My Favorites

Brandon Sanderson

In my view, the best author writing today. If you somehow discovered me before you discovered Sanderson, then I'd give one of three recommendations based on your preference.

• If you liked my book and want more lighthearted middle grade work, read  Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
• If you want amazing, fast-paced epic fantasy, read  Mistborn
• If you can accept fantasy with a slower pace but a greater payoff, my favorite of his series begins with  The Way of Kings
• Or almost any of his other books.

Dragon Thief (Skystone Chronicles)

Funny, entertaining characters, great twists, but there's one truly remarkable thing about this book, which I will explain by talking about a cliche that plagues so many books.

When a romance is told from a male's viewpoint, the woman treats him like garbage, but he's always the one apologizing. And somehow it's supposed to be showing deep love.

Severe examples from books I otherwise like include Ready Player One, Wheel of Time, or the Dresden Files. Even Sanderson, who I just named above as "best" falls into this trap in most of his series, though at least it's usually more mild than most authors. Harry Potter almost avoids it, but it's still one-sided as Harry makes all the mistakes and Ginny does all the criticizing.

Dragon Thief avoids this cliche 100%. The woman doesn't berate or insult him (maybe in jest...I can't remember). They actually enjoy each other's company--not because the book tells you so between negative interactions but because you actually read about them enjoying each other. I can actually believe that they're in love.

That said, the romance is just a subplot, but it was nice to finally see it done well.

Going Postal

Though I've only read a small portion of Terry Pratchet's work, this one is definitely my favorite. Clever humor that even manages to go into deep political principles without a hint of taking sides.

Hard Magic (Larry Correia)

The start of my favorite Urban Fantasy series and my favorite of Larry Correia's work. One of the skills masterfully executed here is creating deep characters with strong personalities using very few words (probably the skill I most hope to develop myself). It's also a great execution of rule-based magic, where problems solved by magic are done in a way that makes sense to the reader.