Top Ten New Releases of 2017

2017 isn’t over!  (I checked.)  There are still 13 reading days left before the New Year.  And I only need to read [checks notes] 14 more books before the end of the year to hit 100.  Okay, so maybe that isn’t feasible.  I guess I can go ahead with a Best of 2017 post.  2017 was a really great reading year for me.  I could have written a much longer post on the best books I read in 2017.  These are just the best books I read released in 2017.  Notably, five are debuts and three are indie.  Presented in alphabetical order.

 

Age of Assassins by R.J. Barker

“Age of Assassins may not do anything that hasn’t been done elsewhere, but the worldbuilding is rich and inventive, the politics complex and deadly, and the characters and their relationships so sharply written it cuts.”

4.5 of 5 Stars.

Read my full review here.

 

Blackwing by Ed McDonald

“It’s a grimy story, to be sure, and Galharrow isn’t a knight in shining armor.  But heroism is not defined by the cruelty of the world but by the hero’s response to it.  Tolkien and C.S. Lewis could tell you a thing or two about a cruel world.  Galharrow has lived through a river of shit.  But he has never lost hope.”

5 of 5 Stars.

Read my full review here.

 

The Bones of the Earth by Rachel Dunne

“In the Shadow of the Gods was going to be a tough act to follow.  Not just because of how good it was, but structurally as well.  Dunne spends a lot of time in her first book building out the backstory of the main characters and putting through a Trauma Conga.  How does she repeat or build on that?  Dunne does, in fact, manage to continue to traumatize her characters greatly, and without having to resort to flashbacks.  It leads to some great character development.”

4.5 of 5 Stars.

Read my full review here.

 

Devil’s Call by J. Danielle Dorn

“Devil’s Call is one hell of a story, a bloody weird western propelled by protagonist Li Lian’s remarkable voice.”

5 of 5 Stars.

Read my full review here.

 

The Fall of Dragons by Miles Cameron

“The Traitor Son Cycle is not Fantasy 101.  The Red Knight is a fairly conventional siege story, but Cameron spins it into something much more complex in the later books.  And even in the first book, Cameron introduces a host of POV characters and minor plotlines.  The full import of those characters and plotlines in some cases only becomes fully apparent in The Fall of Dragons.  That greatly increased my enjoyment of this book and raised my already high estimation of the series.  It also makes me want to re-read the entire thing.”

5 of 5 Stars.

Read my full review here.

 

Firebrand by A.J. Hartley

“I was all kinds of impressed by Hartley’s Steeplejack. Firebrand improves on it. Hartley is more confident in his story, his setting, and his characters, and it shows. Ang Sutonga is back as a private detective/secret agent for parliamentary backbencher Josiah Willinghouse, and she has a new mystery to solve. Ang may no longer repair chimneys and clocktowers as a steeplejack, but rest assured that much of the action takes place above street level. And Hartley continues to handle hot button issues with far more nuance and understanding than his peers.”

5 of 5 Stars.

Read my full review here.

 

The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis

“Lost in the debate over Hard SF is that, for all the limitations that they bring, applying rules rigorously (whether the rules of physics or invented rules of magic or whatever) can add a hell of a lot of narrative tension.  Bennis gives us a world in which you really believe such an airship could exist.  Hell, you could probably build one in your backyard.  The luftgas that lifts it is apparently helium, and the frame is a rickety affair of light, soft wood.  Bennis spends a lot of time investing the reader in that.  By the time the battles hit, you know just how parlous a situation our heroes are in.  The choice to devote a good chunk of the book to first trials of Josette’s new airship is a smart one.”

5 of 5 Stars.

Read my full review here.

 

A Place Called Hope by Daniel Humphreys

“Humphreys incorporates the familiar canon and builds on it, both in service of the meticulously plotted story.  Another highlight is the attention to detail regarding everything from guns to farming—an attention to detail in service of building narrative tension.”

5 of 5 Stars.

Read my full review here.

 

Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan

“With Sins of Empire, Brian McClellan cements himself as one of the brightest young stars writing fantasy today.  The Powder Mage trilogy was no fluke (you can find my reviews of those three books here, here, and here).  The magic systems are inventive and cool, the setting refreshing, and McClellan writes big battle scenes better than just about anyone.”

5 of 5 Stars.

Read my full review here.

 

 

Some Dark Holler by Luke Bauserman

“One of the things that makes Some Dark Holler great is that it is all about moral peril.  How could a book about selling your soul to the Devil not be?  But it isn’t just the ultimate decision that we know Ephraim will be faced with.  He is faced with several decisions putting him in moral peril before that.  As are the other characters.  Characters make real sacrifices in making these decisions, and they don’t always make the right decision.  This is a book with a real moral core, and it is remarkable the complexity and nuance it brings to these issues without ever losing that core.”

5 of 5 Stars.

Read my full review here.