More on Weird Fiction Review and "A Rising Thunder", first 2012 release read (by Liviu Suciu)

Last week I talked about the recent launch of Weird Fiction Review and also about the recent anthology Odd? and I thought I will finish it this week to have a review in the weekend. I read more stories for a total of some 10 of its 19 stories read to date and I have to say that so far Odd? is very impressive. As I want to savor the stories and do them full justice, it will take me several more days to finish Odd?, so look for a full review next weekend.

But in the meantime, some more goodies have appeared on Weird Fiction Review and Mr. Vandermeer was kind enough to let me know about them:

"Weirdfictionreview.com is happy to bring to your attention a new original webcomic, “Reading the Weird” by Leah Thomas.

“Reading the Weird” is a quest-journey undertaken by the mysterious Mary and an axolotl named Ed (who may or may not be the creature from the famous Julio Cortazar story) undertaken due to the power of a book of stories titled The Weird.

Along the way, they encounter monsters, delve deeper into the mystery of the book, and reveal their own personal secrets. The first three episodes are now up on WFR.com, with nine more to follow. Episode four will focus on Jorge Luis Borges’ “The Aleph” and George R.R. Martin’s “Sandkings”.

The process of creating the comic was also a journey of discovery for the young creator of the comic, 22-year-old Michigan State student Leah Thomas, a talented writer who attended the prestigious Clarion Writers Workshop in 2010 and has just started making her first story sales.

That journey is also real, because The Weird is an actual book—a 750,000-word, 100-year overview of strange, dark fiction, containing over 115 stories. As Thomas details in this great interview, encountering many of these stories for the first time was the adult equivalent of her childhood experience with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, the classic written by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell. “Reading the Weird” is Thomas’s first comic for the public, and even within the 12-part series shows her growth as a creator in interesting ways. We hope you enjoy it.

Weirdfictionreview.com site turned to Kafka and writers allied with Kafka, with an exclusive online posting of John Kessel/James Patrick Kelly’s introductory essay to their new anthology Kafkaesque: Stories After Kafka. Also we featured new translated fiction and an interview with iconic Czech writer Michal Ajvaz, along with fiction by one of the best Finnish writers of her generation, Leena Krohn and an appreciation of The Other Side’s Alfred Kubin."

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Last week I also talked more about the 2011 releases that I have read so far and the 2012 books that have slowly started to make their way here. Though slightly delayed by an editor's illness, the earc of the new Honorverse offering, A Rising Thunder, has just been released by Baen and it can be bought HERE in multiple drm-free formats, while the first 8 chapters are available for free.

As I used to literally visit Webscriptions 5+ times a day during the waiting period, I saw it reasonably fast upon release this Thursday and bought my copy on the spot, while late that day my plans to open it and read a little and leave it for a more leisure read on Friday evening, got blown to bits when I simply could not put the book down and stayed way too late to finish it.

Of course as a March 2012 release in stores, I will have a full review then but in the meantime a few thoughts here (no spoilers):

"While as known for some time A Rising Thunder is a first half of a bigger book - there was a split as the original ART became way too big, but the good news is that the yet unnamed second part is in final editing and it should be available in late 2012, early 2013 - and it shows a little, ART is considerably better than Mission of Honor which was way too predictable and more of a "dot the i's and cross the t's novel" than anything else.

I loved all the little interludes and they interspersed well with the main political and military developments; there is a special "phone" call with an interesting aftermath and that was perfectly done too. All in all a great installment that starts for good the new Honorverse direction with a bang and left me wanting more asap, while confirming the status of the series as my #1 ongoing sff one."

You can read an overview of the series HERE and reviews of At All Costs, Storms From the Shadows and Mission of Honor, as well as of the recent YA series debut that takes place centuries before, A Beautiful Friendship, while I would note that Mr. Weber inserted a great reference to this last book in A Rising Thunder (the telepathic treecats have "memory singers", who well, remember...)

"Geist" by Philippa Ballantine (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)

Official Philippa Ballantine Website

Order “Geist” HERE

Read FBC’s interview with Phillipa Ballantine

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Philippa Ballantine was born and brought up in New Zelaland. Shen then graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a BA in English and Political Science. She also holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Library Studies from The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand. She is an avid Podcaster and has often released podcasts of her own books. Her podcasts have been short listed for the Parsec Awards, and won a Sir Julius Vogel award. She has had three books published before this one. She is married to Tee Morris, the co-author of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series. They both currently reside in Virginia.

