. The majority of you are probably here by accident or on a dare or something and have no clue whats going on. But a few of you already know that I just started this blog back in October. So I am new to all this writing stuff and sharing my thoughts with others. But I wanted to do a year end wrap up of the best of the books I have read. As of 12/9/16 the number of books  I have finished this year is 256.

And since I know my wrap up won’t be very entertaining but I want a lot of people to look at it, I am going to do it like an awards show. I mean who actually enjoys the Oscars anymore? But we still watch them.

SO with out further ado. I welcome you  to the first ever Gobie awards. I don’t know that sounds kinda stupid .What do you think? .I guess I lied and there will be further ado..Is that a thing? I know you can be with out it but can you have further ado?…    now I am just getting sidetracked…. And the Gobie goes to….hmm I guess it will work Lets start over

I welcome you to the first ever Gobie awards.

Our first Award will be the Gobie for Best Book in YA (young Adult)

And the Gobie goes too

Calamity (Reckoners #3)  by Brandon Sanderson

My rating 4 stars

When Calamity lit up the sky, the Epics were born. David’s fate has been tied to their villainy ever since that historic night. Steelheart killed his father. Firefight stole his heart. And now Regalia has turned his closest ally into a dangerous enemy.

David knew Prof’s secret, and kept it even when the Reckoners’ leader struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny. He’s disappeared into those murky shadows of menace Epics are infamous for the world over, and everyone knows there’s no turning back…

But everyone is wrong. Redemption is possible for Epics—Megan proved it. They’re not lost. Not completely. And David is just about crazy enough to face down the most powerful High Epic of all to get his friend back. Or die trying.

 

The Next award is for Best short story /Novella   And the Gobie goes too

Danse Macabre
by Laura M Hughes

The dead beckon and the little girl obeys. Night after night she answers the graveyard’s call, though she dreads her encounters with the creature that dwells there.
But she’ll soon come to learn that memories are much more dangerous than monsters…

My review

As dark as Abercrombie ever was and as beautifully written as Rothfuss the Prose is almost like poetry except that I liked it. This is a short story and only took me about 30 min to read it but I will be thinking about it for days I am sure. I honestly think it was one of the best short stories I have ever read. I will be checking often for more from Laura M. Hughes. I give Danse Macabre 5 out of 5 stars. You owe it to yourself to read this haunting story.

 

OK seriously let me know if any of you think of a better name for the award

 Play to Live by D. Rus

My Rating 4 stars

A new pandemic – the perma effect – has taken over Earth of the near future. Whenever you play your favorite online game, beware: your mind might merge with the virtual world and dump its comatose host. Woe be to those stuck forever in Tetris! And still they’re the lucky ones compared to those burning alive eternally within the scorched hulls of tank simulators.

But some unfortunates – the handicapped and the terminally ill, shell-shocked army vets, wronged crime victims and other society misfits – choose to flee real life willingly, escaping to the limitless world of online sword and sorcery MMORPGs.

Once a seasoned gamer and now a terminal cancer patient, Max grasps at this final chance to preserve his life and identity. So he goes for it – goes for the promise of immortality shared with a few trusty friends and the woman he loves. Together they roam the roads of AlterWorld and sample its agony and ecstasy born of absolute freedom.

Cthulhu Armageddon by C.T. Phipps

My Rating 4.5 stars

CTHULHU ARMAGEDDON is the story of a world 100 years past the rise of the Old Ones which has been reduced to a giant monster-filled desert and pockets of human survivors (along with Deep Ones, ghouls, and other “talking” monsters).

John Henry Booth is a ranger of one of the largest remaining city-states when he’s exiled for his group’s massacre and suspicion he’s “tainted.” Escaping with a doctor who killed her husband, John travels across the Earth’s blasted alien ruins to seek the life of the man who killed his friends.

It’s the one thing he has left.

My review Cthulhu Armageddon  by C.T. Phipps

Should we break for intermission? oh Damn I Forgot to ask Laura M. Hughes Who she was wearing…. Oh well the world is probably better off with whoever it is as a dress anyway, OK back to the awards!!

The Vagrant (The Vagrant #1) by  Peter Newman

My Rating 5 stars

The Vagrant is his name. He has no other. Friendless and alone he walks across a desolate, war-torn landscape, carrying nothing but a kit-bag, a legendary sword and a baby. His purpose is to reach the Shining City, last bastion of the human race, and deliver the sword, the only weapon that may make a difference in the ongoing war. But the Shining City is far away and the world is a very dangerous place.

Hob’s review of The Vagrant by Peter Newman

Best New Author to Me

When the Heavens Fall (The Chronicle of the Exile #1)  by Marc Turner

My Rating 5 stars

If you pick a fight with Shroud, Lord of the Dead, you had better ensure your victory, else death will mark only the beginning of your suffering.

A book giving its wielder power over the dead has been stolen from a fellowship of mages that has kept the powerful relic dormant for centuries. The thief, a crafty, power-hungry necromancer, intends to use the Book of Lost Souls to resurrect an ancient race and challenge Shroud for dominion of the underworld. Shroud counters by sending his most formidable servants to seize the artifact at all cost.

