October came and went with twelve books, as i revisited David & Lynn Eddings grand opus as I am want to do every decade or so. As an exercise, rereading a huge fantasy epic with the eyes of a writer takes some time. One benefit of which is my to read pile of indie books has grown somewhat. The downside being I am a little behind in terms of reviews I have half promised people.

In actuality I never promise reviews, I work on a simple basis that I never promise them because I refuse to give bad reviews. If I don’t like a book I don’t write a review, because though the book wasn’t for me someone else may love it and I don’t want to dissuade anyone. Also any indie book represents a huge investment in time and mental energy for the writer, as a writer myself I know just how much each book we write means to us, so I’ll be damned before I rip apart anyone else’s dreams.

That said 90% of all indie books I read tend to be awesome. Not least because indie writers are free from the constraints of commercial publishing, so they are free to write their vision rather than water it down at the behest of Big Publishing. Also my personal policy on reviews means that when I say a book is great, its because I mean its great. Not because I feel obliged to say so. But anyway, that all on one side, my backlog of books in the reading pile has grown as I said. So I thought I would share the list, I am not reviewing them here, just letting you know these books are out there waiting to be read. I’m hoping to get them read in the next few weeks.

The List

Currently top of the heap, (and I am about halfway through this awesome bit of steampunk), is Amster Damned by Nils Nisse Visser. Its actually one I have been meaning to get to for a while, having read Nils prequels to this novel. I’m happy to report it is everything I expected it to be, full of characters that manage to be both larger than life and firmly grounded in equal measure. I hope to have finished it in the next few days when you can expect to see a full review.

Next up, because I have been waiting on this one a while, is Kate Baucherel’s Tangled Fortunes, the third and latest of her Simcavalier novels, set in the near future. I amour the first two novels in this series, as suspect I will love this one too. (I am not alone in this, there is a possibility Simcavalier will be making the leap from the page to the tv via net flicks in the near future. )

Then Cyber crime will give way to Cyber punk with Craig Hallam’s Oshibana Complex, which has been sat in my to read pile a while. A somewhat further future in which humanity is software downloaded into plastic bodies to live lives as directed…

Then there is another novella from Nils Nisse Visser (no preview yet as its not out on kindle, only in paperback.)

On top of this list I am currently reading the world of crit role. Just because I am an unmitigated geek, but that’s by the by…

Finally I have just gotten myself a paperback copy of the Harvey Duckman Christmas Special. This wonderful collection (which included a short story by yours truly) was released on kindle last Christmas (almost literally as it came out on the 23rd of December) Because of which unlike the rest of the Harvey series it wasn’t released in paperback. This left a gap on my bookshelf of books ‘wot I wrote…’ This has been rectified. With the Christmas spirit starting to peek rover the advent calendar at us, now would seem the perfect time to get yourself a copy, or buy the paperback for a geeky friend or relative…

Anyway, much to read, and happy reading to all.