Great list! I obviously wholeheartedly concur with City of Last Chances 😉I REALLY need to get to some Andrew Joseph White, I've been sleeping on his stuff despite hearing nothing but fantastic reviews. Making that a priority for my contemporary horror reading this year!
@@alex_unabridged Thanks! You definitely should add AJW to your TBR. The great thing that his current 3 books are all different subgenres of horror, so you can still mood read your way through his books. He has 3 more novels announced (one for 2025, 2026, and 2027) and the 2025 one, which is actually classified as adult fiction instead of YA (though his novels really cause me to question the boundaries of YA as a category, anyway) looks like it will have a sci-fi bent to it, which will just add to his growing subgenre collection (of religious-body horror, victorian gothic/supernatural horror, and family inheritance/haunting with a thriller twist horror).
I will proselytize for that series until I'm blue in the face! However, with that said, I understand why some folks don't get on with it. I have a (spoiler-free) review of the original trilogy as well as of Absolution up on the channel, if you're thinking of journeying to Area X...
Great year of reading! I’ve only read Guns of the Dawn by Tchaikovsky and have been meaning to get to his other books. Hearing your praise for The City of Last Chances makes me eager to read it sometime. I hope the rest of the trilogy sticks to landing!
I have only heard good things about the second book, which I will be starting in January, with the final book lined up for February, so I will let you know!
A Sunny Place for Shady People is my favorite work by Enriquez. So unsettling and effective in its horror and terror! I read both Angel of Indian Lake and I Was a Teenage Slasher this year and, as much as I loved the former, the latter won out as my favorite Stephen Graham Jones read for this year. There was so much I loved about Maeve Fly that, even though I also had problems with it, I look forward to reading American Rapture. I hope I have just as a good a time with it as you did. I’m so happy to see City of Last Chances make your list! I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the Tyrant Philosophers series.
I have only read _A Sunny Place..._ and _Our Share of Night_ by Enriquez, though I am hoping to check out some of her other short story collections soon. She really is quite skilled at this understated horror that gets under your skin before you even realize you're in the midst of it! I enjoyed _I Was a Teenage Slasher_ quite a bit too, I thought it was especially exceptional in its sense of place and atmosphere. _Angel..._ beat it out for me, though, in part I think because it carried the weight of the whole trilogy on its shoulders, and I thought it did a great job at making everything work together. So it is almost not a fair comparison, in that way. I am really excited for _The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,_ which I have an ARC for and hope to read soon. I think what impressed me most about _American Rapture_ was how different it was from _Maeve Fly._ Not just in content or subject matter but in tone and writing style. It really cemented for me that C. J. Leede is someone to watch out for. I also heard a great interview with her on the Talking Scared podcast after I had read the novel and that made me enjoy it even more. I have the second Tyrant Philosophers book ready to go come January 1, and I have an ARC of the 3rd one to read in February, I can't wait!
I really enjoyed your list, Lekden. The only one of your favorites that I've read is The Message, which I did think was a very powerful book. After hearing both you and Alex speak about Adrian Tchaicovsky, I think that this is someone I want to read as well. I hope you're doing well, and I'm wishing you a terrific year to come.
Thanks! My list, as my reading in general, is very horror-heavy, so I am not surprised we don't many overlaps. Tchaikovsky's writing is really stellar, I definitely recommend it! I know you have been reading more sci-fi, so you might want to start with one of his sci-fi series instead of fantasy, I'm not sure... I haven't read any of his sci-fi, yet, that is on my 2025 shortlist. Seasons greetings and deep wishes for you to have a joyful and meaningful 2025! (I just watched your January 2025 reading plans, and it looks like you're going to be off to a busy start!)
@@arockinsamsara I probably will start with Tchaikovsky's SF. I have ventured a little bit into horror this past year, but nothing too horrifying. I hope you are doing well. I'm grateful to have met you this year.
@@BookChatWithPat8668 Grateful to have met you, too! If you are interested in maybe buddy reading some Tchaikovsky sci-fi let me know. (My email is listed in my YT profile). I don't have a timeline yet, but I know I want to read the Children of Time series this year, and am happy to read any of his work, so maybe our schedules will line up!
Adrian Tchaikovsky is ascending as one of my favorite living science fiction authors. I don’t have City of Last Chances but I’ll get to Alien Clay in early 2025.
I agree. Once I finish the Tyrant Philosopher series we will see... if I am ready for a new series I will likely jump right into Children of Time. If I am not ready for another trilogy (or if I am lining up a buddy read, etc) then I will probably head to Alien Clay, instead, or one of his other standalones (like Service Model, maybe).
Great list! I obviously wholeheartedly concur with City of Last Chances 😉I REALLY need to get to some Andrew Joseph White, I've been sleeping on his stuff despite hearing nothing but fantastic reviews. Making that a priority for my contemporary horror reading this year!
