Book recommendation: A Life With Footnotes

 The first book to recommend this year is the biography of Terry Pratchett. Many of you might know about me considering him to be my favourite author. Or rather have suffered through me rambling about random quotes from his books.

Reading the detailed account of his life, from the beginnings up to his tragic end, was enlightening and gave me much context. The author Rob Wilkins, Pterry's assistant of many years, did an excellent job of connecting us to the memory of an extraordinary crafter of worlds. It makes me want to read all Discworld books all over again.

Give it a try if you are curious as well.

I got Stuff: The Cosmere RPG

 After a big Kickstarter, time passes before one gets their share of stuff, but my patience was rewarded. I got my books for the Sanderson Cosmere RPG, and what a haul it is:

Especially the "Stormlight"-style dice are a show and the print production value is very high. I hope I will find an opportunity to try it out not too far in the future.

To have a few words on the setting: The first wave of books brings core rules and setting details for Roshar, the world from the Stormlight books, where harsh weather forces humans to get creative and enduring to survive and prosper. Later waves will add other world and will be compatible rules-wise.

Stay epic!

Best of the Best: Vorkosigan Saga

 To continue from fantasy to SciFi recommendations: My greatest "discovery" of the last years was the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. It is a series that is mostly military SciFi and mostly following the exploits of Miles Vorkosigan, who is the scion of a noble house, crippled by poison before birth, and also an utter rascal.

What makes the somewhat standard storylines work is Bujold's streamlined writing and a genuinely funny main character who bluffs his way from challenge to challenge. I am not through with the whole series yet, but do take a bite every 1-2 months with another book that I devour in 1-2 evenings.

Stay Epic!

Best of the Best: Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere

 Of the reading I did in recent years, the nerdy centre has been Brandon Sanderson's oevre. His fantasy-that-is-close-to-SciFi style and worldbuilding is not for everybody, but it has me in its grip.

While he came to wider attention with his Mistborn series and by finishing Wheel of Time after Robert Jordan's untimely death, I consider his Stormlight Archive series to be my favourite. It combines an alien world with great character development, and it is currently at the halfway point of five out of ten books. His original fantasy stories are all connected in a greater "Cosmere", which enriches reading depth. I have recently finishes reading the last story part of the Cosmere, and even with Sanderson's driven writing speed (we are talking about a guy who wrote four extra books during the pandemic) it leaves me wanting for more.

Stay epic!