HIGHLIGHTS OF MY BLOGGING YEAR 2013

   I was toying with the idea of making a more normal "Best of 2013" post, but when I looked back at what I actually posted in 2013 I quickly decided to drop that. What I instead will do is highlight some of the books I blogged about last year that I for some reason or other feel deserves a second mention. So, here goes:

   Let's start with Stephen King. I reviewed seven King books this year, and they were actually all quite different. It would be hard for me to pick just one of them, fortunately I don't really need to. What I will do is recommend Joyland, the book that was actually published in 2013. It's a great novel that should be suited to everyone who likes a good story.

  On the Science Fiction front I reviewed far from the amount of books I intended, but I still managed to review twelve books who got that tag last year. Again it would be hard to pick just one of them, but I will go with the same criteria as above, and pick one that was actually published in 2013. Uhm...screw that, I'll have to pick two. Control by Kim Curran, and Then Will the Great Ocean Wash Deep Above by Ian Sales. They are very different books, and while I enjoyed both of them I am sure not everybody will. But check them both out and chances are one of them will be worth it for you.

   On the Fantasy side of things I managed to review fifteen books. Not a lot, and not any real choices when it comes to those published in 2013. My choice there would have to be the fourth book in Robin Hobb's The Rain Wilds Chronicles, Blood of Dragons.

   I managed to review thirteen Alternate History(/Steampunk) books last year. [Note to self: Do a post on Alternate History/Steampunk one of these days.] And...I'm having trouble picking just one book here, so I'll go with two; Fiendish Schemes by K.W. Jeter and The Prince of Lies by Anne Lyle. Two books set in completely different eras that are excellent examples of this SFF subgenre.

   I also reviewed three tie-in books last year, two Star Wars, and one Doctor Who. I haven't read tie-in fiction for a couple of decades, but these three all gave me the incentive to explore that often neglected segment of SFF further. The one that I would highlight of the three is Star Wars: Razor's Edge, the first Empire and Rebellion novel, by Martha Wells.

   I only reviewed one anthology last year, but I want to highlight that once again, and I urge you to pick it up; Tales of Eve edited by Mhairi Simpson.

   Of course I didn't only review books that were first published in 2013, and I absolutely have to give you another heads up on some of those that were published earlier.

   First of them is The Red Knight by K.T. Davies. It's an Epic Fantasy novel I think you really shouldn't miss.

   Secondly I have to remind you of a really fun Urban Fantasy novel that is set outside the usual place such novels go, Snake Agent by Liz Williams.

   I could have mentioned several other books here, but instead of getting overlong I'll just suggest you take a look at the posts I did last year and see if anything catches your eye.

   This year I'll try to get more reviews up than I did in 2013 (, no promises though). I will continue to do a mix of new and older books, and my quest to review every Stephen King book published will continue.

THIS BULLETIN COMING TO YOU FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE

   That headline goes some way to explain why I have not been doing much blogging in the last few months. The other explanation is that my internet has been pretty messed up since November. You might want a more detailed explanation of the former explanation. Basically, I have spent the time since October internet dating Jo. We met up in Oslo in December, and I am now at her place in South Yorkshire for January. I will probably be moving here in the not to distant future.
   So, yeah, I have been neglecting both my blogging and my reading. Because after all meeting someone, falling in love with them, and finding out if a relationship is going to work is actually a bit more important than updating a blog.

   I will try to catch up to some degree. Reading and reviews will of course be caught in a backlog for the foreseeable future, but I will be doing a bit of effort to catch up. And I plan to post my "looking back at 2013" post next week, along with some reviews. Hope you'll stay tuned for that.

Jo, Rosie, and Finn.