Books of the Year

2010 was a pretty good year of reading for me. I managed to read a total of 35 books, which is a decent number for me, especially considering that I also read 50 graphic novels. The quality of the books I read was pretty solid, but nothing was completely mind blowing...On the other hand, there weren't too many books that were flat out terrible either. I don't normally get to read too many new releases, and this year was no different, as I only managed two 2010 releases, one that pops up on the list here, and Who Fears Death being the other. Looking back at a year's worth of reading makes me excited for reading in the new year. I hope to expand my tastes, and experience some new authors. Until then, my Top 5 reads from 2010:


#1: The Lions of Al-Rassan: Reading a Guy Gavriel Kay novel has become sort of a special event for me at this point. Before I even open the cover, I know that inside there will be a rich, imaginative world that isn't so unlike our own. I know that the story will be populated with memorable characters who come to life through strong writing and skilled character building. I also know that the story will likely capture my imagination and have me thinking about it even when I'm not actively reading the book. I really enjoy the immersion experience I get when reading a Kay novel. Then I start reading, and it is all those things and often more.

The Lions of Al-Rassan not only featured Kay's sharp writing skills, but what stood out for me was the setting. The lands of Al-Rassan represent the real-life Iberian Peninsula and Kay does a wonderful job placing the reader there. I guess you could argue that he's not creating an alternate world like other fantasy authors, so his job is easier, but he still needs to make a guy like me who's getting constantly drizzled on in Seattle feel like he's breathing fresh mountain air, or dumping desert sand out of his shoe. Kay did that for me here, and that true feeling of escapism is one of the great things about reading.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Kay at an author event in May, and I'm happy to say that he's a kind, intelligent and friendly guy (pun intended). It's always a bonus to know that that author you're reading is a good person.



#2 Little Brother: This book faced two difficult, uphill challenges before I even started reading it. The first challenge was that I don't normally read sci-fi. For some reason, I never find the imagined future that the author presents to be anything other than depressing. I hate reading a book and feeling like the future is going to suck. The second challenge is that I don't normally read Young Adult titles. No real reason there, just that I tend to stick to books written for an adult audience. Luckily, this book smashed through those obstacles like it was the Hulk. It helps that the book essentially takes place now and is has a techno-thriller feel to it. Second, it never once felt like it was a book aimed at a younger audience. This is most definitely a book that anyone can enjoy.

Little Brother does a fantastic job of being timely. The plot, which centers around a terrorist attack in San Francisco, is believable and scary. The results of the terrorist attack, the way the government reacts to it, the way it changes civilian life, and the way it changes the characters was very fitting given the circumstances. The book also struck on a common American narrative theme, that "if you put your mind to it you can do anything" ideal came into play as the main character, Marcus pitted himself against the Department of Homeland Security. The book is also is perfectly paced and very well written. The fact that it overcame my predilections and managed to add a few surprises make it a lock for the number two spot.



#3 The Judging Eye: (I'm counting this as a 2010 Release since that's when the TPB version I own came out.)
After fully loving the Prince of Nothing trilogy, I had high hopes for the first installment in the follow up series. This book didn't disappoint. The novel followed three main threads, and while each was compelling its own way, I was most intrigued by Achamian and the events of his story. Achamian is one of the only likable characters in the story, but what is amazing is that even though the other characters all inspire my hatred, they are skillfully written and great characters despite their lack of redeeming qualities. Bakker has a strong knack for putting the reader into the minds of his characters and giving the reader an idea of their motivations and desires. The result is that I get a bit creeped out by what I find there...but in a good way.

This book would probably make the list based solely on the strength of the Black Halls scene which is a modern homage to Tolkien's Mines of Moria. I knew at some point the shit would hit the fan, yet when it did, Bakker still managed to rock my socks off. Hands down my favorite reading moment of the year.


#4 Fevre Dream: I thought I was totally sick of vampires, but I found myself in need of a late Autumn horror read and I just happened to have this GRRM title sitting on my shelf. That it was a vampire novel, and that it was a non-A Song of Ice and Fire GRRM novel made me doubly skeptical, but Martin easily erased that skepticism in the early pages. The skills that make Martin a favorite author of mine are on display in this, one of his earlier novels. Robust characters, and expert world building brought the Mississippi riverboat life of the mid 1800's vibrantly to life. Add in a healthy dose of the supernatural where vampires aren't wearing eye-liner, and you've got a great vampire story.

