Last year I had just started my blog in October so I wasn’t really sure how to do an end of the year wrap up. I ended up going with an award show type of thing because I had not seen it done anywhere else. Plus I didn’t have many readers so I basically was just doing for myself. This year I have more readers but still I am just doing it to have fun and hopefully you will enjoy it.

So without further ado let’s get to the awards and because I am me lets start at the strangest place possible, at the end.

A lot of people love to read a good series. Some wait until the series is done. Some pick up the new book as soon as they can. No  matter how many books are in that series though if it’s one that you love the final book can be a scary concept. If not done well it can ruin a beloved series, but done well or not it will be an emotional read for us that will miss the fictional people in it. So this category is for Best Series Ending. The nominees are

The Infernal Battalion (The Shadow Campaigns #5)

by Django Wexler

The Core (Demon Cycle #5)

by Peter V. Brett

 A War in Crimson Embers (The Crimson Empire, #3)
by Alex Marshall

The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3)

by N.K. Jemisin

The Fifth Empire of Man
by Rob J. Hayes

And the goby ( I still hate that name) goes to Django Wexler for The Infernal Battalion. While The Infernal Battalion technically isn’t out until next year I received an ARC and actually read it a month or two ago. So I guess you will all have to take my word for it when I say it is just about as perfect of an end as you can hope for in a series.  Mr. Wexler would you like to say a few words?

“Thanks so much, and I’m so happy you liked the ending. It’s a strange feeling to finish a project this big, and finally write the conclusion I thought up five years ago. I am really excited to share it with everyone, though, and I hope you all enjoy it”

Now that we have looked back at some of the best series that ended this year lets flip the coin and take a look at some of the most promising new series that we will eagerly be awaiting each new installment for years to come. This is the award for Best New Series. And the nominees are

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1)

by Mark Lawrence

Sins of Empire (Gods of Blood and Powder #1)

by Brian McClellan

Dominion of Blades (Dominion of Blades #1)

by Matt Dinniman

Blackwing (Ravens’ Mark #1)

by Ed McDonald

 I Was a Teenage Weredeer (Bright Falls Mysteries #1)

by C.T. Phipps , Michael Suttkus

 

And the winner is Mark Lawrence with Red Sister. This was the first book I read this year and I have been having a hard time not comparing all other books to it. If I had most would have a far lower rating. Not only is the world building awesome it is original as well. With that plus the fantastic writing what more could one ask for? If the other books can stay at the same quality  this is looking to be one of my favorite series ever.

We have looked at the endings and the beginnings but what about those series that are still cranking out books. The nominees for Best Ongoing Series are.

Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga, #4)
by Pierce Brown

Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive #3)
by Brandon Sanderson

An Echo of Things to Come (The Licanius Trilogy #2)
by James Islington

Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire #2)
by Michael J. Sullivan

White Trash Zombie Unchained (White Trash Zombie #6)
by Diana Rowland

And the winner is Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive #3)
by Brandon Sanderson

The scope of this series is truly epic and the writing is top notch. With a planned 10 books total this series won’t be finished for a while but that’s a good thing right?

Ok now lets separate these categories up a bit and look at the different genres. Most people love a good Science Fiction story. It doesn’t matter if it is the newest Star Wars movie or a great book this genre has a way of grabbing on to a person and making them lifelong fans. All of the nominees for best Science Fiction book sure grabbed me, and they are

Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga, #4)
by Pierce Brown

All These Worlds (Bobiverse #3)
by Dennis E. Taylor

Artemis
by Andy Weir

Lucifer’s Star (Lucifer’s Star #1)
by C.T. Phipps

 

The winner is Pierce Brown and Iron Gold. This one is not out until the first week of January but I had an ARC again.  If you haven’t read any of the Red Rising books you are really missing out. It is without a doubt one of the best Science Fiction series that I have ever read.

From the edges of space all the way down to the dirt and filth of the darkest kind of fantasy, Grimdark has as many definitions of what it is as there are people reading it. But for me what Grimdark means is … Gotcha Ha ha no I am not going to define what Grimdark is other than to say The nominees are

You Die When You Die (West of West #1)

by Angus Watson

  Blackwing (Ravens’ Mark #1)
by Ed McDonald

The Court of Broken Knives (Empires of Dust #1)

by Anna Smith Spark

The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3)

by N.K. Jemisin

And the winner is Blackwing by Ed McDonald This is also his debut book and it was one hell of a ride. Keep an eye on Ed McDonald he is going places.  But before he gets there he has a few words to share with us.
“Well, I’d like to thank myself for writing the book, also myself for having the ideas for the book. I don’t know how grimdark my book is since nobody knows what the fuck that means anyway, but if you enjoyed reading about heroes and people killing each other and magic and things that eat you in your sleep, then thanks I guess. You sick fuckers.”

