You guys know how this works:
Honourable
mentions:
Choosing
9 and 10 were really difficult, so pretty much any of the honourable
mentions could have gone there. Gregory Frost’s Shadowbridge
is a good example – epic fantasy set in a very unique location, and
beautifully written. The central device of the story is storytelling
itself, and it is full of imagination. The setting is similarly
important Ana Kavan’s Ice, which is the story of a man
chasing a woman as the world is encased in Ice. It struck me as having
echoes of Ballard’s The Crystal World (or most likely vice versa)
and there’s an unrelenting cruelty to the story that makes the
world more than just a blunt metaphor for heroine addiction (which
very much influenced Kavan’s writing). The release of the
adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House
compelled me to finally pick up my copy of it, and what a strange
trip that was. It managed to confound expectations I didn’t have,
and despite hoards critics proclaiming of “the cliches weren’t
cliches when she wrote them!” I found the book very much subverts
said cliches rather than indulges in them. Finally, Rocanon’s
World by Ursula Le Guin, was
also a surprise, in that it was essentially a might whitey story –
yet written by one of the best and most thoughtful writers of her
time on race and gender. Nonetheless, the mix of fantasy and sci-fi
was unique and intoxicating, and something that she’d later go on
to perfect.
10 The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin by Vladimir Voinovich
Voinovich’s
comic romp is one hell of a lot of fun: telling the tale of Private
Chonkin, who is so useless that the russian army sends him on a
mission to a small village in the middle of nowhere to guard a plane
just to get rid of him. The humour of this farce has translated very
well – in many ways, it has British sensibilities (think 70s-80s
humour). At one point Stalin descends from the sky wearing a dress.
9 The Shadow Years by Jefferey Ford
The
Shadow Years is a very odd beast – Ford has literally written a
fictionalised account of a year in his late childhood. There’s
obvious parallels with It (bildungsroman set in rural america, where
something hidden and dark is lurking amongst the community), but
there’s not a good way to really describe this book. You could talk
about the “prowler” that is hunting people in the town; the old
man stalking the main character that appears to be satan himself; the
fact that the protagonist’s younger sister seems to be able to
control the town’s people; the broken family unit with a constantly
absent father and drunkard mother. None of these things really do the
book justice. If the book is about anything, it’s about the
relationship the protagonist has with his older brother as his older
brother becomes a teenager and begins to leave his younger brother
behind. A confounding book that stays with me still.
8 City of Exile by Ursula Le Guin
Le
Guin’s second Hainish novella is, at its core, a really, really
well told fantasy story within a sci-fi setting. It is well written,
has great characters and a plot that is structured excellently. The
trappings of its unique setting really put it a level beyond, but
even without that it’s just a damn good story.
7 Omon Ra by Victor Pelevin
Little
Omon wants to be a space man – and he’s going to become one, but
his journey there will be a strange, at times brutal and always silly
one. Pelevin’s debut novel (more novella, really) is sharp and dark
and builds to a tremendous conclusion. Pelevin’s at his baldest
here with his satire of russian and soviet society, and the effect is
searing.
6 The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan
When
a writer moves to a rural house to seek seclusion after the suicide
of her recent long-term, you’ve got a set-up that just screams
“horror story”. This is very far from your standard horror,
however, although it is legitimately pretty frightening at times. No
ghosts or monsters here however: the story revolves around a tree in
the grounds of the house, and the long and storied history it carries
with it. And, it is no happy one either...
5 Pavane by Keith Roberts
Pavane
is a very dry book that goes on and on about details that are often
only tentatively relevant to the plot.
And
yet, when the characters and stories get going, they’re damn good
ones. What’s more, Roberts’ fastidious world building allows
extra texture for those stories and characters. The world itself
becomes a character, in the way that many stories strive for, but few
can make work. Not to mention the way fantastical elements are
tiptoed around; there’s always a sense that there is more going on
just behind the curtains of reality. The coda, too, is little short
of brilliant.
4 The Rift by Nina Allen
Nina
Allen’s first novel was third on my list last year, I believe, so
she’s making this something of a regular occurrence. The Rift is
less Priest-y, but no less good (even better, maybe). Steeped in
disquiet, The Rift is a story that’s not exactly willing to give
easy answers or straightforward conclusions. What it is, is
excellently written and very affecting. The depiction of the
relationship between the two sisters is full of ambiguous tension, as
is the relationship between the real world and that of Tristane. As
depictions of alienation go, I’ve read few better.
3 Deathless by Cathrynne M. Valente
Set
in St Petersburgh (then Leningrad, then Stalingrad), Deathless is a
retelling of the story of The Death of Kuschei the Deathless, with
more than a few tweaks. Valente’s brilliant prose evokes an amazing
world, and filled with playful imaginings and an undercurrent of
biting satire. It’s the characters that steal the show, however,
and Valente’s depiction of the relationship between Maria Morevna
and Kuschei the Tsar of Death is complexing and involving. Also, her
take on Baba Yaga is one of my favourites pretty much ever.
2 Radiance by Cathrynne M. Valente
Radiance,
my second Valente book, was a tough one to start with. It’s a cross
between golden age hollywood and golden age sci-fi, the story of
directory maker (and daughter of the most famous filmmaker of their
age) who goes missing under strange circumstances. The story is told
through film clips, conversation transcriptions, journal entries,
newspaper articles and more. The lack of straightforward narrative
makes the story a difficult one to sink into at first, but when you
get into the groove, an incredible portrait of a character emerges,
spiced with brilliant writing, heavy with imagination and brimming
with ambiguity.
(I
think I rather like Valente).
-
The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan
If
you’ve talked to me this year, you’ve heard me talk about this
book. Unsettling, compelling and intense; Kiernan’s most widely
acclaimed book is difficult to put into a single genre, and entirely
involving. When I stopped reading The Drowning Girl, it refused to
leave my head. Even at work I could feel cold presence of Eva Canning
lurking nearby…
Will
you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?
