My Top 10 Reads of 2010
So 2010 isn't *quite* over, but I'm slogging my way through my final Mystery Challenge book and doubt I'll get to anything else before the 1st, and if I do get to something else it'll probably be one of my Subterranean Press novellas, and I don't think I could give one of these spots to either of them, so. . . here's another list. I like lists, particularly at the end of the year. This is my 10 favorite reads of the year, with reasons why; where I've written a full review I've included a link, but several of these completely destroyed my analytic capabilities, to the point where writing a review might have been actually painful, so I never got around to it. ;)
1. The Orphan's Tales, Vol. 1 & 2: In the Night Garden and In the Cities of Coin and Spice, by Catherynne M. Valente.
Just absolutely brilliant. Intricately plotted, full of fairy tale motifs played straight and inverted, and achingly human. Probably in my top ten read in the past decade, and I have no doubt that I will be rereading these often.
2. Bone and Jewel Creatures, by Elizabeth Bear.
Exquisite, full of both sensawunda and three-dimensional characterization. It is exactly the right length at 136 pages, and the ending made me bawl.
3. Lud-in-the-Mist, by Hope Mirrlees.
Utterly English, where the magic is properly magical and the people are as completely ridiculous as they are in real life. I wish there was more fantasy like this, as an antidote to all the Tolkien out there.
4. Winter Rose, by Patricia A. McKillip.
One of the rare books that I love because I hate it; the ending made me want to scream, and I wouldn't change a word. Rois is a heroine I could not love more, and McKillip's prose is at its most gorgeous, and the theme of child abuse woven through the retelling of Tam Lin and the Snow Queen is heartbreaking.
5. Six Moon Dance, by Sheri S. Tepper.
Big Idea SF, about gender, human effects on the environment, personal identity vs. cultural identity, justice, and what it means to be human. But what made this book one of my favorites of the year was that it had a keen sense of absurdity and joy.
6. Wild Seed, by Octavia E. Butler.
Kind of an awe-inspiring work. It's about power, particularly between races and genders, and it's about how to build families; it's also a very unique love story that moved me deeply.
7. Powers, by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Another thought-provoking novel, this one tackling slavery head-on, and perfectly appropriate for its YA audience while never patronizing or pandering. Gav is a protagonist I identify with strongly, and the comments about trust hit home. This is not a tale where everything is black and white: Le Guin convincingly shows how slaves can love their masters and the system that enslaves them; then she shows exactly why even the most positive of these relationships is horribly wrong and distorting of the moral sense of both parties.
8. The Bird of the River, by Kage Baker.
A fantasy about the everyday, the commonplace, the minor tragedies that most fantasy authors with their Romantic heroes ignore, and the importance of grabbing every chance for joy. I love all three books in this series, and all are essentially about these things, but I think the final volume is the most complete, so I put it on my list.
9. The Carpet Makers, by Andreas Eschbach.
The only true tragedy on my list, though several of the books made me cry. This is a book that is horrifying in a totally understated way; it is also one I was dismissive of when I first finished it and which simply grew and grew as I thought on it more.
10. Fudoki, by Kij Johnson.
My list is almost entirely female authors, and half of the novels on it tackle gender in one way or another; but this is a true womens' fantasy, and I love it for that. Nearly all of the characters are women, and it is about womens' things: family and home and place in a society where all of those are rigidly determined by gender. It is also very much rooted in the myths of Japan.
And because I read a crazy amount of books that I really, really loved this year, a bonus five:
11. Slow River, by Nicola Griffith.
Heartbreaking, beautifully constructed, this was too dark for me to really love it, because I do read mostly to escape; but I hope that desire for escapism never blinds me to great works just because they make me uncomfortable. I kind of loved that there were female abusers in this novel; I hate that there are abusers out there period, but pretending to ourselves that only men do these things (1) isn't true, and (2) isn't feminist. Plus there were some absolutely gorgeous sections centered around environmental remediation.
12. Tales of Nevèrÿon, by Samuel Delany.
This made my brain hurt in the best way, taking me straight back to college philosophy courses. It was my first experience with Delany but it certainly won't be my last.
13. Lifelode, by Jo Walton.
My thoughts on this novel are terribly unformulated, which is why I didn't review it; they mostly consist of squeeing. So polyamory squee! And non-linear storytelling squee! And fantasy with no plot squee! And fantasy that's secretly science fiction squee! I don't care that Jo Walton regrets letting people know it's secretly science fiction!
14. The Ladies of Mandrigyn, by Barbara Hambly.
I didn't know I was craving this book until I read it. So much fantasy, particularly of the sword-and-sorcery type, has absolutely nothing to say to me; I'm at heart a pacifist, and, well, as it should be clear, I'm of the female persuasion, and strong-minded to boot. So traditional sword-and-sorcery never resonated, and even the more modern novels didn't quite satisfy because of all the violence and because the whole solitary Amazon always seemed rather wish-fulfillment-y. So to see those archetypes upended, and have the male hero planted amongst a passel of women was utterly delightful, and both Sun Wolf's and Starhawk's changing relationship with his/her job as a mercenary over the course of the series gave it added depth.
