Time for another round up of books from my TBR to go through! Each week I’ll be going over a selection from my physical unread books and deciding what to keep and what to purge. There will be a third option–undecided–which I might ask for your input on why you think I should keep or purge that title from my list. You can also check out my full TBR pile here.

Last Song Before Night by Ilana C. Myer

Long ago, poets were Seers with access to powerful magic. Following a cataclysmic battle, the enchantments of Eivar were lost–now a song is only words and music, and no more. But when a dark power threatens the land, poets who thought only to gain fame for their songs face a task much greater: to restore the lost enchantments to the world. And the road to the Otherworld, where the enchantments reside, will imperil their lives and test the deepest desires of their hearts.

 

Picked this one up a couple of years ago because it looks really interesting and the author is somewhat local to me. Definitely still interested in reading this! KEEP

The Radiant Seas by Catherine Asaro

Living in exile on a deserted planet, Sauscony and Jaibriol, each the heir to an interstellar empire, become entangled in the machinations of the Skolian Empire. Interstellar war erupts and Jaibriol is snatched away to be the unwilling ruler of the Highton Aristos. Sauscony must lead an invading space fleet to rescue him from his own Empire-without revealing that they are married. With much of interstellar civilization poised on the brink of destruction, it is the devotion of these two lovers, their sacrifices, and their heroism, that might just forge a new order.

 

I picked this up because I liked one of the author’s previous books (The Charmed Sphere) but this is book four and I have no intentions of going back to find the others in the series so I’ll let this one go. PURGE

Children of Amarid by David B. Coe

Tobyn-Ser is a gentle, bounteous land of small villages and close-knit communities, of dark woods and swift-running streams, of broad plains and clear lakes. But its idyllic peace is being disturbed by terrible rumors of mages seen committing horrible, violent acts, destroying crops, burning villages to the ground, and murdering innocents. The rumors even say that Theron may have returned from beyond death. But the truth is even worse: there is a traitor among the Children of Amarid, one who threatens not only to disrupt the Order but to destroy all of Tobyn-Ser, using strange, foreign powers that are beyond everyone’s wildest imagination.

Picked this one up a while ago based off a recommendation from a friend. I still have an interest in checking out this series so not quite ready to give it up yet. I have all three in the trilogy. KEEP

World’s Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction by Irene Gallo

Since it began in 2008 Tor.com has explored countless new worlds of fiction, delving into possible and impossible futures, alternate and intriguing pasts, and realms of fantasy previously unexplored. Its hundreds of remarkable stories span from science fiction to fantasy to horror, and everything in between. Now Tor.com is making some of those worlds available for the first time in print.

This volume collects some of the best short stories Tor.com has to offer, with Hugo and Nebula Award-winning short stories and novelettes chosen from all ten years of the program. Including stories by: Charlie Jane Anders, N. K. Jemisin, Leigh Bardugo, Jeff VanderMeer, Yoon Ha Lee, Carrie Vaughn, Ken Liu, Kai Ashante Wilson, Kameron Hurley, Seth Dickinson, Rachel Swirsky, Laurie Penny, Alyssa Wong, Kij Johnson, David D. Levine, Genevieve Valentine, Max Gladstone, and many others.

I actually wouldn’t mind keeping this one on my shelves but I also have tons of anthologies that I need to read and one of my friend’s reads A LOT more short fiction than I do so I’m perfectly happy to hand this over to him. (You’re welcome.) PURGE

Swords in the Mist by Fritz Leiber

In Swords in the Mist, lean times in Lankhmar force brothers-in-arms Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser to part ways. Only after a joust of wits and swords do the friends join together again, stealing the ship the Black Treasurer and sailing round and through The Claws. Fighting sea kings, curses and seven-eyed wizards, the pair set out on their heroic wanderings through the wilds of Nehwon.
The late Fritz Leiber’s tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser launched the sword-and-sorcery genre, and were the inspiration for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.

I read the first ‘swords’ book by Leiber a few years ago and while it was amusing enough I think this type of fantasy just isn’t for me, for the most part. As far as sword and sorcery I much prefer Jennifer Roberson’s Tiger and Del. I have two of these in my TBR and am okay with passing them on. PURGE

That’s all for now! This brings my total count to:

Keep	Purge	Undecided
190	65	34

Still some more progress this week, I’m impressed with myself. The longer this goes on the more I don’t mind purging either. What do you think about my choices here? Anything you’d do differently? Leave a note in the comments, I’d love to chat!