What Should I Read Next…?

I’m incredibly indecisive when it comes to picking my next read. Usually. There are times, of course, when nothing is going to stop me reading a particular book. (Most recently, that was the case with Peter V. Brett’s The Daylight War, despite my intended wish to mix things up  a bit more… I loved it, so it worked out in the end. Later in the year, it’ll be Scott Lynch’s Republic of Thieves.)

I currently find myself in one of these moments of indecisiveness. Here are the options (followed, after the break, but synopses):

Reviewer Request

So, post-BEA, I’m exhausted but also swamped with books. I also want to start expanding the blog. Therefore, I would like to offer an invitation to be a guest reviewer on Civilian Reader. There’s just no way I can read and review all these books in a timely manner, and keep up to date with other new and old titles that come my way.

Therefore, there are four books I would like to offer to potential reviewers (I will post you the book). For this round, this is open to US only, but I will do another round when I get back to Britain open to the UK and Europe.

Here are the four titles:

Michael Koryta’s The Prophet (thriller); Chris Roberson’s Further Beyond the Threshold (sci-fi/space opera); B.V. Larson’s Technomancer (sci-fi/cyberpunk); and Rachel Aaron’s The Spirit War (fantasy, #4 in series)

Note: This does not mean I won’t read and review these four books myself in the near future. For example, the only reason I’m not reviewing The Spirit War is because I have to catch up with the rest of the series first, which could take a while.

Please only offer if you’re serious about reading and reviewing one of these books. If you’re interested, please email me which book you’d like to review. I would also ask that you ‘prove’ writing ability and knowledge of the genre. This is not just a chance to nab a free book and write “I liked it a lot. It was nice.”

If this works out, I will probably make it a frequent thing. If you’re interested, please let me know by Sunday night. I’ll be posting books on Monday morning.

Also, if you would like to guest-review or -write on Civilian Reader in general, feel free to email me a sample review, and I’ll consider posting it and/or offering you a writing & reviewing gig.

Genre fiction and blogging is, after all, a community thing, so it would be nice to feature more writers and reviewers on here.

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UPDATE: Open to US and CANADA

American/Washington Political Thrillers

Hi everyone – just a quick post to ask for recommendations. I’m interested in reading more thrillers, and I particularly like American political thrillers with a focus on Washington. In the past few weeks, I’ve really been in the mood for this type of novel, so I’d really like some suggestions.

Here are the authors I already know and like:

- Vince Flynn

- Brad Thor

- Kyle Mills

- Stuart Woods

- David Baldacci

- Mike Lawson

- Alex Berenson

- Andrew Britton (R.I.P.)

Can anybody recommend any others?

I’ve tried one of Steve Martini’s, but I found it quite slow – anybody know if they improve? Also, I’m going to check out Philip Margolin, Richard Hawke and Margaret Truman.

Thanks!

Book Indecision: March 2012

Ok, I feel like reading something a little “older” than usual. CR has focused predominantly on newer titles – partly because I am myself relatively new to reading genre fiction – but there are hundreds of novels that were released before I really started paying attention to the fantasy and sci-fi genres at large. There are a few in particular that have caught my eye, and while they are not necessarily old by, say, Tolkien or even Gemmell standards, they’ve nevertheless been around for a fair while. (Actually, speaking of Gemmell, I should try Legend at some point, too…)

I’ve narrowed the choices for the next round of Latecomer reviews down to three titles, and I’d like you to help me choose which to read and review first. Here are the choices:

Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice (Book One in the Farseer Trilogy)

James Barclay’s Dawnthief (Book One in The Chronicles of the Raven)

Neal Asher’s Gridlinked (the first Agent Cormac novel)

Which one should I read first, and why? I’ll probably go with the one that gets the most recommendations, unless someone writes a particularly compelling reason to read another.