Well, technically it IS still summer. But yeah, I admit, I’m rather late with this. It’s what happens when you order stuff from Book Depository and the parcels arrive one-by-one over two weeks and then you go on holiday before you manage to gather them all. No matter. I will not stop reading genre simply because summer will soon be over and these works are all on my list. As always, I make no promises: I’m sure I will in the end not read every single one – this is meant as inspiration, not a strict plan. I have, however, already finished a couple of things here, as I’m behind schedule with posting. In case aliens and elves aren’t your thing, I’ve also put together a non-fiction and a fiction list.

1. The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. I have only read one book (Redshirts) by Scalzi, one of the most popular SF writers of today. I liked it, but Redshirts is a bit of an oddity – a Star Trek parody -, so I’ve been planning to read a “proper Scalzi” for a while. The Collapsing Empire is his latest and should be a good fit for me, involving an interstellar empire, a horrible danger, a scientist, a starship captain and an empress.

2. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas. I covered the first two installments in this wildly popular YA series in this post. Short summary: didn’t care much for the first, liked the second a lot. As I’m not a fan of the „I have to hide what I really think/feel because REASONS“ plot device, I’m a bit wary of the third book. Still, I want to know how it ends (there will be more books in the series, but this is the last with the same protagonist) and it looks like there’ll be more courts and politicking, so I’m hopeful.

3. Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee. I read Lee’s Ninefox Gambit in the beginning of this year and absolutely loved this ambitious epic-military-political space opera. You can read my review on Goodreads and yes, in hindsight, I think I’d give it 5 stars – I haven’t shut up about the book since. Together with Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy, it’s my top recommendation when it comes to recently published SF. I have already started reading the sequel – Raven Stratagem – and so far, I’m loving it as much as part one.

4. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. This YA book is on the list because I read Taylor’s latest, Strange the Dreamer, and liked it. It’s contemporary fantasy with angels and chimera at war with each other and that, as everybody knows, is the perfect setting for a love story. Also, the actual setting is Prague, which is refreshing. I’m partly interested in this because some people with great taste absolutely love it while others with equally great taste aren’t convinced. So I feel like having an opinion.

5. Winter by Marissa Meyer. Ah, another volume of YA and another series where I wasn’t wowed by the first book of the series (Cinder), but loved what happened next. Winter is the last book of The Lunar Chronicles after Cinder, Scarlet and Cress and I have already finished it. What can I say? It’s not Proust, but it’s fun and engaging and just… nice. The story is, on a general level, about a conflict between the Earth and the Moon, its former colony. The focus, however, is on the young characters, whose paths take inspiration from four classical fairy tales. The retellings are very, very loose, however, so even people who usually hate retellings might be able to enjoy the series (especially after the first volume). There are four couples to choose from in terms of romance. I’m #teamcressandthorne, but I liked them all in the end. It’s a younger and easier read than Maas and recommended for fans of the genre, if you don’t mind that the final volume is over 800 pages.

6. All Systems Red by Martha Wells. I’ve loved all Martha Wells books that I’ve read, but they’ve all been fantasy (I talk about one of them here). I don’t really know what to expect beyond a snarky robot and, apparently, quite a bit of humor. But it’s Martha Wells, so it cannot be bad.

7. City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett. If Raven Stratagem has some serious shoes to fill, so does City of Miracles. The first book in this trilogy, City of Stairs, is my favourite fantasy book published in the last five years – if not ever. I wrote a gushing review about it, if you’re interested. I liked City of Blades a bit less, but that was a question of taste rather than quality. Bennet has created an amazing world of forgotten gods, colonialism, spying and high politics. His thinking is deep, his writing is fun and I love his characters. As you can probably tell, I’m extremely excited to read CIM.

8. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. Full disclosure: I actually plan to read this one when it gets cold. It’s a fantasy based on Russian fairy tales and winter features heavily, so I think it would be fitting. It also seems to be a slow burn, well suited to a December evening with a cup of tea. I still wanted to mention it, however, as I already have it and who knows when I’ll be doing the next genre post.

