Comment under this post naming five of your favourite fantasy reads this year, regardless of when they were published, to win a signed (and/or dedicated) US (or UK) hardback of The Wheel of Osheim randomly selected by Mark from the entries.
You may add a few lines telling us what made those books special for you, but you don’t have to. Also while it’s always nice to see Mark Lawrence titles among your favourites, including any or not won’t affect your chances of winning.
The giveaway will be closing on 19th December!
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Please note: your email address will be required for the submission but will NOT appear on the website!
(Alternatively you can also log in with your WordPress/Facebook/Twitter account)
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Wishing you the best of luck,
Agnes
Art by Jéssica Lang
that thorn guy 
Ooohh, closing date is my birthday!😀
Red Tide by Marc Turner. The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence. A Plague of Swords by Miles Cameron. Saint’s Blood by Sebastian de Castell and Wrath by John Gwynne.
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Mine is the 20th High five our birthdays suck 😉 Don’t you hate the here is your birthday/Xmas gift
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Damn right, as a child that was well annoying, I did occasionally get gifts for both though, I had a friend back then who’s birthday was Christmas eve! Now that sucked big time.😂
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my littl’un’s bday is christmas eve, but that means she gets two parties and three gifts 😛 (party before the holidays, and another with family on the day).
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Wow my best friend’s was on Christmas But it was even worse for me My brothers B-day is on the 12th so we would get the combined combined gifts from extended family. My mom always tried to make it special though so that was cool.
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I was “supposed to be born” on Christmas Eve but hurried up and was born on the 19th instead! 😉
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Best day of the year! 😉
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Prince of Fools by Marc Lawrence.
The Liar’s Key by Marc Lawrence.
Bloodline by Claudia Grey.
Red Sonja Graphic Novels by Gail Simone.
Dark Crusaders by Karl Edward Wagner.
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Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark
Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb
Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
I can’t get enough Robin Hobb
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Hobb is awesome, one of my favourite authors.
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No particular order, except kissing up a little by putting Osheim first. 🙂
The Wheel of Osheim, Mark Lawrence
Morning Star, Pierce Brown
The Shepherd’s Crown, Terry Pratchett
The Skull Throne, Peter V. Brett
Senlin Ascends, Josiah Bancroft
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In no particular order…
1. The Wheel Of Osheim – Mark Lawrence
2. The Last Mortal Bond – Brian Stavely
3. Dancer’s Lament – Ian C. Esslemont
4. Children of Earth and Sky – Guy Gavriel Kay
5. A Plague of Swords – Miles Cameron
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5. “Warbreaker” by Brandon Sanderson
First Sanderson I read! Can’t beat Lawrence but he is top tier for a reason. Great magic system, nice world, nice story…I have bought several of his books.
4. “Skull-Face” by Robert E. Howard
Hey, the obligatory REH of the year. The guy is a legend, I love him.
3. “The Last Wish” by Andrzej Sapkowski
If you love the Witcher games you’ll love the books too. Hell, you’ll love the books even if you completely ignore the games. They’re great.
2. “On Stranger Tides” by Tim Powers
I don’t get why Powers isn’t super popular. This book gave the (basic) idea and the title for a Hollywood blockbuster but it’s not really popular. Yet, it’s a real gem.
1. “Fevre Dream” by George R.R. Martin
Yeah, if I am not including any Lawrence even in this final slot I’d rather put a writer that everyone respects. Quite different from ASOIAF but also quite as awesome.
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I read Warbreaker too. Second book I read this year. Loved it! If I had more space on my list….
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On Stranger Tides is a great book, I read it when I was going through a pirate phase thanks to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag and it’s an awesome book, far better than the film that was loosely based on it.
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Very cool!
1. The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
2. The Mirror’s Truth by Michael R. Fletcher
3. Road Brothers By Mark Lawrence
4. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
5. Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski
Thanks!
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Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence, The Vagrant by Peter Newman, City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett, Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne Trilogy by Brian Staveley, and by Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown 🙂
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Have you read the sequel to City of Stairs yet, City of Blades? I think it’s centered around Mulaghesh, so I’m just not sure.
