My Favorite Fiction Books of 2014 (So Far)

Back in December 2011, I started a blog column, Authors, Alcohol & Accolades, which asked some of my favorite authors about their preferred drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic. There have been 11 editions of this column so far, with more coming in the near future. The inspiration for this series is that I am a voracious reader, of both fiction and nonfiction, and I wanted to combine that interest with my love of food & drink. The series has proven popular and it has been fascinating to explore what authors enjoy drinking.

As a special addendum to that series, I previously posted a list of my Favorite Fiction Books of 2013.  Now, I am going to post a similar list, of some of my favorite fiction books of the first six months of 2014. During this time period, I have read over 130 books, both fiction and nonfiction. As I mentioned, I am a voracious reader, and expect to read about the same amount during the rest of the year.

The following lists of favorites will include books of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Mystery/Thrillers. Though nearly all of these books were published in 2014, there might be a few that weren't, but I first read them in 2014. The books are also not in any specific order of preference.

My Top Ten Favorite Novels of the first six months of 2014:
--Phoenix Island by John Dixon
--The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley
--Red Rising by Pierce Brown
--The Detainee by Peter Liney
--Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry
--Blood Always Tells by Hilary Davidson
--The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan
--Veil of the Deserters by Jeff Salyards
--Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
--Night Terrors by Tim Waggoner

There are five other books which almost made the above list, but I had to make some tough cuts. However, they are still worthy of my recommendation.
--Sworn in Steel by Douglas Hulick
--The Furies by Mark Alpert
--The Forever Watch by David Ramirez
--Blood & Iron by Jon Sprunk
--The Empire of Time by David Wingrove

My Top Ten Favorite Anthologies of the first six months of 2014:
--Dangerous Women edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois
--Kaiju Rising edited by Tim Marquitz & Nickolas Sharps
--World War Cthulhu edited by Jonathan Oliver
--Lovecraft’s Monsters edited by Ellen Datlow
--The Dark Rites of Cthulhu edited by Brian Sammons
--Dead Man’s Hand edited by John Joseph Adams
--The Lizard Ardent Uniform edited by David Cranmer
--Equilbirum Overturned edited by Anthony Rivera & Sharon Lawson
--Neverland's Library edited by Roger Bellini
--Dark Sun Rising edited by John Cairns

I am very interested to see which of these books will still be in my Top Ten at the end of the year. I already know there are some potentially excellent books due out during the next six months so there will be serious challengers to those currently on these lists. All of these books would make great summer reading and a number of these authors have also written other worthy books. Please support an author, a small, independent business person, and buy more books.

What are some of your favorite books so far this year?