The Best of 2011: Books

Now that the New Year is over with and things have had time to settle down, I figured I would go ahead and put up my Top 11 list of 2011. These are the the cream of the crop; the 11 titles that I enjoyed reading the most in 2011. This year I didn't get around to writing a review of everything that a read, let alone enjoyed, so this list might look a little different than the list of books that I reviewed in 2011.

Most all of the titles in this list, in one way or another, were published in 2011. For instance, Nate Southard's Just Like Hell was originally published a few years back as a limited edition, but this year Deadite Press re-released it in an affordable paperback, therefore counting as a 2011 release.

So, without further ado, here's my top 11 List of 2011:

1.) Every Shallow Cut - One of the most powerful pieces of work I've read in a long time. It's gritty, real, and has a razors edge to it that will cut you if you aren't careful. This is Picirilli at his best. It'll be interesting to see if Picirilli can top Every Shallow Cut with his forthcoming 2012 titles: What Makes You Die, which Pic has already stated is in the same vein as ESC. If you like Noir, and stories that don't have a happy ending, then this is your cup of tea. And it's a rather short read, which makes it even easier to digest. I knocked it out in only a few hours.

2.) The Wide Game - The debut novel of horror author Michael West. A writer, I think many don't have an eye on yet, but should, and soon will. A man who loves his cinematic horror, the knowledge and appreciation for the genre shine through in The Wide Game. Add to that beautifully written prose that will at once steal your breath, send a chill down your spine, and make you lose all track of time, The Wide Game takes the reader back to a time when horror was thriving. Back to a time where storytellers and Hollywood didn't rely on gratuitous violence and stupid gore to shock the connoisseur. Back to a time when this novel would have easily made the New York Times, and quite possibly rivaled the newest Stephen King title.

3.) Hard Spell - The first book in the Occult Crime Unit series by Justin Guistainis, Hard Spell is a hard hitting crime story wrapped in a balls-to-the-walls premise, masquerading as an urban fantasy detective story. If you like cops, vampires, and an author with a great sense of humor, then Hard Spell is definitely for you. As soon as I finished it, I was hooked and ready for more. I'm glad that the release of the next book in the series, Evil Dark, is only a few months away (April), otherwise I'd be having issues.

4.) Just Like Hell - One of the best novellas I read in 2011. So much of the literature that's crammed into the horror genre is nothing more than gore porn; written for the soul purpose of invoking shock and awe in the reader. It was refreshing to pick up a title that, although the cover would have you think otherwise, was nothing like what I thought it would be. "Don't judge a book by its cover," is I admit, exactly what I did. Luckily enough for me, I was proven wrong. There's nothing in life that's more shocking than the truth. Something that's surreal; vivid to the point of believing you saw it headlining the news. Just Like Hell was the read for me. More so than anything else I read in 2011.

5.) A Blight of Mages - One of the few books I read in 2011 that hit me emotionally, and made me think from start to finish. It wasn't until I read  A Blight of Mages, that the phrase: "respect isn't owed, it's earned," made sense to me, and since then it's taken on a personal meaning for me. Not many books in the past have made me think, or cared for the characters for that matter, as much as this novel did. The prequel to Miller's fantasy series Kingmaker, Kingbreaker, A Blight of Mages has spurred my interest even further for the 'first' book of the aforementioned duology. Which is on my TBR list for 2012. If Miller can do in the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker duology what she did in this novel, she'll not only have made an urban fantasy fan out of me, but a fantasy fan as well. Anything and everything I can get my hands on by her, I will.

6.) The Doctor and the Kid - The Doctor and the Kid picks up soon after the events in The Buntline Special. It's been a year since Doc Holliday fought alongside the Earp's at the O.K. Corral, and months since he tore across the Arizona Territory on Wyatt Earp's Vendetta Ride seeking vengeance for the assassination Morgan Earp.  From the very first word I knew that this book would be better than its predecessor, and fortunately enough, I was right. Mike Resnick manages to reinvent the gaps in Doc Holliday's life just enough to add in fantastic elements and re-write it enough to tell one hell of a good yarn. Where The Buntline Special focused on the Earp's, Masterson and the shootout at the O.K. Corral, The Doctor and the Kid focuses in on Doc Holliday, and his dealings with Billy the Kid. Throw in some shamanistic magic, steampunk gadgetry and a handful of awesome historical figures, and you've got my number six pick for Top 11 Books of 2011.

