Fantasy Aficionados discussion

Seeing as the year is drawn to a close maybe we could all list the top 5 best books you read this year. Doesn't matter when they were released. Throw in the worst one if you see fit, and which book came as a surprise sleeper.

My list:

1. A Memory of Light - Loved this series and my favorite complete series of all time.
2.Blood Song - Just an awesome book
3.Cold Days - Have to pay homage to the Za'Lord
4. The Blinding Knife - Lightbringer just gets better.
5. Emperor of Thorns - Enjoyed the last book of this series and to see Jorg's growth.

Worst Book: I didn't start any books this year that I considered bad.

Surprise hit: Blood Song

1.Bitter Seeds - Brilliant and dark WW2 era alternate history that has one of the greatest villains(?) of all time in the psychic and psychopatic Grettel.
2.Days of Blood & Starlight - I really like the writing style and the way the Urban Fantasy of the first book evolved in an Epic fantasy across 2 worlds in this one.
3.Ancillary Justice - Breq is an AI, who used to be a starship: a massive carrier and its fleet of shuttles and an army of thousands of "corpse soldiers" under her direct control. Now all that's left is a single human body. And she's out for revenge. How does that not want to make you read it? Very intelligenty constructed and a complex use of PoV. An exploration of identity and perception.
4.The Golem and the Jinni - Slow but steady paced historical fantasy about 1890's Manhattan, and the immigrant cultures living there, seen through the eyes of the 2 titular mythical creatures. Beautiful book.
5. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War - Easily the best and most intelligent zombie book ever written.

Honorable mention: The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed. Patrick Rothfuss' quirky and darkly humorous bed time story. It's the art that really makes it shine though.

Worst book: Eh, I usually know myself well enough not to pick out any books I'm going to dislike. The only thing that really dissapointed me this year was The Greyfriar. It had been on my shelf for ages. I had bought it after reading a sample chapter a while back. I can't for the life of me see why I did that based on that chapter now though. Did my tastes evolve so much over a handful of years? A quick and simple read that's way too shallow in plot, character AND writing for my tastes.

In case anyone's interested, this is the list I got to pick from this year: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Really Bob? you couldn't just post your choices ....had plug the old blog ....

Bob wrote: "Well, it's almost the end of the year, which means it's time for the best-of lists to start hitting the web. Curious what my favourite reads of 2013 were? Come by, check 'em out, and share yours!

..."

Hi Bob!

I'm going to need you to move this link to the self-promotion section or I'll have to delete your post.

So, here's my "what I can remember" list for 2013:

The Good
Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews (Fantasy)
Review: http://bookslifewine.wordpress.com/20...

Scandal by Amanda Quick (Historical Romance)
Review: http://bookslifewine.wordpress.com/20...

Painted Faces By L. H. Cosway (Contemporary Romance)
Review: http://bookslifewine.wordpress.com/20...

The Seduction Hypothesis By Delphine Dryden (Contemporary BDSM Romance)
Review: http://bookslifewine.wordpress.com/20...

Unforgivable by Joanna Chambers
Review: http://bookslifewine.wordpress.com/20...

The Phoenix on the Sword by Robert E. Howard

The "Meh"
How Beauty Met the Beast by Jax Garren (Cross Genre: Romantic Urban Science Fantasy)
Review: http://bookslifewine.wordpress.com/20...

The Umbrella Conspiracy by S.D. Perry (Science Fantasy)
Review: http://bookslifewine.wordpress.com/20...


And the WTF?!
Home for Christmas By Patrica Kay (Contemporary Romance)

Hmm.

My top book for 2013 is:
Among Others by Jo Walton - Not only was this book a very pleasant surprise, it also introduced me to other books and authors like Roger Zelazny.

The worst read was a poorly written erotic short story, :South Carolina for the Summer.

Kevin--I like your selections. I'm encouraged about The Golem and the Jinni--it's ordered from the library. I've heard a lot of mixed things, but I suspect it will appeal to my type of reading.

My top 5 (in no particular order):
Thicker Than Water--#4 in Fix Castor. I thought it was multilayered, thought-provoking, and emotional, as well as being just great noir pulp.
A Madness of Angels--#1 in Matthew Swift. I didn't expect much from it--I was reading it as part of my "gotta-read-em-all" of noir-style UF--but was captivated by the whimsy and creativity. I tore through the rest of the series and have been boring everyone I know to tears with my squees about them ever since.
Stray Souls--#1 in Magicals Anonymous. Same as above. I enjoyed it so much that I'm currently rereading it.
Mirror Dance --#something-or-other in the Vorkosigan Saga. Absolutely fantastic. I know it's scifi, but I had to shoehorn it in.
Three Parts Dead --very creative and entertaining worldbuilding, plus tie-ins to our reality.

