Best reads of 2011

Regardless of publishing date, the following are the best books I read (or re-read) in 2011.

The Master & Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov

Bulgakov’s testament to the power of the written word over oppressive government contends for the title of greatest satire ever.  Satan, talking cats, and naked witches have never had so much literary bite.

Anathem - Neal Stephenson

Perhaps top 10 science fiction books ever written...  Science, space, alternative perspectives on reality, adventures, and so, this book has everything that makes the genre worthwhile.

Beethoven - Barry Cooper
The music scholar’s biography, Herr Ludwig’s music takes on new meaning with the subtleties of his major and minor works dissected in technical fashion. 

The Terror - Dan Simmons

Life in the cold deep of the arctic has perhaps never been novelized as well as this fictional ending to the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson

The longest haul I’ve ever made (10,000 pages!!), this series takes fantasy literature in new directions.  Both rolling in and shaking off genre, Erikson transforms Napoleon’s idea to honor the sacrifices of the anonymous in war into a 10 book series that’s got it all, action, humor, magic, drama, and tragedy.

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson

The perfect novella, structure, theme, characterization, prose - everything about this short work, shines.  It is idiomatic for a reason.

A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.

Perhaps the most moral of post-apocalyptic novels ever written, the themes of science, religion, technology, and how they are applied remains as poignant today as 50 years ago when the book was written.

Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

Having dug deep to expose what is at the very roots of being, this book will never grow old as long as humans remain human.

Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke

An advantage of science fiction is that it can multiply the scale of setting in the blink of an eye.  Clarke uses this to contrast the fragility of the great unknown in unparalleled fashion.

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny

Such a brilliant interweaving of Hindu and Buddhist myth with far-future science, the reader never knows where one begins and the other ends.

The City & the City - China Mieville

On the surface an homage to detective noir, at deeper levels this work addresses cultural pre-conception and the limits is places on society.  Orwell would have been proud.

Heaven, Earth and Man in the Book of Change - Hellmut Wilhelm
Beyond the sense of fate and prophecy typically associated, this scholarly effort went a fair distance toward informing me of the cultural and historical aspects of Yi Jing.  

River of Gods - Ian McDonald
Lord of Light for the 21st century, Ian McDonald adds a social conscience as well as wonderful tech to a mythic storyline jam packed with characters and action.

The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick

By creating an alternate history wherein Japan and Germany win WWII, Dick explores the relativity of cultural juxtaposition in terms of art, the self, and worldview.  Stylistically his best work.

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
WWII, cryptology, and security of modern business all rolled into a big, fat story that pays out in spades.  I hate to include two books by Stephenson on this list, but Cryptonomicon is too good to pass by.

Gateway - Frederik Pohl
A science fiction idea perfectly employed in an otherwise realist narrative, books like this are what make the genre worth reading. 

Best reads of 2010

Not based on when they were released, the following are the best spec-fic books I read in 2010.

The Stranger – Albert Camus

Camus fictionalizes the philosophical concept of ‘the absurd’ perfectly in The Stranger.

Europe: A History - Norman Davies
Too much knowledge to be digested in one read, Davies breaks down the evolution of European history, century by century, to the end of the 20th. Bronze Age, renaissances, industrialization, world wars… my head is still spinning.

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A fantastical version of Colombian history, Marquez’s language is simply breathtaking at times – reminiscent of Nabokov’s Pale Fire.  The original in Spanish must be euphoric. 

The Book of the New Sun - Gene Wolfe

Actually published in five separate books, imagination and allusion have yet to be combined as effectively.  This is fully mature speculative fiction that defies genre.

Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre - ed. by Walter Kaufman
A brilliant collection of the greats who wrote (intentionally and unintentionally) on the subject, Nietzsche, Jaspers, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, Camus, Sartre, etc. are all there. No better place to start than this. 

Tales of the Dying Earth - Jack Vance

There is no one on earth (that I’ve read or heard) who has imaginary largesse like Jack Vance.  I was floored by his constant ability to top himself with one unbelievable setting or scene after another.  I wish I had discovered Vance at an earlier age.

