The Year In Review

This blog still hasn’t seen its one-year anniversary (which will come in February), but I have posted reviews here of most of the books I’ve read during the year of 2006 and even a few from 2005. It really has been a great year here at Nethspace – in November I saw the 5000th visit and 10,000 page views was exceeded in October (this does not count visits and views from RSS readers). I posted 41 reviews, a lesser number of rants and other posts, and conducted my first author interview with Sean Williams. I’ve started doing reviews at FantasyBookSpot and have managed to get several review copies from Pyr. I’m quite happy with how things are and where they seem to be going.

For me, I consider this year to a slow year – it looks like I’ll finish at just under 40 books read for the year. Last year the number was 43, and I have general goal of reaching 50 every year. Looking ahead, I actually think I’ll have a bit less reading time next year, but I still expect to read over 30.

Many websites and other organizations like to have a year’s best list. To be honest, I’m terrible at making lists, and will almost certainly never create an all-time favorites list. However, I will give you the top 11 books that I read this year. Why 11 – because everyone does 10, it’s time to give a bit of respect to 11. They are not really in any particular order since I liked each book for its own reasons and I am not entirely comfortable comparing them directly to each other. Know that it is entirely my opinion based on how I felt about the book, its quality, and my enjoyment while reading it (the full reviews are linked). Some were published this year and others were published in previous years.

Nethspace’s Top 11 Reads of 2006

Forever by Pete Hamill

This is the story of New York City from its beginnings to modern times told through the eyes of an immortal Irish immigrant. The city itself becomes a powerful character.

The Scar by China Miéville

The world of Bas-Lag is a dark, macabre place that is brought vividly to life by Miéville. This story takes place on the high seas where the floating pirate city of Armada seeks to harness unfathomable power.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

The horrors of war are told by Vietnam veteran Haldeman as the human race faces off against an alien race throughout the galaxy. Parallels of today cannot be ignored in this classic of science fiction.

City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer

This is a mosaic novel set in the VanderMeer’s city of Ambergris. The stories are darkly uncomfortable, powerful, and stylistic. If I had to pick a number one read for the year, this would be it.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

The colonization of Mars is told as only Kim Stanley Robinson can. My wife is a planetary geologist who studies Mars, as are many of my friends – this is Mars colonization for Mars scientists (and you too).

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

The winner of the 2006 World Fantasy Award is a beautifully told story of the journey of an adolescent in Japan. There is so much here that it will say different things to different people at different times.

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

A fun novel in an alternative past where dragons are powerful weapons of war. The Napoleonic Wars have never looked like this.

Bangkok 8 by John Burdett

This is not a SFF book, but still one of my favorite reads. Thai noir – an engrossing view of Bangkok and the people of Thailand.

Infoquake by David Louis Edelman

Science fiction meets the corporate board room in a distant future – a wonderful debut.

The Prince of Nothing Trilogy by R. Scott Bakker

I know that this is three books and not just one – but it is one story. This is probably the best completed epic fantasy I’ve ever read. Think crusades, think jihad – a holy war at its worst with a greater conflict looming.

The Crooked Letter by Sean Williams

A wonderfully dark fantasy unlike any I’ve read before. Twin brothers, gods and monsters, a love triangle, and the cataclysmic end of the world – a great read.

Winners of the 2006 World Fantasy Award

• Novel: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
• Novella: "Voluntary Committal" by Joe Hill
• Short Fiction: "CommComm" by George Saunders
• Anthology: The Fair Folk edited by Marvin Kaye
• Collection: The Keyhole Opera by Bruce Holland Rogers
• Artist: James Jean
• Special Award: Professional: Sean Wallace (for Prime Books)
• Special Award: Non-Professional: David Howe and Stephen Walker (for Telos Books)
• Lifetime Achievement: Stephen Fabian
• Lifetime Achievement: John Crowley

I haven't read many of these nominees, but I did read and review Kafka on the Shore. It is certainly worthy of the award.

I'm surprised that Kelly Link didn't win in the collection category, but I haven't read any of the nominees to justify that suprise.

It would have been nice to see Lou Anders at Pyr get the win, but then I don't know enough to say he's any more deserving than Sean Wallace.

Worldcon and Hugos - a Report and Rant

Well, I've not ever been to a con and I'm not a voting member for the Hugos, but I'm often curious to hear about what goes on. Someday perhaps I'll go, but for now it's vicarious or not at all. Anyway, the report by William Lexner (aka Stego) is the best I've seen so far - and there are lots out there.

My (Brief) Adventure at the Nebula Awards Weekend

The 2006 Nebula Awards Weekend is being held in Tempe, Arizona, a virtual stones throw away from where I live. While I wasn’t going to pony up for registration or anything, there was a big autograph session on Friday night that was open to the general public. I’d read about this far enough in advance to get a few books to have signed.

I showed up about 40 minutes before the scheduled beginning of the session and wait outside the room – the previous session is still in progress. There is a large table for purchasing books and quite a few people waiting – mostly people registered for the weekend, with only a couple local ‘geeks’ like me.

The previous session lets out, and everybody pours from the room (I get some brief amusement at the dress of people not used to Arizona’s climate). An old man comes out, kindly asks the woman sitting in a chair next to me near the door if he can use it to get a jump on signing books – this would be Harlan Ellison. He goes on to tell us that he’s signing with a $2000 dollar pen and the story of how he came to buy it. Anyway, he was clearly enjoying himself and I’m almost certain that the ink from his $2000 pen is worth more than the worn book club edition of Again Dangerous Visions that I had him sign – Mr. Ellison was kind enough point out that it is a book club edition. So, I was off to a great start being at the de facto front of the line for Harlan Ellison and he wasn’t running around naked or anything like some of the stories of I’ve read about him led me to believe was a possibility.

The previous session was a bit late in getting out (of course) so it was a bit disorganized setting the room up. Slowly table got in place with place names for the various authors attending; and the bar was brought in (always important). So I proceeded to have my various books signed by various authors. As I’ve come to expect, the authors were quite friendly and genuinely glad to be participating. Though I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for those that are a bit more obscure who had virtually nobody asking them for autographs, while people who were sometimes sitting right next to them had several people in line, sometimes carting (literally) boxes full of books to sign.

Books I had signed include Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link, Black Juice by Margo Lanagan (my review), The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (my review), Dreams of the Compass Rose by Vera Nazarian (my review), The Folly of Assumption by Lee Martindale (my review), The Labyrinth Key by Howard Hendrix, From the Files of the Time Rangers by Richard Bowes, Orphans of Chaos by John C. Wright, Inventing Memory by Anne Harris, Tumbling After by Paul Witcover, and the first two books of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

As I’ve said everyone was very nice to speak with, though I’m not of a personality to speak overly long with ‘strangers’ in such a setting. Joe Haldeman was engaged in the sort of political discussion you’d anticipate with an old Vietnam Vet with a box of books to sign when I got there – I didn’t interrupt. John C. Wright happily informed me not to worry that Orphans of Chaos is a trilogy because he just sent off the final book in the trilogy, so I shouldn’t worry that he’d die leaving an unfinished work. Diana Gabaldon was exposing enough cleavage to the world that you’d expect a Harlequin Romance cover on her books. Of course she was very nice and who am I to criticize one’s dress (trust me). Howard Hendrix was extremely personable and happily told me about all his books. While I didn’t have a book to be signed by David Weber, he is one of the amusing people who can dominate a room and conversation.

Well, that’s about it – nothing earth shattering and no actual information about who won the awards, just my little adventure.