2005: Reading

[coalescent]

2004 was always going to be a hard act to follow: among other books, last year we got Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, River of Gods, Cloud Atlas and Air. Even taking that into account, however, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that 2005 was a thoroughly unexceptional year, even slightly disappointing, for sf. That's not to say that

Comments

[pnh]

Given the other things you like, I'm surprised you don't even mention Robert Charles Wilson's Spin. I'm biased, but I thought it was perhaps his strongest book, and one of the best of the year.

[grahamsleight]

Seconded. Don't suppose there's any chance of a UK edition?

[pnh]

I don't think a UK publisher has picked him up since Darwinia, for whatever reason.

Amazon UK will sell you our forthcoming (February, probably actually shipping in a week or so) mass-market edition for four pounds and change.

[grahamsleight]

Thanks. Darwinia's a great weird book as well.

[pikelet]

I'm reasonably sure you could have read about thirty more books in the time you took to work out the stats and write the post :-p

[secritcrush]

I'm disappointed there's no charts to go with the statistics.

[despotliz]

Would it cheer you up if I made pie charts?

[veggiesu]

It would cheer me up if you made pie.

[wishus]

*sigh* I used to be able to read like that. Well, almost.
I have been terrible for managing to finish books quickly this last year. Maybe it's because I keep falling asleep on the bus!

I'm with you on Iron Council. I was having trouble finishing that before a stray tom cat peed on it.

How did you get on with Johnathon Strange? It is my book at bedtime, only I usually need sleep then too, so i haven't got very far. Everyone I know online has loved it, and everyone I know, well know more, in RL has struggled on with it and then told me not to bother.

[coalescent]

I have to say I'm with the rest of the online crowd: I loved it, and read it over four fairly intensive days.

[pigeonhed]

As a so-called reader of speculative fiction that list is terribly depressing in its revelation of just how out of touch I am. About a third of what I remember reading in 2005 was SF or Fantasy, and almost all from earlier years (Jonathan Strange, Singularity Sky, Ghostwritten etc.)
On the other hand I read some books that I can't forget so that's good, isn't it?

[annafdd]

Well, including the Periodic Table and Tiptree as strong books for 2005 is cheating a bit. :-)

But, apart from that - I have been reading Johnathan Strange, and I'm puzzled. It's not that I don't like it, but it seems to me a rather meandering book. I haven't finished it, but I am quickly losing interest, and I feel I'm missing something. I probably need to be pointed out at reviews - which I avoided reading when it first came out - because there's probably quite a lot I'm missing.

[coalescent]

Well, it's ten recommended books I read in 2005 ... :)

There are some links to Strange & Norrell reviews in my original post about the book. Apart from one particular chunk near the end, I didn't think there was much that was superfluous to the plot, so I didn't really feel it meandered; but then, I think the plot isn't about Strange and Norrell, it's about the return of English magic, so it makes sense to keep jumping around.

[annafdd]

I suspected it's not really fluff. What happened was that I started reading it and was totally captivated by the voice. What the Boston (Review?) review's complains about, the down-to-earthdness, completely won me over

[annafdd]

Gorgeous layout btw - mind if I steal it?