PLOT SUMMARY: Between the living and the dead is the Order of the Deacons, protectors of the Empire, guardians against possession, sentinels enlisted to ward off the malevolent haunting of the geists...

Among the most powerful of the Order is Sorcha Faris, now thrust into partnership with the novice Deacon, Merrick Chambers. They have been dispatched to the isolated village of Ulrich to aide the Priory with a surge of violent geist activity. With them is Raed Rossin, Pretender to the throne that Sorcha is sworn to protect, and bearer of a terrible curse.

But what greets them in the strange settlement is something far more predatory and more horrifying than any mere haunting. And as she uncovers a tradition of twisted rituals passed down through the dark reaches of history, Sorcha will be forced to reconsider everything she thinks she knows.

And if she makes it out of Ulrich alive, what in Hell is she returning to?

FORMAT/INFO: Geist is 294 pages long divided over twenty-five numbered/titled chapters. Narration is in the third-person omniscient view via Sorcha Faris, Merrick Chambers, the Young Pretender Raed Rossin and the Rossin. Geist is self-contained and is the first book in the Chronicles of the Order.

October 26, 2010 marked the North American paperback and e-book publication of Geist via ACE books. Cover art is done by Jason Chan.

ANALYSIS: Geist was a book which I wasn’t aware of when it got released. I got hold of a copy of it this year when the second book was released. Geist seemed like a rural fantasy however when I read more about it, I knew it was set in an alternate world with a great catch.

In Geist we meet two Deacons; Sorcha Faris, a seasoned veteran of fighting geists, and Merrick Chambers, who is absolutely new to this whole protection gig. They are thrown together rather awkwardly when they are sent by their superiors to investigate a geist attack in a distant town. However they soon learn that nothing is as it seems and before too long Sorcha and Merrick find themselves embroiled in a conspiracy involving a previous contender to the land. Prince Raed Rossin is the other POV character who is also lead to this specific place through a random coincidence and he soon learns that there are some things which are much worse than inherited issues. The world of Arkaym introduced in Geist is a peculiar and dangerous one. I would like readers to hear this Podcast “In the Beginning” as it details a pivotal event in the history of the world which lead to its current state. It’s a telling of the first day the geists broke through into the world of Arkaym about one thousand years before the events chronicled in Geist.

The best thing about this book is its incredible setting & world structure. This setting wherein the world has been invaded by spirits from the other side called geists, is incredibly exciting to read about as it slowly brings about a thin edge of horror to the overall story. The story literally explodes from the first chapter and from then continues to increase its pace all through the end. The characters are a bit stereotypical to begin with however the author slowly hints and reveals layers about them which aids in making them more three dimensional. This process which is begun is not complete however the characters do manage to engrave themselves in the reader’s minds and with the promise of more to be revealed in the forthcoming volumes. It will be interesting to see how the author develops them and their intrinsic relationships.

The author has to be congratulated for her timing, as through out the story the twist and turns definitely keep the reader on their toes and have them wondering what will happen next. This specific factor along with Philippa’s ability as a gifted storyteller is what manages to make this tale rise above its ordinary beginnings. The cover art by Jason Chan is also good and adds to the book's plus points. Another funny thing that I noticed was when the two primary characters meet for the first time, the situation is pretty electrified and reminded me greatly of another series which I like. Right down to its kitty-kitty line! Lastly the magic system which is present in this story is kinda cool with the introduction of runes of dominion which are controlled by the Deacons and aid them in defeating geists. I felt this system was a pretty cool one and which should be further explored in the future volumes.

The downsides to this story are that while the story is fast paced and twisted, it’s slightly predictable. The character interactions seem contrived in a couple of situations and the main romance between the characters is one which the readers will like to root for however is as predictable as most Jennifer Aniston romantic-comedies. The main mystery is the big point of this book and will be decipherable to most veteran mystery readers however with the twist in the end manages to save itself from being entirely predictable.

CONCLUSION: A terrific start to a new series which has a devious magic system, terrible supernatural threats, assassinations and much more. With Philippa’s smooth storytelling abilities, Geist is a good freshman volume of the Chronicles of the Order and with Spectyr being already out, readers won’t have to wait too long in between the volumes. I was enamored by this book and can’t wait to start the sequel and see what further mysteries of the world of Arkaym are unveiled.

