Top 10 SF/F Books of 2003
By John DeNardo |
Saturday, November 22nd, 2003 at
10:12 pm
Amazon has posted two lists of the Top 10 Science fiction and Fantasy Books for 2003 as picked by Customers and critics.
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- The Physicality of Books
Filed under: Books
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What? 2003 ain’t over yet! I haven’t seen any December releases in the stores yet…
Argh.
Actually ’04 is promising to have a lot for us. New Stephen Baxter (and a new collaboration with Arthur C. Clarke), possibly a new Clarke solo, a new Greg Benford, new Ken MacLeod, new Charles Stross…
…the beat goes on…
I think they probably should have done a better job of splitting the list. Do D&D manuals really belong in a “best of SF & fantasy” list? Wouldn’t they better belong in a “game of the year” list?
Let’s see…otherwise…
Robert Jordan: Never liked his Conan books, and I’m increasingly disenchanted with both fantasy and the Endless Series syndrome, so I haven’t read any of these.
Pattern Recognition: Enjoyed it, but not as much as “Difference Engine”, or the other works. But then again, I did not really like “Virtual Light” the first time I read it, but liked it much more the second time through. I’ll give this one another try in a year or so.
Stephen King: Haven’t liked anything of his in a long time, so I haven’t read any of these recent titles.
Laurell K. Hamilton: Another author I haven’t been able to get into…
Terry Goodkind: See my comments on Robert Jordan. Same concept, different author.
New Dune Books: Haven’t read this one, but the other new Dune’s I’ve read have been pale shadows of the originals. Waiting for the PB.
Critic Choices:
Dan Simmons: I’ve got friends who rave about him. This one sounds interesting, so I’m waiting for it to be available at the library.
Elizabeth Moon: Like her books in general, so this is on the list to get.
J. Gregory Keyes: Not familiar with him.
William Gibson: As above.
Patricia A. McKillip: Liked the “Riddlemaster” books of many years ago. Will have to look for this one.
Chris Moriarty: Never heard of this one (even in reviews in Locus).
Steven Barnes: Haven’t been interested in his solo efforts prior to this, I’ll pass.
Cory Doctorow: Have this on the To Be Read pile.
John Varley: Have loved his earlier stuff, this is on the To Be Read pile, near the top. Wish he would write “Irontown Blues” already!!!
Jacqueline Carey: Not familiar.
If I had a nickel for every book I’d like to read, well, I still wouldn’t have enough the cover the cost of the books on my to-read pile.
I’m with you Fred on the whole Goodkind = Jordan thing. Funny, you never see them together. Hmm.
In fact, I have to say that the customer top 10 list is exceptionally lame. 3 spots wasted on D&D books that aren’t really fiction! Aaaarrrrgghhhh! indeed.
The ‘critics’ picks seem better. And add me to the list of people who rave about Dan Simmons. The Hyperion Cantos books are some of the best SF I’ve ever read. Ilium looks interesting too.
Gibson always annoys me. He seems to think that fancy wordplay and funky allusions = plot. Bah.
The only other book I read was the Doctorow one and all I have to say is: “Meh”. It was ok. I don’t see why it gets great reviews. The Bitchun society and the concept of “Whuffie” are interesting, but the plot just wasn’t that exciting. And it was short. Meh.
Remember, too, that this is Amazon. The Top 10 list is a list of their best sellers, which says nothing about quality. Although, that still doesn’t expalin why D&D is on a fiction literature list.