Was curious just now about how much tastes can change over time and how much overlap there can be when a moment is captured through the lens of various people. Did a quick search through the blogs in my blogroll that I was certain were active in 2007 and I found six Best of 2007 lists, as well as the series of posts I made that year. Thought it'd be neat to see what I'd change and where certain authors/books stood in 2007:
My lists, broken down into many posts covering various categories
Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Neth Space
Adventures in Reading
Fantasy Book Critic
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
The Wertzone
Looking at my own list, I wouldn't replace any of them, but I would add Ekaterina Sedia's The Secret History of Moscow, Theodora Goss's In the Forest of Forgetting for the story collection section, and Christopher Barzak's One for Sorrow in the debut novel category. None of my overall Top 3 would change, that's for certain and there would be only minor shuffling among the rest of the Top 12 (13 now).
Take a glance at my lists and the ones that other bloggers did back in 2007. Which books do you think were the strongest then, as of today? Have your opinions of these authors shifted over time? If so, how?
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After looking through the posts - Books I hadn't read at the time, but would consider for inclusion now:
Ysabel, by GGK
Territory, by Emma Bull
Before They Are Hanged, by Joe Abercrombie
Inside Straight, by GRRM
Under My Roof, by Nick Mamatas
A Companion to Wolves, by Monette and Bear
When I put together my lists I always feel the lack of what I haven't yet read. I don't know that all of these would have made my final list, but I think the GGK and Emma Bull novels would have, and the Monette / Bear team up definitely would have.
Odd how much it seems like I just read these books yesterday: http://www.readingtheleaves.com/bestbooks2007 The two that are on my list that seems to have the most staying power are Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind and Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. (I believe the latter had actually been published a year or two before, but I don't calculate my lists based on when a book was published; I count those books I've read in a given year.)
Also interesting: I counted Ysabel as one of the greatest disappointments of the year. I'd grown to expect more of Kay -- and I'm hoping his new book, which should arrive this week, will fulfill my (perhaps inflated) expectations.
I just put up commentary on Ysabel last week. I felt it went, 'splat' as well, but it was fun while it lasted.
ahhh...memories
I remember 2007 was a weak year for new releases for me - eg Brasyl stylistically good, fell apart sfnally badly, Black Man was Morgan in repetition mode, recycling all his twists from the Kovacs series, the Lynch novel read better first time on the "remembrances" of his debut, but now I think it weak, I liked Acacia and the Name of the Wind but none blew me away, same with the Void 1 or The Prefect, so overall Before They Are Hanged and The Mirador were my top fantasies and Stealing Light my top sf
In retrospect Off Armageddon Reef which I liked a lot at the time but got to appreciate way more when the series started developing in the currently leading one for me, could have been my number one , while Feast of Souls also improved a lot for me as time went by but I still am waiting for the reasoning behind the mages meekness toward the secular powers that the author said will touch in the trilogy ending
In retrospect, I probably wouldn't change any of my choices. Of course, we all evolve as readers. Hence, reading the same books today could result in a different take.
But that's the way love goes, right!?!=)
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