Due
to a variety of issues, 2018 was odd. But I still managed to read
twenty books published in the year, and as always missed a number
that I wanted to read but for one reason or another, didn’t.
Overall in terms of fiction (I mostly read speculative fiction), 2018
was a solid year. Beyond, well...
and sigh...
Choosing
a best novel up until December was a highly equivocal affair. There
were several good, intelligent books to choose from. But none stood
out as ‘best’, I am novel, hear me roar. None said “Hey,
look at me!” like Exit
West last year, or Version
Control the previous. I even flirted
with the idea of No Award. But again, like 2017, it was the final
month which delivered the year’s best.
Having
to cheat a little (the book was first published in 2017 in the UK), I
nevertheless do not feel guilty putting Nick Harkaway’s Gnomon
up on the podium (it was published in 2018 in the US). Despite its
flaws, it is a major novel. Akin to David Mitchell’s The
Bone Clocks
in terms of ambition and diction, Gnomon
nevertheless generates its own path down the byways of genre,
literature, and literary genre through the force of sheer will.
Seemingly a digital successor to Huxley’s Brave
New World,
Gnomon
shakes its fist at the increasing strictures technology places on
modern Western existence, while offering a platter of fruits and
cheeses for the salty, unknowable, perhaps even fantastical aspects
of human existence, all through a plot device that blurs the line
between metaphor and reality in fine fashion. It’s at times wordy,
it’s at times preachy, it’s at times unnecessarily convoluted,
yes. But reading most any other cyberpunk dystopia after renders the
experience banal given gut-punchy
dynamism
Harkaway invests
in his novel. I read Claire North’s 84k
nearly at the same time, and for as good or politically angry it may
be, it still wholly
pales
by comparison. Gnomon,
as it would have itself be, is a shark—snapping
jaw and thousands of teeth—of a
book.
For
best collection/anthology of the year, the problem was the opposite:
too many contenders. I was truly torn, even thinking about awarding
one to each type given the qualities of the two top contenders while
“disqualifying” another so I didn’t have to think about it.
But I forced myself to decide, and ended up going with Julie Day’s
Uncommon
Miracles
over 2001:
An Odyssey in Words
edited by Ian Whates and Tom Hunter and Andy Duncan’s An
Agent of Utopia.
I truly enjoyed 2001
and Agent,
but Day brings to the table a dynamically consistent (not a paradox!)
literary sensibility that not every story in 2001
delivers, not to mention the majority of Agent
was previously collected (hence the “disqualification”). Day
regularly slipping the knife of her imagination into chinks and
cracks that expose humanity in both fantastical and unswervingly
realistic form, each story was a surprising, poignant, and incisive
look into the heart of different people’s existences. In short,
it’s difficult to ask for more from short fiction. So while I
highly recommend you read 2001:
An Odyssey in Words
and An
Agent of Utopia,
I recommend you read Uncommon
Miracles,
first.
Books
I didn’t get around to in 2018 which could have swayed matters
include: Christopher Priest’s An
American Story, Elizabeth Hand’s
Fire,
M. John Harrison’s You
Should Come with Me Now,
Michael Bishop’s The
Sacerdotal Owl and Three Other Long Tales of Calamity, Pilgrimage,
and Atonement,
Paul Di Filippo's Aeota,
John Kessell’s Pride and Prometheus,
Murakami's Killing Commandatore,
and James Patrick Kelly’s The Promise
of Space and Other Stories. And most
certainly there are others that my radar missed due to the massive
flood of books on the market these days. (Thus, a big thank you to
other bloggers who take greater chances than me on debut authors and
highlight them in their own year’s best lists.)
Divided
between novels/novellas and anthologies/collections, the following is
a round up of the books published I read and reviewed in 2018 by
rating:
Novel/Novella
4.5********************************************************
Gnomon
by Nick Harkaway – For all the reasons stated above, this is my
novel of the year. Yes, Harkaway commits sins of writing. Yes, he
sometimes cannot control the fount of words bubbling inside of him.
And yes the novel is likely longer than it should be. But there is a
power and passion for writing and human existence at work here that
is worth the time of readers interested in intelligent, wildly
prosaic fiction addressing the creep and spread of technology. If
you liked Mitchell’s The
Bone Clocks,
this is absolutely for you.
4.0**************************************************
The
Stone Tide
by Gareth Rees
- One of if not the heaviest book I read all year, Rees puts his
heart and life on the page in this semi-autobiographical tale of a
man dealing with the loss of a close friend and the downward spiral
of his marriage, all while trying to write a book. Cathartic in both
dark and playful ways, the reader comes to feel the weight of the
man’s life, but gains layered knowledge of the city of Cornwall and
the eccentricities of Aleister Crowley’s life there. Until reading
Harkaway’s Gnomon, I was going to put this as my best of for 2018.
