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20. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis. 4.5. Fascinating delve into the relationships between the US Founding Fathers. Note, however, the publication year - 2001 explains both the end-of-history self-laudatory intro as well as the treatment of Hamilton (pre-Hamilton).
21. Burning Bright by Melissa McShane. 4.5. Rare female firecaster joins the British Navy in a fantasy take on Napoleonic Age of Sail. Pirates, romance, assholes, assholes getting set on fire. What else could you want?
22. Penric & the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. (re-read) The second novella in the Penric series (which is very much part of the larger World of Five Gods), this might be a little confusing for a newbie. But Penric the not-quite-naive sorcerer and the demon who lives in his head are delightful.
23. Penric's Fox by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. (re-read) Stakes get a little higher for Penric when someone murders another sorcerer. (And the tone gets a little darker, but still delightful.)
24. Penric's Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. (re-read) Up until now, Penric's stories were pretty episodic. But the next three really need to be read together, as Penric has a spy mission go terribly wrong and picks up some dependents. (The great scolding of the enemy sorcerer is fantastic.)
25. Mira's Last Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. (re-read) Mid-point of this arc plot-wise, but suddenly significantly lighter in tone.
26. The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold. 4. (re-read) Completion of the rescue of Nikys and her family.
27. The Orphans of Raspay by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. Penric gets loose in a pirate base. Chaos ensues.
28. The Physicians of Vilnoc by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. Less cheerful chaos, more leaning into Penric's trauma as a plague threatens the city.
29. The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. Chaos, skullduggery, and moral philosophy in the first full-length Penric novel. The climax is deeply satisfying.
30. Knot of Shadows by Lois McMaster Bujold. 4. Twisty little mystery, laced with philosophizing. It's a fundamentally tragic piece, well done, but deliberately lacking in the zing of earlier parts of the series.
31. The Duke Who Didn't by Courtney Milan. 5. (re-read) This is not a high-stakes romance. Most of the potential conflicts are swiftly undercut by people refusing to pick up the Idiot Ball. Instead, it's sweet, and small, and gentle, and full of decent people being decent. It's a little breath of fresh air.
32. How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole. 3. I really wanted to like this one. I actually really did like it, all the way until the last chapter. Which is rushed and confusing, and while it wraps up one character's threads, completely fails to wrap up the other's. At all.
33. Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai. 4.5. While I would have loved just a little more food porn in a romance featuring a chef, this generally worked for me. Jackson always loved his brother's wife, but ran after being accused of a crime he didn't commit. They've got just enough reasons to stay away from each other to keep the plot burning, but not so many reasons that it's unbelievably when they finally come together.
34. Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher. 5. He's a paladin whose god is dead. She's a nun who turns into a bear. They fight...well, not exactly crime, but kidnappers and necromancers. What's not to like?
35. The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe. 3. Dreamy, literary, and intricate, I can see why this would get a lot of accolades. (I'm side-eye looking at you, lovers of Gormenghast.) But it's also misogynistic and navel-gaze-y in a really dated way, and despite having an omnibus edition that includes the next book in the series, I'm done.
36. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. 3. One of the earliest Pratchett books, it both establishes a number of his long-running characters, and kinda contradicts a lot of the later, better works. Funny, but mediocre, and honestly, deservedly somewhat forgotten.
37. Crudrat by Gail Carriger. 3.5. Very much the beginning of a longer series, this is a departure from Carriger's existing published style. Less witty, more YA-y, an interesting SF dystopia-turned-found-family kind of thing. Ends a bit abruptly.
38. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells. 5. Aww, Murderbot made a new friend! While trying to figure out exactly why it murdered all those people, Murderbot meets an inquisitive and pushy science vessel and accidentally takes on clients.
39. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells. 5. Murderbot does not like Miki the pet robot, which is unfortunate, because now Murderbot has to keep Miki's friends from getting killed.
40. Exit Conditions by Martha Wells. 4. Murderbot has to rescue people, because people are stupid. A little more frantic than previous novellas, which isn't actually to its benefit.
41. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi. 5. Scalzi's trademark wiseass characters have to basically save Mothra and Godzilla from capitalism.
42. How to Life Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu. 3. Extremely literary take on the time travel paradox. There's some beautifully expressed thoughts here, but the navel gazing was a bit much for me.
43. Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik. 4. Will the last sister fall for another genetically enhanced supersoldier? You betcha. Will she save the universe while also wearing cute outfits? Yup! Will her asshole dad get his comeuppance? Duh. Will it be exactly what you were looking for, if you bothered to start? Yes.
