Top Five Fantasy of 2011?

[Suttree]

As the NY approaches, it's time for the Best of the Year lists to start coming out. So what were your top 5 fantasy novels for 2011?

 

My top 5 list...

 

1. "The White Luck Warrior"- R. Scott Bakker *This was #1 by a fair margin. It's fantasy that rewards careful reading and the literary quality holds up outside of genre.

 

2. "The Wise Man's Fear"- Pat Rothfuss

 

3. "A Dance with Dragons"- George R.R. Martin

 

4. "The Night Circus"- Erin Morgenstern

 

5. "Heroes"- Joe Abercrombie

 

Honorable Mentions: "Cold Commands"- Richard Morgan, "Dragons Path"- Daniel Abraham, "The Crippled God"- Steven Erikson

, "Sacred Band"- Daniel Durham, "The Iron Jackal"-Chris Wooding

 

Edit: Was corrected in ToM being a 2010 release. That moves Heroes into my top 5 and Jackal into my honorable mentions.

[Werthead]

1: The Islanders by Christopher Priest

2: The White Luck Warrior by R. Scott Bakker

3: The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

4: The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding

5: The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

6: The Cold Commands by Richard Morgan

7: A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

8: The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham

9: The Crippled God by Steven Erikson

10: Rivers of London/Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

 

Bubbling under:

 

Fenrir by M.D. Lachlan, The Book of Transformations by Mark Charan Newton, The Order of the Scales by Stephen Deas, The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.

 

Recommended SF:

 

1: Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds

2: Daylight on Iron Mountain by David Wingrove

3: Manhattan in Reverse by Peter F. Hamilton

4: War in Heaven by Gavin Smith

5: By Light Alone by Adam Roberts

[Sakaea]

1. A Dance With Dragons

2. 11/22/63 by Stephen King

3. Towers of Midnight

4. The Alloy of Law (even tho I haven't read it yet!)

Can't think of a 5th right now:-/

[WWWwombat]

A Dance With Dragons was underwhelming imo. Still in my top 5 for this year, but I was spoiled by the first 3 books =\

[Sakaea]

ADWD was different, but after waiting for it for 6 years, anything would be kind of underwhelming. It was still amazing tho

[Suttree]

ADWD was different, but after waiting for it for 6 years, anything would be kind of underwhelming. It was still amazing tho

 

The wait certainly didn't help. Nevertheless the writing was very good, it was a far better book than some give credit for.

[Guest PiotrekS]

ADWD was different, but after waiting for it for 6 years, anything would be kind of underwhelming. It was still amazing tho

 

The wait certainly didn't help. Nevertheless the writing was very good, it was a far better book than some give credit for.

 

The writing was good, I agree. But the book was underwhelming still. And a little too much repetitiveness crept into the writing. Where do the whores go? Yes, father. You know nothing, John Snow.

[Smittyphi]

Wasn't ToM released in 2010? Are you talking about release date or the ones you read in 2011?

[Suttree]

Wasn't ToM released in 2010? Are you talking about release date or the ones you read in 2011?

 

Yeah you're right, it came late enough in the year that I grouped it in with the others. My mistake, have corrected my rankings accordingly!

[Smittyphi]

Goodreads has their Goodreads Choice Awards Fantasy Category for anyone interested.

[hotpocket2006]

How is Inheritance on none of your lists? What is this world coming to?!? *shakes head*

[Werthead]

How is Inheritance on none of your lists? What is this world coming to?!? *shakes head*

 

ERAGON was one of the single worst novels I've ever tried to read in my entire life, so the chances of me reading through the rest of the series (which in fairness is meant to improve as it goes along) to get to INHERITANCE are 'slim' at best :)

[hotpocket2006]

I don't know if you caught my sarcasm, but my comment was meant to be oozing with it. I agree completely, though I had to read it for completions sake.

 

I am now on book 5 of Malazan, can't wait to get to actually finish a series that I have started without having to wait.

 

I also downloaded R Scott Bakker and Joe Abercrombie because of this thread ^^

[Suttree]

I also downloaded R Scott Bakker and Joe Abercrombie because of this thread ^^

 

Huge thumbs up on both!!!

[Suttree]

I forgot one good book from 2011 in my honorable mentions.

 

"Low Town" by Daniel Polansky

 

This is a very strong first novel, pretty unique and original. The atmosphere is great and you really get a feel for the city's seedy underbelly. It's fantasy with a crime novel/noir twist.