My biggest WTF was Flashback. And how.

My favorite reads of the year (in no order):
The Crown Tower /The Rose and the Thorn
: Yeah, I'm a fanboy (Team Royce)

Blood Song
: The best Amazon AI recommendation ever. I loved this one.

The Thousand Names
: Another Military fantasy that was just beautifully crafted.

Necessary Evil
: The third book in Tregillis's "Milkweed Triptych". One of the best alternate history series out there.

My greatest disappointment was Dexter's Final Cut
:Proof, once again, that TV will ruin any book. Such a waste of one of the most unique characters in fiction. (this book, not the Showtime show...although it's ending was almost as bad :P )

Best:
1. The Name of the Wind I read it back in January and it is the only book out of 200 I read this year that got 5 stars. I haven't read the second one yet. I tried and couldn't get into it but that may have been because I tried to read it at a time when I had a lot going on.
2. Slashback I binge read this series and then had to wait 6 months or so for this one. Loved it. One of the best of the series. So disappointed there doesn't seem to be a new one out for next year :(
3. Hunted Who doesn't love Oberon
4. Hot Ticket Because some times you just have to read something a little naughty. I really like this series and she's writing a sequel series. Hooray!
5. Thrill Ride I may have drooled a little on this book.

Surprise hits:
1. A Werewolf in Manhattan A surprise because Paranormal Fantasy is not a genre I generally like and werewolves in particular.
2. Goblin Quest I'm not sure why this came as a surprise but I just honestly enjoyed it

Worst:
1. Sky Dragons Horrible book. I loved this series and I couldn't even get halfway through this one before I gave up in despair. It felt wrong to write a 1 star review because Anne Mccaffrey died right before this was published and I generally love her books but yuck!
2. Big Girl Panties. There are too many things wrong with this book to list. Honestly the authors connection the Janet Evanovitch had to be the only reason it got published it was certainly the reason I started reading it. Only my desire to loathe the entire book made me read the whole thing

The Best:
Among Others
The Snow Child
The Golem and the Jinni
Forests of the Heart
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Child Thief
The worst , I DNF Beastly

Best (no particular order):
1.Frankenstein
2.Martin Chuzzlewit
3.Towers of Midnight
4.Hunted
5.Cold Days
6.A Clash of Kings (still in progress, but loving it)

worst:
1.Major Works by Tennyson- I didn't think I'd enjoy it very much, but I was not expecting to loathe it anywhere near as much as I did. It is my one and only one star book of the year. It managed to reaffirm all the reasons I hate poetry. If it wasn't required for a class, I never would have suffered through it for as long as I did.
2.A Wizard of Earthsea- It wasn't terrible, but I was expecting it to be better. It barely got a 3 star rating from me, and I was only that generous because I suspected that I might have loved it if I read it as a child/teen.

Stephanie wrote: " 2. Goblin Quest I'm not sure why this came as a surprise but I just honestly enjoyed it"

That is a really fun series.

lol Patrick, @Cowboys and Aliens.

Carol. [All cynic, all the time] wrote: "Kevin--I like your selections. I'm encouraged about The Golem and the Jinni--it's ordered from the library. I've heard a lot of mixed things, but I suspect it will appeal to my type of reading."

It really is historical fiction in style with fantasy elements woven through. It's *very* character driven. People who are looking for Urban Fantasy or something with lots of action in it are going to be dissapointed. Personally I couldn't find any significant faults in it. It does what it plans to do perfectly. Which is rather impressive considering that it's a debut novel.

I'm kinda amused at my own selection of books this year. I consider myself an Epic fantasy reader, it's my favourite genre. But this year I only read 2 Epic Fantasy's (A Memory of Light and Feast of Souls), and though I enjoyed both neither made it into my top 5.
My reading goal for 2013 was to diversify my reading within the spec fic genres. Mission accomplished, I'd say. :)

Best
1. The Ocean at the End of the Lane
2. Seraphina
3. The Republic of Thieves
4. Code Name Verity
5. Two favorite new series started and chain-smoked this year-the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews and the Ashbury/Brookfield series (YA) by Jaclyn Moriarty
Worst
Starters

Thanks for all the great book ideas, everyone!

