[thrinidir]

The topic title is copied from the series of articles that will be posted on my blog, where I'll first recap most "best of" lists that I'll come across and later analyze my findings. The show went running today with [part 1] (link).

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The ULTIMATE (and somewhat overbloated) Best Of 2008 List [part 1]

There are already a few cumulative "Best of 2008" lists out there; there is one at Fantasy Book News & Reviews (and the follow-up), another one at Tia's Fantasy Debut, Larry of OF Blog of the Fallen has one as does someone else I shouldn't have missed, but I have, I'm sure - BUT the list I'm compiling here on after (and which I'll be updating regularly as I stumble upon new noteworthy content) strives to be the most wholesome of all, a little encyclopedia of 2008 "best of" lists if you wish. At the end of the list I'll try to summarize (in as vague fashion as possible) which books you should consider worthy of reading and maybe which ones you should stay away from. This might be a bit much to process in one reading (who said that you should anyway), but I really think a list like this might come in handy to many of you (I'm not doing this for myself - Best of 2007 for those interested - ). Here we go...-


edit: because of the lenght of text I've decided to cut it up and serve it in more palatable portions (around 4 or 5, haven't decided yet). If your blog isn't mentioned it probably will be in one of the follow-up posts, if not, notify me.

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Benjamin from The Deckled Edge has a fine selection of memorable reads of 2008. Above all, he praises "Shadow of the Wind" (Carlos Ruiz Zafon) as the best overall novel, "Last Argument of Kings" (Joe Abercrombie) as the best fantasy novel, "Wild Cards" (ed.George R.R.Martin) as best sf novel, "Lavinia" (Ursula K.LeGuin,) as best unexpected novel and "The Fade" by Chris Wooding as the most underrated novel of the year. Runner-ups include some terrific novels, such as "The Separation" (Christoper Priest), "An Autumn War" (Daniel Abraham), "The Ten Thousand" (Paul Kearney), "Sharp Teeth" (Toby Barlow) and others.

The reticent Darren Turpin recapped his reading experience of 2008 on his blog The Genre Files. He thinks much especially of Guy Gavriel Kay's "Ysabell" and Peter Crowther's mini-collection "The Land at the End of the Working Day".

Andrew's (The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.) twelve favorite - read his post for month-to-month walktrough and if you are in any way curious why he uses the word 'favorite' instead of 'best' - books of the year were: "The Speed Queen" (Stewart O'Nan), "The Dragons of Babel" (Michael Swanwick), "Three Shadows" (Cyril Pedrosa), "Good-Bye" (Yoshihiro Tatsumi), "Sharp Teeth" (Toby Barlow), "Buying In" (Rob Walker), "Skyscrapers of the Midwest" (Joshua W. Cotter), "Zot! 1987-1991" (Scott McCloud), "Nothing to Be Frightened Of" (Julian Barnes), "Caine Black Knife" (Matthew Stover), "Best American Comics: 2008" (ed.Lynda Barry) and "Bottomless Belly Button" (Dash Shaw).

SFX awarded the following ten 2008 sf or fantasy novels for being exceptional (the awarded novels are voted for by the readers of the magazine): (1) "Making Money" (Terry Pratchett), (2) "Flood" (Stephen Baxter), (3) "Matter" (Iain M Banks), (4) "The Last Theorem" (Arthur C Clarke/Frederik Pohl), (5) "Empire of Ivory" (Naomi Novik), (6) "House of Suns" (Alastair Reynolds), (7) "The Red Wolf Conspiracy" (Robert VS Redick), (8) "Last Argument of Kings" (Joe Abercrombie), (9) "The Name of the Wind" (Patrick Rothfuss) and finally (10) "Anathem" (Neal Stephenson).

Plinnydog (Speculative Fiction Junkie) praises "The Resurrectionist" (Jack O'Connell), "Through A Glass, Darkly" (Bill Hussey), "The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss), "The Shadow of the Wind" (Carlos Ruiz Zafon) and "Pump Six and Other Stories" (Paolo Bacigalupi, short-story collection) as his favorite 5 reads of 2008. Follow the link to find some of the reviews.

Patrick from Pat's Fantasy HOTlist awarded HOTties (2008 Year-End Awards) for top ten sf&f books among other categories. His top ten list is as follows: (1) "Toll the Hounds" (Steven Erikson) - (*1) "Neuropath" (Scott Bakker) would make the list as number one, but it isn't a specfic title as he claims -, (2) "The Secret History of Moscow" (Ekaterina Sedia), (3) "Return of the Crimson Guard" (Ian Cameron Esslemont), (4) "MultiReal" (David Louis Edelman), (5) "Last Argument of Kings" (Joe Abercrombie), (6) "Bloodheir" (Brian Ruckley), (7) "Inside Straight" (ed.George R. R. Martin), (8) "The Ten Thousand" by Paul Kearney, (9) "The Shadow Year" (Jeffrey Ford), (10) "The Edge of Reason" (Melinda Snodgrass). There are ten more follow-ups posted, but you'll have to follow the link to find out who they are (Pat's other Hottie categories are well worth the read as well). I totally agree on Pyr Books getting the publisher of the year award as they are absolutely entitled to it from my limited experience with the publishing world. "A World Too Near" by Kay Kenyon was awarded with the most underrated novel award - review of the first book ("Bright of the Sky) in the same trilogy is coming on this blog shortly.

Amras (A Slight Apocalypse) mentions the following sf&f titles as "Best of '08": (1) "The Gone-Away World" (Nick Harkaway), (2) "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow) and (3) "Last Argument of Kings" (Joe Abercrombie). Follow the link for the short commentary on each of the book.

To be continued...

[teholbeddict]

Thanks for doing this compilation of lists for us! Nice to have everything all in one place! I'm glad to see The Name of the Wind on several people's lists as well as The Ten Thousand. Both were excellent reads. I'm suprised to see GGK's Ysabelle made anyone's list! I'm a huge fan of his work but the book really was awful. His last couple of books have really been lacking, imo Ysabelle was his weakest work to date, very disappointing. Stephenson's Anathem was also excellent and extremely complex, I wish it had shown up on more best of lists as it really deserves some recognition.

[thrinidir]

hehe, no problem mate ...it's not nearly completed though;

The Name of the Wind is a great book (it was one of the contenders for the best fantasy debut a couple of years ago - others being such as Joe Abercrombie's "The Blade Itself" and Scott Lynch's "Lies of Locke Lamora"; and that was one of the strongest years for debuts - I guess those who missed it back then finally caught up and actually agreed with the hype (its duble-edge sword effect is well known...you get to read the book that is hyped, but your expectations are somewhat higher). A more relevant book for the last year would be another one though: Carlos Ruiz Zafon's "Shadow of the Wind", which is mentioned on even more "best of" lists (that are yet to be posted here).

GGK is one of the most disputed upon author I know; a lot of people adore him and think of him as their favorite author (these people are inclined to rant why GGK isn't included on more best of lists etc.), but there are also a lot of readers that not only think him mediocre, but plainly unpalatable; there are not many that stand on the middle ground here.

Stephenson is smart; I'm just reading his Cryptonomicon and it's brilliant; it's weird, but that gets coupled a lot of times with the word genius.

[teholbeddict]

Cryptonomicon is a brilliant piece of work, although it had a bit too much mathematics in it for my liking. You're right though it is a bit weird! That's one of the greatest things about Stephenson though, he comes up with concepts no one else has even entertained! His Baroque cycle material is still his best work in my opinion.

