Weekend Buys 2/22/14

“Each weekend I recommend three books. Some are books I’ve read and some are books I want to read. Some have been written by my friends. Or maybe I’ll just post a good deal I saw online. Just a little something to expose you to the kind of books that interest me.”

I'll be honest, I'm still a little mad that Leviathan Wakes didn't win a Hugo. This is an absolutely stellar book. It's space opera, so it has the pacing and complexity that I love in epic fantasy all in a science fiction setting. The science is well-thought out and it doesn't have the mysticism/magic you'd find in Dune or Star Wars. If memory serves, the series is meant to be five books of which Leviathan Wakes is the first. The next two, Caliban's War and Abaddon's Gate are equally as awesome. The fourth, Cibola Burn, is due out in June of this year. Do yourself a favor and pick up all of these books. You won't regret it.

The Desert of Souls is another on my to-read list. I have heard literally nothing but praise for this book and I've met the author, Howard Andrew Jones, on several occasions and you will not hang out with a nicer guy. I had the chance to exchange books with him at ConFusion last month, and picked up his second, Bones of the Old Ones. These books are a sort of Arabian Nights fantasy, which to me sounds wicked cool.

I absolutely love the Chronicles of the Black Company. I remember picking this up at the 2008 Worldcon in Denver, starting to read it on the bus to the airport, and pretty much not putting it down until I finished it the next day. It follows the adventures of the titular mercenary company as they fight for, and this is my favorite part, the big bad guy of their world. This is a collection comprised of the first three books in Glen Cook's Black Company series and at just $7.99 for the ebook it's an absolute steal.