The Silmarillion. Loved the early creation myth stuff, had somewhat fluctuating interest in the later bits, and, as usual, shaking my head at the Professor for the way he handles female characters by making one fairly badass only to nerf them in the next page. I did laugh my ass off when I realized just how much material from the book found its way into the first Hobbit <strike>abomination</strike> film, despite Christopher Tolkien refusing to let anyone get the film rights to the book due to his continuing butthurt over the LotR films; I would have thought that he would have made more with the threats of a lawsuit.

The Martian by Andy Weir
It's basically a Robinson Crusoe on Mars. I liked sense of humour but the feeling that the protagonist was in any danger just wasn't there.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
A really good fantasy book, actually. Slows a bit in the middle, but has its own world with its own peoples and magic system. It's only the first of announced ten books, and I suspect all this magic will eventually blow out of proportion and everybody will ask "wtf?".

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
A decent SF book. However, I've had certain expectations after A Fire Upon the Deep I've read years ago and it simply didn't meet them. Aliens didn't feel at all that alien or original, and the actual anticipated contact with their civilisation happens really late in the book.

Inherit the stars by James P. Hogan
Very good, classic, hard SF. Really imaginative use of science (some of it probably outdated by now) to create and explore alternative history of sentient life in the Solar System. I was really hooked to the book, despite (or maybe "thanks to") its heavy focus on discoveries and "scientific" theories and discussions revolving around them.

Yep I agree, really great book. Did you already read the second one?

No, not yet. But I'm definitely going to read it.

I respectfully disagree. :-) My review: http://newsok.com/traitors-blade-a-complex-satisfying-debut-in-the-fantasy-genre/article/5343780/?page=2

Ah ok :-) because I bought it recently but did not have time to read it yet, so I was curious if it is good like the first one :D

We'll have to agree to disagree then :)

My first* book of the year is The Wheel of Time IV: The Shadow Rising. Due to exams, I left it for a while, but a week and a half ago, still having exams, I decided to continue reading. It seemed like I left at the right point (just before Ruidean), as I read 500 pages in that time, while also having to study. Now I'm really looking forward to the next book, but it'll have to wait just a bit. The newly released Dutch translation of Times of Contempt is up first.

*It's possible that I also finished What if: serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions this year, but it could've have also been the last book of 2014.

Full list
The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time part 4)

TEN? Crap, I didn't realize that when I picked up the first two. Four or five, I could probably be fine with, but I can't see sustaining ten books without a lot of bloat, filler, and boredom.

*cough*SongofIceandFire*cough*

But yeah, 10 books seems a bit excessive. It's not out of the realm of possibility that the author needs that much space to tell their story, but that rarely seems to be the case in my experience. Hell, Martin threatened that he might have an eighth book in his series, and it's already so plodding and bloated that I had to give up. Then again, Rowling went on for seven books that I thought were enjoyable, so who knows.

Agreed, although I'm actually still enjoying ASoIaF.

I´m reading the Armageddon novels of Peter F. Hamilton again, it`s some good modern weird fiction.

#3 The Eagle's Conquest by Simon Scarrow
#4 Killing Range by Phil Campion

Lowball
Edited by Melinda Snodgrass and George R.R. Martin
Link to book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lowball-A-Wild-Cards-Novel/dp/0765331950

It took me a long time to read this due to my sporadic free time, but I managed to finish it and it is an amazing addition to the Wildcards universe. Before anyone considers reading this, I would highly recommend readers of this book to start their foray into the universe with the book Inside Straight onwards. The committee trilogy, and especially Fort Freak, serves as a base foundation for most of the characters mentioned in Lowball. Of course, there are a lot of books in this universe, but the essential characters in Lowball mentioned especially in Inside Straight onwards is done in such a way that reading Lowball first would in my opinion ruin the past books if they were read later (and may lower confusion as to why these characters have strenuous attitudes with each other in Lowball). Although, some of the short stories like “Cry Wolf” are better pulled off as a stand alone than others like “No Parking…” which in particular sort of expects the reader to understand events from Suicide Kings (3rd book in the committee trilogy).

Following the events of Fort Freak, certain characters get promotions and new relationships with other characters are explored. Unlike Fort Freak, Lowball focuses more on an overarching story revolving mysterious kidnappings instead of the corruption in the Fort Freak precinct. Besides kidnappings, characters mentioned from past books like Stuntman from Inside Straight get a more personalized look in their life that help drive the overarching story. I would consider this book more of a mystery book than a superhero book because of the more prevalent joker (people who are deformed due to the wildcard virus) and nat (people unaffected by the virus) presence, even though some characters do show off their abilities (considered aces, gaining powers from the virus) in a significant way for certain short stories like in Cry Wolf and Once More, for Old Times’ Sake. To me, the focus on mystery is a nice change of pace since the approach of it is very suspenseful and I am definitely left wanting more with their cliffhanger ending. My favorite characters explored were Francis Xavier Black (Franny) and Marcus Morgan (Infamous Black Tongue). Not too unexpected, but characters will die in this book and it was a hard thing to read about for some of them. I overall appreciated this latest edition to the Wildcards series and I recommend it if readers are little bit more open minded to the mystery approach of this book. The next book, High Stakes, will certainly be on my radar when it comes out in the future!

Nothing in my experience comes close to The Wheel of Time as far as bloat goes. Page after page describing clothing and embroidery. Good grief did that man have diarrhea of the word processor (or pencil, pen or typewriter). I still managed to finish it because it was quite good in parts. Cut several hundred pages off each book (well, maybe not the first four or five) and you might have had a classic.