Best Books I Read in 2020, 6 to 1

 I listened to even more audiobooks than usual in 2020, and a lot of them made my top 12. Here are are my top 6 reads of the year.

6. Devolution by Max Brooks. Or, the slightly longer title, Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre. Similar to a found-footage video, this book is largely told from the entries in a found journal. A planned green community in Washington State begins promisingly enough, but when a nearby natural disaster cuts off their access to technology, they learn what remote really means. Not only is this a page-turning thriller, but the growth in some characters and the devolution of others is exceptionally well done. Those Jack Links sasquatch commercials suddenly feel a lot more sinister.

5. The Bobiverse by Dennis E. Taylor, narrated by Ray Porter. I spent over 40 hours listening to the first 4 books in this series. We Are Legion (We Are Bob), For We Are Many, All These Worlds, and Heaven's River. These books are awesome! A sentient, self-replicating, sarcastic space probe is created out of a cryogenically frozen guy named Bob. Bob happened to be a big science fiction fan, which manifests in hilarious ways. Throughout the first four books, we get to see Bob and his clones grapple with an earth torn apart by war and ideology and a universe that is filled with wonder and danger. This series heads off in directions I never would have imagined and it is a blast every step of the way. Ray Porter has the perfect amount of sarcasm and earnestness for the books. And Dennis E. Taylor injects Bob with just the right amount of humanity. I hope there are a lot more books left in this series!

4. The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter. Winter follows up my favorite book of last year with another jaw-dropping entry in an amazing fantasy series. Tau continues his quest to extract every ounce of vengeance from those who hurt the people he cares about. Now, however, he is the champion of a young queen, and the feelings he is beginning to have for her make him wonder what lays beyond the road to vengeance. That doesn't take anything away from the intensity of the battles that are still to be fought, the complex politics and the internal battle of morals in a book where the stakes are always high. I can't wait to see where this series goes next!

3. Providence by Max Barry. Max Barry doesn't put out a book every year, but when he does put one out, it is worth the wait. After a first contact situation goes disastrously wrong, an AI warship is sent out crewed by four humans to eliminate the threat to humanity. The crew doesn't seem to have a lot to do, but it's clear they were each selected for a purpose. When the journey takes them out of contact with Earth and the early easy victories start to become more difficult, the crew begins to grasp the danger they are in and harbor doubts about the AI that controls their destiny. The universe described by Barry is vast, deadly and lonely. His characters are complex and compelling. Add in the claustrophobic atmosphere and Barry creates an amazing novel.

2. The Messengers by Lindsay Joelle, read by Kaliswa Brewster, Ana Reeder, Zoe Winters and Alex Weisman. I'm not sure what to say about this one. It's an audio play that holds you in the palm of its hand for 80 straight minutes. A decades-long intergalactic war and four characters, a soldier, a messenger, a runner and a refugee find themselves linked in unexpected ways. It will mesmerize you and move you in ways that you can't see coming. This is the best thing audible produced all year.

1. Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler. If you are looking for a recipe for how to kick off an epic fantasy series, this is it. Wexler draws you into his world from the opening paragraphs and then proceeds to populate it with incredible characters, high stakes, and opposing viewpoints that leave you uncertain who to root for. Siblings torn apart at a young age find themselves on opposite sides of an empire still overcoming the fallout from a previous war. Alternating viewpoints give you a balanced look at the world. Wexler creates a rich world with a sense of real history and populates it with vivid characters and action that leaps off the page. Ashes has everything you are looking for in a fantasy series.