[ChrisW]

SF Site's Readers' Choice: Best Read of 2001 (http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best02b.htm)

10. Strange Trades by Paul Di Filippo
9. Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson
8. Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb
7. Declare by Tim Powers
6. Kushiel's Dart by Jaqueline Carey
5. Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
4. Nekropolis by Maureen McHugh
3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
2. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
1. The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

Hehe no Martin or Jordan http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif.

The interesting thing for me is that Memories of Ice got #9 even though it was only released in December and has the added handicap of not being released in the USA.

I'm surprised The Curse of Chalion got #1. I thought it was a great stand alone fantasy book but not #1 material. Hrm i've only read three of the books on the list http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/frown.gif.



[This message has been edited by Caldazar (edited March 08, 2002).]

[Barbarossa]

Caldazar of course there are no Martin or Jordan books there, none came out in 2001 *Bonk*
Storm of swords actually was #1 last year, you can hardly be #1 two years running. I'm too lazy to check if Winter's Heart was on last years's list at all.

[Bond]

It seems a bunch of people were trying to outdo themselves trying to show how sophisticated they are. [yawn]

Just going by my impressions of what has been said on this board, I would have thought that the bottom five books would be held in higher esteem by this site's habitues than the first five.

[ChrisW]

Barbarossa from my understanding of the rules they both qualified. Both were published in paperback in 2001. So yes Martin could have won again.

[Mithfânion]

Winter's heart came in ninth in 2000 Barb.

Memories of Ice would probably have been classified higher if it had been out longer and more widely available. I find it mindboggling that no US publisher has managed to sign him yet.

Fool's errand was indeed superb. Haven't read American Gods yet but I've heard nothing but good things about it from anyone who mentioned it whereas Perdido certainly has very mixed reviews. tim Powers is always good for a decent story. Not familiar with the rest, I checked out Curse of Chalion a while ago but it didn't look interesting to me at all.

[Rob B]

Bond:

Not sure what you're getting at, but that poll was NOT run by SFFWorld.

I was pretty surprised when I saw CURSE OF CHALION as #1, too.

I've only read three of the books on the list, but tht may change with mass market releases of a couple.

[JohnH]

I could be quite wrong, but the list seemed more like 'favorite fantasy of those who usually read science fiction.

I like Curse of Chalion very much. I might even rate it over Fool's Errand as I think that a series should be rated as whole instead by its parts unless there is true resolution in each volume (Erikson therefore would apply -- at least going by his first book).

Kushiel's Dart was without a doubt the best on that list. Hand down my favorite.

Merit aside, I have a problem with Nekropolis and Perdido Street Station being placed in the same category as say Curse, Kushiel, Memories, and Fool. Kind of different animals that don't really fall into the fantays kingdom, imo.

[Rob B]

JohnH, you chief among others, have convinced me to try Kushiel's Dart when it publishes in paperback.

Sure Mieville and Nekropolis are different beasts, but I think that's what is great about the genre there is SOOO much great stuff out there that is different.

Out of the list, it would be a tough choice between Hobb and Gaiman for me. (but I read both this year anyway)

[JohnH]

I guess I would have to see what these people consider sci-fi (which is where I would place both of those mentioned)) either that or create a new category.

Fantasy is quite varied and I am all for it. But I still consider some of what they are lumping together on their list, to not quite fit into what I perceive as fantasy.

Then again I am not really into lists except for fun. I find it hard to think there are ten books that fall into the category so neatly. Not eleven? Not eight?

And something about their list does strike me
(just a wee bit) of what Bond has accused them of: top ten books or what I think will impress everyone else.

[Mithfânion]

But isn't what's on the Sfsite top ten a mixture of pure SF and Fantasy? I thought that was what the SF site was about, one list for both SF and Fantasy. Or is this a Fantasy only list?


[This message has been edited by Mithfânion (edited March 09, 2002).]