7.) Jack's Magic Beans - Alongside Just Like Hell by Nate Southard, is Brian Keene's novella, Jack's Magic Beans. After nearly five years of sitting unpublished (and me waiting), this delectable novella finally saw publication in 2011. When I heard that this was the case I immediately jumped on the chance to review it. Also published through Deadite Press, Jack's Magic Beans isn't just a novella; it's paired with a handful of short stories written by Brian Keene that although they don't really add anything to the main title, are nevertheless great nuggets for anyone wanting more Keene.

8.) The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson's triumphant return to the world he created in the Mistborn Trilogy. Set three hundred years in the future, everything that happened to the heroes in The Hero of Ages is now a form of religion. Wax, one of the few Allomantics who's a Twin Born returns home after twenty years in the Roughs. Forced to set his ways behind him and his guns aside, he's forced take on the family business much to the chagrin of himself and others. When the women he plans on marrying goes missing, Wax finds himself thrown into a web of mysteries that will change the city itself. Every bit of The Alloy of Law was fun, and I look forward to seeing what Sanderson writes next.

9.) Cinema of Shadows - 2011 saw not one, but two releases for horror author Michael West. Hot off the heels of his debut novel, The Wide Game, and a contract with Seventh Star for eight novels, Michael West returned in 2011 with his first release from Seventh, and the second book in his New Harmony series. Cinema of Shadows was everything that I could want in a ghost story: an intelligent professor with a sordid past, a group of teenagers searching for answers in a Ghost Adventures fashion, a haunted movie theater, a well paced story, and an exorcism from Hell. Plus a few familiar faces. Cinema of Shadows did not disappoint.

10.) Crab Town - Crab Town was my first official foray into the genre known as Bizarro. At first I wasn't sure what to expect, but after a long few weeks of doing some investigating, I finally decided on a Bizarro title to read. Crab Town is set in a post-apocalyptic future. One where radiation has poisoned the living, and balloon people are real. Carlton Mellick III manages to take a down right crazy assortment of ideas and make something intelligent and thought provoking out of it. Crab Town is the literary equivalent to the A-Team and Waterworld... minus the water.

11.) Devil Red - And last but not least is the newest entry in Joe R. Lansdale's Hap & Leonard series, Devil Red. With Devil Red Lansdale manages to keep all the familiarities of the past novels in tact,-- including Lansdale's memorable quick wit -- while subtly introducing hard cold realizations that will change the face of the Hap and Leonard's relationship, and their future as East Texas detectives. At first I wasn't sure how to react to Devil Red, but after several re-reads it all became clear. Here's the cover-flap description:

Hap Collins and Leonard Pine return in a red-hot, mayhem-fueled thriller to face a vampire cult, the Dixie Mafia, and the deadliest assassin they’ve ever encountered—Devil Red.

When their friend Marvin asks Hap and Leonard to look into a cold-case double homicide, they’re more than happy to play private investigators: they like trouble, and they especially like getting paid to find it. It turns out that both of the victims were set to inherit serious money, and one of them ran with a vampire cult. The more closely Hap and Leonard look over the crime-scene photos, the more they see, including the image of a red devil’s head painted on a tree. A little research turns up a slew of murders with that same fiendish signature. And if that’s not enough, Leonard has taken to wearing a deerstalker cap . . . Will this be the case that finally sends Hap over the edge?

Book Bombed! The Doctor and the Kid! Darkness Falling! Red Phoenix! The Complete Drive-In!

Thanks to Pyr Publishing, I've just been book bombed! Luckily enough I decided to eat lunch at home today, otherwise I would have been forced to wait for the UPS man to come back around.

