#55 World Hotel by Ali Smith

Structually a cross between The Accidental and The Whole Story And Other Stories but not as good as either, which is not to say it doesn't contain some very fine writing.

#56 Vanish by Tess Gerritsen ( Read more... )

#53 Nova Swing by M John Harrison

An SF novel laid on top of a detective noir on top of a Western with dialogue from a gnomic gangster film. You get the feeling this is a conversation Harrison is having with himself and you can only hear half of it. "What little oblique, dirty light fell on the side of her face served to occlude rather than ( Read more... )

#50 The Whole Story And Other Stories by Ali Smith

Courtesy of electricant. This is Smith's third short story collection and it is a bit of a let down after reading The Accidental (which isn't bloody slipstream.) The tendency towards narrative games which you can see poking through in that novel is here allowed free rein. The title says it all. There is much ( Read more... )

#49 Light Years by James Slater ( Read more... )

#47 Stealing Light by Gary Gibson ( Read more... )

#44 Oh Pure And Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet ( Read more... )

#41 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

Well, that's the end of that.

#42 Spaceman Blues by Brian Francis Slattery

Read for review for Strange Horizons.

#43 The Limits Of Enchantment by Graham Joyce

Joyce is a very good writer but I'm not really sure what to say about this book. It is a sort of companion piece to The Facts Of ( Read more... )

#38 Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

Read for review for Strange Horizons.

#39 Deadstock by Jeffery Thomas

Absolutely dire cyberpunk novel. Unbelievably it contains approving quotes from China Mieville, Paul di Filipo, Michael Marshall Smith and Jeff VanderMeer. What is going on?

#40 The Devil In Amber by Mark Gatiss ( Read more... )

#38 Theft by Peter Carey

Absolutely superb. If you look at the recent work of Ian McEwan you see a highly skilled writer who is retreating into his long developed style. Theft is like nothing Carey has done before - none of his books are - and yet the style seems so effortless he could have been writing it forever. And in fact it is writen in two ( Read more... )

#36 Deathworld 1 by Harry Harrison

So slender that it is almost archaic: this would be the prologue of a modern genre novel. Bizarrely it has an approving cover quote from the Spectator of all places but this is the very definition of a minor work.

#37 The Road by Cormac McCarthy ( Read more... )