Top Ten Tuesday: Series I’d like to Catch Up or Finish

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun.

As you might have guessed from the title, there are going to be some familiar titles on here as I commit, once again, to trying to finish/catch up on some series that have been hanging around me for a while.

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1. The Green Bone Saga, by Fonda Lee

To the surprise of exactly no one, finally getting around to reading JADE LEGACY (finale to the series) is top of this list. It’s now almost a year since this came out and I’m still putting it off.

It’s just so big and terrifying. Even while ill and not processing much, JADE CITY and JADE WAR, managed to pull some heart-breaking moves on me. I need to stop coming up with excuses for why I can’t pick up this series and just bite the bullet and do it. Yeah, it’s going to take a while and hurt while I do it, but I know it’s going to be amazing once I finally do it.

2. S.T.A.G.S., by M. A. Bennett

The S.T.A.G.S. series is now finished and I’m two books (T.I.G.E.R.S. and H.A.W.K.S.) behind. I have really loved the first three books of this UKYA thriller series about privilege, class, and secret societies with animal acronyms. They’re also on the shorter side, so easy to get through.

As to why I haven’t finished it yet, I just got really overwhelmed with books around the time of the penultimate instalment’s release, so decided to wait until the final book and binge then. As you might have guessed, I also got overwhelmed then too.

3. The Khorasan Archives, by Ausma Zehanat Khan

I read the first three entries, THE BLOODPRINT, THE BLACK KHAN, and THE BLUE EYE, back in late Autumn 2020 when ill and before the last instalment, THE BLADEBONE, was released. While I didn’t fall completely in love with the series (for which I largely blame being ill), I was intrigued enough to order the final book. And then never read it.

Part of me was intimidated by a book that finished a series I now associated with being ill (and the nature of needing to read the other books to remind myself what happened). And part of me was eager to read other books. Hopefully I get around to this soon.

4. SERPENT AND DOVE, by Shelby Mahurin

I’ve talked several times about why I never got around to reading GODS AND MONSTERS, the finale to the SERPENT AND DOVE trilogy. It’s a chonky series (averaging 500 pages each.) It’s a romantic fantasy, which is not usually high on my list of things to read. It’s very much YA, and I have been drifting away from that category for a while now.

I would like to finish this series soon, if for no other reason that it will free up a lot of space on my shelves should I read it and decide that I won’t read it again!

5. The Camelot Rising Trilogy, by Kiersten White

I buddy read THE GUINEVERE DECEPTION and THE CAMELOT BETRAYAL, so naturally I have to buddy read THE EXCLIBUR CURSE. Which means finding time for us both to read at the same time (jobs, life commitments, boo!) And also, it has to be said, to be in the mood for an Arthuriana (which I’m not really at the moment as I’m writing one and don’t want to influence myself.)

This fun take on the legends sees Guinevere be replaced by a decoy after her death, a girl raised by Merlin to protect Arthur. She just has to keep up the pretence while stopping varied threats. This is a good series for theorising!

6. Poison War duology, by Sam Hawke

HOLLOW EMPIRE is the sequel to CITY OF LIES, a debut I loved a few years back. And then the sequel was delayed by printer issues and it’s sat on my shelf ever since it finally arrived. (Also, the books are chonky. And yes, that is very much the theme of this list – I love big books, but they are intimidating at times!)

CITY OF LIES is an example of a siege book done right, that feeling of being trapped and everything closing in. It’s also a political fantasy about shadowy enemies trying to wrestle control of a city state, centred around twins who are trying to protect the ruler with their knowledge of poisons.

7. The King-Killer Chronicles, by Max Brooks

This series at least only wrapped up this year, so it’s not been languishing as long as others. THE GODBREAKER is the finale to the trilogy that began with THE BLACK COAST (and apparently, no, I am not going to get the “l” and “a” the right way around ever on first try when typing “black”)

This is an epic fantasy about different, historically warring cultures having to find a way to live and work together in order to avoid their own destruction. It’s got a range of fascinating cultures that have been so carefully created that have their own pasts and prejudices and intricacies (and so many pitfalls for the new-neighbours to navigate!)

8. A SONG OF WRAITH AND RUINS, by Roseanne E. Brown

I can’t quite remember when A PSALM OF STORMS AND SILENCE, sequel to A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN, came out in the UK. Some time in 2021, maybe the end of it? Which means I’m not quite sure why I didn’t get around to reading it then.

This YA fantasy is also now (or possibly always was) on the buddy read list, which means navigating a time when we’re both able and wanting to read it. It is unfortunate that a lot of that list is YA, as those tend to be the books I really have to be in the mood to read these days.

9. THE GILDED ONES, by Namina Forna

My guess is that THE MERCILESS ONES, sequel to THE GILDED ONES, and second book in the trilogy, came out sometime in spring 2022. AKA right in the middle of very stressful master’s months where I switched project multiple times (due to equipment issues) and so spent frantic weeks cramming in data work that I should have had a few months to do.

Unsurprisingly, in all of that, this book got overlooked. To be honest, it’s hitting the point where I feel like the third book probably won’t be all that far away, so I may just end up waiting for that and binging. I mean, it would reduce some of the pressure on my TBR…

10. England’s Medieval Queens, by Alison Weir

Given the third (and possibly final) book in this non-fiction series covering the medieval queens of England is about to come out from my favourite author for non-fiction on women in British history, I should really get around to reading the first two books.

I love history, particularly British Medieval history, and I love finding out about the women often sidelined in favour of their husbands. Plus I went to a talk on the second book around its release and have an arc of the third, so it’s getting ridiculous that I haven’t read any of these yet…

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What series do you want to get around to reading/finishing?