Although it's not due to hit shelves until December, I have an ARC (advanced reader copy) of Mike Resnick's newest Weird West Tale, sitting on my bookshelf. I recently mentioned, in August's Updates and More, that the cover for The Doctor and the Kid had been released on the net, and now I'm happy to announce that there's a synopsis for those interested, as well. Here it is:

The time is 1882. With the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral behind him, the consumptive Doc Holliday makes his way to Deadwood, Colorado, with Kate Elder, where he plans to spend the rrest of his life, finally moving into the luxurious facility that specializes in his disease.

But one night he gets a little to drunk and loses everything he has at the gaming table. He realizes he needs to replenish his bankroll, and quickly, so that he can live out his days in comfort under medical care. He considers his options and hits upon the one most likely to produce income in a hurry: he'll use his skill as a shootist and turn bounty hunter.

The biggest reward is for the death of the young, twenty-year-old desperado known as Billy the Kid. With the enlisted aid of both magic (Geronimo) and science (Thomas Edison), Doc goes out after his quarry. He will hunt the Kid down, and either kill him and claim the reward or die in the process and at least end his own suffering.

But as he is soon to find out, nothing is as easy as it looks.

****

I was pleased to recieve an e-mail a few weeks ago from the kind folks at Angry Robot, that stated there were extra review copies of Peter Crowther's Darkness Falling. So, I didn't hesitate to grab a copy. Now I'm looking forward to grabbing enough alone time to devour it and let you all know how great it is! Here's the synopsis:

First the flash. A glare of light, just before dawn, followed by utter darkness. A vast blanketing darkness that covered the whole world.

The the dissapearances. Friends and strangers alike, swallowed by the darkness... and the returned, altered, changed.

For the people of Jesman's Bend, it feels like the end of the world. But this is only the very start.

File Under: Science Fiction [Zombie Apocalypse; Bodysnatchers; They Return]

 

****



Red Phoenix is the sequel to Kylie Chan's White Tiger, and the second book in the Dark Heaven's Trilogy. Halfway through the first book of this series, I have no doubt that Red Phoenix is a read I'm honestly looking forward to. Combining something that I haven't seen in recent past: Chinese Mythology and Urban Fantasy. Here's the Synopsis for Red Phoenix:

Immortals, martial arts, gods, and demons...

The intrigue deepens as the demon threat closes around mortals and gods alike.

When Emma Donahue took the position of nanny to John Chen's daughter Simone, she never expected to be caring for the child of a Chinese god, and she didn't expect that demons would want him dead. Nor has moving from nanny to partner in his heavenly realm made Emma's life any easier. Now a powerful race of demons has been created to hunt her and her family from Hong Kong to Europe. And she and Simone have become targets -- pawns to be used in a deadly celestial power play.

****

Last, but not least for this Book Bomb is the omnibus The Complete Drive-In by Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale. Several weeks ago, Mr. Lansdale ran a quick contest on his fan page over on Facebook, and lucky me, I was the first to respond with the correct answer. The person who could answer the question correctly won a free, signed book of their choosing by the Champion Mojo Storyteller himself. I chose The Complete Drive-In. Hopefully I'll be able to review it in the next couple of months. Here's the synopsis for those interested:

Friday night at the Orbit Drive-in: a circus of noise, sex, teenage hormones, B-movie blood, and popcorn. On a cool, crisp summer night, with the Texas stars shining down like rattlesnake eyes, movie-goers try to leave, their bodies dissolve into goo. Cowboys are reduced to tears. Lovers quarrel. Bikini clad women let their stomachs' sag, having lost the ambition to hold them in. The world outside the six monstrous screens fade to black while the movie-goers spiral into base humanity, resorting to fighting, murdering, crucifying, and cannibalizing to survive. Part dark comedy part horror show, Lansdale's cult Drive-In books are as shcoking and entertaining today as they were 20 years ago.

~Rodney

Updates and More: Black Prism. Roil. The Doctor and The Kid. White Tiger. Wizard Undercover. Farlander.

