Cover art illustrated by Sam Green
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: Skyward (Book #1 of 4)
Genre: Sci-fi
Pages: 544 pages (Hardcover edition)
Publish date: 6th of November 2018 by Delacorte Press (US) & Gollancz (UK)
Skyward is a great and rare example of a YA sci-fi novel done right.
…
This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.
Cover art by Aliya Chen
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Cosmere
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 479 pages (Kindle)
Published: 1st July 2023 by Dragonsteel Books (Kickstarter) & 11th July 2023 by Tor Books (US Ebook)/Gollancz (UK Ebook)
This was utterly brilliant and satisfying. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter will be the best of the secret project novels, and it is easily one of Sanderson’s finest books in his career. …
Cover art by Steve Argyle
The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Science fiction, Portal fantasy
Pages: 420 pages (ebook edition)
Published: 1st April 2023 by Dragonsteel
Sanderson’s experimental and bizarre comedic sci-fi novel with the theme of redemption will be a big hit or miss.
“Your life isn’t unremarkable. You are merely living in the wrong time. Find your Perfect Dimension ™. Embrace your destiny— whether it be to bring Promethean light or exert relentless domination— and travel the dimensions. Become a wizard.”
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Cosmere
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic fantasy
Pages: 483 pages (Kindle)
Published: 1st January 2023 by Dragonsteel Books (Kickstarter) & 10th January 2023 by Tor Books (US Ebook)/Gollancz (UK Ebook)
Tress of the Emerald Sea was simply whimsical and wonderful. Starting the year 2023 with the first secret novel from The Year of Sanderson is the correct action for me.
“Even small actions have consequences. And while we can often choose our actions, we rarely get to choose our consequences.”
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 28th December 2022, I’ve read 65 novels + 162 manga/manhwa volumes (69k 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 (rounded up on Goodreads) or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Honorable mentions are for books I rated 4.5 stars but I didn’t round up the ratings. And I will also mention my favorite novellas first this year. Without further ado, here are the top 15 (or 19) books I’ve read this year! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.) …
Hello all, and welcome to my Science Fiction November monthly wrap-up. While not all of my reads are strictly within the science fiction genre, I would argue that a couple of them are genre-blending enough to qualify as fantasy scifi and scifi horror. I think the Book of the Month will come as a surprise… to absolutely no one.
NB. Books are rated within its genre. For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.
ARC provided by the publisher—Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art illustrated by: Sam Green
The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Mistborn: Wax and Wayne (Book #4 of 4), Mistborn Saga (Book #7 of 7)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Steampunk
Pages: 528 pages (Kindle Edition)
Published: 15th November 2022 by Gollancz (UK) & Tor Books (US)
My god… The Lost Metal was an explosive and stunning conclusion to Mistborn: Wax and Wayne series. Sanderson has delivered another tremendous finishing volume in The Mistborn Saga, reinforcing my excitement for future Cosmere books.
“If you truly were interested in the beauty of the art—instead of some tangential sense of control—you’d want everyone to be able to experience it. The more the better.”
Cover art illustrated by: Chris McGrath
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Mistborn: Wax and Wayne (Book #3 of 4), Mistborn Saga (Book #6 of 7)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Steampunk
Pages: 447 pages (International Paperback Edition)
Published: 26th January 2016 by Tor Books (US) & 28th January 2016 by Gollancz (UK)
The Bands of Mourning is the best of the Mistborn: Wax and Wayne so far.
…
Hello all, and welcome back to my monthly wrap-up. As real-life work pressures crank up for the final quarter of year, I found myself reading a bit slower for the month of September. It’s also getting harder and harder for me to even come up with short reviews. Thankfully, I was still able to write a bit more for the Book of the Months, as it felt right to do so. And yes, it’s Books of the Month as there were two which both scored 5-stars and earned a spot amongst my favourite books.
NB. Books are rated within its genre. For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.
Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Stormlight Archive (Book 3.5 of 10)
Genre: Epic fantasy, high fantasy
Published: 5 November 2020 by Dragonsteel Entertainment
Dawnshard is another illuminating and beautifully crafted piece in the Cosmere puzzle.
Every time a new Stormlight Archive story gets released my excitement goes through the roof. There is no reading I enjoy more, and I am so thankful that I am lucky enough to be able to regularly read new Cosmere stories. You keep them coming please, Brandon, and we will keep on reading them.
Dawnshard is a novella, and as such shorter than your average SA book, but it’s still longer than Brandon planned and comes in at about 200 pages. Let me tell you though, I read this in the blink of an eye. All my favourite authors have that talent to make time disappear, but none more so than Brandon Sanderson and it’s almost sad (not really), because while Brandon continuously over delivers, I can never seem to get enough. Dawnshard is no different. Slotting into the spot between Oathbringer and Rhythm of War, it bridges the gap between those two books with a story that focuses on an expedition to the mythical island of Akinah (Many fans will know that this mysterious place is exciting for a bunch of reasons).
…