The Bodhisattva

One of my favorite features at Fantastic Metropolis was the Read and Appreciated contributions by various and numerous sources which probably still stands as one of the great sources of recommendations for recent speculative fiction and is still very much worth looking over.

So, I just wanted to share my favorite reads of the year, and though I didn’t read quite as much as I have in prior years but was still able to come away with just about as many quality reads either by blind luck or just maybe I’m becoming a more discerning consumer. I look back at my 2005 list and I see a different tone in my 2006 selection, which makes me look back and appreciate both more.

While this list will be exclusive to 2006 releases, it will include books I read in 2005 that were released in 2006 and in some instances books that were re-released on a larger scale. It will not include books I have read this year that are scheduled for 2007 release (a couple of which that I’m very excited about that you will here about soon). It will also be filled with utter nonesense that has little to do with books that have come to define this blog.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Let’s kick it off with a book I (not directly) got slammed for supporting what turned out to be exactly what I said it was going to be when I reviewed it - the best debut of the year. I began raving about this book in 2005. I rarely go into the aftermath of reviews seeking vindication - as often times If find I’m a fan of work that I know is decidedly (sadly) lacking in potential mainstream appeal - however this is one instance where I felt delight in seeing so many people at various communities I frequent enjoy. One thing that may have come out of the all the gibberish is giving Scott’s book an even larger online buzz, which even if it produced just one more buyer - they got to experience this gem. The Lies of Locke Lamora is just really the perfect example of fun being put back as the most important characteristic and goal of reading, and expanding the term out of just being another word SF/F fans use to replace bubblegum. This book set the tone for me in 2006.

For those interested, I also interviewed Scott around the release date of his book.

The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker

Not to long ago I saw Gene Wolfe’s Wizard/Knight duology nominated for some award duty and I was like, ‘Wow - you don’t really see epic fantasy make it too much - cool”. R. Scott Bakker not being nominated for his previous installment (The Warrior Prophet) in his landmark Prince of Nothing was a lark, that The Thousandfold Thought didn’t get such recognition - well ladies and gentlemen we might as well let Harlan Ellison host Miss America in our names because we (really you, as I have nothing to do with the debacle) couldn’t be bigger jokes.

The most powerful, unsettling, and beautifully unsentimental epic sequence I have read. Only George R.R. Martin is even in position to eclipse Bakker’s accomplishment. The ending of this arc had me pondering its implications for months afterwards - and that’s how I knew it belongs on this list.

I reviewed this book here and interviewed Scott as well.

Streetcar Dreams and other Midnight Fancies by Richard Bowes

Bowes is one of the ten most underappreciated writers in SF/F field today. Better than almost anyone else, he knows how to evoke time and place with what seems first hand knowledge that gives his work the most important element I look for in my book selections - a sense that he takes us with him - he didn’t just come back and recap. This collection features his My Life in Speculative Fiction which is worth the cost alone to have in binding and is one of the best examples of short fiction you can read.

Betrayal by Aaron Allston

Everybody just shit in their pants and while I’m wiping my own stains over here, and as much as I want to come off as critical ass in love with myself who knows people are reading my blog and even look to me for recommendations, I couldn’t talk myself into thinking this wasn’t one of the books I enjoyed reading the most this year (and trust me I tried). It even goes beyond what I said earlier about this book and the fact that newest bad ass of SW Universe is none other than a Jason (again, that’s Jacen if your Correlian, and note that Superman’s son is also named and Jason and we officially run shit). I’m one of those people that reads just about every non-Kevin J. Anderson Star Wars book that comes out for reasons I cannot explain, and I do so happily even though the overwhelming majority of the time they leave me with that whim for destructive self-mutilation feeling like I just watched Episode I. I just think it works as such a great new starting point for any SW fans (who is at least up to date as far as Zahn’s Thrawn work is concerned) and while not the best example I have read in this setting (that would go to Stover or perhaps Stewart) it’s a real exciting kick-off to a multi-author sequence entitled Legacy of the Force. How do you know it’s good? It has some SW EU regulars upset about characterization, so you know it’s a step in the right direction. Karen Traviss wrote the second book of the sequence Bloodlines - and it’s a keeper. Jacen solo is leading Star Wars character who hasn’t suffered through the pussification that Anakin has gone through inflicted on him by some writers (that I recently mention in my review of another SW novel, the forthcoming Allegiance by Zahn). Speaking of pussification, not a single Star Wars site - not one will note it, many of which are known for directing attention to every idiotic, even semi-Star Wars related news on the net to mention my review - I’m just waiting for some pissant-gushing fan boy review to get plugged so I can rant.

Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford

Starting to seem like the usual suspects if you look at my list from last year. This either means I’m narrow minded and I haven’t broadened my horizons or these peeps are good, and while l usually don’t hesitate to ramble about myself, I’m inclined to go with the latter. Ford has become my go-to author when asked for a recommendation by random ass hats that don’t believe quality fiction can include SF/F. I remember vividly mocking some Michael Cunningham lust-partner wannabe as I told him to try out Empire of Ice Cream - Ford’s second confirms Ford as the only contender to Kelly Link’s crown of everyone’s favorite short fiction writer on the net. I’m not sure whom I’d favor but I understand that Kelly Link spent time at UNCG and all people who have lived in North Carolina for a time and escaped - even if they hate each other - share a mutual bond that only two people who have escaped hell could bring. At any rate, they can take it to the streets and thumb-wrestle for it - and a pencil fight breaks any tie.*

Seeing by Jose Saramago

This was published earlier but was available in English for the first time this year, and more than any other writer I read he reaffirms the true importance of writing as no other writer brings me face to face with humanity - or its declining definition - in such a compelling way that Saramago does. Fiction is at its best when it’s not just a practice of guessing what its readers wants and Saramago epitomizes fiction at its best.

The Vengeance of Rome by Michael Moorcock

The return of the King to what is nothing less than one of the great sequences in speculative fiction, the Between the Wars quartet (or Pyatt quartet to some). Every time I read a Moorcock book, no matter which decade it was written in, I see at the same time the model at which the leading authors in SF/F are trying to achieve and what authors 20 years from now will be trying to achieve - true greatness.

How the fuck isn’t Moorcock a Grandmaster?

Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski

Following up House of Leaves had to be one of the toughest undertakings of 2006. Can we throw the term experimental fiction away?

Experiment: to attempt to discover or test something; to try; to venture; to research.

All fiction should be experimental otherwise - what the hell are you doing?

I think Abigail Nussbaum’s opinion at the IROSF really struck a vibe with me, “If it is a failure, then it is magnificent one,”.

Kafka in Bronteland by Tamar Yellin

Books like this want me to question publicity budgets - or perhaps it was purposely not advertised to the SF/F crowd?. Yellin follows up an impossibly strong debut - Genizah at the House of Shepher - with this collection of 13 stories that just oozes elegance.

Absolute Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross

People who were hating because I had a Star Wars book on the list, are now appalled - bollocks spewing and all - as now a collected edition of a comic book series - and more than that a superhero comic sequence. This is the oversized collection of a four part min-series from 1996 that celebrates its 10th anniversary. People could question the validity of this entry (reprint) but the TPB/Collected edition market seems to have grown exponentially enough for me to at least bring up the argument that this is speaking to an entirely new audience than it did when previously released

“Now I’m so enlightened I might glow in the dark
I been up in the office you might know him as Clark
Just when you thought the whole world fell apart, I
Take off the blazer loosen up the tie
Step inside the booth Superman is alive“

“Ladies sayin’ where you been Superman
When niggas spendin’ 10 million and media on my hands
The Bruce Wayne of the game have no fear
When you need me just throw your Roc signs in the air, yeah”

If it’s on the mind of guy that brought us the classic Reasonable Doubt (not to mention he who is tagging Beyonce) I have to consider it. A non-canon tale taking place 20 years in DC’s quasi-future featuring monumental art by Ross. There is a majesty to DC’s characters that their Marvel counterparts can never duplicate - and while I hesitate to say it’s superior to Marvels - it’s that decades natural successor to previous series by DC like Moore’s Watchmen and Miller’s Dark Knight this time with a Trinity flavor.

Shriek: an Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer

My book of the year. My words can’t do it justice, thus I was happy Jeff allowed an interview to explain it himself. The plight of the sibling Shriek was the most engrossing read of the year for me as I often found myself pondering previously read chapters on daily ferry trips. Each chapter seemed like a new beginning (interestingly enough a stated problem for Janice), revitalizing a narration that seemed to sporadically live and die with purpose. Many go back - over and over - to an author to get what they enjoyed before, and while VanderMeer may take you back - be it to Ambergris or elsewhere - he doesn’t take you there by running in place.

Three Books that were re-released or finally released in the U.S. in 2006 that people need to read:

Seven Touches of Music by Zoran Zivkovic from Aio Publishing - Beautifully packaged by Aio.

City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer - I think I read it was blessed with another printing!

Vellum by Hal Duncan - A favorite of mine from 2005.

Books that I haven’t read in 2006 that’s pissing me off because of that fact: Nova Swing by M. John Harrison, Fugitives of Chaos by John C. Wright and I’m currently reading Gene Wolfe’s Soldier of Sidon

Other Observations:

Most Honest line in a DVD (I don’t get to see many theatrical releases here on Mepos) -

I was watching An Evening with Kevin Smith II - which is a recording of two Q & A speaking events he went to and on the second disc (taking place in London) Jason Mewes (yet another iconic Jason) was asked if he is offered other roles, to which he replies that he is offered a few but, “Nobody is beating down my door to do Batman or anything”. Kevin Smith then asks Mewes if that’s his dream roll pointing out that was his go-to response which sets up Mewes response and just came off as the most completely thoughtful and honest - no bravado or bullshit attached - statement I have heard an actor say. He simply said, “I can’t be the Dark Knight, sir”.

