It’s that time of year again! Time for an endless parade of year end lists. This is actually a scheduled Top Ten Tuesday topic for later this month, but I wanted to go ahead and get this one up.
2018 was a slow reading year for me. I swear I’m going to squeeze a few more in, but I’ve only read 53 books so far this year, after reading 90 in 2017. And the year started off slow quality-wise as well. But things picked up and, with the advent of the new blog, I decided to do two best books I’ve read this year post. This is my list of the best speculative fiction and related works. You can find my list of the best of everything else at Hillbilly Highways.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Artsy Reader Girl.
(Grouped by 5- and 4.5-star ratings, then arranged in alphabetical order.)
5-star books
Cold Iron by Miles Cameron
A fresh take on well worn coming-of-age Chose One tropes, plus everything that makes Cameron’s other books great. Even if the map did need annotating.
Buy it here.
The Dream of the Iron Dragon by Rob Kroese
A rigorous hard science fiction alternative history story with Vikings about building a spaceship from scratch using future knowledge and 11th century materials? Hell yes. My only complaint is that you need to read the rest of the trilogy to get the full payoff. I need to get on those stat.
Buy it here.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (reread)
Yep. This is still my favorite fantasy book of all-time. It should really be on here twice because I read it twice this year. (Three times if you count The History of the Hobbit.)
Buy it here.
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (reread)
Which isn’t to downplay The Lord of the Rings, although I continue to slightly prefer The Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings changed the future of an entire genre for a reason.
Buy it here.
Ravencry by Ed McDonald
Blackwing was one of my favorite books of 2017 and there was no sophomore slump with Ravencry. I would be a lot happier if more books could fairly be described as “grimheart” instead of just grimdark.
Buy it here.
4.5-star books
Dracula by Bram Stoker (reread)
Buy it here.
The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip and Carol Zaleski
Buy it here.
Making Peace by Adam Lane Smith
Buy it here.
A Place For War by Daniel Humphreys
Buy it here.
Zero Day by Ezekiel Boone
Buy it here.
Honorable Mention for Works I am Still Reading or That Need Reviews
Astounding by Alec Nevala-Lee
The Shattered Sun by Rachel Dunne
She by H. Rider Haggard
Solomon Kane by Robert E. Howard
What were the best books you read this year?
Every Day Should Be Tuesday 
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Nice topic for this week’s TTT post!!
Here’s a link to my Top Ten Tuesday post for this week: https://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2018/12/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-free-little.html
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I can tell exactly where you ran out of steam (or had to take care of the baby) on this post, my friend! 😉
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4.5-star books only deserve faint praise.
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4.5 stars is garbage
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4.5star books are just waiting for a re-read so the reader can realize how great they actually are 😉
♪5stars ♪in disguise♪
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Just went back to read your review of Dream of an Iron Dragon. Have you read Williamson’s A Long Time Until Now? And if so, how would you compare them?
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I have not.
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It was decent, if a little anti-climactic. Similar premise, by the sounds of it: American armed forces get sent back in time to Neolithic Afghanistan. I think the book was standalone too.
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I really like that LotR edition you showcase. Mmmhhmmm….
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That’s the edition I have. It’s beautiful.
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Adding Cold Iron to my tbr now! 🙂
Lauren @ Always Me
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I still need to buy Ravencry.
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I thought Iron Dragon was great too! It was a really fun book if you didn’t mind the idea of people from the future meddling with history. I haven’t read the next one yet. Happy new year!
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I really need to start book 2 since book 3 comes out on the 10th. https://amzn.to/2VmpERC
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I loved The Hobbit as a kid. I should probably reread it now that I’m older. Happy 2019!
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Totally agree with you, I reread Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit every year. Happy New Year!
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