The only thing keeping this from a higher ranking is that it was a bit lacking in Martin's trademark unpredictability that highlights the plots of his fantasy material. Still, a great read if you find yourself hurting for some GRRM while waiting, and waiting and waiting...


#5 The Wastelands: Stephen King's Dark Tower books were a very big part of my life in 2010. I read four of the seven novels this past year (Song of Susannah review forthcoming) and the series becomes more of a favorite with each installment I read. Looking back at my reviews, I noticed that even though I love each book, the grades they receive on my highly "consistent" grading scale don't necessarily reflect that love. Because I love this series so much, I think I hold the individual novels to a higher standard, and despite the series' strong, yet not overwhelming GPA, my Books of the Year list would be sadly lacking if I didn't include one Dark Tower novel.

Of the three I've reviewed, The Wastelands gets the nod here. In this novel the stalwart characters of the series, Roland, Eddie, Susannah and Jake come to the forefront. I've come to love each of these characters, flaws and all, and I can't wait, though I'm a little scared, to see what King has in store for them in the finale. Aside from fantastic characters, this book features a battle with a giant bear, more travel between parallel universes, and a deathly ride aboard a psychotic train. This novel is well written and a feat of sheer fantastic imagination.

Author Event: Guy Gavriel Kay

Last night I had the pleasure of attending an interview of Guy Gavriel Kay.

After a brutal rush hour commute, bum directions from google, and a library that had switched locations, yet retained the same address, (with the minor adjustment of a N.E. to a S.E.) I arrived ten minutes late for the event.

Being a bit late wasn't too bad. I still got a great seat, as the room was not that full, and got to hear the majority of the interview.

When I arrived Kay was discussing his Tolkien related work on the The Silmarillion. He stated that one of the major roles he played in that work was, aside from editing, to shift the presentation of the material away from being presented in a textbook format towards the more novelized format that it became.

Kay also spoke about his new novel Under Heaven and the process of writing it. Kay is not an author who scripts things out or works from an outline. He said that he begins by finding a setting that he wants to write in, and then moves on to discovering a theme that is worth writing about in that given setting. Only after he has found those first two things does he start to populate that setting with characters. Kay mentioned that during the opening scene of Under Heaven he knew very little about his main character, and only learned more about him as he wrote more of the story.

Another valued tid-bit that I took away from the interview was his advice to aspiring, or practicing writers. Kay said that a good way to write is have: "interesting things happening to interesting people, written in an interesting way". Sounds really simple, but the more I thought about it, really, how many times have a read a book that had all those qualities? A good number of books came to mind, some of them written by Kay, but there were a lot more that failed to meet that standard.

My humbling moment of the night came during the signing session. I was literally the only person in the room without a copy of Under Heaven in hand for him to sign. (I rarely can afford the price of hardbacks.) Despite that lack, I wanted to say a thank you to the man for providing me with lots of entertainment through the years, so I stood in line, and when I got to the front, I froze, and all the words I had prepared in my mind ahead of time vanished. I stammered an awkward thanks, but Kay, being the classy guy that he is, thanked me for being a reader and gave me a thumbs up! Pretty cool.

Review: The Lions of Al-Rassan

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay



On the cover of my copy of The Lions of Al-Rassan, Guy Gavriel Kay is named as a "master storyteller". Tough praise to live up to, but Kay nails it with this novel. His prose is liquid smooth; The events of the book just unfold so naturally that I was able to just get caught up in the flow of events and completely enjoy the ride. I've been a fan of Kay since reading Tigana a few years ago, and this book reminded me of Tigana in many ways.

Kay places the events of the novel in a fictional medieval Spain. The peninsula is fractured into a bunch of small kingdoms and cities rife with instability. I think that by using a world that the reader already is slightly familiar with Kay saved himself from having to do lots of world building. Thanks to that, the novel focused more on the central characters, and didn't have the large information dumps that plague lots of other epic fantasies.

The characters are what make this a great novel. With a fairly large cast of characters, and rotating viewpoints, Kay creates characters that are extremely believable. From Alvar the young warrior, Ammar, aide to a king, Rodrigo, captain of an elite cavalry unit, and Jehane, a female doctor Kay gives a lot of glimpses into each character's goals and motivations. Their goals and motivations are often in conflict with one another, making for some great drama.

