Welcome to my first Monthly Highlights article of 2020, looking back at my reading highlights and book-related news for the first month of a brand new decade! It’s been a great month, I’ve had a blast reading eight books (and counting), and I’m trying something a little bit different this time around, with a mixture of my usual highlights posts and the weekly roundups I used to write. As well as picking out the usual highlight, I’m also going to talk more widely about what I’ve been reading and what’s been going on in general. Maybe I should call this a Monthly Roundup instead…perhaps next time, but for now let’s crack on with a little bit about the book I’ve enjoyed the most this month.
Top pick for January: Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri
From my forthcoming review:
A rich, romantic, beautifully-told fantasy set in an India-inspired world of magic, strict social structures and a failing, cursed empire. Raised to be a faithful Ambhan daughter, Arwa was always taught to hide her true self and her dangerous Amrithi blood. The sole survivor of a terrible massacre which has left her haunted and without purpose, she tries to retreat and find peace, but when the opportunity arises to serve – and maybe help save – the Empire she sees a chance to put her cursed blood to use.
I read a lot of very action-heavy science fiction and fantasy, not least all the Warhammer stuff, but I do also love a story which takes its time, doesn’t rush me and slowly reveals a world which reels me in and leaves me desperate to explore further. That’s exactly what Realm of Ash did – but not only that, it left me feeling bruised and fragile and hopeful and uplifted all at the same time…the sort of book you put down and have to just stop for a few minutes to let it all sink in and let yourself gradually return to the real world. I’ve written a review of this one for the British Fantasy Society, which hasn’t gone live yet – but I’ll link out to it once that’s available to read.
In the meantime, have a read of the blurb over on Goodreads. In a nutshell, I’d say this is a book about accepting yourself for who you are, not who other people want you to be; about love and history and family and a sort-of magic which ties all of that together. If you’re at all interested in fantasy which draws from non-European roots – in this case the Mughal Empire – and compelling female protagonists then I can’t recommend this enough. If you’ve already read Tasha Suri’s Empire of Sand then I’m sure I’m preaching to the converted here – FYI this follows on from that book but isn’t exactly a sequel – but if not then I would urge you to check these books out. You might just find yourself getting lost in the world of the Ambhan Empire, like I did.
Other highlights
Realm of Ash wasn’t the only book to leave me feeling bruised after finishing it – A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine left me in a similar state. It’s a very different book – a complex, tightly-wound space opera as opposed to a rich and romantic Indian fantasy – but it’s no less powerful, and has a similar sense of opening up an incredible world to explore. At the time of writing I’ve only just finished reading this, so I’ve only just started writing my review, but once again you can get an idea of what it’s about from Goodreads. Off the top of my head I’d say it features courtly intrigue, questions of memory/identity/legacy, a tiny space station desperate for neutrality alongside a territory-hungry empire, and a mind-boggling but fascinating exploration of language.
Sticking with science fiction, I was delighted to be invited onto the Gollancz blog tour for The God Game by Danny Tobey, with my review going out alongside a bunch of other bloggers’ thoughts on the novel. While it perhaps wasn’t quite what I expected – I don’t think I realised it was a high school drama AND a techno-thriller at the same time – I had an absolute blast reading it, although it’s done nothing to dispel my privacy concerns regarding webcams, mobile phones and the internet! In fact, I enjoyed it so much I reached out to the author (via Gollancz – thanks Stevie!) to arrange a Rapid Fire interview, which turned out to not be very rapid (i.e. it’s quite long) but deeply interesting.
Beyond those two, I’ll just give a quick mention to Terry Pratchett: HisWorld, which is the official companion book to the wonderful 2017/18 exhibition that took place in Salisbury. I was lucky enough to visit the exhibition before it closed, and as a lifelong Pratchett fan it was a wonderful experience…but quite upsetting at the same time. Reading the book felt much the same – it gave me great joy to delve into Sir Terry’s story once again, and spend some time with the amazing artwork that has always accompanied his writing, but reading about his illness (The Embuggerance) and subsequent legacy was quite hard. Still, I’m very glad I did read it. Even if you couldn’t make it to the exhibition, if you’re a Pratchett fan then I would say it’s worth tracking down a copy of this.