As for GGK he is a great author one of my favourites in fact. I just wish he would get back to writing books on par with the Sarantine Mosaic series and Tigana. His newer works are just lacking for some reason.

[thrinidir]

here is the second part of the list... (link)

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Tia (Fantasy Debut) composed a list of best fantasy debuts that she read in 2008 (the books weren't necessarily published that year). Among others she mentions "The Outback Stars" (Sandra McDonald, best romance), "The Sellsword" (Cam Banks, best surprise romance), "The Name of the Wind" (Patrick Rothfuss, best character development story), "Elom" (William H. Drinkard, best sf epic), "Black Ships" (Jo Graham, best historical fantasy) and "The Sword-Edged Blonde" by Alex Bledsoe as her overall favorite debut. You are now well versed, I hope, in what to do if you are interested in the rest of her "best of" list.

Joe Sherry from Adventures in Reading - he is the only one I feel obliged to reffer to with name and last name (don't ask me why, because I don't know either) - was a busy-little-bee and compiled three different lists, the first one is about his top nine books that were published in 2008, the second one lists his nine best reads of 2008 and the final one elaborates on top nine authors he discovered in 2008. The best nine books he read are as follows: (1) "Shadow Unit: Season One" (Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear, Will Shetterly, Sarah Monette, and Amanda Downum: ongoing story that is available online), (2) "The Stratford Man" (Elizabeth Bear), (3) "Blade of Tyshalle" & "Caine Black Knife" (Matthew Stover, the second and third book of "Acts of Caine" saga), (4) "War of the Oaks" (Emma Bull), (5) "Not Flesh Nor Feathers" (Cherie Priest), (6) "The Armageddon Rag" (GRRM), (7) "The Uglies Series" (Scott Westerfeld, YA), (8) "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow, YA sf) and (9) "Wastelands" (ed.John Joseph Adams, SF anthology). Top nine books published in 2008 as seen by Joe Sherry are: (1) "The Stratford Man" (Elizabeth Bear), (2) "Caine Black Knife" (Matthew Stover), (3) "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow), (4) "Wastelands" (ed.John Joseph Adams), (5) "Zoe's Tale" (Joe Scalzi), (6) "Fast Ships, Black Sails" (ed.Ann and Jeff Vandermeer), (7) "The Best of Lucius Shepard" (Lucius Shepard, self-explanatory retrospective), (8) "Before They Are Hanged" (Joe Abercrombie) and (9) "Order 66" (Karen Traviss, Star Wars tie-in). Top nine authors Joe Sherry discovered in 2008 are Emma Bull, Joe Abercrombie, Scott Westerfeld, Ellen Klages, Nancy Kress, L.Timmel Duchamp, Nick Mamantas, Liz Williams and Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu. Check the links for the commentiaries on his choices and all that.

SFSignal (if you are a fan of speculative fiction you should follow this site, period) and it's MIND MELD articles are one of the best things out there, so make sure you don't miss "MIND MELD: The Best Genre-Related Books/Films/Shows Consumed in 2008 (Part I, Part II and Part III)". In these articles there are some recognisable names extrapolating on the topic of the article. Some of the books mentioned are: "Thunderer" (Felix Gilman), "Spin" (R.C.Wilson), "Zoe's Tale" (John Scalzi), "The Alchemy of Stone" (Ekaterina Sedia), "Staked" (Jeremy Lewis), "Mainspring" (Jay Lake), "Halo" (Tobias S.Buckell), "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" (David Wrobliewski), "Fast Forward 2" (ed.Lou Anders), "Muse of Fire" (Dan Simmons, novella), "The Well-Built City Trilogy" (Jeffrey Ford), "Ink and Steele" and "Hell and Earth" (Elizabeth Bear), "The Steel Remains" (Richard Morgan), "River of Gods" (Ian McDonald), "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow), "Debatable Space" (Philip Palmer), "The Domino Men" (Jonathan Barnes), "The Blue War" (Jeffrey Thomas), "The House of Suns" (Alastair Reynolds), "Binding Energy" (Daniel Marcus, short story collection), "Pump Six and Other Stories" (Paolo Bacigalupi, short story collection), "The Graveyard Book" (Neil Gaiman), "Singularity Ring" (Paul Melko), "Spin" (Robert Charles Wilson), "Song of Kali" (Dan Simmons), "Very Hard Choices" (Spider Robinson), "The Android's Dream" (John Scalzi), "Sly Mongoose" (Tobias S.Buckell), "The Golden Chord" (Paul Genesee), "The Thirteenth Reality" (James Dashner), "Ten Stigmas" (Paul Melko, short story collection), "The Innocent Mage" and "The Awakened Mage" (Karen Miller), "Implied Spaces" (Walter Jon Williams), "Tooth and Claw" (Jo Walton), "In the Courts of the Crimson Kings" (S.M. Stirling), "Old Man's War" (John Scalzi), "The Lies of Locke Lamora" (Scott Lynch), "Elantris" (Brandon Sanderson), "The New Weird" and "Steampunk" (ed.Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, short story collections), "The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy" (ed.Ellen Datlow, short story collection), "The Drowned Life" (Jeffrey Ford, short story collection), "Shadowbridge" and "Lord Tophet" (Gregory Frost) etc. (Note that not all books were actually released, only read, in 2008). Last but not least, John's (the guy who runs the site) 'best of': "Rollback" (Robert J. Sawyer), "Laika" (Nick Abadzis), "Spectrum 14" (ed.Cathy and Arnie Fenner), "The Lathe of Heaven" (Ursula K. LeGuin), "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow), "The Affinity Bridge" (George Mann), "Necroscope" (Brian Lumley), "Planet of the Apes" (Pierre Boulle) and "The Watchmen" (Alan Moore)...more.

If Pat has his 'Hotties' than Blood of the Muse has its 'Bloodies' (no wonder then, that Pat's Fantasy Hotlist recieved the Bloodie for 'best speculative fiction blog'; 'best reviews', accordingly to the Blood of the Muse, are written by the guys at Fantasy Book Critic - congrats). Bloodies cover many categories so I'll just stick to the major ones: Charlie Huston ("Every Last Drop") is 'the most underappreciated author', Tobias Buckell ("Sly Mongoose") is 'the most improved author', Brent Weeks ("The Way of Shadows") is 'the best new author', Scott Bakker ("Neuropath" and "The Prince of Nothing" series) is 'the best writer in overall', "The Steel Remains" (Richard Morgan) was 'the most disappointing novel' for Paul, "The Ten Thousand" (Paul Kearny) was 'the most surprising novel' in 2008, 'best debut' was "The Way of Shadows" (Brent Weeks), award for 'the best urban fantasy' novel goes to "Every Last Drop" by Charlie Huston, 'best sf novel' of 2008 is "Sly Mongoose" (Tobias Buckell), 'Bloodie' for ' the best fantasy novel' goes to "Last Argument of Kings" (Joe Abercrombie) and 'the best novel of them all' is "Neuropath" by Scott Bakker (Bloodies stay true to Hotties here). Blood of the Muse's top reads of 2008 are as follows: (1) "Neuropath" (Scott Bakker), (2) "Last Argument of Kings" (Joe Abercrombie), (3) "The Given Day" (Dennis Lehane), (4) "Every Last Drop" (Charlie Huston), (5) "The Ten Thousand" (Paul Kearney), (6) "Sly Mongoose" (Tobias Buckell), (7) "The Way of Shadows", "Shadow’s Edge" and "Beyond the Shadows" (Brent Weeks), (8) "Busted Flush" (ed.George R.R.Martin), (9) "The January Dancer" (Michael Flynn) and finally (10) "The Company" (K.J. Parker). For more, visit Blood of the Muse.

