2019 has been very productive year, at least in terms of reading. I managed to finish 51 books both fictions and non-fictions. This is a list of top 10 fiction books that I enjoyed the most both in terms of writing and prose. There will be another list with non-fiction book sometime in the future. Reading fictions has always been very rewarding whether it’s the message the author is trying to convey or the ability to be fully immersed and be lost in a new world.
10. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Set on Mars this Sci-fi book deals with caste, power and struggle for survival. The novel is set around Darrow, a member of the lower caste known as Red. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute to become member of the highest class Gold to bring justice for his fellow Reds.
9. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Set in the days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
If you like post apocalyptic settings and want some really impressive writing, this is the book.
8. The God Engines by John Scalzi
Captain Ean Tephe is a man of faith, whose allegiance to his lord and to his ship is uncontested. He is given a sacred mission to a hidden land. Tephe knows from the start that his mission will be a test of his skill as a leader of men and as a devout follower of his god. It’s what he doesn’t know that matters: to what ends his faith and his ship will ultimately be put — and that the tests he will face will come not only from his god and the Bishopry Militant, but from another, more malevolent source entirely….
7. Kraken by China Mieville
A dark urban fantasy thriller from one of the all-time masters of the genre.
Deep in the research wing of the Natural History Museum is a prize specimen, something that comes along much less often than once in a lifetime: a perfect, and perfectly preserved, giant squid. But what does it mean when the creature suddenly and impossibly disappears? This is everything China Mieville, weird, witty with phenomenal writing.
6. The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Considered one of the best book the fantasy genre has to offer. Here’s something from the back of the book : ‘I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
My name is Kvothe.
You may have heard of me’
5. Annihilation By Jeff Vandermeer
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.
4. Black Leopard Red Wold by Marlon James
Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written an adventure that’s also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf explores the fundamentals of truths, the limits of power, the excesses of ambition, and our need to understand them all. One of the best works of writing I have ever read.
3. This Census Taker by China Mieville
This Census Taker is the poignant and uncanny new novella from award-winning and bestselling author China Miéville. After witnessing a profoundly traumatic event, a boy is left alone in a remote house on a hilltop with his increasingly deranged parent. When a stranger knocks on his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation are over—but by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? Is he the boy’s friend? His enemy? Or something altogether other? By the end of first page you’ll be amazed how good China Mieville is.
2. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
This gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep. Ernest Hemingway famously said that he rewrote his ending to *A Farewell to Arms* thirty-nine times to get the words right.
1. Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon brings us to New York in the early days of the internet. With occasional excursions into the DeepWeb and out to Long Island, Thomas Pynchon, channeling his inner Jewish mother, brings us a historical romance of New York in the early days of the internet, not that distant in calendar time but galactically remote from where we’ve journeyed to since. Read my full review of Bleeding Edge here.
10. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Set on Mars this Sci-fi book deals with caste, power and struggle for survival. The novel is set around Darrow, a member of the lower caste known as Red. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute to become member of the highest class Gold to bring justice for his fellow Reds.
9. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Set in the days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
If you like post apocalyptic settings and want some really impressive writing, this is the book.
8. The God Engines by John Scalzi
Captain Ean Tephe is a man of faith, whose allegiance to his lord and to his ship is uncontested. He is given a sacred mission to a hidden land. Tephe knows from the start that his mission will be a test of his skill as a leader of men and as a devout follower of his god. It’s what he doesn’t know that matters: to what ends his faith and his ship will ultimately be put — and that the tests he will face will come not only from his god and the Bishopry Militant, but from another, more malevolent source entirely….
7. Kraken by China Mieville
A dark urban fantasy thriller from one of the all-time masters of the genre.
Deep in the research wing of the Natural History Museum is a prize specimen, something that comes along much less often than once in a lifetime: a perfect, and perfectly preserved, giant squid. But what does it mean when the creature suddenly and impossibly disappears? This is everything China Mieville, weird, witty with phenomenal writing.
6. The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Considered one of the best book the fantasy genre has to offer. Here’s something from the back of the book : ‘I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
My name is Kvothe.
You may have heard of me’
5. Annihilation By Jeff Vandermeer
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.
4. Black Leopard Red Wold by Marlon James
Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written an adventure that’s also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf explores the fundamentals of truths, the limits of power, the excesses of ambition, and our need to understand them all. One of the best works of writing I have ever read.
3. This Census Taker by China Mieville
This Census Taker is the poignant and uncanny new novella from award-winning and bestselling author China Miéville. After witnessing a profoundly traumatic event, a boy is left alone in a remote house on a hilltop with his increasingly deranged parent. When a stranger knocks on his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation are over—but by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? Is he the boy’s friend? His enemy? Or something altogether other? By the end of first page you’ll be amazed how good China Mieville is.
2. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
This gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep. Ernest Hemingway famously said that he rewrote his ending to *A Farewell to Arms* thirty-nine times to get the words right.
1. Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon brings us to New York in the early days of the internet. With occasional excursions into the DeepWeb and out to Long Island, Thomas Pynchon, channeling his inner Jewish mother, brings us a historical romance of New York in the early days of the internet, not that distant in calendar time but galactically remote from where we’ve journeyed to since. Read my full review of Bleeding Edge here.
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