Patrick wrote: "Worst...
Probably Cowboys and Aliens. I'm not used to the movies being significantly better than the source material.."

Not a great sign, as I found the movie to be rather meh....

There are a lot of books I enjoyed this year. Some at the top of my list include:



Worst are:

Ah--Bridge of Birds. Completely agree. Fun read.

Chris #PrayForClaire wrote: "Patrick wrote: "Worst...
Probably Cowboys and Aliens. I'm not used to the movies being significantly better than the source material.."

Not a great sign, as I found the movie to be rather meh...."

Me, too.

Favorites - everything by Michael J Sullivan, who I just discovered this year
Redshirts
Under Heaven
Ready Player One
Wool

On the other hand, Shift, the sequel to Wool was about my least favorite, I found it unrelievedly depressing and just not well written. Another disappointing sequel was The Map of the Sky. I loved The Map of Time but not this follow up.I finally read The Great Gatsby this year and found it underwhelming.

Nyssa wrote: "Hmm.

My top book for 2013 is:
Among Others by Jo Walton - Not only was this book a very pleasant surprise, it also introduced me t..."

I love Among Others so much. I read it last year and it is one of my favourite books ever. Which is weird, because it is nothing like the stuff I read normally.

Kevin wrote: "I love Among Others so much. I read it last year and it is one of my favourite books ever. Which is weird, because it is nothing like the stuff I read normally. "

It was a new type of read for me as well.

MrsJoseph (taking back my data & giving GR the middle finger) wrote: "So, here's my "what I can remember" list for 2013:


The Good

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews (Fantasy)
Review: http://bookslifewine.wordpress.com/2..."

Oh! I'm glad to see you liked this one. Its high on my TBR list. I'm looking forward to reading it!!

It's good. I really like the whole idea of it. Really like it.

Searching for Dragons - (MG Fantasy) I just loved everything about it. Fun, cute, complex and awesome characters.

Agnes and the Hitman - (romance/comedy) I don't love everything Crusie writes, but when She gets it right, boy does she get it right. I've actually re-read this twice already.

Poison - (YA Fantasy) a stolen child "phaerie-tale". Aside from the weird spelling convention, this impressed me with how well it did dark and complicated and made familiar "phaerie-tales" disturbing and frightening.

After Hours - ( Contemporary Romance) been testing out the Romance genre and was pretty disappointed by what I was finding until I read this. It made up for all the horrible experiments I'd read beforehand. Very smart and quotable. <--- Surprise Hit

Nightshifted - (Urban Fantasy) surprised me by freaking me out and making vampires scary again. Also nice to see something a bit different from the usual tired tropes. On the dark and violent side, though, not for everyone.

*BONUS* The Hero and the Crown - I loved everything about this book until the 60% mark. I really didn't like the turn the story took, and while I can still say its beautiful and amazing, it just disappointed me in a very particular way.

Worst Book: Tempting - as I said, I had some horrible experiments with the Romance genre and this was the absolute bottom point. It started out fine then just fell into all kinds of WTF stupidity. It's been quite a while since an author put me in a book chucking mood.

I really hit a reading slump in the fall, but I did get through a sizeable chunk of my TBR list. A decent year, all in all.

Sophie--I absolutely adored the Enchanted Forest books when I was growing up! They are so much fun!

My best: The Black Prism, The Blinding Knife, Fevre Dream, The Shadow of the Wind, Warbreaker, and Dead Until Dark.
My worst was a piece of chic lit I will not name....

Carly wrote: "Sophie--I absolutely adored the Enchanted Forest books when I was growing up! They are so much fun!"

I really enjoyed all of them, but there was just a perfect balance of everything in book 2. I'm in a hurry to find the rest of Patricia C. Wrede's other works. I really like her dry humorous tone =]

Sophie--go the library route because she has a wide variety of skill/focus level. The Enchanted Forest chronicles are a little different from her Lyra novels.

I haven't read either the Enchanted Forest of Lyra books - but I liked the Mairelon duo and the Cecelia & Kate books are fun. I didn't like the first in the Frontier Magic series, though, even though the idea should be right up my alley, and I never continued with the series.

I went to college with Patricia Wrede and I remember her telling me way back then about how more women should be writing fantasy/sci fi. So great that she has succeeded!

Robin wrote: "I went to college with Patricia Wrede and I remember her telling me way back then about how more women should be writing fantasy/sci fi. So great that she has succeeded!"

