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San Francisco, 1:31 AM
Mon Dec 21
12 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/14/09
12/14/09
Why did you make read Air, io9, why?
12/14/09
Mieville I can get behind. Stephenson I'm torn on, as whilst the Baroque Cycle has SF elements, overall it is a historical fiction with a high amount of historical fidelity (moreso than most straight historical works).
ASH: A SECRET HISTORY by Mary Gentle should also be a contender for the list. As an alt-history with magic and an interesting language style, I would rank it as superior to JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL.
For fantasy I think we do need A STORM OF SWORDS on there. A book with so many memorable moments, characters and lines that it's almost overwhelming, along with at least two of the most jaw-dropping "Are you kidding me?" moments in modern fantasy fiction. Probably the moment that post-Tolkien secondary world fantasy stopped aping the old master and finally said, "Right, now things are going to be little bit different," and followed up on in style by the likes of Bakker, Abercrombie and Lynch.
For fantasy of a slightly different stripe, Steven Erikson's DEADHOUSE GATES and MEMORIES OF ICE are pretty impressive works, constantly imaginative and thought-provoking. Later books in the series have proved disappointing, even formulaic, but these two books remain very impressive.
Alastair Reynolds, for me, would be a strong contender for individual best SF writer of the decade. Individual works by other writers have been better than any of his output, but his high rate of output (nine novels and three story collections this decade alone) and its very high quality should be respected. CHASM CITY and PUSHING ICE are classic works of modern SF in their own right.
Ian McDonald's RIVER OF GODS and BRASYL are also very good, and refreshingly show that the future won't just be set in Los Angeles and New York, but that countries like India and Brazil have dazzling, high-tech futures and dangers to deal with as well.
12/13/09
12/14/09
12/14/09
12/13/09
12/13/09
"The Steel Remains" series?
That's going to be a big trilogy when it comes out. Or "Name the Wind"?
...Great list though, you've just added to my 'to-read' list.
12/13/09
12/13/09
12/13/09
12/18/09
More seriously, I think the time is right for a companion blog for io9 in the fantasy space. Fantasy is bigger than sci-fi, as we've seen from publishing stories. Twilight, True Blood, LOTR, Harry Potter, etc. are all fantasy. Or maybe io9 should morph toward a hybrid sci-fi/fantasy model? Thoughts? Love your posts, by the way, Annalee! :-)
12/13/09
You need some good old fashioned Twilight-Zone-"On The Beach" downer Sci Fi stuff.
On the plus side you have Chiang on there. So...your list isn't all wrong.
12/13/09
12/12/09
Doctorow's novel might have been important for marking an important step in spreading the concept of Copyleft, but MAN... It's a trite, derivative, poorly-written story if I've ever read one. His SF concepts have been written better elsewhere (cf. "Lost in Transmission", for instance) and I believe the book would not have received a percent of the attention it gets were it not 1) for the CC publicity stunt, and 2) the fact that the author has a hugely popular blog to publicize himself on.
I'd recognize the book as part of a Top 20 important SF books of the decade, but "best"? Ack. Gimme "Spin" or "American Gods" over this.
12/13/09
12/12/09
But I found Air to be alternately bland and grating. And while I haven't read Time Traveler's Wife, I'd offer "Rant" by Chuck Palahniuk as a solid contender for the time travel story that does not live in the SF/Fantasy section entry.
12/12/09
Will there be another book club selection soon? I was without computer recently so I may have missed an announcement.
12/12/09
12/12/09
Harry Potter, thankfully, will about as well remembered in 50 years as the smash-hit bestsellers of, say, 1905 are remembered now.
12/13/09
12/13/09
12/12/09
I'm glad someone's talking about Air, which has been overlooked.
I too thought "The Time Traveler's Wife" & "Jonathan Strange..." were badly written and am surprised they'd make your list.
"Perdido Street Station," while great, doesn't stack up to Meiville's "Iron Council," for my money.
And David Marusek's "Counting Heads" surely deserves a mention.
This list seems oddly weighted in favor of bestsellers, which we could certainly get recommended to us at any corporate bookstore. Recommend the overlooked gems, please!
12/14/09