Top Fantasy Books of 2009!?

Being a big fan of lists, I though I would share the interesting Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2009 posted over at SFCrowsnest, as voted by their readers.

The list is interesting. A number of authors are missing which I strongly feel should be there, such as Abercrombie, Sanderson, and Goodkind (joke). Secondly, pretty much anything that has been made into a movie or television series can be found on the list, which in my opinion is fairly telling.

Do these titles really represent the best of what was published this year? Hardly, but to be sure there are a number of blockbusters and award winners that are rightly on the list, such as The Graveyard Book. To be quite honest, many of the titles don't even ring a bell, but that may be because I haven't explore Horror much this year. So, do you think the list is representative of what is good in SF/F/H in 2009? Is The Magician's Apprentice really the best book of 2009?

Oh, before I forget, Larry also put together a nifty collection of top science fiction and fantasy of 2009 lists from major pubs, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. Take a look and fill up those stockings!

Bona Fide: My Amazon gift coupon and me

On Tuesday the 4th of August, I returned to work after a very agreeable holiday. My colleagues surprised me with an Amazon gift coupon (a birthday gift). Now I can spend an additional 50 Euros (around 72 USD) on books! Normally it would take me about a minute to spend this much. Beside, I keep several book list. Let's start with the never ending book list. This one contains all the books I want to buy and read in my life - number of books today: 1058 - and it is still growing. Don't laugh, this is really serious. The next list contains books which I want to buy in the next 12 to 16 months. And finally I have monthly order lists for the next 12 months which contain books I definitely want to buy, including pre-ordered books. Obviously, these lists change due to postponed releases, new discoveries, or changes in my taste. Now, with all these carefully ordered resources, you think it should be easily for me to select a couple books. No, No, No, you could not be more wrong.
Shall I buy books earlier than planned?
Shall I buy a trade paperback instead of a mass market paperback?
Shall I buy stand-alone books or trilogies?
Shall I buy whole series or only the first book of a series?
Shall I buy German books or English books?
The are just a couple of the questions that plague me when trying to make a decision. My first idea was to narrow down the choice and then ask you for recommendations. But after after two days of looking up and down my lists, calculating of prices, I just couldn't wait any longer. I spent 51.58 EUR for seven books. That means I have to pay 1.58 EUR on my own, a noble sacrifice if I have ever seen one. Now, let me present you with the books I ordered and try to explain why I ordered them.

Some days ago OnlyTheBestSciFi/Fantasy asked me whether I knew of the Coldfire trilogy by C. S. Friedman. My answer was: "No, but it is on one of my lists." I checked prices for paperbacks (19.10 EUR) and then I ordered the whole trilogy. On the right you can see cover of book one.
"The Coldfire trilogy tells a story of discovery and battle against evil on a planet where a force of nature exists that is capable of reshaping the world in response to psychic stimulus. This terrifying force, much like magic, has the power to prey upon the human mind, drawing forth a person's worst nightmare images or most treasured dreams and indiscriminately giving them life. This is the story of two men: one, a warrior priest ready to sacrifice anything and everything for the cause of humanity's progress; the other, a sorcerer who has survived for countless centuries by a total submission to evil. They are absolute enemies who must unite to conquer an evil greater than anything their world has ever known." [Source]
Book one: Black Sun Rising by C. S Friedman [US] [UK].
Book two: When True Night Falls by C. S. Friedman [US] [UK].
Book three: Crown of Shadows by C. S. Friedman [US] [UK].
UPDATE: I ordered the books before I noticed and read Re-read: The Coldfire Trilogy post.
Now I know why we talked about it :)

The next book has been recommended by several bloggers. Unfortunately I don't remember exactly by whom. It is the omnibus named The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon [US] [UK].
"The Deed of Paksenarrion revolves around the life of Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter, known as Paks. It takes place in a fictional medieval world comprised of kingdoms of humans, dwarves, and elves. The story begins by introducing Paks as a headstrong girl of 18, who leaves her home (fleeing a marriage arranged by her father) to join a mercenary company. Through her journeys and hardships she comes to realize that she has been gifted as a paladin. The novel was originally published in three volumes in 1988 and 1989 and as a single trade edition of that name in 1992. The three books included are The Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance and Oath of Gold." [Source]


The next book I discovered during one of my web tours over at SciFiGuy.ca. It will hit the stores soon (US: 25th August and UK, DE: 3rd September). I am speaking about The Drowning City by Amanda Downum [US] [UK]. It is her debut novel and the first book in the Necromancer Chronicles series (book two: The Bone Palace (forthcoming 2010), book three: Kingdoms of Dust (forthcoming 2011)).
"Symir -- the Drowning City. home to exiles and expatriates, pirates and smugglers. And violent revolutionaries who will stop at nothing to overthrow the corrupt Imperial government. For Isyllt Iskaldur, necromancer and spy, the brewing revolution is a chance to prove herself to her crown. All she has to do is find and finance the revolutionaries, and help topple the palaces of Symir. But she is torn between her new friends and her duties, and the longer she stays in this monsoon-drenched city, the more intrigue she uncovers -- even the dead are plotting. As the waters rise and the dams crack, Isyllt must choose between her mission and the city she came to save." [Source]

