Favorite Books of 2011
Jan. 9th, 2012 08:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endymions_bowerThis is no order other than that in which I read them, loosely.
The Player of Games, by Iain Banks. I've been enjoying Banks' "Culture" novels for a while now, but this is the first one that really works as a novel, and not just for the world he's built.
Tom Brown's Schooldays, by Thomas Hughes. A really sick book, don't get me wrong; but if you want to understand the Victorian British construction of masculinity, this is where it's happening. For extra credit, you want to follow it up immediately with The Loom of Youth, by Alec Waugh, which questions all the key assumptions of Tom Brown from squarely within its world.
Alliance Space, by C. J. Cherryh. This is really for 40,000 in Gehenna, which isn't published separately at this time. If you enjoy 40,000, definitely read Cyteen right away; it sets the stage for it brilliantly. Merchanter's Luck, which rounds out the volume, is fun, but nothing special.
Autumn of the Patriarch, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In a year when the fall of dictators was in the air, this was a superb accompaniment.
The Cairo Trilogy, by Naguib Mahfouz. Rather depressing, to be sure, but a rich, satisfying experience.
I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets, by Fletcher Hanks. Just read the Fantomah comics, she's amazing. The other outstanding comic collection I read this year was The Wonder Woman Archives, Vol. 1, by William Moulton Marston. You won't believe how cool these are. It's really hard to understand why nobody can do Wonder Woman properly today, when everything you need is already there at the beginning.
Knight Errant, by John Jackson Miller. It's impressive that a Star Wars novel with no connection to any of the movies could be this compelling; and a female protagonist helps for a change. The other Star Wars novel I really enjoyed this year was Dynasty of Evil (Star Wars: Darth Bane, #3), by Drew Karpyshyn, a worthy conclusion to this series. If you're into the Star Wars franchise at all, you owe it to yourself to read them, because you will understand why people would choose to be Sith.
Moonchild, by Aleister Crowley. A wild yarn of occult combat in the Edwardian era. I read this together with The Sea Priestess, by Dion Fortune, which is much more of a serious novel, but involving many similar themes. Reading these two novels gives an unparalleled insight into occultism's high modernist generation.
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3), by George R. R. Martin. The high-water mark of this series, in my opinion, before it started to decline; I'm still hopeful that it will rally towards the finish.
On First Principles, by Theophrastus (trans. Dimitri Gutas). A superb new translation of this potent inquiry into Aristotle's metaphysics by his closest and most brilliant pupil.
The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss. Sequel to The Name of the Wind. These books are my best suggestion for what to read when there's no more Harry Potter.
The Player of Games, by Iain Banks. I've been enjoying Banks' "Culture" novels for a while now, but this is the first one that really works as a novel, and not just for the world he's built.
Tom Brown's Schooldays, by Thomas Hughes. A really sick book, don't get me wrong; but if you want to understand the Victorian British construction of masculinity, this is where it's happening. For extra credit, you want to follow it up immediately with The Loom of Youth, by Alec Waugh, which questions all the key assumptions of Tom Brown from squarely within its world.
Alliance Space, by C. J. Cherryh. This is really for 40,000 in Gehenna, which isn't published separately at this time. If you enjoy 40,000, definitely read Cyteen right away; it sets the stage for it brilliantly. Merchanter's Luck, which rounds out the volume, is fun, but nothing special.
Autumn of the Patriarch, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In a year when the fall of dictators was in the air, this was a superb accompaniment.
The Cairo Trilogy, by Naguib Mahfouz. Rather depressing, to be sure, but a rich, satisfying experience.
I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets, by Fletcher Hanks. Just read the Fantomah comics, she's amazing. The other outstanding comic collection I read this year was The Wonder Woman Archives, Vol. 1, by William Moulton Marston. You won't believe how cool these are. It's really hard to understand why nobody can do Wonder Woman properly today, when everything you need is already there at the beginning.
Knight Errant, by John Jackson Miller. It's impressive that a Star Wars novel with no connection to any of the movies could be this compelling; and a female protagonist helps for a change. The other Star Wars novel I really enjoyed this year was Dynasty of Evil (Star Wars: Darth Bane, #3), by Drew Karpyshyn, a worthy conclusion to this series. If you're into the Star Wars franchise at all, you owe it to yourself to read them, because you will understand why people would choose to be Sith.
Moonchild, by Aleister Crowley. A wild yarn of occult combat in the Edwardian era. I read this together with The Sea Priestess, by Dion Fortune, which is much more of a serious novel, but involving many similar themes. Reading these two novels gives an unparalleled insight into occultism's high modernist generation.
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3), by George R. R. Martin. The high-water mark of this series, in my opinion, before it started to decline; I'm still hopeful that it will rally towards the finish.
On First Principles, by Theophrastus (trans. Dimitri Gutas). A superb new translation of this potent inquiry into Aristotle's metaphysics by his closest and most brilliant pupil.
The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss. Sequel to The Name of the Wind. These books are my best suggestion for what to read when there's no more Harry Potter.