Here's another book update for those interested.

First up is Brent Weeks novel Black Prism, published through Orbit,  which will see an August 23rd release in paperback.

Here's the synopsis for Black Prism: Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live.

When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.

And for those who have an interest in book trailers, you're in luck! Below is the book trailer for Black Prism, one of the most badass book trailers I've seen in recent years:

I'm happy to announce that I'll be doing a review for Black Prism here in the next few weeks.

****

It seems as though the only thing Angry Robot Publishing has been capable of doing since letting their presence be known in speculative fiction, is finding authors with brilliant ideas and publishing them. They've managed to do it again with Trent Jamieson's Roil, book one of a two book series called The Nightbound Land. The release date for Roil is August 30th, when it'll be found on the shelves of your local book store.

Here's the gripping synopsis: Shale is dying. A vast, chaotic, monster-bearing storm known only as the Roil is expanding, consuming the land. The last humans are fighting back with ever more bizarre new machines, but the Roil seems unstoppable. Whole cities have been consumed -- where once there where twelve, only four remain.

It's up to a decadent wastrel, a four thousand year-old man, and a young woman bent on revenge, to try to save their city -- and the world.

I'll be posting a review for Roil soon.

****

After reading Mike Resnick's The Buntline Special earlier this year and loving it for the most part, I've been keeping my ears to the ground, waiting for news of a sequel to it. And sure enough, pictures of the cover for The Doctor and the Kid finally popped up on the web, with a now updated release date of December 20th of this year. 

There isn't much in the way for a synopsis or brief explanation for The Doctor and the Kid, thus far, except for this little nugget:

Doc Holliday needs to replenish his bankroll quickly and uses his skill as a shootist to turn bounty hunter. The biggest reward is for the death of Billy the Kid. Doc enlists the aid of both magic (Geronimo) and science (Thomas Edison).

Sadly, that's it for now. If it's not the first book I review for 2012, it'll probably be the last for 2011. Either way, expect a review.

****

One of the more recent procurements for my collection is Kylie Chan's White Tiger from Harper Voyager. From what I can tell, White Tiger is Urban Fantasy with an Asian twist. I'm looking forward to reviewing it.

It's slated for release on August 30th. For those interested, here's the synopsis:

Emma Donahoe has just started her new job as nanny to Simone, the daughter of John Chin, a very rich Hong Kong businessman.

She understands that Simone may be a target for kidnappers but she does not expect to be drawn into a world of martial arts, magic and extreme danger, where gods and demons can exist in the mortal domain.

When John and his American bodyguard, Leo, teach Emma their particular style of martial arts, they realize that Emma herself is more than she seems.

****

Here's another novel that I've been keeping my ear to the ground about. Originally it was slated for a September 27th release date according to Amazon.com only a month or so ago. Because of unfortunate health issues, K.E. Mills (Karen Miller) recently posted on her blog that Wizard Undercover, published through Orbit Publishing, has been pushed back until January of 2012. 

So, expect reviews posted for both Witches Incorporated, the second book in the Rogue Agent series, and Wizard Squared, the third book in the series, before the end of this year.

And of course, here's the synopsis for Wizard Undercover:

There may be trouble ahead...

Wedding bells are ringing for the constantly battling nations of Splotze and Borovnik, and the upcoming royal nuptials could at last put an end to their dangerous hostilities. But in a development that hardly bodes well, one of Gerald's fellow janitors goes missing -- after delivering a dire warning of danger surrounding the marriage treaty. So Gerald must embark on a dangerous mission to uncover the troublemakers, before wedded bliss becomes international war.

But going undercover isn't as easy as it looks, even with Melissande and Emmerabiblia for camuoflage. Soon Gerald finds himself fighting for his life as well as world peace.

