I haven't gotten around to reading half as many books in 2013 as I would have liked, but I got through a few, and some memorable ones too.

I decided, this year, to start reading some of the things that I felt like I 'should' read. As a fantasy writer, this meant the big fantasy novels that I had never gotten round to, and as a general nerd I also decided to throw in some ancient mythology and literature. But I think I'll do a separate post about mythology in a while, since it's something I'm very interested in and I don't want to bore people without giving them ample warning in the title.

My first really good reads of the year were The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. I enjoyed them both a lot and I'm definitely looking forward to the next in the series, but they confused me. I'm not quite sure why I liked them. The protagonist, a legendary hero named Kvothe who has gone into hiding for reasons unknown, recites his life story to a traveling scholar. Without giving away any spoilers, it's fair to say that not much happens plot-wise for a lot of the book, and there are frequent sort of 'false alleys'. It's meant to resemble real life in that way, but in other ways it certainly doesn't. Kvothe, a precocious, charming, kind-hearted genius, is pretty close to Mary Sue territory as a character. He tends to run into 'exceptions' wherever he goes, because he's just that exceptional. But at the same time, I liked Kvothe and I liked the books. The quality of the prose is excellent and the first-person narrative really works. Kvothe's observations on his world and his well-portrayed emotions are what make the first two books of the Kingkiller Chronicles stand out, for me.

The other novel that really stood out to me this year was Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. Based around a royal bastard whose presence at court is tolerated at best, it starts rather slow. The main character, 'Fitz', doesn't speak or even have a name for a good quarter of the book, but it does take off eventually and it totally drew me in. It's very hard to predict where the plot's going, and it doesn't follow the usual conventions of anything, really. The story meanders in a strangely intriguing way from episode to episode, as Fitz attempts to gain skills in different areas and grows up, all while an ominous enemy of the kingdom makes its presence felt. Unlike Kvothe, Fitz is not exactly a wonder boy; he's despised by some and keeps a dark secret, and he's not overly flashy in any way. Sometimes, it is nice to have a fantasy protagonist who at least vaguely resembles an ordinary person, and I'm very much looking forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy to see how it all develops.

Out of all the books I read this year (not that there were an awful lot of them), I have to say there weren't really any others that got me so excited about starting a new series, and that feeling of discovery is one of my favourite things about the fantasy genre. I must try to diversify my genre choices a bit next year, but I enjoyed my time with fantasy and myths in 2013.

Here's to another year of great books in 2014. Happy New Year!