Lincoln Crisler

I’ve read quite a few of these lists in the last couple weeks from fellow writers and reviewers, so I figured I’d spread some love around, too. I read easily over a hundred books in 2009, and reviewed at least 25% of them here on this website. Outside of the first entry, none of these are ranked in any particular order. They all came out in 2009, except for the honorable mention.

SQUEE OF THE YEAR:  Cherie Priest’s BONESHAKER. Steampunk and zombies against a lavishly-described alternate-Seattle backdrop. Best of all, there’s more coming. If I could buy a copy of this for every genre fan in the world, I’m pretty sure I would. Don’t take my word for it, though: you can read an excerpt here.

THE REST OF THE BEST:

1. Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard Book. I haven’t read too many books that seem geared towards young adults that satisfy me (read: Twilight series), but this one makes the cut. It’s entertaining and will make a great movie adaptation, as well.
2. Jeremy Shipp’s Cursed. Usually, when I can’t make complete sense out of a book, it’s time to leave it laying around on a table for someone else to pick up and enjoy (he said, diplomatically). When Shipp does it, though, I just know it’s because he’s seeing something that’s there, but out of my grasp. Thoroughly entertaining, and one of the most unique voices you’ll find anywhere.
3. Jeff Strand’s Pressure. I was waiting for this book for months, and I was NOT disappointed. This was my first Strand book, so I had the pleasure of reading this without expecting it to be funny (something I’m not particularly into; I take my horror seriously). There’s a little humor, an intense storyline and a bit of heart-wrenching. I’m a Strand fan for life because of this book.
4. John Everson’s Sacrifice. Plain and simple; John Everson has never let me down. The sequel to Covenant has gore, sex and a hint of forbidden fruit. I’m warning you though; you’re going to want more after this, and it might not come as soon as you or I would like. Don’t let that keep you away.
5. Michele Lee’s Rot. Though some definitely do it better than others, I’m starting to think that any random writer can crank out a zombie book (to include myself!). Lee’s novella stands dismembered head and shoulders above the pack, however. She approaches the story from a human angle, with just a few characters that you can really feel for, and none of the ZOMG! IT’S THE APOCALYPSE! stuff we’re so familiar with.

HONORABLE MENTION: Wrath James White’s Succulent Prey didn’t make the cut because it came out in November ’08, but this is hands-down the most disturbing book I’ve read. Ever. It’s horrid, revolting and graphic as Hell; stay far away from it if you’re not into extreme horror. However, if you like your stories (and gore aside, it is a great story) to stick with you long after you close the book, this would be the one. I could write my Master’s thesis on how spectacular this book is.

UPDATE: If you’d like to view this or pass it around to your friends as an Amazon List, you can do so here. ROT will be missing though, since Amazon doesn’t carry it.

I’ll lead this review off with the comment I left on Ms. Priest’s blog post on the TOR website immediately after receiving Boneshaker in the mail:

Got my copy in the mail today!! SQUEEEE! And I’m totally blowing off everything in my TBR pile after finishing the one review I’ve obligated myself to. SQUEEEEE!!

Oh, and before I forget…

SQUEE.  

The easiest way to describe Boneshaker is to say that I read it in less than three days. I usually save my reading for work or the bus ride there and back, but I read this one during my downtime as well. I didn’t remember to download the new episodes of Dexter and Heroes until Wednesday. And the squee never stopped.

Boneshaker is set in an alternate version of Seattle around 1880. The Civil War is still dragging out back East, and the western frontier is more heavily populated than during our history due to the Klondike gold rush happening sooner. A twisted scientist is hired to create a machine to break through the Alaskan ice for gold, and things go awry, devastating Seattle and releasing a poisonous, zombie-creating gas from beneath the Earth’s surface.

Enter Briar Wilkes, the widow of the aforementioned mad doctor, and their teenage son, Ezekiel. Sixteen years after the disaster that ended in two square miles of zombie-infested Seattle being walled off, Zeke figures he can prove his father’s innocence by crawling under the wall and into the city his parents used to call home. Briar chases after, resulting in a nonstop adventure garnished with lavish imagery, clever inventions, steampunk technology, airships, pirates and the living dead.

I fell in absolute LUST with Boneshaker a month before it’s release, at http://theclockworkcentury.com/. You can read a short story set in Priest’s steampunk universe, an excerpt from Boneshaker, and catch news and updates on related projects, to include the upcoming novella, Clementine, and the sequel to Boneshaker, Dreadnought.

5,000,123,890/10. There’s still a couple months to go, but this might be the best book I’ve read in 2009.