Fantasy Quest!

A little over a month ago, I sold my house and moved to a new part of town.  As part of getting to know my new neighborhood, I sought out the nearest local library. You can tell a lot about a neighborhood by how nice their local library is, how many actual books they have in relation to cheapjack desktop computers, and how much of their inventory is media.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover my local library has a generous amount of books AND media and only a very small section of desktop computers. Most of the visitors who wanted to use the internet seemed to have brought their own computers with them and were using the local wifi.

So, after wandering around, I decided to pick up some books. But what to read? I haven't had any real desire to read anything, which is probably why I've had problems trying to write. The word-tanks are empty and must be refilled regularly. I have been neglecting that.

So, I decided that I would start in the A's of the fiction section and work my way through all the Fantasy authors until I reach Z.

So far, it's been an interesting experience. I've discovered some good books and some real stinkers. Here's a brief breakdown of what I've read so far.

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie.  A sort of Viking-themed fantasy setting.  Excellent book. Highly recommend it.

Magicians Impossible by Brad Abraham. Initially, I was concerned this would turn into a Harry Potter-style book but it avoided that particular pitfall. A good book. Not great. But pretty damn good.

Blood Song by Cat Adams. The first stinker I encountered. Urban fantasy bullshit with a female protagonist who, it's revelaed, is even more special than she first appeared. *eyeroll* Overall, it was an okay book, but the protagonist just left a bad taste in my mouth, the literary equivalent of tequila vomit aftertaste. 

Edge of Dawn by Lara Adrian. Eleventh is a series, which I didn't realize when I picked it up, or I wouldn't have bothered. A 'Vampires existence has been revealed' fantasy book set in the near future. The main character, Mira, is just unpleasant and fucking stupid to boot. A shit book that I resent waisting my time on.

The Horns of Ruin by Tim Akers. This is awkward, but I read this book ages ago and completely forgot about it until I was two chapters into this copy. It's not a bad book. It's well-written and I didn't want to choke the shit out of the main character, Eva Forge. It bills itself as steampunk sword-n-sorcery. Eva's a paladin and how she channels her paladin abilities is cool. Read it yourself to see how. Not a bad book, but not great either. Kind of 'meh.'  Still a billion times better than Edge of Fucking Dawn.

The Dark Side of the Road by Simon Green. This is sort of an Honorable Mention as its the first book I checked out of my new library before I started on my Fantasy Quest. It sort of inspired me because I love Simon Green and was totally unaware that he had written another fantasy series. This book, though, was pretty much shit. It's an urban fantasy/mystery and a real slog to get through. Totally fucking boring. Very disappointing when compared to the Nightside books or even his Shaman Bond series. 

And that's where I'm at so far. What fresh horrors/wonders will I uncover on my next trip to the library? Who knows? But I'll let y'all know after the fact, and possibly spare some of you some time-wasting, cringe-worthy books.