Comments on: Best of the Decade: Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels

By: mlwl

mlwl — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:10:07 +0000

I'm in agreement on most of these, but I do disagree with Never Let Me Go... mainly because there are two young adult novels (The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer and Unwind by Neal Shusterman) that covered the same topic better. One of them was even out before Ishiguro's. Ah, well. On the other hand, American Gods was one of the best books I read last year, and I read a lot of damn good books!

By: solidstatemind

solidstatemind — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:35:57 +0000

This is long since dead, but seriously- no Cryptonomicon? No Pattern Recognition?

By: rtl3

rtl3 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:12:33 +0000

M John Harrison, ” Light” Some of the most beautiful prose ever written in the scif genre and the mind-expanding concepts teeter just on the edge of overwhelming w/o going over it.

As for the continued love-fest with China Mieville, I just don’t get it.., oh wait yes I do. People love gimmicks! Take a little scifi slap it together with some fantasy and there you go—Genius! Whatever.

By: nemerzain

nemerzain — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:37:04 +0000

I think it’s about time to drop John Grisham and Ken Follet and dive into some of the sci-fi I’ve been recommended for the last few years.

By: heneversaidhewasagod

heneversaidhewasagod — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:58:04 +0000

I thought Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell was good, but not great. I’ll have to reread that now. Of the other books listed that I have read, I concur that they are towards the top of the list.

However, I’m in agreement with the other posters that Anathem should have replaced at least one of those books on the list and I also think that at least one book that either Tad Williams, Stephen Donaldson or Robin Hobb wrote in the last decade should have made the list.

By: morgansjc

morgansjc — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:35:15 +0000

Sorry, but one more that should have made the cut was Tim Powers “The Stress of Her Regard”. Powers has been my favorite author way back when I discovered “The Drawing of the Dark”. Pardon me for digressing a bit, but when I mentioned this to my daughter she said “Daddy, I know him! I took a class with him.” She then arranged for us to meet and have dinner. It was awesome! He told us an anecdote about being mugged in the alley behind his house when he and his wife lived in Santa Ana, CA. His wife came out with a shotgun, fired a round over their heads, and told them the next one wouldn’t miss. Saved him from a severe beating or worse. Now there’s the kind of wife to have. After 22 years of marriage, mine might have tossed THEM the shotgun… :-)

By: morgansjc

morgansjc — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:11:45 +0000

13enster-

If you read Anathem, you know what I mean by “Say zhoost!” Altered Carbon, in fact all the Kovacs novels should be on the list, such as Broken Angels. Maybe we need a “Top 20″ list instead of a top ten. I haven’t read Old Man’s War, so I did indeed get a new book to read. Thanks! In my NTBHO, Anathem was the best book I read this year. If you liked Altered Carbon, try Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, the author of Anathem. Good reading.

By: 13enster

13enster — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:44:18 +0000

I would have had Altered Carbon, Old Man’s War, and Anathem on my list, but vive la difference!

By: morgansjc

morgansjc — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:15:33 +0000

Certainly an interesting list, but I would have had Neal Stephenson’s “Anathem” somewhere near, if not at the top of the list. A fascinating story of another planets culture, and their first contact with aliens. An incredibly well developed world, filled with people you actually care about. All the action in the world can never take the place of empathy for the people you are reading about. I want to be immersed in the story. If you ever do a list on a series, I hope you take a look at the “Belasarius” series by David Drake and Eric Flint. They totally got it right. Action packed with characters you want to talk to. Like all top 10 lists, this one is subject to cordial debate. And, by getting to see other people’s ideas, we just might find something new to read!

By: masurix

masurix — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:32:59 +0000

Also, I think you summed up exactly why I hate G.R.R Martin’s books. “…delivers blow after stunning blow to his characters.” It’s the same reason I end up hating most TV shows. When every single moment is, “GASP! dun dun dun!” I just lose interest. There has to be some kind of buildup for those big moments to matter, they can’t just be one after another after another of ‘the most SHOCKING revelation on TV’ or, in this case, in print. I have to care to be shocked, and I feel like Martin skips that part.