2017 on Goodreads by Various
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really shouldn't be scared of year-end-reviews, but it's 2017. There's plenty to be afraid of: Presidents, deaths of heroes, the One Ring to Rule Them All and In The Darkness Bind Them... well, you get the idea... BUT...

The good news is: good books ain't a part of that fear. ;)

On to my absof***ingfavorite picks. :)

Early in the year, I was thrilled by a re-read of Ada Palmer's Too Like the Lightning and the sequel Seven Surrenders. Near the end of the year, I'm just as thrilled or even more thrilled by the third book, The Will To Battle. These are super smart and philosophical and hard SF. I am very impressed with these mind-rich wildly entertaining rides. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they stand out as classics of literature and much more than just interesting SF. They're deep, imaginative, extremely well written, political, theological, and especially ethical. :)

Peter Newman's Vagrant series continues to thrill with Epic fantasy mashing up with hard SF, demons running rampant on a futuristic, much-changed world. Malice and The Seven continued to amaze with quality writing and especially the fantastic ride of pure gory imagination.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem was a mind-trip and a half and super fun and confusing and creative as all hell. It's going to require about four or five reads.

Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle, the whole damn thing, was a real blast. It's a good year for demons walking the Earth, but some are bigger and brighter and more deadly and overpowered than others. :) This one was wildly satisfying.

Brandon Sanderson's huge epic trilogy is even better on the re-read and the new third book was absolutely brilliant.

The conclusion to Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy was even more brilliant. :)

The latest book in the duo's James S. A. Corey's Expanse, Persepolis Rising was a real surprise and an even huge blast. Big action. :)

I've read a lot of other great books, too. Much more than I can really do justice here, but I can name a bunch of authors, like Logan Keys, Pauline West, and Drew Cordell who are like heroes to me. :)

And then there's also all my old favorites like Charley Stross, C. J. Cherryh, and Alastair Reynolds. And a 15th re-read of Dune, of course.

There are new standby favorites, too, like Jodi Taylor, Daniel Wilson, Dennis E. Taylor, and Daniel Suarez.


And of course, I'd be rather stupid not to mention that I'm doing a lot of writing, myself. I've finished three books. Wrote approximately 210 thousand words this year, including reviews. :) It's a calling. :)


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