Hooray for A Song for Arbonne and 11/22/63! I love that you’re not ashamed of having a fictional crush. 😊 Cheers for having an exciting reading year so far!

Ben I hope you do Brian Belltube’s Nightclub Booktube Tag!! The 12 Prompts: 1 - "Cocktail Hour" - Name a book you that you think pairs perfectly with your favorite drink. 2 - "Neon Lights" - Name a book with a cover that immediately grabbed your attention like bright lights in a club." 3 - "The Bouncer" - What book did you have to put down because it just wasn't letting you in?" 4 - "DJ's Choice" - What book would you recommend as the perfect read for someone new to the fantasy genre? 5 - "Disco Ball" - Name a book that made you feel like you were part of a vibrant, glittering world." 6 - "Dance Floor Diva" - What book had you dancing with excitement from the first page to the last? 7 - "Guest List" - Which author would you invite to an exclusive book-themed party and why?" 8 - "VIP Entrance" - Which book did you feel privileged to read before it became more widely popular?" 9 - "Dance Battle" - Which two characters from different books would you love to see face off in a dance battle?" 10 - "Midnight Read" - What's a book you couldn't put down and ended up reading all night? 11 - "After-Party" - What book left you with a hangover, unable to start a new read immediately after finishing it? 12 - "Late Night Conversations" - Which book left you thinking deeply or wanting to discuss it with others late into the night?

Wow. The hidden art in the Dragon Mage is stunning!

When I saw 11/22/63 in the thumbnail I knew I had to watch, and then it being the best book, I couldn’t agree more. It’s my all time favourite king 💕💕 even though it’s so different from his normal books

Great year so far Ben. Yessss for Arbonne!

Yes! Arbonne & Blaise! 🤩 1. Best book so far in 2024: «Imperium» by Robert Harris (Cicero Trilogy #1, Historical Fiction about the Eponymous Roman Politician)! 2. Best sequel so far in 2024: «Brother Red» by Adrian Selby (Grimdark Fantasy, standalone «midquel» to «Snakewood» & «The Winter Road»), «Howling Dark» (Sun Eater #2) by Christopher Ruocchio (Space opera) & «The Fort» (City of Victory Trilogy #1, sequel to the «Vindolandia» Trilogy) by Adrian Goldsworthy (Historical Military Fiction set during Emperor Trajan’s Campaigns)! 3. New release I haven't read: «Disquiet Gods»(Sun Eater, #6) by Christopher Ruocchio (Space opera): A bit cheating, as I have not yet read book 3 to 5, but yeah, really looking forward to the next novels! 4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year: Book #3 of «The Sundered Nation» Trilogy by Vaughn Roycroft, the Standalone Sequel of the «Edan» Trilogy by our dear Philip Chase & «The Fury of the Gods» #3 in the «Bloodsworn Saga» by John Gwynne! 5. Biggest disappointment: I feel I am a bit spoiled, as I have not read any truly bad novels or have given up reading any books for a long time, but «Idoru» by William Gibson (Bridge Trilogy #2, Cyberpunk) was not bad, but still a small letdown from book #1, «Virtual Light» (3.5 out of 5, to «VL»’s 4.5). 6. Favorite new author: Christopher Ruocchio 7. Biggest surprise: «Islands in the Net» by Bruce Sterling ((Post-)Cyberpunk), a really pleasant surprise, as I had prepared for a good cheesy 80s Cyberpunk story: Is there Hackers, Data Pirate Havens and Rastafarians? Sure, but unlike most dystopian Cyberpunk novels, this broke from the norm by having the 30-something mother of a toddler as the protagonist and interesting concepts such a Economic Democratic Cooperations (almost reminiscent of the ideas floating by Kim Stanley Robinson in his Sci Fi Novels, if not utopian then at least not at all the usual Techno/Neo-Feudalism of most Cyberpunk!) and genuine energy solutions ideas that might benefit smaller nations, as well as a use of psy-ops and drones that made it a lot more forward minded than I expected! 8. Book that made me happy: I have to say «Imperium» by Robert Harris: I had read Harris only once (his alt-history novel «Fatherland», set in a 1960s where the US did not join WW2 (but defeated Japan) and the World is divided into a Cold War between the USA and N@zi Germany: Great read, but obviously not full of laughs) but he not only nails the history and politics of Ancient Rome, following the ups and downs of Cicero is at times borderline satirical (but also serves as an encouraging) take on Modern Politics as well. 9. Newest fictional crush: I guess I have to say Laura Webster from «Islands in the Net», but I also have to give a shout out to Cicero’s Wife in «Imperium» (such a fun contrast but also weirdly fitting her husband! 😆) and to the Old Couple in «The Buried Giant» by Kazuo Ishigaro: Sonwholesome and heartbreaking! 10. Newest favorite character: Undoubtedly Cicero from «Imperium» 11. Book that made me cry. «Når landet mørknar» (Approximately «When The (This?) Land Darkens») by Tore Kvæven, Historical Fiction set during the 13th Century Norse Settlement of Greenland, think a Norse John Steinbeck! Well-worthy winner of the 2018 Brage Prize for Best Norwegian Novel! But will also shoutout «Stonehenge» by Bernard Cornwell (Man, the Human Sacrifice of Children hit me!) and «The Buried Giant» by Kazuo Ishigaro: Heartbreaking! 12. Most beautiful book so far this year: The new cover of my e-book copy «Queen Amid Ashes» (Sun Eater, #2.5) by Christopher Ruocchio, is gorgeous! Also: While it is visually very plain, obviously my inherited copy of «Brothers Karamazov» by Dostoevsky from my late Aunt have immense sentimental value! 13. What books do I need to read by the end of the year? After the novels I mentioned in point 4, I have to say the rest of the «Cicero» Trilogy by Robert Harris, the «Memory, Sorrow & Thorn» «Trilogy» by Tad Williams, the «Prince of Nothing» Trilogy by R. Scott Bakker, the final two novels in the «City of Victory» Trilogy by Adrian Goldsworthy and the final two novels in «The Expanse» by James S. A. Corey!