Pretty Little Liars

Most people think of the book series when they hear the phrase Pretty Little Liars, and would not be wrong. The books introduced this intriguing story to the public, but it was not thought of it that way.

Originally, entertainment, alloy wheels, though they themselves are a book packaging company, had to sell the rights to what was originally intended as a television program the author Sara Shepard in 2006, and only after the series had been printing, they found the popularity he needed to make your way on television. It was written and published by HarperTeen between 2006 and 2010, and books in order, Pretty Little Liars, flawless, perfect, incredible and Wicked.

In response to its success, the story in its original form (TV script) was picked up by ABC Family a 10-episode first season, which was again due to the success of the series, quickly extended for another 12 episodes complete the first season of 22 episodes.

The story itself is simple (for those familiar with the teen drama genre, at least), and revolves around a gang of girls that friendship collapsed when its leader, if you will, mysteriously disappeared. Her name was Alison, and when they begin receiving messages from someone calling herself "A", and when the startup messages threatening to expose their innermost secrets (those who thought that only Alison knew), things begin to warm up.

While critical comments were mixed (the program is not intended to please them, after all, but rather girls 12-16 years) show cleaned up at this year's Teen Choice Awards.

Pretty Little Liars: a great success on American television

June 8, 2010 marked the debut of Pretty Little Liars on American television, a show is based on the series of novels written by Sara Shepard with the same title. The series is set in the town of Rosewood and revolve around the lives of four girls: Hanna Marin (played by Ashley Benson), Emily Fields (played by Shay Mitchell), Spencer Hastings (Trojan Bellisario) and Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale). The four girls used to be good friends, however, when the queen bee DiLaurentis Alison (played by Sasha Pieterse) disappears, his clique falls apart. One year after the disappearance of Alison, a mysterious figure called "A" starts sending messages from the girls threatens to reveal their secrets, only Alison could know.

Each of the girls has their own personality and struggles with his personal conflict. Hanna, who was chubby before, became the new "it" girl of the school after Alison disappeared. But as the series develops, is reconciled with his old friends and become less interested in being popular. Committed and loyal are words that best describe Emily. When a new family moves into the former home of Alison, Emily became friends with the daughter of the new residents and realizes that she is attracted to this new girl. Spencer comes from a wealthy family and is represented as an additional merit. She is constantly compared and live under the shadow of his older sister, Melissa. After spending a year in Iceland, Aria and her family back to Rosewood. His father had an affair with his pupil that is known about Aria and to support his mother. Aria was found in a similar situation with her father when she became romantically involved with Ezra Fitz (played by Ian Harding), their new English teacher.

The premiere of Pretty Little Liars holds the record for ABC debut as the highest-rated series through the demographics of your target. Some 2.47 million viewers watched the premiere of the series making it number two in total viewers schedule. And in the Teen Choice Award for 2010, the series received the award for Choice TV summer.

"Theft of Swords" by Michael Sullivan (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Official Michael Sullivan Website
Order Theft of Swords HERE
Read FBC Review of The Crown Conspiracy
Read FBC Review of Avempartha
Read FBC Review of Nyphron Rising
Read FBC Review of The Emerald Storm
Read FBC Review of Wintertide
Read FBC Review of The Viscount and the Witch

INTRODUCTION: In the space of two years, Michael Sullivan has moved from a small press debut author who was featured in one of my first "Indie Spotlight Reviews" to a "name" in the fantasy field whose wonderful Ryria Revelations is being published by Orbit Books in three consecutive omnibuses starting with Theft of Swords which is already out in stores as I saw last Sunday in my local B&N.

While I have reviewed the two books that form this omnibus close to their original small press publication, I am re-posting the reviews below with some additional thoughts about how the Orbit edition differs and how the series has gained by the tighter editing.

The most important difference is that the series debut, The Crown Conspiracy, has gotten a new first half-chapter that introduces the main two protagonists Hadrian and Royce outright.

But do not worry, even if you read the original edition and do not want to buy the omnibus, you can read this chapter for free as it is bundled with The Viscount and the Witch short story that functions as a series prequel set some 10 years earlier. Click on the link above and get the story and the first revised chapter of The Crown Conspiracy from the author's site!

