As it’s now near the end of 2013, I feel it’s about time I did my review of the top books I read this year. First of all, some statistics. According to GoodReads, I have read an incredible 115 books this year! I am certain that this is partly due to Audible and my being able to listen to books during my nightshifts. As I am moving onto day shifts soon, I suspect my total will drop for next year. As an item of interest, the longest book I read was A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson at a total of 909 pages. So without much further ado, onto the retrospective. Here, in no particular order, are my favourite books of 2013. [book-info title=”A Memory of Light” author=brandon-sanderson-2] A Memory of Light is, of course, the final book in Robert Jordan’s magnum opus The Wheel of Time, completed by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s death. There was a lot of pressure and expectation on this book; the series has been ongoing for nearly 25 years and had a cast of thousands as well as hundreds of narrative plot threads. Sanderson was faced with a real challenge…
Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is the final book in the Broken Empire trilogy in which Jorg Ancrath tries to consolidate his claim on the Imperial Crown and deal with the threat of the Dead King. This is undercut by a past timeline in which he tries to uncover the secrets of the Builders. Regular readers of my blog will know that I was at first unengaged by the Broken Empire trilogy, finding it hard to become emotionally invested in such a dark character as Honorous Jorg Ancrath as he was in Prince of Thorns and being somewhat put off by the violence. Having decided to abandon the series, I was persuaded by the promise of great character development to give the second book, King of Thorns, a second chance and am very glad I did. Like many fans, I was eagerly awaiting the release of Emperor of Thorns and picked it up on release day for your reviewing pleasure. What I liked Skillfully interwoven multiple plotlines. It has to be said there’s a lot going on in this book; Lawrence is weaving disparate plot threads together with real expertise. We have Jorg’s attempt to become Emperor and the…
So far this week I have only finished one book – Republic of Thieves – on which I have already written and posted a review. Short version: I loved it. Added to my library this week: As I mentioned in my last reading roundup, several books were released this week about which I was very excited. Emperor of Thorns, Codex Born and Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns were added to my library this week in Kindle format. It was disappointing though that Audible didn’t have Emperor of Thorns available on release day. I have been absorbed in the story, and I would have liked the professional narration to help it along. I will, of course, be reviewing these books in due course. I have had Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones, the first book of The Mortal Instruments series, in my Audible library for some time, but I have had difficulty getting into it. However, as soon as I listened to the first few minutes of Jennifer Ehle’s narration of The Clockwork Angel, the first book of the Infernal Devices trilogy, I knew I was hooked. I immediately bought all three books in both Kindle and Audible formats. Sadly, Ms…
In my reading roundup for 2nd August I read Mark Lawrence’s King of Thorns, which I read on Kindle and listened to on Audible. As I mentioned last week, I’d been convinced to give this series another try despite not really being engaged in the first book, and I’m very glad I did. I think it helped that I both read and listened to it. James Clamp is competent as a narrator (check out a sample), but I suspect I perhaps missed a lot in the first book (which I only listened to on Audible) due to my dislike of the main character. Yes, Jorg is still a bloodthirsty, vengeful character, but he is maturing and is capable of thinking of others from time to time. The concept of the “memory box” and what I means for Jorg as well as the part it plays in the story is very well done. I gave King of Thorns four stars out of five. This is an improvement on the three stars I gave the first book Prince of Thorns. Perhaps Emperor of Thorns will make five stars. I also was fascinated by the references to our own world. I’m not…