Best of 2007
complied by Greg L. Johnson
Here we are again, time to dig through a year's worth of reading and try to decide which books belong on the list of personal
favorites. All in all, Greg would say 2007 was a very good year, good enough so that the main problem was not in finding enough titles
to make the list, but instead the problem was cutting titles that in many other years would have been automatic inclusions.
Overlooked or Over-hyped?
a column by Neil Walsh
With the Great Reckoning behind him, Neil decided to start 2008 fresh with something he has been meaning to read for about 20
years now, 1984 by George Orwell.
And to balance this long-awaited classic, the other book is one he discovered in his stack, a copy of The Bear Went Over the
Mountain by William Kotzwinkle. He figured, what the hell, let's follow the bear over that mountain.
The Solaris Book of New Fantasy edited by George Mann
reviewed by Rich Horton
All lovers of short SF and Fantasy have been missing a regular series of unthemed
original anthologies, in the mode of Frederik Pohl's pioneering Star, Damon Knight's Orbit, Terry Carr's
Universe, Robert Silverberg's New Dimensions, and most recently, Patrick Nielsen Hayden's all too
short-lived Starlight. So it is delightful to see in 2007 the beginnings of no fewer than four such
series: Jonathan Strahan's Eclipse, Lou Anders's Fast Forward, and two separate books from Solaris,
edited by George
Mann: The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, and The Solaris Book of New Fantasy.
Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik
reviewed by Michael M Jones
After a near-epic journey halfway across the world to China and back, surviving adventures, treachery, and battles galore, Captain
Will Laurence and his dragon companion Temeraire thought they could settle back into something resembling a normal life. Normal,
that is, for life in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars. Unfortunately, they've returned to a nightmare: the dragons of England's
Aerial Corps lay sick and dying from a mysterious disease.
Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt
reviewed by Rich Horton
Marla Mason is the sorcerer who runs the Rust Belt town of Felport. But her rival, Susan Wellstone, plans an intricate
spell to overturn her, and Marla's only hope to foil her plans is to find a magical object called a Cornerstone. The
only one of which she is aware is in San Francisco, guarded by her old friend Lao Tsung. So she and her sidekick, a not quite
human young man called Rondeau, rush across the country -- only to learn that Lao Tsung has been killed, by a horde of
South American poison frogs.
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New Audiobooks
compiled by Susan Dunman
At times it's more convenient to use ears rather than eyes to experience the latest in science fiction and fantasy.
Recent audiobook releases include works by Kevin J. Anderson, Catherine Asaro, Kim Harrison, Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey.
Vote for SF Site's Readers' Choice Awards for 2007
2007 marks the 10th anniversary of the annual SF Site Readers' Choice Best of the Year Awards. For
the past 10 years, this has been the season when we solicit you, our faithful readers for your input on what
you thought were the best books you've read in the past year. We'll grind your votes through our top-of-the-line
super-secret vote-counting software, and post the results in February or early March.
If you've forgotten what you chose in previous years,
you can find them all linked at Best Read of the Year including
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch which was the top choice last year.
Moon Flights by Elizabeth Moon
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
This first collection is either an introduction to or a rediscovery of a writer who has firmly established herself as
a first-rate teller of tales ranging from humorous looks at life in medieval times to future military adventures, and even
a side-trip or two into just what makes an artist create, and how that creative process fits into a society that doesn't
always appreciate what's presented to it.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
With the dearth of SF on TV, Rick has some thoughts on Sunshine, a movie directed by Danny Boyle along with
the first two episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and how it fits into
the branches of the Terminator saga.
Dexter: Music from the Showtime Original Series
an audio review by David Maddox
Eerie, yet melodic, the original score to Showtime's hit series Dexter is as complex as the character
himself. The CD selection features a wide range of musical tracks from various versions of the main title theme to
Michael C. Hall's character interludes. There are some nice local musical numbers, featuring the Mambo All-Stars and even
an Andy Williams piece.
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