SF Signal: 2006: A Year in Review

2006: A Year in Review

Continuing my annual tradition, this is a year-end wrap-up for my personal sf/fantasy/horror experiences for 2006. These are not necessarily things that first appeared this year - some of the books I read are reprints or older copies - they are just the things that I read (or watched) this year.

THE SHORT VERSION

To sum up, the Best of 2006 (works that received at least a 4.5 out of 5 rating) are:

Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton (2004)
Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell (2006)
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi (2006)
A Fire in the Sun by George Alec Effinger(1990)
River of Gods by Ian McDonald (2004)
Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress (1990)
Mindscan by Robert J. Sawyer (2005)
Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio by John Picacio (2006)
The Children of Men by P.D. James (1992)
Vic and Blood: The Continuing Adventures of a Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison (2003)

Maybe worth noting: only 3 of these titles first appeared in 2006 and only two of those are fiction. (River of Gods was released in the U.K. in 2004 before it was released in the U.S. in 2006.) Also, Scalzi and Effinger were on last year's list for the corresponding prequels.

THE LONG VERSION

BOOKS
Here is my OCD-summary of the books I've read in 2006 noting the year the book was originally released.

Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton (2004)
The Wave by Walter Mosley (2006)
Child of Earth by David Gerrold (2005)
Prodigy by Dave Kalstein (2006)
Platinum Pohl by Frederik Pohl (2006)
Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell (2006)
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi (2006)
Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton (2006)
253 - The Print Remix by Geoff Ryman (1996)
Space Cadet by Robert A. Heinlein (1948)
A Fire in the Sun by George Alec Effinger (1990)
The Good Old Stuff edited by Gardner Dozois (1998)
Genetopia by Keith Brooke (2006)
River of Gods by Ian McDonald (2004)
Best Short Novels: 2005 edited by Jonathan Strahan (2005)
The Book of Skulls Robert Silverberg (1972)
A Scanner Darkly Philip K. Dick (1977)
One Million A.D. edited by Gardner Dozois (2005)
Night Train to Rigel by Timothy Zahn (2005)
Down These Dark Spaceways edited by Mike Resnick (2005)
Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress (1990)
Scardown by Elizabeth Bear (2005)
The Destiny Mask by Martin Sketchley (2005)
Worldwired by Elizabeth Bear (2005)
Paragaea by Chris Roberson (2006)
Between Worlds edited by Robert Silverberg (2004)
The Dark Light Years by Brian Aldiss (1964)
Year's Best SF 11 edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
Mindscan by Robert J. Sawyer (2005)
Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan (2006)
The Exile Kiss by George Alec Effinger (1991)
Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio by John Picacio (2006)
The Year's Best Science Fiction # 23 edited by Gardner Dozois (2006)
Midnighters #1 - The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld (2004)
The Space Opera Renaissance edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer (2006)
Crossover by Joel Shepherd (2001)
Forbidden Planets edited by Marvin Kaye (2006)
The Android's Dream by John Scalzi (2006)
Wings to the Kingdom by Cherie Priest (2006)
Isaac Asimov's Halloween edited by Gardner Dozois and Sheila Williams (2001)
The Children of Men by P.D. James (1992)
Escape From Earth edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois (2006)
Sagramanda by Alan Dean Foster (2006)
The Witling by Vernor Vinge (1976)
The Good New Stuff edited by Gardner Dozois (1999)
Solstice Chronicles by Jeff Patterson (2006)
Mathematicians in Love by Rudy Rucker (2006)
Vic and Blood: The Continuing Adventures of a Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison (2003)

I read 48 books this year, down from last year's 54. I attribute this to (1) Reading more anthologies/collections (15 vs. last year's 9) which take longer to read and review, and (2) Reading some FHBs (Freakin' Huge Books) like Pandora's Star, Judas Unchained and The Space Opera Renaissance. Although, if my calculations are correct (and they probably aren't), my page count is indeed lower.

SHORT STORIES
My 2006 short-story-a-day reading project was successful. Yay me. See details posted elsewhere.

MOVIES

I didn't see many sf/f movies this year. Sigh. I'm still trying to catch up on my DVD viewing: Batman Begins, War of the Worlds, etc. Here's what I did see and rate:

THX 1138
X-Men 2

Does anyone else think SF TV has gotten better? Last year was, what? BSG and Doctor Who? This year those continued to be in fine form, though BSG might currently be in a slump. But in 2006 we also got Heroes, Eureka and The Lost Room. All watchable, all fun. (Let's ignore my brief-but-wayward fascination with Who Wants to be a Superhero?, shall we? Thank you.)