I had stopped reading new Fantasy during my self-imposed Fantasy hiatus, but I never stopped purchasing it. So I had nearly three years to begin stock piling a to-read pile that simply grew but never shrunk. I satisfied myself in re-reading the series I had so lovingly cherish; The Wheel of Time, The Star Wars X-Wing Series, The Black Jewels Series, The Nightrunner Series, and several others.

A few months ago I revisited this growing pile of books and re-discovered several gems within the dust. I picked up The Lies of Locke Lamora and eagerly began it. I’m currently not even 100 pages in but I’m regretting waiting so long to read this book. I had purchased it in 2006, not long after it had been released, and it had sat in the to-read pile for over three years.

I thought I had covered all the books in my to-read pile when I posted the list in the RYOB challenge.

Boy, was I wrong.

Initially I was going to use this blog post to ask for feedback on the books I have sitting on my to-read stack. So that I can make an informed decision on what books to consider to read next. Let’s just say that it’s daunting to even look at these stacks as they overwhelm my desk. My plea to my friends, strangers, followers, haters or anyone who comes across this blog, whether it be tomorrow or a year from today, to present any feedback they have on any of these books. Whether you’ve read the books, or have heard about them, any opinions are welcomed. Now I’m using this post to weed through this list and give myself a place to start.

I can’t even begin to figure out how I collected this many books of the Fantasy genre. Some likely caught my attention on the shelves, others likely caught my attention because they were on clearance, and more probably because the one of the bookstores I worked for was closing and I can’t pass up a good deal.

One thing you may notice is that I only have books #2 or #3 of a series, this is not by design. This is because I got too good a deal to pass up on the book. I’m looking for feedback especially on these series so that I can make the decision to find the first books and add them to the queue of books to read.

	The Hidden Queen Book 1 of the Changer of Days by Alma Alexander
	The Darkness that Comes Before Book 1 of the Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker
	The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes
	Hell and Earth Book 2 of the Promethean Age by Elizabeth Bear
	Transformation Book 1 of the Rai-Kirah Series by Carol Berg
	Restoration Book 2 of the Rai-Kirah Series by Carol Berg
	Flesh and Spirit Book 1 of the Lighthouse Duet by Carol Berg
	Breath and Bone Book 2 of the Lighthouse Duet by Carol Berg
	The Sweet Far Thing Book 3 of the Gemma Doyle Series by Libba Bray
	The Magicians’ Guild Book 1 of the Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Cananvan
	The High Lord Book 3 of the Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Cananvan
	Kushiel’s Scion Book 1 of the Imriel Trilogy by Jacqueline Carey
	Kushiel’s Justice Book 2 of the Imriel Trilogy by Jacqueline Carey
	Graceling by Kristin Cashore
	The Drowning City by Amanda Downum
	Sinner Book 1 of the Wayfarer Redemption by Sara Douglass
	The Alchemist’s Code Book 2 of the Venice Trilogy by Dave Duncan
	The Elder Gods Book 1 of the Dreamers by David Eddings
	The Treasured Ones Book 2 of the Dreamers by David Eddings
	Jaran Book 1 of the Jaran by Kate Elliott
	Blood of Ambrose by James Enge
	Shadows Return Book 4 of the Nightrunner Series by Lynn Flewelling
	The Bone Doll’s Twin Book 1 of the Tamir Triad by Lynn Flewelling
	Hidden Warrior Book 2 of the Tamir Triad by Lynn Flewelling
	The Oracle’s Queen Book 3 of the Tamir Triad by Lynn Flewelling
	The Witches of Eileanan Book 1 of the Witches of Eileanan by Kate Forsyth
	Nobody’s Prize Book 1 of the Nobody Series by Esther Friesner
	Thief With No Shadow by Emily Gee
	Assassin’s Apprentice Book 1 of the Farseer by Robin Hobb
	A Woman Worth Ten Coppers by Morgan Howell
	The Glasswrights’ Apprentice Book 1 of the Glasswright Series by Mindy L. Klasky
	Path of Revenge Book 1 of the Broken Man by Russell Kirkpatrick
	Dark Heart Book 1 of the Broken Man by Russell Kirkpatrick
	The Mage’s Daughter Book 2 of the Nine Kingdoms by Lynn Kurland
	Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
	Foundation A Novel of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey
	Hood Book 1 of the King Raven Trilogy by Stephen R. Lawhead
	Scarlet Book 2 of the King Raven Trilogy by Stephen R. Lawhead
	Tuck Book 3 of the King Raven Trilogy by Stephen R. Lawhead
	The Company of Glass Book 1 of the Everien by Valery Leith
	Red Seas Under Red Skies Book 2 of the Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch
	Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
	Firethorn Book 1 of the Firethorn Trilogy by Sarah Micklem
	Heroes Adrift Book 3 of the Heroes Series by Moira J. Moore
	The Name of the Wind Book 1 of the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss
	Cast in Shadow Book 1 of the Chronicles of Elantra by Michelle Sagara
	Mistborn Book 1 of the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
	The Fox Book 2 of the Indevan-Dal Algara-Vayir by Sherwood Smith
	Sea Glass Book 1 of the Glass Series by Maria V. Snyder
	Storm Glass Book 2 of the Glass Series by Maria V. Snyder
	Mona Lisa Awakening Book 1 of the Mona Lisa Series by Sunny
	Mona Lisa Blossoming Book 2 of the Mona Lisa Series by Sunny
	Mona Lisa Craving Book 3 of the Mona Lisa Series by Sunny
	Mona Lisa Darkening Book 4 of the Mona Lisa Series by Sunny
	Lucinda, Darkly Book 1 of the Demon Princess Chronicles by Sunny
	Lucinda, Dangerously Book 2 of the Demon Princess Chronicles by Sunny
	White Star Book 2 of the Star Series by Elizabeth Vaughan
	The King’s Peace by Jo Walton

