2024 In Books - Part Two

Part One Here

Alright, now onto the part where I dodge projectiles! Here are my bottom three of the year, and I expect they’ll ruffle some feathers. Here there be award winners, favorites of my friends, and highly respected authors.

Proceed at your own peril.

3. Eldest by Christopher Paolini

All of the following statements are true:

• The Inheritance Cycle is one of the most important fantasy series ever created. It serves as the perfect bridge for young readers wanting to enter the realm of high fantasy. It’s a good high fantasy series that will guide those young minds eventually to the great works of Tolkien, Martin, and Sanderson, and, most importantly, allow those readers to enjoy them more when they get there.
• As a 31 year old male, this book is not written for me. I read Eldest in middle school and adored it. I can’t tell you how often I remade the battle on the Burning Plains with Legos, the Mega Bloks knights naturally being the Empire. Unfortunately, I never picked the series up again (something I’m currently rectifying).
• The amount of exposition in this book is wild. I swear the first third is Basil Exposition reading notes, but I’ll concede that given the target audience, it’s needed.

Overall, I ended up at 64/100. Is that adult taste influencing my opinion of a young adult book? Almost certainly. Outside of the overreliance on exposition, my major complaints stem from too many conflicts resolving themselves; the good guys and girls all agree with each other way too much. In Empire, Yoda tries to prevent Luke leaving, why does Eragon not face the same?

This is a series I will recommend to my nieces and nephews when they get to that point. It just doesn’t quite hold up as much as an adult reader. Still, at a 64/100 it’s definitely not bad.

With that said, a third of the way into Brisingr and, as one would expect, Paolini’s writing matured as he did.

(also Chris if you’re still lurking around on Vocal, it’s a 100/100 no notes)

2. The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin

Oh yeah, we’re getting controversial. I’m completely of two minds about this book.

On one hand, there are some mind bending uses of theoretical physics in it, the characters are all well motivated and written, and the flashbacks to Communist China are stupendous. If you gave me an entire book on the Red Coast Base, I’d eat it for breakfast.

On the other hand, there are huge stretches of this book that amount to little more than lectures. Beyond that, it suffered a mortal blow from Netflix; I cannot rate a book highly when the adaptation is better.

There’s some good stuff in here, and I fully understand why it’s a Hugo Award Winner, but in 2025 the genre has surpassed it. I landed at 61/100, citing lower than average scores on my enjoyment of it, the prose, and while the characters are well made, they’re not very memorable to me.

1. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N .K. Jemisin

I would not be surprised if someone comments, “wtf this is my favorite book!”

The prose is stellar. It has a winding plot and a good world. Even some of the characters are great!

Why then, do I have it as my lowest book of the year?

Because I, for the life of me, couldn’t tell you the main character's name. I even looked it up this week doing prep work for this piece and already forgot!

When I got to the end of this book, I had fifty pages left, right in the peak of the plot twist, and I set the book down. If I have fifty pages left, and I set your book down for any reason other than 1. My dog is puking, or 2. I’m so moved that I needed to cry, we have problems.

Stephen and I were having a conversation about publishers' desire for plot over character. This is an example of a plot meaning nothing if the characters don’t matter. If the plot twist involves an unexpected death, you better make sure I actually give a damn about the person dying.

To me, everything in the plot distracted from what the author was trying to do; an exploration of desire.

I can go on and on, but I’ll let the South Park boys sum up my thoughts:

Final rating: 60/100. It’s not a disaster, I can see why people may love it, but this one isn’t for me.

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed my ramblings. If not...

Full rankings:

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay: see part one

Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers: see part one

Light Bringer by Pierce Brown: see part one

Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson: 82/100 - The most disturbing representation of zombies I’ve ever seen in a fantasy novel. If it wasn’t for a weak third act, this one would be way higher.

The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre: 82/100: Best non-fiction book I’ve read since The Wager. A truly remarkable true story that illuminated the behind the scenes events of the Cold War.

A Prayer For The Crown Shy by Becky Chambers: 82/100 - An excellent follow up to Prayer For The Wild Built. Some of the novelty wears off which lessens the impact of this entry.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinback: 81/100 - I cried, that is all.

Dark Age by Pierce Brown: 76/100: The first half is S tier Sci-Fi, pulled down by a 100 page detour to wrap up a distracting arc.

The Rest Is History Returns by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook: 75/100 - I was expecting comedic pop history. I was not expecting easy insights into an entire host of topics, even ones already covered in some of the podcast episodes.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson: 74/100 - This is a foundational fantasy series. Still, the first book is a little tedious.

A Bloody Business by Stephen Roddewig: 74/100 - Full review HERE. It’s as if Stephen wrote this book for me. #VocalBookClub

Democracy or Else: How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor: 72/100 - Similar to The Rest Is History Returns, I didn’t expect this book to have as much insight as it did. I also shouldn’t be surprised given the pedigree.

House of Chains by Steven Erikson: 72/100 - A huge step down after Deadhouse Gates and Memories Of Ice. Buoyed by a few engaging plot lines, there’s too much other stuff to prevent this from raising to a higher level.

Accidental Poet: Poetry Collection by Paul Stewart: 71/100 - Full review HERE. This is a warm hug of a collection, and having a tactile collection really brings out Paul’s quality as a poet. #VocalBookClub

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: 71/100 - Many of the concerns I have about The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms apply here. I had this much lower at first. It grew on me after reflection. It’s also accessible which helps. Still, there’s too many stretches of reading journals.

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar: 70/100 - Strong points for uniqueness, but gets a little too over the top.

Morning Of Fire by Scott Ridley: 70/100 - A fascinating story about America coming into its place in the world. My opinion was dampened by some of the necessary speculation.

Master And Commander by Patrick O'Brian: 70/100 - Lots of rope talk. Jack Aubrey is an all time great main character.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini: 69/100 - All points about Eldest apply here, but the entrance into Alagaesia works a little bit better overall.

Eldest by Christopher Paolini: see above

The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin: see above

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin: see above

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A/N:

If you've enjoyed this, please leave a like and an insight below. If you really enjoyed this, tips to fuel my coffee addiction are always appreciated. All formatting is designed for desktops. Want to read more? Below are the best of the very best of my works: