Reviewing my Best of 2007 list

Jeff VanderMeer's recent Omnivoracious post about the "conventionality" of the just-announced World Fantasy Award finalists, with his suggestions for alternates that he felt were as good as the books named, reminded me to look back at my late December 2007 post that named what I felt were the Best 2007 releases that I had read by then.

Out of the three major American-oriented SF Awards (Nebulas, Hugos, WFA), I had two of their combined Best Novel finalists in my Top 12, Nalo Hopkinson's The New Moon's Arms (Nebula) and Emma Bull's Territory (WFA). In addition, Shaun Tan's The Arrival was nominated for a Hugo for Best Related Book, Tim Pratt's Hart & Boot & Other Stories received a WFA nomination for Best Collection, and the John Klima-edited Logorrhea also was nominated for a WFA in the Best Anthology collection.

Not too shabby, I suppose, and if I had read Michael Chabon's Nebula winning and Hugo nominated The Yiddish Policemen's Union in 2007, it likely would have been added to the list. However, of the books on those lists that I have read, the majority of those wouldn't have come close to being on that list of mine; they were mostly solid, but rather pedestrian in feel compared to the ones I chose. What I found interesting about VanderMeer's suggested alternatives was that in virtually every case, I had either read the book and had it either in my top 12 or on the "next 10" or I read it earlier this year and enjoyed it enough that I likely would have had it on either one of my two lists. I still have to read Daniel Abraham's A Betrayal in Winter, John Crowley's Endless Things (have the book, but I am waiting for the revised editions for the other Ægypt novels to be released first), and Paul Park's Roumania novels. I have read the first in each of their series and each was a joy to read, so I do have high hopes for the sequels.

Shall be quite interesting to see how my upcoming Best of 2008 lists will rank with the nominees for next year's awards.