Dark Wolf's Top 10 2008 reads are as follows: (1) "The Shadow of the Wind" (Carlos Ruiz Zafon), (2) "Through a Glass, Darkly" (Bill Hussey), (3) "The Darkness That Comes Before" (Scott Bakker), (4) "The Name of the Wind" (Patrick Rothfuss), (5) "Winterbirth" and "Bloodheir" (Brian Ruckley), (6) "The Inferior" (Peadar Ó Guillin), (7) "The Warded Man" (Petter V.Brett), (8) "The Secret History of Moscow" (Ekatarina Sedia), (9) "The Last Wish" (Andrzej Sapkowski) and at number (10) there is "Night of Knives" by Ian C.Esslemont.

[thrinidir]

This is the third article (link to the source) in the series of "The Ultimate Best of 2008 List" articles; you can find the disclaimer and part 1 here, and part 2 here.

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You can find Kristen's Fantasy Cafe's 2008 favorites announced and explained here. "Ink and Steel" and "Hell and Earth" were Kristen's favorite books published in 2008 (among runner-ups are "Shades of Dark" by Linnea Sinclair, "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman, "Wanderlust" by Ann Aguirre and "The Alchemy of Stone" by Ekaterina Sedia). Most ambitious book she read was the original "Dune" by Frank Herbert. Her favorite new author is Sarah Monette with Elizabeth Bear running a close second. "Use of Weapons" (Iain M. Banks) had the best ending in her opinion, "Ink and Steel" an "Hell and Earth" are lavished with the best prose, "The Graveyard Book" was the most creative book she read and Brandon Sanderson's "Mistborn" series had the most unique magic system Kristen encountered in 2008. For the rest of the list follow the link to her site.

John Ottinger III and his noteworthy blog Grasping for the Wind has it's own top ten list to 'boast' with: (1) "The Prodigal Troll" (Charles Coleman Finlay), (2) "Goblin Hero" (Jim C. Hines), (3) "Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse" (ed.John Joseph Adams, short story collection), (4) "Infoquake" (David Louis Edelman), (5) "The Name of the Wind" (Patrick Rothfuss), (6) "The Court of the Air" (Stephen Hunt), (7) "Heaven's Net Is Wide" (Lian Hearn), (8) "Old Man's War" (John Scalzi), (9) "Acacia:War With the Mein" (David Anthony Durham) and (10) "Destroyermen: Into the Storm" (Taylor Anderson). "A Darkness Forged In Fire" (Chris Evans) was the most surprising read of 2008 for John (follow the link to find out why), "The Excalibur Murders" by J.M.C Blair was the worst book he read, "Bloodheir" (Brian Ruckley) was the best fantasy book he read and "Hunter's Run" (GRRM,Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham) was the best sf novel he read, "Shadowrealm" (Paul S.Kemp) was the best tie-in (Forgotten Realms) novel he read, "Goblin Hero" by Jim C.Hines was his funniest read of 2008, "Fast Ships, Black Sails" (ed.Ann and Jeff Vandermeer) was his most disappointing read among the books that were the most hyped in 2008, "Empress" (Karen Miller) is the most underrated novel of 2008, Orbit is John's favorite publisher of the previous year, Tobias Buckell is (again!) the most improved author as John sees it, Pamela Freeman ("Blood Ties" and "Deep Water") is the best new author John read...more.

Aidan's "novels of the year" are (link)... His favorite overall novel is "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (runner-up: "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman) and his favorite novel published in 2008 is "Last Argument of Kings" by Joe Abercrombie (runner-up: "The Born Queen" by Greg Keyes). Follow this link for his favorite videogames of 2008 (he omitted WoW: Wrath of the Lich King, what kind of list is this anway! *pfffft*). A few days after his 'best of 2008' list Aidan posted his reflections on 2008 which are also well worth reading, go to his page - A Dribble of Ink - and find out what transpired for him the last year.

Vote for your best fantasy book (you don't have to sign up) over at The David Gemmel's Award for Fantasy site... (I'll link up the winners when they are known)

Guys at Fantasy Book Critic invited a lot of guest pens to write their 'best of'...you can find the link to all the posts of the guest authors here. The names - as of this moment - are as following: Lou Anders, Kevin J. Anderson, Peter V. Brett, Kristen Britain, Eric Brown, Mark Chadbourn, Michael Cobley, Jack McDevitt, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Patrick Ness, David Farland, Tim Pratt, Mike Resnick, Ekaterina Sedia, Darren Shan, Conrad Williams, David Anthony Durham, Jonathan Barnes, Tom Lloyd and many many more (there are more names being added every day). Some of the books mentioned are (I'm editing the list although It's not the wisest thing to do): "The Quiet War" (Paul McAuley), "Sir Hereward and Mr Fitz" (Garth Nix, short stories collection), “The Terror” (Dan Simmons), “Absolution Gap” (Alastair Reynolds), “Wolf Star” (R.M. Meluch), “Child 44” (Tom Rob Smith), “Duma Key” (Stephen King), “The Graveyard Book” (Neil Gaiman), “Victory of Eagles” (Naomi Novik), “The Name of the Wind” (Patrick Rothfuss), “Soon I Will Be Invincible” (Austin Grossman), Tad Williams' "Otherland" series, “Hello Summer Goodbye” (Michael G. Coney, first released in '75), “The Turing Test” (Chris Beckett, short story collection), “Stealing Light” (Gary Gibson, space opera), “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier” (Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill), “Firestarter” (Stephen King), “Brasyl” (Ian McDonald), "First Law" trilogy (Joe Abercrombie), “Other Times Than Peace” (David Drake, short story collection), “Marseguro” (Edward Willet), “Galactic North” (Alastair Reynolds, short story collection), "The Mistborn Series" (Brandon Sanderson), “Ender’s Shadow” (Orson Scott Card), “Therefore, Repent!” (Jim Munroe), “Fables: The Good Prince” (Bill Willingham), "Ink and Steel" and "Hell and Earth" (Elizabeth Bear), “The Born Queen” (Greg Keyes), “A Betrayal in Winter” (Daniel Abraham), “Pandemonium” (Daryl Gregory), “Superpowers” (David J. Schwartz), “A World Too Near” (Kay Kenyon), “Cauldron” (Jack McDevitt), "Anathem" (Neal Stephenson), "Halting State" (Charles Stross), “Aristocracy’s Outlaw” (Sylvia Lynch), “John the Balladeer” (Manly Wade Wellman), “Society’s Child” (Janis Ian), “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned” (Walter Mosley), “The Traitor” (Michael Cisco, horror), “The Mount” (Carol Emshwiller), "The Dreaming Void" (Peter F. Hamilton), “In the Cities of Coin and Spice” (Catherynne M. Valente), "In The Court of Crimson Kings" (S.M.Stirling), “The Explosionist” (Jenny Davidson, YA alternative history), “The Graveyard Book” (Neil Gaiman), “Bloodtide” (Melvin Burgess) and a few of Cormac McCarthy's novels: “No Country For Old Men”, “Child of God” and “Blood Meridian”. For more comprehensive list please follow the link I've posted above, not only is the list more complete, but every choice is explained upon and contextualized.