Just classic.

A Nod to 52:

Before we get into anything else, lets appreciate the basis for what is being attempted. First, it’s a weekly comic book series (which is historically almost an impossible undertaking - even semi-regularly) that is attempting to both redefine and honor the national league of the comic book industry - where three of the medium’s four true icons - the Trinity - dwell, and doing it largely without them. There are extreme opinions on the series, but for myself I’m just so struck by the accomplishment itself, the format, the elevation of the rest of DC Universe, while not minimizing the shadows of its godly triumvirate, in a manner where the DC Universe seems more organic.

Some people seem upset about DC’s direction - but from my personals standpoint, outside of perhaps the Teen Titans, its Vertigo line, contributions by Moore, and various one-shots, DC’s lineup was Coulter-ugly having me once proudly screaming, “Make Mine Marvel!”. This line needed a change and even though I cringe thinking of Super Boy Prime’s Infinite Continuity Punch, I have found DC to be far more compelling than Marvel with everything post-Identity Crisis. Now, are there instances of me being like, “what the hell?”. Sure, tons of them, but that’s a vast improvement from not giving a damn at all about the line, and thinking they had been left behind with out any plutonium for their Delorean.

Marvel takin’ it to the Real Streets - the Cosmos:

The big news in the comic industry is Marvel’s Civil War. Well, beyond McNiven’s appealing pencils the dialogue and writing in this series - that I do appreciate for the attention it has gathered for the industry as a whole - leaves something to be desired.

Amidst all the titles and related titles this is really all that’s happened:

- Characters decide if they are liberal or conservatives (or what people think are defined by those terms), spawning conversation from newly anointed political geniuses who probably don’t even know how to vote - much less who actually voted.
- Spiderman reveals his identity to the public
- a 4th rate character has died
- a fucking clone has been introduced

There was an instance that just finally broke me on the series, where Sue Richards left a note for her husband - the first Family of Marvel - explaining her leaving to join the opposing side. This was an instance of dialogue - a quiet moment - that could have become a classic moment that IMHO Millar just didn’t nail. It reminds me of the NFL Pro-Bowl, in that this series has just become an event that really isn’t worth watching. I keep getting told it’s a polarizing, thought provoking series, but it just comes off as elementary, and constantly trying to catch a Shakespearean moment but only knowing Shakespeare from Wikipedia.

Luckily, Marvel has blessed fans with Planet Hulk and Annihilation - two top notch series, that are loads of fun. Planet Hulk has already reached status to me as among the best storylines ever for the Green Giant as he leads a revolution on a planet he was banished to by Marvel’s Illuminati. The worst thing they could have done - because he’s coming back with battle-tested friends who think he might be the savior with mythological roots.

Annihilation is for all the fans who loved The Infinity Gauntlet and suffered through its horrendous sequels and thus thought any chance of further Marvel Cosmo adventures were not but a fool’s fancy. This series reintroduces Marvel’s cosmic entities while stylishly updating the characters like Firelord, Drax, Ronan, etc while introducing us to new players. It could be said that creativity isn’t restrained here due to not involving Marvel’s bread winners (it is surprising that Marvel didn’t some way fit Wolverine in this storyline, like Wolverine: Herald of Galactus or some rubbish).

Blogs:

This has been a year where I have seen a lot of SF/F fan related blogs go up. I’m not going to begin to list/link them all, but I for one think that is the most promising occurence in the field. I think the more yapping we have, the better. I find more people are telling me what they think and not what I’m supposed to think. Damn definitive searching exposition, give me random and abstract rambling - let me know you read something, not reading to me - I can do that by myself. It’s still the strangest thing in the world for me, like I will go into a thread where people ask who they go to for recommendations (looking for new sources myself - and telling people they should read Nick Gevers, Gabe, or my home-skillet Victoria at Eve’s Alexandria and such) and I see somebody mention me and it’s still this really crazy feeling. Somebody is actually wasting their time reading my opinion!

So to people like W-Lex, Pat, Larry, Neth, Rob, Race, (among others), don’t look now but - as I steal a phrase from Michael Cisco - I think you might be the scene.

All in all, a solid year - here’s hoping 2007 (which I will preview soon) is even better!

_{*from 1985-1988, at the tender age of six, I was no less than the third ranked Pencil Fighter in the world honing my skills on the dirty streets of Napoli strapped with Japanese import pencils - which will be discussed more in-depth in the future publication of my book which will be published when I do something that makes me intriguing enough for U.S. audiences - like being on some lame reality TV show, or simply being wealthy.}