Reading List - 2015

Okay - Here I am starting year #6. That's pretty damned good for me, so here we go again. As always, anything listed as [re-read] is either in preparation for the next book in a series or for my own pleasure 'cause it was a good read. So, my reading list for 2015:
Currently Reading

• [re-read] The Lady of the Sorrows by Cecelia Dart-Thornton (The Bitterbynde, #2)
• Hell's Foundations Quiver by David Weber (Safehold, #8)
• The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milán
• [re-read] The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley

Started But On-hold

• Empire State by Adam Christopher
• House of Chains by Steve Erikson (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #4)
• The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan (Powder Mage, #2)

Started and Abandoned (either I didn't like it or found something more interesting)

• Unnatural History by Jonathan Green (Pax Britannia, #1)

Completed

1. Maplecroft by Cherie M. Priest (The Borden Dispatches, #1)
2. The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire (October Daye, #8)
3. [re-read] The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett ( Mrs. Quent Trilogy, #1)
4. [re-read] A Soldier's Duty by Jean Johnson (Theirs Not To Reason Why, #1)
5. [re-read] An Officer's Duty by Jean Johnson (Theirs Not To Reason Why, #2)
6. Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan (Powder Mage, #1)
7. On Basilisk Station by David Weber (Honor Harrington, #1)
8. Hellfire by Jean Johnson (Theirs Not To Reason Why, #3)
9. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss (Kingkiller Chronicles, sidebar)
10. [re-read] The House on Durrow Street by Galen Beckett (Mrs. Quent Trilogy, #2)
11. 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
12. Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks (The Culture, #4)
13. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
14. [re-read] A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (Lady Trent, #1)
15. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Martian Trilogy, #1)
16. [re-read] The Master of Heathcrest Hall by Galen Beckett (Mrs. Quent Trilogy, #3)
17. [re-read] The Affinity Bridge by George Mann (Newbury & Hobbes, #1)
18. The Unremembered by Peter Orullian (Vault of Heaven, #1)
19. The Shadow Revolution by Clay Griffith (Crown & Key, #1)
20. The Undying Legion by Clay Griffith (Crown & Key, #2)
21. [re-read] The Osirus Ritual by George Mann (Newbury & Hobbes, #2)
22. The Ghostway by Tony Hillerman (Navajo Mysteries, #6)
23. The Conquering Dark by Clay Griffith (Crown & Key, #3)
24. [re-read]Bloodshot by Cherie Priest (Cheshire Red, #1)
25. Grunt Life by Weston Ochse (Task Force OMBRA, #1, #3)
26. The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan (Lady Trent, #2)
27. Legion of the Damned by William Deitz (Legion of the Damned, #1)
28. [re-read]Hellbent by Cherie Priest (Cheshire Red, #2)
29. American Craftsman by Tom Doyle (Craftsman, #1)
30. Liberty: 1784 by Robert Conroy
31. A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire (October Daye, #9)
32. Gallow: The Fateguard Trilogy by Nathan Hawke
33. Chapelwood by Cherie M. Priest (The Borden Dispatches, #2)
34. [re-read] The Ill-Made Mute by Cecelia Dart-Thornton (The Bitterbynde, #1)
35. Chasing the Lantern by Jonathan Burgess (The Dawnhawk Trilogy, #1)

Outstanding (& Very Highly Recommended) Reads from 2014
The Black Dawn Series by Joseph D'Lacey

1. Black Feathers
2. The Book of the Crowman

Good storyline, very nice premise. A number of blurbs on the back cover and the first few interior pages tout D'Lacey as an author of horror. Personally, I really didn't find anything particularly horrific in this first volume. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that D'Lacey is a big Neil Gaiman fan. There were numerous times throughout the novel where instead of seeing Gordon Black, Megan, Skelton & Pike, I was seeing Richard Mayhew, Door, and Croup & Vandemar. So, if you are a fan of Gaiman's Neverwhere, you should like this novel. Best I can describe it - it's an apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic novel with an ecological bent. Instead of London Below, we wander Britain above with Gordon and Megan as Richard and Door with their roles sort of reversed.
2014 Honorable Mention: The Bannon & Clare Series by Lilith Saintcrow

1. The Iron Wyrm Affair
2. The Red Plague Affair
3. The Ripper Affair

An excellent blend of steampunk, magic, and Holmesian fantasy starring Emma Bannon as a sorceress in service to Britain's queen, and Archibald Clare, a mentath or human logic engine. Excellent secondary and tertiary characters with plenty of unrevealed stories that leave plenty of room for more books in the series. While the third volume could mark an ending, I sincerely hope Ms. Saintcrow revisits this world often ... and soon.
Outstanding (& Very Highly Recommended) Reads from 2013
The Daedalus Series by Michael J. Martinez

1. The Daedalus Incident
2. The Enceladus Crisis

In what appears to be the first 2 of at least three(3) novels, this series is an intriguing mix of science fiction/fantasy and seafaring derring-do. Half of the books are along the lines of something like a Horatio Hornblower in Space while the other half is a contemporary space exploration story of Mars and Saturn. The two story lines progress well individually and inevitably converge in the final chapters. While I would not necessarily call the one half of this steampunk, it has that kind of flavor to it. While the first is a brilliant stand-alone, you really need the first to understand what's happening in the second and any subsequent novels.
2013 Honorable mentions:

• Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #1) - excellent straight SF/Space Opera novel.
• Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson (Thieftaker Chronicles, #1) - captivating alternate history/fantasy.