Wow, Robin, that's amazing! It's so neat when you knew someone "before they were famous."

I agree that the Lyra books are rather different and I haven't read the Frontier Magic books, but as far as I remember, Mairelon the Magician and Sorcery & Cecelia (co-written with Caroline Stevermer) felt to me to have a very similar humour to the Enchanted Forest books.
Oh, and there's Book of Enchantments, a short story collection, which contains, among other things, the dread tale of The Frying Pan Of Doom.

**whoops, misspelled Stevermer. I should have looked it up.

Carly wrote: "Robin wrote: "I went to college with Patricia Wrede and I remember her telling me way back then about how more women should be writing fantasy/sci fi. So great that she has succeeded!"

Wow, Robin,..."

Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot is the only thing of hers I've read, and I loved it. Maybe I'll have to check out these others.

My 2013 lists:

Most Fave:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman


Next Bests:

Singles*:
The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent
The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Trent
The Traitor at the End of the Tunnel by Y. S. Lee
The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan
I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett



Series:
Anna Series by Kendare Blake
The Immortal Empire by Kate Locke
Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas





Guilty Pleasures:
Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
Zombie Island by Lori Handeland



*Singles doesn't necessarily mean stand alone, it means I only read one book of the series this year.


***

Hated:

DIAF:
Alchemystic by Anton Strout



Snoozefest:
Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve
Empire State by Adam Christopher
Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Ripper by Stefan Petrucha



Why Do I Let Myself Be Talked Into These Things?
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Doll Bones by Holly Black



Biggest Letdowns:
Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman
Dodger by Terry Pratchett
Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye

Colleen wrote: "My 2013 lists:


Most Fave
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman



I am just curious why you never joined in on the discussion Colleen?

Absolute Favorite
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill



The Best of the Rest (5-stars)
Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton
A Memory of Light by Jordan & Sanderson
The Crown Tower & The Rose and the Thorn by Michael J. Sullivan
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
14 by Peter Clines
The Walking Dead Compendium 1 by Robert Kirkman
Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks



The Best of the Four-Stars
The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Unteachable by Leah Raeder
Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
Double Feature by Owen King
Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry
What Doesn't Kill Her by Max Allan Collins
Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell
The Iron King by Maurice Druon



...and the Disappointments
The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
1356 by Bernard Cornwell
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
Game by Anders de la Motte
Star Wars: Razor's Edge by Martha Wells
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
V-Wars by Jonathan Maberry & others

Sophie wrote: "Searching for Dragons - (MG Fantasy) I just loved everything about it. Fun, cute, complex and awesome characters.

Agnes and the Hitman - (romance/comedy) I don't love e..."

Agnes and the Hitman is one of my all-times favorite books too. Pity I can't read it for the first time again. That first reading was a romp. Now it's just re-reading (2 times already or more)

This year I discovered several writers who will stay on my radar. I enjoyed their books and hope to enjoy more in the future.
1. Terry Pratchett - I read several of his books by now and I'm abuzz with anticipation for more. So nice to discover a writer of his caliber I never read before.
2. Connie Willis - I read her To Say Nothing of the Dog and it was a surprisingly pleasurable read. Now Doomsday Book is waiting on my shelf.
3. Frank Tuttle - his All the Paths of Shadow was unexpectedly sweet and hilariously funny.
4. Diana Wynne Jones - another discovery of this year, with lots of backlist to read in front of me. Yahoo!

Among my old favorites:

5. Still Life with Shape-Shifter - a sad and beautiful book, one of the rare ones that make me cry. Sharon Shinn is my favorite fantasy writer but in this book she's outdone herself.

Among the non-fantasy - the biggest discovery of mine was Me Before You - a luminous book! Loved it.

Jalilah wrote: "I am just curious why you never joined in on the discussion Colleen?"

* I did. I commented a few times in the roll call, though only once in the spoiler thread.

* I don't tend to comment in discussions unless I feel I have something to say/add to the discussion. For instance, the one comment I made in the spoiler thread was in response to a question. Since most of the discussion was people gushing about how great the book was, I had nothing in particular to add.

* I read the book back in July, and my memory wasn't particularly fresh when you were discussing it in September. I tend to move on from a book when I'm done reading them.

** You'll note I didn't vote for the book, either, as I knew I'd already read it and probably wouldn't participate much. Are you going to harass the 50ish people who voted for it and didn't comment?