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Heir of Novron – Michael J. Sullivan
The Wheel of Osheim – Mark Lawrence
Arcanum Unbounded-Brandon Sanderson
The Aeronaut’s Windlass – Jim Butcher
The Blood Mirror – Brent Weeks
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Wise mans fear, Patrick Rothfuss
Blood mirror, Brent Weeks
Unfettered, edited by Shawn Speakman
Bands of mourning, Brandon Sanderson
Summer dragon, Todd Lockwood
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The Liars Key by Mark Lawrence
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Touch of Iron by Timandra Whitecastle
The Dragons Blade by Michael R Miller
Danae Macabre by Laura Hughes
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In no particular order:
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
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1) Red Tide by Marc Turner
2) Saint’s Blood by Sebastian de Castell
3) Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
4) The City of Ice by K.M. McKinley
5) Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson
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The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
The Vagrant by Peter Newman
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
The Death of Dulgath by Michael J. Sullivan
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Stranger of Tempest by Tom Lloyd – Great characters. Great world (magic and alchemy bullets) superb pace and writing.
The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch – Great to be back in that world and he’s writing better than ever.
The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst – A suprise. Not the sort of thing i normally like.
Steal the Sky by Megan E O’Keefe – Firefly slash Ketty Jay esk. Can’t get enough of that.
Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley – A brilliant follow up.
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Malazan Book of the Fallen and other books form the universe(rereading counts too right?) by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont
Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch
Broken Empire by some Lawrence guy
Purge of Ashes by Joel Minty
Silmarillion
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Answers in no particular order:
1. Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
2. Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher
3. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
4. Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
5. The Vagrant by Peter Newman
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In the After Light by Alexandra Bracken and the rest of The Darkest Minds series are some of the best written human experience novels I’ve read.
Daughter of the Empire by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts is a really enjoyable and awesome look at the culture and people on the other side of the Rift war.
The Wheel of Oshiem by some Lawrence Guy. Joking aside though, Mark writes some of the most real protagonists in fantasy.
Twilight’s Dawn by Anne Bishop is a microcosm of an amazing series that has more than anything else I have ever read, made me weep. With love, with frustration, with sorrow. I’ve rarely if ever have felt so invested in and for a character in any other work. Bishop creates a whole cast I feel this way towards.
The Guns of Empire by Django Wexler continues a really enjoyable concept in world and plot that always has me eagerly waiting for the next book.
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In the After Light by Alexandra Bracken was really good. You should check out Penryn & the End of Days by Susan Ee it has the same feel to it
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5. The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids – Mike McClung
4. The Grim Company – Luke Scull
3. The Wheel of Osheim – Mark Lawrence
2. The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch
1. A Storm of Swords – GRRM
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1. Scenlin Ascends – Josiah Bancroft
2. Arm of the Sphinx – Josiah Bancroft
3. A City Dreaming – Daniel Polansky
4. Wake of Vultures – Lila Bowen
5. An Ember in the Night – Sabaa Tahir
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Wake of Vultures is a great read.😀
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A Blade of Black Steel by Alex Marshall
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey
The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan
The Liar’s Key by… gosh… what was the bloke’s name…
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My first year reading Joe Abercrombie! So I’ll say, Half the World, The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings, and Best Served Cold! I still have to read The Heroes, Red Country, and Sharp Ends!
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The heroes was one of my all time fav Abercrombie books. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
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1. The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence, another great read from Mark one of which i must read again. I still think the Thorns trilogy was more entertaining though.
2. The Painted Man by Peter V Brett, wow this was such a great read, it had me turning pages all hours through the night. I think the character development was spot on and the world Brett has us in being very small kept it all quite easy to follow and his demons and how they can and can’t attack with the power of wards was really well done.
3. The Desert Spear by Peter V Brett, this series has me hooked, this book was a bit more character building done with winding back the clock. I like the way Brett done this and still kept us interested with the occasional visit from our favorite characters and more Demon development.
4. The Daylight War by Peter V Brett, again this has been another great installment of the series, Brett turns back the clock again to help you understand another main character much deeper, all our favorite characters are back and their stories are really coming along.
5. The Skull Throne by Peter V Brett, ok this one is a bit of a slower read and has a lot more politics spread through it, i will say this is my least favorite of the series so far but still Brett has kept me in love with our main characters and worried about the fate of them all. Now to wait for the next book “The Core” but in the mean time i have ordered two novellas to tie me over. The Messenger’s Legacy and Brayan’s Gold, these two are short stories set in the Demon Cycle’s world.
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This is fairly easy, and fun!
