53. The Icarus Hunt, by Timothy Zahn.

The Icarus Hunt is a story about Jordan McKell, a starship pilot taking an extra contract to fly the Icarus to Earth as part of a crew of loose spacers picked up on Meima. Their trip is plagued by unusual troubles, and he's hard-pressed to figure out what is going on before something goes terminally wrong.

The Icarus Hunt is a book I first read in high school. I picked it up from the school library for cheap, and have re-read it multiple times since then. It's an extremely cohesive story, and in all my re-reads, I've yet to find a loose end that wasn't just me missing something within the text, and even though I know what's going to happen, I still enjoy reading through it again. Definitely a good one for sci-fi fans.

52. The Wind Through The Keyhole, by Stephen King.

This is a Dark Tower associated novel made up of a fairy tale story within a story of Roland's childhood within the larger story of the Dark Tower. They all blend really well together, and the flow of the whole book is matched really well to the stories within it.

I really enjoyed reading this. Stephen King is one of my favourite authors, and the Dark Tower series are hands down my favourite books that he's written. The Wind Through The Keyhole was a lovely addition to the larger story, which gave some extra detail about Roland's past without being any less complete all on its own. Since I read this, I've been thinking a lot about the Dark Tower books, and am probably going to re-read the whole lot  very soon. I particularly enjoyed the title story, which is the innermost one. It has all the points I like about King's writing - descriptiveness, emotive writing, interesting characters, a good plot - and very little of the annoying points, where he over-describes minor things, or is overly mysterious about key points. Would definitely recommend to any fantasy fans, either alone or as part of the whole series.

51. Spider World 6: Shadowlands, by Colin Wilson.

Final book in the Spider World series.

Niall is off to meet the Magician, and makes a dangerous journey alone through the wilderness. Along the way he meets various other creatures, gains various insights into the world around him, and correctly interprets everything he sees.

This book helped me figure out what's annoyed me with this series. Nothing Niall does is wrong. He never gets badly hurt, never makes a wrong guess, and always spots bad trouble before walking into it. There was no sense of suspense with this book, because I was sure that everything would turn out just fine, and it did. I was not surprised. It's an ok read, but it gets frustrating very fast.

Recommended Read: Temeraire, by Naomi Novik.

Temeraire is the first book of a series set in an alternative world during the Napoleonic wars. Dragons can be tamed if they're harnessed and trained, and are captained and crewed by aviators - who are viewed as a less savoury form of militia. When the captain of a prominent Navy vessel captures a rare dragon egg far from port, he has no choice but to offer his crew to the dragon in an attempt to tame it for Britain's use.

The first thing I like about this book is, dragons! Talking, thinking, dragons in a variety of shapes, sizes, and abilities. Second thing is that they're set in a reasonably accurate-seeming cultural environment, which leads to some interesting conclusions.And finally, the mechanics of the naval/aerial battles are also pretty interesting. I've read three or four of the books in the series, and enjoyed all of them.

50. Spider World 5: The Magician, by Colin Wilson.

The Magician is the fifth book of the Spider World series.

At first I wasn't sure what the relevance of this book was going to be to the other four I've already read. It seemed to me that they had wrapped things up fairly neatly, and that a fifth book could only open up more loose ends. However, having read it, I found that while it does bring up a lot more questions than it answers, it also develops the camaraderie and goodwill between the different intelligences on earth, and more fully considers what it means to see people as 'equal'. The story is strongly linked with the history of the spider rise to power, and it unites humans and spiders against a common enemy. Whether the enemy stays an enemy will be interesting to see in the final book.

So I don't think I'm likely to have problems finishing my hundred books.

I'm about to hit the halfway point in my goal for this year...in April. Ha. I didn't realize I read this much, to be honest. I admit, some of the books I've been reading have been reasonably short, but there's been a good smattering of mid-to-long books, and I've been reading quite a few series so far. A lot of the books that I've read this year have been new authors or treasured re-reads, and I'm really enjoying finding that so many of the books on my to-read lists have turned out to be very good to excellent. 

At the moment, my biggest problem with this blog is that I tend to read three or four books (especially with series of books) and THEN write up all of my little reviews and descriptions. It makes it a little difficult in some cases to remember precisely where book one ends and book two starts, particularly if they join together pretty seamlessly. It probably doesn't help that it takes my E-reader barely any more time to change to a new book than it does to change to a new page, and the physical object I'm holding is the same each time. 

