2024 Reading Wrap-Up
Here we go again with a reading wrap-up for 2024!
I liked doing this reading wrap-up thing last year. It gave me an opportunity to showcase once again all the books I read and reviewed this year. Review posts are often ephemeral—even though they’re on the internet forever, once they’ve been posted on the socials, they’re quickly forgotten and buried. So this is a great chance to bring some more well-deserved attention to the books, and especially to the indies. There’s been a good mix of indie and trad books this year, and there’s been a lot of Tolkien and Le Guin!
I have ended up with more than last time—27 books read and reviewed compared to last year’s 25!
In November I stopped posting to Twitter altogether after Musk took away the ability for users to opt out of having their content stolen to feed to an AI. So from now on all my reviews will go in mostly the same places—Bluesky, Threads, Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook, and Instagram—just sans the dead bird hellsite.
So here in this post I present to you a digest of the books I’ve read this year. Check them out below. You can click the images to go to the original reviews.
The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Re-reading this wonderful book to my kids as a bedtime story was such a great experience. They got to hear it for the first time, and I got to relive it for the first time in decades. It did have some inconsistent pacing, and the comically large cast of dwarves was a bit unwieldy, but overall a very enjoyable read!
A Bitter Drink
by Azalea Forrest
Such a great story, featuring everyone’s favourite disaster plant, Rowan. Memorable characters, an endearing story of becoming a better person, an imaginative fantasy world, and easy-going cosy vibes. This book has stuck with me throughout the year, and I reckon I’ll be thinking about it for a long time to come.
Wishhobbler
by Francis O’Dowd
I wish more people would read this book. It has become one of my all-time favourites. It’s weird, funny, a little sinister, and full of whimsy, and it absolutely belongs among the ranks of the best dark children’s fiction alongside Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket. And the racing televisions! Astounding. The story tugs at the heartstrings and carries a great anti-bullying message. What more could you ask for? Read this for yourself, read it to your kids. Bravo!
A Necromancer Called Gam Gam
by Adam Holcombe
A Necromancer Called Gam Gam just wraps you up in a warm knitted blanket and sets an adorable skeleton cat on your lap. The cosy vibes are immaculate. The story is a beautiful exploration of grief, and it had me in tears. Gam Gam, Mina, and their undead entourage made for fantastic characters. I already have the sequel, The Wishing Stone loaded up on my Kindle and ready to read. That’s gonna be a good one for 2025.
The Word for World is Forest
by Ursula K. Le Guin
I have never once been disappointed reading Le Guin, and The Word for World is Forest is no exception. There is always so much depth and poignancy to her writing. I wasn’t sure what to think when I first started reading this one, but it very quickly grew on me. The plot is very similar to James Cameron’s Avatar, and with this book, the distinction between good and evil is much clearer and more blunt than in Le Guin’s other works. But unlike that movie, it serves as a striking commentary on the introduction of the concept of mass violence onto a formerly non-violent humanoid species. Highly recommended.
Elder Race
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
An engaging blend of sci-fi and fantasy, reminiscent of The Shadeward Saga in some ways, with elements of Le Guin’s focus on anthropology. Adrian did a bang up job with this one, especially with the exploration of depression from a high technology standpoint. The alternating POVs that also shift tense past to present like in Children of Time, might be a bit tough for some to get into and I’m not sure it was completely necessary here, but I personally enjoyed it very much.
A Touch of Death
by Rebecca Crunden
A remarkably well-written post apocalyptic dystopian sci-fi. Absolutely outstanding with memorable, fully realised characters. I loved Catherine and Nate’s growing relationship as they travel throughout the lands searching for a cure to their ailment. And the set up for the rest of the series was fantastic. I look forward to continuing this series.
God Emperor of Dune
by Frank Herbert
God Emperor of Dune probably takes the top spot for the best book I read this year. It is supremely weird, downright bizarre, utterly engrossing, and the highest point of the Dune Saga. Reading it was an experience, transcending the story within. Words cannot possibly prepare you for it. It is said that you can’t just read the first book in this series, and that’s totally right—If you read Dune, you must read Messiah, but at that point reading up to God Emperor becomes absolutely essential.
