Dragons & Jetpacks discussion

The real problem with contemporary awards is that you can't count on reading the good stuff in the year published, so

What books did you enjoy the most that you read in 2017?

I had a couple of re-reads this year that I really enjoyed, including Harry Potter and the Lightbringer series, but besides those some of my favorites included

Kings of the Wyld - big fan of this book, so much so that I paid entirely too much money get the hardcover version of it...

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) - a fun book with an interesting concept (I'm a software engineer by trade so it was very much in my wheelhouse)

A Closed and Common Orbit - very different from the first book, but again, with the AI and all that, it was again right in my wheelhouse.

I've read over 70 books this year, but those are the only ones that really stand out to me.

I'm going to make an assumption that Oathbringer will fall into this category as well, I'm 250 pages into it and I really like it so far (only another 1,000 to go....)

I had a pretty great reading year and not a one published this year. Some of my favorites - it's so hard to choose between them :

Fahrenheit 451
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Vlad: The Last Confession
The Way of Kings
Faithful Place
How To Be A Vigilante: A Diary
The Buried Giant
Ready Player One
Till We Have Faces

My only new 5 star book this year was The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins which was ridiculously fun. I also re-read one of my all-time favorite books The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester.

I had a few good 4 star reads, including some that aren't SF/F:
- The Circle by Dave Eggers
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 4: The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick
- The Long Home by William Gay
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
- The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth
- The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
- A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard
- Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
- Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? AKA Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick
- Savages by Don Winslow
- The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- The City & the City by China Miéville

Worst book I read all year is easily The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley.

I've read a decent amount of 5 star novels this year (not including the published in 2017 in the other post):

Morning Star
The Shotgun Arcana
Queen of the Darkness
Traitor's Blade
Royal Assassin
The Providence of Fire
Fire & Ash

2017 has been a great year of reading so far and still going strong. Here are my 4.5 and 5 star reads for the year so far.

5 stars:
The Emperor's Soul
The Hero of Ages
For We Are Many
Nice Dragons Finish Last
Red Sister

4.5 stars:
Guards! Guards!
The Hollow Queen
We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
Red Sister
One Good Dragon Deserves Another
Firefight
Kings of the Wyld
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
One Fell Sweep
All These Worlds
No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished

I expect this list will expand in the next six weeks. I got through a lot of Brandon Sanderson this year.

5 stars
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Renegade
The Whispering Skull
Paranoia and Mania
The Screaming Staircase
Shadows of Self and The Bands of Mourning
Steelheart
The Dark Talent
Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones
The False Prince

Best 4-Star Reads
The Way of Kings
The Alloy of Law
Illuminae and Gemina
The Final Spark
Pitch Green
Age of Swords
The Hollow Boy
Guards! Guards!
Bluescreen
The Longest Con
Unforgettable
Sky Raiders
Warbreaker
A World Without Heroes
The Lost Hero
and the rest of the Alcatraz series and False Prince sequels.

Audrey wrote: "I expect this list will expand in the next six weeks. I got through a lot of Brandon Sanderson this year.

5 stars
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
[..."

I forgot the Sanderson books - i read the first 2 stormlight books this year and they have changed my expectations for fantasy books - amazing!!

Pratchett is always amazing ;-)

When you name your favorite books and don't mention Harry Potter because it just goes without saying ... much of Sanderson is like that.

You know I always hear how great Harry Potter is but I just can't get into it. Have got through the first two books twice and just had zero desire to continue. I know I may get crucified for this but just not my cup of tea.

The writing gets better for each book in the HP series. Read just the 6th book, then judge.

Yea but then I'd have to read books 3-5. I'm not gonna pick up Wheel of Time at book 11 because Sanderson made it good. I don't mind that many people love it but I was just not invested in any of the characters or anything like that. I've just seen a lot of cases where people simply say they disliked the series and the fan base goes nuts.

I don’t have a compulsive need to read books in order. Sometimes it’s more fun out of order. But I appreciate your stance.

sir Lancer wrote: "You know I always hear how great Harry Potter is but I just can't get into it. Have got through the first two books twice and just had zero desire to continue. I know I may get crucified for this b..."