Awesome to hear how much you loved DCC! It’s such a blast! I always enjoy seeing all your beautiful books as well. Hope you have a great rest of the year 🤘🏽

Yay! Awesome list of books and what a fantastic reading year for you so far. Sending all the good thoughts that it continues for you 🥳

Awesome update Ben! I'm absolutely honoured to see Riven Earth featured haha! Sounds like you've had an amazing year! So many good books and so many good ones to come. Very much looking forward to your thoughts on the rest of GGK, Fool's Quest, and The Last Kingdom! I'm also fully on board with the Cordelia crush 😋

I’m a huge fan of Bujold’s Penric and Desdemona series, it’s so nice to see her being mentioned! At some point I want to pick up her other works and give them a try.

Great year so far! 11/22/63 is very high up on my tbr currently

Absolutely wonderful that 2024 has been so amazing for you, I hope that positive streak continues!! So eager for you to read Riven Earth, I am currently halfway through the ARC of book 2 and this is shaping up to be one of my favourite duologies for sure 😍 And gosh, please for the love of all that is holy, let Wind and Truth be a big hit 🤣

I’m so looking forward to reading A Song for Arbonne which is in my night stand. I’ve seen Dungeon Crawler Carl all over the place but you’re the one who has now convinced me I need to read it.

My biggest takeaway from this is I need to read A Song for Arbonne ASAP. I'm glad you enjoyed Shogun as much as you did. It is a great book. Dungeon Crawler Carl is my "break glass in case of burnout" series. I know I will like it so I'm saving it. I plan on filming my Mid Year Book Freakout video in a few days. I never knew about this tag until recently. Great video!

Great video, Ben! Gosh, I sure love this tag. It was one of my very first videos to make!

I recently read Shards of Honor and really enjoyed it.

I read the first three Saxon Tales, try to get Tom Sellwood as the narrator, he sounds exactly like Alexander Draymon , Utred from the tv show. These books were so funny and a perfect palette cleanser.

Awesome video Ben! Really glad to hear such good things about Song for Arbonne. I really need to read that at some point. Sorry to hear you haven’t enjoyed Dune.

Ben, John & Jacob from Talking Story and Richard & Austin from 2 to Ramble are going to be at Dragonsteel too, you should get these booktubers as guests on your live chat series. Sounds like it will be a fantasy booktube Meet Up event too. I finished Ship of Destiny and watched your discussion again. The last 1/4 was rough emotionally and overall I was sad that I am not aboard the Paragon & Vivacia anymore! I just purchased Darien & Andrew Wizard’s recent recommend Lord of a Shattered Land. No audio & no library. I have FOMO for these series!!

Awesome video. I knew Burned would be on here soon as I saw the categories, lol. I really do need to get to Conn Iggulden's trilogy at some point. His books can be very hit and miss so I've been hesitant, but it sounds like he hit this one out of the park. I get what you mean with Bujold, I've read her Chalion series and it was the same vibe. Cool picks all in all!

That's the thing, Ben. Dune Messiah is not a satisfying contained story in its own right. I always recommend reading it as either the epilogue to Dune or as the prologue of Children of Dune. But i highly doubt you'll like where the series goes.

Is Empire of Salt a lot of battle and fighting scenes or is there more to it than that? It sounds good, but I’ve recently discovered I don’t really care for books that are just filled with those scenes. I don’t mind them, but I need more than that!

Well done! You've truly impressed me.