With the Review Round-up posts I try to capture the best books that I have read those months. Since I read about 20 books minimum each month and in the majority of the cases there are many books that I really enjoyed. But I am trying to narrow this down to a top 5 books for each month that are not per se my most highest rated books but they can also be extraordinary books of self published authors where they dare to engage into new idea's.
Looking back at the genres that I read in November it again spans out over a many different genres: Steampunk, Epic, Sci-Fi, Urban, Young Adult, Horror, Historical Fiction. I had the chance to pick up one of the most unexpected
My top 5 of the November books are (not in this order):
1. Blood and Feathers (Solaris) by Lou Morgan
2. The Falling Machine (Pyr) by Andrew P. Mayer
3. Babylon Steel by (Solaris) Gaie Sebold
4. Tomorrow the Killing (Hodder and Stoughton) by Daniel Polansky
5. Phoenix Rising (Harper Voyager) by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
1. Blood and Feathers by Lou Morgan
So Blood and Feathers... there are many Angels and Demons books out there, some of which I had the pleasure of reading the last few months. One might say aren't also those books a like? Always those eternal struggle between Heaven and Hell. Well the answer to that is plain and simple, a two letter word. NO. And having read Blood and Feathers the debut novel of Lou Morgan, she again manages to create a unique story in the Angel and Demon urban fantasy setting. Lou Morgan manages to depict the whole lets gun and gear up for the angels to fight hell pretty vividly and creates a certain setting around Mallory that just screams retribution. Blood and Feathers showed for me a great promise in storyline as well as writing style, and if this is a debut novel... authors beware...
Find the review here
2. The Falling Machine by Andrew P. Mayer
The second book. The Falling Machine. This book starts of the series "Society of Steam". When I first encountered this book I just knew that I had to read this. It combined steampunk AND superhero's, two of my most favorite themes among the even growing fantasy themes. The Falling Machine centers around the superhero squad the "Paragons" who after the death of their professor are now slowly falling apart. The nefarious organization known as "Children of Eschaton" will do anything to get the upper hand. What I liked about the Falling Machine was the combination in showing a pretty strict society on rules regarding what women should do, and going against the grain with the female protagonist Sarah Stanton. On top of this is the heavy emphasis on the integrating the steampunk theme combined with the superhero theme in the book. The superheroes have not come across there power supernaturally but they have them via "fortified steam", this book is so vividly described regarding the mechanics that you see the steam hissing from the back. Definitely recommended.
Find the review here
3. Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold
Once every while I come across a book that is quite daring. Babylon Steel is just that, and instead of going to far, Babylon Steel is just spot on. Mashing up several existing fantasy themes and creating a one-of-a-kind book, that has a bit of everything and comes together neatly in the end. A great feature in Babylon Steel is the integration of two storylines centering around Babylon herself, where one delves deeply into the past and the other follows the current time. This gave a great amount of depth to the character of Babylon but also to the world. It is of this world that I would gladly see more and hope so in Dangerous Gifts that is due January 2013. The world of Babylon Steel couldn't have been richer and leaves for many openings for other adventures to follow Babylon. It is by these kind of books that I get a great reading pleasure.
Find the review here
4. Tomorrow the Killing by Daniel Polansky
When I first read Straight Razor Cure I knew that this was a series to watch, mainly due to the whole setting that was introduced in it as well as being a unique story. The introduction the "Warden", the main protagonist of the series, was done in a great way and using him to give a scenic tour of Low Town was done neatly. But finishing it left me with many question regarding the past of Warden which I would like to see answered in the coming sequels. And this was exactly what was done in Tomorrow the Killing, and much more. Tomorrow the Killing featured around the past of Warden, but also with a investigation in carried out in the present time. You get a glimpse of what happened to the Warden, and that he is a character with a very rich background and doesn't shy away to get ruthless in achieving his goals. However you also get to see his more "sensitive"side, don't expect him to hold you hand when crossing the street though. And again Daniel Polansky manages to create a great ending with again raising more question and is allowing the introduction of more storylines into the Low Town series.