Stars and Bones
by Gareth L. Powell
An action-packed, creepy, standalone space opera featuring a talking cat! Stars and Bones was a great lot of fun. It’s fast-paced, and really keeps you on your toes, from the horrifying prologue, right through to the conclusion.
Children of Ruin
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The absolutely remarkable sequel to Children of Time, following another detachment of Kern’s terraforming project from the distant past. Now, the spiders and humans have grown into a joint society, and have set out across the stars to find the source of a mysterious signal. Adrian is a master of the alien, crafting different thought processes and highlighting the difficulties in communication even when there are some common points of reference. And then throwing actual alien life into the mix as well, with no commonality whatsoever. This is sci-fi at its finest.
RoboCop
by Ed Naha
Amateurish prose, casual racism, and an edgelord style, RoboCop is not a very well-written book. Not in the slightest. It’s downright rubbish. Despite all that, it’s actually a lot of fun, and carries a lot of fascinating differences from the movie. Much more heavily cyberpunky than the movie is, as well. Honestly, it was a great find in a used book shop, and I didn’t expect much of it, but it left me pleasantly surprised. It’s definitely a mixed bag though.
Out of Breath
by James McLean
An interesting vignette into the wider world surrounding the previous novella, Carrion Crew. The world is being built up gradually in these shorter stories and I would love to see a longer entry that fully encompasses this background stuff. The story itself was good, but didn’t have huge stakes beyond the personal danger of working as an engineer on a cargo hauler on the periphery of the main conflict.
Reality Check
by Dave McCreery
If you love big mechs in space in a far future world, this one’s for you. It’s the start of the Weight of the World trilogy. Reality Check follows cyber-cycle racer turned mech pilot, Ryan Fall as he trains and battles to save the world from an oncoming alien invasion. Great fun, good humour, and enjoyable characters.
Howl’s Moving Castle
by Diana Wynne Jones
The source for one my favourite Studio Ghibli movies. I loved this book. It’s cosy, fun, with a twisty-turny plot, likeable characters, and plenty of mystery. It’s also interesting coming at this from the movie first, because it sticks pretty close to the book for about the first half, and then the book goes completely elsewhere. It’s really compelling stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed it and definitely want to read the rest of the trilogy.
A Witch in Isenshire
by Azalea Forrest
A Witch in Isenshire starts off as a truly beautiful exploration of the messy process of grief. It has higher stakes than the first book, and also takes a look at the effects of industrialisation juxtaposed with the presence of magic. It’s still pretty cosy like Witch in the Lighthouse, but there is a bit more action and intrigue here. We get to see more of the world, learn more of Basil’s history, and there’s a pretty epic climax too. Highly recommended.
The Inn at the Amethyst Lantern
by J. Dianne Dotson
Strong atmosphere right from the start, really delivering on the lunarpunk vibes. There’s also a strange and intriguing mix of magic and technology. The worldbuilding was thoroughly fascinating, and the characters were really good. There were a few places where it drooped a bit for me, but overall a very enjoyable young adult novel. Looking forward to the next one.
Cold Rising
by Rohan O’Duill
A cracking dark corporate dystopian sci-fi novella. Lots of action and intrigue. Strong worldbuilding, too. I really enjoyed the futuristic corporate stuff. Also this was the first book I’ve read with a nonbinary protagonist. Olgo was brilliant, and their fellow operatives were ruthless and unsavoury characters. If you like grey morality in your protagonists, this is definitely one for you.
After the Syzygy
by J.D. Sanderson
Foundation, but done right, in my opinion. You can look back on my blog at how much I disliked that book. After the Syzygy takes a similar centuries-spanning concept and nails it by not sacrificing the character development. It’s also a really optimistic first contact story that doesn’t lose itself with a focus on technological development. A very thoughtful and well-written novella, and also at the time of writing, a SFINCS 2 semi-finalist! Well deserved.
