Best Books of 2017

The books I rated highest from my 2017 reading.

1

Traitor's Blade

by Sebastien de Castell

The best swashbuckling fantasy I have ever read. De Castell's Greatcoats are everything the Three Musketeers promised.

A-
2

Kings of the Wyld

by Nicholas Eames

Nicholas Eames captures the fun of old-school adventure with a genuinely fresh voice. Hilarious and exciting.

B+
3

Norse Mythology

by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman's retelling of the Norse myths is the best introduction to them I have found. Loki is magnificent.

B+
4

Red Sister

by Mark Lawrence

Mark Lawrence's best book. The convent setting and the protagonist's voice are unlike anything else in fantasy.

B+
5

Lucifer's Hammer

by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Niven and Pournelle's comet-strike apocalypse is relentless. The survival calculus is grimly compelling.

B+
6

The Legion of Flame

by Anthony Ryan

The second Draconis Memoria novel continues with the same high energy as the first.

B+
7

Off to Be the Wizard

by Scott Meyer

A clever premise executed with sharp comic timing. The programmer-discovers-simulation idea is endlessly fun.

B+
8

Sins of Empire

by Brian McClellan

McClellan launches a new Powder Mage trilogy with the same reliable quality as the original.

B
9

A Gathering of Shadows

by V.E. Schwab

The second Shades of Magic novel improves on the first. The magical tournament is great fun.

B
10

City of Miracles

by Robert Jackson Bennett

The City of Stairs trilogy ends well. Bennett brings the threads together satisfyingly.

B