Top 4 fiction books I read in 2023

Welcome to the second post in my series of top books I read in 2023. This is based on my 2023 Reading List. I may have mentioned this before, but I am not a big fiction reader. I do enjoy it, and I enjoy some specific genres, but nonfiction tends to be my reading default when it comes to texts. Out of 8 fiction works I read last year, only four got a four or five stars out of five stars rating to make it on this list. Turns out that last year was a year for Warhammer 40,000 books. Two of the four are WH40K books. One was from the Horus Heresy series (so, similar to WH40K), and one other science fiction novel. What can I say? They were good books. While I am not making promises now, I hope to read a bit more fiction in this new year 2024. We'll see how that goes. 

These books are listed in no particular order. If a review for a book is published, I will include a link to it. 

Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries, Book 2)

From my review: "The novel is fun, entertaining, and keeps you reading once you start. The writing is concise. I do appreciate that so far the novels are short, fun, and to the point." The Murderbot series has been one of my recent pleasant discoveries in fiction, science fiction this time. I am a bit skeptical since I understand the newer books are longer novels. Part of the appeal for me is that the books so far are easy reads, fun, and short. We'll see. So far this is a series I recommend. The only reason I have not read more of the series is that I tend to move from one book to another. For series, I often read a book or two, take a break, and assuming I liked it, come back after reading something else. It is very rare I just binge read a series. 

The First Heretic: Fall to Chaos (Horus Heresy, Book 14)

From my review: "Overall, I really liked this book. It is one from the series I would recommend, especially for those readers who may like Chaos forces in Warhammer 40,000 or want to read more about the Word Bearers. The novel blends tragedy, a bit of pathos, intrigues, and warfare." 

Helsreach (Warhammer 40,000. Space Marines Battles, Book 2)

As of this post, the review is coming soon. I can say this was one of my favorite books overall for the year. 

The Space Wolf Omnibus (Warhammer 40,000)

From my review: "If you like your Space Marines novels with a lot of action and combat, this is a good selection. Pacing is relatively fast, and the narrative just moves swiftly. It is a book of about 760 pages, yet before you know it you are easily halfway in your reading." This omnibus edition collects the first three novels in the Space Wolf series of Warhammer 40,000. By the way, among the amusing moments, well, if you have a bit of dark humor as I do, yes, we learn that even in the 41st Millennium they have responsible gun owners. 

Allow me to add one more note. Except for Artificial Condition, the fiction books I read are on the longer side. The Space Wolves Omnibus is over 700 pages, and books like that tend to take me a good while to read through. I am not a fast reader, I know, may make me a bad librarian, but there you have it.  In fact, I am reading another omnibus volume of three novels; it is very good so far, but I am not picking up any other fiction until I finish that one. Nonfiction I can read along with it just fine. 

Thanks to my four readers for stopping by, and stay tuned for the third post in this series of top books where I look at the top comics and graphic novels I read for the year.