This novel is the direct sequel of The Sharing Knife, Book 1: Beguilement (Eos, October 2006), which received honourable mention on this list last year. Picking up where that story left off, Fawn and Dag are newly married with a magical blood-weave bond between them. However, being from different cultures, they face mundane but very real resentment and prejudice, and possible exile. Bujold offers magic, adventure, romance, and fully developed characters in a gripping sequel that points the way to further adventures in this world.

Last year the SF Site Readers chose The Lies of Locke Lamora, Book 1 of this series, as their number one favourite book of the year. Lynch's second book is likewise capturing the imagination of a huge number of readers. This time, Locke and his friend Jean Tannen are interrupted in their plans to swindle a Tal Verrar gambling operation when they find themselves taking to the high seas as pirates, in support of a clever con by the Archon of the city. Then Locke and Jean are captured by actual pirates. All in all, another enjoyable tale of rollicking adventures full of convoluted capers.

Wilson's Spin (Tor, April 2005) was the best thing I read in 2005. But don't take my word for it: Spin topped the SF Site Best of the Year, was #3 on the SF Site Readers' Choice Top 10, and won the Hugo Award for best novel. Axis is its sequel, and the second book of the trilogy. Equatoria is a world designed and engineered for humanity by the enigmatic Hypotheticals. And humanity undertakes the colonization and exploitation of this new world with all the intensity and determination you'd expect. Until something happens to turn this seeming paradise into something dangerously alien. Another page-turner from one of the smartest SF writers around.

Old Man's War (Tor, January 2005) was nominated for a Hugo. The sequel, The Ghost Brigades (Tor, February 2006), was number 10 on this list last year. This third book in the series has moved up in the estimation of SF Site Readers. I'm glad you're catching on, because Scalzi is certainly one sharp writer. In this novel, intergalactic politics take a back seat to the aspect of human relationships -- making for a very pushy back seat driver. John Perry has traded down for his third body, and is enjoying a peaceful retirement. That's soon interrupted when he agrees to lead a new colony, and becomes stranded on the wrong planet.

Rowling has created quite a phenomenon; even people who never read Young Adult fiction have been reading Harry Potter. Once you get hooked into the story, it's not hard to see why. In this final book, Harry and his friends have to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes of the evil Voldemort if they are to have any hope of defeating him. This is no easy task. In fact, it may not even be possible. But all Harry knows is that he has to try. For my money, The Deathly Hallows provides a fully satisfying conclusion to a thoroughly entertaining series.

Following on The Blade Itself (Gollancz, 2006), this novel is clearly the middle book in a series. But it's a series well worth following. The three main stories told in this volume follow Inquisitor Glotka in a city beseiged, West in his fight on behalf of the Union in the war in Angland, and Logan Ninefingers and the quest of the Bayaz to recover The Seed. This is addictive reading that should appeal to fans of George R.R. Martin. The third installment, The Last Argument of Kings, is coming from Gollancz in March 2008.

In this novel, Simmons takes the doomed Franklin expedition -- the 1845 search for the north-west passage -- as his backdrop for a novel of chilling suspense and, yes, terror. As the two ships of the expedition remain trapped in the ice for a second straight year, it falls to the captain of HMS Terror to lead the survivors on a desperate journey across the ice. But something more ominous than the freezing cold and the relentless ice and wind, more deadly than starvation, scurvy and madness, is stalking the ill-fated party, mutilating and devouring one victim after another...

This novel follows three stories in Brazil: one in present day; one 25 years in the future; and one 275 years in the past. It soon becomes apparent that these three different timelines are only a tiny fraction of the possible parallel worlds made accessible by a new technology. McDonald masterfully explores some key sfnal concepts and pivotal alternative science. Wrap your head around this book if you want to see what truly ingenious science fiction can look like.

This book made it to the number 2 slot and it's not even out in the US edition yet! In the latest chapter of this epic-scale fantasy series, Rhulad Sengar, the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths, is now the mad ruler of the Letherii Empire, and the Letherii secret police have initiated a campaign of terror against their own people. The Malazans have sent advance forces into Letheras to try to stir up the populace against their new oppressors. But somehow, in spite of their swift advance on the capital and successful guerrilla tactics, the Malazans aren't finding the local support they anticipated. My question is what they heck are they doing there in the first place? I guess we'll have to wait for the next book to find the answer to that and many other questions. As with the whole series, Reaper's Gale is full of adventure, conspiracy, humour, magic, warfare, and characters you genuinely want to spend time with.

This novel was the hands-down, no-contest winner this year -- the number 1 most highly recommended book from SF Site Readers. It's the first novel from Patrick Rothfuss, and it simply will not let the world ignore it.
  From the press release:

'I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me.'

So begins the tale of Kvothe - currently known as Kote, the unassuming innkeeper - from his childhood in a troupe of travelling players, through his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages you will come to know Kvothe the notorious magician, the accomplished thief, the masterful musician, the dragon-slayer, the legend-hunter, the lover, the thief and the infamous assassin.