My Reading Year
For me, 2017 has been a particularly odd year of reading – with books gulped down in between multiple writing deadlines.
In the early part of the year, I was spending most of my free time either working on my third novel, The Synapse Sequence (due June 2018), or working through the copy-edit stage of Empire of Time. Once Empire had gone to print, I was invited to take part in a panel at EasterCon. The title of the panel? A discussion of the novels nominated for this year’s Hugo. That meant reading five novels so I was ready for the discussion: Ninefox Gambit, Death’s End, All the Birds in the Sky, A Close and Common Orbit, and The Obelisk Gate. (Too Like the Lightning was not then out in the UK, so none of the panel had read that book). My favourite of the five was Ninefox Gambit, although I was struck by how many of the titles mixed science fiction with magic to varying degrees.
I was also asked to read two books pre-publication: I’d not read an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of another book before, but enjoyed both Off Rock and Netherspace (both from Titan Books) and there’s now a quote from me on the back of each.
After that, I was back to The Synapse Sequence given my deadline was to submit in the summer. (Mission accomplished btw and it is now started through the editing process – more news to follow). Still, the amount of books in the TBR had gradually swollen, and I seemed to have spent the year collecting autographs: Natasha Pulley, Emma Newman, Tim Lebbon, Lucy Hounsom, James Brogden, AK Benedict, Dave Hutchinson, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Claire North all added to the ‘signed’ shelf!
Highlights of the back end of the year included reading Defender by GX Todd, The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley and Stasiland by Anna Funder (non-fiction). There was also the obligatory Jack Reacher novel, this time Night School.
I was also asked to read two books due out in 2018: firstly, Embers of Way by Gareth L. Powell, and Shattermoon by Dominic Dulley. Both are great, and I recommend you seek them out. Embers of War is out from Titan Books in February and is a brilliant space opera, and Shattermoon comes out in June from Jo Fletcher Books (and is being billed as Hustle meets Firefly).
With only the final edits for the Synapse Sequence to finish, I should have more time to read in 2018. I’ve said I’d like to read more non-fiction, but what else should be on my radar?
In the early part of the year, I was spending most of my free time either working on my third novel, The Synapse Sequence (due June 2018), or working through the copy-edit stage of Empire of Time. Once Empire had gone to print, I was invited to take part in a panel at EasterCon. The title of the panel? A discussion of the novels nominated for this year’s Hugo. That meant reading five novels so I was ready for the discussion: Ninefox Gambit, Death’s End, All the Birds in the Sky, A Close and Common Orbit, and The Obelisk Gate. (Too Like the Lightning was not then out in the UK, so none of the panel had read that book). My favourite of the five was Ninefox Gambit, although I was struck by how many of the titles mixed science fiction with magic to varying degrees.
I was also asked to read two books pre-publication: I’d not read an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of another book before, but enjoyed both Off Rock and Netherspace (both from Titan Books) and there’s now a quote from me on the back of each.
After that, I was back to The Synapse Sequence given my deadline was to submit in the summer. (Mission accomplished btw and it is now started through the editing process – more news to follow). Still, the amount of books in the TBR had gradually swollen, and I seemed to have spent the year collecting autographs: Natasha Pulley, Emma Newman, Tim Lebbon, Lucy Hounsom, James Brogden, AK Benedict, Dave Hutchinson, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Claire North all added to the ‘signed’ shelf!
Highlights of the back end of the year included reading Defender by GX Todd, The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley and Stasiland by Anna Funder (non-fiction). There was also the obligatory Jack Reacher novel, this time Night School.
I was also asked to read two books due out in 2018: firstly, Embers of Way by Gareth L. Powell, and Shattermoon by Dominic Dulley. Both are great, and I recommend you seek them out. Embers of War is out from Titan Books in February and is a brilliant space opera, and Shattermoon comes out in June from Jo Fletcher Books (and is being billed as Hustle meets Firefly).
With only the final edits for the Synapse Sequence to finish, I should have more time to read in 2018. I’ve said I’d like to read more non-fiction, but what else should be on my radar?
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