Kay also makes great use of cultural and social conflicts to add to the story. These conflicts parallel conflicts in our own world, and give the novel a degree of relevance that I don't often see in the genre. These conflicts also force many characters into tough choices throughout the novel. Choosing over love, country, ethnicity and family are just a few examples of the hardship the characters face. I found myself agonizing over their decisions at times, wondering what I would do in the same situations.

The conclusion of this stand-alone novel was fantastic. My feelings as the book wrapped up ran the emotional gamut. Kay did a wonderful job of keeping me fully engaged, giving me good reason to care about all his characters. This is easily one of the most solidly written fantasy novels I've read. I could heap more praise on this novel, but I wont, I'll just end by saying it was one of the most well crafted novels I've read in a while. I give this one my fullest recommendation.

Grade: A

Top 5 books of '09

I love to read.  For the past few years, whenever I finish a book, I have always written them down on the calendar when I finish.  It is my dorky way of keeping track of not only how many books I read, but how long it takes me to read them too.  To further my dorkiness, at the end of each year, I always take stock of the books I've read, and create a mental ranking of the top five.  This is the first time my top 5 rankings will be in some form of print.  So, without further rambling; my top 5 books of 2009...

5. Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay. 

I read a lot of fantasy each year, but this year, I didn't seem to read too much good fantasy.  Ysabel stands out from the crowd. A bit of a coming of age story with some Celtic/Pagan magic involved, set in the south of France during modern times. 
Kay crafted another solid novel here, as I was a huge fan of his book Tigana as well.  The characters are well fleshed out, and Kay keeps the story moving with absolutely no lags in the action.

4. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

This novel has been on my radar for a long time, since Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors.  I typically buy used books however, (budget limitations) and after finding a used copy in great condition, I began reading this epic novel.  The book truly is epic, it spans three generations, has a large cast of characters, and covers a fair bit of ground.  This book has love, betrayal, lust, death, anger, joy, wit and power.  It doesn't disappoint and is one of Steinbeck's best works.  For me it wasn't my favorite Steinbeck read, (more on that later), but it still easily makes the list.

3. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

I first discovered Banks as a sci-fi writer.  His novel Use of Weapons easily stands out as an all-time favorite book of mine.  I knew that Banks was also a fairly prolific non-genre writer as well, and when I stumbled across The Wasp Factory on a bargain shelf, I picked it up.  This is one of those books that defies description, but I will try anyway.  The main character, Frank is a weird guy, he's killed three people under strange circumstances, and gotten away with all three.  He lives an unconventional lifestyle on a small Scottish island with his reclusive father.  The story tracks Frank's strange life, while chronicling the three murders, and builds the tension as his even crazier brother, recently escaped from a mental health facility, slowly makes his way back towards the island. 

This book was a strange one, it was often unsettling and slightly disturbing.  Banks is a master of keeping the reader engaged, and the way the story was unveiled and the past kept hidden until just the right moment, made the book a standout.

2. GraceLand, by Chris Abani

This is another coming of age story set in Lagos, Nigeria.  The story follows Elvis, who also happens to be an Elvis impersonator, as he struggles to get by in the strife ridden slums of Lagos. 

This was a total wild card book for me, as I likely would not have picked it up had it not been recommended to me by my girlfriend.  Abani set the tone for the book early on as he painted a vivid picture of the city of Lagos and it's inhabitants.  He also weaved two story threads for most of the book as he alternated telling of Elvis' current life in the slums of Lagos, and his younger years in the village of Afikpo.  By the end, the threads come together and the novel came to a satisfying, and realistic end. 

1. The Pearl by John Steinbeck

 

I have to admit first off, that this one is a re-read.  That being said, it was still the best book I read this year.  This was my second reading of The Pearl, the first read came on a road trip with my brother eight years ago.  I really love this book.  Steinbeck tells such a great story, and I love every word of this novel.  Each scene from the book comes to life so clearly in my mind's eye and I loved how vivid the whole story is.  I found myself noticing different things on this read through.   I loved Juana's strength, and how she held herself and her family together as the story unfolded.  This is a timeless classic for me, and well deserving of my top book of 2009.