Ana & Thea's (The Book Smugglers; their new domain) most excellent books of 2008 [Thea's list] "The Graveyard Book" (Neil Gaiman), "The Outlaw Demon Wails" (Kim Harrison), "Heir to Sevenwaters" (Juliet Marillier), "the dead & the gone" (Susan Beth Pfeffer), "Clockwork Heart" (Dru Pagliassotti), "Fables volume 10: The Good Prince" (Bill Willingham), "Iron Kissed" (Patricia Briggs), "Joker" (Brian Azzarello), "The Living Dead Anthology" (ed.John Joseph Adams) [and Ana's list] "King of Sword and Sky" (C.L. Wilson), "Demon Bound" (Meljean Brook), "The Duke of Shadows" (Meredith Duran), "The Two Dukes of Wyndham" (Julia Quinn), "Your Scandalous Ways" (Loretta Chase), "Ink exchange" (Melissa Marr), "Hostage to Pleasure" (Nalini Singh), "The Graveyard Book" (Neil Gaiman) etc. For the extensive list and thoughts that acompany the choices please visit their site.

To be contiuned...

[thrinidir]

The ULTIMATE (and somewhat bloated) Best Of 2008 List [part 4]

Part 1, part 2 and part 3 of this ongoing article...and we are already at part 4.

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I've picked out the following titles among the vast and varied selection of Bookspot Central's favorite reads of 2008 (I'm making an unjust selection again, but necessary due to this sites genre preferences): "A Shadow in Summer" (Daniel Abraham, fantasy), "The Well of Ascension" (Brandon Sanderson, fantasy), "All the Windwracked Stars" (Elizabeth Bear, sf), "Pride of Carthage" (David Anthony Durham, historical fiction), "Pump Six and Other Stories" (Paolo Bacigalupi, short story collection), "Nano Comes to Clifford Falls and Other Stories" (Nancy Kress, short story collection), "The Way of the Shadow" (Brent Weeks, fantasy), "Jhegaala" (Steven Brust, fantasy), "Anathem" (Neal Stephenson), "Caine Black Knife" (Matthew Stover, fantasy), "Toll the Hounds" (Steven Erikson, fantasy), "The Drowned Life" (Jeffrey Ford, short story collection), "The Enchantress of Florence" (Salman Rushdie), "The Ghost in Love" (Jonathan Carroll), "Thunderer" (Felix Gilman, fantasy), "Template" (Matthew Hughes), "Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse" (ed.John Joseph Adams, sf short story collection), "Under My Roof" (Nick Mamatas), "One for Sorrow" (Christopher Barzak), "The Forever War" (Joe Haldeman, progenitor of military sf), "Blindness" (Jose Saramago), "The Orphan’s Tales Vol. II: In the Cities of Coin and Spice" (Catherynne M. Valente, 'fantasy' in the vein of 1001 Nights), "A Clash of Kings" (GRRM, fantasy), "Last Light of the Sun" (Guy Gavriel Kay, fantasy), "Ash: A Secret History" (Mary Gentle, fantasy) and MANY MANY more. Again, I'm making a huge injustice to the authors of the posts I'm copying from, so do yourself a favor and follow the link to get more information.

Adam from The Wertzone awarded the following sf&f titles: (1) "The Ten Thousand" (Paul Kearney), (2) "The Last Argument of Kings" (Joe Abercrombie), (3) "The Temporal Void" (Peter F. Hamilton), (4) "Nation" (Terry Prattchet), (5) "The Steel Remains" (Richard Morgan), (6) "The Painted Man" (Peter V. Brett), (7) "Swiftly" (Adam Roberts), (8) "Return of the Crimson Guard" (Ian C.Esslemont), (9) "Shadow Gate" (Kate Elliott), (10) "Toll the Hounds" (Steven Erikson), (11) "The Edge od Reason" (Melinda Snodgrass), (12) "Flood" (Stephen Baxter), (13) "The Red Wolf Conspiracy" (Robert VS Reddick) and (14) "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow).

Neth's (Neth's Space) best are (clear and simple): "Neuropath" (Scott Bakker), "Already Dead" (Charlie Huston), "The Lees of Laughter’s End" (Steven Erikson), "Lord Tophet" (Gregory Frost), "Zoë’s Tale" (John Scalzi); one step above this choices - 'best of the best' books he read in 2008 - are "The Final Empire" and "The Well of Ascension" (Brandon Sanderson), "Toll the Hounds" (Steven Erikson), "Heroes Die" (Matthew Stover), "The Dragons of Babel" (Michael Swanwick) and "The Judging Eye" (R. Scott Bakker).

Rob - to some better known as RobB from SFFWorld.com forums (saying this again: beside ASoIaF forum, this is the place to be for sf/f/h enthusiasts) - mentioned the best 2008 books he read in the annual SFFWorld.com Review (Fantasy, SF&Media), but on his blog (Rob's Blog o'Stuff) he didn't limit himself to just 2008 books (his own words). The books that left the biggest impression on him in 2008 were: "Dresden Files" series (Jim Butcher, 'urban fantasy'), [best science fiction] "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow, sf), "Starship Troopers" (R.A.Heinlein, sf classic), [best fantasy] "Heroes Die" (Matthew Stover, sf), "The Graveyard Book" (Neil Gaiman), "Shadow of the Wind" (Carlos Ruiz Zafon), "The Hero of Ages" (Brandon Sanderson), "The Born Queen" (Greg Keyes), [favorite debuts] "Night Angel Trilogy" (Brent Weeks, Rob's favorite), "Destroyermen I: Into the Storm" and "Destroyermen II: Crusade" (Taylor Anderson), [favorite undiscovered gem] "Throne of Amenkor trilogy" (Joshua Palmatier), [favorite short story/anthology collection] "Wastelands" (ed.John Joseph Adams), "The Living Dead" (ed.John Joseph Adams), "Fragile Things" (Neil Gaiman) and "Worlds of Weber" (David Weber, retrospective). Rob's most disappointing reads of 2008 were: "Thunderer" (Felix Gilman), "Empress" (Karen Miller) and "Juggler of Worlds" (Lary Niven & Edward M.Lerner). Rob's 'favorite author whose work he revisited' in 2008 is Jack McDevit and his 'favorite publisher' of past year is Orbit Books, with Pyr being a close second.

Aaron Wilson's (The Souless Machine Review) best reads of 2008 are: (1) The Swarm (Frank Schatzing), (2) "The Suicide Collectors" (David Oppegaard) and (3) "Unholy Domain" by Dan Ronco. Check out his site for the list of best short fiction.

To be continued...

[caladanbrood]

Are you going to do your own list?

[thrinidir]

caladanbrood, on Jan 14 2009, 08:31 AM, said:

Are you going to do your own list?

do you want me to?

To answer your question...yeah, we'll post our best reads of 2008; I'll do one or two more episodes of gathered up best of lists then, hopefully, my blog colleagues will send me their lists and I'll announce it on the blog...will post it here too I guess. On a side note, do you find what I'm doing here helpful or not?

[thrinidir]

The ULTIMATE (and somewhat bloated) Best Of 2008 List [part 5]

You can find the previous four articles in the "The Best of 2008..." on the following links: part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4. Now, let's continue from where we left of.

