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)
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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7- Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes (Canada, USA, Europe)
13 commentaires:
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.
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?
The Crippled God is my favorite fantasy book of all time now, so it’s great to see that it’s your number 1.
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.
Erin,
Yes, a review for THE WINDS OF KHALAKOVO should be posted in the near future.
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).
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.
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.
Good picks.
My top 10 list would most def. include China Mieville's Embassytown.
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.
Glad to see Bakker on there;) Guru indeed!
Agreeing with Aelthain...
1- The Crippled God
2- The White-Luck Warrior
3- A Dance with Dragons
Everything else on a different tier.
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.
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