#RequiredReading: SF, Fantasy and a little bit of the old Medieval

In  downtime I read avidly. Here’s a snapshot of the last six months or so:

Wool [and] Shift [and] DustHugh Howey. The first is brilliant and the second and third necessary and involving extrapolations of the original idea.

11.22.63 [and] Under the Dome Stephen King. Fell out of interest with King until I picked up the first, which like the second, is a superbly realised high concept novel. If you can get over the style these are classics.

American GodsNeil Gaiman. Interesting take on the Gods imported to America by the European diaspora, at times compulsive.

Blood SongAnthony Ryan & Emperor of ThornsMark Lawrence. A great trilogy in prospective with the first, and a sometimes excruciating finale to a great trilogy in the second. Really, really rate Mark Lawrence.

RevelationC. J. Sansom. Shardlake is one of those persistent characters whose idiosyncracies stay with you long after the novel ends. Sansom hasn’t disappointed yet, although this time around I’d guessed the culprit long before the eponymous revelation.

Proxima [and] FloodStephen Baxter. One of my favourite all-time authors. The first is totally compulsive. The second a bleak warning about climate change – a must-read.

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