Trin's Best of 2010

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2010 was a year of mostly mediocre books for me, so I was hard-pressed to choose at least 4 that were really good enough to be worthy of the 'best of 2010' title. Additionally, only a couple of books I've read this year were actually 2010 releases, and I've reviewed only two or three of them. Oh well.

So, here's my best of '10 list, in no particular order:



The Separation (2002) by Christopher Priest

What can I say? It blew my mind. I've since read The Affirmation and I had a hard time deciding which one of the two was better. Priest's unreliable narrators are simply awesome.

(Here you can read what Thrinidir thought about The Separation)

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009) by Carrie Ryan

The one book on this list that I've actually reviewed :) I put it on this list partly because it really was one of the best books I've read this year, but also the most surprising one (in terms of quality).

You can read my review of Forest of Hands and Teeth here.

The Long Price Quartet (2006-2009) by Daniel Abraham

Definitely one of the best fantasy series I've read lately. I admit that I've not yet read the last book, but the first three were really good - and, which was even better, the quality went up with every next book (instead of down, as it so often happens). I honestly liked all of it - the setting, the characters, the plot.

Lavinia (2008) by Ursula Le Guin

This was my last (finished) read of 2010. I heard a lot of praise for Lavinia, but I hardly imagined that it will be that good. It was really nice, finishing a year of mostly unimpressive books with an unexpectedly good one.

Lavinia will be reviewed here; I'll probably put the review online next week.

Biggest Disappointments:

Empress by Karen Miller. First book I was unable to finish in a long, long time, partly because the plot was going nowhere, partly because the protagonist was so incredibly annoying.
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan. After the surprisingly good first installment in the series, I expected something equally good from the second book, but got a lukewarm plot and boring protagonist instead.


Books I expect most in 2011:

The Islanders by Christopher Priest -this will be his first novel in a long time and I'm curious what it will bring.
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss - I liked The Name of the Wind, but this book will probably decide whether I'll keep following the series or not.
The Cold Commands by Richard Morgan - I got the impression that not many people liked The Steel Remains, but I actually enjoyed it. I just hope that the sequel will be as good or better.
His Father's Fist by Matthew Stover - Yay! ^^ After Blade of Tyshalle, which was great, I found Caine Black Knife a bit disappointing, mostly because it was very short and ended, if I remember correctly, with a huge cliffhanger. Naturally, my hopes for His Father's Fist are high.


Last, but not least, let me wish you all a happy 2011 :) May it bring as much joy as possible.

Karen Miller - Empress (Book Review)

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I bought Empress mainly because I enjoyed Karen Miller's Kingmaker, Kingbreaker duology and hoped to get something similar – flowing style, predictable but intriguing plot, likeable characters. Wrong. Empress is nothing like that, but sadly, that's nothing positive.

The beginning promises a lot – the protagonist, Hekat, is a young girl, born and raised in 'the savage North' where she, as a female child, is not even worth to be named and is only good to be sold as a slave. When that happens, however, Hekat's potential for beauty (ant thus a high price) brings her comfortable living, education and above all, a new-found confidence.

Hekat's personality and behaviour are a bit hard to explain. It's only logical that she bathes in the attention she is suddenly receiving, and she is stubborn by nature, but there are little to no doubts or fears born of her earlier life. She finds her confidence in being 'precious and beautiful', but when she learns that she is only precious because she will undoubtedly fetch a high price as a slave (and is therefore only good for her beauty), her faith in herself is not shattered. She escapes from her masters, decides mid-escape that she is god-chosen, and sacrifices her beauty so she would not be easily recognised. Hekat suddenly doesn't need her physical beauty to feel 'precious and beautiful'; she substitutes it with her connection to the god in the same moment she realises that she is 'in the god's eye'. It's all too rational, swift and unconvincing – Hekat has no second thoughts, her faith is absolute and despite everything that happened, she still feels precious and beautiful.

After that, the quality of the plot seems to deteriorate. Hekat doesn't grow as a character, she just gets more and more annoying. Sadly, she's the protagonist, so not even the more likeable characters such as Vortka and Zandakar can make the novel more enjoyable. I found Hekat more annoying than even Catelyn in ASOIAF (who is, for me, a synonym for an annoying character) – where Catelyn was whiny and overprotective, Hekat keeps repeating that she is precious and beautiful and likes to think that she is the smartest, the best and the most beloved of god. She also dislikes most of the people around her with the exception of her son, of whom she is obsessively overprotective.

I gave up on Empress on page 430. Maybe if the book were a bit shorter I could fight my way through it but as it is, I felt that for every interesting, plot-oriented page, there were three pages of Hekat being an annoying, unlikeable character. It also seemed to me that the book was getting worse, not better, so I saw no point in reading on. It's too bad – the book really has potential, but it got lost somewhere along the way.


DNF (did not finish)


Trin


Related posts:
Trin's review of Kingmaker, Kingbreaker duology

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My first DNF review! I was in a bit of a dilemma whether to post it or not, but in the end, I decided to post it anyway.
Also, sorry for not updating in such a long time! I was busy passing the last of my exams for this year and looking for a roommate. Now that both is taken care of, I can focus more on reading and reviewing.