2024 Booklist

In 2023 I watched more TV and I read lots of comics, but I did finish a respectable 42 actual books, generally in the 140,000-word range. (Moby-Dick is 214,000 words, but of course feels at least twice that.) Let’s see how we do.

1. Eversion - Alastair Reynolds. At 97,000 words, about half as long as his usual. I got the impression he was just having fun, toying with ideas both original and not.
2. Winter’s Gifts - Ben Aaronovitch. One of the Rivers of London spinoff novellas.
3. Fourth Wing
4. Iron Flame - Rebecca Yarros. Holy shit, I tore through these very long books in a few days. So, so good.
5. The Android’s Dream - John Scalzi. Ah, the man loves his work.
6. Machine Vendetta - Alastair Reynolds. He’s committed the rare authorial sin of basing the plot on events that happened in between this and the previous book, without really explaining them. And his books are so long—at 149,000 words this is a svelte 0.7 mobydicks—that it’s entirely possible I could have just forgotten stuff from a book I read a year or two ago. That said, it’s a great read.
7. A Thousand Recipes For Revenge - Beth Cato.
8. Heir of Uncertain Magic - Charlie N. Holmberg.
9. Galactic North - Alastair Reynolds. Not usually a fan of short stories in English, but this was very good.
10. Swords Against Deviltry
11. Swords Against Death - Fritz Leiber. He and Michael Moorcock defined modern fantasy writing.
12. The Librarian of Crooked Lane - C.J. Archer.
13. The Hydrogen Sonata [audio] - Iain M. Banks. I think of this book constantly since I took up the violin.
14. The Wee Free Men [audio]
15. A Hat Full of Sky [audio]
16. Wintersmith [audio] - Terry Pratchett. Och! Crivens!
17. The Shadow Wing [audio] - Sarah Painter. Catching up on this series.
18. I Shall Wear Midnight [audio]
19. The Shepherd’s Crown [audio] - Terry Pratchett. RIP.
20. Night of Knives - Ian C. Esslemont. Nice to return to the world of The Malazan Book of the Fallen.
21. Rivers of London [audio]
22. Moon Over Soho [audio] - Ben Aaronovitch. As much fun as I remembered.
23. Swords In The Mist - Fritz Leiber.
24. Whispers Under Ground [audio] - Ben Aaronovitch.
25. Return of the Crimson Guard - Ian C. Esslemont. Impressed by the degree to which his style matches his co-creator, Steven Erikson.
26. Broken Homes [audio] - Ben Aaronovitch.
27. Stonewielder - Ian C. Esslemont.
28. Foxglove Summer [audio] - Ben Aaronovitch.
29. Orb Sceptre Throne - Ian C. Esslemont.
30. The Hanging Tree [audio]
31. False Value [audio]
32. Lies Sleeping [audio] - Ben Aaronovitch.
33. Blood and Bone - Ian C. Esslemont. A svelte 1.08 moby-dicks.
34. Amongst Our Weapons [audio+text] - Ben Aaronovitch.
35. Assail - Ian C. Esslemont. Mmm.
36. The Player of Games [audio] - Iain M. Banks.
37. Forge of Darkness - Steven Erikson.
38. The Maltese Falcon [audio] - Dashiell Hammett.
39. What Abigail Did That Summer [audio] - Ben Aaronovitch.
40. Unseen Academicals [audio] - Terry Pratchett.
41. Fall of Light - Steven Erikson. Rarely have I been so glad to be done with a book. Thankfully the author aborted the trilogy after this and Forge of Darkness.
42. Sanctuary - Ilona Andrews. A novella, but so delightful.
43. The Book That Broke the World - Mark Lawrence. #2 of a delicious new trilogy.
44. Snuff [audio] - Terry Pratchett. Oh no, only one more to go. 😭
45. Dancer’s Lament
46. Deadhouse Landing
47. Kellanved’s Reach - Ian C. Esslemont. Occasional messy writing, but hands down the best prequels I’ve ever read.
48. Noir [audio] - Christopher Moore. Kinda uneven in the plot, but a creditable work.
49. Forge of the High Mage - Ian C. Esslement.
50. The God Is Not Willing - Steven Erikson. And with that, I finish the available novels in that world.
51. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy [audio] - Douglas Adams. Read by the incomparable Stephen Fry.
52. The Book Keeper - Sarah Painter. A nice #2 for the Unholy Island series.
53. Swords Against Wizardry - Fritz Leiber.
54. Nine Princes In Amber
55. The Guns of Avalon - Roger Zelazny.
56. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe [audio] - Douglas Adams.
57. The Sign of the Unicorn
58. The Hand of Oberon
59. The Courts of Chaos - Roger Zelazny. Thus ends the first 5 books of the 10.
60. Life, the Universe, and Everything [audio] - Douglas Adams.
61. The Trumps of Doom
62. Blood of Amber - Roger Zelazny.
63. Strange Practice
64. Dreadful Company - Vivian Shaw.
65. Antarctica Station - A.G. Riddle. Quite good, for airport fiction.
66. So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish [audio] - Douglas Adams. Where the Hitchhiker's Guide series really gains steam toward the Cliffs of Incoherence.
67. The Accidental Alchemist - Gigi Pandian.