Ahab's
Return by
Jeffrey Ford
– A riff on Moby
Dick,
Ford takes the famous whaling boat captain, raises him from the foamy
waters of the sea, and turns him loose on an 18th century NYC on a
quest to find his son. Member of a gang of malcontents led by the
blanche Mr. Potato Head, the novel's politics parallel contemporary
America's, while the story escalates nicely along the lines of pulp
fiction. After last year's blasé The
Twilight Pariah,
Ford has returned with a unique idea having a shade or two of
relevancy.
Time
Was
by Ian McDonald
– Simply a gorgeous story, McDonald proves why he is one of the
best stylists writing today in this love story through time. Tone,
pace, structure, prose—everything pitch perfect, McDonald tells an
emotionally poignant tale in a paucity of pages most writers today
only dream of. It’s also worth pointing out that where most
authors have trouble disguising the fact they are writing to task by
Tor.com, this novella only bolsters and expands McDonald’s oeuvre.
Nightfall
Berlin
by Jack Grimwood
(aka Jon Courtenay Grimwood) – The spy thriller has been around for
decades and decades, and in Nightfall
Berlin
Grimwood breathes fresh life into the genre through sheer suave and
sophistication. Though the pieces familiar—double bluffs,
government secrets, violent interrogations, drop boxes, hidden
messages, etc., Grimwood nevertheless uses his scalpel of prose to
define a stark, intense story of espionage and skeletons in the
closet behind the Berlin Wall in the 80s. If I had to award the
perfect beach read for 2018, this would be it.
Space
Opera
by Catherynne Valente
– Certainly the most intelligently funny book I read in the year,
Space
Opera
is a cosmo-comedic tour de force. Valente cutting her lexical self
loose more than normal, this wildly stylish story of one man’s
attempt to redeem Earth via a cosmic talent show is a fireworks show
of dialogue and social situations, but with layers of political and
cultural relevancy most books of such import do not possess.
3.5************************************
Red
Moon
by Kim Stanley Robinson
– Robinson pumping out one lengthy novel per year for the past six
years, this year’s production Red
Moon
attempts to capitalize on the market’s return to lunar settings and
the seemingly imminent Chinese return to global power. Deploying
Robinson’s trademark focus on the impact of economic, political,
and environmental paradigms on human life, its interest in social
change and Chinese history is loosely tied to a spy “thriller”
plot (emphasis on the quotation marks). The title easily lost among
his other titles (Blue
Mars,
Green
Earth,
Red
Mars,
etc.), Red
Moon
attempts to distinguish itself by utilizing (believable) AI and a
(believable) near-future vision of mankind, led by China, setting up
infrastructure and purpose for humanity on the moon.
Ravencry
by
Ed McDonald
– Second book in the Raven’s Mark trilogy, McDonald answers the
call of epic fantasy’s biggest problem: how to follow up on a
successful opening volume with an equally successful if not better
sequel? Carrying over relevant characters and set pieces, McDonald
builds a new story that extends the first in organic, entertaining,
and successful fashion. If I hadn’t read Gimwood’s Nightfall
Berlin,
this novel would have won the Beach Read of the Year award. (Maybe
it’s time to start having awards for categories?)
3.0****************************
Empire
of Silence by
Christopher Ruocchio
– A cross between Ursula Le Guin's The
Word for World Is Forest and
Star
Wars,
Empire of Silence delivers a lot of the space opera stage props and
pyrotechnics fans of the genre are looking for, all the while having
a sensitivity to language, diplomacy, and culture one doesn't often
find in such material. A lengthy read (700+ pages), Ruocchio
nevertheless manages to keep the ball rolling throughout.
The
Freeze-Frame Revolution
by Peter Watts
– This novelette stretched to novella length is based on a simple
premise: how to overthrow the AI who controls a generational starship
when you are in cryogenic sleep most of the time and awoken only at
random? Decades or millennia possible between wakings, such is the
dilemma the crew of the Eriphoria
face. Watts resolving the quandary in classic Watts’ style (read:
hardline realism), the question remains, how much of the first half
of the story was truly necessary or even engaging?
