Here is my January Wrap-Up 2023! I read 10 books in January, and am in the process of reading three others.
It was such a great reading month for me, with no books I hated and almost 100% indie science fiction and fantasy!
Anyway, here is my January Wrap-Up 2023 – if you want to look at or buy any of these books, the links are Amazon affiliate links, so I get a little something when you make a purchase.
Springtide Harvest by J.D. Mitchell
This was a fantastic first read of the year! I started it in December 2022, but finished most of it in January 2023.
It’s a coming-of-age fantasy adventure that was a lot of fun and well worth trying out! It’s definitely suitable for all ages, even though it’s a coming-of-age story.
Illborn and Aiduel’s Sin by Daniel T. Jackson
Oh man, I read one of my favourite books of all time this month, and that was Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson!
I could gush for hours about how good Illborn is, so I’ll let you read my more concise review I have linked below instead!
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of the sequel, Aiduel’s Sin from the author before it’s release date on the 28th January, and I absolutely loved that too! If you want to read some big books that read fast, with characters and plots that will not let you go, give The Illborn Saga a read!
No Heart for a Thief by James Lloyd Dulin
Talking of great books that came out this month, No Heart for a Thief came out on the 24th January and it was incredible!
This is an engaging, emotional fantasy novel that is very well written and is reminiscent of The Name of the Wind (although I think this is better…)
Unbound by Michael R. Miller
Unbound is the second book in Michael R. Miller’s Song of Chaos progressive-fantasy series and it was brilliant!
Ash and Holt are two of my favourite characters in fantasy – their relationship will warm your heart!
I’m looking forward to the release of book 3, Defiant, later this year.
Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan
I think Eleventh Cycle is the book of the month in the indie fantasy community! Or at least it’s neck and neck with Ryan Cahill’s Of War and Ruin… who knows?
Rightly named the “Prince of Grimdark” by GrimdarkMagazine, Kian N. Ardalan has written essentially the perfect fantasy book with Eleventh Cycle and I think everyone should read it!
I have an interview with Kian N. Ardalan coming later in February, so keep an eye out!
Yellow Sky Revolt by Baptiste Pinson Wu
I heard of this book through the brilliant BookTuber, ToriTalks, messaged the author, and got a copy – I was not disappointed!
This is a fantastic historical fiction set in China, 184 CE – I was gripped from beginning to end and I can’t wait to write my review to convince you all to pick it up to!
The author was kind enough to provide me with an ARC for book 2, Heroes of Chaos, which I am looking forward to reading soon!
One for All by Lillie Lainoff
I received a review copy for One for All from the publisher ahead of the UK release date (7th Feb) and had a great time reading this gender-bent, ownvoices retelling of The Three Musketeers.
Honestly, it was just so nice to have an easy read, that was still beautifully written, between some of these darker, denser books!
Eclipse by Herman Steuernagel
I’ll be releasing my review of Eclipse soon, but I loved it! I needed more good science fiction books in my life, and Eclipse is certainly that!
Thank you to the author for sending me an ARC – and everyone who loves a good sci-fi should go pick this up when it comes out on February 7th!
Wistful Ascending by JCM Berne
Another science fiction book sent to me by the author, but it’s taken me a long time to get to it – I am so glad I finally picked it up!
Superheroes, space, and a lot of action-packed fun. I had an amazing time reading Wistful Ascending and I can’t wait to get to books 2 and 3 in February.
My review will be coming out soon!
Interviews from January:
I was lucky enough to interview a few amazing people – authors and content creators – in January. Thank you to all those listed below who agreed to participate in the interview – and I can’t wait for you all to see who I have lined up for February!
- Mark Lawrence
- Rowan Ellis
- Andy Weir
- Daniel Greene
- Nicholas Eames
- Ken Liu
- James Lloyd Dulin
- Sylvain Neuvel
- Martha Wells
- Sherwood Smith
- Dominish_Books
- Andrew’s Wizardly Reads
- James Tullos (coming tomorrow – 31st Jan)
