Only the Best of 2014 - My Best Reads This Year

I had a really slow year this year when it comes to reading. It doesn't help that I moved a couple states away, got a new job that keeps me busier than ever, and I'm trying to keep up with three kids any moment they're awake. My Goodreads goal of 50 books, a decrease from last year because I knew there was a possibility of some changes, was only met by 64% (that's only 31 books).

However, a number of those books were new releases and it was a great year for those. Below you'll find my top 7 new releases for 2014. I was going to narrow it down to five, but I found myself trying to cheat by posting "ties" and I honestly hate that so I gave the actual number even if not so round.

Following that list are some more year-end wrap up awards if you can even call it that. Mostly, I wanted to have a chance to talk about the books I loved this year one extra time.

Top 7 New Releases of 2014

7) Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan

6) City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (still need to review this)

5) Breach Zone (Shadow Ops #3) by Myke Cole

4) Prince of Fools (Red Queen's War #1) by Mark Lawrence

4) Half a King (Shattered Sea #1) by Joe Abercrombie

3) Veil of the Deserters (Bloodsounder's Arc #2) by Jeff Salyards

2) The Magician's Land (Magicians #3) by Lev Grossman

1) The Crimson Campaign (Powder Mage #2) by Brian McClellan

Biggest Surprise

Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott - Seriously, you need to read this if you haven't already. At first glance, it doesn't sound like much, but it was absolutely one of my favorites of the last number of years.

Best Stand-Alones

Tie for Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway and Blackdog by K.V. Johanson. Remember, I said I hate ties in numbered lists. No numbers here, so I can have a tie. Both these were absolutely astounding reads. They are completely different, one a contemporary mystery with a wonderful sense of humor (Angelmaker) and one an epic fantasy set in a non-European medieval times (Blackdog).

Best Audiobooks

Ilium and Olympos by Dan Simmons. This is really just one extended book that blew me away from start to finish. Simmons is a mad genius to combine all the elements he combines here and pulls it off stupendously.

Biggest Disappointment 

Impulse (Jumper #3) by Steven Gould - I had high hopes after the first two excellent installments. Combining the elements that made the first two great with teen angst and holier-than-thou characters made it a bit tough to stomach.

Missing

Blood and Iron by Jon Sprunk (currently reading), Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans (currently reading), Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson, The Emperor's Blades by Brian Stavely, Assail by Ian Cameron Esslemont (though I did make progress by reading Stonewielder), and tons more. There are plenty of authors I've just gotten behind in keeping up with their new series such as Brent Weeks and Daniel Abraham and tons more I'm dying to begin. I'll have to do better this year I guess.

Review: The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan

The Wheel of Timeseries by Robert Jordan is a massive (13+books) Tolkein like world revolving around three protagonists from the same village who are out to save the world. They embark on desperate adventures while surrounded, and for some wielding the mystical One Power. The series is a seamless integration of magic and daring, a truly unique world in which armies are marshaled and the fate of, well, everything will be decided.

Its hard to say much about this series without giving it away since so much happens from book to book, but the one thing I can guarantee is that it will provide months of entertainment. Be warned, you might hate women by the time you are done with this book because of the way the author fits them into the story line. On the other hand, my girlfriend, who is currently on book four, seems to think the women courageous and daring. It goes without saying that she thinks all the men are louts and rascals.

This is the series that really introduced me to high fantasy, after having read a couple books by C.S. Lewis. I got hooked after the first three in the series and have been waiting well over ten years for the last book to come out. Sadly, Robert Jordan died with the series unfinished, but don't despair. He left a solid outline, had already written the conclusion, and hand picked Brandon Sanderson to continue writing for him (the conclusion part is significant because the final chapters of each book are always the most epic). To my huge disappointment, the 'final book' to the Wheel of Time Series is being split into three books with the first to come out this year and then proceed at the pace of one book per year.

Regardless, the The Eye of the World, the first book in the series, got me hooked from page fifty on. I still remember the shiver the book gave me like it was yesterday. There is nothing like epic high fantasy to bring on the shivers, besides perhaps morphine. I am pretty certain I have been chasing the dragon ever since.

Given my personal attachment and the sheer quantity of books in the series, condensed they easily make it onto our top 10 list. If you loved The Lord of The Rings there is no way that you won't like this series. Give it a try while remembering not to come out of the experience hating women, or men if you are a woman.

I promised in my mission statement not to bring in too much of the older fantasy and science fiction writings, but since this series is till current, even though its original author is no longer with us, I think it is justified.