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Odds and Ends: My New Top 10 Anticipated Novels From the Rest of 2010

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Books & Stories - Books

Written by Ares

Wednesday, 12 May 2010 06:10

From my original Top Ten Anticipated Books of 2010, I have read 7 so far (3A++, 1 A+, 2 A, 1 A-, no major disappointments) and the 8th (The Evolutionary Void/PF Hamilton) has just made its way to my house to be read asap; there is also more information available - including confirmation of publication for 2010 or of moving to 2011 - for some of the books in the extended Anticipated Books post, so I thought of doing a new post with the New Top 10 Expected Books which *I do not yet have* and which *are confirmed for 2010.*

While there are several debuts I am very interested in, I will not list them here since my record so far with predicting my degree of interest in such is mixed (see Tome of the Undergates vs The Last Page).

However since I loved Ms. Bernobich's collection "A Handful of Pearls" (FBC rv soon), I will make an exception for her debut which intrigues me a lot by its association with the Jacqueline Carey Kushiel series which is still my number one completed fantasy series of the 00's. I will cheat a bit and mention 14 novels since I cannot stop myself...

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1. The Horns of Ruin by Tim Akers (utterly loved Heart of Veridon, so Horns of Ruin is the one novel I give best odds to top The Folding Knife as #1 sff of the year for me now that the new IM Banks Culture is confirmed for 2011 as is the new Mary Gentle novel)

2. The Half Made World by Felix Gilman (now that the blurb is available in the Tor catalog(pdf file), this one is even more intriguing and I give it second best odds for #1)

3. Passion Play by Beth Bernobich (see above why)

4. Empire of Light by Gary Gibson (end of series and a dark horse for #1)

5. The Scarab Path by Adrian Tchaikovsky (beginning of new sub-arc in the Kinden series; hard to believe it will top the awesome Salute the Dark, but one can hope)

6. The Black Prism by Brent Weeks (still of great interest and very curious if Mr. Weeks can keep the freshness and exuberance of his debut trilogy)

7. Wintertide by Michael Sullivan (another #5 in a series like the Tchaikovsky novel above that will be hard pressed to top the awesome #4, in this case The Emerald Storm)

8. Empire by Steven Saylor (now confirmed for August; my favorite living non-sff author is always a must; I may do a dual review with its precursor Roma)

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9 (tie). Absorption by John Meaney (early reviews were somewhat mixed; on preorder from BD)

Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding (loved Retribution Falls, let's see if the author can keep the freshness and the pace)

Transformation Space by Marianne de Pierres (another end of series and a book that can get very high in my end of year lists)

The Immorality Engine by George Mann (cannot wait to see how the first arc of the Newbury/Hobbes series ends)

Skywatcher by Jon Connington (loved the author's debut quite unexpectedly a lot and I really, really want to see what's next)

The Blood of Alexandria by Richard Blake (same as above, except that this is book three in a pretty anachronistic series that nonetheless managed to hook me by the narration of its irrepressible and cynical (anti)hero and which I plan to review soon - for fantasy lovers, this series is what I imagine Joe Abercrombie would write as historical fiction)

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