The following series-concluding books were added or updated (see the main page for the complete list for each month):

July 2012
-The Kingmakers (Vampire Empire, Book 3) by Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith

September 2012
-The Skybound Sea (The Aeons' Gate Book Three) by Sam Sykes (Sam confirmed via twitter that this was the conclusion to the series)
-Night of the Swarm by Robert V.S. Redick (concludes the Chathrand Voyage..this was originally due in May, but has been pushed back several months to September now)

November 2012
-Defiant Peaks: The Hadrumal Crisis Book 3 by Juliet E. McKenna (series is referred to an a trilogy on the author's website)

December 2012
-The Siren Depths: The Third Book of the Raksura by Martha Wells (I can't find a mention of a 4th book on the author's site, so I will list this book as the conclusion for now)

January 2013
-A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
-Power Under Pressure (The Society of Steam, Book Three) by Andrew P. Mayer (the author's website lists the series as a trilogy)

March 2013
-Blood of Dragons (Rain Wilds Chronicles, Book 4) by Robin Hobb. I believe this is the last book in the Rain Wilds series.

Of all the series in the main list, I am interested in these:
-The Annals of Drakis (July..need to read all 3 books)
-The Outcast Chronicles (August...would need to read all 3)
-The Twilight Reign (August...want to reread the first 2, thus I need to read all 5)
-The Traitor Spy Trilogy (August..need to read all 3)
-The Dwarves series (August..need to read all 4)
-The Chathrand Voyage (August. I've read book 1. Will likely try to find a summary of book 1 somewhere and start on book 2. So I need to read 3)
-The Aeons' Gate (September. Started book 1 several months ago. Will likely start over, thus I need to read all 3)
-Seven Realms (October..need to read all 4)
-Dragonlord (November...need to read all 3..if the first 2 are available in Kindle format. I bet they will be, if they aren't already)
-Fallen Blade series (November..need to read all 3)
-Hadrumal Crisis (November..need to read the last 2 of the first trilogy, the short story between the 2 trilogies, and all 3 in the new trilogy)
-Wheel of Time (January 2013...need to read books 3 through 14, so 12 books)

There are some series that concluded earlier in the year, that I want to read, too. But, the series above are the ones I am most looking forward to. Naturally, there are way more books above than I will be able to read by January 2013. The glut of series concluding in August will make things difficult (if I want to read the concluding book the month it is published). My next step is to take a look at the list above and prioritize it to come up with a reading order/plan. I can't guarantee I will like each series, so if I start a series and don't like it, it could get removed from my list (and shelves), or at least moved down in priority.

I will create a followup post in the next day or two after I sort this out and come up with a plan. There are some thrillers I want to read, and I haven't even mentioned Malazan. But with 21 books on the list above needing to be read by August, I definitely need a plan. Plus, making a plan might help me, so I don't flail around among several books at once. I'm kinda looking forward to creating this reading plan to see if a formal reading plan improves my overall reading enjoyment.

Any series in particular you guys/gals are looking forward to finishing this year?

-Blue-Blooded Vamp (Sabina Kane) by Jaye Wells (mmpb, digital)
-Dark Heart: The Meetings Sextet, Book 3 by Tina Daniell (digital release of an older book)
-Dark Jenny (Eddie LaCrosse Novels) by Alex Bledsoe (mmpb, digital)
-Dark Magic by James Swain (hc, digital...the hc is 45% off at the moment)
-Destroyer of Worlds (Kingdom of the Serpent, Book 3) by Mark Chadbourn (tpb)
-Fable: Jack of Blades (Short Story) by Peter David (digital)
-Honeyed Words by J.A. Pitts (mmpb, digital)
-The King's Blood (The Dagger and the Coin) by Daniel Abraham (tpb, digital)
-The Mislaid Magician: or Ten Years After (Book Three) by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer (digital)
-Oath and the Measure: The Meetings Sextet, Book 4 by Michael Williams (digital release of an older book)
-Orb Sceptre Throne: A Novel of the Malazan Empire by Ian C. Esslemont (hc, tpb, digital)
-Out of the Waters (Book of Elements) by David Drake (mmpb)
-The Paths of the Dead: Book One of the Viscount of Adrilankha by Steven Brust (tpb)
-Princeps: A Novel in the Imager Portfolio by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (hc, digital)
-Song of the Saurials: The Finders Stone Trilogy, Book 3 by Jeff Grubb & Kate Novak (digital release of an older book)
-Zombie Island: A Shakespeare Undead Novel (Shakespeare Undead 2) by Lori Handeland (tpb, digital)

He was called by many names—Columb, Colom, Colón—but we know him as Christopher Columbus. Many questions about him exist: Where was he born, raised, and educated? Where did he die? How did he discover the New World?

