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This list is also available on my Booktube Channel if that’s what you preferred: https://youtu.be/1gXaV7SQVio
Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2020) …
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 (2020)
Between 1st January 2020 until 30th June 2020, I’ve read and reviewed 71 books (35.7k 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 15 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.) …
The Shadow King by Alec Hutson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Raveling (Book #3 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Pages: 506 pages
Published: 21st November 2019 by Alec Hutson (Indie)
A thoroughly wonderful classic fantasy story with a modern narrative. …
The Silver Sorceress by Alec Hutson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Raveling (Book #2 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Pages: 499 pages
Published: 2nd October 2018 by Alec Hutson (Indie)
A remarkable sequel, I really can’t get enough of reading Hutson’s writing.
“No matter where you go in the world, those with a little authority—but no real power—are all the same.”
The Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Raveling (Book #1 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Pages: 423 pages
Published: 28th November 2016 by Alec Hutson (Indie)
This book should’ve earned more fame and praise. A familiar and utterly well-written start to an epic fantasy series with prose redolent of Brian Staveley’s writing style; I loved it.
Back in 2017-2018, when I was still a reviewer for Booknest, I was one of the judges for SPFBO 3 held by Mark Lawrence. In that year’s SPFBO, The Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson won the joint runner-up spot together with Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe. My ex-blog chose this novel as their pick for the best book of the competition. Admittedly, I didn’t get assigned to reading The Crimson Queen, I didn’t know how good it was, but Celeste, one of my co-blogger from back then (and now) did read it, and she occasionally reminded me to give this book a go because she loved it very much. Two years since SPFBO 3 has ended, here I am finally getting around to reading this book, and I will say this: my ex-blog made the right choice. I would’ve personally chosen The Crimson Queen as the top book for SPFBO 3 myself if I had read it back then.
“The arrogance of writing comes not from the finished creation, but from the very act itself. What hubris is required for a single mind to believe that its thoughts should populate the world? What unbridled arrogance is it to disperse ideas like the petals of a dandelion in the wind, allowing them to float free, to germinate in the minds of others like an invasive weed?”