Codex Born by Jim C. Hines

Codex Born is the second book of the Magic Ex Libris series, a successful sequel to Libriomancer. The book hits all the marks: sound character development progressing from the first book, fast paced action with enough grit to keep it interesting without getting gory.

The world building is on an as-needed basis. This looks like the beginning of a long series and, given the quality of the writing, I'm hoping for a long run.

Ex-Communication by Peter Clines

Finished Ex-Communication by Peter Clines. A great continuation of the series. Zombies, superheroes, and zombie-superheroes... this series can do no wrong. Continuing characters are well developed and go through real changes; Clines is not afraid to break some eggs to make the omelet.

Looking forward to a fourth and fifth book in the series. If you haven't read the first two books (Ex-Heroes, and Ex-Patriots) in the series you'll probably still enjoy this book, but whats the point? The first two books are great.

From the author:

Three books in, and peo­ple are still in­ter­ested in a hand­ful of su­per­heroes I made up in fifth grade. This is a source of con­stant amaze­ment to me.

Wicked Bronze Ambition by Glen Cook

Finished by Wicked Bronze Ambition by Glen Cook. A decent enough continuation of the series (14th book in the series) with the participation of all the (surviving) characters from previous books. Garrett P.I. is getting older and TunFaire is becoming a more law-abiding city but there is still room for some adventure.

Not crazy about the super-short chapter format, especially when continuing scenes are split for no apparent reason.

2013 Hugo Award Winner - Redshirts

Definitely deserved the win. Funny and poignant.

 

2013 Hugo Award Winners | The Hugo Awards: BEST NOVEL

Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, John Scalzi (Tor)