****

To round out this awesome update list, I figured I would mention the paperback release of Colin Buchanan's Farlander, published by Tor, which hits shelves on the 30th of August. I was excited about it when it first came out in hardcover, and I'm even more excited about it coming out in paperback, because now I can afford it, which means I'll be doing a review for it in the near future! For those interested, here's the back cover blurb:

The Heart of the World is a land in strife. For fifty years the Holy Empire of Mann, an empire and religion born from a nihilistic urban cult, has been conquering nation after nation. Their leader, Holy Matriarch Sasheen, ruthlessly maintains control through her diplomats, priests trained as subtle predators.

Ash is a member of an elite group of assassins, the Roshun, who offer protection through the threat of vendetta. Forced by his ailing health to take an apprentice, he chooses Nico, a young man living in the besieged city of Bar-Khos. At the time, Nico finds himself hungry, desperate, and alone in a city that finds itself teetering on the brink.

When the Holy Matriarch's son murders a woman under the protection of the Roshun, he forces the sect to seek his life in retribution. As Ash and his apprentice set out to fulfill the Roshun orders, their journey takes them into the heart of the conflict between the Empire and the Free Ports... into bloodshed and death.

****

There's the roundup for now! Look for more reviews soon!

~Rodney

The Buntline Special Book Review

Title: The Buntline Special
Author: Mike Resnick
Publisher: Pyr Publishing
Pages: 321
ISBN: 9781616142490

The Buntline Special is the first book in a (hopefully) new series by world-renowned Science Fiction author Mike Resnick.

As 2011 kicks off and The Year of Steam begins, I figured why not start it with a book that I've been wanting to read for a while? Thanks to Pyr Publishing, I'm able to review this unique title. Not only did Pyr send me a copy of Buntline Special, but three other steampunk books that I can't wait to sink my teeth in to.

The Buntline Special is one of those books that's, to be perfectly blunt: beautiful. Not only in the cover design, but also in it's concept. It's set in a Tombstone where horseless stagecoaches carry passengers to-and-from; electric lights illuminate the city's streets; bionic and cyborg women tend to men's needs at Big Nose Kate's bordello; and the law (and Doc Holliday) are donned in extremely hard brass plate body armor and gattling styled handguns. It's a wild west where magic can transform a man into a giant bat, and bring a gunfighter back from the dead for one last shootout.

The year is 1881. The United States Government is expanding westward, sending Thomas Ava Edison to Tuscon, Arizona. Along with Ned Buntline, Cyborg Edison is charged with combating the deadly magic of Indian Chief and Medicine Man Geronimo. To protect them, the U.S. Government orders the Earp brothers -- Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan -- to guard them. But the Earp's enterouge increases as Wyatt calls in a few favors from his close friends Bat Masterson and the infamous and notorious Doc Holliday.

But Geronimo's not the Earp's only worries. Along the way the five men will face The Clanton's, and their hired gun: The Thing That Was Once Johnny Ringo, culminating and ending soon after the shoot out at the O.K. Corral.

I grew up on westerns, whether it be reading them or watching them on television with my father. One of my favorite western movies of all times, is Tombstone with Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer and Sam Elliot. The shoot out at the O.K. Corral has always fascinated me in some capacity as well, so naturally, this was an obvious pick for me when I first saw it on the shelf.

There are so many things that I thought were astounding with this book: the weaving of the steampunk elements into the tapestry of the old west, and the history of not only the shoot out of the O.K. Corral, but also the history of the territory, and most importantly the city itself: Tuscon, Arizona. And I particularly loved the twist on Johnny Ringo: a philosophical, well educated shootist turned zombie, and a borderline vampyric Bat Masterson.

As much as I liked The Buntline Special, there were several things that immediately screamed at me upon finishing the book. The language was too contemporary, and the plot holes where large enough that a tank could have been driven through them. And the ending felt like it was slapped on only for future sequel possibilities. The steampunk is definitely there, and it's enough to give this weird western novel a twist, but unfortunately that's it.

Overall, The Buntline Special was a good read; one that I enjoyed, and I know I'll be coming back to, especially if there are future sequels. If you are looking for heavy hitting literature with a steampunk twist, you might want to pass on this one, but if you are looking for one hell of a time, this is your ticket! I'm giving The Buntline Special 7.5 Goggles out of 10.


~Rodney