None have ever been properly answered.

And then there is the greatest secret of all.

From Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author, comes an exciting new adventure—one that challenges everything we thought we knew about the discovery of America.

Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist Tom Sagan has written hard-hitting articles from hot spots around the world. But when a controversial report from a war-torn region is exposed as a fraud, his professional reputation crashes and burns. Now he lives in virtual exile—haunted by bad decisions and the shocking truth he can never prove: that his downfall was a deliberate act of sabotage by an unknown enemy. But before Sagan can end his torment with the squeeze of a trigger, fate intervenes in the form of an enigmatic stranger with a request that cannot be ignored.

Zachariah Simon has the look of a scholar, the soul of a scoundrel, and the zeal of a fanatic. He also has Tom Sagan’s estranged daughter at his mercy. Simon desperately wants something only Sagan can supply: the key to a 500-year-old mystery, a treasure with explosive political significance in the modern world. For both Simon and Sagan the stakes are high, the goal intensely personal, the consequences of opposing either man potentially catastrophic. On a perilous quest from Florida to Vienna to Prague and finally to the mountains of Jamaica, the two men square off in a dangerous game. Along the way, both of their lives will be altered—and everything we know about Christopher Columbus will change.

I don't have a lot of experience within the historical thriller genre, so I thought this one might be a good one to start with. The premise is definitely interesting, and I'll admit the story is based on a pretty cool idea. And for the first 25% of the book, I was mostly enjoying it. I thought the setup of the novel worked well, and kept me interested. And most of the historical information was new to me...though being new to this genre, I don't know how much of the history was true, and how much was "massaged" to fit the main plot of the story (Columbus's real purpose for sailing west 500+ years ago). I would like to know how much of the history presented in the book was true..most? Half? Just a little bit? Note that while I am curious about this aspect, it had nothing to do with my enjoyment of the story.

There were 2 main things I struggled with in this book: the historical infodumps, and the characters. The truth (or not) of the historical info didn't bother me, but the frequent history dumps did bother me. For me, it totally killed the pacing of the book. Having not read this subgenre before, I'm not sure if this is typical or not. I plan to read a James Rollins books soon-ish for a comparison. It seemed like every time the pace picked up, and I started feeling the tension build, it would get interrupted by a history lesson. Bummer. Again I was intrigued by the plot, and liked how it revolved around Columbus. I just wish the history elements had been worked in without feeling like it was constantly interrupting the story.

Second, I didn't really care about any of the characters. There are a few POV characters, so it was nice to get several angles on the story. Unfortunately, I connected with none of them. The main character, Tom, seems to be the guy we should like. But the story opens with him attempting suicide. As the story unfolds, we found out the truth about his past. But since I was so apathetic to him, I had trouble finding much sympathy for him. I couldn't find anything likeable to grab onto in any of the characters. Thus, while I enjoyed how the different POV characters shed light on the story, I wasn't looking forward to the POV switch to any particular character. In other words, the only thing I had to look forward to was watching the story onfold. Yeah, that is an important element of enjoying a book, but equally important is enjoying the journey with characters you come to care about it. And that was missing for me.

I hate that this review sounds so negative, as I did enjoy it somewhat...and would classify it as an ok read. It just had the potential to be so much more. I think I could have overlooked the history dumps, if I had cared about any of the characters. I will say that I appear to be in the minority on this one so far, as the book has a 4.3 average on Amazon thus far. If you visit the author's page for the book here, there is a link for an extract and you can see what you think.

EDIT: Ignore the "what is fact or fiction" stuff mentioned above. If I had just flipped a couple of more screens on my Kindle, I would have noticed the author had included an entire section devoted to what is true and what is fiction. No idea how I could have missed that.

