It seems like not so long ago that the year began and now here we are, half way through and now into the beginning of those horrid summer months. This thread
is the sort that you are more likely to see at the beginning of the year, but there is no steadfast rule as to when something like this can be posted. This
thread is one of those list threads, of course. What are the top books of the year thus far? How many books have you read? That sort of thing. I'll not
lie, I blatantly stole the idea of this thread from this blog, which
got the idea from another blog and so on and so forth. Without further ado...
The beginning of this year was a disappointment when it came to newly published novels. I viewed the list of releases with disinterest, only a couple things managed to catch my eye. The rest was like some barren wasteland of books, the releases only serving to provide obstacles on the way to the oases. Thankfully it was mostly the first quarter of the year that was like this. May came and ushered in a batch of several novels that had previously caught my eye and as the summer goes on the releases keep on coming. Thankfully the second half of the year looks quite promising. I would limit the books I read to only those released this year, but as I made clear above, this year has been less than amazing.
Read | 35 Novels
Science Fiction: 6
Fantasy: 20
Fiction: 6
Young Adult Books: 1
Fiction Writers I Hadn't Read Before: 12
Graphic Novels: 2 (Technically 11, but I am counting just the entirety of Transmet as just one instead of 10)
Male Authors: 34
Female Authors: 1
Non Fiction: 1
Top Five (In no particular order):
The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Angel's Game is Zafon's second English-Translation release in the US. The first is right below this, The Shadow of the Wind. The Angel's Game is a prequel of sorts to the first novel, though the only link is character-based. The novel was a delightful read about the possible descent into madness in 1920's Barcelona, Spain. The main character is a writer and a sarcastic bastard, which appeals to me for obvious reasons--though I feel there are passages in the novel that would appeal to just about any writer. The book was a step up from The Shadow of the Wind and benefits from both better writing, a better main character/narrator, and a very interesting premise.
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
This novel was my first foray into the works of Zafon, in fact it was the first foray for many people, I would guess. It is the first English-Language release for Zafon and is superbly translated by Lucia Graves. The book, like The Angel's Game, takes place in Barcelona, Spain, though several years after the events of the The Angel's Game. In many ways this novel could be considered bad or a failure. As a mystery novel it is definitely a failure, I find it hard to believe that anyone could not solve the mystery before it was ever [lazily] resolved. How the mystery is resolved is where the bad comes in. It was done in such a way that it could not be considered anything more than an info-dump. Still, despite those two negatives, the book is so well-written that I didn't care one bit about the mystery or how it was resolved. The prose is beautiful, much more than I thought possible coming from a translation. The characters here are all well-done for the most part, some more than others.
Memoirs of a Master Forger - William Heaney (Graham Joyce)
My first experience with Graham Joyce that led me to read several of his novels right after finishing it. One of the best things about the book and with Joyce's novels as a whole, is the prose. Joyce is capable of very beautiful prose, though thankfully he reserves it for only a moment here or there. It is never stilted or broken, there is a flow to it that forces you to continue reading. When I finished this novel I had several choice curses to throw at it. I did not want it to end, it was far too good to end. All of the characters in the novel are great--pretty well-realized and the use of, and explanations of, demons in the novel was interesting as well. Just an all-around wonderful novel that you should all go out and buy. Now.
Shriek: An Afterword - Jeff VanderMeer
My first step into possibly defunct or dying subgenre known as New Weird. The book may not even fall under the tag, but it certainly meets the criteria and thus shall it remain. The novel is different from anything I have read before. It is presented like a biography or a tell-all and though written by one character, it is edited by another, who seeks to correct facts and clear up matters. That sounds confusing, but it is not. The book serves as an afterword to a fictional book about the city of Ambergris. That book is written by Duncan Shriek, who has disappeared, and his sister is the one writing the afterword, which is obviously much longer. The state in which you are reading is thus: Duncan disappears, Sister writes the afterword, Sister disappears, Duncan returns and edits and then disappears again. The two viewpoints in the novel prove to be interesting. The Sister is not a writer and she knows it, the biography she writes tends to be opinionated, sometimes false, and sometimes too revealing for Duncan's taste. Overall, the writing is workmanlike with moments of beautiful prose and that is how it is supposed to be. Duncan's additions in the form of {editor's notes} are insightful and tend to give a lot of depth to bits of the story that his sister merely skims over out of ignorance. There is also the occasion when Duncan lambasts her for her poor writing, which provides a laugh. The book is a very interesting read, but most importantly, it is different. Definitely recommend it.
Only Forward - Michael Marshall Smith
Absurdist humor involving mood-sensing walls, cats, giant spiders, and a main character/narrator with such a dry sense of humor that I can't help but love him.
Honorable Mentions:
Ken Scholes with Lamentation, his debut novel that will be followed this fall by Canticle. It was a good novel with an interesting world, good characters (for the most part), and a story that I can't wait to see more of. Also by Scholes is Long Walks and Last Flights, a book of short fiction. One of the better reads this year, I enjoyed his short fiction very much, which is a lot coming from me, because I tend not to get through anthologies.
Graham Joyce with The Facts of Life, The Tooth Fairy, and Smoking Poppy. The first listed can only be described as magical. It has a warmth and charm to it that I rarely find in other novels. The Tooth Fairy is the opposite of that. It is a unsettling read that is punctuated by sex, violence, and possible mental health issues. Smoking Poppy lacked the charm of the first two, but it still knocks most books out of the water. It contains aspects from past books as well as future ones (Memoirs) and pulls them off well.
Ecape from Hell! by Hal Duncan is pulpy fun about... escaping from hell. It is a bit highly priced for a novella, but it is well worth it.
