Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Founders Trilogy (Book #1 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fantasy, Urban High Fantasy, Science Fiction
Pages: 512 pages (Hardcover)
Published: 1st August 2018 by Crown (US) & Jo Fletcher (UK)
Thrillingly fun and highly imaginative, Foundryside is one of the most promising starts to a series I have read.
Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read so far this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2022)
Between 1st January 2021 and 27th June 2022, I’ve read 39 novels + 55 manga/manhwa volumes (31k pages).
Please read this first. There will be three rules I set in this list in order for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. These rules allow me to highlight more authors, and at the same time, I’ll also be able to include both new and older books (many of them still need attention) that I read within this year.
Do note that although there’s a rank to this list, I HIGHLY recommend every book/series listed below because I loved all of them immensely, and they received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here are the top 10 books I’ve read this year so far! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.) …
ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art by: Books Covered
Of Darkness and Light by Ryan Cahill
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Bound and the Broken (Book #2 of 4)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Pages: 710 pages (Hardcover edition)
Published: 31st December 2021 by Ryan Cahill (Self-published)
Of Darkness and Light is a vastly superior sequel to Of Blood and Fire
“There is nothing more important in the darkness than a ray of light.”
Hi everyone! Petrik from Novel Notions here. We, the team at Novel Notions, are very thrilled and honored that we have the opportunity to participate in the blog tour for She Who Became the Sun by Shelley parker Chan. This is the first book in Radiant Emperor duology, and with its paperback release being imminent tomorrow, here’s once again my review on She Who Became the Sun and why you should read it soon if you haven’t read it! …
ARC received from author in exchange for an honest review
Cover Art by Luisa Preißler.
The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow by Rachel Aaron
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Crystal Calamity (Book 1)
Genre: Fantasy, historical fantasy, alternate history
Published: 1st June 2022 (self-published)
The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow was another effortless winner from Rachel Aaron, brimming with imagination, wonderful characters and captivating magic.
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I first read Mistborn: Era 1 a little over 7 years ago. While I loved it in its entirety, I remembered thinking in hindsight that The Well of Ascension was significantly weaker than the first and third novels in the trilogy. I was mistaken. While it wasn’t quite as fast-paced as its predecessor, this was still a phenomenal book in its own right. It’s not quite perfect, but it is much stronger than I recalled. And there was so much that I had forgotten! As with all of Sanderson’s work, The Well of Ascension is brimming with fascinatingly scientific magic systems, a compelling plot, mysteries that don’t give themselves away too quickly, and characters with flaws but a ton of heart. Rereading this series is reminding me of why Sanderson is one of my favorite authors of all time. He never lets me down.
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Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I had heard so many wonderful things about Legendborn that I was a little scared to read it. What if I didn’t love it? After all, YA tends to be very hit-or-miss for me. I needn’t have worried, because this book was absolutely fantastic. I was blown away by the world-building, the concept, and the character development. Bree was a phenomenal protagonist. She was far from perfect, but I loved watching her strengths solidify and rooting for her as she wrestled with the trauma and loss life had dealt her. And it’s a campus novel with a secret society, which is an added bonus. This is also one of the freshest, most original takes on Arthurian legend I’ve experienced, even making me want to go back and reread some of the source inspiration.
“Don’t make your life about the loss. Make it about the love.”
Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I’ve never watched Pan’s Labyrinth. I remember borrowing the DVD from the library about a decade ago, but Chris vetoed it about 10 minutes in because it was subtitled and our tv was small. While I always intended to go back to it one day, I just never got around to it. That’s going to have to change, because I absolutely loved this novelization of the story. I feel like “novelization” is almost an insult, actually. Because, while I’ve never seen the movie, I know that the care with which this book was written and illustrated demands more respect that such nomenclature usually provides. Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun, is gorgeous in the same way poisonous mushrooms are: lush, inviting, but deadly.
“In our choices lie our fate.”
ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art illustrated by: Carson Lowmiller
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Fantasy, Slice-of-Life
Pages: 318 pages (Kindle Edition)
Published: 22nd February 2022 by Cryptid Press (Self-Published)
Legends and Lattes is the wholesome and cozy fantasy you didn’t know you need.
For those of you who don’t know, Travis Baldree has been well known for his role as the audiobook narrator behind Will Wight’s Cradle series. And many other series, really. Legends and Lattes is his debut novel, and I do think Baldree should now be known for his fantasy novel, too. I wouldn’t have known about Legends and Lattes if it weren’t for Twitter. Most of you probably know already, almost all of my favorite novels and stories are intense, emotional, dark, and serious in tone. But I do love slice-of-life as a genre as well. When I saw the cover art—illustrated by Carson Lowmiller—to Legends and Lattes on Twitter, with the premise indicating this is a high fantasy novel with low stakes, I knew I couldn’t go wrong with my expectations entering this book. I knew immediately I should read this when I’m in the mood for something short, cozy, and wholesome. Despite loving slice-of-life in other storytelling mediums such as manga, anime, and TV shows, I seem to struggle to find a terrific slice-of-life fantasy novel. But I got what I wanted here. Legends and Lattes is the slice-of-life fantasy novel I craved and received. …
ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art illustrated by: Marcus Whinney
The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Bloodsworn Saga (Book #2 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy
Pages: 656 pages (Hardcover edition)
Published: 14th April 2022 by Orbit (UK) and 12th April 2022 by Orbit (US)
The Hunger of the Gods tempestuous final chapters have successfully prepared readers for the grand conclusion to come.
So here we are again, another year and another book by John Gwynne, one of my top favorite authors of all time. The Shadow of the Gods was one of the best books released in 2021 for me. The Hunger of the Gods, the second book in The Bloodsworn Saga, is my second most anticipated books—the first one belongs to The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson—of 2022. Before I talk about what worked so well for me in this continuation, it is mandatory for me to give my praises towards the publisher—Orbit Books—and the cover artist: Marcus Whinney. If you somehow haven’t seen the cover art of The Shadow of the Gods and The Hunger of the Gods, do it now. Orbit Books and Whinney has created another epic and distinctive cover seller. The scope of Lik-Rifa and Ulfrir in the cover arts is massive, and the realism looks downright stunning …