2012 Books of the Year

2012 was my most productive reading year since I started Battle Hymns...I chalk that up to my two hours of bus commuting each day.  On top of that, 2012 was my most adventurous year of reading yet as well.  I definitely made more of an effort this year to go out of my reading comfort zone and try new authors and try new reads.  I tried to reflect those efforts in this year end list.

Of all my 2012 year end lists, this one was the hardest to put together.  The top two were clear-cut but the three, four and five spots were tough to decide on.  I should mention that this is not a list of my favorite 2012 books.  Rather, it is a list of my favorite books that I read during the 2012 year.  The publication date of these books was not taken into consideration.  Without further ado....

#5. Among Others: This was one of those books that just barely missed being incredible.  If not for what I saw as a bit of a let-down at the end, Among Others could have easily topped this list. As much as this book is a magical work of fantasy, it's also a love letter to the fantasy and sci-fi genres themselves which I found quite amazing.

There were other books I read this year that I graded higher, and some of those didn't make this list. Among Others deserves a nod though as it is wholly responsible for kindling my interest in older works of fantasy and science fiction. If not for this book, there'd be no "Kicking it Old School" feature on this blog, and I would have missed out on some great reads in the process.  Among Others is one of those books that I started reading slower the closer I got to the end because I didn't want the experience to be over. It's truly a book that I treasured.  

#4. Scourge of the Betrayer: Scourge was a fantasy debut that not only lived up to my expectations, but actually surpassed them, all while coming off as something different and fresh.  Those qualities lead to a sure-fire winner in my book.

Scourge of the Betrayer is a book with sharp writing and deep character exploration.  Braylar is one of the more compelling fantasy characters I've read, and I found it impossible to not want to read more once I'd turned the final page of this novel. As much as I want to see where this story will go, I'm equally as interested in discovering what has come before with the characters and this world.  For my money, this was the best mainstream fantasy I read in 2012.

#3. Leviathan Wakes: I don't often fancy myself much of a science fiction reader, and I certainly haven't had much success with the space operas I've tried to read in the past. However, I'm a huge fan of Leviathan Wakes.  The writing duo of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, who form like Voltron to make James S.A. Corey, seemed to have folks like me in mind when they created this space opera series that is pared down, and accessible, all while providing a fantastic read.

With limited POVs and a scope that is within our own solar system, this story was right up my alley.  I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the politics of the worlds and civilizations that are depicted in this novel.  This was one of the more engaging reads of the year for me, and it was nice to experience sf that pushed all the right buttons for me. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what else this series has in store.

#2. Kafka on the Shore: As great as those books mentioned before on this list are, Kafka on the Shore stands out as a completely amazing novel.

I'd never read a Haruki Murakami novel before this, and Kafka on the Shore served as a revelation as to what I'd been missing out on. The writing here is just a cut above what I normally see in my other reads.  I've rarely seen such incredible character development, and the visuals Murakami evokes are wonderful.  A great read on all levels, and book that I can't recommend more strongly.

#1. The Islanders: Speaking of books that stand out as singularly amazing, The Islanders is definitely one such book.  This jigsaw puzzle of a novel had me spellbound with its mystery and myth.  Christopher Priest takes a wholly unique approach to telling his story of murder, art, islands, and the folks who inhabit them. I loved every page of this book.

I love that I had to work for the results I got from the reading experience, and I love that I look forward to reading The Islanders again some day to see what I notice on a second read through that I missed on my first go-round.  Simply one of the most wonderful books I've read.

Hey, I should point out that this is two in a row for Mr. Priest, as he took the number one spot last year for The Prestige. If you aren't reading this guy yet...

Most Honorable Mention:

Bitter Seeds: Definitely one of the sharper reads of the year for me.  Mad Science, Nazis, and magic...an entertaining combo for sure! Also, I can't get Gretel, the pre-cognitive who seems to be pulling all the strings, out of my head.

Theft of Swords: Heroic bro fantasy at it's finest.  Sullivan manages to make each installment stand on it's own, yet each story works in many over-arching plot threads that deal with a more epic story.  I'm anxious to read further on in this series.  Great stuff.