However, the god is not the only one interested in the Book, and a host of other forces converge, drawn by the powerful magic that has been unleashed. Among them is a reluctant Guardian who is commissioned by the Emperor to find the stolen Book, a troubled prince who battles enemies both personal and political, and a young girl of great power, whose past uniquely prepares her for an encounter with Shroud. The greatest threat to each of their quests lies not in the horror of an undead army but in the risk of betrayal from those closest to them. Each of their decisions comes at a personal cost and will not only affect them, but also determine the fate of their entire empire.
The first of an epic swords & sorcery fantasy trilogy for fans of Patrick Rothfuss, Marc Turner’s When the Heavens Fall features  gritty characters, deadly magic, and meddlesome gods

My review When the Heavens Fall (The Chronicle of the Exile, #1) By Marc Turner

The Blood Mirror (Lightbringer, #4)

by Brent Weeks

My Rating 5 stars

Stripped of both magical and political power, the people he once ruled told he’s dead, and now imprisoned in his own magical dungeon, former Emperor Gavin Guile has no prospect of escape. But the world faces a calamity greater than the Seven Satrapies has ever seen… and only he can save it.
As the armies of the White King defeat the Chromeria and old gods are born anew, the fate of worlds will come down to one question: Who is the Lightbringer?

Hob’s review of The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks

Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire #1)  by Michael J. Sullivan

My Rating 5 stars

Age of Myth inaugurates an original six-book series, and one of fantasy’s finest next-generation storytellers continues to break new ground.

Since time immemorial, humans have worshiped the gods they call Fhrey, truly a race apart: invincible in battle, masters of magic, and seemingly immortal. But when a god falls to a human blade, the balance of power between men and those they thought were gods changes forever. Now, only a few stand between humankind and annihilation: Raithe, reluctant to embrace his destiny as the God Killer; Suri, a young seer burdened by signs of impending doom; and Persephone, who must overcome personal tragedy to lead her people. The Age of Myth is over; the time of rebellion has begun. Age of Myth

Are we still having fun? Do I need to hire some homeless people to fill the empty seats? Don’t worry we are almost done.

 

 Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

My Rating 4 stars

In Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher tells the true and intoxicating story of her life with inimitable wit. Born to celebrity parents, she was picked to play a princess in a little movie called Star Wars when only 19 years old. “But it isn’t all sweetness and light sabres.” Alas, aside from a demanding career and her role as a single mother (not to mention the hyperspace hairdo), Carrie also spends her free time battling addiction, weathering the wild ride of manic depression and lounging around various mental institutions. It’s an incredible tale – from having Elizabeth Taylor as a stepmother, to marrying (and divorcing) Paul Simon, from having the father of her daughter leave her for a man, to ultimately waking up one morning and finding a friend dead beside her in bed.

Secret History (Mistborn #3.5)  by Brandon Sanderson

My Rating 5 stars

Mistborn: Secret History is a companion story to the original Mistborn trilogy.
As such, it contains HUGE SPOILERS for the books Mistborn (The Final Empire), The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. It also contains very minor spoilers for the book The Bands of Mourning.
  Mistborn: Secret History builds upon the characterization, events, and worldbuilding of the original trilogy. Reading it without that background will be a confusing process at best.
In short, this isn’t the place to start your journey into Mistborn. (Though if you have read the trilogy—but it has been a while—you should be just fine, so long as you remember the characters and the general plot of the books.)
Saying anything more here risks revealing too much. Even knowledge of this story’s existence is, in a way, a spoiler.

There’s always another secret.

my review Secret History (Mistborn #3.5) by Brandon Sanderson

This next book gets 2 awards so I am just giving them together

The Wheel of Osheim (The Red Queen’s War #3) by Mark Lawrence

My rating 5 stars

All the horrors of Hell stand between Snorri Ver Snagason and the rescue of his family, if indeed the dead can be rescued. For Jalan Kendeth, getting back out alive and with Loki’s key is all that matters. Loki’s creation can open any lock, any door, and it may also be the key to Jalan’s fortune back in the living world.

Jalan plans to return to the three w’s that have been the core of his idle and debauched life: wine, women, and wagering. Fate however has other plans, larger plans. The Wheel of Osheim is turning ever faster, and it will crack the world unless it’s stopped. When the end of all things looms, and there’s nowhere to run, even the worst coward must find new answers. Jalan and Snorri face many dangers, from the corpse hordes of the Dead King to the many mirrors of the Lady Blue, but in the end, fast or slow, the Wheel of Osheim always pulls you back. In the end it’s win or die.

OK that’s just about it just one more Gobie to give and this one is a killer. Emotionally anyway

The Shepherd’s Crown (Discworld #41)

by Terry Pratchett
My Rating 5 stars

Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength.

This is a time of endings and beginnings, old friends and new, a blurring of edges and a shifting of power. Now Tiffany stands between the light and the dark, the good and the bad.

As the fairy horde prepares for invasion, Tiffany must summon all the witches to stand with her. To protect the land. Her land.

There will be a reckoning

 

The wonderful Terry Pratchett was visited by Death, the old grim reaper himself mounted upon his fearsome stead Binky before this book was completely finished. From the notes in the book by his friends and publisher nothing was added by anyone else. I personally didn’t notice anything missing, Although I was too busy crying my eyes out over the Death of Granny Weatherwax and by extension My Pratchett.. It really did feel as if he was saying goodbye to us, his fans as the other witches gathered to honor old Granny W.

And on that cheery note I will thank you all for coming …er watching.. reading whatever just thanks! AND PLEASE HELP WITH THE NAME for the awards. If it is still called the Gobies next year I will blame you ….no not you the one behind you yeah that one with the shirt yeah that’s the one!