2008 FAVORITES:
Favorite Comics:
“Therefore, Repent!” by Jim Munroe. About the people left behind when all the righteous Christians have ascended to heaven in the rapture. Weird magic, dysfunctional but loving relationships, and militant violent angels are just a few of the things you'll encounter there.
“Fables: The Good Prince” by Bill Willingham. One of the latest in his long-running series about fairy tale creatures waging a war against an oppressive empire (and living secretly among us ordinary humans).
Favorite Novels in Ongoing Series:
The Stratford Man duology by Elizabeth Bear (Ink and Steel, and Hell and Earth). A secret history of Elizabethan magic, with poets William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, plus witches, denizens of Faerie, witches, fallen angels, spycraft, and sex.
“The Born Queen” by Greg Keyes. Was a good finish to his Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone quartet, though I found myself wanting more, more, more.
“A Betrayal in Winter” by Daniel Abraham. Second book in his Long Price Quartet (the third came out in 2008, but I'm behind). A very unusual fantasy series where poets are powerful magicians, full of subtleties and secrets.
Favorite Debut Novels:
“Pandemonium” by Daryl Gregory. About a world where people are occasionally possessed by strange pop-cultural demons. Engagingly written (like all Daryl's work), with some nice twists and turns, and lots of little in-jokes for science fiction fans (for instance, Philip K. Dick appears... possessed by a demon called Valis).
“Superpowers” by David J. Schwartz. About a group of college kids in Madison, WI who wake up one morning with comic book superpowers... but quickly realize they don't actually live in a comic book, and that having powers does not even remotely simplify their lives.
Favorite Collections:
“The Imago Sequence” by Laird Barron is dark, horrific, and captivating.
“American Morons” by Glen Hirshberg is beautifully written and profoundly unsettling.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2009:
“Norse Code” by Greg van Eekhout. Release Date: May 19, 2009. Published by Bantam Spectra.
“The City & The City” by China Miéville. UK Release Date: May 15, 2009. Published by Pan Macmillan. US Release Date: May 26, 2009. Published by Del Rey.
“The Red Tree” by Caitlin R. Kiernan. Release Date: August 4, 2009. Published by Roc Books.
(and lots of other things I'm surely forgetting)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Besides creating chapbooks, co-editing the zine Flytrap, and working as a senior editor / book reviewer at Locus Magazine, Tim Pratt also writes SF/fantasy novels (The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl), poetry, and short fiction (published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, the Solaris Book of New Fantasy, etc.) including the 2007 Hugo Award-winning “Impossible Dreams”. As T.A. Pratt, Tim is the author of the Marla Mason urban fantasy series which includes “Blood Engines”, “Poison Sleep”, “Dead Reign” and the upcoming “Spell Games” (February 24, 2009). For more information, please visit the author’s Official Website.
NOTE: For more author responses, please visit Fantasy Book Critic's 2008 Review/2009 Preview index HERE.
Favorite Comics:
“Therefore, Repent!” by Jim Munroe. About the people left behind when all the righteous Christians have ascended to heaven in the rapture. Weird magic, dysfunctional but loving relationships, and militant violent angels are just a few of the things you'll encounter there.
“Fables: The Good Prince” by Bill Willingham. One of the latest in his long-running series about fairy tale creatures waging a war against an oppressive empire (and living secretly among us ordinary humans).
Favorite Novels in Ongoing Series:
The Stratford Man duology by Elizabeth Bear (Ink and Steel, and Hell and Earth). A secret history of Elizabethan magic, with poets William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, plus witches, denizens of Faerie, witches, fallen angels, spycraft, and sex.
“The Born Queen” by Greg Keyes. Was a good finish to his Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone quartet, though I found myself wanting more, more, more.
“A Betrayal in Winter” by Daniel Abraham. Second book in his Long Price Quartet (the third came out in 2008, but I'm behind). A very unusual fantasy series where poets are powerful magicians, full of subtleties and secrets.
Favorite Debut Novels:
“Pandemonium” by Daryl Gregory. About a world where people are occasionally possessed by strange pop-cultural demons. Engagingly written (like all Daryl's work), with some nice twists and turns, and lots of little in-jokes for science fiction fans (for instance, Philip K. Dick appears... possessed by a demon called Valis).
“Superpowers” by David J. Schwartz. About a group of college kids in Madison, WI who wake up one morning with comic book superpowers... but quickly realize they don't actually live in a comic book, and that having powers does not even remotely simplify their lives.
Favorite Collections:
“The Imago Sequence” by Laird Barron is dark, horrific, and captivating.
“American Morons” by Glen Hirshberg is beautifully written and profoundly unsettling.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2009:
“Norse Code” by Greg van Eekhout. Release Date: May 19, 2009. Published by Bantam Spectra.
“The City & The City” by China Miéville. UK Release Date: May 15, 2009. Published by Pan Macmillan. US Release Date: May 26, 2009. Published by Del Rey.
“The Red Tree” by Caitlin R. Kiernan. Release Date: August 4, 2009. Published by Roc Books.
(and lots of other things I'm surely forgetting)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Besides creating chapbooks, co-editing the zine Flytrap, and working as a senior editor / book reviewer at Locus Magazine, Tim Pratt also writes SF/fantasy novels (The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl), poetry, and short fiction (published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, the Solaris Book of New Fantasy, etc.) including the 2007 Hugo Award-winning “Impossible Dreams”. As T.A. Pratt, Tim is the author of the Marla Mason urban fantasy series which includes “Blood Engines”, “Poison Sleep”, “Dead Reign” and the upcoming “Spell Games” (February 24, 2009). For more information, please visit the author’s Official Website.
NOTE: For more author responses, please visit Fantasy Book Critic's 2008 Review/2009 Preview index HERE.
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