Carol. [All cynic, all the time] wrote: "Sophie--go the library route because she has a wide variety of skill/focus level. The Enchanted Forest chronicles are a little different from her Lyra novels."

Thanks for the heads up Carol. I borrowed A Matter of Magic and Thirteenth Child from a friend for the holidays.

@Carly, I've been hunting down Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot an the other two for a while now, long before I was even aware that Wrede was co-author! Hopefully I luck by them soon.

Olga wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Searching for Dragons - (MG Fantasy) I just loved everything about it. Fun, cute, complex and awesome characters.

Agnes and the Hitman is one of my all-times favorite books too. Pity I can't read it for the first time again. That first reading was a romp. Now it's just re-reading (2 times already or more)."

Olga I have you to thank for that recommendation! =]

I love that book, one of the few I've had to put down so I could roll around and laugh. It instantly became one of my comfort reads

Most of my favorites are usually from the authors/series I've followed for years but this year it was a bit different.

The best book by one of my established favorite authors this year was I've already re-read it once and liked it even better the second reading.

Two new books in series I follow: and

Of the new-to-me fantasy authors I had one new book and one new series. I almost did not try probably because of the title, but it ended up on my "keep to re-read" list.

The new series starts with and keeps going very well. Again, on my 'keep to re-read' list.

I think my biggest disappointment in my fantasy reads was probably Mercedes Lackey's which I usually enjoy very much, but this one was set in the same background as an earlier book of the series and seemed very similar, just not up to my expectations of the author. Not bad, just not something I will really plan to re-read.

Sharon wrote: "Most of my favorites are usually from the authors/series I've followed for years but this year it was a bit different.

The best book by one of my established favorite authors this year was [bookco..."

That's funny, Sharon. I remember a long discussion on the title for this book. I actually really liked it - it was different - and really perfect for the book, but I understand that others did not like it. I actually interviewed the authors for the blog I write for. It was fun.

I am waiting anxiously for the 2nd book . . . but it may be a while. Sigh.

Snarktastic Sonja wrote: "That's funny, Sharon. I remember a long discussion on the title for this book. I actually really liked it - it was different - and really perfect for the book,"

It was funny but I had a lot of trouble trying to connect title to 'fun fantasy read' until I actually got into the book.

I'm looking forward to the next book as well. Just glad that the author tied it up well without a cliffhanger if it's going to be awhile. (Hate cliffhangers ... especially when the next book isn't already written!)

Top 5 in no particular order:

1. The Blinding Knife


2. The Lies of Locke Lamora


3. Red Seas Under Red Skies


4. Trapped


5. Ex-Heroes



Worst book:

Crossroads of Twilight

Sharon wrote: "Most of my favorites are usually from the authors/series I've followed for years but this year it was a bit different.

The best book by one of my established favorite authors this year was [bookco..."


OMG! What is with Lackey going from Trilogies to Quintets? She's driving me crazy.

MrsJoseph (taking back my data & giving GR the middle finger) wrote: "
OMG! What is with Lackey going from Trilogies to Quintets? She's driving me crazy.
"

I have no clue ... but this one is going on ... and on ... and on ...

I got hooked with the first book of this series, so keep on with it, but truly, the first book was quite a bit the best of the five. And I wouldn't swear the series is finished yet.

Sharon wrote: "I have no clue ... but this one is going on ... and on ... and on ...

I got hooked with the first book of this series, so keep on with it, but truly, the first book was quite a bit the best of the five. And I wouldn't swear the series is finished yet."

Oh, wow! Well, I stopped reading it after discovering there would be a book 4. I've not had good luck with any of her series that go past 3.

MrsJoseph (taking back my data & giving GR the middle finger) wrote: "
Oh, wow! Well, I stopped reading it after discovering there would be a book 4"

I just re-read the entire series ... and now, can't remember if it was the 3rd or 4th book I really didn't care much for. The entire series isn't bad, but the first book is by far the best of all of the books. A lot of it just doesn't seem to go much of anywhere, I just got hooked on the characters.

1. The Name of the Wind This bad boy really disrupted my life for a week.

2. Warbound I can't begin to articulate how good this series is. The best magic system ever!

3.Shadow's Edge] A lot of times the middle book in the trilogy is the weakest, but in this case it was my favorite.

4. Ready Player One Just a great story and the fact that I like 80's culture and video games just added to it.

5. Hunted I just love this series and I think it's getting back on track with this latest installment.