End of the year – my favourite five books of 2010

So, that time of year, that kind of post. Without further ado, my five most favouritest books I have read this year. And I haven't included books by either Samhain or Carina as that seems…incestuous lol. Or at least a bit of nepotism. But you should really check out their books, because there are some great ones there!

Hmm maybe this should be 'Top five books I've read this year I found in Waterstone's'. Note this does not mean they came out this year.

Anyway.

Number 5

Zoo City, Lauren Beukes

I thoroughly enjoyed this – a different setting (South Africa) a new take on fantasy (Getting lumbered with an animal if you are a bad boy/girl) and an MC I could really get behind. Nice and pacy, just enough description and a really great relationship between the MC and her man. I loved the way they talked to each other, sliding round what they really wanted to say and being snarky to avoid the issue. Kind of broke my heart a bit…I love books that do that. If you're after something a bit different from your usual Urban Fantasy, this is a very good bet.

4 – The Whale Road, Robert Low

Not a fantasy, but an historical, this was recommended to me when I started writing a book about Vikings, as it is superbly researched yet the research never gets in the way of a damn good story. It had me right from the opening paragraph, with its lyrical use of language evoking a time and place and a way of thinking that's so far from our own…and I was totally sold on the young hero who, having discovered the joys of women had to be 'saved from humping myself to death'. Orm is by turns full of bravado and close to peeing himself with fear, yet a deep thinker, trying to feel his way through the pitfalls of his society. I loved this book so much I went straight out and bought the sequel, the Wolf Sea, which was just as good.

3 – The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I don't know what genre this is, and I don't care. It's gothic, it's a mystery, an historical, hints of the fantastical – but all round bloody brilliant. Again, it invokes a time and place, almost effortlessly it seems, plunging me deep into Spain decades ago. The story unfolds a piece at a time, leading to a final deep sigh of contentment from me. Beautiful.

Now, for places 1 and 2, we have a tie. Two very different books, both superb examples of their type, both fantasy.

The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold. Yes, I know it's a couple of years old, but do you know how hard it is to get her stuff in Waterstone's? I can't even order in the sequel! Honestly, the guy behind he counter had never even heard of her. To be fair, he didn't know what a Hugo award was either. Anyway, this book is the sort where I read it and it's just so bloody good it briefly makes me want to give up writing. Threads are woven together with subtle expertise, the world-building is fantastic, the description flowing and not overblown, the MC is intelligent, not your typical hero, but so believable and likeable…

I love this book. Very hard indeed.

So what other book made a tie with it?

Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero, Dan Abnett

Now, I've been a fan of Abnett for a while. He's written a fair bit for Warhammer 40k (I'm a geek, sue me) and while it wasn't 100% my genre, I've admired the way he tells a story, and in particular, the skill he shows in writing a fight scene, something that is a bit of a rarity. But I didn't buy his book for me, I bought it for the Old man, who is a MASSIVE Abnett fan. Only Old Man kept giggling as he read it. So I snuck it off him and began to read it myself. And giggled too. This is Abnett channelling Pratchett, down to the little footnotes and sly references to the world we live in. Triumff himself is part rogue, part drunken idiot, slicing off a man's ear with a cabbage spoon when he can't get his Swiss Army Rapier to work properly. And above all, he's so very fun to read, chock full of action, cheesy jokes and sheer story.