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

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

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 finally (14) "Little Brother" by 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 them - '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 it again: beside Ran's 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 and 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" (-II-), "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" (our review) by Dan Ronco. Check out his site for the list of best short fiction.
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To be continued...