So here follows the list:
Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson:
This is part of Malazan epic, dark and insane fantasy series, Steven gamed this world altogether with C. Esslemont.
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence:
Indeed it’s my favorite of Mark so far!!
The Vagrant by Peter Newman:
I was looking foward to reading it, and did not disappoint!!
Flashman by George Mcdonald Fraser:
This was actually a great read, George is really skilled. I picked it up due to Mark Lawrence’s Red Queen’s War trilogy,
speaking of which the protagonist is based on. I am interested to read the sequel.
The Thousand Names by Django Wexler:
This one is a pretty fun read, it is a historical fiction that was based on the Napoleonic Wars, with elements of magic on it.
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I love old Flashy the audio books are great.
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1. The Name of the Wind. (So good I had to read it again!!)
2. Prince of Fools
3. The Grace of Kings
4. Gardens of the Moon
5. The Once and Future King
Oh, how I would have loved to have been able to add The Winds of Winter… Hopefully it’ll be out next year. Maybe?
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The Wheel of Osheim (The Red Queen’s War #3) by Mark Lawrence
Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire #1) by Michael J. Sullivan
The Waking Fire (The Draconis Memoria #1) by Anthony Ryan
When the Heavens Fall (The Chronicle of the Exile #1) by Marc Turner
Peter Newman and his Vagrant (The Vagrant #1)
Out of 230 books so far this year its hard to chose But these 5 are the ones that stand out. I actually just started a re-listen of Wheel of Osheim today
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The Wheel of Osheim – Mark Lawrence
Last Call: A Novel – Tim Powers
Sailing to Sarantium – Guy Gavriel Kay
Half a King – Joe Abercrombie
Half the World – Joe Abercrombie
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Some of my favorites in no particular order…
The Riyria Revelations (series) – Michael J. Sullivan
Nevernight – Jay Kristoff
The Lyre Thief – Jennifer Fallon
The Black Prism – Brent Weeks
City of Stairs – Robert Jackson Bennett
Sorry Mark, I haven’t read any of your books this year!
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Fortress in the Eye of Time by C J Cherrryh
Fortress of Eagles by C J Cherryh
Fortress of Owls by C J Cherryh
The Chronicles of Morgaine by C J Cherryh
Exile’s Gate by C J Cherryh
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Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
Written in Red by Anne Bishop
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
These were all new authors for me, and I’m happy to add them to my collection 🙂
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Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss
Red Skies Under Red Seas – Scott Lynch
Half a War – Joe Abercrombie
The Skull Throne – Peter V. Brett
The Blood Mirror – Brent Weeks
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Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
Liars Key by Mark Lawrence
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
Half a King by joe Abercrombie
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Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft
The Builders by Daniel Polansky
Four Roads Cross by Max Gladstone
Road Brothers by Mark Lawrence
Chains of the Heretic by Jeff Salyards
(Though released in 2016, I got early copies of ML’s The Wheel of Osheim and Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Blades. Otherwise, I would have had a real problem picking my 5.)
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A Gathering of Shadows – V.E. Schwab
Saint’s Blood – Sebastian de Castell
The Last Mortal Bond – Brian Staveley
Arm of the Sphinx – Josiah Bancroft
The Wheel of Osheim – Mark Lawrence
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‘Prince of thorns
-King of thorns
-Emperor of thorns all by mark lawrence
-Draconian measures by don perrin/margaret weis
Take a theif by mercedes lackey
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Complete Prince of Thorns series by Mark Lawrence, also Prince of Fools.Desert Spear, Warded man by Peter Brett. Name of the Wind, Wise Mans Fear and Slow Regard for Silent things by Patrick Rothfuss. And the complete Night Angel series by Brent Weeks. Branched out this year after dedicating many years to the Drizzt series by RA Salvatore.
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The Wheel of Osheim – Mark Lawrence
Black City Saint – Richard A. Knaak
City of Blades – Robert Jackson Bennett
The Mirror Empire – Kameron Hurley
The Empty Ones – Robert Brockway
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Hi Agnes & Mark, thanks for the new chance to win something. I’ll go with:
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
Red Tide by Marc Turner
Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher
Danse Macabre by Laura M. Hughes
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Hi Agnes *waves*
How to choose only 5?!?!