What do you think? Have you ready any of these novels? Know anyone who has? What’s your opinion? Which should I backburner?

I have decided to participate in the RYOB Challenge for 2010.

The rules are:

• Pick a number of books you’d like to read in one year
• Choose those books from your OWN collection
• Read them between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010

And some guidelines:

• Re-Reads are NOT allowed (the challenge is to get more of your own books read that have been sitting there waiting!)
• Audiobooks & e-books ARE allowed

I am challenging myself to read 25 of the following books in 2010.

(I plan to revisit this list in deeper detail in an attempt to solicit your opinions and leverage your knowledge.)

• R. Scott Bakker
  • The Darkness That Comes Before
• Jonathan Barnes
  • The Somnambulist
• Elizabeth Bear
  • Ink and Steel
  • Hell and Earth
• Carol Berg
  • Restoration
  • Transformation
  • Revelation
  • Flesh and Spirit
  • Breath and Bone
• Patricia Briggs
  • The Hob’s Bargain
• Jacqueline Carey
  • Kusniel’s Scion
  • Kushiel’s Justice
  • Kushiel’s Mercy
  • Naamah’s Kiss
• Kristin Cashore
  • Graceling
  • Fire
• Amanda Downum
  • The Drowning City
• Dave Duncan
  • The Alchemist’s Apprentice
  • The Alchemist’s Code
• James Engle
  • Blood of Ambrose
• Lynn Flewelling
  • Shadows Return
• Kate Forsyth
  • The Witches of Eileanan
• Emily Gee
  • Thief with No Shadow
• Robin Hobb
  • Assassin’s Apprentice
• Morgan Howell
  • A Woman Worth Ten Coppers
• Russell Kirkpatrick
  • Across the Face of the World
  • In the Earth Abides the Flame
  • The Right Hand of God
  • Path of Revenge
  • Dark Heart
  • Beyond the Wall of Time
• Mindy E. Klasky
  • The Glasswrights’ Apprentice
• Mercedes Lackey
  • Foundation
• Stephen R. Lawhead
  • Hood
  • Scarlet
  • Tuck
• Scott Lynch
  • The Lies of Locke Lamora
  • Red Seas Under Red Skies
• Sarah Micklem
  • Firethorn
• Moira J. Moore
  • Heroes Adrift
• Patrick Rothfuss
  • The Name of the Wind
• Michelle Sagara
  • Cast in Shadow
• Brandon Sanderson
  • Mistborn
  • Elantris
• Maria V. Snyder
  • Storm Glass
  • Sea Glass
• Sunny
  • Mona Lisa Awakening
  • Mona Lisa Blossoming
  • Mona Lisa Craving
  • Mona Lisa Darkenig
  • Lucinda Darkly
• Elizabeth Vaughan
  • White Star
• Jo Walton
  • The King’s Peace

And I’m going to cheat, and include the books on my Amazon wish list.

• Joe Abercrombie
  • The Blade Itself
• R. Scott Bakker
  • The Warrior Prophet
  • The Thousandfold Thought
• Anne Bishop
  • Shalador’s Lady
• Scott Lynch
  • The Republic of Thieves

I compiled a small list of the books that I am most looking forward to being released in 2010. Most of them have hard dates of when they’ll hit the shelves. There are still others yet that aren’t confirmed, but have a high probability of being released this year.

