It’s been almost a year since I last posted on what I’ve recently read. Part of the reason for not posting is that I’ve been deeply tied up in the four Recluce books about Alyiakal, but part is also because, while I’ve read a number of novels in that time, there turned out to be a considerable number of them that I didn’t much care for, and three or four that I simply didn’t want to finish.

I did enjoy The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo, although it’s incredibly low-key, and definitely not for action-lovers. The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri, also isn’t for everyone, I suspect, given that it’s a bit of a downer, if interesting, although there are plenty of bodies, but it’s also the first book in a series. I definitely enjoyed T. Kingfisher’s Clocktaur War books (Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine), as well as another low-key masterpiece, Victoria Goddard’s The Hands of the Emperor.

There were also a number of books favorably reviewed by others that I felt relied far too much upon sexuality of various sorts, without the supporting element of, shall I say, “sharing and caring” for another.