1. The Wheel of Osheim (Red Queen’s War Trilogy) by Mark Lawrence
2. The Crimson Capmaign (Powder Mage Trilogy) by Brian McLellan
3. Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone Trilogy) by Laini Taylor
4. Under the Empyrean Sky (Heartland Trilogy) by Chuck Wendig
5. Angel of Storms (Millennium’s Rule Trilogy) by Trudi Canavan
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Beyond Redemption – Michael R. Fletcher
The Folding Knife – K.J. Parker : first Parker\Holt book i read and it looks like a beginning of a long relationship..
Senlin Ascends – Josiah Bancroft – Very very (very) good. The second one is next on my read list
The Library at Mount Char – Scott Hawkins: Twisted tale
The Price of Valor (The Shadow Campaigns #3) – Django Wexler : this dude just keeps getting better and better
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Mistborn: The Final Empire – Brandon Sanderson
Mistborn: The Well of Ascension – Brandon Sanderson
Mistborn: The Hero of Ages – Brandon Sanderson
The Slow Regard of Silent Things – Patrick Rothfuss
Sword of Destiny – Andrzej Sapkowski
Didn’t read any Mark Lawrence book this year…
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King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Ibenus by Seth Skorkowsky
The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley P. Beaulieu
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
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No particular order:
The Wheel of Osheim – Mark Lawrence
Sharp Ends – Joe Abercrombie
Senlin Ascends – Josiah Bancroft
The Dresden Files (all the series) – Jim Butcher
The many deaths of the Black Company – Glen Cook.
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The Blood Mirror – Brent Weeks
The Gospel of Loki – Joanne Harris
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August – Claire North
The Way of Kings – Brandon Sanderson
Children of Earth and Sky – Guy Gavriel Kay
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My favorite reads of the year were:
1. Dancer’s Lament by Ian C. Esslemont
2. Chains of the Heretic by Jeff Salyards
3. The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence
4. Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan
5. The Immortal Throne by Stella Gemmel
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-Half Bad, by Sally Green. A YA book that was fresh and interesting, this coming from a person who disagrees with YA in general.
-Miserere: A autumn tale, by Teresa Frohock. A book that I picked up for the cover and loved for the characters.
-Vicious, by V.E. Schwab. One of those books that was enthralling to read while everyone in the plot was miserable and trying to kill each other, my favourite ‘sub-genre’.
-Prince of Fools, by he who shall not be named. I love the writing style and narrative trappings (I don’t think narrative trappings is quite the right wording but what ever) of Mark Lawrence, which he used to craft a different (and I would say better) Novel than his first trilogy.
-Eisenhorn Omnibus, Dan Abnett. One of the best reads in the 40k universe/Black Library, it really brought to life what it would be like to be a inquisitor in a universe filled to the brim with lovecraftian horror, death and corruption.
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Okay. Because you specified “favorite reads” and not favorite books, I’m listing some book series I have read or re-read this year.
Riyria Revelations and Chronicles series by Michael J Sullivan. I recently re-read the books and fell in love with them again!
The Greatcoats series by Sebastian de Castell. I admit to having a soft spot for lovable rogues.
And that said, another love would be Jalan Kendreth.
The Wheel of Osheim was a maganificent ending to the excellent Red Queen’s War series which merits re-reading again and again.
Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks was a page turning set up for the next and last book in his Lightbringer series.
So many favorites to choose from for my 5th pick, but my last pick has to be the fantasy books that started me reading fantasy. I re-read the series in February and March while keeping watch every day for 45 days on my first and only newborn grandson in the NICU unit of Children’s Hospital.
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. (And if you happen to see this, Jim, IT’S BEEN 2 1/2 YEARS SINCE SKIN GAME! WHAT THE HECK IS TAKING YOU SO LONG WITH PEACE TALKS!)
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1. Heir to the Shadows by Anne Bishop
2. Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
3. The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
4. The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
5. Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen
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The Wheel of Osheim by Crazy Rocket Scientist Super Spy Author aka Mark Lawrence
The Gunslinger by Stephen King (yeah, I’m a little late to that party)
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
The Skull Throne by Peter V Brett
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Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
The Broken Empire series by Mark Lawrence
The Name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
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The Arm of the Sphinx – Josiah Bancroft
The Wheel of Osheim – Mark Lawrence
Age of Myth – Michael Sullivan
Best Served Cold – Joe Abercrombie
The Blood Mirror – Brent Weeks
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Oooo regardless of when published? Probably Sain’ts Blood by Sebastian De Castell, The Dispossessed by Ursala le Guinn, The First Chronicles of Druss by David Gemmell, City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett, and The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin.
