SFFWORLD's FAVORITE 2007 BOOKS!

[Rob B]

Welcome again to SFFWorld.com’s annual member “Favorite Reads” voting thread!

With 2007 coming to a close, we can start compiling what members of these forums thought was the best Speculative Fiction book(s) published in 2007.

As in the past we should keep this simple so the minimal criteria is as follows:

1. You actually read the book between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007
2. It was published in 2007. This can be either the first Hardcover edition or the first paperback edition (for the paperback to qualify, it has to be the First paperback edition i.e. while In the Eye of Heaven was first published in US Hardcover in 2006, the US paperback was published in January 2007 so it falls within the criteria for a 2007 release).
3. If the book was published by a small press publisher prior to 2007 and received a wider release through one of the Big publishers this year.
4. If the book, (like Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself ), was published by a UK/Australian publisher earlier (2006 in this case) and received a US release in 2007.

This topic resides in the Fantasy forum, since it is the forum with the most traffic. However, all genre books under the above criteria will be eligible: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror and all combinations of the three. I will be posting an announcement/topic to the whole site to get people who normally don't visit the fantasy forums to come here and post their choices.

Pick five (5) books you enjoyed the most. Points will be doled out as follows – 8 points for the best book, 4 points for 2nd best book, and 3 point for 3rd best book, 2 points for the 4th book and 1 point for the 5th book, such that:

1. Book A by Rob 8 points
2. Book B by Gary 4 points
3. Book C by Hobbit 3 point
4. Book C by KatG 2 point
5. Book C by Dag 1 point

We can run this thing through the end of January, and I'll add up the votes/points and post the results in February.

Some other things to keep in mind:

• Keep it only to your top 5 books.
• If you feel only 3 or 4 books make your cut, that is fine.
• Don't start a discussion explaining why you disagree with a person's choice... there are other topics for that... just post your top 5 and leave it at that. (I will be printing this whole thing once voting closes and I don’t want to have to go through reams of paper containing explanations)
• Make sure you post in order of Preference... and if you post 7 favorites... only the top 5 will be used for voting tabulations. I know this is common sense... but trust me... it does and has happened.
• Moderators/Admins WILL be deleting any large explanations as to why people chose their top 5 books.
• Moderators/Admins will also delete any titles beyond 5
• You can list a TIE for one of the five places; however, the points will be divided between the books. i.e. if you place Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay and Spindrift by Allen Steel as tied for 3rd place, each book will only get 1½ points

Publication dates:

• Amazon.com will tell you the publication date - people do ask.
• The book itself will have the publication date - again, people do ask
• Locus Online's Forthcoming books for 2007

If you have any other questions of a book's eligibility PM a mod/admin.

Have fun with this!

Rob

[vortexreader]

I think some of those dates at the beginning of the post need to be revised...

[Hobbit]

Thanks vortex: done.

Hobbit

[thrinidir]

Originally Posted by Rob B

[*]Don't start a discussion explaining why you disagree with a person's choice... there are other topics for that... just post your top 5 and leave it at that. (I will be printing this whole thing once voting closes and I don’t want to have to go through reams of paper containing explanations)

maybe this thread - [fantasy] Best Reads and The Biggest Disappontments of 2007 - could generate wider discussion of the books?

on topic:
1. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
2. Lies Of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

[Alex]

I love this thread and I've found loads of new good books I've missed out on reading threads like this since 2002 (damn going on 6 years now=)!

I pride myself in reading most new releases that come out every year and here is my list.

1. Before They are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie.
2. Red Seas under Red Skies - Scott Lynch.
3. Troy - David and Stella Gemmell.
4. Reapers Gale - Steven Erikson.
5. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss.

[ADMIN EDIT: Alex's comments about these books are in the Best Reads thread. Hobbit]

[suciul]

Top 5 SF&F books for me this year were:

1: Before They Are Hanged by J. Abercrombie
2: The Dreaming Void by P. Hamilton
3: The Name of the Wind by P. Rothfuss
4: Stealing Light by G. Gibson
5: The Mirador by S. Monette

This is the first year in more than 20 of heavily reading sf&f in which though I still read more new sf to f (only with about a 2:1 ratio rather than the usual 4/5:1), I enjoyed much more the fantasy books overall than the sf ones.

[tracyt1800]

I only read four that were published in 2007, so I'll rank them all.

1. Acacia: The War With The Mein - David Anthony Durham
2. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch (Amazon shows a June 2007 paperback publication date ... if this is incorrect, I'll remove it and just rank two)
3. The Dark River - John Twelve Hawks
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling

[Phellim]

1. Before They Are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie
2. Voice of the Gods - Trudi Canavan
3. Making Money - Terry Pratchett
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

[ezchaos]

1. The Blade Itself (US Edition) - Joe Abercrombie
2. The Bonehunters (US Edition) - Steven Erickson
3. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

[Agân]

1. The Children of Húrin - J.R.R. Tolkien

[Power to the J]

I managed to read 70-something books this year, an all time best! Anyway... (I put the points in this post. Was I s'posed to?)

I) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. 8 points.
II) Hinterland: Book Two of the Godslayer Chronicles by James Clemens. 4 points.
III) The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. 3 points.
IV) God's Demon by Wayne Barlow. 2 points.
V) The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari. 1 point.

[Hobbit]

Congratulations, Power: 70 books is pretty impressive! (That's about 1 1/2 a week, every week!)

(I put the points in this post. Was I s'posed to?)

You don't have to. Rob will do this when he works out the tally at the end. But the thought is appreciated.

Mark / Hobbit

[Corporal Blues]

Wow! 70 books! I managed 30 this year.

Anyway, my top 5 is only 3 books, because I only read three books published in the US in 2007:

1. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

2. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scotty Lynch

3. The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker

[blake06]

1. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
3. The Thousandfold Thought - R. Scott Bakker

I'm hoping to get some of the other new releases as Christmas gifts this year.

[Mithfânion]

1) Sword from Red Ice- Jones
2) Book of Joby- Ferrari ( a name like that and a great book too)
3) Name of the Wind-Rothfuss
4) Before they are hanged- Abercrombie
5) Ysabel- Kay