SFFWORLD.com's Favorite 2008 books

[Rob B]

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

With 2008 coming to a close, we can start compiling what members of these forums thought was the best Speculative Fiction book(s) published in 2008.

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, 2008 and December 31, 2008
2. It was published in 2008. 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 White Night by Jim Butchers was first published in US Hardcover in 2007, the US paperback was published in February 2008 so it falls within the criteria for a 2008 release).
3. If the book was published by a small press publisher prior to 2008 and received a wider release through one of the Big publishers this year.
4. If the book, (like Joe Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged), was published by a UK/Australian publisher earlier (2007 in this case) and received a US release in 2008.

This topic resides in the Fantasy/Horror 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 Little Brother by Cory Doctorow and Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson 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 2008

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

Have fun with this!

Rob

[Big Bubba]

1. The Shadow Isle by Katharine Kerr
2. Thunderer by Felix Gilman
3. The Hidden World by Paul Park
4. Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin
5. The Born Queen by Greg Keyes

[suciul]

1. Anathem by N. Stephenson
2. Caine Black Knife by M. Stover
3. Spirit: The Princess Du Bois Dormant by Gwyneth Jones
4. Memoirs of a Master Forger (UK title) or How to Make Friends with Demons (US title) by W. Heaney aka G. Joyce
5. By Schism Rent Asunder by D. Weber

[Toma]

Joe Abercrombie - Last Argument of Kings
Naomi Novik - Victory of Eagles
Jim C Hines - Goblin War
Brandon Sanderson - Warbreaker (Not sure if it counts since it won't be published until 2009, but he released it on his website)

[AuntiePam]

1. Last Argument of Kings
2. Duma Key

[Luke_B]

1. Matter by Iain M. Banks
2. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
3. Line War by Neal Asher
4. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
5. The Last Theorem by Arthur C. Clarke and Frederik Pohl

[Mithfânion]

1. Last Argument of Kings- Joe Abercrombie
2. The Painted Man- Peter Brett
3. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle- David Wroblewski
4. Small Favour- Jim Butcher
5. Shadow Year- Jeffrey Ford

[Aurian]

The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman
Feast Of Souls by C Friedman
Rollback by Robert J Sawyer
The Riven Kingdom by Karen Miller

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by Aurian

The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

Is this a 2008 release? If so, I'd like to add it to my list. I thought it was 2007.

[Hobbit]

Originally Posted by from Original Rules

It was published in 2008. 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

The PB came out in 2008, therefore it qualifies.

I read it in 2007 though, so it's not on my list.

As for my list, we are compiling the SFFWorld Best Reads of 2008 at the moment, which should be up in the next couple of weeks or so.

Mark / Hobbit

[Lfex]

1. Anathem - Neal Stephenson
2. Neuropath - Scott Bakker
3. Caine Black Knife - Matthew Stover
4. Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie
5. The Temporal Void - Peter F. Hamilton

[kalam007]

1. Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson
2. Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson
3. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
4. Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick
5. Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

[Raule]

I don't read that many new releases, but for what it's worth I'll put forth:

1. Flora's Dare - Ysabeau Wilce (HC)
2. The Mirador - Sarah Monette (PB)
3. Black Ships - Jo Graham (PB)

Edited to add two others that I just recalled were 08 paperback releases in the US. I would include The Terror , but I think it was released as PB in the US in Dec-07, so not sure it counts. If it does, it should be noted as #3, with Black Ships coming in at #4.

[ezchaos]

1. Thunderer by Felix Gilman
2. Every Last Drop by Charlie Huston
3. Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow
4. Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott
5. The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes

[jamieem]

1. The Terror - Dan Simmons
2. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
3. The Steel Remains - Richard Morgan
4. Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie
5. The Kingdom Beyond the Waves - Stephen Hunt