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Limiting to five is hard (it was a great reading year for me), so these are just some of my favourite books I read this this year according to gr:
– The Girl with Ghost Eye by M.H, Boroson
– Wrath by John Gwynne
– Gameshouse trilogy by Claire North
– Saint’s Blood by Sebastien de Castell
– Chains of Heretic by Jeff Salyards
Thank you for opportunity to participate!
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Very cool! Here are my top five I’ve read this year
– Blood Song by Anthony Ryan
– The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
– Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
– Red Rising by Pierce Brown
– Uprooted by Naomi Novik
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This is tough. I’ve read a lot of great and highly-recommended books/series this year, and they lived up to those recommendations! The ones that ended up on this list were the ones that I found most satisfying.
#1: Malazan Book of the Fallen
– This ate up most of my year; I started in January and finished in mid-September, with only two one-off breaks. It was incredibly daunting–I went into this series warned and prepared to handle the length, density, and complexity, however I was *not ready* for the emotional punches. I’m also not ready to read the following/companion series. Not yet. Soon. Every other series I mention below was read in the past 2 months; luckily, they’re all trilogies and I eat trilogies for breakfast!
#2: Broken Empire
– I’m a total sucker for the type of setting used in this story, and I luckily went into the series completely unaware. Being able to piece together those details on my own really made my day. I’d seen this trilogy highly recommended and passionately debated for a couple years now, and so I went into it knowing only a few things, specifically that Jorg is an evil bastard, and that he and his actions are incredibly controversial. I found the plot and pacing nicely tight and the past/present timelines woven together in a tidy fashion. And although the first-person POV (with limited external POVs) can easily limit the depth of the supporting cast, most of them were well-defined and thoroughly conveyed. I’m really wondering what it’d be like to read this story in a “mostly chronological” form.
#3: The Darwath Trilogy
– I hope re-reads count. It’s been about 10-ish years since the last time I visited this setting, and it’s amazing how much my younger self glossed over. In many ways, it was like reading these books for the first time; I picked up a lot more sophistication in themes and character interactions that I completely missed. Hambly has an amazing talent for drawing scenes in words, her powerful visual imagery has built the world in a way that I can see so much of it clearly. She also has a strong perception of interpersonal relationships, the sort that build between friends, between colleagues, between competing authorities, and how these relationships can be intrinsically flawed due to one party taking advantage of any inherent power imbalances. We see healthy and unhealthy examples of several of these relationships. We see real-world coping methods people use when in unhealthy relationships. We see the lasting repercussions of them. And this is all a minor, minor footnote in the depth of this world, they’re not even secondary to the story. Tertiary at best.
#4: First Law
– I’ve seen criticisms of this series that the plot isn’t sophisticated, and that’s entirely fair. A lot of the developments and twists were set up and then played straight. But the characters are what makes this series among my “excellents!” of the year. They are terribly flawed, often awful people, and they’re portrayed in a way that feels very honest, very genuine, with all of the inconsistencies and illogical behaviors that I see in real people with similar flaws.
#5: The Bartimaeus Trilogy
– This is a series I had been meaning and forgetting to read for years. A chance mention late in my Malazan hangover reminded me of it. I was looking for light and fluffy. I did not get light and fluffy, but I got hilarious and engaging–which is better. It was what I needed, when I needed it.
Funny thing: All of those trilogies have additional books–prequels, parallels, same-universe series. I’m only referring to the core trilogies in question. But I haven’t read those associated books, other than one sequel to the Darwath trilogy, and I didn’t include it in my re-read.
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This has been a great year for me. I’ve read and re-read so many amazing books! I will list these in no particular order.
#1 – The Awakened Mage by Karen Miller
#2 – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
#3 – Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
#4 – The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
#5 – The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Oh man, that was difficult. I’ve read 53 books this year, and to pick just 5 of them was nearly impossible.
