Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! This is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where a new top ten list hits the web every week!

This week our topic is …

TEN OF THE MOST MEMORABLE BOOKS I’VE READ LATELY(GOOD & BAD)

THE GOOD!

5) Dragon Hunters by Marc Turner

After loving When the Heavens Fall, I was eagerly awaiting this book and expecting big things from it.  And it didn’t fail to deliver, telling an intricate tale of backstabbing political machinations which ran the gamut from the halls of power to the lowly police officer attempting to hunt down an assassin.  While you don’t have to read book one I personally would recommend it.

Purchase the book at Amazon.

4) Carnifex: A Portent of Blood by D. P. Prior

A sword and sorcery delight; this tale of a dwarf and his dark fate is filled with drunken laughter, bawdy comments, and enough double-bladed axe mayhem to satisfy any pure action lovers out there.   Just be warned though reading this book might turn you into a S & S lover.  The horror of it all!

Purchase the book at Amazon.

3) The Lyre Thief by Jennifer Fallon

Evoking the memory of classic fantasy books from days gone by, Jennifer Fallon delivered a masterful story filled with great characters, numerous plots, and entertaining progression, as this continuation of her Hythrun Chronicles grows that series into an even more epic, complex saga.

Purchase the book at Amazon.

2) Black City Saint by Richard A. Knaak

An urban fantasy set in Roaring Twenties Chicago, filled with mesmerizing moodiness, dazzling characters, and a gripping narrative.  This was a book I almost missed, but one which I will not forget now that I’ve given it a try.

Purchase the book at Amazon.

1) Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan

I’m always late to most parties, and I definitely was tardy to the powder mage bandwagon heading out into fandom land, but now I’m trying to chase it down, because I really love this world and Mr. McClellan’s writing style.  Both are entrancing, which is why I can’t wait to continue reading along with the series.

Purchase the book at Amazon.

The Bad!

5) Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky 

Perhaps it was the phase of the moon or the change of the seasons, but whatever the reason, this book and I never hit it off. I thought the prologue was great: combat, intrigue, deaths, and a hopeless fight against a powerful enemy, but then the main narrative began with two hundred pages of world building and four new main characters . . . and I lost complete interest.  Sad really, because that prologue was great.

Purchase the book at Amazon.

4) Half the World by Joe Abercrombie

My second attempt to enjoy grimwhine didn’t work any better than my first.  Honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised after not adoring Half a King, but I seem to have this undeniable need to keep throwing myself at Abercrombie books hoping this one will finally turn me into a fan of Lord Grimwhine.  Who knows, maybe, Half a War will be the one to hit the sweet spot.  Yeah, it’s on my bookshelf waiting to be read.  *Hangs head in shame*

Purchase the book at Amazon.

3) A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall

When I first popped this one open and read a few chapters, I would never have imagined it appearing on “The Bad!” section of this list.  I mean, I was loving my introduction to this world and its grimdark characters, then it took a nosedive which I won’t go into again . . . because it depresses me how much I was disappointed when I closed this novel.  Oh, well, maybe the next book will fix everything.  Hope springs eternal, right?

Purchase the book at Amazon.

2) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 

For a child of the Eighties like me, this seemed like a can’t miss book, filled with pop culture references to the decade which shaped my life and which gave me (and all of us) such great pop icons.  Unfortunately, before I got to the end of this one, I had grown weary of it and the Eighties tributes.  Who knew I could get sick of my favorite decade?

Purchase the book at Amazon.

1) Snakewood by Adrian Selby

I’m sure this novel owes its top spot on this list to the fact that I only recently read it.  Naturally, my bibliophile angst has not had time to dissipated down to a reasonable level.  Be that as it may though, I can’t emphasize how much I was looking forward to reading this novel, and how much it disappointed me.  Hopefully, others enjoyed it more than me.

Purchase the book at Amazon.