What relases are you looking forward to this year? Vote & Comment on the post below!

2010’s New Releases

March 2nd

• Shalador’s Lady by Anne Bishop
  • Shalador’s Lady is a follow up novel to last year’s release of The Shadow Queen, set in the world of the Blood/Black Jewels Series and following the new Queen of Dena Nehele. This is one of my most anticipated books of 2010. I’m a big fan of Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels Series and particularly have enjoyed the spinoffs with new characters and new storylines.

April 6th

• Destiny’s Star
  by Elizabeth Vaughan
  • Less than a day after I made this post Beth Vaughan did me the courtesy of replying to an email I had sent her, and in that email it mentioned that her next book will be coming out in April 2010. Needless to say I rush back to the blog to update my 2010 New Releases that I’m looking forward to. If this is anything like Daggerstar then I am in for a treat. I still have to read White Star but I will do that in anticipation of Destiny’s Star.

May 25th

• The White Road
  by Lynn Flewelling
  • The White Road is the continuation (book #5) of Flewelling’s hugely popular Nightrunner series. I’ve been a long time Nightrunner fan and have spread the love of this series many times over. I am eagerly awaiting this book’s release, if only because it will kick my butt into gear for moving #4 up the to-read list very quickly.

June 14th

• Naamah’s Curse by Jacqueline Carey
  • I may not have delved into this Carey book yet but the rest of the series is on my short list, so of course I have to anticipate the next release. I do appreciate that Carey has a pretty quick and steady release schedule for her novels. As a reader and fan that’s always a bonus.

October 21st

• The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
  • The Republic of Thieves is the third installment to Lynch’s Gentleman Bastards series. I am currently engrossed in the first of the series and have high hopes for the continuation of it.

Hopeful Releases of 2010

• Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
  • Sanderson publically noted that he hoped to have the draft to TOR by late 2009 or early 2010, and thought the book would be released around a year after The Gathering Storm. There’s no date yet but I am a little concerned that he has one of his own books releasing in 2010 as well. Can he handle both a new WoT book and one of his own? Time will tell.
• Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
  • We are hitting that 5 year mark, will he keep pace with the Feast for Crows release? I’m not holding my breath.
• Spy Glass by Maria V. Snyder
  • This novel is listed as “forthcoming” but there was such a short amount of time (5 months) between Storm Glass and Sea Glass that I have to wonder if she’ll keep pace. Goodreads.com has this book listed as an October 2010 release. My fingers are crossed.

Vote: What is your most anticipated release of 2010?

Follow-up your voting with a comment; especially for those who chose ‘Other/Write-in’. Poll closes 1/18 at midnight. Checkback to see which book wins!
* Indicates that this book has not been confirmed to have a 2010 release date.

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I started down the path of being an avid Fantasy reader and fan back in 1997. With the influence of two close internet friends I made the bridge from reading Star Wars novels straight into the Wheel of Time. From that point I explored the ins and outs of the Fantasy genre, discovered some amazing writers and uncovered what it was about Fantasy that made me fall in love with the worlds, plots and especially characters.

By the time I was old enough to start applying for work I only had one job in mind- a bookstore. In fact I had only one bookstore in mind, our local Waldenbooks; and managed to wiggle my way into a position there when I was 16. Eight years later I would joke with my former manager that I could recall the day that he, personally, had sold me the first book in the Wheel of Time. It was 2001 by that point and Fantasy still was a passion of mine.

Fantasy, back in the era of it’s prime, was brilliantly produced and published. There were authors like Jordan, Goodkind, Martin, Eddings, Lackey and many others who had delivered consistently brilliant books that defined and shaped the genre of epic fantasy. For years I moved from one author to another, revisiting my favorites in between, and made good progress through the genre that I had come to call my favorite. Following the deterioration of the Star Wars brand after 1999, I was still a big fan, though not as die-hard as before. Even so, I had thrown over Star Wars for the love of fantasy.

During Fantasy’s Golden age the authors incorporated everything into their writing and presented the package deal;  there was action, drama, romance, intrigue, battles and anything else you could think of. But these authors delivered a packaged novel, one that could appeal to both female and male alike and encompassed everything we could ask for and more.

I worked on and off at Waldenbooks between 2001 and present day. During those years I watched as the Fantasy/Sci-Fi section lost it’s shelf space to the every growing Manga section and the Manga generation.