However there are more little touches that the new Orbit edition adds by a really close editing. When I got an advanced copy of Theft of Swords some months ago, I opened it just to take a look and read the revised first chapter as I have heard about that earlier. But once I started reading I could not put the book down despite that I have read both included novels a few times before and I ended up with a full read of the omnibus while in the process I started noticing that there were places where it flowed much better than the originals.

Went and checked with my 2008/09 copies and sure enough there were little differences here and there - most notably when the main heroes meet a character who for the obvious reason of being locked up in time stasis for close to a millennium, talks archaic - in the original the author mostly kept the archaic language consistent, but there were a few slips to modern and while they were minor, they still broke a little the narrative flow; in the omnibus everything is consistent.

Overall though the differences are minor in the 700 pages scheme of things, so go and enjoy the "mainstream" debut of this superb series!

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Original 2008 Review of The Crown Conspiracy:

INTRODUCTION: Michael Sullivan’s debut novel, “The Crown Conspiracy”—the first in a planned six-volume epic fantasy series called The Riyria Revelations—has attracted a growing following since its recent publication by indie publisher, Aspirations Media Inc. After reading an excerpt on Mr. Sullivan's website, I decided to give the book a try and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun and page turning “The Crown Conspiracy” turned out to be…

SETTING: On the alternate Earth-like planet of Elan, the Novronian Empire of legend has sundered centuries ago into many different states. This was supposedly due to the machinations of the dastardly wizard and traitor Esrahaddon. The imperial Nyphron Church and its various loyalist nobles and knight orders have been looking for the mythical “Heir” to the Empire for almost a thousand years now. In the meantime, the kingdoms that coalesced on the Empire's territory developed Nationalist movements of their own opposed to the Imperialist goals and the monks dedicated to the god Maribor that predated Empire and Church.

One such kingdom is Melegar, and when its ruling king is murdered, the young Crown Prince Alric and his older sister Arista—who would be Queen if her brother should die—are thrust into the limelight and a brutal struggle for power that may have much greater implications for the “big picture” than whoever governs a minor kingdom.

Archibald Ballentyne is a very ambitious second-tier noble from the neighboring kingdom of Ghent—not that he harbors any particular loyalty to “his” king—and is willing to do whatever shady deals he can to advance.

Royce and Hadrian are a freelance “object/documents” acquisition and recovery team. In other words, Royce is a skilled thief with a mysterious past while Hadrian is a very good fighter who excels with the sword and bow. Using an impoverished noble as a front man, they peddle their trade to the high & mighty and anyone that can pay, outside of the Protection/Underground Guilds extant in most towns.

Lastly, Myron is a noble born “nerdish” monk of Maribor whose abbey has the misfortune of incurring the wrath of powerful enemies…

FORMAT/INFO: “The Crown Conspiracy” stands at 296 pages divided over ten named parts, each subdivided into several numbered chapters. Included at the beginning of the book is a map which is also available on the author's website, as well as a table of contents. The action takes place mostly in the novel’s present-tense and is narrated in the third-person via several POVs, most notably Royce and Hadrian, with Archibald, Myron, Alric and Arista having good chunks of face time too. The ending is very good, wrapping up the main threads of the novel, but as with any opening volume in a series, the big-picture events are just now starting to impact our heroes.

October 1, 2008 marks the Paperback Publication of “The Crown Conspiracy” via Aspirations Media Inc. Cover art is provided by the author himself, Michael Sullivan.

PLOT HINTS AND ANALYSIS: “The Crown Conspiracy” starts with a caper in Archibald Ballentyne's castle and stays on a roll from there to the end. We first meet Royce and Hadrian when they frustrate one of Archibald's machinations—which they originally helped get started by stealing some letters—but what's better than getting paid again even more handsomely to restore those very same letters to their rightful owner?

Of course this kind of double-cross dealing with the high & mighty comes with a risk as Royce and Hadrian find themselves framed and imprisoned to be tortured and executed for the death of the King of Melegar, which they believed was a lucrative “mercy” job for an endangered noble. Luckily, Princess Arista—for reasons of her own which may or may not be the selfless ones she claims—helps them escape with the new King Alric in tow as a hostage/protégée.