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Top 5 reads of 2008 for James (Speculative Horizons) were "The Terror" (Dan Simmons), "The Scar" (China Mieville), "Gardens of the Moon" (Steven Erikson), "Midnight Falcon" (David Gemmell) and "Altered Carbon" (Richard Morgan). Honorable mention goes to: "Empire in Black and Gold" (Adrian Tchaikovsky), "The Steel Remains" (Richard Morgan), "The Ten Thousand" (Paul Kearney) and "Last Argument of Kings" (Joe Abercrombie). You can find more on his site...

For those mostly interested for urban fantasy visit SciFiGuy's blog and his list here, and we are on to Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin' Blog's favourite books of 2008: "Old Man's War" (John Scalzi), "The Lies of Locke Lamora" (Scott Lynch), "Clockwork Heart" (Dru Pagliassotti) and "Watchmen" (Alan Moore)...more. Mariel from Where troubles melt like lemon drops (you gotta love this blog's name) has her own review of 2008 here.

The review team at Strange Horizons put forward the following works of fiction as "best of 2008" (not essentially published in the same year): "The Knife of Never Letting Go" (Patrick Ness), "Anathem" (Neil Stephenson), "Spook Country" (William Gibson), "Pump Six and Other Stories" (Paolo Bacigalupi, short-story collection), "The Gone-Away World" (Nick Harkaway), "Neuropath" (Scott Bakker), "Liberation" (Brian Francis Slattery), "Flood" (Stephen Baxter), "The Quiet War" (Paul McAuley), "Lavinia" (Ursula K. Le Guin), "The Engine's Child" (Holly Phillips), "The Bell at Sealy Head" (Patricia A.McKillip), "The Execution Channel" (Ken MacLeod), "Black Man" (Richard Morgan), "The Carhullan Army" (Sarah Hall), "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" (Michael Chabon), "Spirit: or the Princess of Bois Dormant" (Gwyneth Jones), "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow), "The Angel Maker" (Stefan Brijs), "The Love We Share Without Knowing" (Christopher Barzak), "The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein" (Peter Ackroyd), "Dangerous Laughter" (Stephen Millhauser, short-story collection), "God is Dead" (Ron Currie), "Dust" and "Undertow" and "All the Windwracked Stars" (Elizabeth Bear), "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" (Mary E. Pearson), "Life As We Knew It" (Susan Beth Pfeffer), "The Hunger Games" (Suzanne Collins), "The Handmaid's Tale" (Margaret Atwood), "Larklight" series (Philip Reeve), "Swiftly" (Adam Roberts), "The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction Volume 2" (ed.Geoge Man, short-story collection), "Eclipse 2" (ed.Jonathan Strahan, short-story collection), "The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy" (ed.Ellen Datlow, short-story collection), "Fast Forward 2" (ed.Lou Anders, short-story collection), "The Drowned life" (Jeffrey Ford, short-story collection)...and other.

I've already covered the enormous effort that the guys at Fantasy Book Critic are putting up with interviewing various genre authors and other genre related individuals about their thoughts on 2008 and the things they are looking forward in 2009 (they've interviewed exactly 51 by this moment!). You should really check out what some of your favorite authors enjoyed in 2008, what they look forward to and what are their plans for 2009 here. The genre works I've accounted for in the previous article are alredy obsolete, so what I'd like to do here is recount the choices of the blog's staff which were posted well after my first article. Some of their picks are: "The Kingdom Beyond the Waves" (Stephen Hunt), "Return of the Crimson Guard" (Ian C.Esslemont), "Iron Angel" (Alan Campbell), "The Magicians and Mrs.Quent" (Galen Beckett), "The Hounds of Ash and Other Tales of Fool Wolf" (Greg Keyes), "Kushiel's Mercy" (Jacqueline Carrey), "Empire In Black & Gold" (Adrian Tchaikovsky), "The Born Queen" (Greg Keyes), "Shadow Gate" (Kate Elliott), "Lord Tophet" (Gregory Frost), "Midnight Never Come" (Marie Brennan), "An Autumn War" (Daniel Abraham), "Havemercy" (Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett), "The Steel Remains" (Richard Morgan), "The Red Wolf Conspiracy" (Robert V.S. Redick), "Blood Ties" (Pamela Freeman), "The Host" (Stephanie Meyer), "Escapement" (Jay Lake), "Singularity's Ring" (Paul Melko), "Debatable Space" (Philip Palmer), "Hunter's Run" (GRRM, Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham), "Death’s Head: Maximum Offense" (David Gunn), "The Mirrored Heavens" (David J. Williams), "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow), "Tigerheart" (Peter David), "The Resurrectionist" (Jack O’Connell), "Severance Package" (Duane Swierczynski), "The Monsters of Templeton" (Lauren Groff), "Stalking the Unicorn" (Mike Resnick), "Sharp Teeth" (Toby Barlow), "The Alchemy of Stone" (Ekaterina Sedia), "Through a Glass, Darkly" (Bill Hussey), "Neuropath" (Scott Bakker), "Anathem" (Neal Stephenson), "Spirit: The Princess of Bois Dormant" (Gwyneth Jones), "By Schism Rent Asunder" (David Weber), "The Quiet War" (Paul McAuley), "The Temporal Void" (Peter F.Hamilton), "The Martian General's Daughter" (Theodore Judson), "Swiftly" (Adam Roberts), "MultiReal" (David Luis Edelman), "Chaos Space" (Marriane de Pierres), "Caine Black Knife" (Matthew Stover), Night Angel trilogy (Brent Weeks), "The Engine's Child" (Holly Phillips), "Thunderer" (Felix Gilman), "The Kingdom Beyond the Waves" (Stephen Hunt), "Last Argument of Kings" (Joe Abercrombie), "The Ten Thousand" (Paul Kearney), "The Painted Man" (Peter V.Brett), "Deep Water" (Pamela Freeman), "The Immortal Prince" (Jennifer Fallon), "Black Ships" (Jo Graham), "Shadow of the Wind" (Carlos Ruiz Zafon), "The Ninth Circle" (Alex Bell), "Perdido Street Station" (China Mieville), "Accelerando" (Charles Stross), "The New Weird" and "Steampunk" (ed.Jeff and Ann VanderMeer,anthology)... This is not an exhaustive list, for all the picks and the elaboration on the choices follow the above link.

Now, finally*, Larry from OF Blog of the Fallen...if you wanna know how many books he read in 2008 go here (hint: 366), his favorite DEBUT NOVELS are listed here, ANTHOLOGIES here, TRANSLATED FICTION here, SPANISH LANGUAGE FICTION here, SF&F NON-FICTION here, GRAPHIC NOVELS here, YA FICTION here and his FAVORITE FICTION BOOKS IN OVERALL here. Let me reiterate the first ten (out of twenty) books of this final list: (1) "Yalo" (Elias Khoury), (2) "The Situation" (Jeff Vandermeer), (3) "El Juego del Angel" (Carlos Ruiz Zafön), (4) "Lavinia" (Ursula Le Guin), (5) "Last Dragon" (J.M.McDermott), (6) "Liberation" (Brian Francis Slattery), (7) "Tender Morsels" (Margo Lanagan), (8) "Thunderer" (Felix Gilman), (9) "Black Ships" (Jo Graham) and (10) "The Alchemy of Stone" (Ekatarina Sedia).

