[shintaro]

The best books of 2007 thus far:
-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
-Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star
-Acacia

[Rob B]

Hmmm...interesting. In this thread you rank Fablehaven as a top read of the year and in another thread you said you only heard about it in an article.

Very interesting....

[U-Borat]

Actually Rob, I think you're wrong here.

From his post, I'm inferring that he originally heard of the books from a news article, and then went on to read it....

[thrinidir]

best books read or published? ...from your pick I guessed that both things count.

(ontopic later)

rob:
Yesterday, 10:21 PM
shintaro
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 2 Fablehaven

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Fablehaven series is great. Have you read them yet? The author's name is Brandon Mull. I heard about it reading some article in the Washington Post about Harry Potter making these other books big. Check it out.

[Erfael]

Actually,

I think Rob's point is more along the lines of, "Gee, we may have an author or friends of an author here trying to throw the name of their book into the mix right next to Harry Potter as some of the best books read this year in the hopes that people will go out and buy it. And they're not being terribly consistant or good at it, either." At least, that's my take on it.

[BrianC]

Still, it's not a bad idea for a thread so . . .

Well, aside from the ARC of Gary's Revenge of the Elves the only book first published in 2007 that I've read is Ink by Hal Duncan and The Terror by Dan Simmons. I think the last volume of Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy actually came out in 2006, so that doesn't work. I have Jay Lake's Mainspring on my nightstand, but haven't read it yet. I'd like to get the second volume of Daniel Abraham's series, but I only see paperbacks in the bookstores and I don't buy paperbacks. Maybe I should get the HB from Amazon.

So, best books (so far) of 2007 are: Ink, The Terror, and The Revenge of the Elves! All three are excellent, and I highly recommend each.

[Reborn]

Thus far:

1: Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson (not his best work, but still fantastic).
2: Before They are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie (I was very impressed with this one. Loved the characters).
3. Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch (entertaining, witty and fast-paced. On par with The Lies of Locke Lamora).
4. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (a very good debut. Overall probably better than Lynch's book, but the ending was somewhat disappointing, even considering the fact that it was only the first part of a longer story).
5. Renegade's magic by Hobb (her worst series to date, but it was still a good book, more so if it had not had such a weak ending).

Other books I have read which were published this year: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Night of Knives by Esslemont. I liked them both. :)

[BrianC]

Oh yeah, Harry Potter. Wonder why I didn't think of that . . .

[foolofgold]

Ha!

Anyways:

Before They Are Hanged
The Name of the Wind
Renegade Magic
Harry Potter

Haven't read Red Seas or Shadowplay yet, those are next in line.

[Larry]

I haven't decided on rankings for these, so just a listing of some that shall be considered for Best of 2007:

Tobias Buckell, Ragamuffin

Emma Bull, Territory

Hal Duncan, Ink

David Anthony Durham, Acacia: The War with the Mein

Nalo Hopkinson, The New Moon's Arms

Sarah Monette, The Mirador


And for collections:

Margo Lanagan, Red Spikes (October 2007 release in US, read the ARC)

Richard Parks, Worshipping Small Gods

Tim Pratt, Hart & Boot & Other Stories

Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish

Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (ed.), Best American Fantasy


I still have many more 2007 releases left to read. Gene Wolfe's Pirate Freedom, Elizabeth Bear's Whiskey and Water, Cherie Priest's Wings of the Kingdom, M. John Harrison's Nova Swing, among others I hope to buy/receive in the next few months are also good possibilities for making a final cut in December. It's been a good year for the non-epic fantasy :D