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Oh, this is tough. I’ve read a number of stellar fantasy books this year. Narrowing it down to five is painful, but here goes (in no particular order):
1. The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
2. Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
3. Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft
4. Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb (3rd time through, in anticipation of the upcoming release of Assassin’s Fate)
5. The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
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Ooh! Good thing I have actually been keeping track of what I read this year!! Here are my 5 favorites. Interestingly, they were all from authors who were new to me until this year:
1-Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells
2-The Others series by Anne Bishop (Not a single book, I know, but I bingeread the entire series this summer)
3-The Changeling Sea by Patricia C McKillip
4-Updraft by Fran Wilde
5-An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
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Lions of Al-Rassan, Guy Gavriel Kay
Prince of Thorns, Mark Lawrence
The Captive Prince Trilogy, C.S. Pacat
A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham
The Thief, Megan Whalen Turner (technically a reread, but I’d read it when I was pretty young and didn’t remember anything more than that I had liked it)
Thanks for running this!
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1. Summerlong by Peter S. Beagle
2. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
3. Roses and Rot by Kat Howard
4. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison
5. And yes, Prince of Thorns…
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1. Disciple of the Wind by Steve Bein
2. Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley Beaulieu
3. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
4. The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski
5. The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks
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Wheel of Osheim – Mark Lawrence
Senlin Ascends – Josiah Bancroft
Arm of the Sphinx – Josiah Bancroft
She Who Waits – Daniel Polansky
Tomorrow the Killing – Daniel Polanksy
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The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
Roadbrothers (guess who)
The Gathering Storm (Robert Jordan)
Towers of Midnight (Robert Jordan)
In no particular order. WoT series were a reread, but I’ve loved them since the day I picked them up for the first time. Also pleasantly surprised by roadbrothers. I normally dislike shortstories, but tried them out since they’re yours and really liked it!
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Roadbrothers by Mark
Wrath by John Gwynne
The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks
Saint’s Blood by Sebastien de Castell
Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan
The books are not in a particular order. There were many great ones this year, but these were the first that came to mind.
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In no particular order:
Mark Lawrence: The Wheel of Osheim
Terry Pratchett: The Long Utopia
Naoki Higashida: The Reason I Jump
Ian Irvine: The Summon Stone
Terry Brooks: The Sorcerer’s Daughter
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Half a war, Joe Abercrombie. Prince of thorns, promise of blood and the crimson campaign, Brian McLellan,malice, john gwnne
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All audiobooks due to my commute and the treadmill:
1. All and every single one of Michael J. Sullivan’s books and shorts stories, all audiobooks. I devoured them all this year and fangirled like crazy to Mr. Sullivan. He took it in stride. Tim Gerard Reynolds is just awesome narrating these.
2. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, by GRRM. I enjoyed this story tremendously and hope there will be more. Narrated by Henry Lloyd. He was fabulous.
3. Red Rising/Golden Son/Red Rising by Pierce Brown (again narrated by TGR). So good, so much fun. SciFi really I suppose, but a lot of fantasy too – kind of both?
4. The Black Prism by Brent Weeks (narrated by Simon Vance). Inhaled. Love. Adore. So glad there is much more.
5. The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks (inhaling now – love, adore, yay there will be more!)
The Wheel of Osheim is on my list for 2017 so this would sure be awesome…. Me me me!
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1 – Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
2 – Silver Bourne by Patricia Briggs
3 – Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
4 – Moonheart by Charles de Lint
5 – Vamps and the City by Kerrelyn Sparks
This popped up in my FB Liked Pages Feed, from Grimdark Magazine, would love to add a new author to my list!
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I’ve been reading Maurice Durion’s Accursed Kings series over a reasonable period of time, in between other books, and this year it’s been great to continue the series with The She Wolf of France and
A friend introduced The Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody to me, and I have been enjoying them, despite being aimed at a much younger audience.
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1- Promise of Blood (Brian Mcclellan)
2- The Naming (Alison Croggon)
3- Inda (Sherwood Smith)
4- The Fox (Sherwood Smith)
5- Nevernight (Jay Kristoff)
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Prince of Fools
Liar’s Key
The Blade Itself
The Vagrant
Perfect Shadow
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The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu. Interesting concept and really well written characters
The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley. A world fully thought out populated by characters that feel all too real.
The Shining. Liked it so much, I wrote my thesis on it.