@@alex_unabridged Thanks! You definitely should add AJW to your TBR. The great thing that his current 3 books are all different subgenres of horror, so you can still mood read your way through his books. He has 3 more novels announced (one for 2025, 2026, and 2027) and the 2025 one, which is actually classified as adult fiction instead of YA (though his novels really cause me to question the boundaries of YA as a category, anyway) looks like it will have a sci-fi bent to it, which will just add to his growing subgenre collection (of religious-body horror, victorian gothic/supernatural horror, and family inheritance/haunting with a thriller twist horror).
Interesting list, I still have to read The Southern Reach series, glad to hear you liked it.
I will proselytize for that series until I'm blue in the face! However, with that said, I understand why some folks don't get on with it. I have a (spoiler-free) review of the original trilogy as well as of Absolution up on the channel, if you're thinking of journeying to Area X...
Great year of reading! I’ve only read Guns of the Dawn by Tchaikovsky and have been meaning to get to his other books. Hearing your praise for The City of Last Chances makes me eager to read it sometime. I hope the rest of the trilogy sticks to landing!
I have only heard good things about the second book, which I will be starting in January, with the final book lined up for February, so I will let you know!
A Sunny Place for Shady People is my favorite work by Enriquez. So unsettling and effective in its horror and terror!
I read both Angel of Indian Lake and I Was a Teenage Slasher this year and, as much as I loved the former, the latter won out as my favorite Stephen Graham Jones read for this year.
There was so much I loved about Maeve Fly that, even though I also had problems with it, I look forward to reading American Rapture. I hope I have just as a good a time with it as you did.
I’m so happy to see City of Last Chances make your list! I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the Tyrant Philosophers series.
I have only read _A Sunny Place..._ and _Our Share of Night_ by Enriquez, though I am hoping to check out some of her other short story collections soon. She really is quite skilled at this understated horror that gets under your skin before you even realize you're in the midst of it!
I enjoyed _I Was a Teenage Slasher_ quite a bit too, I thought it was especially exceptional in its sense of place and atmosphere. _Angel..._ beat it out for me, though, in part I think because it carried the weight of the whole trilogy on its shoulders, and I thought it did a great job at making everything work together. So it is almost not a fair comparison, in that way. I am really excited for _The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,_ which I have an ARC for and hope to read soon.
I think what impressed me most about _American Rapture_ was how different it was from _Maeve Fly._ Not just in content or subject matter but in tone and writing style. It really cemented for me that C. J. Leede is someone to watch out for. I also heard a great interview with her on the Talking Scared podcast after I had read the novel and that made me enjoy it even more.
I have the second Tyrant Philosophers book ready to go come January 1, and I have an ARC of the 3rd one to read in February, I can't wait!
Agree completely about the Coates book.
I had a sneaky suspicion you would! And, don't worry, _James_ is on my January TBR, too!
I really enjoyed your list, Lekden. The only one of your favorites that I've read is The Message, which I did think was a very powerful book. After hearing both you and Alex speak about Adrian Tchaicovsky, I think that this is someone I want to read as well. I hope you're doing well, and I'm wishing you a terrific year to come.
Thanks! My list, as my reading in general, is very horror-heavy, so I am not surprised we don't many overlaps. Tchaikovsky's writing is really stellar, I definitely recommend it! I know you have been reading more sci-fi, so you might want to start with one of his sci-fi series instead of fantasy, I'm not sure... I haven't read any of his sci-fi, yet, that is on my 2025 shortlist.
Seasons greetings and deep wishes for you to have a joyful and meaningful 2025! (I just watched your January 2025 reading plans, and it looks like you're going to be off to a busy start!)
@@arockinsamsara I probably will start with Tchaikovsky's SF. I have ventured a little bit into horror this past year, but nothing too horrifying. I hope you are doing well. I'm grateful to have met you this year.
@@BookChatWithPat8668 Grateful to have met you, too! If you are interested in maybe buddy reading some Tchaikovsky sci-fi let me know. (My email is listed in my YT profile). I don't have a timeline yet, but I know I want to read the Children of Time series this year, and am happy to read any of his work, so maybe our schedules will line up!
@ oh that could be fun! I will email you.
Adrian Tchaikovsky is ascending as one of my favorite living science fiction authors. I don’t have City of Last Chances but I’ll get to Alien Clay in early 2025.
I agree. Once I finish the Tyrant Philosopher series we will see... if I am ready for a new series I will likely jump right into Children of Time. If I am not ready for another trilogy (or if I am lining up a buddy read, etc) then I will probably head to Alien Clay, instead, or one of his other standalones (like Service Model, maybe).