-The Lock Artist: A Novel by Steve Hamilton ($2.99)
-The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch ($2.99)
-Power Down by Ben Coes ($2.99..mentioning this again, since it is still on sale. I'm reading it now and liking it enough to recommend thus far)
-Reckless With a Bonus Excerpt (Ty Hauck) by Andrew Gross ($0.99)
-Murder One by Robert Dugoni ($1.99)

So, I am wondering if i just need to take a break from Malazan. Or if I should just skip the ICE books and read the 10 Erikson books. As I have mentioned, I would like to finish the "core" books to gain a feeling of accomplishment, considering I have spent a good part of the last 18+ months reading the first 7 Erikson books. On the other hand, I would like to give myself a chance to enjoy the ending of the series. Maybe some time away would do me good, even if it bugs me to be so close to finally wrapping up the main series. I know I will miss some plot elements if I read the ICE books separately (after reading all 10 Erikson books), but after struggling with them so much, I think it would be better to try them at a later date.

At this point, I'm not sure what I will do. You might see an "Initial Reaction" post for Toll the Hounds in the next few days. Or you might see me talk about some indie books. At least once a year I make a pledge to read some of the popular indie books that show up on the Kindle fantasy bestseller lists, and usually within a day or two I abandon that pledge. I've been feeling the itch to try some indie works again, but given my horrible track record with my promises to cover them here....who knows if I'll actually read any of the indie samples I sent to my Kindle earlier today.

-The Illearth War (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) by Stephen R. Donaldson (older book now in digital format)
-Lord Foul's Bane (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) by Stephen R. Donaldson (older book now in digital format)
-Power That Preserves (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) by Stephen R. Donaldson (older book now in digital format)
-The Bone House (Bright Empires) by Stephen R. Lawhead (tpb, digital)
-Diablo III: The Order by Nate Kenyon (hc, digital)
-Legacy of Wolves: The Inquisitives, Book 3 by Marsheila Rockwell (digital release of an older book)
-Railsea by China Mielville (hc, digital)
-The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers (tpb, digital)
-Bones of the Earth, I: Karras the Kitten (Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga) by J.C. Hendee (digital)

-The Citadel (Classics Series) by Richard A. Knaak (digital release of an older book)
-The Eye of the World: Book One of 'The Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan (tpb, digital..this is the release of the new trade pb edition..the one that has the same cover art as the e-book editions. My review copy only mentioned tpb editions of the first 3 books, but I really hope the entire series gets this treatment).
-The Other Log of Phileas Fogg (Wold Newton) by Philip Jose Farmer (digital release of an older book)
-The Wizards Conclave: The Age of Mortals by Douglas Niles (digital release of an older book)

That's it for this week, actually.

I must say that this one is probably my least favorite in the series so far. That's not to say I didn't like it, because I did (mostly). But I just didn't quite get into it as much as the previous books. I would even go so far as to say that there has been a little drop off for me, as I really liked the first 5 books, liked The Bonehunters a little less, and now this was another small step down.

The story is still almost as confusing to me as it has been the entire series, though I feel Erikson is doing a better job of overtly helping the reader follow some of the (seemingly) several thousand plot threads. I think there are 2 main reasons I struggled a bit with Reaper's Gale. First, at this point in the series, I feel like most of the Malazan soldiers are blurring together for me. Its getting harder and harder to really tell them apart. I'm not sure if it is due to my bad memory, the sheer number of them, or if there are just a few different character types for the soldiers. I guess it is probably a little of all 3. The other hindrance to my enjoyment is that, for the most part, it didn't heavily feature the characters I have enjoyed. I've never been a big fan of Udinaas or Karsa, unfortunately (forgive any mispellings...too lazy to look them up, and I don't have the book with me at the moment).

It seems like the last couple hundred pages were the best part, as usual for this series. I know it is impossible to maintain that pace for 1200 pages...and I love me some BFF (Big Fat Fantasy). But I find myself wishing the books had been trimmed back to maybe 800 pages or something.

While this might seem like a negative review (lacking positive feedback), I still highly enjoy this series, and (mostly) enjoyed this book. Part of the problem might be due to a bit of Malazan burn out. I would still highly recommend this series, and look forward to continuing with the next book.

In fact, I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to read Return of the Crimson Guard. But more on that tomorrow....

-The Valley of Shadows by Mark Terry (FREE..I believe this is 4th in the Derek Stillwater series. Apparently I picked up the 3rd one for free back in December. Might as well grab this one, too.)
-Power Down by Ben Coes ($2.99..I actually read a bit of this at Barnes & Noble this weekend. Think I will pick this up.)
-The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor ($3.99..first in the Scott Horvath series. I read and enjoyed the first 5. Need to get caught up.)