Find the review here
5. Phoenix Rising (Harper Voyager) by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
And this already brings me to the last book of the Review Round-up: Phoenix Rising. Having read the blurb of this book this was again one of those books that got directly put on my to read list. Phoenix Rising follows two special agents of The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. Agents Wellington Thornhill Books and Eliza D. Braun. Directly from the start this book has a funny air to it with the chapter introduction going along in the trend of "Wherein our intrepid heroes" and the like. With these crafty introduction I directly formed an image of what was about to happen and was to my liking. Another plus of this story are the characters, going for a classical approach in showing a more stiffly agent and a pretty wild one. But in the end both Wellington and Eliza grow a lot where there is a pretty dark side to Wellingtons character and where Eliza seems to loose some of her wild hairs. Added to this all was the strong backbone of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences that deals with some of the more unexplainable cases that The Crown gets. Via this Ministry, Phoenix Rising comes to its steampunk element, though if thought it was a bit more reigned because there was slightly more emphasis on the characters, there was still sufficient influence of steampunk to make the gear hiss.
Find the review here
So what are the prospects for December? Already the last month of the year, over at Fantasy Book Review we decided to take a break starting the 15th of December until the beginning of January 2013, to allow us all to catch are breath. But still there are two weeks left to read :-) !
Look over at what is on the plank to see what I have in stock. I managed to reduce my to read pile a bit but it is still growing. If I cannot get your books done before the end of the year I am deeply sorry but the books that are on there now I will try to do them as soon as possible in Januari.
On a brighter note, for those who have missed it. I reached my 100th review book for Fantasy Book Review, Redlaw:Redeye (Solaris) by James Lovegrove. On the 28th of September when I was making this blog I tweeted that I passed the 50 review mark.. well it is now December 3rd... and I did about 50 books in two months.. it is time for that break.. :-). But still there are soo many good books out there but physics doesn't let you get more than 24 hours out of a day.
Thanks again for all the authors and publisher that have supplied me with the review copies to keep me busy!!
Looking back at the genres that I read in November it again spans out over a many different genres: Steampunk, Epic, Sci-Fi, Urban, Young Adult, Horror, Historical Fiction. I had the chance to pick up one of the most unexpected
My top 5 of the November books are (not in this order):
1. Blood and Feathers (Solaris) by Lou Morgan
2. The Falling Machine (Pyr) by Andrew P. Mayer
3. Babylon Steel by (Solaris) Gaie Sebold
4. Tomorrow the Killing (Hodder and Stoughton) by Daniel Polansky
5. Phoenix Rising (Harper Voyager) by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
1. Blood and Feathers by Lou Morgan
So Blood and Feathers... there are many Angels and Demons books out there, some of which I had the pleasure of reading the last few months. One might say aren't also those books a like? Always those eternal struggle between Heaven and Hell. Well the answer to that is plain and simple, a two letter word. NO. And having read Blood and Feathers the debut novel of Lou Morgan, she again manages to create a unique story in the Angel and Demon urban fantasy setting. Lou Morgan manages to depict the whole lets gun and gear up for the angels to fight hell pretty vividly and creates a certain setting around Mallory that just screams retribution. Blood and Feathers showed for me a great promise in storyline as well as writing style, and if this is a debut novel... authors beware...
Find the review here
2. The Falling Machine by Andrew P. Mayer
The second book. The Falling Machine. This book starts of the series "Society of Steam". When I first encountered this book I just knew that I had to read this. It combined steampunk AND superhero's, two of my most favorite themes among the even growing fantasy themes. The Falling Machine centers around the superhero squad the "Paragons" who after the death of their professor are now slowly falling apart. The nefarious organization known as "Children of Eschaton" will do anything to get the upper hand. What I liked about the Falling Machine was the combination in showing a pretty strict society on rules regarding what women should do, and going against the grain with the female protagonist Sarah Stanton. On top of this is the heavy emphasis on the integrating the steampunk theme combined with the superhero theme in the book. The superheroes have not come across there power supernaturally but they have them via "fortified steam", this book is so vividly described regarding the mechanics that you see the steam hissing from the back. Definitely recommended.
