Dean Sas

I read 14,936 pages across twenty six books from fourteen authors. Four of the books were rereads of books I’ve read in previous years.

I finished reading the Wheel of Time series that I started last year. I enjoyed the series as a whole. It was a bit of a slog in places though and it occasionally grated on me. I felt a bit burned out on reading after finally finishing.

Reading list

1. Wheel of Time VII: Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan.
2. Wheel of time VIII: The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan.
3. Wheel of time IX: Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan
4. Wheel of Time X: Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan
5. The Androids Dream by John Scalzi. It’s a sci-fi farce. A pretty funny one, though the opening is pretty puerile.
6. New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson. It’s KSR, it’s about climate politics. The book is set in New York after a massive sea level rise drowns it. It shows how people are living in what’s left, how different political-economic models can work and how capitalism can cope.
7. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. The previously untold stories of the women of the Trojan war. I really appreciated the wider perspective given here, though the Penelope chapters sometimes felt a bit like a repetition of The Odyssey rather than something new.
8. Wheel of Time XI: Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan
9. Wheel of Time XII: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan
10. Wheel of Time XIII: Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan
11. Wheel of Time XIV: A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan
12. Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar by Tom Holland. An amazing, pop history of the ruling dynasty of Imperial Rome from Caesar through to Nero. It’s very much about the personalities and how each emperor rose and fell, rather than details about the empire as a whole during this period. It’s a really accessible read.
13. The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson. Reread.
14. Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. A fictional story of a Syrian couple’s horrid journey to becoming refugees in the UK. It makes you appreciate your fortune in being born somewhere stable.
15. Childhoods End by Arthur Clarke. Reread.
16. Acts of Caine I: Heroes Die by Matthew Stover. I liked that there’s this interesting mix between sci-fi and fantasy.
17. Acts of Caine II: Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Stover. More of the same, in a good way.
18. Acts of Caine III: Caine Black Knife by Matthew Stover. More full-on fantasy. It’s very unbalanced compared to the earlier two. It’s irredeemably macho with no counterweight. I struggled to get through it.
19. Acts of Caine IV: Caine’s Law by Matthew Stover. Wrapped up part three, it’s half looking back to Caine’s old days, half metaphysical stuff. I struggled through assuming it’d balance the third book but was left dissatisfied.
20. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. Reread.
21. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. Reread.
22. Wavewalker: Breaking Free by Suzanne Heywood. The real story of someone’s unique, interesting and traumatic childhood sailing the world on a small boat. I find myself drawn to these unusual, adventurous childhood memoirs.
23. Hyperion by Dan Simmons. It’s more like seven inter-linked novellas as each of the seven characters give their own story using their shared pilgrimage as a framing device. In the background a vast war rumbles along. It’s the best sci-fi I read all year.
24. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Reread. I was supposed to be following along with a ‘one chapter per day’ read at work, but didn’t manage to stick to the schedule.
25. Radical Candor by Kim Scott. Advocates for blunt honesty as the best policy, why it works and how to go about it. As usual with soft-skill books, it could’ve been shorter.
26. How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie. Pulpy but fun, a quick read. Probably more relatable if you’re living a middle class life in London?

I also had two incomplete reads:

1. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. It was fine, just rather repetitive. As I suppose repeated meditations on a subject will be.
2. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. Reread. I was reading to keep pace with my son but dropped off it.

2024 plans

I’m going to finish the Hyperion series – I really enjoyed the first book and I’ve already started book two, which adds a different take.

At some point I might reread some of the Stormlight Archive in anticipation of book five being released later this year. I’m pretty sure there will be details I’ve forgotten and a reminder will help me enjoy book five all-the-more.

While I’ve given up on seeing any more of A Song of Ice and Fire, there’s been sufficient time since the show that I think I’m coming around to re-reading at least the first three novels. We’ll see!

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See also my other annual reading round-ups, back to 2012.