9. When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger. I had no idea this book existed until one of my Goodreads friends gave it an extremely enthusiastic review. It’s a cyberpunk novel from 1987 that seems to be ahead of its time with all the Arab ghettos, grittiness and biopunk feel. Also, Jo Walton gave it five stars.

10. Borne by Jeff VanderMeer. My relationship with VanderMeer is complicated. I want to like him so bad and sometimes I do (The City of Saints and Madmen) and sometimes I don’t at all – I was very annoyed with Annihilation. It is impossible to tell what the book is about without reading it, as VanderMeer’s books are notoriously bizarre – sometimes it’s impossible to say what the book was about even AFTER reading it. I expect biotech gone wrong, borderline horror and possibly frustration on my part. Although I’ve been assured that it’s not as inconclusive as the Southern Reach Trilogy.

11. Beren and Luthien by J.R.R. Tolkien. I wanted something classic on my list and as this has just come out, it seemed a good option. I’ve read the shorter version of the story in the Silmarillion, but this is a full-length tale of the biggest love story in the Tolkien universe. My main issue with Tolkien has always been that he’s not great at writing women. Luthien, however, is pretty kick-ass, so I’m looking forward to this.

12. The Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville. My relationship with Mieville is a bit similar to the one I have with VanderMeer. I’m certain he’s a genius, but not entirely sure he’s the right type of genius for me. I’ve never finished any of his major work, but finally read This Census Taker a couple of months ago and liked it. So I’ll attempt this story of Paris forever caught in a surreal war between the Nazis and the resistanc. I’ve started already and seriously, this guy. He’s gloriously mad.

13. Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. This one was left over from my genre binge in the start of the year and I regret not reading it, because by all accounts, it’s a high-concept, pretty literary, unique SF. An enlightenment-inspired utopia (or is it a dystopia?) without gender distinctions and world structured around the clans of the like-minded? Bring it on.

14. Void Star by Zachary Mason. Another literary, thought-provoking SF book set in far future San Francisco and L.A. It has AIs, climate change, upgraded humans, the lot. It’s been compared to Stephenson, which is obviously a good thing in my book. It has also been compared to Mievielle, however…

15. Injection vol 1 by Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire. This is a comic series that I would probably not have found without #bookstagram: my resident graphic novel expert @lauraongram recommended it. This leans towards horror, which is not usually my comfort zone, but the premise of five eccentric geniuses fighting The Injection (whatever it is) sounds very much like my thing.

16. Saga vol 7 by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples. This is just to flag that the 7th volume is out, in case you haven’t noticed. I have of course already finished it and yep, it’s great. I have talked about Saga before and everything I said still stands.

In a typical Annikky fashion, two books I wanted to mention are not on the picture. First, in an attempt to be more inclusive, I actually purchased a thriller! I used to love them, but now read them very rarely for some reason. I expect that Camino Island is pretty much standard Grisham – not a bad thing, just something I haven’t been drawn to lately. What made me buy it is that the plot centers around rare stolen books, so I’m actually looking forward to reading it. I seem to have simply forgotten to add it to the pile.

The other book I didn’t include for the simple reason of not having it yet when I took the picture. It’s somewhat more difficult to explain why it has taken me so long to purchase it, though. It’s The Fifth Season, first book in N.K. Jemisin’s double Hugo-winning The Broken Earth series. I mean everyone says it’s good, I liked Jemisin’s Inheritance trilogy – why have I not been reading this? As they say, there is no understanding women. Anyway, I plan to get to this epic fantasy of a strange, apocalyptic world sooner rather than later.

Do you read fantasy, science fiction, YA, crime and thrillers and horror? If yes, what would you recommend or what’s on your list? And it would actually be interesting to read a proper romance too, so pointers welcome.