* Some of the "best of" lists aren't compiled, completed or the votes aren't in/accounted for yet (e.g. SFSite.com, SFFWorld.com etc.). These lists will be gathered in the final "The ULTIMATE Best Of..." article accordingly.

This post has been edited by thrinidir: 31 January 2009 - 05:12 PM

[thrinidir]

Link to the original article -> here.

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It's been quite a while since I've posted the last recap, but I've been waiting for other pages to announce their lists etc. Namely, I've been waiting for SFSite.com and SFFWorld.com (forum) to come up with their best of 2008 list. You can see the other lists I've accounted for on the following links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5.

~~~

SF Site's Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2008 list is divided in two; the two lists are the editor's choice list and the reader's choice list. Let's start with the books that the editor's felt deserve commendation: (10) "City at the End of Time" (Greag Bear, SF), (9) "Busted Flush" (ed.GRRM, SF/Fantasy), (8) "Screamland" (Harlod Sipe & Hector Casanova, comic book), (7) "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow, YA), (6) "Girl Genius, Book 7: Agatha Heterodyne and the Voice of the Castle" (Phil & Kaja Foglio, webcomic), (5) "The Graveyard Book" (Neil Gaiman, YA), (4) "Toll the Hounds" (Steven Erikson, Fantasy), (3) "Echo: Moon Lake" (Terry Moore), (2) "Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Volume 2: No Future for You" (Brian K. Vaughan, Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Cliff Richards, et al.) and (1) "Anathem" (Neal Stephenson, SF). Some pretty odd choices there, wouldn't u agree? Now for the reader's choice list: (10) "Zoe's Tale" (John Scalzi, YA SF), (9) "Dragons of Babel" (Michael Swanwick, "anti-fantasy"), (8) "Matter" (Iain M. Banks, space opera), (7) "The Steel Remains" (Richard Morgan, Fantasy), (6) "The Graveyard Book" (Neil Gaiman, YA), (5) "Toll the Hounds" (Steven Erikson, Fantasy), (4) "Pump Six and Other Stories" (Paolo Baciagalupi, short story collection), (3) "Little Brother" (Cory Doctorow, YA), (2) "The Last Argument of Kings" (Joe Abercrombie, Fantasy) and (1) "Anathem" (Neal Stephenson).

The second source I've been eagerly awaiting for is SFFWorld.com, or rather the result of the ongoing poll they had on their forum, which I value greatly. The members of the SFFWorld.com forum voted the following books as the best of 2008: (10) "Reaper's Gale" (Steven Erikson, Fantasy), (9) "Red Seas Under Red Skies" (Scott Lynch, Fantasy), (8) "Anathem" (Neal Stephenson, SF), (7) "The Painted Man" (Peter V.Brett, Fantasy), (6) "The Hero of the Ages" (Brandon Sanderson, Fantasy), (5) "The Shadow Isle" (Katherine Kerr, Fantasy), (4) "Small Favor" (Jim Butcher, urban fantasy), (3) "Toll the Hounds" (Steven Erikson, Fantasy), (2) "The Name of the Wind" (Patrick Rothfuss, Fantasy) and the book that got the most votes was "Last Argument of Kings" by Joe Abercrombie. Check out the thread with results and commentaries for yourselves.

Last but not least, Locus magazine has posted its own list of a sort (technically speaking, it's not a "best of" list, but a recommended reading list, published in the Feb issue of Locus mag, created consensually by the Locus magazine editors, reviewers and with imputs from outside professionals); the SF NOVELS they recommend are: "Matter" (Iain M. Banks), "Flood" (Stephen Baxter), "Weaver" (Stephen Baxter), "City at the End of Time" (Greg Bear), "Incandescence" (Greg Egan), "January Dancer" (Michael Flynn), "Marsbound" (Joe Haldeman), "Spirit" (Gwyneth Jones), "Escapement" (Jay Lake), "Song of Time" (Ian R. MacLeod), "The Night Sessions" (Ken MacLeod), "The Quiet War" (Paul McAuley), "The Company" (K.J. Parker), "House of Suns" (Alastair Reynolds), "Pirate Sun" (Karl Schroeder), "Anathem" (Neal Stephenson), "Saturn's Children" (Charles Stross), "Rolling Thunder" (John Varley), "Half a Crown" (Jo Walton) and "Implied Spaces" (Walter Jon Williams). FANTASY NOVELS: "An Autumn War" (Daniel Abraham), "The Love We Share Without Knowing" (Christopher Barzak), "The Knights of the Cornerstone" (James P. Blaylock), "The Ghost in Love" (Jonathan Carroll), "The Island of Eternal Love" (Daina Chaviano), "The Shadow Year" (Jeffrey Ford), "Shadowbridge/Lord Tophet" (Gregory Frost), "The Memoirs of a Master Forger" (William Heaney); "As How to Make Friends with Demons" (Graham Joyce), "Varanger" (Cecelia Holland), "Lavinia" (Ursula K. Le Guin), "The Bell at Sealey Head" (Patricia A.McKillip), "The Hidden World" (Paul Park), "The Engine's Child" (Holly Phillips), "The Enchantress of Florence" (Salman Rushdie), "The Alchemy of Stone" (Ekaterina Sedia), "The Dragons of Babel" (Michael Swanwick) and "An Evil Guest" (Gene Wolfe). FIRST NOVELS: "The Ninth Circle" (Alex Bell), "The Painted Man aka The Warded Man" (Peter V. Brett), "A Curse as Dark as Gold" (Elizabeth C. Bunce), "Graceling" (Kristin Cashore), "Alive in Necropolis" (Doug Dorst), "Thunderer" (Felix Gilman), "Black Ships" (Jo Graham), "Pandemonium" (Daryl Gregory), "The Gone-Away World" (Nick Harkaway), "Last Dragon" (J.T. McDermott), "Singularity's Ring" (Paul Melko), "The Red Wolf Conspiracy" (Robert V. S. Redick) and "The Cabinet of Wonders" (Marie Rutkoski). YA BOOOKS: "City of Ashes" (Cassandra Clare), "The Hunger Games" (Suzanne Collins), "Monster Blood Tattoo" (D.M.Cormish), "Little Brother" (Corry Doctorow), "The Graveyard Books" (Neil Gaiman), "Eon: Dragoneye Reborn aka The Two Pearls of Wisdom" (Alison Goodman), "Tender Morsels" (Margo Lanagan), "How to Ditch Your Fairy" (Justine Larbalestier), "Ink Exchange" (Melissa Marr), "Chalice" (Robin McKinley), "The Knife of Never Letting Go" (Patrick Ness), "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" (Mary E. Pearson), "Nation" (Terry Pratchett), "Zoe's Tale" (John Scalzi), "Flora's Dare" (Ysabeau S.Wilce). COLLECTIONS: [I'm editing the list; for full list check the link] "Pump Six and Other Stories" (Paolo Bacigalupi), "The Wall of America" (Thomas M.Disch), "The Drowned Life" (Jeffrey Ford), "Nano Comes to Cliffor Falls and Other Stories" (Nancy Kress), "The Best of Lucius Shepard" (Lucius Shepard), "The Best of Michael Swanwick" (Michael Swanwick) etc. ANTHOLOGIES (orig.): [I'm editing the list too] "Fast Forward 2" (Lou Anders), "The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy" (ed.Ellen Datlow), "Galactic Empires" (ed.Gardner Dozois), "Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology" (ed.Nick Gevers), "A Book of Wizards" (ed.Marvin Kaye), "The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction Volume Two" (ed.George Mann), "Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy" (ed.William Schafer), "Eclipse Two" (ed.Jonathan Strahan), "Fast Ships, Black Sails" (ed. Jeff&Ann VanderMeer) etc. For Anthologies (best of the year), non-fiction, art books, novellas, novelettes and short stories recommendations I suggest you check the link I've provided.

This was the penultimate article in the series of this articles, which will be followed in a couple of days by the RoSF best reads of 2008 and "the ultimate-ultimate best of" a.k.a. the recap of all the lists we've covered (Trin was the busy little bee this time). Patience grasshoppers .

[thrinidir]

And now, finally - and also long overdue - Realms of Speculative Fiction Best of 2008. The only guidelines we followed while making this list were (1) that the books had to be read (but not necessarily published) somewhere in between January 2008 and March 2009 (2) and that most of the books comprising the list have to be genre related (the terms sf, fantasy and horror were perceived in the broades sense possible). TRIN, MADWAND & THRINIDIR started regurgitating the books we read in the past year and you can find out which books we thought were more special than others from here on; let's start with Trin's reading higlights of 2008...

TRIN: I've already listed some of my favourite books of 2008 in Thea and Anna's Smugglivus post, but as soon as that list was posted, I realised I forgot to include some of the other books I've read last year as well. So, here goes: the full list of my favourite books of 2008, in alphabetical order.

Ender's Game (1985) by ORSON SCOTT CARD: I enjoyed this one greatly, but sadly never wrote a review for it (though I plan to do that after a re-read). It's one of the classics of the SF genre, but I didn't even know it existed until last year. The funny thing is that despite my love for this book, I don't plan to read any of the following instalments, at least not in the near future. Probably because I doubt they can get any better than Ender's Game.

Flowers For Algernon (1966) by DANIEL KEYES - Another classic! (In fact, about half of this list is made of classics … I'm slowly discovering some great things that others read ages before. I blame it on not being from US/UK.) Also, one of the first reviews I wrote. I suspect it'll stay one of my all time favourites, because it's one of the best books I've ever read.