Only two books left to choose, and I know someone who will read this pick with pleasure because I ordered it based on this post: Review: Hyperion, by Dan Simmons. And now you should know which book I ordered: Hyperion by Dan Simmons [US] [UK].
"On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope - and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands." [Source]

So far I have spent 46.08 EUR. What to do with the remaining 3.92 EUR? It is difficult and time consuming to search a book for this price. Instead I will pay 1.58 EUR on my own. So I could order one more book. I decided to go for The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons [US] [UK]. This is the second book of the Hyperion series.
"In the continuation of the epic adventure begun in Hyperion, the far future is resplendent with drama and invention. On the world of Hyperion, the mysterious Time Tombs are opening. And the secrets they contain mean that nothing--nothing anywhere in the universe--will ever be the same." [Source]




I expect to receive these beauties on Saturday. And then I will start, again, thinking about needed changes to my summer reading list......

Bona Fide: Edi's Birthday Book Pile

Hello and welcome. Today I celebrate my 50th birthday and - not unexpectedly - my family gave me many great presents! Obviously, I couldn't wait to share with you all the books I received today with you. If you have read one of these books, I would appreciate when you leave a comment with your opinion about the book. And here we go...


Shadow & Claw: The First Half of "The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe (US) (UK) "Recently voted the greatest fantasy of all time,after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is an extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wondrous ways, in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Severian, the central character, is a torturer, exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his victims, and journeying to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est. This edition contains the first two volumes of this four volume novel, The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator". Source


Sword & Citadel: The Second Half of "The Book of the New Sun" by
Gene Wolfe (US) (UK) "The Sword of the Lictor is the third volume in Wolfe's remarkable epic, chronicling the odyssey of the wandering pilgrim called Severian, driven by a powerful and unfathomable destiny, as he carries out a dark mission far from his home.
The Citadel of the Autarch brings The Book of the New Sun to its harrowing conclusion, as Severian clashes in a final reckoning with the dread Autarch, fulfilling an ancient prophecy that will forever alter the realm known as Urth." Source




The Urth of the New Sun: The sequel to "The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe (US) (UK) ""The Urth of the New Sun" is a fine coda to what is arguable the finest piece of literature American science fiction has yet produced, the four-volume "Book of the New Sun,""--"Chicago Sun-Times"









The Loch by Steve Alten (US) (UK) "Loch Ness holds secrets, ancient and deadly. Does a monster inhabit its depths, or is it just myth? Why, after thousands of reported sightings and dozens of expeditions, is there still no hard evidence? Marine biologist Zachery Wallace knows, but the shock of his near-drowning as a child on Loch Ness have buried all memories of the incident. Now, a near-death experience suffered while on expedition in the Sargasso Sea has caused these long-forgotten memories to re-surface. Haunted by vivid night terrors, stricken by a sudden fear of the water, Zach finds he can no longer function as a scientist. Unable to cope, his career all but over, he stumbles down a path of self-destruction...until he receives contact from his estranged father...a man he has not seen since his parents divorced and he left Scotland as a boy." Source

The Domino Man by Jonathan Barnes (US) (UK)
"A young man discovers a manuscript and so begins a bizarre tale that brings together his grandfather, every conspiracy theory you've ever heard about the royal family and the true story about where the power of Number 10 really lies. Readers of The Somnambulist may well recoginise the characters kept within a chalk circle in a cellar beneath Downing Street. With a gallery of vividly grotesque characters, a gleefully satiric take on modern life and a playful and highly literate style, this is an amazingly readable literary fantasy. In his sequel to the crazed Victoriana of The Somnambulist Jonathan Barnes brings his invention, reality, grotesquerie and curiosities bang-up-to-date." Source



The Colours in the Steel by K. J. Parker (US) (UK)
"Perimadeia: the famed Triple City and the mercantile capital of the known world. Behind its allegedly impregnable walls, everything is available—including information that will allow its enemies to plan one of the most devastating sieges of all time. The man called upon to defend Perimadeia is Bardas Loredan, a fencer–at–law, weary of his work and the world. For Loredan is one of the surviving members of Maxen’s Pitchfork, the legendary band of soldiers who waged war on the Plains tribes, rendering an attack on Perimadeia impossible. Until now… But Loredan has problems of his own. In a city where court cases are settled by lawyers arguing with swords not words, enemies are all too easily made. And by winning one particular case, Loredan has unwittingly become the target of a young woman bent on revenge. The last thing he needs is the responsibility of saving a city." Source


The Belly of the Bow by K. J. Parker (US) (UK)
"The city of Perimadeia has fallen. Bardas Loredan, the man who was chosen to save it, is now on the Island—a recluse living in the mountains, away from his family, with only a young apprentice for company. His life as a fencer–at–law is over. Instead, Loredan spends his days perfecting the art of bow making. But his isolation will not last forever, and when the Island comes under attack, his skills as a soldier and leader are once again called into play. The second installment in The Fencer Trilogy, The Belly of the Bow firmly establishes K.J. Parker in the top rank of fantasy writers. " Source