For the past 5 years, we've been polling our SF Site readers annually to see what you thought were the best books of the previous year. Once again, it's time for you to make your voice heard in the grand democratic tradition. To save you the effort of "voting often" we're going to give you 10 votes all at once. Here's how it works...

What's Eligible for Your Vote

Any book is eligible for your vote, as long as

• it meets our definition of a "book",¹
• it can be reasonably considered to be in any way related to "speculative fiction",² and
• it appeared in 2003, either for the first time or in a new edition or reprint.³

2.  Related to "speculative fiction" means anything that could reasonably be said to be associated in some way with fiction of a speculative nature (including, but not limited to science fiction, fantasy, horror, historical fiction, and probably a large chunk of more mainstream fiction, too). By "related to" speculative fiction, we mean to include such non-fiction items as biographies, essays, speculative science writing, etc., as well as any sub-genre fiction or associated non-fiction.

3.  By "appeared in 2003" we mean that your chosen book must have been released in English in the 2003 calendar year, either for the first time, or as a new edition, or a reprint, or a new translation to English, or whatever.

How You Vote

• In an e-mail, list up to 10 of your favourite books of 2003, in your order of preference, with your top choice as #1, etc.
• Remember to clearly indicate your #1 choice, etc. as the votes are weighted according to your own personal ranking. If you didn't read 10 books worthy of inclusion, you are welcome to choose fewer than 10.
• Remember to list the title and author for each of your choices, or the specific issue (if applicable) when listing periodicals such as magazines or comic books.
• E-mail your list to vote2003@sfsite.com with "VOTE" in the subject line.
  Please don't forget to put "VOTE" in the subject line, or your e-mail will likely be mistaken for spam and be deleted unread.
• Each voter may vote one time only for up to 10 books. Ballot stuffers will simply have all of their votes disqualified.
• Deadline for voting is 13 February 2004 at midnight, Eastern Standard Time.

The Results, Future & Past

In the SF Site's Mid-February issue we'll provide you with the results of the SF Site Best Read of 2003 Top 10 list, as chosen by the SF Site editors and contributors. In the March issue, we'll post the results of the Readers' Choice Top 10 for 2003 so you can see how your choices measure up against the choices of our staff.

Have a look at the results from past years to see how the two lists compare.

Readers' Choice: Best Read of 2002 Readers' Choice: Best Read of 2001 Readers' Choice: Best Read of 2000 Readers' Choice: Best Read of 1999 Readers' Choice: Best Read of 1998

Best Read of the Year: 2002 Best Read of the Year: 2001 Best Read of the Year: 2000 Best Read of the Year: 1999 Best Read of the Year: 1998 Best Read of the Year: 1997

Since there's no list of nominations to choose from, you might want a few reminders of some of the great books that appeared in the past year. In that case, feel free to peruse the New Arrivals archive, linked below. Check out the pages listed under the 2003 column. These pages will assuredly not provide you with a complete list of books from 2003, but you may find it a useful starting point to refresh your memory.

Some of the Books of 2003

Over the years, I've read some really excellent books that I discovered as a result of the SF Site Readers' Choice lists, and I'm looking forward to seeing your recommendations for 2003. Thanks for your votes.