Well, there you go.  My top five reads from the 2012 year.  What'd I miss out on? What, I ask you, Battle Hymns readers, were your favorite reads of the year?

Book Review: Leviathan Wakes

I did something dangerous.  I read Leviathan Wakes.  Ok, maybe that doesn't sound all that dangerous, but often when books get a whole grip of great reviews, and ride a wave of hype that would make Johnny Utah and Bodhi think twice, it is hard for said book to make much of an impression on me.  Often these well-loved, ultra-hyped books wind up being reads that disappoint me the most...all because of the book's failure to meet these high expectations I build up in my head.

So, yeah, dangerous.

Every now and then though, a book will survive the hype. Leviathan Wakes did more than just survive; it managed to rock my socks off.

I think I've always been a bit intimidated by space operas, due in large part to the  massive scale these types of are set on.  Leviathan Wakes is a space opera that's set in the somewhat distant future where humanity has started to colonize the solar system, but hasn't figured out how to reach other stars.  For now the Moon, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt all sport human life, but the desire to branch out further is a strong one.

Though the events of Leviathan Wakes are spread out across our solar system, a fairly grand scale in my book, but not so much compared to other space operas, I never felt like I was struggling with figuring things out.  The fact that the setting is a familiar is handy, but Corey also does a great job of containing the story to a few select locales, and then bringing these locales to vivid life through a great deal of crafty writing.  All this served to make Leviathan Wakes an accessible novel for a novice space opera reader like myself.

In addition to great world building, or should I say solar system building, Leviathan Wakes has many other strong suits.  Not the least of which being the fact that it maintains a sharp focus throughout, and hones in on a select group of characters, and features two distinct point of view characters who begin the novel on far different trajectories, but whose paths begin to converge as the story progresses. This not only gave the story a nice consistent pace, but allowed the reader to gain two very different perspectives or angles on the events that the narrative is centered around.

My favorite of the two point of view characters was Jim Holden, the Executive Officer on an ice mining ship that makes runs from the rings of Saturn, back to the mining stations on the Asteroid Belt.  While returning from one such mission, he and his crew stumble on a wrecked and stranded ship.  Upon searching the wreck for survivors or clues to their demise, they instead find themselves unwittingly and unwillingly a part of events that might just start a terrible war.  With war brewing faster than your morning pot of coffee, Holden and his crew discover that they just might be the key to putting a stop to things before things get crazy.

The opposing point of view character is the curmudgeony Detective Miller, who has been handed a missing persons case.  Not the easiest kind of case given that there's billions upon billions of people in the solar system, but the parents are rich, and contrary to popular belief, money, not the sun's gravitational pull,  makes the solar system go round.  When Miller's search leads him to the same wrecked ship that Holden and his crew discovered, Miller beings to realize the missing girl may be the key to everything, including peace in the solar system.

I think what impressed me most about Leviathan Wakes is how well crafted and honed this novel is.  There seemed to be a deliberate effort to make the book not only accessible to a wide range of readers, but to also bestow the book with a steady pace where the plot is always moving forward in interesting directions.  There is barely a single moment where this books feels like it is lagging, or losing momentum.  I think it is pretty fair to say that this book had me engaged from the very first page, til the very last. The kicker here though is the story  itself which has, for my money, the near perfect blend of some wonderful elements: drama, action, intrigue, politics, a bit of horror, (with a dash of gore), and even a few moments that wouldn't be all that out of place in a fantasy novel.  I was a happy reader.

My one an only complaint here is that sometimes, the secondary characters didn't feel like they had too much substance to them.  Some of Holden's crew members tended to blur together into one unidentifiable clump, better defined by their jobs on the ship rather than their unique personalities.  This didn't have much impact on the quality of the book though as there was so much other great stuff going on for it.  Still, it was an area that was noticeably thin.

In the end, Leviathan Wakes stands out not only as one of the best science fiction books I've read this year, but it stands out as one of the best books I've read this year period.  This one managed to hit quite a few of my buttons, all while being something way different from what I normally enjoy. So kudos to Daniel Abraham, and Ty Franck for writing such a kick ass book.  If you haven't had the chance to read this one, it is pretty much a must read.

Grade: A-