Ten Underrated Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by the folks at the Broke and the Bookish. Each week has a different theme where participants try to come up with ten things to fit the theme.

This week is Ten Books We Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings on Goodreads. This was hard for me. I’ve only been actively using Goodreads for a few month, so not everything I ever read was on there, and the books that I read recently are usually popular books. So here are some that I’ve managed to dig up.

Bluescreen (Mirador #1)

Bluescreen is the first book of the Mirador series, a cyberpunk novel with VR pro gaming, brain implanted smart devices and a cyber-drug known as bluescreen set in a state sized city of Los Angeles. It’s a really well crafted futuristic setting. One example I like the most is when you walk by shops, their windows display things based on your social media profile. Creepy, but an interesting idea. It’s written by Dan Wells, one of the podcasters on Writing Excuses.

Fire Thief Trilogy

A greek mythology based story featuring the titan Prometheus. In order to escape his punishment he must find a true human hero while he is chase by the Fury (the eagle that torments him in the myths). He lands in Eden City in all three books and different periods of time to try and accomplish his task.

Empire of Ashes

Empire of Ashes is a historical fiction novel. It is set after the death of Alexander the Great. One of his confidants, Machon, is on trial for being complicit in Alexander’s downfall. Machon recounts the tale of Alexander from his birth to his death while on the pulpit. Machon’s Alexander is not the great and glorious leader many think he was. His is a flawed Alexander. A man, not a god.

Forging Divinity (The War of Broken Mirrors #1)

Forging Divinity is a self-published novel by Andrew Rowe, a frequent redditor and a writer at Obsidian Entertainment. Taelien is imprisoned after bringing a sacred sword into Orlyn, where godhood is on sale to the highest bidder. Soon he is the subject of several factions in the city as they seek to either kill Taelien, get his blade or to protect him. Lydia Hastings, one of the resident sorceress decides to break him out of jail because of his resemblance to the long lost leader of the pantheon of gods she worships. The magic system is also well defined if a little difficult to understand.

USS Seawolf

Stealth nuclear submarine USS Seawolf is sent on a mission to observe the Chinese military’s latest submarine, however during a botched operation, Seawolf and its crew are captured. A team of Navy SEALs are sent to free the crew and the sub and bring them home. Patrick Robinson’s books (this and HMS Unseen) remain the only military thrillers I’ve actually finished, I could never get into Tom Clancy. Though it could be that I just picked the wrong starting point.

Hound

Another historical fiction, Hound tells the story of Cuchullain through the eyes of his friend Leary, a Roman charioteer who washed up on the shores of Ireland. Cuchullain’s story starts from the time he was a kid, to his training and to his battle with Queen Maeve of Connacht and his ultimate demise. Interwoven among the tales of Cuchullain’s exploits are other tales in Irish mythology, such as Maeve’s ascent and the tragic tale of Deirdre of the Sorrows.

The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids (Amra Thetys #1)

Trouble’s Braids is a self-published fantasy novel written by Michael McClung, and winner of the 2015 self-published blog off, which made me surprised that it only received 400+ ratings. It tells the story of Amra Thetys as she seek to avenge the death of her friend and fellow thief Corbin who is slaughter in the streets after a client tries to swindle him. Soon she is dragged into a world of sorcery, immortal assassins and the divine.

White Sand Volume 1

As of the time I’m writing this, it has only 73 ratings, which is most likely because it’s not out yet. I think this will change when it is released. But I got a copy from NetGalley and I read it! White Sand is a graphic novel adaptation of a book of the same name by Brandon Sanderson. It features Kenton, one of the last remaining sand master as he tries to face the oncoming challenges, with the help of Khriss, a Darksider duchess following the journey of her deceased fiancé.

Those are 8 (or 7+1) underrated books that I’ve enjoyed. What were yours? Let me know in the comments down below.