Find the review here
3. Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold
Once every while I come across a book that is quite daring. Babylon Steel is just that, and instead of going to far, Babylon Steel is just spot on. Mashing up several existing fantasy themes and creating a one-of-a-kind book, that has a bit of everything and comes together neatly in the end. A great feature in Babylon Steel is the integration of two storylines centering around Babylon herself, where one delves deeply into the past and the other follows the current time. This gave a great amount of depth to the character of Babylon but also to the world. It is of this world that I would gladly see more and hope so in Dangerous Gifts that is due January 2013. The world of Babylon Steel couldn't have been richer and leaves for many openings for other adventures to follow Babylon. It is by these kind of books that I get a great reading pleasure.
Find the review here
4. Tomorrow the Killing by Daniel Polansky
When I first read Straight Razor Cure I knew that this was a series to watch, mainly due to the whole setting that was introduced in it as well as being a unique story. The introduction the "Warden", the main protagonist of the series, was done in a great way and using him to give a scenic tour of Low Town was done neatly. But finishing it left me with many question regarding the past of Warden which I would like to see answered in the coming sequels. And this was exactly what was done in Tomorrow the Killing, and much more. Tomorrow the Killing featured around the past of Warden, but also with a investigation in carried out in the present time. You get a glimpse of what happened to the Warden, and that he is a character with a very rich background and doesn't shy away to get ruthless in achieving his goals. However you also get to see his more "sensitive"side, don't expect him to hold you hand when crossing the street though. And again Daniel Polansky manages to create a great ending with again raising more question and is allowing the introduction of more storylines into the Low Town series.
Find the review here
5. Phoenix Rising (Harper Voyager) by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
And this already brings me to the last book of the Review Round-up: Phoenix Rising. Having read the blurb of this book this was again one of those books that got directly put on my to read list. Phoenix Rising follows two special agents of The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. Agents Wellington Thornhill Books and Eliza D. Braun. Directly from the start this book has a funny air to it with the chapter introduction going along in the trend of "Wherein our intrepid heroes" and the like. With these crafty introduction I directly formed an image of what was about to happen and was to my liking. Another plus of this story are the characters, going for a classical approach in showing a more stiffly agent and a pretty wild one. But in the end both Wellington and Eliza grow a lot where there is a pretty dark side to Wellingtons character and where Eliza seems to loose some of her wild hairs. Added to this all was the strong backbone of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences that deals with some of the more unexplainable cases that The Crown gets. Via this Ministry, Phoenix Rising comes to its steampunk element, though if thought it was a bit more reigned because there was slightly more emphasis on the characters, there was still sufficient influence of steampunk to make the gear hiss.
Find the review here
So what are the prospects for December? Already the last month of the year, over at Fantasy Book Review we decided to take a break starting the 15th of December until the beginning of January 2013, to allow us all to catch are breath. But still there are two weeks left to read :-) !
Look over at what is on the plank to see what I have in stock. I managed to reduce my to read pile a bit but it is still growing. If I cannot get your books done before the end of the year I am deeply sorry but the books that are on there now I will try to do them as soon as possible in Januari.
On a brighter note, for those who have missed it. I reached my 100th review book for Fantasy Book Review, Redlaw:Redeye (Solaris) by James Lovegrove. On the 28th of September when I was making this blog I tweeted that I passed the 50 review mark.. well it is now December 3rd... and I did about 50 books in two months.. it is time for that break.. :-). But still there are soo many good books out there but physics doesn't let you get more than 24 hours out of a day.
Thanks again for all the authors and publisher that have supplied me with the review copies to keep me busy!!