Blackfish
City
by Sam J. Miller
– A novel that continues to oscillate in my brain, its highs and
lows competing fiercely, Sam Miller’s socially aware version of
Waterworld
ultimately finds itself stuck on middle ground. Written in graphic
novel style, complete with complementary 2D characters, the novel’s
inclusive nature and stabs at fostering diverse community are to be
recommended, while its literary qualities come less so given the
poorly developed characters and dependence on contrived drama to
motivate certain sections of the novel. A quandary, yes…
2.5**************
Haven
by Adam Roberts
– A commissioned novel that doesn’t find Roberts in top form,
this post-apocalyptic tale of rural England years after a major
asteroid strike builds interest and excitement in scattered moments,
but has trouble focusing on a centerpoint that transcends standard
post-apocalyptic fiction. Entertaining enough, just incomprehensive,
unmemorable…
84K
by Claire North – As of 2018,
dystopia is a difficult thing to pull off without stepping on the
toes of hundreds of ancestors. In 84K
North attempts to plow fresh ground
with the idea of crime being an economically punitive affair (versus
incarceration), but due to an incongruent choice in plot and style,
leaves her premise hanging without any foundation. The story all
Hollywood and the tone floaty and abstract, the harshness and stark
realities of her scenario don't have the impact they should.
Rendering the novel in pure satire would have done wonders to
complement the angry politics at the premise's core.
Anthology/Collection
4.5********************************************************
Uncommon
Miracles
by Julie C. Day
– As stated, this is a phenomenal collection of short stories from
an up and coming writer. One polished, focused story following
another, each captures vivid, ethereal element of the fantastic but
plays them out in relatable and relevant human terms. The characters
and their situations the focus, the uniquely imagined stories cover
loss, personal paradigm shifts, and other themes, and as collected,
are wholly deserving of being nominated for a World Fantasy Award
next year…
An
Agent of Utopia
by Andy Duncan
– The amount of praise I heap upon Duncan on this blog logically
leads to questions: how is this collection not best of the year? The
answer is simple: it doesn’t contain enough original/previously
uncollected material. No slight on the quality (which is
stupendous), it’s just that roughly three-quarters of the stories
were published in Duncan’s previous two collections. (How his
novella “Wakulla Springs” is missing must be a copyright issue…)
Immensely singular, imaginative, literary, refined, substantive,
and all other manner of praise I have for Agent,
I just don’t feel right putting it as number one. Maybe I should
put an asterisk?
4.0**************************************************
2001:
An Odyssey in Words
ed. by Ian Whates & Tom Hunter
– My favorite collection/anthology of 2018 until reading Uncommon
Miracles
late in the year, this uniquely premised anthology of originals asked
its writers to produce science fiction of any variety as long as
story length was 2,001 words—no more, no less. Far more than a
gimmick, the stories the writers produced are tightly packaged
sachets of science fiction goodness, many of which have the power to
induce a spiritual or philosophical awe greater than peers of longer
length. Overall, a major surprise that I think should be on more
people’s radar than currently is.
The
Future is Blue
by Catherynne Valente
– A collection that confirms Valente as one of the greatest talents
of the contemporary era, The
Future Is Blue
shows the author in full bloom. From piss taking on Lovecraft to
tributes to Stanislaw Lem, mythpunk (Valente’s tongue in cheek) to
twisted fairy tales, allegories on drug use to the simply
indescribable, it’s a rich, varied collection full of vividness,
humor, fun, undisguised rhetoric, humanity, and above all, style and
approach you cannot find anywhere else on the market. Say what you
want, but Valente is her own creation, and beneath the tsunami of
mediocrity on the market these days, she certainly leaves something
to be said for originality.
3.5************************************
The
People’s Republic of Everything
by Nick Mamatas
– A cynical peanut gallery of stories, Mamatas’ third collection
brings together a wild array of ideas (dieselpunk, Lovecraftania,
dark psychology, political satire, internet commentary, etc.), all
written in the author’s ascetic, clipped prose. But for as bare as
the lexicon is, the stories retain a political and social savviness
worth seeking out for the informed and more sophisticated genre
reader.
The
Final Frontier
ed. by Neil Clarke
– A reprint anthology, Clarke gleaned the past decade or so of
short science fiction, seeking Star
Trek-esque
stories which push at the boundaries of the unknown. Largely
avoiding award winners, Clarke brings to light a collection of
stories which indeed seek out and find the limits of human experience
and understanding—both externally in the wider universe and
internally within our own minds. More mainstream sf than literary,
there are nevertheless a number of good, quality stories.
3.0****************************
(empty)
2.5**************
Infinity’s
End
ed. by Jonathan Strahan
– Purportedly the last Infinity anthology from Strahan, this
lackluster anthology of originals brings the series to a close with a
whimper. Style a wash (i.e. it’s difficult to distinguish the
stories due to similarities in prose and approach), ideas that do not
feel truly singular or original, and an overall liveliness a blip or
two above flatline, it’s not the flagship anthology of the Infinity
series. There has been little discussion for a reason.
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