Heroes Die (1998) by MATTHEW WOODRING STOVER – I'd never have thought that such a great book can hide behind such a funny cover. I can't get the second instalment anywhere, though, since it's out of print, and I'm not going to read the third one without reading the second one first, so I'm kinda stuck. I also don't want the e-book (what good is an e-book without an e-book reader? True, I could spend some extra hours at the computer screen, but that doesn't sound very appealing to me) – as someone said: I need a dead tree in my hands when I read. Sorry, trees.

I Am Legend (1954) by RICHARD MATHESON – A classic again, and one of the rare 'horror' books we've reviewed on RoSF (I don't really think it a horror book, but I can hardly call it sf or fantasy …). I find it funny that at the time of reading it, I was perfectly sure that it was written in the 90s and kept asking myself why doesn't he use some technology. Hah! Also, I didn't watch the movie – I mean, they failed at choosing the main character (Neville from the book has pale skin, blue eyes and blond hair), so I didn't want to know at what else they've managed to fail.

It (1986) by STEPHEN KING – I don't know if this one should be called a classic, but it surely is a notorious book. I guess it's a sort of book that you love or hate, and I'm clearly on the former side. One of my little pleasures is creeping out people who only watched the TV series and think they know what "It" is about. Did that with Thrinidir and he swore that he's never going to read this book. Awww.

Orphan's Tales (2006, 2007) by CATHERYNNE M. VALENTE – Finally, a book (two of them actually; Book One: In the Night Garden and Book Two: In the Cities of Coin and Spice) that's pretty fresh! It's a criss-cross between a fairytale storybook and 1001 nights (which could also be called a storybook, I suppose), written in a very poetical language. Very nice.

Otherland (1996-2001) by TAD WILLIAMS – This series has been sitting on Thrinidir's bookshelf for quite some time, but it never seemed really interesting to me. Thrinidir, however, insisted that I should read it, and I finally did so in the last days of 2008. I'm glad that he insisted.

The Name of the Wind (2007) by PATRICK ROTHFUSS – Still trying to write a review of this one. It's one of the best fantasy books I've read lately, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next instalment.

The Road (2007) by CORMAC McCARTHY – I can't believe I almost forgot to include that one. Another one of my beloved post-apocalyptic books with a sociological note and a beautiful story. I can't wait to see what the movie will look like.

The Steel Remains (2008) by RICHARD MORGAN – An actual 2008 book I loved every part of it – the realism, the explicit language that went with it, the characters, everything. A thought: there can hardly be any strange slash fanfic written for this one.

The Terror (2007) by DAN SIMMONS – I've read Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion before this one, but it's The Terror that made me a real fan of Simmons'. The only book I've read and re-read in 2008.

Wasp Factory (1984) by IAIN BANKS – Not sure if this is speculative fiction at all, but I nevertheless loved it. I can't explain what's so great about a book where almost everyone is obviously crazy, though, but Banks is one hell of a writer who managed to successfully pull the whole thing off.

MADWAND: Even though I managed to read only a few books in 2008, there was one that stood out; Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006). I should thank Thrinidir for having been such a pest [Thrinidir: "Oh rlly?"]: he has continuously badgered me about this book until I caved in and finally read it.
Locke is a young thief whose talent is recognized and nurtured by a con artist, Chains. A man with a vision, Chains moulds Locke and the other orphans he took under his tutelage into a group of confidence tricksters feared by the wealthy nobility. But then the plot thickens... Lynch did manage to spoil the experience near the end, but the overall impression was a very positive one. How can one not like a well written tale of charismatic con artists set in a fastastic rendition of Venice?

THRINIDIR: I don't read as much as some of the people I know and I'm not as genre knowledgeable as others, so I wouldn't take my year's pick as a definite indicator of sublime quality or some other serious referential pointl (i.e. I'm not saying that the books I'll be highliting represent the actual top of the crop), but I'm doing this in hope that people will be able to find at least a few noteworthy suggestions to add on their reading list.

Last Argument of Kings (2008) by JOE ABERCROMBIE. Though I was slightly less satisfied with the final volume of the superb "The First Law Trilogy" (Blindman was even more disgruntled by it) than with its two predecessors, especially "Before They Are Hanged", I still highly value Abercrombies satyrical wit, feel for characterisation and utter disregard for what the endings should be like by the genre standars. This trilogy is definitely one of the highlights of the new millenium.

The Painted Man (2008) by PETER V. BRETT. While I called this book light-weight and suffused with genre staples it is still one of the best - if not the best - fantasy debuts of 2008. This is book one of the "Demon Trilogy" and its main purpose is to set up the world and introduce the main protagonists, but here this is not that much of a problem, since the characterization is sublime and a few innovative elements are thrown into the mix with the genre archetypes. This is a traditional fantasy, but it feels modern without the explicit content that a lot of authors abuse to try and make their book distinguished from the genre classics (and the dross).

The Shadow of the Wind (2001) by CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN. I'm in the process of writing a review for this monster of a book. What defines it as a monster isn't its lenght or even the inclusion of horror elements, but the richness of the prose and chock-full of thematic content and references. This is a book about life, but carefully hidden behind a mystery story that unfurles in the fascist Spain under general Franco. While not a fantasy, horror or science fiction book in the strictest sense of the word, it is still one of the finest books I've had the privilege to read in the past recent years. Highly recommended.

Chronicles of the Black Company (the original novels were published in 1984,1984 and 1985; the omnibus was published in 2007) by GLEN COOK. In a recent review of the "Black Company" books that I've came across the author of the article refers to these books as a "...revered ancestor that should be honored as well as awarded a significant place in the history of the genre, but they shouldn't be (re)visited often, because while they left their mark on the genre, they have been outlived and outpreformed by its successors." While I agree with this estimation to an extent, I was nevertheless left more appreciative (as opposed to the author of this review) of the Black Company and Glen Cook when I finished this terrific omnibus. While the Black Company books might be labeled as sort of an revered ancestor, I still think that they should be visited at least once, by anyone who loves down-in-the-trenches first person narrative, charismatic protagonist or simply put - great fantasy.

The Road (2006) by CORMAC McCARTHY. The most evocative and touching book I've read in ages. Sombre, moody, oppressive and primal, but never falling into the pit of pathetic. This is the book you need to read as soon you can. You really musn't miss the sad journey of one father and his son following the road to nowhere in a fictional postapocalyptic world. Simply brilliant.

The Mark of Ran (2004) by PAUL KEARNEY. Paul Kearney, who? I've never heard of this author before I've started following online book reviews; Adam from The Wertzone refered to Paul Kearney as one of the most underappreciated fantasy authors out there and every since I've decided to read "The Mark of Ran", book one of The Sea Beggars trilogy, I have to agree. After this book I've read two more of his titles ("This Forsaken Earth" and "The Ten Thousand") and each of them is marked by the distinctive quality of Kearneys writing. He is a master storyteller who knows how to weave a tale and I promise you, when you'll pick up a book signed by Kearney - if you haven't already - you will be everything but disappointed. You can read my review of "The Mark of Ran" here.

Flowers for Algernon (1966) by DANIEL KEYES. If I'd have to pick a favourite book I read last year, it would arguably be this one. "Flowers for Algernon" is Daniel Keyes' opus magnum that won the Nebula for Best Novel (with Babel-17) in the year that it was published. This is, technically speaking, a diary of a man who undergoes a surgical procedure that alows him to slowly progresses from a state of idiocy to being nothing less than a genious and then gradually regresses to his previous state. The author shows tremendous insight into the human condition and has a knack at making you care for the protagonist greatly. This is an ingenious work of fiction, you just have to be smart enough to pick it up.