15. Succession, Vol. 1 & 2: The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds, by Scott Westerfeld.
Kind of perfect space opera. Incredibly fast-paced, character-driven (which is not the same as being about the characters -- they don't grow at all over the course of the story, but all their actions grow naturally from who they are), and romantic in both senses of that word. I approved of almost every single choice Westerfeld made with this story, and it was just so much fun that I had to find a way to squeeze it onto this list. :D
1. The Orphan's Tales, Vol. 1 & 2: In the Night Garden and In the Cities of Coin and Spice, by Catherynne M. Valente.
Just absolutely brilliant. Intricately plotted, full of fairy tale motifs played straight and inverted, and achingly human. Probably in my top ten read in the past decade, and I have no doubt that I will be rereading these often.
2. Bone and Jewel Creatures, by Elizabeth Bear.
Exquisite, full of both sensawunda and three-dimensional characterization. It is exactly the right length at 136 pages, and the ending made me bawl.
3. Lud-in-the-Mist, by Hope Mirrlees.
Utterly English, where the magic is properly magical and the people are as completely ridiculous as they are in real life. I wish there was more fantasy like this, as an antidote to all the Tolkien out there.
4. Winter Rose, by Patricia A. McKillip.
One of the rare books that I love because I hate it; the ending made me want to scream, and I wouldn't change a word. Rois is a heroine I could not love more, and McKillip's prose is at its most gorgeous, and the theme of child abuse woven through the retelling of Tam Lin and the Snow Queen is heartbreaking.
5. Six Moon Dance, by Sheri S. Tepper.
Big Idea SF, about gender, human effects on the environment, personal identity vs. cultural identity, justice, and what it means to be human. But what made this book one of my favorites of the year was that it had a keen sense of absurdity and joy.
6. Wild Seed, by Octavia E. Butler.
Kind of an awe-inspiring work. It's about power, particularly between races and genders, and it's about how to build families; it's also a very unique love story that moved me deeply.
7. Powers, by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Another thought-provoking novel, this one tackling slavery head-on, and perfectly appropriate for its YA audience while never patronizing or pandering. Gav is a protagonist I identify with strongly, and the comments about trust hit home. This is not a tale where everything is black and white: Le Guin convincingly shows how slaves can love their masters and the system that enslaves them; then she shows exactly why even the most positive of these relationships is horribly wrong and distorting of the moral sense of both parties.
8. The Bird of the River, by Kage Baker.
A fantasy about the everyday, the commonplace, the minor tragedies that most fantasy authors with their Romantic heroes ignore, and the importance of grabbing every chance for joy. I love all three books in this series, and all are essentially about these things, but I think the final volume is the most complete, so I put it on my list.
9. The Carpet Makers, by Andreas Eschbach.
The only true tragedy on my list, though several of the books made me cry. This is a book that is horrifying in a totally understated way; it is also one I was dismissive of when I first finished it and which simply grew and grew as I thought on it more.
10. Fudoki, by Kij Johnson.
My list is almost entirely female authors, and half of the novels on it tackle gender in one way or another; but this is a true womens' fantasy, and I love it for that. Nearly all of the characters are women, and it is about womens' things: family and home and place in a society where all of those are rigidly determined by gender. It is also very much rooted in the myths of Japan.
And because I read a crazy amount of books that I really, really loved this year, a bonus five:
11. Slow River, by Nicola Griffith.
Heartbreaking, beautifully constructed, this was too dark for me to really love it, because I do read mostly to escape; but I hope that desire for escapism never blinds me to great works just because they make me uncomfortable. I kind of loved that there were female abusers in this novel; I hate that there are abusers out there period, but pretending to ourselves that only men do these things (1) isn't true, and (2) isn't feminist. Plus there were some absolutely gorgeous sections centered around environmental remediation.
12. Tales of Nevèrÿon, by Samuel Delany.
This made my brain hurt in the best way, taking me straight back to college philosophy courses. It was my first experience with Delany but it certainly won't be my last.
13. Lifelode, by Jo Walton.
My thoughts on this novel are terribly unformulated, which is why I didn't review it; they mostly consist of squeeing. So polyamory squee! And non-linear storytelling squee! And fantasy with no plot squee! And fantasy that's secretly science fiction squee! I don't care that Jo Walton regrets letting people know it's secretly science fiction!
14. The Ladies of Mandrigyn, by Barbara Hambly.
I didn't know I was craving this book until I read it. So much fantasy, particularly of the sword-and-sorcery type, has absolutely nothing to say to me; I'm at heart a pacifist, and, well, as it should be clear, I'm of the female persuasion, and strong-minded to boot. So traditional sword-and-sorcery never resonated, and even the more modern novels didn't quite satisfy because of all the violence and because the whole solitary Amazon always seemed rather wish-fulfillment-y. So to see those archetypes upended, and have the male hero planted amongst a passel of women was utterly delightful, and both Sun Wolf's and Starhawk's changing relationship with his/her job as a mercenary over the course of the series gave it added depth.
15. Succession, Vol. 1 & 2: The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds, by Scott Westerfeld.
Kind of perfect space opera. Incredibly fast-paced, character-driven (which is not the same as being about the characters -- they don't grow at all over the course of the story, but all their actions grow naturally from who they are), and romantic in both senses of that word. I approved of almost every single choice Westerfeld made with this story, and it was just so much fun that I had to find a way to squeeze it onto this list. :D