As an author, I always have a tough time making these “favorite reads” lists, because I feel as though I’m insulting any of my fellow authors whose works I enjoyed, but whose work didn’t quite make it into my upper tier of reads. Nonetheless, I will bravely soldier on.
I treated each series as one single read. Deal with it.
I’ve abused the concept of a top-10 list by having an eight-way tie for “Favorite Read of the Year” and I have listed them in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. If you’re looking for a definitive Number-One Best Book of the Year, check someone else’s list. It was tough enough for me to include only eight of the excellent books I read this year in my first-place tie. Anyway (never mind a drum roll—it would be too long) the following eight books collectively comprise my Favorite Read of 2024:
Rainfallen Series, by Benjamin Aeveryn
Salt in the Wound (Book 1)
Secret of the Thistle (Book 2)
A Cask-Aged Blade (Book 3)
Benjamin Aeveryn has constructed a highly creative and entertaining series in which the English rain has become infested with demonic creatures; therefore, living out in the open has become impossible. Combine this premise with mysterious magic and a protagonist obsessed with the Arthurian legends, and the result is a quirky story filled with passion, tragedy, and heroism. The Rainfallen series has a great modern fairy tale vibe that resonates with something deep inside me. The characters are not cardboard cutouts; they are shaped by their unique responses to their harsh environment and circumstances, and they develop and grow in intriguing ways right before the eyes of the reader. It’s a wild and emotional journey and a true pleasure to experience.
Bloodsworn Saga, by John Gwynne
The Shadow of the Gods (Book 1)
The Hunger of the Gods (Book 2)
An outstanding, larger-than-life series inspired by Beowulf and Ragnarök. The story follows three protagonists: Varg, an escaped slave who finds a new family with a group of mercenaries who call themselves the Bloodsworn; Orka, a "retired" warrior seeking her captured son; and Elvar, the ambitious young member of an independent war-band called the Battle-Grim. I was equally compelled by all three of the stories and equally intrigued by the characters in each of them. In fact, it was impossible to pick a favorite among Varg, Orka, and Elvar--all three are fully fleshed out and fascinating in their own unique ways. It takes a while for the story arcs to come together, but the journey is certainly worth the wait. (NOTE: The third book of this series, Fury of the Gods is out, but I haven’t read it yet. I am eagerly looking forward to doing so.)
The Brotherhood of the Eagle Series, by Tim Hardie
Hall of Bones (Book 1)
Sundered Souls (Book 2)
Lost Gods (Book 3)
Broken Brotherhood (Book 4)
A vastly entertaining fantasy saga inspired by Old Norse clan culture. Once I started Book 1, I became obsessed with the story of Rothgar Kolfinnarson and the more than hundred other fascinating characters he comes into contact with. The story is filled with heart-stopping action, gut-wrenching sacrifice, and the kinds of inevitable tragedies that come with warfare. There were moments--many of them--that caused me to put the book down and catch my breath before bracing myself and eagerly diving back in. Warning: the body count in The Brotherhood of the Eagle series is high, and many of your favorites fail to make it out alive. This is a series I’m going to remember for a long time!
House of Bone and Rain, by Gabino Iglesias
House of Bone and Rain is a triumph, a story of revenge disguised as justice, tinged with the supernatural, set on the storm-torn streets of San Juan in the midst of Hurricane Maria. The colorful and vivid descriptions of a storm that brings not only winds, but ghosts and malignant spirits, and an aftermath that includes not only physical damage, but demonic births and other eldritch horrors, generates a visceral response that resonates somewhere inside the hidden depths of the reader's mind. But the real horrors of this story lie in the choices faced by young Gabe, whose friend's mother has been murdered. Does loyalty to a friend mandate following him down the slippery slope of vengeance? Gabe decides that it does, regardless where this path will take him. And the path of vengeance takes Gabe into worlds whose reality he only suspected.
Dark Legacies Series, by Yuval Kordov
All of our Sins (Book 2)
The World To Come (Book 3)
The Dark Legacies trilogy is overwhelmingly ambitious in a way that would undoubtedly send traditional publishers scurrying for the security of remakes and sequels of safe and thoroughly tested fare, and that only an extremely talented self-published author could get away with. With its multitudes of important characters and myriad of POVs, Dark Legacies is not an easy series to read. The reader is plunged into the middle of intrigue and action, and none of it is carefully explained. Nor does anything proceed along clear paths or in straight lines (not even chronological ones) toward a predictable outcome. Yet somehow, with patience, it all comes together in a coherent (if chaotic) configuration that only a genius--or a wizard--could construct. A mind-boggling read! (NOTE: I read Book One of the series in 2023.)
Children of Apothetae, by Jack Moody
The best, healthiest, and most beautiful environment humanity could ever possibly inhabit is one that humans can't help but damage continually until it rises up and destroys the human species in self-defense. How's that for irony? That, in a nutshell, is the basis of Children of Apothetae, a gripping and emotionally charged story of environmental doomsday. Children of Apothetae is a beautifully written parable of damaged people fighting for their lives and their humanity on a vengeful earth, and the book questions whether fighting for either is a worthwhile endeavor to begin with. The protagonist, Sloane, is as complex a character as you will ever encounter. A product of severe abuse, both physical and emotional, she struggles hard to connect with people and to justify her own existence. What I like about her is that she insists on surviving even when she can't come up with a reason why she should. Not your usual apocalyptic melodrama, Children of Apothetae is, for me, the last word in serious post-apocalyptic literature.
