Amazon Names Best SF/F Books of 2008
By John DeNardo |
Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at
12:15 am
Amazon has posted their Editors’ picks for Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2008:
- Liberation: Being the Adventures of the Slick Six After the Collapse of the United States of America by Brian Francis Slattery
- The Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford
- The Resurrectionist by Jack O’Connell
- Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
- Anathem by Neal Stephenson
- Last Dragon by J.M. Mcdermott
- Black Ships by Jo Graham
- The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson
- Matter by Iain M. Banks
- Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
Related posts:
- Books Received: September 29, 2008
- Books Received: September 15, 2008
- Publishers Weekly Names Best Books of 2008
- Publishers Weekly Names the 7 Best SF/F/H Books of 2007
- Neal Stephenson Interview
Filed under: Books
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Amazon doesn’t have editors. It has buyers. Who do seem to favor bestsellers for their list of best books.
I dunno…it says they are Editors’ pick. Customer picks are listed here.
The Amazon Book Blog has many fine editors if you poke around. (http://www.omnivoracious.com)
Their SF/F editor is none other than Jeff VanderMeer.
Those aren’t editors. They’re consultants. Don’t get me wrong, if Amazon wants to promote any titles, that’s always to the good. And no one is questioning Jeff VanderMeer’s integrity. But Amazon isn’t a publisher and isn’t a magazine. It’s a bookstore. So why isn’t it just Amazon’s top picks of what they sell? And why are we getting a 2008 list when 2008 isn’t finished yet? I’ll go check out the item on what VanderMeer has to say about it, but this just seems weird.
Actually, my apologies, Mr. McDermott. You’re a fine writer and good for you. I’m just being crabby about Amazon.
Amazon has a book blog, which does have editors. And has correspondents. Of which I am one. I am the SF/F guy, although I also feature nonfiction, lit. mainstream, and graphic novels.
I would prefer that a 2008 list come out later in the year, but please remember that most everything one would see in advance copy form for 2008 will be sent to a reviewer by early November. It’s unlikely I’ll see anything new of note between now and the end of the year that I didn’t already get an advance copy of. Readers who aren’t reviewers often don’t realize this fact.
The customer lists are the top sellers on Amazon, as I understand it. So it’s not customers voting. Just what they bought. Which is something entirely different, since you might buy something and not like it, or only find it okay. Customer voting, though, would be a logistical nightmare.
JeffV