Neither new books, nor in any particular order. Hell, did not even read them all in 2021.

Fiction

• Mistborn trilogy – Gripping enough, long slog, well-thought magic system. (Brandon Sanderson)
• The Alloy of Law, a sequel that became the 1st part of another Mistborn trilogy. Gritty steampunk setting, the mix & match of magic powers didn’t do it for me. Meh. (Brandon Sanderson)
• Reckoners trilogy – Almost fine for YA. Forgettable. (Brandon Sanderson)
• Earthsea Quartet – Rich and beautiful, seems a bit dated or familiar, since it set standards encountered in later works in the genre. (Ursula Le Guin)
• Farseer trilogy – Intricate world building, the 1st person POV suits. Curiously, the 2nd book is the best of the series. (Robin Hobb)

Prose-wise, Le Guin and Hobb lead by a wide margin vs Sanderson. The two also go beyond the usual hack-n-slash and shed light to the more mundane labors of daily life in a largely medieval world. A documentary on castles/ forests/ ports could certainly use a few of Hobb’s descriptions and terms.

• The Lacquer Screen – A detective novel set in Imperial China, of a particular subgenre called gong’an. I enjoyed the ambience of Tang period, while the whole read is quite old-fashioned. (Robert van Gulik)

Comic Books

• Watchmen – Superb. (Moore/ Gibbons)
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns – I expected to like it more, I think. (Miller)
• Blacksad (#1-5, integrated version) – Sublime artwork, storylines good but uneven. I had already read #1-3 some 15 years ago. (Canales/ Guarnido)

On the pile

• The dispossessed (Ursula Le Guin)
• Watership Down (Richard Adams)
• Ship of Magic (Robin Hobb)
• Superman: Red Son (Millar/ Johnson/ Robinson/ Wong/ Plunkett)
• Batman: White Knight (Murphy)

And a sole non-fiction entrant to the pile:

• The Body: A Guide for Occupants (Bill Bryson)