The Escher Man, by T.R. Napper
Since I was a teenager I've been fascinated by the powerful way in which memory shapes identity, and even reality. We know memory is flawed, and yet everything we know about who we are and the world we live in is based on what we remember, or think we remember. T.R. Napper does wonderful things with this theme. Cyberpunk at its best is a scathing critique of the contemporary world and human nature in general from the point of view of the oppressed, disadvantaged, and dispossessed, and Napper is a master (perhaps THE master) of the genre. His prose is both subtle and brutal, and it enhances, rather than detracts from a brilliant and moving story. Napper's characters are fascinating, and he has a way of bringing them to life with a few choice words. The character types are familiar--greedy crime lords, loving wives, lethal femme fatales, brutal gangsters, sensitive academics, proud professionals--but all are too complex to be stereotypes. This is street-level social-history oriented science fiction at its finest.
The Covenant of Steel Series, By Anthony Ryan
The Pariah (Book 1)
The Martyr (Book 2)
The Traitor (Book 3)
One of the best epic fantasy series I've ever had the pleasure to read. Superb storytelling! The Covenant of Steel provides an immersive experience in a fascinating alternate world, albeit a grim one on the verge of sinking into darkness. Alwyn Scribe is a terrific character: resourceful, naturally intelligent and too clever by half, low-born, but carried away by ambition. The books in this trilogy take Alwyn from one moral dilemma to another, and he finds himself forced to navigate a perilous road of shifting alliances, betrayals, political intrigue, violence, and ignorance in his struggle to not only survive, but thrive. A rags-to-riches (more figurative than literal) tale that keeps the reader dreading that it will all fall apart at any moment, and wondering how much Alwyn can endure without losing his soul. Alwyn’s story will grab you by the heart, and it won’t let go. I finished this series both satisfied and wanting more.
Rounding Out the Top “10”
Next, I have a seven-way tie for my—what is it, 9th?—favorite read of the year, again listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name:
The Dead Make No Mark (Tulsa Underworld #4), by Mark Atley
With dialogue soaked in police blue and the pulsating beat of the streets, The Dead Make No Mark seethes with constrained rage and suppressed passion from page one to its riveting conclusion. I've loved all of Mark Atley's crime novels, and this one is his best. The characters are terrific, and Atley has a way of making them come alive with his wonderful use of dialogue.
The Storm Beneath the World (Children of Corruption #1), by Michael R. Fletcher
What I especially liked about this book (as well as Fletcher's work in general) is the philosophical speculation on what it means to be human, which seems like a strange thing to say about a story in which the characters are all sentient insects. This book has plenty of intense action, and I thoroughly enjoyed the insightful treatments of fundamental ethical issues in a bizarre fantasy setting.
Mushroom Blues (The Hofmann Report #1), by Adrian M. Gibson
A true fantasy pulp thriller with a terrific mystery, twists and turns galore, and lots of intriguing characters, it is also some serious noir, taking on such heavy topics as bigotry, colonialism, resistance, and family dynamics. It's also, in many unexpected ways, inspirational.
In Victrix: Urban Fantasy in Ancient Rome (Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic #3), by Assaph Mehr
A portrayal of a fantasy Rome that would likely have been more recognizable to the people who lived at the time than the Rome we see in history books. In Victrix combines this fabulous setting with a thrilling mystery, terrific characters, spinetingling suspense, and gripping action sequences that will leave the reader on the edge of their seat.
Love You Till Tuesday, by M.E. Proctor
Make way for Declan Shaw, sharp as the edge of a knife, tough as a bucket of nails, emotionally damaged and irrepressibly charming, searching for truth in the mean streets of the modern American South--the neo-noir hero we need in these trying times! I am CRAVING a television series with the characters in this book. It seems like such a natural.
Speaker of Tongues (The (Second) Life of Brian #1), by Chris Tullbane
Chris Tullbane is a master storyteller, and once I start any of his books, I have trouble putting it down. That goes double for his massive RPG-inspired portal fantasy, Speaker of Tongues. At 850+ pages, it's a chonker, but I whipped through it in a week, and I'm not an especially fast reader. Speaker of Tongues is a massively entertaining book that sucked me in and left me drained!
Driver: A Novella, by Sebastian Vice
This short novel is everything transgressive noir should be! With Driver, author Sebastian Vice has produced a gut-wrenching tour de force, a day-trip through the exposed harsh realities of the world we live in but do our best not to see. Highly recommended for readers who want to immerse themselves in the dark side of town (which, as it turns out, is BOTH sides of the track).
Honorable Mention
The following books, listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name, didn’t quite make it into my top-”10” reads of the year, but I enjoyed each and every one of them a LOT. I suggest you check them out:
The Famine Witch, by Stephen Black
An Oracle Walks into a Bar (The Misadventures of a Paranormal Post-Relationship Personal Effects Repossession Specialist #1), by Scott Burtness
Buddy the Knight and the Queen of Sorrow, by Peter David
A Necromancer Called Gam Gam (Chronicles of Gam Gam #1), by Adam Holcombe
Martyr Series, by MC Hunton
Devotion (Book 3)
Temptation (Book 4)
The Busker War: A Sarah and Jess Adventure, by Whiskey Leavins
Ghost of the Neon God, by T.R. Napper
To Spy a Star (An Agent Renault Adventure), by Jonathan Nevair
Slab City Blues: The Collected Stories (Slab City Blues #1-5), by Anthony Ryan
A Cup of Tea at the Mouth of Hell, by Luke Tarzian
A Simmering Dissonance, by Manny Torres
In Summary…
In summary, 2024 was a great year for reading, and I want to thank every one of the above authors for putting out amazing work. We do, indeed, live in a Golden Age for reading, no matter what your reading tastes. I’ve got dozens of books I want to read as soon as I possibly can, and the number keeps growing larger. It will, alas, be impossible for me to get to them all—but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna try!
Oh yeah! Honored to have made the list! Thank you, Douglas!