To be honest, I miss reading more paper books, and I'm happy that I have a few paper books lined up in my reading list that I'll be starting once I've finished the Spider World series - I'm currently half way through Magician, and am slightly distracted by Minecraft and real life related problems, but nevertheless. One and a half books to go, hopefully with a smashing finale in there somewhere, and then I can set about introducing myself to a new author's characters. 

I'm not sure how many people are actually reading this blog, but it's okay if you want to lurk. I'm writing these down for my own interest later, not really to give other people more than a very cursory idea of what the book is about. I'm including hints for myself about the stories and characters, but some of those may not necessarily be relevant until you read the book itself. This is on purpose. When I look through these books for a guaranteed good read story that I know I've liked before and will probably enjoy again, I don't like to hear too much detail about the plot. If I want to know the story I'll read it, not a hundred-word summary of  'John did this, Jill did that, and then they lived happily ever after'. So I've been trying not to give away the key points, or the interesting bits, any more than I have to.

Anyway. If you are reading it'd be nice to hear what you think. If you've read a book that I have, let me know. If you disagree with my interpretation, let me know. If you have a book similar to one I enjoyed that you think I may like, leave the details and I'll look into it. 

49. Spider World 4: The Delta, by Colin Wilson.

Book 4 of Spider World. (Definitely 4, ignore the picture.)

After making a lucky find in their previous expedition, Niall and his small band are embroiled in political controversy between the beetles and spiders, and are in danger of both pushing for too much and losing all, or pushing for too little and losing their opportunity for change. They follow a lead to the Delta, a lush, vibrant, and above all dangerous landscape held sacred by the spiders, trying to find something that will give them the bargaining power they seek.

Niall has a few very convenient hunches in this book. They fit into the plot, but I have to admit, it bothered me a little when he flips 180 degrees in his reactions to mental impulses from outside sources, and they conveniently happen to be right, It does have a little of the deus ex machina about it, but it's nevertheless a good chapter in the series.

48. Spider World 3: The Fortress, by Colin Wilson.

Third book of the Spider World series.

In this book, Niall has become a friend of the servants of the bombardier beetles, and is on the run from the Spider Lord, searching for some kind of bargaining power to save his family, his life, and to improve conditions for the remaining human race, treated as servants and food stock by the Spiders.

Niall is becoming noticed as an important player in the political forces of the spider city, rallying enough people to his cause to survive, and make a gamble expedition into the heart of spider territory. He's able to control his powers of observation and intuition further, and is learning new skills very quickly.

47. Spider World 2: The Tower

Book 2 of Spider World.
The Tower tells about Niall's capture by the spiders, and his transportation to one of their cities - an old ruin left behind by the men who used to rule the land, with a mysterious and indestructible tower of white stone. He gains entry to the tower, and learns much more than he imagined about his ancestors. Armed with this knowledge he's determined to make things right once again.

Niall develops well as a character in this book. He's set up as a cut-above-the-rest prodigy type, but he still has human moments. His discovery of new things about his society and his world lead to some interesting ideas, and he acts on these pretty responsibly.

46. Spider World 1: The Desert, by Colin Wilson.

The Desert is the first of six Spider World books. They follow Niall, a young boy who has an unusual ability to sense the willpower and mental presence of the spiders, their current overlords, as he and his family hide in caves in a treacherous desert. When they travel to return his uncle's widow to her people, Niall learns more about his people and his place within the world.

This book was one I was hesitant to read, as I'm not a fan of spiders and didn't really want to give myself horrifying nightmares. However, I was reasonably pleasantly surprised to find that this is definitely not so much a horror book, but fantasy adventure with a little sci fi thrown in, The spiders are presented in a truthful-seeming shape, and the plot moves forward pretty steadily.

45. Hull Zero Three, by Greg Bear.

Hull Zero Three is a sci-fi colonisation book, set almost entirely on the Ship...which is sick. Teacher is birthed out of a sac and aided by a young girl through one of Ship's three hulls, with only a rudimentary knowledge of his situation, fragmented ability to think and reason complex scenarios, and is faced with life-or-death struggles from the moment he emerges, threatened by other people in the Hulls, and monster Factors supplied in Ship's bio-logs to deal with any situation at the other end of their trip, even if it means razing a world of life.

The way this book deals with the problem of what to do when your colonising ship gets into trouble on a one-way trip is pretty interesting. It makes sense, but it's somewhat disturbing at the same time to think that life can be so easily manufactured and altered at will, given the necessary scientific abilities. Definitely one I recommend.