Embarking on a journey to find the mythical wizard Esrahaddon—who supposedly still lives after almost a thousand years imprisoned in a hidden prison built by dwarves and is the only one who can help Alric—Royce, Hadrian and the new king hooks up with Myron whose knowledge of arcane rituals and ancient text is important to their quest, while Arista remains behind as Queen Regent of Melegar. Or perhaps, she plans on killing them all in secret and becoming the rightful Queen of Melegar…

While Royce and Hadrian start off as stereotypical fantasy characters—a thief and a fighter—that we see in so many genre novels, as we slowly get to know them, they start to develop a distinctive identity of their own. And that is also true of the other main characters Alric, Arista and Myron who all grow with the unfolding events, while the rogue Archimbald is great fun in all of his appearances. There are several other notable characters as well, but I don’t want to give out any more spoilers…

In conclusion, “The Crown Conspiracy” is great fun and a romp end to end. It's a very fast read and I finished it in one sitting. Its characters grow on you and the series has great potential to develop since Book One only explores a relatively small part of the wonderful imagined world of Michael Sullivan, and I am really looking forward to reading Book Two, “Avempartha”, out in April 2009.

Highly recommended and another positive surprise for 2008, I hope Mr. Sullivan enjoys the success he deserves and that we get to see all of the planned volumes in The Riyria Revelations…

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Original 2009 Review of Avempartha

INTRODUCTION: Michael Sullivan’s debut novel, “The Crown Conspiracy”—the first in a planned six-volume epic fantasy series called The Riyria Revelations—has attracted a growing following. I read and reviewed the book last November:

“In conclusion, “The Crown Conspiracy” is great fun and a romp end to end. It's a very fast read and I finished it in one sitting. Its characters grow on you and the series has great potential to develop since Book One only explores a relatively small part of the wonderful imagined world of Michael Sullivan”.

Needless to say, when I received an ARC of “Avempartha”, I was quite eager to see if the book would live up to the expectations raised by Mr. Sullivan’s marvelous debut. I am happy to report that not only did “Avempartha” meet expectations, but it took the series to another level, ensuring that the future installments will be must-reads...

“The Crown Conspiracy” was essentially a standalone with hints of the larger picture, while “Avempartha” goes straight into the deeper issues of Mr. Sullivan's richly imagined universe and reads more like a series opener than a second volume. The following review is mostly independent of “The Crown Conspiracy” one and contains very few series spoilers.

SETTING: On the alternate Earth-like planet of Elan, the Novronian Empire of legend has sundered centuries ago into many different states, supposedly due to the machinations of the dastardly wizard and traitor Esrahaddon. For almost a thousand years now, the imperial Nyphron Church and its various loyalist nobles and knight orders have been looking for the mythical “Heir” to the Empire, a person of Novron's bloodline and supposedly the only one capable of passing secret tests jealously guarded by the Church.

In the meantime, the kingdoms that coalesced on the Empire's territory developed Nationalist movements of their own opposed to the Imperialist goals and the monks dedicated to the god Maribor that predated Empire and Church. One such kingdom is Melegar and young King Alric has a problem: his older sister Arista is restless, does not want to marry and settle down, and has developed a reputation as a ‘witch’ for being a student of Esra. Since Arista helped save Melegar from the clutches of usurpers, Alric owes her his life, and sends her on an important mission. But he also sends the high ranking Bishop Saldur as an “advisor” who has designs of his own.

Royce and Hadrian are a freelance “object/documents” acquisition and recovery team. In other words, Royce is a skilled thief with a mysterious past while Hadrian is a very good fighter who excels with a sword and bow. Using an impoverished noble as a front man, they peddle their trade to the high & mighty and anyone that can pay. But because they have now attracted the attention of the powerful, they are thrown into the middle of the “great game”.

On the edge of empire, the long-lived but slow-reproducing elves are watching. While the elvish mixed-blood population living in human territory are stereotyped, oppressed and mistreated, the pure-blooded elves retreated millenia ago beyond the border river Nidwalden, and only the abandoned castle of Avempartha remains as a reminder that they are still there, waiting for any sign of human weakness.

The village of Dhalgren technically breaks the human-elvish treaty by being too close to Nidwalden, but it has not been bothered for many years. However, a monstrous being has recently started terrorizing the village and killing its inhabitants indiscriminately.

When a strange armless man called Esra shows up at the village followed by tragedy, Theron's surviving daughter Thrace is sent to the main city of Colnora to enlist the help of Royce and Hadrian...

