Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" discussion

The year is winding down and I was wondering what was your best and worst read this year?

My best was The Call by Peadar O'Guilan closely followed by Kings of the Wyld. The worst was a self-published book I read in a review exchange and will remain nameless

Right now, I'm thinking best was Elizabeth Bear's The Stone in the Skull.

As for worst, I didn't read anything truly terrible, but Sagas of Conan was kind of aggressively meh.

Well, also, I did a full reread of H.P. Lovecraft's fiction and some of his juvenilia was pretty dire.

There were a few books this year for me that vie for best. Although, The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford would be my pick for best.

As for worst, well, there were a few of those too. The Accursed Tower by John Cleve(Andrew J. Offutt) would have to be my worst. With it's graphic sex and flimsy almost nonexistent story I was not entertained.

Richard wrote: "There were a few books this year for me that vie for best. Although, The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford would be my pick for best.

As for worst, well, there were a fe..."

Speaking of books I really need to read ... (The Ford, that is, not the Offutt.)

The best read was Shadow of the Barbarian: A Legend Will Rise by far.
The worst was a Conan book in which he joined the circus. It was so bad that I've blanked the title from my mind but those who come across it will know what I mean.

Joseph wrote: "Right now, I'm thinking best was Elizabeth Bear's The Stone in the Skull.

As for worst, I didn't read anything truly terrible, but Sagas of Conan was..."

When Robert E Howard is not the author the Conan stories (pastiches) are pretty lame.

I did not read any bad books this year and reread 3 of my all time favorites...Moby Dick, Hamlet, and The Sun Also Rises.

Michael wrote: "When Robert E Howard is not the author the Conan stories (pastiches) are pretty lame. ."

Yeah, probably the best of the lot was Karl Edward Wagner's Conan: Road of Kings, and while that was a good sword & sorcery adventure book, it arguably wasn't a great Conan book.

I did not read any bad books this year and reread 3 of my all time favorites...Moby Dick, Hamlet, and The Sun Also Rises.

Yes, that Conan one in the gladiator circus was really lame!

I think Swords against Darkness was my favourite this year, and the worst was a few scifi short story collections, the Playboy scifi was terrible except for the first story The Fly.

I re read Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, and while the storyline is still good, the action is interspersed with pages of mollusc descriptions. A case where the despised abridged version might be a better read.

For fantasy I recently re-read 'The Conquering Sword of Conan' - Howard at his best. My worst fantasy read was 'The Way of Kings' by Brandon Sanderson. It was so poor I gave up after the first few chapters.

My favourite SF was 'Babylon's Ashes' by James S. A. Corey. Didn't read too much else SF (not much good stuff out there these days) so I don't really have a worst.

Genre-wise, the best so far is The Emperor's Railroad and the worst must be an issue from the current run of Heavy Metal.