Friday, March 20, 2009

The ULTIMATE (and somewhat bloated) Best Of 2008 List [part 6]

-

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 :p.

0 Comments:

 

blogger templates 3 columns | Make Money Online