Promise of Blood by Brian T McClellan. Action packed – goes by lightning quick.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This was just… wow
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My top 5 were:
1. Half A War
2. A Slow Regard for Silent Things
3. The Liar’s Key
4. Six of Crows
5. The Lies of Locke Lamora
🙂
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I read something like 40 books this year, but the ones that stood out most were:
1. Memories of Ice
2. Deadhouse Gates
3. The Wheel of Osheim
4. The Bands of Mourning
5. Wizard and Glass
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My favorites this year:
1. Dresden Files – Grave Peril
2. Wheel of Time – Eye of the World
3. The First Law – Before they are Hanged
4. Themis Files – Sleeping Giants
5. Tigana
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My favorites this year were:
1. The wizard and glass- Stephen King
2. The wheel of osheim- Mark Lawrance
3. Grendel- John Gardner
4. The waste lands- Stephen King
5. Road Brothers- Mark Lawrance- The Broken Empire was my first trilogy I read so it was good to be back and getting to know the brothers.
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1. The Red Knight
2. The Name of the Wind
3. The Copper Promise
4. The City Stained Red
5. The Vagrant
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The wheel of osheim, The blood mirror, The lies of Locke Lamora, The broken Eye, The liars key
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1. The Blood Mirror
2.The Guns of Empire
3. The Waking Fire
4. The Wheel of Osheim
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Okay, so, top five fantasy reads this year:
1) Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence — finally got ’round to it, and it did not disappoint.
2) Pathfinder Tales: The Worldwound Gambit –I love RPG fiction, I love heist stories. Two great tastes that taste great together.
3) Sojourn by R.A. Salvatore
4) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
5) Bubba Ho-Tep by Joe R, Lansdale — this guy is a national treasure, and seems to finally be getting some recognition as such
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Beyond redemption by Michael R. Fletcher.
Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan.
Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan.
Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson.
The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris.
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1. Borderline by Mishell Baker.
2. The Thorn of Dentonhill by Marshall Ryan Maresca
3. Arkwright by Allen Steel
4. Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan
5. The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley
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The Lies of Locke Lamora: Scott Lynch
King of Thorns: Mark Lawrence
Last Argument of Kings: Joe Abercrombie
The Heroes: Joe Abercrombie
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: George Martin
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Got to love some Abercrombie.
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1) The Red Queen’s War (trilogy) by Mark Lawrence. Snorri, Jalan, and Tut have become some of my favorite characters in all of fantasy literature. I have yet to read the Broken Empire trilogy, but it’s safe to say the Mark is very quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
2) Ryiria Revelations (trilogy) by Michael J. Sullivan. One of the most fun and enjoyable series that I’ve read. The banter between Hadrian and Royce truly sets these books apart from other fantasy series. I’ve started into Chronicles and while I feel they are still really good, Revelations gets an ever so slight margin of victory.
3) Staked by Kevin Hearne – I made my way through the first seven books in the Iron Druid Chronicles in about a month. All of the fun, wit, and excitement that pushed this series forward is present in this novel. It’s the penultimate title in the nine book series, and I will be very sad to leave this world.
4) Mistborn (original trilogy) by Brandon Sanderson – The Final Empire was the best of the series due mainly to Kelsier. He is a wonderfully written character and does so much to drive the plot forward. I liked Well of Ascension and Hero of Ages, but I felt the main protagonists were not as good about moving the plot forward. He also chooses to split the later books up into multiple POVs. Some characters have great story arcs, some take a bit to get through their chapters. Overall it was a great read and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this world. I’m waiting until the mid-quadrilogy (The Wax and Wane books) is complete before picking that one up.
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In no particular order
The Liar’s Key: Mark Lawrence
The Way of Kings: Brandon Sanderson
The Swords of Night and Day: David Gemmell
Shadows of Self: Brandon Sanderson
Storm Front: Jim Butcher
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Blood Mirror. Emperor of Thrones. The Prophecy Con. Fire Touched. Magic Blinds.
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Alice by Christina Henry – wonderfully twisted horror that takes Alice in Wonderland and creates a nightmare.
Europe in Winter by Dave Hutchinson – wonderful third instalment of the Fractured Europe series. Spies, pocket universes. Perfect.
Smoke by Dan Vyleta – an alternate 19th century Britain in which evil thoughts are manifested in a cloud of smoke.
The Night Clock by Paul Meloy – fantasy mixed up with steampunk elements, strangely shifting worlds and a wonderful talking dog.
The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King. And old one but an absolutely brilliant one. Another twisted fairytale, ties in with the Dark Tower universe.
