I, 2007: Reads I Haven’t Forgotten Yet from 2007.

Over at Fantasybookspot.com some of our contributors have put together pieces reflecting on 2006 reads and speaking on their favorites of this year thus far. No longer like the Kingslayer in Whispering Wood, I remain behind watching alone from my seat like Annatar in the Third Age. My favorite reads of 2006 have already been noted here before so here are the reads of 2007 that have caught my eye either for the first time or a reread. So lets get this started classic like:

A long ago time ago,

In a galaxy far, far, away,

Fuck it – Star Wars is representing here. The Legacy of the Force series is among the best Star Wars I have ever read. Finally a series that matters, finally a series that doesn’t buy into the notion a character in this universe can’t change once it’s reached a fan friendly-comfort zone. Admittedly I think the Denning offerings have been slightly off-pace, but Allston and Traviss are doing mythos bending work here. Naturally, it should be the will of the force that a Jacen runs shit. Most of us that were part of the golden age of the franchise have grown up – finally the Star Wars EU is doing the same finally taking the Zahn work as a platform and not just a permanent benchmark.

DC’s 52 was a weekly – yes I said weekly – real time comic book that was never late or delayed that spanned 52 issues. That in its self is an almost an unbelievable accomplishment. It featured some of the industry’s most well known writers: Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, and Mark Waid. In the early 90’s such a grouping would have had rock-star like coverage no matter the eventual quality of the product. As it is they will just have to be satisfied with a Universe spanning series that was equal to in its effectiveness as an introduction as it was a reestablishment of characters and was so (largely) without the Trinity. It possibly was out headlined by their competition’s event - that somehow seemed to last as long even though it offered only seven issues – but if was due to content of story and the quality of writing. When action supports story – not vice versa – comics are at its best. It was a celebration and homage to DC’s unique history in comics as it was a statement that Iconic doesn’t mean there is nothing left to explore.

I got an email from somebody who told me I needed to check out The Stone Ship by Peter Raftos. Out of all the books everybody clamors on about being underrated and deserved a wider audience it is this book that probably deserves it the most. It’s a sweet little book just breaking 200 pages, following a man and a ghost whom he owes a debt to, and if anything makes academics more interesting than they themselves are able to provide themselves. It’s a sweet little book that could be described with catch phrases like Kafkaesque and such that is put on any book you don’t already now what is going to occur before you buy it. I’d call it optimal.

Every now and then Dan Simmons writes something to let you know that he is not only alive but still a threat to write the year’s most entertaining read. Noting his prior work it should surprise no one buy yet we always seemed somewhat taken off balance when it happens. Simmons has never seemed to be able to step out of shadow of his debut effort – The Hyperion Cantos – and in this case it is due to the overwhelming accomplishment of that effort as Simmons has never written a novel that is remotely close to being sub-par. I’ve always admired his range; he’s not at all worried about following up a success with something completely different. The Terror is my new favorite book by Simmons.

I thought I would have grown weary of Erickson by now, but my last two forays into the Malazan Book of the Fallen Cycle have kept me riveted. He has a way of bringing in not just a character, but waves of them in each book and making them all matter while not diminishing his existing characters. This method of trusting the reader to not feel overwhelmed is something I appreciate, and gives these new characters a feeling of having had lives before we met them without spending chapters breaking that past down – some we do, but others we learn through their actions that unfold as we read. I don’t require a biography on every character handy to enjoy a read. Let me learn, thus let me be surprised, disappointed, or impressed by my own observations. At any rate, The Bonehunters and The Reaper’s Gale did nothing but advance this series. When I ponder the Malazan books I weep for Sword and Sorcery authors because I think much like Cyberpunk, Sword and Sorcery’s future contributions will be as a source to be pulled from to form other less defined fiction, and while picture dozens of S&S writers sitting around pondering ideas for the return, I’m afraid Steve Erickson has taken already taken all the good ideas and beat all of them to the punch with one series.

Ink is maddening and Hal Duncan starts off his career ahead of where most end. While not especially similar, I have never read anything that brought me this close to that feeling I was reading an heir of Delaney. That’s blasphemous to some, but this is passion-science fiction that’s literary enough to make some balk and geek enough to be called SF and when I think Delaney literature, I think geek, science fiction-wordsmith – throw in a bottle of Absinthe, hang a left on the corner of Bellona and Vellum add a Borges-like never ending blog post and you may have Hal Duncan.

I love that Richard Morgan has this crazy idea that Science Fiction doesn’t have to be completely boring to be able to claim being among the better pick-ups of the year. Thirteen – which should have just been called Black Man everywhere – may be his best book yet, which speaks volumes considering the books he already has under his belt. You read this book and you just want to go out and smack somebody like you did after you walked out of the theater having just watched American History X.

