Speculative Fiction Top 10 of 2011


Hey guys!

It's that time of year again! Here is my speculative fiction Top 10 of 2011! The runner-up titles will be unveiled with my year-end awards, the Hotties!

Enjoy!

1- Steven Erikson's The Crippled God (Canada, USA, Europe)

2- C. S. Friedman's Legacy of Kings (Canada, USA, Europe)

3- George R. R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons (Canada, USA, Europe)

4- R. Scott Bakker's The White-Luck Warrior (Canada, USA, Europe)

5- James S. A. Corey's Leviathan Wakes (Canada, USA, Europe)
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6- Robert McCammon's The Five (Canada, USA, Europe, and Subpress)

7- Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes (Canada, USA, Europe)

8- Patrick Rothfuss' The Wise Man's Fear (Canada, USA, Europe)

9- Melanie Rawn's The Diviner (Canada, USA, Europe)

10- Bradley P. Beaulieu's The Winds of Khalakovo (Canada, USA, Europe)

13 commentaires:

Unknown said...

Hmmm . . . interesting list. As much as I loved the entire Malazan saga, I thought Crippled God was a very poor finale. The Diviner was half a great novel and half an OK one, but it was still nice to see Rawn return to fantasy.

I've been reluctant to dig into Dance With Dragons, only because Feast for Crows was such a let-down, but I'll probably give it a read this winter. Wise Man's Fear is next on my TBR list, I have to admit Friedman's Magister trilogy has been sitting on my shelf for far too long, but this may be the kick in the butt I need to rectify that.

Erin said...

any hope for a review of The Winds of Khalakovo? i do enjoy reading those and find they give me a good idea of whether i should pick up the book itself. though perhaps your rating it in the top 10, should be recommendation enough?

Anonymous said...

The Crippled God is my favorite fantasy book of all time now, so it’s great to see that it’s your number 1.

Andrew said...

I guess the reason I keep reading the Hotlist is that my top 10 for the year is very similar. I'd have Abercrombie and Friedman reveresed but other than that, everything looks about perfect.

Patrick said...

Erin,

Yes, a review for THE WINDS OF KHALAKOVO should be posted in the near future.

TLW2-NR said...

Hmmm...As much as I love the Malazan series, the writing and subtleties of George RR Martin are exceptional. I would go with Dance With Dragons ahead of The Crippled God in spots 2 and 3 with the somewhat underrated and more substantive than people realize Heroes in the number 1 spot. Good tips on the titles I have not read yet, but I would definitely endorse the Majister Trilogy. Is Antiphon a 2011 or 2010 release (from the Psalms of Isaac, another excellent series flying under the radar).

Small Blonde Hippy said...

At least five of those books are on my TBR list. I can't wait to read The Crippled God and I'm currently re-reading the rest of the Malazan series to lead up to it. Dance with Dragons too, I'm really looking forward to. However, there was such a long gap before this came out that I think I'm going to have to re-read that series as well, otherwise I'll probably not remember what's been going on. Interesting to see R. Scott Bakker up there. I really struggled with his Prince of Nothing Series - I just couldn't engage with the characters so I'm not sure I'll bother with his latest stuff.

Aelthain said...

I personally prefer White Luck Warrior to Dance With Dragons, simply because I prefer Bakker's conceptual framework although Martin's writing is a better read.

However, from my perspective, absolutely agree with Crippled God as #1. It combines the great ideas with wonderful prose.

Jason said...

Good picks.
My top 10 list would most def. include China Mieville's Embassytown.

Jorro said...

Have to say I haven't read The Crippled God yet, but trying to plow through Dust of Dreams after ADWD is like digging in goo after taking a most refreshing bath in a mountain spring. I really love Erikson for his scope of imagination and his enormous plot tapestry but his style is so hopelessly struggling and clumsy now that I've remembered ASOIAF again... Even if TCG delivered on all plot fronts I just can't see it surpassing ADWD (with all the latter's flaws in terms of plot resolutions).

The White-luck warrior is out of this world. It should be Number 0 on your list. Or -1. Or -infinity. It's way beyond the scope of this list! Bakker is guru.

Cursed Armada said...

Glad to see Bakker on there;) Guru indeed!

Anonymous said...

Agreeing with Aelthain...

1- The Crippled God
2- The White-Luck Warrior
3- A Dance with Dragons

Everything else on a different tier.

ScriboErgoSum said...

I mostly agree with your list, but I thought Erickson was the single worst author I read this year. I finally started the Malazan series when the final book came out and gave up after 8 books of meandering drivel. A good editor would have lopped off 50% of that series and had a much tighter story. I read the synopsis of the final two books and am glad I quit after 8. At least I got a good price for mint copies of the final two novels.

I'm almost done with Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (which was the winner on another list you linked to), and it's really good and unlike any fantasy I've read before.