The Dispossessed - Ursula Le Guin

Science fiction is only a mode in which Le Guin writes, while her  content and theme are as human as human is.  Physics and politics have never had such purpose to mankind.

Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory - Peter Barry
Penguin and Oxford’s accounts of literary theory solid but lacking practical material, Terry Eagleton’s missing whole topics, I have yet to find a book on literary theory as comprehensive as Barry’s. Containing practical work in addition to theory, Barry even throws in some case studies for good measure. Literary –isms have never been described with such clarity. Bravo.

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - Edwin Abbott

This little book is as unique as literature gets.  Creating its own sub-genre (geometric fantasy--and the only entry to date), it's impossible not to make a person re-evaluate their day – or life!

The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Wonderful commentary on the Vietnam war through the lens of science-fiction--a fact driven home by the author's own experiences with the war.  Solid stuff.

47 Ronin - trans. John Allyn
Though romanticized, this historical account of the tremendous sacrifice a group of dispossessed samurai went through to uphold their duty to their fallen leader speaks is bursting with culture and insight.

Best reads of 2009

Not based on when they were released, the following are the best spec-fic books (save one) I read in 2009, regardless of publishing date.

The Earthsea Cycle - Ursula Le Guin

More than wizards and spells, Le Guin’s wisdom comes shining through in these six stories, making the series fantasy for the young and old.  So much depth and value, I wrote my Master's thesis on these books. (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, Tales from Earthsea, and The Other Wind)

Solaris - Stanislaw Lem

Literary speculative fiction so deliciously mysterious as to cause one hours of pondering.  Science fantasy simply does not get better.

A World Apart – Gustav Herling
A Polish man’s account of his time in a WWII-era Russian work camp, this is the real life version of A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Moving story of a father and son attempting to survive in a post-apocalyptic world at odds.  Simple, powerful, profound.

The Sprawl Series - William Gibson
Profoundly affecting the genre since, rarely do books come along that have such an impact.  Everything dark, dystopian, and techy about the near future, Gibson's Sprawl is to be savored, including Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and the short story collection Burning Chrome.

Wolf Totem: A Novel - Jiang Rong

While not beautifully written, this novel based on the author’s experience living with Mongolian horse herders opens the reader’s eyes to not only the culture of the semi-nomadic people, but wider environmental concerns of globalization.  Should be required reading for Mongolian studies.

The Quiet American – Graham Greene

In his life, Greene found his way around the world, visiting a wide variety of countries and cultures.  In this book, he takes a look at political interests in Vietnam prior to the war that was to occur there.  Short, sweet, and somewhat prophetic.

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula Le Guin

The issue of gender is tackled in this sci-fi novel like no other author ever has or ever will without copying Le Guin’s brilliant idea.  Nothing cheesy about it, one can be proud to read of the aliens in The Left Hand of Darkness and ponder our own gender conceptions.

Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw - Norman Davies

Describing the history of Warsaw during WWII and the failed rebellion the native Poles staged against the occupying Germans, this is Davies in his element.  Well informed yet easy to read.

His Dark Materials... - Phillip Pullman
The sort-of anti-Chronicles of Narnia, Pullman aimed to put the fantasy genre on its head and succeeded.  Original imagination, relative social commentary, and nice storytelling, the series is worth it. (Northern Lights (UK)/The Golden Compass (US), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass.)

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
A delicious mix of subtle magic, faery, and allusive culture, Susanna Clarke's debut novel took the world by storm upon it release for good reason.  Few fantasy releases in recent times have such literary quality.

The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo - Lin Yutang

Lin Yutang was not to know the word he chose to describe the brilliant Chinese poet would be twisted in the latter half of the 20th century to have a meaning he did not intend.  It detracts in no way from this biography, however, Lin combining beautifully the poetry and life of Su Shi, considered by most the greatest poet of the Song Dynasty.