It is the end of the year and I suppose I should list my least favorite and favorite reads of the year. Not all books were release this year, this is just a list of the books that I read in 2009. In no particular order:
Least Favorite Books Of The Year
1.
KJ Parker's The Company - Just didn't work for me. The backstory was much more entertaining than the main story line. While reading it I couldn't care less what happened to the characters and the ending was absolutely dreadful.
2.
Daniel Fox's Dragon in Chains - Great premise and an amazing setting but that is about all you get. moves way too slow and in the end just didn't live up to expectations.
3.
C.C. Finlay's The Patriot Witch - While the title gets one thing right, the main character is in fact a patriot, it seems to forget that he is also a witch. Very little of the story matches with what is expected and what little action the book has is so dreadfully boring you find yourself not caring.
4.
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens - I have tried to read one other book by Pratchett and it didn't go down well either. Neil Gaiman usually does a fairly good job of telling a tale. However, the book read as if Gaiman had very little input into the book. Needless to say I didn't care for the book as the humor fell flat and the story was just odd.
5.
The Grossman Brothers Austin Grossman and Lev Grossman's Soon I will Be Invincible and Lev Grossman's The Magician - while
Soon I Will Be Invincible wasn't terrible, it wasn't good either. Its story was rather dull and the ending rather predictable. Overall, the story was rather mundane. Sort of like The Watchmen without any purpose other than to ramble along. The Magician was touted as Harry Potter for adults. It was more like a story where Lev attempted to throw as many pop culture references as possible while a thin veil stole ideas from Narnia and other classic novels. The main character was anything but a hero and was constantly whining and had very little magic school moments other than drinking. A complete waste of time.
Favorite Books Of The Year
1.
Chris Wooding's Retribution Falls - Not a huge steam punk fan but this one won me over. Good pacing and while the characters could have come straight out of the TV series Firefly in the beginning they took on a life of their own and the series was overall a really entertaining read.
2.
Scott Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora - A great novel about a group of conmen that face adversity after adversity. I have all the current books in the series and I have to say that they leave you wanting more after the end of each novel. The characters are interesting and the setting is similar to Venice, Italy. It really reads like a fantasy version of Ocean's 11. Highly recommended.
3.
Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold - While not a direct sequel to
The First Law trilogy, it doesn't hurt to read them first. It is a gritty well-paced adventure of revenge. The main character is a women who has lost her family and has been betrayed by her king. She gathers a group of individuals that will help her take her revenge. It just goes to show that Abercrombie is at the top of his game and is one of the great new authors out there writing fantasy.
4.
Steven Deas' The Adamantine Palace - Hadn't read a novel featuring dragons in a long time and while that aspect was interesting the political intrigue was what really drew me in. It has a very quick pace and great characters. By the end I was really hoping there was more story but I have to wait for book two to be released later this year. Again a highly recommended book.
5.
Houshun Takami's Battle Royale - Not going to lie this book was pretty gory but that aside the book was jam packed. There is a lot of action in the novel as a Japanese class must pick each other off until there is only one remaining and declared the winner. The most amazing thing about this book was that while individuals are "removed" at a fairly decent clip Takami's ability to have you care for each and every one of them speaks volumes. While many of the chapters are only two or three pages, you really know each character and when their lives are taken you can't help but feel for them.
6.
Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker - A very colorful world and brilliant characters. It is my first encounter with the author and I have to say that I am impressed. I liked the magic system and how it was based on two things: people's souls (lack of better term) and color. Strong female characters and the dialogue was very witty. Combine that with a well paced novel and you have a winning novel. While I won't be reading his new role of finishing Robert Jordan's books I will definitely be reading his new series when it comes out later in 2010.
Honorable Mentions
1.
Brent Weeks The Night Angel trilogy - I will not lie, I am a huge Brent Weeks fan. It is the book that brought me back to reading fantasy novels after about a decade hiatus. While some argue that the books are cliche' I still say it is a really good read. There isn't much world building which is a negative the positives outweigh the negatives. Books are fast paced and the characters are interesting. I would have put the books in my favorites but there were a lot of great books out there and everyone at SFFworld knows how I feel about Weeks' trilogy.
2.
Will Elliott's The Pilo Family Circus - A story about psychotic clowns. That premise alone should interest you in reading it. But aside from that we have a conflicted main character living in present day Australia. World is interesting, Characters are insane and when you find that Elliott wrote the book while coming to terms with his own schizophrenia it takes on an even darker feel.
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