It’s that time of year when, as we have done for the last decade or so, we have dragged ourselves from the revelries here at SFFWorld to try and put some sort of order to our favourite (and not so favourite!) stuff from 2019.
And so, in the finest traditions of trying to reduce our lists to five in each category, here’s the first part of our attempt to show what we liked (or didn’t) this year. Taking part are Rob Bedford (Rob), Mark Chitty (MarkC) and Mark Yon (MarkY).
Part 1: Fantasy / Horror
Mark Yon’s thoughts
Well, after last year’s disappointment, I’m pleased to type that I’m happier with Fantasy & Horror this year.
Don’t get me wrong – there’s still been a lot of books I’ve reluctantly had to give up on and others that I’ve wondered what all the fuss has been about, but there’s been more I’ve liked his year. And that can only be good.
Here’s the five new Fantasy & Horror books I have enjoyed most.
I’ll start with a seasonal offering. I had thought that I’d seen the last of James’ Sherlock Holmes stories after the culmination of his Cthulhu Casebooks last year, so this was a pleasant surprise. It also helps that it is a great read too, all snowy Yorkshire hills, Gothic mansions and a mystery to solve. I rattled through it very quickly.
This was Leigh’s first adult novel. I enjoyed it enormously with its wonderful world-setting at Yale University. It’ll appeal to the Harry Potter fans with the depiction of the different magic houses, although it is most definitely not for young readers. More like Lev Grossman’s The Magicians than Hogwarts. One of the easiest of my choices this year.
The return of Joe to the world of The First Law is a treat, and this one didn’t disappoint. Whilst still in the unique style of Joe’s writing, this was a more mature work dealing with themes that show that things have moved on in a world that is encroaching on a social and industrial revolution. I look forward to the next book.
A nice Gothic folk-Horror novel that ticked all the boxes for me. A creepy house in a rural setting, odd and unpleasant people, ancient relics and things you shouldn’t meddle with… You pretty much get what you expect here, and it didn’t disappoint.
This is perhaps my favourite epic Fantasy of the year. It’s big, it’s bold and filled with a range of characters both familiar and strange. Whilst the BIG novel deals with archetypes, there was enough originality and plot twists to keep those pages turning. An immersive plot to get lost in – the Fantasy book I have been happiest to come back to and the one least happy to put down. It is a welcome return to medieval-esque Epic Fantasy for me that perhaps did most to restore my faith in the subgenre this year.
Honorary Mention also to my best non-fiction Fantasy book I’ve read this year, which is Ghostland, by Edward Parnell. It’s a biography that is also an examination of the impact of death. From such a brief description it does sound like Ghostland is a little depressing, but it was much more life-affirming than that synopsis suggests. I enjoyed the cultural reminiscences on Horror and writers such as M R James as the author covered strange places and strange stories, which was surprisingly engaging.
Here’s hoping next year is even better.
Rob’s thoughts
For 2019, I read more horror than I have in years past. I’ve always enjoyed horror, but 2019 seemed a particularly good year for horror in terms of my reading year. Fantasy was very good, too, but whittling down to 5 books for both horror and fantasy proves a little difficult because the really good books, were REALLY, REALLY GOOD.
What may be most impressive at this point in Tad Williams grand saga of Osten Ard is that this is the sixth book set in the world and more layers continue to be revealed. These layers are physical relative to the Hayholt, the castle from which Simon and Miriamele rule. Equally interesting are the layers that unfold surrounding the Keida’ya, the collective name for the Norn, Sithi, and all non-human-humanlike characters in the world. This isn’t to say that Williams didn’t provide ample world-building details in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn or that what he’s revealing in the first two books of The Last King of Osten Ard retcon what came before. No….just that this world, much like our own, I suppose, is far more complex than we – and more importantly – many of the characters originally realized. All told, the worldbuilding on display is superb and an essential element of the storytelling being conveyed as a whole. This is a journey I am loving, for the immersion into the world, to “living with” the characters, to the story being told (which pleasingly is still not 100% clear!).
- Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire is one of the most prolific and beloved writers in Science Fiction and Fantasy today. After about a decade of churning out acclaimed extremely entertaining novels, Middlegame may just be her most accomplished novel. It is part pseudoscience (alchemy), part fantasy, part horror, with dashes of metafiction but all thrilling and engaging. It is the story of twins separated at birth who share a more intricate bond than perhaps any other twins in history (fictional or real). It is an apocalyptic tale with gothic overtones and beginnings, and a wonder to read that demands multiple readings
A Cosmology of Monsters is both a love letter to horror with its blatant nods to writers like Lovecraft and King, but a tender, at times elegiac, frequently uncomfortable, sometimes beautiful, but honest novel. Hamill impressed the hell out of me with this novel, I was completely absorbed in the prose and Noah’s story. This was one of the most captivating novels I’ve read this year and (I know I’ve said this quite a bit recently), I wouldn’t be surprised if this landed on best of the year lists or even get some kind of award consideration.
2019 has been a superb year of horror fiction from what I’ve read and The Twisted Ones is perhaps the creepiest, most terrifying novel of the year. A surefire best of the year, regardless of genre and an instant classic of the genre. Hell, one of the few novels I’ve ever read (the others being King’s The Shining and Dan Simmons’s Summer of Night) to give me chills make the skin on the back of my neck crawl as I was reading them. A powerful masterwork.
While much of the bones of the story are familiar, the meat of the novel/world/story are where Winters really provides the tasty elements of the story. Inspired by African mythology, the gods/goddesses are a refreshing change of pace from the Norse, Germanic, Greek, and Irish inspired mythologies. The book has been compared to the film Gladiator (a movie I absolutely love) by the publisher and others, the story arc of Tau does resonate with that of Maximus (Russell Crowe’s character). The Rage of Dragons is a large book. Slightly over 500 pages in hardcover, while not the largest of Epic Fantasy novels, it is a tome. But, BUT! Winters is a very smart writer, from a structure perspective especially with regard to chapter lengths. As a reader, I suppose I could use the Goldilocks comparison – the chapter should be long enough to convey to the reader that you’ve accomplished and experienced a good chunk of the story. Conversely, it shouldn’t be too long where it is a slog to get to the end of the chapter, and that chapter ending should provide a balance of closure and encouragement to continue reading. Winters struck a *perfect* balance in this regard.
Mark Chitty’s thoughts
I only read a small number of fantasy books this year, and only three new releases: Magebane by Stephen Aryan, The Institute by Stephen King, and Gwendy’s Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar. Aryan continues to impress me with his storytelling, wrapping up the Age of Dread trilogy very well in Magebane, and giving a page-turning series that ends on such a high note – I highly recommend checking out all of his novels! King’s latest was more by-the-numbers for me, though still enjoyable enough, while Gwendy’s Magic Feather didn’t quite have the same impact as the first book, Gwendy’s Button Box (co-written with King).
And that’s it for our Fantasy / Horror selection. Next up in a couple of days is our Science Fiction book selections.
