Independent Literary Awards - Speculative Fiction

I've mentioned this in passing a few times, but here's a bit more. I'll be judging the Independent Literary Awards for Speculative Fiction, which is an award for authors voted on solely by bloggers. This has been a fun process so far and now we're to the point where we've narrowed the field down to a short list of 5.

The Short list for the 2010 Independent Literary Awards for Speculative Fiction are the following:

Monsters of Men [US] [UK] - Patrick Ness
How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe [US] [UK] - Charles Yu
Dante's Journey [US] [UK] - JC Marino (my review)
The Passage [US] [UK] - Justin Cronin
Kraken [US] [UK] - China Mieville

I think this is a well-rounded list especially looking at how broad the Speculative Fiction category is. This top 5 includes YA, Science Fiction, Small Press, and some big names for the year.

I've read two so far (Monsters of Men and Dante's Journey) and well on my way with Kraken. The reading period is over at the end of this month and then we'll pick our winner from there.

Only the Best of 20 Ten (and also some of the worst)

It was promised multiple times and now it's a reality. My top picks for 2010.

My goal was to read 60 books this year and I reached 52, which is quite an achievement for me (10 more than last year). I've always heard that it's best to reach 80% of your goals because it means your setting them to make you stretch and that's about what I've done here (86% to be exact).

Top 5 2010 Releases

5. Corvus (2010) - Paul Kearney
4. Shadow's Son (2010) - Jon Sprunk
3. The Desert Spear (2010) - Peter V. Brett
2. Return of the Crimson Guard (2010 US) - Ian C. Esslemont
1. The Way of Kings (2010) - Brandon Sanderson

Top 10 Read in 2010 (From any publication year)


10. The Ten Thousand (2008) - Paul Kearney
9. The Crown Conspiracy (2007) - Michael J. Sullivan
8. Ender's Shadow (1999) - Orson Scott Card
7. The Burning Skies (2009) - David J. Williams
6. An Autumn War (2008) - Daniel Abraham
5. The Desert Spear (2010) - Peter V. Brett
4. Return of the Crimson Guard (2010) - Ian C. Esslemont
3. The Way of Kings (2010) - Brandon Sanderson
2. The Warded Man (2008) - Peter V. Brett
1. The Last Unicorn (1968) - Peter S. Beagle

Biggest Surprise(s)

There were three for this category and all from small presses. Loved all of these and will definitely be reading more from each author:


Dante's Journey - JC Marino
Armageddon Bound - Tim Marquitz
A Festival of Skeletons - RJ Astruc

Biggest Disappointment(s)


Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
The Last Wish

Series Started in 2010

16

They are:

The Way of Shadows (Night Angel)
The Ten Thousand (Macht)
Ender's Shadow (Ender's Shadow)
On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington)
The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive)
The Warded Man (Demon Cycle)
Shadow's Son (Shadow Saga)
The Left Hand of God (Thomas Cale)
The Mirrored Heavens (Autumn Rain)
Heroes Die (Overworld)
The Hunger Games (Hunger Games)
The Gunslinger (Dark Tower)
The Crown Conspiracy (Riyria Revelations)
Armageddon Bound (Demon Squad)
Malice (Malice)
A Shadow in Summer (Long Price)

Yeah, this doesn't look too good does it? It gets worse (and then a bit better).

Series Finished in 2010

4

The Hunger Games
The Long Price Quartet
The Autumn Rain Trilogy
The Night Angel Trilogy

This is definitely the 'worse' part. Ouch.

Series With the Possibility of Completion in 2010

5

The Hunger Games
The Long Price Quartet
The Autumn Rain Trilogy
The Night Angel Trilogy
Dark Tower

Doesn't look so bad now does it? :D

Series Furthered in 2010

4

Return of the Crimson Guard (Malazan)
Reaper's Gale (Malazan)
Toll the Hounds (Malazan)
The Desert Spear (Demon Cycle)
The Light Fantastic (Discworld)
Corvus (Macht)

Hope you did better with your series than I did. Furthering only 4 when I started 16, not to mention the others I started before 2010 is a goal I'll have to work a bit harder on in 2011.

Sick - Not Cool, Just Not To Full Health

This is yet another apology post. My 5 month-old has been sick for the last few weeks and therefore I've only had a maximum of a couple hours of sleep each night. And then I got sick a couple days ago.

Yup, the life of having kids. I never realized how sick I would get... all the time.

Here's to the new year. I promise reviews will be forthcoming.

Happy New Year and Updates

Happy New Year everyone. Hope it's filled with cheer and the aftereffects wear off quickly!

Sorry to have been a bit MIA lately, but we'll be back on track shortly. We'll have Top 10 lists for 2010, goals for 2011 and reviews.

I'm currently enjoying The Name of the Wind and excited that I don't have to wait too long for the next installment. I'll also give some updates on the Independent Literary Awards, of which I am participating as a Speculative Fiction judge.

Wishing you a great new year and at least a start to some new year's resolutions. :)