FORMAT/INFO: “Avempartha” stands at 332 pages divided over fifteen titled chapters. The narration is in the third person and takes place into the present of the novel. The main POVs are Royce, Hadrian, Arista and Thrace with Esra stealing the show whenever he makes an appearance. There are other secondary returning characters from the first novel, most notably the dwarf Magnus and the brothers Pickering, Mauvin and Fanen, but the foppish villain I loved to hate, Count Archimbald, is missing. Instead, we get the chilling “Sentinel” Guy. The ending is excellent and solves the main issue of the plot, but this time there is a huge ‘To Be Continued’ sign, so I eagerly await the next installment. April 1, 2009 marks the Paperback Publication of "Avempartha" via Aspirations Media Inc. Cover art is provided by the author himself, Michael Sullivan.

PLOT HINTS AND ANALYSIS: One thing I really loved about “Avempartha” were the superb naming conventions. Quite a few times in sff novels, the names are grating or at best annoying or silly-sounding, and usually I’m happy if they are not too noticeable. In “Avempartha” though, I truly loved how the names sounded with Thrace and Arista pairing very nicely with Royce and Hadrien, while Guy, Saldur, Thomas, Theron and Gilarabrywn are names that evoke both wonder and terror. The names of places like Colnora, Dhalgren, and Nidwalden also roll nicely off the tongue and add to the novel’s depth...

After a superb re-acquittance with Royce and Hadrian in the first several pages, “Avempartha” actually continues more as a series opener with a ton of build-up in the first half of the novel, while the second half is just superb non-stop action, especially when the two threads following Royce, Hadrian and Princess Arista respectively converge at the elven castle...

Meanwhile, the slow unfolding of secrets and tapestries weaved over the centuries since the fall of the Empire—and possibly even before—is very well timed, and there are some unexpected twists and turns, though we also start seeing a little bit of the big-picture outline. In particular, the Imperial succession which clearly dates back to the murder of the last emperor and the possible elvish threat that goes back to the times of legend well before the Empire even existed.

Of the main POVs, Arista, Hadrien and Royce stay in character from “The Crown Conspiracy”, but are written with much more detail and depth, while Thrace is a great addition, bringing an “innocent, regular girl” perspective that contrasts nicely with the other characters. I particularly liked the reintroduction of Magnus and his cynical dialogue and wordplay with Royce who still wants his head for obvious reasons.

Overall, I really loved “Avempartha”. In fact, I immediately re-read “The Crown Conspiracy” the next day to try and catch any little details I might have missed the first time, and I definitely recommend reading the first book again for added depth. In short, “Avempartha” is highly, highly recommended and a novel that raises Michael Sullivan’s The Riyria Revelations to “major league” status...

2011 Goodreads Choice Awards: Semifinals November 13-November 20 (by Liviu Suciu)

Goodreads is running their third annual Goodreads Choice Awards in three rounds. I talked about eligibility and process in the post about the first round HERE.

Now that the write-ins have been tallied and the top five added to have the full 20 book semifinal list I will present the main four fiction categories I voted in and my votes and extra choices for the final round if my favorite does not make the top 10.

Remember that there are 22 categories so lots of things to vote for - in addition to the 4 main categories for me below, I also voted in Historical Fiction (Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran), History & Biography (In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson) and Middle Grade & Children's (based on my son's reading and what I glimpsed from the books myself, Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick).

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1: Favorite Book of 2011 (click for titles)


Voted: A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin

Second Choice: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I've read two more books from the list, the overall disappointing The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss and the dismal Twilight for the middle ages, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

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2: Best Fiction of 2011 (click for titles)


Voted: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Three more choices here:

The 2011 Booker winner The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The utterly charming The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Even the partly disappointing The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

I have not read any of the other books on the list, though I opened a few that generated waves or I've seen reviews that interested me in them. Most are away from my interests and I already have a huge reading pile, so it's quite unlikely I will read any...

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3: Best Fantasy of 2011 (click for list of titles)


Voted: A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin

Three more choices here:

Naamah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

In addition to Rothfuss, I only read the very meh Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence and I plan to read Kingdom of Gods by NK Jemisin hopefully sometime this year, while I have no real interest in the other titles with most of them by authors I stay well away from.

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4: Best SF of 2011 (click for list of titles)


Voted: The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan (a write in vote from me that made the extra five)

Two more choices here:

Leviathan Wakes by James Corey
Embassytown by China Mieville

I started and plan to eventually finish Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris and Flashback by Dan Simmons, while most of the other choices are from authors I stay away from.