The Low Road:
Midwinter by Matthew Sturges was put down about half-way through reading. A mediocre story filled with mediocre characters and mediocre dialogue. The Judging Eye by R. Scott Bakker was actually read all the way through. I was looking forward to reading it, but it turned out to be nothing more than a disappointment.
I'd go on with the thread, but I am tired. Fee free to post.
The beginning of this year was a disappointment when it came to newly published novels. I viewed the list of releases with disinterest, only a couple things managed to catch my eye. The rest was like some barren wasteland of books, the releases only serving to provide obstacles on the way to the oases. Thankfully it was mostly the first quarter of the year that was like this. May came and ushered in a batch of several novels that had previously caught my eye and as the summer goes on the releases keep on coming. Thankfully the second half of the year looks quite promising. I would limit the books I read to only those released this year, but as I made clear above, this year has been less than amazing.
Read | 35 Novels
Science Fiction: 6
Fantasy: 20
Fiction: 6
Young Adult Books: 1
Fiction Writers I Hadn't Read Before: 12
Graphic Novels: 2 (Technically 11, but I am counting just the entirety of Transmet as just one instead of 10)
Male Authors: 34
Female Authors: 1
Non Fiction: 1
Top Five (In no particular order):
The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Angel's Game is Zafon's second English-Translation release in the US. The first is right below this, The Shadow of the Wind. The Angel's Game is a prequel of sorts to the first novel, though the only link is character-based. The novel was a delightful read about the possible descent into madness in 1920's Barcelona, Spain. The main character is a writer and a sarcastic bastard, which appeals to me for obvious reasons--though I feel there are passages in the novel that would appeal to just about any writer. The book was a step up from The Shadow of the Wind and benefits from both better writing, a better main character/narrator, and a very interesting premise.
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
This novel was my first foray into the works of Zafon, in fact it was the first foray for many people, I would guess. It is the first English-Language release for Zafon and is superbly translated by Lucia Graves. The book, like The Angel's Game, takes place in Barcelona, Spain, though several years after the events of the The Angel's Game. In many ways this novel could be considered bad or a failure. As a mystery novel it is definitely a failure, I find it hard to believe that anyone could not solve the mystery before it was ever [lazily] resolved. How the mystery is resolved is where the bad comes in. It was done in such a way that it could not be considered anything more than an info-dump. Still, despite those two negatives, the book is so well-written that I didn't care one bit about the mystery or how it was resolved. The prose is beautiful, much more than I thought possible coming from a translation. The characters here are all well-done for the most part, some more than others.
Memoirs of a Master Forger - William Heaney (Graham Joyce)
My first experience with Graham Joyce that led me to read several of his novels right after finishing it. One of the best things about the book and with Joyce's novels as a whole, is the prose. Joyce is capable of very beautiful prose, though thankfully he reserves it for only a moment here or there. It is never stilted or broken, there is a flow to it that forces you to continue reading. When I finished this novel I had several choice curses to throw at it. I did not want it to end, it was far too good to end. All of the characters in the novel are great--pretty well-realized and the use of, and explanations of, demons in the novel was interesting as well. Just an all-around wonderful novel that you should all go out and buy. Now.
Shriek: An Afterword - Jeff VanderMeer
My first step into possibly defunct or dying subgenre known as New Weird. The book may not even fall under the tag, but it certainly meets the criteria and thus shall it remain. The novel is different from anything I have read before. It is presented like a biography or a tell-all and though written by one character, it is edited by another, who seeks to correct facts and clear up matters. That sounds confusing, but it is not. The book serves as an afterword to a fictional book about the city of Ambergris. That book is written by Duncan Shriek, who has disappeared, and his sister is the one writing the afterword, which is obviously much longer. The state in which you are reading is thus: Duncan disappears, Sister writes the afterword, Sister disappears, Duncan returns and edits and then disappears again. The two viewpoints in the novel prove to be interesting. The Sister is not a writer and she knows it, the biography she writes tends to be opinionated, sometimes false, and sometimes too revealing for Duncan's taste. Overall, the writing is workmanlike with moments of beautiful prose and that is how it is supposed to be. Duncan's additions in the form of {editor's notes} are insightful and tend to give a lot of depth to bits of the story that his sister merely skims over out of ignorance. There is also the occasion when Duncan lambasts her for her poor writing, which provides a laugh. The book is a very interesting read, but most importantly, it is different. Definitely recommend it.
Only Forward - Michael Marshall Smith
Absurdist humor involving mood-sensing walls, cats, giant spiders, and a main character/narrator with such a dry sense of humor that I can't help but love him.
Honorable Mentions:
Ken Scholes with Lamentation, his debut novel that will be followed this fall by Canticle. It was a good novel with an interesting world, good characters (for the most part), and a story that I can't wait to see more of. Also by Scholes is Long Walks and Last Flights, a book of short fiction. One of the better reads this year, I enjoyed his short fiction very much, which is a lot coming from me, because I tend not to get through anthologies.
Graham Joyce with The Facts of Life, The Tooth Fairy, and Smoking Poppy. The first listed can only be described as magical. It has a warmth and charm to it that I rarely find in other novels. The Tooth Fairy is the opposite of that. It is a unsettling read that is punctuated by sex, violence, and possible mental health issues. Smoking Poppy lacked the charm of the first two, but it still knocks most books out of the water. It contains aspects from past books as well as future ones (Memoirs) and pulls them off well.
Ecape from Hell! by Hal Duncan is pulpy fun about... escaping from hell. It is a bit highly priced for a novella, but it is well worth it.
The Low Road:
Midwinter by Matthew Sturges was put down about half-way through reading. A mediocre story filled with mediocre characters and mediocre dialogue. The Judging Eye by R. Scott Bakker was actually read all the way through. I was looking forward to reading it, but it turned out to be nothing more than a disappointment.
I'd go on with the thread, but I am tired. Fee free to post.