When drama is about to go down you call your boys, when you’re about to run up on Super-powered trouble, you call The Boys (although there probably already running up the house). Garth Ennis is responsible for some of the better comic runs in my lifetime – Preacher and Hitman are as good as anything anybody can pick up and dude is at it again. The Boys got a lot of attention for getting nixed by DC, but pound for pound might have been the most worthwhile read of the year. We are getting to the point where what people have defined as ‘over the top’ for years now just seems normal to me. That basically means there’s a lot of boring people out there.

Matthew Hughes might had written his best book to date with Majestrum, and to anyone who has read his Black Brillion that’s saying something but I think his second Henghis Hapthorn novel is even better. The SF/Detective format seems to be gaining steam and it’s nice that people and like Hughes, Liz Williams, and the aforementioned Morgan are out there putting out some that are actually readable. These belong in the library, Dresden as well, but in the fireplace. The second book, The Spiral Labyrinth is even better and almost reads as SF and Fantasy sitting together at the same table and having a discussion.

I read Red Sea Under Red Skies a couple months ago (check out my review). I don’t know what else to say – the guy is going to be a star, which makes some who claim to be the most passionate of fans roll eyes or grimace not in terms of agreeing or disagreeing but because of the mantle itself. Along with R. Scott Bakker’s absence, his lack of inclusion on various shortlists represents the bankruptcy of the purpose of recognition. Fun like Fritz, cool like China, and a rare ability to pilfer off of what’s currently ‘in’ mainstream without pissing us off. That’s rather impressive.

I dig what Devil’s Due is doing with the G.I.JOE license. To be frank, the first dozen plus issues were complete failures and as forgettable as every other incarnation of the franchise since the Marvel run of the 80’s. But around issue 16, 17, and 18 this title, while not a top of the stack book, was cracking my top ten I wanted to read each month and has continued to do so. It is a terrific direction and mixture of update and continuation of the revered Hama run.

Grey by Jon Armstrong is a legit worthwhile debut. It’s this versace-grunge SF that has as much substance as style. It perhaps doesn’t have that unputdownable quality but in the end you get a worthwhile read from an intriguing new voice.

I’m so gassed that Catherynne M. Valente’s Orphans Tales: In the Night Garden (a read/review process for me that crossovered 2006/2007 – see my review here) has experienced the success it has. It’s 100 books in one story or 100 stories in one book, either way it’s a 100 times better than what you are probably reading whether you get your highs picking flowers or torturing puppies (figuratively, Michael).

I am currently in the middle of Bound to Please by Michael Dirda. I guess most reading this would be familiar with his review work at The Washington Post and we consider him a champion of SF/F in the mainstream. This is a collection of his reviews; specifically of works he enjoyed showcases what makes him rather unique. His opinions are informed and are able to be passed along while looking you in the eye not from an imaginary pedestal.

Special bonus stuff? Over at the ASOIAF boards I was directed to a link that shows R. Scott Bakker Neuropath has an Amazon listing. This in itself means little, but what we have in an early candidate for the must buy 2008 list. I’m unaware if massive changes have been made to what will eventually see print, but I hope this draws the audience it deserves and will lead people to his Prince of Nothing work which is as good as epic has been and in the process became something it hadn’t been yet.

I don’t get much time to reread books but the couple that are noteworthy are Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled – not at all his most talked about book but still class from one of the best in the world and it’s a book you read and you’re like what the fuck? But then you look at how much you yourself deviate from whatever should be the essential, paramount action of that minute and it becomes this very true reflection. I was able to take another look at John C. Wright Golden Age which is still as good as anything published in the field over the last few years. I always cringe at the number of times I see threads recommending works that include names like Macleod, Reynolds and Hamilton that don’t include Wright. I’d argue he should be on top of such a list. It’s a great trilogy. I reread Secret Life by Jeff VanderMeer and it’s the kind of collection that just makes you look differently at your surroundings the moment after you read each story. I was different for a period of time after reading it and somehow I think that’s what quality reading is supposed to do. I also got the chance to read Ian Esselmont’s Night of Knives, and I enjoyed it much more this time around. I still think it’s an astounding short story or novella that got turned into a pretty average novel but the Malazan tie keeps it more relevant in my mind then admittedly it has any right to. I think what draws me is the subject matter; the two dudes who reached the height of the kingdom of man, but still testing the limits of humanity itself, with sights beyond godhood.

There is no question I’m not being comprehensive but there’s always next time and I’m sure others will mention those I forgot.