The Book Plank

Best Books of 2014 So it has finally come down to the list of lists. The Best Books of 2014. I read many different kind of books this year, all my friends and family said I read way to much... and I always reply with: there is always more to read! It was really hard to make this final list, in many different subgenre I read some ace books. After a lot of contemplation I have made this final list.  Just as last year where Emperor of Thorns made the list as well, Mark Lawrence once again made it on my yearly favorites list. Prince of Fools , the first book in The Red Queen's War was released this summer and with this book Mark Lawrence proofs that he is far from a one time success with his The Broken Empire series. Prince of Fools takes place within the same universe of his first series but focuses on a completely different protagonist Jalan. The Broken Empire gave the gritty grimdark setting and a dark protagonist, in Prince of Fools, Mark Lawrence shows the story is a ...

Best Science Fiction The future is closer than you think. Are there boundaries? Where is our world going too? Will there be a technology rush or will we succumb to our own inventions, will robots or AI take over for good? These are some of the aspects that are discussed in Science Fiction, but of course with every subgenre there is always more. What I like most about Science Fiction are the daring stories, stories that closely resemble our own reality and where authors have introduced several scenarios of possible futures. When author take examples of our current technology and translate them into possible happenings I think that the whole setting comes even more to justice as I then I always think the question just what if? David Ramirez's The Forever Watch is a very interesting start, imagine a ship that seeks new planet to live on. In the depths of this spaceship much more is going on than what meets the normal unsuspected eye. Its a powerful and evocative story with a hauntin...

Best Urban Fantasy books What I normally say when it comes down to Urban Fantasy is that it comes in many different shapes and sizes. Urban Fantasy must be one the most diverse genre out there. Ever since seeing the movie Blade being introduced to vampires and the other supernatural side of the world but I never came across a crucial part in many Urban Fantasy stories, the urban sorcerer in movies. Luckily for me there are many books that have an emphasis on this aspect. The books below cover a lot of ground within the rich urban environment. Max Gladstone's Full Fathom Five is the third book in the ground and genre breaking Craft Sequence, really provocative. Tom Pollock's Our Lady of the Streets is edge of your seat Urban Fantasy, Gods and magic where you just can't get enough off. The Oversight by Charlie Fletcher was something quite extraordinary, featuring a Urban Fantasy story heavily inspired by the Gothic scene, haven't read about this before very nice. Ch...

Best Detective books of 2014 Next to the reading more of the Horror genre I have tried to delve more into the Detective genre as well. When you think of a fictional detective you will most likely firstly answer Sherlock Holmes. I found out this year that there is much more than Sherlock. What also struck me is that there are many fantasy/detective mix stories out there instead of focusing only on an current day murder case. This former case fitted nicely into my current reading regime. Murder by Sarah Pinborough already made it on my Best Horror list but next to giving a great scare it is also a very solid detective. The story is narrated very strongly, and what Sarah Pinborough does with the main protagonist Thomas Bond... well that is for you to find out! The Curse of the House of Foskett is the direct follow up of MRC Kasasian's debut The Mangled Street Murders , this series takes place in the same timeframe as Sherlock Holmes. Following the footsteps of the most interesting...

Best Steampunk Steampunk. My first introduction to this weird theme was with the movie Wild Wild West . the big spider etc in the western setting won me over. Steampunk can be used in various different time lines be it western, in the Victorian setting, even our current day or in the future. Steampunk is often accompanied by gears and sprockets flying around your ears but it can also be subtle element hidden within the story brief glimpses to enliven the surroundings of the story. Once Upon a Time in Hell is the second book in the Heaven's Gate Trilogy by Guy Adams. This is truly the weird west at it's top. Guy Adams nicely integrates Steampunk into his world by letting it be modes of transport and some nifty gadgets the characters have. This story is big and bold and I am looking forward to seeing where this story ends. Rod Duncan's The Bullet-Catchers Daughter is something of an Victorianesque inspired story following a young women Elizabeth Barnabus that leads an int...

Best Short Fiction of 2014 I only seriously started reading short fiction in the fall of this year and even made a new weekly feature "Short Fiction Friday" on the blog dedicated to review short fiction stories. A lot of readers aren't a fan of short fiction or anthologies but I really like it, well when they are good stories of course. In my opinion, short stories can excellently feature as in between stories for books or as a prequel to a series or just loose adventures in an on going series. The stories that feature in this list are all part of something bigger. Unlocked by John Scalzi gives the perfect introduction to his book Lock In which you will see later on. It is written in an interesting way dairy kind of style following the footsteps of the outbreak of the Haden syndrome I do warn you, be sure to have Lock In ready before reading this story as you want nothing more than to read the book. The Messenger by Mark Charan Newton was released a few weeks befo...

Best First in Series (no debut!) The first in series is a category I actually just came up with. I wanted to mention some books that aren't debuts but that do kick off a new series as most new series are often debuts. Why I wanted to name this category in particular is to show that many authors write second series that are just as or even better as there first. Writing books is difficult but coming up with a compeltely new series ust be even more difficult (I think). Authors oftentimes also write a new series in their earlier divided universe which in itself is also difficult as some storylines have been established in the earlier series so you have to thread carefully, ensuring all that has been written before. This brings me to the first book on the list. Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence. Taking place in The Broken Empire but following a completely new protagonist. In Prince of Fools Mark Lawrences' writing never falters and produces another winner, though the universe is...