You Might Also Like:
INTERVIEW | Neal Asher author of The Skinner
REVIEW | Horns by Joe Hill
INTERVIEW | Steven Gould author of 7th Sigma
Some Love for the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde
REVIEW | Control Point by Myke Cole