by Terry Pratchett
Wow.
Pterry's books just keep getting better. This one moved me to jaw-gaping mind-boggled suspense on several occasions and almost made me cry about three times. But then, I'm a huge sucker for Sam Vimes.
My only gripe is that he's coming perilously close to making Ankh-Morpork too techie. I suspect that a subway is in the city's future, and ... I'm with Sam, sometimes I miss the days when it was just the four men of the Watch vs. the Dragon. There was a lot more Vetinari in the books back then, for one thing.
I did very much enjoy getting to learn more about Troll culture, however. That's one thing that's been largely (heh) overlooked in the books so far. And the Dwarf creation myth! Wow! Very apt, perfectly designed for their mindset. Pterry = genius.
I was very sad when the book ended, and not just because I didn't want it to end. I want so very much to be able to write as well as Pterry. SO MUCH! But I suspect that a big part of his secret is that he's just lived and written a lot, and observed human nature close-up. One more reason to make sure I don't get hit by a bus, and to keep writing, I guess.
(Book 28 in 2005)
by Steven Brust
I am so crushed that this ends sounding like it's the last Phoenix Guards book he will write. I seriously hope that's not the case and that there will be another book after this one.
Brust's Dumas-style high fantasy novels are a joy -- provided you like Alexandre Dumas's writing style. If you don't, the books will probably seem terribly bloated. I mean, these people talk like this:
"I do not understand what you have done me the honor of saying."
and:
"I believe we are about to have the honor of charging you."
And the narration is even more wordy. But it's a wordiness that is pleasurable, like satin sheets or rich chocolate. Brust has brought this huge, complicated world to life, and while it's the same world inhabited by the characters of his Vlad Taltos books, it's even cooler because of the way he writes about it.
And I love the characters. LOVE!
But don't start here. Get The Phoenix Guards and 500 Years After and start with them. THEN you can read the huge, multi-volumen epic that culminates with Sethra Lavode.
(Book 27 in 2005)
by Neil Gaiman
Man. I have the biggest literary crush on Neil Gaiman. Seriously. So big. The man is the god of my idolatry in the fantasy/horror novel/short story/graphic novel/comic book realm. I want to have a long, heated, passionate conversation with him and produce books that are his babies.
OK, maybe I'm slipping into hyperbole here, but believe me when I say this: Anansi Boys is an incredibly good book. It's about what happens when a god dies (Anansi the Spider, that is. Had a heart attack while singing karaoke) and his two sons have to deal with the fallout of not only his death but learning about each other. The more normal son, Fat Charlie, is brilliant - he's terminally embarassed by his father, and Gaiman writes it beautifully.
Plus, what happens when Fat Charlie gets fed up with his brother (who inherited a lot of their father's qualities and therefore upsets Charlie to no end) and tries to get rid of him is just... just... awesome. Charlie rocks. Spider, his brother, rocks. Anansi rocks.
This isn't a sequel to American Gods, but it takes place in the same world and is at least as good.
(Book 26 in 2005)