Gregory's second novel is a Philip K Dick Award nominee. It's "a story about quantum evolution, murder, and what it means to be human." A small town in the mountains of Tennessee suffered an epidemic some 13 years ago, leaving hundreds dead and many more transformed into one of three bizarrely alternate forms of humanity. No one ever discovered what caused this unprecedented disease or why it never spread. Eventually the quarantine on the town is lifted, and Pax Martin, who lived through and apparently was somehow immune to the Changes in this strange little town when he was only 15, has now returned for the funeral of the girl he once loved. Pax soon discovers that his hometown is not the place he remembers and the changed have some mysterious secrets which could have profound impacts on the future of humanity.

This book is also #4 on the SF Site Readers' Choice list for this year. Expanded from his 2007 Hugo-nominated novella, Julian: A Christmas Story, the novel is a story of a future America in which technology and values have reverted to those more closely resembling the 19th century. Religious freedom is severely limited, state censorship is the rule of the day, indentured servitude is the new norm, representation in the Senate is based on wealth and property, and the presidency is now hereditary. Julian Comstock is a free-thinking radical, who also happens to be the nephew of the current president. He befriends a young writer, and the pair travel, adventure in and explore the world, while Julian strives to make it a better place than he found it. Many years later, his writer friend will recount all these adventures -- but how much is truth, and how much is fiction?

This is the final book in a trilogy of trilogies, following the Dark Age and The Age of Misrule series, as well as books 1 & 2 of the current Kingdom of the Serpent series, Jack of Ravens (2006) and The Burning Man (2008). It is now the beginning of the end, for men as well as gods. Ancient prophecies are coming to pass and the final war is being waged in all realms -- Earth, Faerie, and the land of the dead. Jack Churchill, Champion of Existence, with an army of gods from all the pantheons of all the world's greatest mythologies, must bring battle to the gates of the Fortress of the Enemy in an effort to finally defeat the Burning Man. Or will this great endeavour cause the ultimate end of everything -- the very thing that Jack is trying to avert?

This book handily captured the #1 spot on the Readers's Choice list this time, and only very narrowly missed that same honour from the SF Site Contributors. The City is Beszel and the City is Ul Quoma. The two cities overlap physically, but are in different nations with different languages, customs, styles and laws. The ultimate crime in either city is to Breach -- to cross illegally from one to the other. But since citizens of each city may find themselves walking down two different streets that are in reality only one street, Breach could happen simply by acknowledging a citizen of the city you are not legally in. And acknowledgement can be as simple as reacting to a car backfiring, smiling at someone, or even to be caught seeing them. Life in this environment is very stressful, and particularly challenging for outsiders. Investigating a murder in which the victim is found in Beszel is complicated when it is discovered that the murder itself took place in Ul Quoma. Things get even more interesting when the victim is found to have been a foreigner researching the existence of an alleged third city that exists (if it exists at all) only in the in-between places, those zones that Ul Quoma and Beszel each believe to belong to the other...

Erikson has never yet disappointed. He set out with an ambitious plan for a 10-book series and his world-building, characterization, writing style, and publishing schedule have never faltered. This is the first book in the series to end without a proper ending. He has the good grace to apologize for this fact in an author's note, explaining that the present work is really only the first half of the final book, which will be completed in The Crippled God. Even though it was a close race this year, I think it shows our great faith in Erikson and the Malazan series that the SF Site Contributor's chose this half of a novel as the best book from 2009!

In this book, we return to the Letherii continent where the exiled Malazan army undertakes a gruelling march into the Wastelands. They're heading for what might be the fight to end all fights for the Malazans, although no one seems to really understand why or what to expect from their enemy -- except perhaps their leader, Adjunct Tavore Paran. Events "are drawing to a close in a distant place, beneath indifferent skies, as the last great army of the Malazan Empire seeks a final battle in the name of redemption. Final questions remain to be answered: can one's deeds be heroic when no one is there to see it? Can that which is unwitnessed forever change the world? The answers await the Bonehunters, beyond the Wastelands."

If you haven't already, pick up this series, starting with Gardens of the Moon (1999). It's certainly one of the best fantasy series you'll read.