Outstanding (& Very Highly Recommended) Reads from 2012
The "Mrs. Quent" trilogy by Galen Beckett

1. The Magicians and Mrs. Quent
2. The House on Durrow Street
3. The Master of Heathcrest Hall

I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of literature the likes of Emily Bronte or Jane Austen. The closest I ever got to this is probably Little Women and Little Men by Louisa May Alcott, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, or Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Now I can sit and watch things like "Sense and Sensibility", "Pride and Prejudice", "Great Expectations", or "Downton Abbey", as well as those listed above, all day on television or in a movie theater but I would not crack the book to save my life. Galen Beckett, a.k.a. Mark Anthony, has added a fantastical element to the Austen/Bronte-ish genre with his Mrs. Quent series. Basically, he has placed a whole Austen-type story in the land of Altania, which the current characters' ancestors literally carved out of a forest wilderness - a sentient forest known as the Wyrdwood. This sentient forest and a group of ancestral magicians were instrumental in the defense of the realm against an earlier alien/demonic invasion. Following this historical war, magic and magicians have fallen out of favor over succeeding generations, while the forests have been deemed dangerous and all but destroyed. At the time of this trilogy the forests have been reduced to a scattering of walled-up enclaves and preserves, magicians are basically stylish fops or an affectation for the amusement of polite society, and witches are hunted down and burned. However, hundreds of years have passed, wandering planets are beginning to re-align, and the threat of invasion is returning. The above is a rather condensed overview of the fantasy elements of the story. In fact, Beckett has basically taken an Austen-type trilogy, ground up the above fantastical elements, and applied a very light dusting of this across the entire trilogy of novels. I have really enjoyed this series, both the main characters and the three main story lines we are following (even though I am just beginning the final book in the series.) The only thing, so far, that has eluded me is the part the Illusionists play. Mrs. Quent, the Wyrdwood, and the magicians have, so far, been instrumental in coming out ahead in the several skirmishes so far, but I have yet to see the Illusionists role in the the final confrontation.
Outstanding (& Very Highly Recommended) Reads from 2011 - TIE
The "Tales of the Ketty Jay" series by Chris Wooding

1. Retribution Falls
2. The Black Lung Captain
3. The Iron Jackal
4. The Ace of Skulls

This series has been pure fun to read. Lots of action and intrigue, plenty of mystery as we learn bits and pieces of the past of the Ketty Jay's crew, sliding under and around the authorities, and a little bit of a steampunk flavor. I'll tell you what this series is ... it's Joss Whedon's "Firefly" meets Microsoft's "Crimson Skies". I was a little leery at first, but found it to be an excellent series. Time for me to pick up book #3.
The "Vampire Earth" series by Clay and Susan Griffith

1. The Greyfriar
2. The Rift Walker
3. The Kingmakers

What Cherie M. Priest's "Clockwork Century" did for zombies, Clay and Susan have done for vampires. While it seems that just everybody has to do something about vampiric (even David Weber and Out of the Dark, I found this series quite refreshing, from the conflict between the tropical-dwelling humans and northern-dwelling vampires to the politics of the vampire hierarchy. I could probably live without Senator Clarke of the American Republic, but I understand the alliance required to accomplish the Reconquest of the north, taking the fight back to the vampires who drove the surviving humans out during The Great Killing. The Greyfriar himself makes for a great hero.
Outstanding (& Very Highly Recommended) Reads from 2010
The "Clockwork Century" series by Cherie M. Priest

1. Boneshaker
2. Clementine
3. Dreadnought
4. Ganymede
5. Inexplicables
6. Fiddlehead
7. Jacaranda (forthcoming Spring 2015)

In a year that has seen a flood of "steampunk" novels hitting the market (thanks to Tor's Oct. 2009 Steampunk month), Cherie M. Priest's new Clockwork Century series stand out. The series excels, as evidenced by the fact that the first novel in the series, Boneshaker, was a Hugo and Nebula award nominee this year. One of the more interesting aspects of this series is the fact that we have supporting characters playing major roles in the subsequent novels. Although I was hesitant to delve into this series, primarily due to the whole "zombie" thing (she calls them rotters), Ms. Priest's explanation of their coming into existence was quite plausible and they did not play a major role in the initial novel. The second novel, Clementine is a bit more difficult to acquire as it was only offered through the (thrice-damned) Subterranean Press. Even so, it was an enjoyable read as one of the side characters from novel #1 played a more substantial role here as the action shifts from the west coast to the east and the on-going Civil War. The third (so far) novel in the series, Dreadnought sees the action shift, yet again, from the Civil War in the east back toward the west coast. This was an even more exciting book than the previous two. Truth to tell, I was physically drained by the time I got through the chapter where the "Dreadnought" finally meets it's Northern equivalent outside Salt Lake City. I highly recommend this series, and while each stands well on its own I found that you really need to have read Boneshaker to understand the interconnecting thread of the gas and "rotters" introduced in the first book.
Outstanding (& Very Highly Recommended) Reads from 2009
The "Western Lights" series by Jeffrey Barlough

1. Dark Sleeper
2. The House in the High Wood
3. Strange Cargo
4. Anchorwick
5. Bertram of Butter Cross
6. A Tangle in Slops
7. What I Found at Hoole

Jeffrey Barlough's "Western Lights" series was a pleasure and a surprise. Although the setting was intriguing enough to cause me to acquire these novels, the characters are what really drives them home. Barlough has a wonderful way of portraying both his main characters as well as incidental sub-characters. You end up caring about every one of them as if they were old friends and acquaintances and the descriptive settings make you feel like you'd actually been there.