25 Series I Want To Read in 2014

Last year, I blogged over at The Founding Fields about 25 book series from various genres, science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, space opera, etc that I wanted to read in 2013. The intention behind that particular reading challenge was to read a broad variety of some of the most popular names in those genres as well as to try out several new authors and revisit some favourite classics. While I wasn’t as successful in the challenge as I might like, I’ve made it a new year resolution to make sure that I do indeed repeat the challenge in 2014 with new books, new authors, and finish it this time.

To that effect, here are the 25 book series I’ve picked for this reading challenge for this year. You can see the previous list for 2013 here.

Best of 2013 Part 2a: Books

Since 2013 is now over, its time to do my second “Best of the Best” list, for the second half of the year from July-December. There were some really good reads in this period, and as always, picking the best has been a chore. I always try to keep these lists as diverse as I can and hopefully you agree.

You can check out my top-of-the-month lists on my Reading Awards page and this list is both an extension, and a continuation of what goes on there.

Let’s see what makes the cut and which comes close then!

12 Days of Best Covers of 2013: Day #7

The seventh book cover that I pick for the “12 Days of Best Covers of 2013″ list is Gene Mollica’s (again) excellent cover for Jean Johnson’s third Theirs Not To Reason Why novel, Hellfire, published by Ace Books. I discovered Jean earlier this year, that is, I started reading her books earlier this year but actually heard of her work last year through an SF Signal podcast. Jean made a switch from writing romance fantasy novels to writing military space opera with this series and all the three books in this series have been quite excellent. I’m definitely a fan of her work now, and I may even give one of her (many) romance fantasy series a chance, just to see how those books hold up.

The seventh comic cover that I pick is actually a splash art for DC’s (at the time) three Justice League titles. With Justice League #22 (Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis), Justice League of America #6 (Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke), and Justice League Dark #22 (Jeff Lemire, Mikel Janin), DC kicked off its Trinity War crossover that saw all the three different Leagues go up against each other, manipulated by a villain none of them could have been foreseen. The event got me to start reading Justice League Dark and right now under writer J. M. DeMatteis it is currently one of my favourite DC monthlies. All three issues were quite fantastic, and they set a great tone for the crossover as well.

Without further ado, hit the break to see both the covers in all their glory! The full list of all these covers is available here.

The Cover Art Mega-Post

I haven’t done something like this before, but I was thinking of doing this for a while. Thing is, there are so, so many books coming out later this year or just about to be released actually, that I really, really want to read, and doing individual posts for all of them on The Founding Fields would be a bit of chore. So I’m just doing a general bumper post collecting all these covers and details on the books.

Hope you enjoy!

NANP: Naming Ia

Today’s guest on Names: A New Perspective is an author I’ve recently discovered and have become a huge fan of, Jean Johnson. A Soldier’s Duty, a military space opera novel featuring a kickass female protagonist, is the first of her books I’ve read, and I can’t wait to get stuck into the sequel, An Officer’s Duty. Jean has also written a number of successful novels in the fantasy and romance genres, and has been featured in a few anthologies as well. In A Soldier’s Duty, the protagonist’s name is central to her identity, and the image that she wants to cultivate within the Marines. Over the course of the novel, it turns into one of the most fascinating elements of the narrative, and here’s what Jean has to say on the subject.

2-year Anniversary Special – NANP: Names And Traditions

Continuing with a week-long event for my 2-year blog anniversary, today’s guest on Names: A New Perspective is noted SF author William C. Dietz, who has written books like DeathDay (the first in his Sauron duology), Resistance: A Hole In The Sky (from Del Rey), and The Seeds of Man (self-published). DeathDay was actually my first introduction to his work (and sadly, my only experience of it to date), and I remember that I adored that book. It had some really cool moments in it, and ends on a promising note. I got the sequel, EarthRise, last year and I’m looking forward to revisiting the duology soon. Here’s his take on the topic of names.