Heretics of Dune
by Frank Herbert
This was a weird one. The focus of the series really shifted here after God Emperor, and while the writing style had developed and everything was so much tighter, it wasn’t as good. It’s a mixed bag for sure. There’s a lot of good here, and it was interesting to see the fallout of Leto’s Golden Path, but Heretics is, for me, one of the weaker entries in the series.
Tales from Earthsea
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Tales from Earthsea is a straight up masterpiece. The first story alone was incredible, but then Le Guin hits us with so much more, and they hit hard. Earthsea is one of my absolute favourite series, and Le Guin my favourite author. Her mastery of prose is second-to-none. Do not skip this entry in the series.
The Other Wind
by Ursula K. Le Guin
I thought I couldn’t love Earthsea more after I read Tales, but The Other Wind showed me as a fool. It’s wonderful, heart-breaking, bittersweet, and oh so beautiful. We get so much about the nature of Earthsea, and some of the most incredible character development I’ve ever seen. What a magnificent end to a peerless fantasy series. I’m reading the whole lot to my kids as bedtime stories, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop myself from ugly crying again when we finally get back to this one.
The Fellowship of the Ring
by J.R.R. Tolkien
A strong start to a long awaited re-read of this first entry to The Lord of the Rings. There was a lot I had forgotten, and a lot more from multiple re-watches of the movies that had supplanted my knowledge of this particular book. I really enjoyed it, though. And this illustrated edition hardback was gorgeous.
The Two Towers
by J.R.R. Tolkien
I said in the main review that I had only read a short way into this second entry in The Lord of the Rings, and shared my anxious anticipation and uncertainty as to whether I could get through the whole book this time. Happily, I did, and what’s more I really loved it. There’s a lot to be said for the reading experience, and I do feel that these editions help with that. But I breezed past my old sticking point at the Entmoot, and devoured the book in a comparatively short time.
The Return of the King
by J.R.R. Tolkien
I was in totally uncharted waters with this book. What a remarkable ending it was for the trilogy! This was definitely the right time in my life to return to the books because I can appreciate them far more. All the background lore, the poetry and songs, the epic battles, the heartbreak and the bittersweet farewells. What a marvel of storytelling this is, particularly the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. I haven’t spoken much about how quickly I read the trilogy. I binged the lot in the space of about three weeks, which is uncommonly fast for me, and is a testament to how much I enjoyed it.
Shattered Spirits: The Fall of Ishcairn
by Cal Black
Occult cosmic horror in a gaslamp fantasy setting. Very creepy and disturbing with a great twist ending. Shattered Spirits is really evocative of Bloodborne, which I adored. In my review I avoided using the term “Lovecraftian” because of its unfortunate implications, but this novella really nails the heart of the wider genre divorced of its problematic elements. Snappy pacing, great character backstory and motivations, you really feel Corrie’s struggle to survive and put an end to the affliction in Ishcairn. The ending was excellent also. Highly recommended.
A Sorrow Named Joy
by Sarah Chorn
An absolute marvel from this SFINCS 1 champion novella. A haunting and bittersweet science fiction story with astounding character work and gorgeous prose. Definitely one of my favourite novellas of the year and a masterclass in the art of foreshadowing. Bravo!
Dragonmeat
by Angela Boord
This was an intriguing and compelling SFINCS 1 finalist novella, and prequel to the wider series. I enjoyed my time with this story, and I really appreciated the different take on dragons. Definitely a series I’m looking to continue reading!
CURRENTLY READING
Books I’m reading but haven’t had time to finish by the end of the year. Watch out for their reviews to appear on the blog in 2025. Happy New Year!
The Silmarillion
by J.R.R. Tolkien
I must be a glutton for punishment, because I started this legendarily difficult book on Christmas Eve, and it’s been my last read of the year. I’m deliberately taking it slow, reading section by section to ensure I don’t crash out of it. But I love all the background lore; it’s fascinating to me, so I’m looking forward to finishing this and making it my first review of 2025!