Thanks Ed……

Um….. for more words of wisdom from ED check out the Interview he did with me a few months back.

This next genre, while not as hard to classify as Grimdark has its own difficulties  It was called LitRPG but some person who thinks he is God … or at least the Godfather went and trademarked that term. I was never all that crazy with it to begin with but now people are calling it all sorts of things. GameLit is the most popular right now. I came up with the term POVRPG and I think that explains it well. It is a story told from the POV of someone that is some type of game or an alternate game like world. My nominees for Best POVRPG are

Dungeon Madness (The Divine Dungeon #2)
by Dakota Krout

Obligations Incurred (Delvers LLC #2)
by Blaise Corvin

Dominion of Blades (Dominion of Blades #1)
by Matt Dinniman

Morningwood: Everybody Loves Large Chests (Vol.1) by Neven Iliev

And the winner is Dominion of Blades (Dominion of Blades #1)
by Matt Dinniman This stood out in many ways but the great Characters are what really grabbed me and made this one stay at the top of the list. And here is Matt to say a few words.

“Thanks so much to everybody who read Dominion of Blades. It has been an amazing year. All of your comments and support mean the world to me. I am this close to finishing up Dominion of Blades: The Hobgoblin Riot, and I can’t wait for ya’ll to find out what’s next for Jonah, Gretchen, Popper, and Alice”

OK we have had a look at some of the hard to quantify genres but since this is running long I am going to just combine a few that to me all kind of go together. The Nominees for best  Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian horror novel of 2017 are

I Was a Teenage Weredeer (Bright Falls Mysteries #1)

by C.T. Phipps, Michael Suttkus

White Trash Zombie Unchained (White Trash Zombie #6)
by Diana Rowland

The Boy on the Bridge (The Hungry Plague #2)

by M.R. Carey

Ghosts of Tomorrow

by Michael R. Fletcher

Nothing Left To Lose (John Cleaver #6)
by Dan Wells

And the winner is Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R. Fletcher This story while full of action was surprisingly deep on many levels. Just go read it

 

We have looked at some of the best series of the year but what about the stand alone books. Now Admittedly I didn’t read a whole bunch of standalone books this year but the ones I did read were all awesome. The nominees for Best Stand Alone Book are

 Faithless
by Graham Austin-King

Ghosts of Tomorrow

by Michael R. Fletcher

The Heart of Stone
by Ben Galley

Artemis
by Andy Weir

This one was hard, hell they are all hard to chose but Faithless by Graham Austin-King narrowly beat out the rest. Graham would you like to say a few words?

“Wow, thank you so much for this! Faithless started out as a fun, little, novella – so something clearly went wrong there. For it to now be rubbing shoulders with writers of the caliber of Ben Galley and Michael R Fletcher, is an amazing thing. I owe a mention to my wonderful editor, Sarah Chorn, and to my legion of beta-readers, and ultimately to the readers who keep me writing.”

Thanks Graham you disserved it. Faithless was a hell of a story and written extremely well.

Well my friends it has been fun but it looks like we have come to the final award. This category has so many different tiny key factors that each one has to have just to be nominated here that it really is an honor just to be nominated. This is the award for Best Damn Book of the Year. The Nominees are

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1)
by Mark Lawrence

The Fifth Empire of Man (Best Laid Plans #2)
by Rob J. Hayes

Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga, #4)
by Pierce Brown

 Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive, #3)
by Brandon Sanderson

And the stupid goblin holding a gold book goes to Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1)
by Mark Lawrence

I have already said what I loved about this book so I will just let Mark say a few words.

“Getting on a Best of List never gets old and I’m thrilled that Red Sister got such a great reception on The Blogin’ Hobgoblin. Starting a new series is always a nervy moment and it has been wonderful to see how invested readers have become in Nona’s story. The Blogin’ Hobgoblin has put out an amazing volume of quality content in its 14 months and I’m hoping the great work carries on for years to come. The humour makes me keen to keep visiting. I’m excited for the rest of The Book of the Ancestor trilogy to hit the shelves. Fingers crossed that Grey Sister reaches some Best of 2018 lists next year! ”

Thanks Mark I am glad you enjoy the blog. Thanks to all the other authors that have visited for interviews or just to say something here. And thanks to all of you who read this I hope you had fun reading this post and all my other posts this past year and hope you come back for all the fun to come over the next year.