Here are my picks for the year thus far:
1- Neuropath by R. Scott Bakker
2- Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson
3- The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia
4- Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian Cameron Esslemont
5- Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
And the runner-ups would have to be:
6- Bloodheir by Brian Ruckley
7- The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford
8- The Edge of Reason by Melinda Snodgrass
9- Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
10- The Digital Plague by Jeff Somers
Feel free to agree or disagree with these selections. . .:-)
6 commentaires:
While I've read (and liked) many of those, I would have to say my list would look quite a bit different. Haven't read as many 2008 single-author fiction releases as I have anthologies and non-fiction critical studies (at least in the past couple of months), but Ursula Le Guin's Lavinia would be a candidate. Tobias Buckell's upcoming Sly Mongoose is great, and Felix Gilman, Toby Barlow, and J.M. McDermott have had impressive debut efforts. Might be Carlos Ruiz Zafón's El Juego del Ángel.
And by the way, much as I liked Sedia's book, it was released in November 2007, just in case you were listing 2008 releases only. Her The Alchemy of Stone is quite promising as well.
Links in the list to your reviews of these books would be great!!
I found The Secret History of Moscow somewhat disappointing: while the story is interesting, her writing style is a bit too... I don't know, childish. There's no way her stuff can even be remotely compared to Neil Gaiman's, IMO.
Neither did I love Abercrombie's books. I had fun reading them, but I honestly found it all a bit repetitive, and there were way too many bad words and gory details which served no purpose at all. Ninefingers is a fantastic character, though.
Now Novik's books are absolutely awesome, and I can't wait to read the new installment. I hadn't read anything that creative, well wrapped up and well written in a LONG time. I read the first four books in four days - therefore neglecting both my work and my university exams, plus the pile of clothes that needed ironing. 'Nuff said ;)
And now I think I'll finally get started on the Malazan series, as soon as Amazon delivers my stuff. Can't wait!
It's June.
Go ahead and pick 2009 now too. Save time.
While I've read (and liked) one of those, I would have to say my list would obcioulsy look quite a bit different.
I don't think I'd put Neuropath at the top. I'll be surprised if anything I read this year tops Little Brother.
Kearney's The Ten Thousand will go in near the top spot for me, definitely higher than Erikson, Bakker or Morgan and probably Abercrombie. RotCG is fun and the events it describes are awesome, but the actual writing is not outstanding.
Having said that, Bakker seems to be indicating The Judging Eye will be out somewhere before 2008 ends, so that becomes a contender. ADWD I think we're on the verge of writing off for this year (two weeks to go before the deadline). I thought Elliott's second Crossroads book was also pretty decent, probably around the quality of Esslemont, but probably won't make it into my top ten.
Sapkowski's Blood of the Elves could be a contender and I'm looking forward to Snodgrass' Edge of Reason. But yeah, it's only halfway through the year and there some pretty big releases still to come.
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