Hey, way it goes.

Not all books appeal to everyone. It happens. I'm one of the few people that didn't enjoy The Hunger Games as a book, never read beyond the first one, but loved the movies. Go figure.

Some fun non 2017 books I've read this year:

Team-Ups and Crossovers by Marion G. Harmon
Going Rogue by Drew Hayes
Songs of Sorrow and Hope: The Art of Jenny Dolfen
A Net of Dawn and Bones by C. Chancy

sir Lancer wrote: "Yea but then I'd have to read books 3-5. I'm not gonna pick up Wheel of Time at book 11 because Sanderson made it good. I don't mind that many people love it but I was just not invested in any of t..."

I didn't love the first 3 books when i read them to my son but from then on it gets interesting. By book 5 I was buying them for myself.

Part of the issue is time only allows me to read 25-30 books a year and I don't want to spend 5 of those books in something that I might start enjoying by the 5th book.

sir Lancer wrote: "Part of the issue is time only allows me to read 25-30 books a year and I don't want to spend 5 of those books in something that I might start enjoying by the 5th book."

Point taken - but on the other hand it might be the best series you read!

You could always watch the first 3 films for background and read the first 50 pages of book 4? If your not hooked by then it isn't for you ;-)

The films barely scratch the surface. The third HP book (and movie) is my favorite. If the first doesn't hook you, I doubt the rest will.

I've seen 3 or 4 of the movies because my kids wanted to watch them and didn't mind them. Just not as big of a fan as many people are. I completely understand why lots of people think so highly of them. It definitely did something new in the fantasy scene and I highly respect that it got many younger people into reading and SFF.

Margo wrote: "Audrey wrote: "I expect this list will expand in the next six weeks. I got through a lot of Brandon Sanderson this year.

5 stars
[book:Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Tal..."

Margo, I read the introverts book - truly awesome book!!!

I really loved the HP books but hated the ending of the last book. For me it was such an anticlimax. I tore through the books but looking back I honestly don't know which one was my favorite. Probably the chamber of secrets. Nothing really disappointed me there. I found the other ones, like the goblet of fire and order of the phoenix maybe too realistic in the problems between Harry and Ron. I did however find the elements of character development in the kids to be very very well done. Sometimes I just wanted to send them both to a corner and say grow up will ya?

sir Lancer wrote: "I've seen 3 or 4 of the movies because my kids wanted to watch them and didn't mind them. Just not as big of a fan as many people are. I completely understand why lots of people think so highly of ..."

Ah there is no hope for you Lancer - doomed to walk the earth for your entire life, a lonely muggle, never knowing the joy of Hoggy, Warty Hogworts. We weep for you :'(

I've really enjoyed the way the culture has changed -- you can go up to anybody and ask "What house are you in?" and most people can give you an answer.

House Stark.

Favorite reads of 2017
Age of Swords- took a while to get moving, but loved all the "girl power" (for lack of a better phrase) in it and it certainly has me looking forward to the next one
Kings of the Wyld- this was a fun one
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch- probably the most disorganized, but amusing apocalypse ever
Ready Player One- I only made it to the last 6 weeks of the 80s and was never a gamer, but I still loved this book
His Majesty's Dragon- its the Napoleonic Wars with dragons , what's not to love?

As for Harry Potter, I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone within three months of its release.
I LOVED the series with a passion. Until book 5. I thought it was ok, but not my favorite. But I wasn't too worried. Then came book 6. I gave up halfway through it. I had a list of issues with it a mile long.
I bought book 7 because I wanted to have the full set and I know what happens because most of my friends were still reading them. I'll never like the pairings Rowling ended with.
I've seen the first four movies and despite how much they leave out, I do enjoy them.
It pretty much broke my heart that a series that I love so much for so long ended up being so disappointing to me.

Going to have to add Oathbringer to my list for best of 2017. What a wild ride. I'm going to have to re-read and read it slower this time, so I can see what I missed the first time through.