Year in (mini-) review - 2023 Books

The Way of Kings (2010)

Brandon Sanderson – The Stormlight Archives #1

Recommendation: A good read if you like unique fantasy and want to dive into another trilogy.

After reading Sanderson’s Mistborn series, I decided to try his next major series and was not disappointed. He had clearly learned his lessons as a writer, moved out of the “ultra-neatness” of a lot of fantasy authors, but not lost sight of his strengths. Sanderson is a writer of methods, lore and systems (especially magic) that create whole worlds and is able to place apt stories and characters in those worlds.

The Way of Kings is both a simple story and also one that is clearly setting up a greater trilogy. This works to its advantage, but there were a few times I wanted more connection with my characters across time and place. However, the central series of characters we followed were a great read, as were the small world-building vignettes that accompanied the main story.

I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series. And at least I know that if I really start to enjoy Sanderson’s works, he’ll write one a year for the rest of time.

The Republic of Thieves (2013)

Scott Lynch - Gentlemen Bastards Series #3

Recommendation: Read this one if you are enjoying the series.

The third book in the Locke Lamora series, Republic of Thieves, has decided to address the greater meta-plot which was always bubbling up from behind the scenes, but never quite made it to the surface in prior novels. However, addressing a meta-plot was at the detriment of what these books were at their core – fantasy heist stories.

There were still enjoyable hi-jinks around rigging an election in the city-state home to Lamora’s magical enemies, but the secondary plot set in the past unnecessarily padded out the book and made me impatient to return to the main story. I might have been interested to read about these characters’ histories when they were children dealing with a fake play and each other, if it was more self-contained, but it didn't add anything that couldn't be inferred from the main story.

This book was a little disappointing overall, but still some great writing, witty dialogue, characterisation and world building. It was great to see the characters struggle through adversity and use their wits and guile to work towards an end as beneficial as possible to themselves.

Children of Time (2015)

Adrian Tchaikovsky - Children of Time Series #1

Recommendation: Read this, especially if you are a lover of sci-fi.

One-part time-hopping space journey and one-part alternative evolution thought experiment, Children of Time is two stories competing for the limelight, and better off for it. This is one of the few books I’ve read where the multiple narratives feel equally weighted and are both interesting and engaging.

While the book deals well with disconnected characters over time and space (literally), I did feel the last quarter of the book dragged on as I was eager to reach the foretold conclusion. However, once I did reach the end, I was met by a well set-up finale that took me by surprise and felt like the culmination of all the prior events.

If you are looking for a character-driven space adventure, this is not going to be that story, but it is top-notch sci-fi, nonetheless. I will also mention when I bought the book, the person behind the counter mentioned it was the best 21st century published sci-fi they had read – and even though we are only a quarter of century in, that is still a big boast.

Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons (2015)

Michael Witwer

Recommendation: If you are interested in a biography of the man behind Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), then this is a definitive biography. Otherwise, I’d say give it a miss.

Empire of Imagination is an objective biography of Gary Gygax written by someone who has just done their research. However, while it was an interesting read, it was not always an enjoyable one; the narrative often switching harshly between creative semi-fictional accounts of how certain events may have happened and relatively dry recounts of role-playing events, business dealings and executive ownership structures.

The facts were all there and Witwer provides plenty of context to understand the time, situations and most importantly: why Gygax made his decisions around D&D. A lot of this biography could have been written as a timeline or dot point form as it lacked an emotional hook or crux on which a story could have been told, with the exception of the ending concerning Gygax' death in 2008. This almost was the perfect ending, but the dry writing style undercut the gravitas of the event.

As a personal fan of D&D born in the late 80s, I found it interesting - a story unknown to me. However, I would not recommend to someone uninterested in D&D or Gygax.

Boy Swallows Universe (2018)

Trent Dalton

Recommendation: Definitely, especially if you are after something unique.

I didn't know what to expect with this novel and, having read it, I still don't know how to describe it. Boy Swallows Universe is an Australian coming of age from an unreliable narrator with elements of drug or true crime. The story borders on the fantastical with the central "boy" often taking everything in his stride, either due to his own naivety or being open to strange thoughts or ideas.

Despite the story being an eclectic series of events, I still enjoyed it from start to end. It was easy to follow what was happening and despite the unreliability of the narrator, it didn’t matter whether events really went down how they seemed as they all contributed towards the overall story and growth of the “boy”, Eli.

The title is apt as it feels like a young boy is taking on the worse elements of the universe. As an adult, you can recognise everything for what it is, but there is an odyssey-like telling of all the events and how this child navigates through it all. Absolutely worth the read and, if reading is not your thing, I just discovered a TV mini-series is being made for release this year.

A River Called Time (2021)

Courttia Newland

Recommendation: No.

Full warning: I did not finish this book.

A River Called Time starts off "normal" enough, if not a bit abstract, setting up characters, the world and central tension. Initially, this book was a young adult novel set in a near and unrecognisable future. I read later the “unrecognisable future” was a dystopian London, but there was nothing that made that clear. It felt a like a blossoming, Hunger Games-esque story as the main character traveled to the Ark, a utopia for rich or smart people. That was until the first “jump”.

I figured it was a time jump but was difficult to reference given there was not mention of the initial characters or what had happened in the intervening years. From here, a new story started around the utopia actually being another dystopia, a rebellion, some romance… until the next “jump”, if it can be called that.

Again, prior plots and characters were abandoned, and I found it impossible to orient myself this time. I realised these were not time jumps, but maybe alternative dimension jumps with a possible connection through meditation? Midway through an astral projection sequence, I put the book down deciding that was enough.

A River Called Time is abstract and metaphorical, this story is disconnected, if existent, and deliberately obtuse. While potentially deep in themes and “lore”, the book is shallow in plot, characters and writing style. The blurb also has no relevance to the inside of the book.