Black Library
I know a lot of Track of Words readers are here primarily for the Black Library content, so even when a BL book (or short story, or audio drama) hasn’t made it into my highlights for the month I’m going to include at least a brief section looking back at the month in BL. If I’m being honest, I didn’t think January was hugely exciting in terms of new releases, or at least not for the majority of Black Library fans. Don’t get me wrong, there were LOADS of releases, and I enjoyed what I read, but not a lot that really wowed me (although I did finally get round to reading – and enjoying – two more stories from the Black Library Novella Series 2 – Danie Ware’s Wreck and Ruin and Jamie Crisalli’s The Measure of Iron).
I might have included Graham McNeill’s Siege of Terra novella Sons of the Selenar in my reading highlights, judging by my Rapid Fire interview with Graham, if the Limited Edition hardback hadn’t cost £40 – not going to happen! It sounds great though, and I’m looking forward to reading it…in a couple of months when the (£18, I’m expecting) standard hardback lands. It’s the first non-Primarchs LE in the Heresy series which I haven’t picked up, but seeing as it still sold out (albeit a little slower than I perhaps expected) despite the price I’d say it’s been popular enough with the LE crowd overall!
Regular readers will know how much I love a Black Library short story, and I’ve been glad to see three out of January’s four Digital Monday stories have been brand new – while the fourth was previously only available in Inferno. Last year, in contrast, it took almost two months for BL to release a brand new short story! At the time of writing, I think I’ve read two BL novellas, a novel and five short stories, and while I’ve enjoyed all of them the standouts were unquestionably two of the short stories – Denny Flowers’ Necromunda short story The Last Voyage of Elissa Harrow and Mike Brooks’ Where Dere’s da Warp Dere’s a Way.
Click the links above to check out my reviews of both of those, but just a quick note to say that I would strongly suggest you read Denny’s stories in order – that’s The Hand of Harrow (in Inferno! Volume 4) then the novella Low Lives and finally this new short story. That way you’ll avoid spoilers and get the fully chronological experience. No such requirement with Mike’s 40k orks story, so I’d just suggest you go into it knowing that it’s a) from an ork viewpoint, b) extremely violent, and c) highly amusing and absolutely wonderful…as long as you don’t take 40k too seriously.
Ko-fi
I can’t finish my January highlights without talking about Ko-fi, and the AMAZING response to my Support Track of Words (If You Can) article. It had been on my mind for a while to put together some way for readers – if they can, and want to – to support Track of Words, but a looming bill for three years’ worth of hosting and domain fees rather focused my attention and prompted me to finally get something set up. I put together a Ko-fi page and a Support Track of Words page on the site, wrote an article explaining what the situation was and why I was making the ask…
And things went a bit mad. I honestly thought I might get the occasional donation now and then from particularly generous readers, but that my ‘goal’ on the Ko-fi page was quite ambitious. Instead, I was bowled over by the generosity of so many kind people, who smashed past that goal and between them – between you – have made a huge difference by covering these costs and helping me keep Track of Words running for the next few years. I’ve tried to respond on the Ko-fi page to everyone who’s donated, but I also want to take the time here to say a massive thank you – it’s hard to explain just how much I appreciate the support, but please rest assured I’m incredibly grateful!
Looking ahead to February
I’m aiming to read a similar number of books next month, however it’s going to be tricky to keep up that rate…especially as I’ve got a work trip to New York at the end of the month! If you’d like to keep an eye on how I’m getting on, make sure you head over to Goodreads, say hi and check out my 2020 reading challenge. Alongside keeping up my reading pace, I’ve got lots planned for February including more Rapid Fire interviews…quite a few more…and (if I can finally make the time) my first BIG interview of the year. Watch this space….
February should bring with it the annual Black Library Celebration – recently confirmed to be on the 29th Feb – alongside LOADS more new releases and re-releases. If you haven’t already, make sure you bookmark my Keep Track of Upcoming Black Library Releases article for an updated view of what’s due out soon. I’m particularly interested in Chris Wraight’s Watchers of the Throne: The Regent’s Shadow and the two new Warhammer Horror books, so fingers crossed that I’ll be able to get hold of, and find time to read, at least some of those next month. I’m hoping to maintain a similar mixture of BL and wider SF&F books, as I’ve also got a load of great-looking books waiting to be read!
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So those were my reading highlights from January, including a few thoughts on how the month went in general As a final note, I’m delighted that five out of the eight books I read over the month were from female authors – that’s one of my goals for 2020, so I feel like I’ve made a good start. I’d love to hear about what you’ve enjoyed reading or listening to recently – and whether there’s anything you’d like to see in these highlights/roundup articles – so do drop me a line in the comments below, or get in touch on Twitter. I’ll be back with another roundup post towards the end of February/beginning of March, to look back at the best books from the next few weeks.