Good year, I think. In that I was quite disappointed by most of what I in the first part of 2013, but I've read some cracking books since.
So, what words have reflected light into my eyes this year?
Non-fiction up first, and not much read, I'm annoyed to say. I've been so engrossed in fiction and reviews, I've let the non-fic slip a bit (in no particular order):
* Heretics by Will Stor
* The storytelling animal by Jonathan Gottschall
* Nightmare movies by Kim Newman
* The science of monsters by Matt Kaplan
* Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre
* Peter Cushing: a life in film by David Miller
* How mumbo-jumbo conquered the world by Francis Ween
* Monkeys with typewriters by Scarlet Thomas
8. Sheesh! Mind you, it took ages to read Nightmare Movies. I also read and reviewed the coffee table book which was a study of the works of Guillermo del Toro. Plus I read a whole bunch of comics and graphic novels
Since the summer, I've also not read any more short stories. So this year only saw and , as mentioned in my half-term report. Shocker!
So, now for fiction and here are my top 5 books that I read in 2013:
THE YEAR OF THE LADYBIRD BY GRAHAM JOYCE
I found the writing so evocative and the story so enthralling, that I wanted it to be much longer. I also loved the ambiguity. Is it a ghost story? I remember the summer of '76 (just) and so for me, this was a wonderful tale full of reminiscences and potential.
THE SHINING GIRLS BY LAUREN BEUKES
I kept wanting to read this long after I'd finished it, which highlights just how good the writing is. The story of Kirby is so utterly engaging, and Beukes is such a good storyteller. I loved how the time-travel elements were never explicit. I often find books that bring in new characters every few chapters to be very annoying, but Beukes' writing to appealing to me, I lapped the new characters up.
THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE BY NEIL GAIMAN
A magical adventure with darkness and light and Gaiman's awesome ability to scare and delight and awaken the child within. Can we havelonger book next time though, Neil?
THE ADJACENT BY CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Such an intriguing work of imagination and deliberate uncertainness. What this book is, what it is about and what it all means against Priest's earlier work is open to much debate and interpretation. But in the end, it is the characters and his writing that keeps you wanting to read more and more.
LEXICON BY MAX BARRY
A book about words and their power. Genius. Some great writing and interesting characters. I loved how the clues in the different timelines eventually came together in the reveal, and I'm pleased that Barry never gave away the bareword.
What I loved in particular about these five books is something I think genre fiction has been guilty of shying away from: breaking the rules. Beukes is writing a time-travel story that's not science fiction. Joyce has produced a historical fiction that may or may not be a ghost story. I'm not sure what I tag Lexicon with. Urban fantasy? Supernatural? Certainly not science fiction. And while The Adjacent is SF, it's not like anything you'll have read (his other work outstanding). Only Gaiman's work can be said to be traditional genre fiction, and even that could be seen as being about telling stories and hence a bit meta. These books that have defied genre and categorisation. These books that have teased and suggested they might be one thing before turning out to be something else. These books (and some others, see below) have surprised me. Thanks, books.
So, next 5 in my list are:
* The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
*by Marcel Theroux
* Alif the Unseen by G Willow Wilson
* by Juli Zeh
* The Chosen Seed by Sarah Pinborough
With the exceptions of Heller's novel, which is pure post-apocalyptic fiction, along the lines of The Road, and The Method, which is classic dystopia, these other books mess with genre convention to some degree or other. Pinborough writes police procedural as urban fantasy. Wilson blends eastern mythology and science fiction. I'm not sure what Strange Bodies is. Victorian mad scientist and eastern European crime combined with literary detective. Whatever. Books I thoroughly enjoyed.
I also read two of my favourite books again this year: Vurt by Jeff Noon, and while lying on a beach, American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
Ok, so now we're onto some honourable mentions just outside my top 10:
*by Adam Christopher - another surprising genre-defying novel
*by Sarah Pinborough - great fun, alongside Poison
* The Woman Who Died Alot by Jasper Fforde - a return to form!
* Intrusion by Ken MacLeod - consistently great sf
* by Joe Hill - his best work yet, reminiscent of his Dad's early work.
* Dark Eden by Chris Becket - decent sf
* by Sarah Pinborough
* The Shadow of the Soul by Sarah Pinborough - more crime based urban fantasy
* The Good Fairies of New York by Mark Millar - Millar's work is always fun, and this is no exception
And so to the rest, and in no particular order now, oh all right, from best of the rest to the worst:
* by Mur Laffety
* by Jane Loudon Webb
* by Mira Grant
* by Cory Doctorow
* by Tom Holt
* by Paul Cornell
* The City's Son by Tom Pollock
* Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
* by Cory Doctorow & Charles Stross
* by Clifford Beal
* Fated by Benedict Jacka
* The Folly of the World by Jesse Bullington
* by William Hussey
* by Geoff Ryman
* by Mary Shelley
At first glance, it looks like I've read a lot from female authors this year. However, Sarah Pinborough features heavily (as she's only a recent discovery) and only 1 of my top 5 are women authors. I looked into all the books I've read, and only 30% of my favourite authors are women, which is annoying. On the other hand, I'm not going to just like an author because of their gender designation.
Putting the fiction I've read in the broadest possible categories then, this year has consisted of 14 science fiction novels, 2 horror and 22 fantasy. A closer look, however, shows clearly that the best books I've read this year defy specific characterisation. And I love that!
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