Happy New Year everyone, welcome to 2023, and my first post of the year! May you all have a safe and prosperous 2023! It's always hard to choose "top books of the year" from so many fantastic books that I read in 2022. However, every reader has individual tastes, and when one makes a top book list, one needs to remember that someone else's top list will be completely different. Thus, these lists can be useful in helping guide readers towards a variety of books that perhaps they might not have otherwise discovered. Additionally, I want to state here that I believe books are books, whether self-published or traditionally published. The manner in which a book is published has no bearing whatsoever on how well it is written. I only separate my top traditionally published book from my top self-published book in order to let more than one book share the spotlight! I love reading fantasy and science fiction books. There are some fantastic books out there in those categories. I had the privilege of reading some of these books, and posting reviews of what I thought of them on Goodreads. If you haven’t read these books, and if you don’t know about these authors, you’re definitely missing out! Let’s celebrate some awesome books! There are so many incredible books that are not listed in this post! My top indie book of the year was a book I simply cannot stop thinking about, and the debut novel of a breakout author who has taken the indie book community by storm, with the success of his first book. It's an amazing tale of prophecy, intrigue, betrayal, and found family. I can't recommend it enough, and am eager to see where this author will take his series next. My top traditionally published book of the year was by an iconic writer whose body of work spans approximately five decades! In my estimation, and the opinion of many others, she is one of the greatest fantasy writers - EVER. This book of hers that I've chosen is a standalone novel, and one that has had a profound impact on me. It's my favourite standalone fantasy novel of all-time. I have provided snippets of my reviews of these books accompanying the listing. For the full review, please see the Goodreads links attached! Without further ado, here is the top indie fantasy / sci-fi book, and the top traditionally published fantasy and sci-fi book, that I read between January and December 2022! Please feel free to comment on this and future blogs and I will be sure to get back to you. Chat soon! P.L.'s Top Indie Book for 2022 - ILLBORN by Daniel T. Jackson Why is it so good? Jackson spins a marvellous tale of desire, loss, forbidden powers, beatific visions, rife with political and religious intrigue, overcoming and adapting through adversity, facing one's fears, and thrilling action. Jackson skillfully weaves it all together via multiple POVs, each one, that the reader will care about. It’s a mastercraft effort, especially for a first novel. Everything about it resonated with me, and after more than 700 pages I did not want it to end. I wanted more. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4160869099?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 P.L.'s Top Traditionally Published Book for 2022 - TO RIDE HELL'S CHASM by Janny Wurts Why is it so good?
In the aspect of prose, no other writer I have ever read writes in a manner that forces you, as the reader, to read EVERY word. It is simply the most lush, most COMPLETE prose one can find anywhere in fantasy, perhaps in literature. I would also submit that Wurts brings the additional skill of being a world-class illustrator of her own books, to the equation. The pictures of the characters on my beautiful copy of To Ride Hell's Chasm, truly bring those characters to life. "To Ride Hell's Chasm" is to-date my favourite standalone fantasy book and, while I never say never, I don't believe anything is ever going to come close. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4382880222?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
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Welcome to my final blog post of 2022!
I'm writing this one, on a much needed vacation, from sunny Barbados, my home away from home!!! The year has absolutely flown by! And what a busy year it's been for me and Deb (my wife, best friend, my rock, business manager, and partner in everything authorpreneur)! Another busy, wonderful year gone by, since we began this crazy but exciting journey of writing and publishing books! In March, we successfully published The Last of the Atalanteans, book two in The Drowned Kingdom Saga, to very successful reviews, and strong sales. It's fascinating and rewarding to see people respond so positively to the sequel to the bestselling A Drowned Kingdom! The consensus seems to be, it's a great follow-up to the first book, for which I am very happy! We attended our first ComicCon, in London, Ontario, and wow that was an amazing experience! We met amazing fellow authors, lots of great and passionate fans of various ComicCon events, and sold a record number of books! https://www.londoncomicconspring.com/ I had two fantastic book signings at Canada's premier bookstore, Chapters-Indigo, in different locations! The staff at this book store chain were so supportive, and helped make this experience fabulous. I met lots of awesome readers, and once more, along with the networking and stimulating interactions, sold a lot of books! Thank you Chapters-Indigo! My efforts as a blogger and assistant editor for Before We Go Blog www.beforewegoblog.com have met with praise for my reviews of some great books. I've also made the top 100 reviewers weekly on Goodreads several times in 2022, much to my surprise, and have been humbled by the recognition! As I've noted, it's easy to write reviews when the books are phenomenal. The team the stupendous Beth Tabler has assembled at Before We Go Blog is second to none. What a talented, zany, lovely bunch of people! I'm having a blast with my blogging colleagues, and right now we're deep in judging the final round of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO) version 8! Thrilling times, as we work our way, in tandem with the other 9 blogging sites engaged in judging the contest, in picking from the ten finalists remaining, and choosing the ultimate champion for SPFBO 8! https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2022/10/finalists-for-8th-spfb.html PAGE CHEWING, a YouTube feature, on either the YouTube channels of booktubers Steve Talks Books or Maed Between the Pages (two of my favourite people, and the other co-hosts of Page Chewing) has become a rousing success! We're on track to surpass 40 episodes of Page Chewing early in 2023!!! Unbelievable, considering we only began this adventure mid last year! I've truly enjoyed chatting with the creatives we've had on the show, and learned so much! We hope you, our audience, have enjoyed it too, and judging by the number of views, you have! Thank you for tuning in, and we have a lot more great content in store for you in 2023! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw6bQEbZ9ujT45twa4FhQIRqEQS2K6KxA Finally, Lord and King, book three in the seven-book Drowned Kingdom Saga, is in editing stage, with an anticipated release date of 2023! This book promises to be more explosive than even the previous two, and I can't wait to reveal what Othrun gets up to next! https://www.plstuart.com/ Combined with our regular jobs, Deb and I need to recharge, and the holiday season, with one of our children and grandchildren, in beautiful Barbados, was the perfect place to do it. We all need a break, to rejuvenate, do some self-care. It's also a great time to pause and reflect on the past year, re-set goals for next year, and look forward to what's to come! Remember, take time out of the busy holiday season to take care of yourself, rest, and ensure you're having some down time aside from the bustle! May you and yours have a safe and happy holiday season, and all the best for a prosperous 2023! Please feel free to comment on this and future blogs and I will be sure to get back to you. Chat soon! |
P.L. Stuart's BlogI am the bestselling Canadian epic fantasy author of the seven-book The Drowned Kingdom Saga . For further information on The Drowned Kingdom Saga & any of my other works, please visit www.plstaurt.com. Archives
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