clong's 50 book challenge for 2024

Just like last year, started with a PKD novel.

1. The Game-Players of Titan by Philip K. Dick - an odd story that covers some familiar PKD ground, but I enjoyed it.

2. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie - reread book one in preparation for diving into books 2 & 3. Just about perfect.

3. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie - further adventures.

4. All Systems Red by Martha Wells - Murderbot refresher in anticipation of getting the newest release

5. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells - I liked this one better second time around.

6. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells - another solid entry in the Murderbot saga.

7. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells - I think I liked this one better second time around as well.

8. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells - less killing, more investigating

9. Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson - a bit too convoluted.

10. Network Effect by Martha Wells - I liked the second half of this more the second time around...now on to book 7.

11. System Collapse by Martha Wells - I thought the middle of the newest Murderbot tale dragged a bit, but the last third made up for it.

12. Rumpole and the Primrose Path - a collection of amusing mini-mysteries.

13. Rumpole and the Reign of Terror by John Mortimer - a bit of a letdown.

14. Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders by John Mortimer - very well done.

15. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher - like the first Dresden story, this one took awhile to get going but was relentless once it did.

16. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie - a fairly bleak ending for this series. In the end, I thought the second and third books were somewhat of a letdown after an amazing first book. I was particularly disappointed in how little effort / energy / thoughtfulness went into the story arc of the female characters in these books.

17. The Unknown Shore by Patrick O'Brien - I had fond if vague memories of reading a few of this author's books decades ago. This one didn't do much for me.

18. The Thirteen Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brien - this had a couple of memorably good scenes but was generally a slog. Although not as bad as The Unknown Shore.

19. On Basilisk Station, 20. The Honor of the Queen, 21. The Short Victorious War by David Weber - Decided to follow up on struggling through two Patrick O'Brien novels with revisiting a the first three Honor Harrington books.

22. A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson - decent, but not as good as others in this series.

23. The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson - I thought the first two thirds of this was not particularly compelling but the last third was quite good.

24. Field of Dishonor by David Weber - a welcome change of pace from the first three, but not particularly compelling

25. Just One Damned Thing after Another by Jodi Taylor - fun and funny and relentless, although I'm not convinced it particularly hangs together. But perhaps that's irrelevant.

26. Iceworld by Hal Clement - clever idea but not particularly well done.

27. Galaxies by Barry Malzberg - quite funny at times and an excellent example of an unreliable narrator (in this case the author himself).

28. Rejoice, A Knife to the Heart by Steven Erikson - I felt much sympathy for the implied worldview, but as a novel this was a bit of a dud.

29. The Black Flame by Stanley Weinbaum - this was a massive dud.

30. Dry Bones by Craig Johnson - not one of the stronger books in the series.

31. Immortality Inc. by Robert Sheckley - this was fine, in a dated sexist way, if not amongst his best. Sheckley has a distinct, witty voice with lots of social commentary.

32. Budrys' Inferno by Algis Budrys' - a collection of early stories, only one of which hints of the great sci fi noir voice to come.

33. The Stochastic Man by Robert Silverberg - For some reason I came to this one expecting it would have echoes of or at least something to say about Asimov's Foundation, but that proved not to be the case. What we got instead had potential, but in the end turned into a depressing take on free will vs. determinism.

34. The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman - after watching Dark Winds I decided to give the source material a try. This first book was ok but not great.

35. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher - this followed a similar pattern to the first two books of this series--slow uninteresting beginning, but eventually everything clicks and it become a page turner... but in this case not until the last few chapters. I gather the series really kicks into gear after the first several books?

36. The Vintage Bradbury by Ray Bradbury - most of these were new to me. While many of the stories on this collection were decent, a few have joined The Veldt (which I first read as a teen) on the list of stories I will never forget.

37. Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman - the second book of this series was both a bit more conventional and a bit more satisfying.

38. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher - this one starts with a bang and never lets up.

39. The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem - an intriguing take on "first contact" and a mesmerizing final chapter but somewhat less satisfying than my favorites from this author

40. An Obvious Fact by Craig Johnson - another solid entry in the Longmire series.

41. The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks - one long novella and several short stories. Good but not great.

42. Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman - this third book of the series is even better.

43. The Star King by Jack Vance - A recent post about favorite 50's to 70s pulp scifi from the left me yearning to revisit a few favorites from that era.

44. The Killing Machine by Jack Vance - another good one. Our driven protagonist encounters cleverly contrived and at times perilous settings and societies and somehow finds a way.

45. The Palace of Love by Jack Vance - this third book of the series is darker and disturbing.