5 Books You Should Read

Yesterday I passed a landmark for the year: 100 books read. At the start of 2015 I set the goal of reading 2 books per week, but somehow I’ve managed to get a bit ahead of myself. Which is good, ’cause it means now I can put the books down, go out and actually have a life. Right?

Nah, probably not so much. I like reading more than I like socializing. I’m peculiar like that.

Anyways, so that you can benefit from my anti-social/fantatical reading, I put together a list of my 5 favorite books read in 2015. Note: none of these books were actually released in 2015, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll be sorely disappointed. I’ll compile a list for that at the end of the year so for now, just hold onto your underoos and we’ll get to it when we get to it.

Capiche?

Alright, so without further adieu, in no particular order, here’s your reading list:

1. Zero, Echo, Shadow, Prime – Peter Samet

Zero, Echo, Shadow, Prime (from here on out referred to simply as ZESP) is Peter Samet’s début novel. We follow Charlie Nobunaga, a promising young mind diagnosed with cancer, as a cutting edge tech firm tries to save her by uploading her mind into the body of a robot. Along the way, they create multiple copies/clones of her, however, which leads to all sorts of shenanigans.

I loved this story for a whole slew of reasons. 1) strong female character 2) complex worldbuilding 3) interesting technology with ethical implications 4) well-written. For a début novel, I think Samet really knocked this one out of the park. It’s a fast-paced thriller dragging you through the pages.

There are a couple of things about the story I didn’t like, but they were fairly minor by comparison. Things like: a forced love connection and, at time, a confusing application of technology.

Regardless, this was a great read. Highly recommended. I can’t wait to see what Samet cooks up next.

2. MoxyLand – Lauren Beukes

I’m sort of late to the Beukes love-train, but I’m gonna hop on anyhow. Beukes is one of those refreshing voices within the genre. She has stunning tone and style dripping from every page.

Moxyland is a compelling near-future story examining the imprisoning effect technology/social media/interconnectedness has on us all. Moxyland features a diverse cast set in South Africa, which I think is pretty damn cool considering these days, most science fiction is either set in America, Europe, or Space (The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, set in Thailand, also does a fantastic job of this).

So, while I loved a great many things about Moxyland, there was one major thing that bothered me. Namely: the story was muddled by the number of point-of-view characters, making it difficult to tell what the hell was actually going on, and why. Usually, this would sound the death knell for me. I’m all about the story. But in this instance, I’m obliged to look past it, because again, Beukes style and voice are just so good. As I was telling a friend the other day. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what story you tell, sometimes it’s all about the how.

I haven’t delved into the rest of Beukes’ backlist, though I intend to once I get caught up on all the other books in my To Be Read pile. Common opinion tends to rank her newest book Broken Monsters better than Moxyland, so if you’re looking to pick something up from Beukes, that might be a good option.

3) Altered Carbon – Richard K. Morgan 

Again, I’m late to the party. Altered Carbon is by no means the new kid on the block, but you know what? It’s still good.

Nay, It’s still fantastic.

Richard K. Morgan has branched off and is writing dark fantasy these days, but his Takeshi Kovacs novels (of which Altered Carbon is book one) are stellar.

Altered Carbon has absolutely everything you could want out of a futuristic cyber-punk, mystery thriller. A compelling lead character not so dissimilar from Han Solo, a murder mystery that’ll leave you scratching your head until the very end, action and suspense up, and then out, the wazoo, and worldbuilding of the sort you would expect in a Brandon Sanderson novel.

Simply put, if you’re a fan of cyberpunk there are three authors you really need to read: William Gibson (Neuromancer), Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash), and Richard K. Morgan (Altered Carbon). Do it now. you won’t regret it.

4) The Red: First Light – Linda Nagata 

I have an interview with Linda (and more in-depth review) planned so I’ll keep this short and sweet for now. The Red is military sci-fi done at its best. Nagata steps into a typically male dominated genre and shows the boys that the ladies can get it done just as well, if not better.

Three things I love about The Red:

1) disabled veteran not defined by his handicap

2) strong supporting female character (aka: she’s out doing her own bad-ass important things)

3) minority characters everywhere you turn.

The story effectively boils down to the rise of Artificial Intelligence and the effects such an entity would have on the world. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then drink up. You’re gonna love this.

5) City of Stairs – Robert Jackson Bennett 

If I was handing out Hugo Awards City of Stairs would have won Best Novel in 2014. There aren’t enough words to describe how much I loved it. So, suffice it to say, I liked it a whole lot.

All the other books to make the list were of a Science Fiction bent, which makes sense considering that’s my primary genre, but City of Stairs defies the odds by coming in with a weird urban fantasy genre buster of a story about dead gods, magic, a city half destroyed, bureaucracy, and all sorts of other things.

In terms of building a complex world filled with intricate overlapping parts, City of Stairs stands alone (okay, maybe not entirely alone. Rise of Two Serpents by Max Gladstone was pretty good at this, too).

As always, I award bonus points for stories that feature strong female leads who are not simply caricatures of a male, but with female parts. I’ll continue doing this until we arrive at the time and place as a culture where this is no longer praise worthy. For now, unfortunately, it is.

If you’re into urban fantasy with complex characters all trying to act according to their own needs and wants, then you really can’t go wrong with City of Stairs.

Alright, folks. That’ll just about do it for me over here. Now it’s your turn. Get down to the comments and tell me about the best five books you’ve read this year!