2021 is almost over. Looking ahead at 2022, here are the books that are at the top of my list to read in the year to come.
Finishing up series
I made a vow to finish a bunch of series before starting any new ones.
- The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
Only three books left to read, but they are all big ones, topping out at over 1200 pages each. I read one every other month, so that will take me till June.
- Perhaps the Stars by Ada Palmer
The fourth and final book of her Terra Ignota series. Also a big one – looks like twice the size of the third book. And I have forgotten most of it so a reread is in order of the third book. This might be the best book I am going to read the whole year.
- The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
This one too a fourth and final book in a series. Also a big book, similar size of the third one. The plot is a lot more straightforward than Terra Ignota and easier to remember so I can jump right into it.
New Series to Start
- The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
I’m not sure how I am going to squeeze this one in, but I want to see the show and I want to have read the first books before doing so. I bought a box with the first three books and I make no promises about reading the entire series. After Malazan I might not have the energy and from what I’ve heard about WoT, I doubt that I have the drive to read all of it. But I want a taster and see what the fuss is about.
- Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky
A baroque space opera, from what I’ve heard. The guy writes so fast that the second book is coming out in May 2022, but let’s try the first one before that time. My experience with Tchaikovsky has been a bit hit or miss but this one sounds like my cup of tea.
- The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
I actually already read the first short story. The plan for now is to read the first collection of short stories. Maybe the second. I make no plans for the rest.
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
From my list of shame. If I like the first book, I’ll try the rest and his short story collection. I love cyberpunk, why have I ignored this book for 15 years?
And the backlog list of random assorted stuff and standalones
- Philip K Dick’s Dr Bloodmoney and Our Friends from Frolix 8
- Ursula K Le Guin’s Worlds of Exile and Illusion
- Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84
- Salman Rushdie’s Midnight Children
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula
- Andreas Eschbach’s The Hair Carpet Weavers
A Sky of Books and Movies 
I’ve started reading Book 2 of The Wheel of Time and am enjoying it. The TV series inspired me to return to the books, so that’s good. I’ve only read the Witcher book “Sword of Destiny” so far. It was a good collection of short stories, but I didn’t realize it was the third such collection. I need to read “The Last Wish” as well. The other books you mention all look cool. I hope you have a great year of reading!
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Thanks! It feels good to finish a couple of series. Feels like wiping the slate clean, you know.
For Witcher I think there are only 2 collections of short stories? There’s The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny. It was the Witcher TV series that inspired me to buy the first collection.
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I hope you like the last 3 malazan books a lot more than I did.
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I am entering the danger zone now, aren’t I? Feel free to rage and rant on the reviews to come. Some people tell me that Toll the Hounds or The Crippled God is their favourite book of the entire series, so I am hopeful.
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Yeah, this is where he starts to go off the rails, imo, on pointless philosophizing.
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That’s a huge plan! WoT alone… book 4 is the best one, you should read at least that far. You could skip the first book after having watched the show.
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Oh I’m not going to skip the first book! I’m looking forward to something I have never really done: reading a real LOTR ripoff!
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Oh well, then you’re up for a treat! 😁
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If you DO want a ripoff, try Dennis McKiernan’s Iron Tower trilogy. That’s a true ripoff, right down to the Hobbits
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Haha great. Which of the following would you consider true LOTR ripoffs? Brooks’s Sword of Shannara, Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant, Goodkind’s Sword of Truth, Williams’s Memory Sorrow & Thorn, Eddings’s Belgariad, Jordan’s Eye of the World? My apologies to your index finger.
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Shannara for sure.
All the rest I would consider more ‘influenced by’ than anything
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Oooh, good luck with Malazan! 😀 And Sapkowski. I haven’t read anything by Palmer – any good?
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Thanks! I’m feeling good about Malazan and from what I’ve read from the Witcher, I think I will like it. Ada Palmer, yes, she’s fantastic. Her Terra Ignota series is the best SF series of the 21st Century so far. It is as ambitious as The Book of the New Sun and can easily be mentioned in the same breath as Wolfe, Le Guin, Herbert. It is utterly unique. But it is not easy and not for everyone.
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But that just makes it more interesting
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Wife and i started watching the Wheel of Time series with no knowledge of the books. Whitcher is also on my tbr for next year. Also looking for a copy of Neuromancer. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on all of it.
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Oh cool. I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts as well.
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After Malazan, WoT (and most of fantasy) would feel too vanilla 🙂 Witcher is a not really great, with some highs and more lows and i would prefer WoT (one of my favorite 6 fantasy series). Also the Witcher series is pretty good and accurate adaptation of the source material (at least so far). All else would take you just a few months 😀
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I’m filling in the gaps between these novels with a dozen of cool short SF novels.
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Whenever I see you rave about Palmer, I’m starting to doubt my choice not to start the series. Maybe I should just give it a go.
I have the first 2 of Wheel of Time on my TBR as well, second hand copies I bought cheap once. Never really felt the need to start them, but I guess with the tv series, 2022 might be the year I finally start the first.
I only read the first Bancroft, but wasn’t inclined to read on. Too unbelievable world building & story for my taste.
As for Tchaikovsky, I have yet to read him, but somehow nothing really appealed to me. I’ve tried the first few pages of Children of Time in the bookstore but the prose bugged me. The fact that he writes so much makes me a bit suspicious as well. But this title seems appealing indeed. I guess I will wait for your review 🙂
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Wheel of Time? Why would you EVER read that despicable TRASH for BABIES instead of TRUE LITERATURE like MALAZAN? yeah I’m giving Tchaikovsky another chance. He’s very wordy and should edit his books down, from what I’ve read of him, but this one just sounds cool.
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I will read book 3 of Mazalan some day, no worries!
About Palmer: I’ve read some more reviews about here, and I came across this very interesting one, by Teleseparatist on Goodreads, of the second book in the series:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2066822895?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Not sure if you’d be willing to comment on some of the objections she raises, but it would help me a lot in my decision whether to give it a go yes or no.
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I think this reviewer completely misses the point of the series. Palmer’s series explores the idea that if you were to suppress gender and religion as if they don’t exist, then these forces will come back in covert ways and rulers will use these suppressed forces for power plays and political games. They become twisted and obscene forces because repressed. Palmer’s use of French enlightenment philosophers fits that situation very well because those philosophers were pushing against what was seen as proper and decent. The reviewers also seems to think that the opinions of characters echo Palmer’s own opinion, but they don’t. Also, in the way of Gene Wolfe, the characters are unreliable and the text itself is either written by in-universe characters or presented to imaginary audiences in the mind of these writers. You gotta read between the lines.
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Okay, thanks, that clarifies a lot!
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I´m on page 30 now of book 1 and it is brilliant. It is really strange that just from only 30 pages I can tell this indeed is top shelf of the highest order. It could still take a downturn obviously, but somehow my gut says this will be a new favorite series indeed. Wonderfull, thanks for this post, I´d written her off.
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I hope you’ll like it! Lots of people bounce off the writing style the moment they try the book, but it sounds like it is working for you.
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I thought the style would be much harder. You get used to it quickly, and it´s not that far from regular English imo. She simply writes well constructed sentences.
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Yeah, most people just want to read quick and easy lines. By the way, on the goodreads page of the first book, Palmer gives an interesting explanation about her stance on the whole gender and religion thing.
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Thanks, heading over there right now!
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