While I can appreciate good artwork I feel like graphic novels are utter fluff with no literary value. Argue, if you will, but their value is purely visual, not literary. But they were (are!) a fad that has managed to steal the thunder of the Fantasy genre. In my previous bookstore they took up an equal amount of space to Fantasy and in my current bookstore it’s only a little less space. Even so this fad has managed to steal vital attention, space and more importantly readers from the Fantasy/Sci-Fi genre that otherwise might have grasped their loyalty.

While Manga began to encroach on the shelf space for Fantasy/Sci-Fi there was an internal battle going on for that space. Epic Fantasy was losing popularity and the new comers to the shelves were primarily Paranormal novels or Militaristic novels. It felt like the male Fantasy genre writers (Cook, Fesit, Modesitt, Marco, etc.) took a path that prompted them to write books with such a strong militaristic presence and plots that lacked the flair, and feminine angle of other Fantasy series. On the other hand it felt like the female authors (Hamilton, Armstrong, Banks, Harrison, Briggs, etc.) gaining shelf space were of the Paranormal sub genre. These were the vampire lovers, the ones who wanted to live in the real world but dabble with fantasy, and they churned out books faster than I could blink.

By 2006 I had become a pessimistic fan of Fantasy. Where were the well rounded books that presented a reader with everything we could ask for? I couldn’t get past the book summary on any of the Paranormal books. I fared a little better with the heavy militaristic books, making it several books in on Modesitt and completing two books for Marco. Even some authors (Eddings, Lackey, and others) that I had loved previously were producing books that I couldn’t quite become involved with.

I came to a realization in 2007 that I had lost faith and interest in the genre.

I continued to purchase novels that I would attempt to read. Some series I made progress with (Berg’s Bridge D’Arnath, Carey’s Kushiel Series) while others I floundered before I could make it halfway into the book (Edding’s Elder Gods, Fiona McIntosh’s Myren’s Gift).

I continue to cling to a little optimism that someday I’ll discover a series I either overlooked, or one newly written, that will capture my attention, love and loyalty like many in the past. In the meantime I’ve learned to wait, with great anticipation, for continuations in series that have not yet let me down (The Wheel of Time, Bishop’s Black Jewels, Snyder’s Study Series).

And now- with some hope- I turn to any and all readers of my review blog. We created the “Request/Suggest” section for two purposes- to interact our readers and for the more selfish reason of hoping to find books that will capture our attentions again.

Request a Review: Use this function to request a review of a novel, or a series, that I’ve already read. This might make me  will allow me to revisit something I might have given up on, or something I love and therefore will thank you for!

Suggest a Review: Maybe you think you’ve got a book that will re-establish my love of Fantasy? If so, let me know and suggest it as a novel to review. From this commentary you may have discovered that I’m not a fan of paranormal or militaristic fantasy, monotone writing, and many other things. So maybe you’re wondering what I do like?

• Worlds: The thing I love most about Fantasy is the creative of the worlds, the mythos, the cultures, and the magic. When a writer can truly develop a fully functional, thought out and functional world it’s a work of art.
  Examples: Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, Bishop’s Black Jewels, Flewelling’s Nightrunner, Lackey’s Valdemar, and several others.
• Magic: We all know that the foundation of Fantasy is the magic or those little mystical things that special people can do. When an author can develop a whole new magic class I’m in for the ride. There are only two worlds which have completely blown me away with their creativity and the magic system: Wheel of Time and Black Jewels.
• Plot: I like multi-dimensional plot lines. I love the intricacy of the Fantasy genre where authors spin a web of plots, intrigue, drama and characters. Plot, for me, is more than just the steps and path the novel takes from beginning to conclusion. It’s all those little alleys and back streets that are as compelling and gripping as the main boulevard. For me, a well balanced plot is enough of a reason to read as eries. I like a little romance, drama, intrigue, battles, and twists. The best authors have the ability to weave these all together into a single flowing story.
  Examples: Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Snyder’s Study Series, Stackpole & Allston’s Star Wars X-Wing series, and Lackey’s Valdemar.
• Characters: Give me a character who I can love to hate or hate to love. Mary Sue’s bore me to tears and any sense of perfection  makes me cringe. I like human characters who have faults just like me, and lord knows I have plenty! In short: give me depth and character development.
  Examples: Bishop’s Black Jewels, Stackpole & Allston’s Star Wars X-Wing series, Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Carey’s Kushiel Series, and Jordan’s Wheel of Time.