~~~

I promise that the next article in the series (part 8, if I counted right) will be the last one; we only need to tally up all the books people refered to as special in 2008 and give you the final numbers (i.e. the books that were mentioned on the most lists).

This post has been edited by thrinidir: 23 March 2009 - 04:01 PM

[Grimjust Bearegular]

jeez, I need to read more books. Haven't read any of these, except TTh of course. Anyone wanna buy me some books?

[thrinidir]

The ULTIMATE (and somewhat bloated) Best Of 2008 List: Recap & Conclusion (original post)

Finally, here is the absolute "Ultimate Best Of 2008 List"! I perused every single article in this ongoing series of articles we've been posting over the last couple of months [links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6 & The RoSF List] and the linked sites that were referred to in each subsequent article, including the huge database of various 'best of' lists over at FANTASY BOOK CRITIC (link). Here I've compiled a list that's made up from all the books that were mentioned at least 6 (5) times (on different lists, of course, and regardless of the ranking, if the list in question happened to rank the books in any manner); also worth mentioning is that this is technically not a real 'best of' list, but more of a 'most popular' books list, since - among other things - some of the lists sorted the books from best to worst and others listed them in no particular order, making it very hard to determine the absolute winner of 2008. What is more, the books we've taken into account weren't necessarily released in 2008, they just had to be read last year. The books with the same number of mentions are listed in alphabetical order and are as follows.

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1. Last Argument of Kings [review: 1, 2] – JOE ABERCROMBIE, 2008 (12 mentions)
Little Brother – CORY DOCTOROW, 2008 (12 mentions)

3. The Graveyard Book – NEIL GAIMAN, 2008 (11 mentions)

4. Anathem – NEAL STEPHENSON, 2008 (1o mentions)

5. The Name of the Wind [review coming soon] – PATRICK ROTHFUSS, 2007 (9 mentions)

6. The House of Suns – ALASTAIR REYNOLDS, 2008 (7 mentions)
The Shadow of the Wind [review coming soon] - CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON, 2001/2004 (translation) (7 mentions)
The Ten Thousand [Review] – PAUL KEARNEY, 2008 (7 mentions)
Thunderer [review coming soon] – FELIX GILMAN, 2008 (7 mentions)
The Terror [Review] – DAN SIMMONS, 2007 (7 mentions)
Toll the Hounds – STEVEN ERIKSON, 2008 (7 mentions)

12. Caine Black Knife – MATTHEW W. STOVER, 2008 (6 mentions)
Pump Six and Other Stories (short story collection) – PAOLO BACIGALUPI, 2008 (6 mentions)
The Drowned Life (short story collection) – JEFFREY FORD, 2008 (6 mentions)
The Painted Man [Review] – PETER V. BRETT, 2008 (6 mentions)
The Steel Remains [review coming soon] – RICHARD MORGAN, 2008 (6 mentions)

A bit of STATISTICS for interlude: there were 518 different sf&f books mentioned in all the lists we used in our survey, but only 142 of those were mentioned more than once and only 74 were mentioned more than twice. Another interesting fact: while a lot of these ‘Best of 2008’ lists were not limited to books that were published in 2008, these books still prevail on overall.

What about the RUNNER-UPS? There are 10 books who missed the top of the chart by only one mention - and they're all just as (some even more in my opinion) interesting as the top tier:

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17. Implied Spaces – WALTER JON WILLIAMS, 2008 (5 mentions)
Lavinia – URSULA K. LE GUIN, 2008 (5 mentions)
Matter – IAIN M. BANKS, 2008 (5 mentions)
Old Man's War [Review] – JOHN SCALZI, 2005 (5 mentions)
The Alchemy Of Stone – EKATARINA SEDIA, 2008 (5 mentions)
The Dragons of Babel – MICHAEL SWANWICK, 2008 (5 mentions)
The Engine's Child – HOLLY PHILLIPS, 2008 (5 mentions)
The Gone-Away World – NICK HARKAWAY, 2008 (5 mentions)
The Red Wolf Conspiracy [Review] – ROBERT V.S. REDICK, 2008 (5 mentions)
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse (anthology) – ed. JOHN JOSEPH ADAMS, 2007 (5 mentions)

Congratulations to all the books that made it on this list (and to the ones that were left out by a small margin as well). There is not much to say really, since most of the books you see listed here have been getting a lot of attention (with a few exceptions) on the blogosphere and other relevant genre sites in the past year. Although this list reflects POPULARITY of books before anything else, it is still somewhat an indicator of the QUALITY of these books. We read only a handful of the titles listed above and we have the intention to correct this mistake in the future, but from what we've read we can agree with the pick in most cases. We're not going to write an opinion for each of the books and whether they deserve to be on the list or not, but I'd like to hear what the rest of you think...is there a book that is missing on this list, but should be there? Or maybe one of the most popular books you see here doesn't deserve to be nearly as popular as it appears to be here? All in all, we've put much work into making this list and I hope it will give you at least a small insight into what went on in science fiction and fantasy genre in the past year.

Trin & Thrinidir

This post has been edited by thrinidir: 08 April 2009 - 12:48 PM