The 2017 list of books I have read

As every year here is the list of books I have read. I would call this year the “Iain M. Banks Year” because most of the books I read were from this author. I really like the Culture Universe. Some classics in between and some heavy non fiction books make this year a very enjoyable reading experience.

Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises

What better to start off the year with some really good classic. And The Sun Also Rises is pretty much on top of it. Being my third novel from Hemingway, I enjoyed this a lot. The prose, the story, everything in it makes it really wonderful. Not much to complain about. I just recommend it.

Brandon Sanderson: The Stormlight Archive

Brandon Sanderson: The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)

Brandon Sanderson: Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2)

I group those two books together because they are pretty much anyway one story. Although closed, it is open enough to continue and I there are some upcoming books from this universe.

As I am not a big fan of fantasy novels I am always quite weary trying new ones, but I already read other books from Sanderson and enjoyed them and so those two were no disappointment, but also no big revelation either. A bit of all the typical stereotypes of all fantasy books, add magic, some big evil thing, etc and you get the drift.

Not bad, but not super good either. If you like fantasy, then they are really a recommendation, if not, skip them.

Thomas Pynchon: Gravity’s Rainbow

This is one of those capital B books again. And a really complicated one, this time not from the english language, I have to say I didn’t have much trouble with words I didn’t know, but the story was very complex, moved between locations and time a lot, so reading this without full concentration is a waste of time.

At the end I really truly enjoyed this book because of the prose and that it had some proper ending, something a lot of capital B books lack.

Highly recommended and I will read more books from Pynchon for sure.

Iain M. Banks: Use of Weapons (Culture #3)

Culture books! I love the universe Banks has created in this series. It truly feels completely different to so many other Sci-Fi books where it is mostly coming to a showdown between humans and some alien menace.

This book has a really great story, characters, background and everything around it. One of the better ones from this series. Recommended.

Iain M. Banks: The State of the Art (Culture #4)

I read this right after the previous one because it was just a collection of short stories. And overall I have to say I was disappointed. It had some absolutely amazing ones in there, but also some really horrible bad ones.

If you read all other Culture books and want some more, not even then I would truly recommend it. But as a stand alone collection of Sci-Fi stories it works.

John le Carré: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (The Karla Trilogy #1)

Finally I got around to start this series. After I watched the movie years ago I always wanted to read the book and I was very happy with it. Amazing story, characters writing. Complex and intertwined plots that get all resolved at the end. Wonderful. Recommended, not only for the spy thriller people.

Richard Rhodes: The Making of the Atomic Bomb

The bible of the atomic bomb creation, as someone wrote about it. And it truly is. It starts of at the beginning when humans had no idea how the atomic model looks like and ends with the nuclear bomb. Complex, yes, but never dull to read. Even the pure scientific parts are written very well. But it is a really long read, but a book everybody should read. Recommended.

Iain M. Banks: Excession (Culture #5)

To ease a bit down into more casual literature I choose another culture book. Sadly this one is more on the weaker side. It opens some very interesting view into the AI “Minds” and background of the whole Culture. But overall, story wise, it was not really good. Not a 100% recommend to read, can be saved for later. Other Culture books are better.

Jo Nesbø: The Redbreast

Going down a notch to the classic police thriller story books. I generally enjoyed the other Nesbø books, but this one was dull, boring with so many cliché characters that could throw them overboard in buckets and still have enough left. I would say a skip on this. Disappointing.

Iain M. Banks: Inversions (Culture #6)

Another one from the Culture series. But this one is completely different. Very character centric and a good view of Culture view of social problems. Highly recommended.

Richard Rhodes: Dark Sun: The Making Of The Hydrogen Bomb

The new testament of the Atomic bomb bible from the time after the 2nd World War and when the Russians started their atomic bomb program and the work towards the hydrogen bomb.

Like the first book it is fascinating read, never dull, never boring, but really long. I truly recommend this. Especially if you read the first book.

Arthur C. Clarke: The City and the Stars

I never read a Clarke book, and had to start somewhere. I got this recommended as a good start and it was so. Very fascinating story and I also enjoyed the writing style of Clarke. Can’t even complain about the ending here. Truly enjoyed it, therefore recommended. Also to the non Sci-Fi crowd.

Iain M. Banks: Look to Windward (Culture #7)

One of the best books in the Culture series I have red, and perhaps the best, close to the first one in this series. There is just nothing to complain in here. Everything is so perfect. The story, the settings, the characters. It all flows so wonderful towards an amazing finish. Yes, the ending is very satisfying, not something you can say about ever book. Highly recommended to everyone.

James S.A. Corey: Babylon’s Ashes (The Expanse #6)

After a hiatus of almost two years I finally get around to continue this series. The last book was pretty much amazing, top of the space opera level. So I went into this book with a bit of dread as there is no way you can keep this up so high. And yes, it was a bit of a let down, but not bad all. It just continued the story arch and brought it to a nice end.

If you have already read the other books, this is a must anyway. The whole series is really the best of space opera you can get right now.