May next year’s reading be as cracking 🙂
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1. the Blood Mirror – Brent Weeks
2.The Wheel of Oshiem – Mark Lawrence
3. The painted man – Peter V Brett
4. Traitor’s blade – Sabastian de Castel
5. Assasin’s apprentice – Robin Hobb
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Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
Chasers of the Wind by Alexey Pehov
Silver Mountain, the by Esther M. Friesner
Exile’s Gate by C.J. Cherryh
Dawn Song by Sharon Green
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1. The Way of Kings – Brandon Sanderson
2. Bands of Mourning – Brandon Sanderson
3. Emperor of Thorns – Mark Lawrence
4. The Blade Itself – Joe Abercrombie
5. The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch
Yeah, I pretty much only got into novels around March this year and only start with the famous ones. I didn’t read any of Red Queen’s War yet, but I really like The Broken Empire Trilogy. I read it after I finished with Mistborn which is the first series I read. After I finished Emperor of Thorns, I bought Prince of Fools and Gentleman Bastard series but only managed to finish the latter one.
Currently reading Words of Radiance and my plan is to finish the cosmere novels before starting with Red Queen’s War and hopefully I can finish before Red Sister released. Seems like I need to burn most of my free time on books now…
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1. Senlin Ascends – Josiah Bankcroft
2. The Bone Clocks – David Mitchell
3. The Girl With All the Gifts – Mike Carey
4. A Crown for Cold Silver – Alex Marshall
5. Uprooted – Naomi Novik
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Reblogged this on J P Ashman.
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So many reads to choose from, but these are five of those that really stood out:
The Wheel of Osheim by, well, you know.
Ruin by John Gwynne
Plague of Swords by Miles Cameron
The Copper Promise by Jen Williams
The Malice by Peter Newman
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My 5 favorite books of the year are:
1 – The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (I read the single volume, so I don’t know if it counts as 7 books or 1, so I’ll list 4 more anyway)
2 – A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
3 – Brisingr (the 3th book of The inheritance cycle) by Christopher Paolini
4 – The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Revised
5 – The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
Well, I think that is it. Now I’m preparing myself to read The Prince Of Fools…and very anxious too 😁
Hope i can win this book! 😉
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#1 – Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie, can’t believe I put it off for so long. It was a compelling and breathtaking read.
#2 – The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence, a great end to his best series yet! I was excitedly waiting for it to come out and it did not disappoint.
#3 – A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, my first book from this author and an awesome read, I was very invested in the characters and the world since the beginning.
#4 – The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu, I had trouble staying focused at the start but once I was in the right mood it turned out to be one of the bests. Looking forward to the second one in the series now.
#5 – The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis, again my first book from this author, with a very catchy premise and likeabe characters, definitely a nice surprise.
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Very difficult to limit it to just 5, but here goes.
No particular order:
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
Herald of the Storm by Richard Ford
Those Below by Daniel Polansky
Chains of the Heretic by Jeff Salyards
Infernal by Mark de Jager
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Only got 2 this year as I’ve been a light reader – and I’m only prepared to read the very best!
Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
Can I add best film is ‘Arrival’ – that’s based on a fantasy book but I can’t bring myself to read it because the film was so stunning.
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Reblogged this on Grimdark Alliance and commented:
An exciting contest over on That Thorn Guy with a chance to win a signed (and/or dedicated) copy of The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence.
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The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
The Traitor by Seth Dickinson
The City & the City by China Miéville
A City Dreaming by Daniel Polansky
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Wow, 5 from the whole list of awesome reads this year. In no particular order,
1. A Closed & Common Orbit – Becky Chambers
2. No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished – Rachel Aaron
3. The Wheel of Osheim – Mark Lawrence
4. Morning Star – Pierce Brown
5. City of Blades – Robert Jackson Bennett
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5.Last last mortal bond, Brian Staveley
4. The Malice, Peter Newman,
3. Ruin, John Gwynne
2. The Skull throne, Peter V Brett (beat Ruin by “paps” content only)
1. The wheel of Osheim. Mark “The machine” Lawrence.
All my favourite authors right now, top draw stories all 🛡☇🗡
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The Wheel of Osheim, Mark Lawrence
Morning Star, Pierce Brown
The Skull Throne, Peter V. Brett
The Bands of Mourning, Brandon Sanderson
Into the Black (Odyssey 1), Evan Currie
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