21. Burning Bright by Melissa McShane. 4.5. Rare female firecaster joins the British Navy in a fantasy take on Napoleonic Age of Sail. Pirates, romance, assholes, assholes getting set on fire. What else could you want?
22. Penric & the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. (re-read) The second novella in the Penric series (which is very much part of the larger World of Five Gods), this might be a little confusing for a newbie. But Penric the not-quite-naive sorcerer and the demon who lives in his head are delightful.
23. Penric's Fox by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. (re-read) Stakes get a little higher for Penric when someone murders another sorcerer. (And the tone gets a little darker, but still delightful.)
24. Penric's Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. (re-read) Up until now, Penric's stories were pretty episodic. But the next three really need to be read together, as Penric has a spy mission go terribly wrong and picks up some dependents. (The great scolding of the enemy sorcerer is fantastic.)
25. Mira's Last Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. (re-read) Mid-point of this arc plot-wise, but suddenly significantly lighter in tone.
26. The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold. 4. (re-read) Completion of the rescue of Nikys and her family.
27. The Orphans of Raspay by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. Penric gets loose in a pirate base. Chaos ensues.
28. The Physicians of Vilnoc by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. Less cheerful chaos, more leaning into Penric's trauma as a plague threatens the city.
29. The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5. Chaos, skullduggery, and moral philosophy in the first full-length Penric novel. The climax is deeply satisfying.
30. Knot of Shadows by Lois McMaster Bujold. 4. Twisty little mystery, laced with philosophizing. It's a fundamentally tragic piece, well done, but deliberately lacking in the zing of earlier parts of the series.
31. The Duke Who Didn't by Courtney Milan. 5. (re-read) This is not a high-stakes romance. Most of the potential conflicts are swiftly undercut by people refusing to pick up the Idiot Ball. Instead, it's sweet, and small, and gentle, and full of decent people being decent. It's a little breath of fresh air.
32. How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole. 3. I really wanted to like this one. I actually really did like it, all the way until the last chapter. Which is rushed and confusing, and while it wraps up one character's threads, completely fails to wrap up the other's. At all.
33. Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai. 4.5. While I would have loved just a little more food porn in a romance featuring a chef, this generally worked for me. Jackson always loved his brother's wife, but ran after being accused of a crime he didn't commit. They've got just enough reasons to stay away from each other to keep the plot burning, but not so many reasons that it's unbelievably when they finally come together.
34. Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher. 5. He's a paladin whose god is dead. She's a nun who turns into a bear. They fight...well, not exactly crime, but kidnappers and necromancers. What's not to like?
35. The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe. 3. Dreamy, literary, and intricate, I can see why this would get a lot of accolades. (I'm side-eye looking at you, lovers of Gormenghast.) But it's also misogynistic and navel-gaze-y in a really dated way, and despite having an omnibus edition that includes the next book in the series, I'm done.
36. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. 3. One of the earliest Pratchett books, it both establishes a number of his long-running characters, and kinda contradicts a lot of the later, better works. Funny, but mediocre, and honestly, deservedly somewhat forgotten.
37. Crudrat by Gail Carriger. 3.5. Very much the beginning of a longer series, this is a departure from Carriger's existing published style. Less witty, more YA-y, an interesting SF dystopia-turned-found-family kind of thing. Ends a bit abruptly.
38. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells. 5. Aww, Murderbot made a new friend! While trying to figure out exactly why it murdered all those people, Murderbot meets an inquisitive and pushy science vessel and accidentally takes on clients.
39. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells. 5. Murderbot does not like Miki the pet robot, which is unfortunate, because now Murderbot has to keep Miki's friends from getting killed.
40. Exit Conditions by Martha Wells. 4. Murderbot has to rescue people, because people are stupid. A little more frantic than previous novellas, which isn't actually to its benefit.
41. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi. 5. Scalzi's trademark wiseass characters have to basically save Mothra and Godzilla from capitalism.
42. How to Life Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu. 3. Extremely literary take on the time travel paradox. There's some beautifully expressed thoughts here, but the navel gazing was a bit much for me.
43. Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik. 4. Will the last sister fall for another genetically enhanced supersoldier? You betcha. Will she save the universe while also wearing cute outfits? Yup! Will her asshole dad get his comeuppance? Duh. Will it be exactly what you were looking for, if you bothered to start? Yes.
