TEN AND ONE TO GROW ON

MY BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

By John Clark

I read to be entertained because life is too short to struggle through any book when the others stacked beside my bed whisper to me as soon as the light goes out. Thus I read very little nonfiction, something that horrifies many of my friends.

When I put my list together, I realized it would be next to impossible to write about these books without noting other works by the same authors. Once I’ve finished a good read, I tend to devour everything by the same writer.

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke (reviewed in Wolf Moon Press Journal earlier this year) was a well-written and immersive book about children living on their own in Venice. Easier to read than Inkheart, it got me emotionally involved with the characters right off the bat. Cornelia Funke’s earlier work, Dragon Rider, recently released in the U.S., is a fun read as well but is geared at a slightly younger audience.

The Singer of All Songs, by Kate Constable, is one of two on this list that were written by Australians. It tells the story of Calwyn, a young priestess of ice magic and a beekeeper, who befriends Darrow, a chanter of iron. He has been gravely injured by a former friend, Samis, who is intent upon mastering the nine powers that, when combined, will allow him to dominate the disparate kingdoms of their world.

I liked the flow of action throughout the story as well as the development and interaction between Calwyn and Darrow, as well as Tonno and Xanni, two brothers whose aid Calwyn and Darrow enlist in order to escape from Samis. Two sequels will be released in March and April of 2005, and I have preordered both of them.

Tamora Pierce’s Trickster’s Choice and Trickster’s Queen are like the cherries on top of a truly decadent sundae. I was introduced to Tamora’s work after meeting her at BOSCON last February in Boston. I came home, read the first book in her Alanna series and was hooked. Since then, I have read everything she has written and there wasn’t a dud in the lot. I’m living proof that guys can really get off on reading young adult (YA) books about female heroes that kick butt.

I note the above two titles as they are her most recent and follow the adventures of Alanna’s daughter Alianne when she is captured by pirates and sold into slavery. Both books are a very smooth blend of action and intrigue. Trickster’s Queen surprised me with its flow, because much of the book deals with Aly’s role in directing a network of spies and rebels in their attempt to overthrow the evil ruler through secret meetings. Besides, what other book features a man who is really a crow…or is he?

The biggest surprise of 2004 (and one I will be reviewing in depth next month) is Stephen Donaldson’s The Runes of the Earth: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Book 1. The original six books, published between 1977 and 1983, had a greater effect on me and my writing than any others. They were my Lord of the Rings. When I finished Book 6, I cried, and like a large number of other fans of the series, I felt an emptiness at their conclusion.

When I discovered a short while ago that Stephen had finally begun writing the final installment, I was so excited I went to a local bookstore just so I could hold the book. I read it last month and am now listening to it on unabridged audio. I will save my description and synopsis for next month. Suffice to say that The Runes of the Earth will not disappoint any Covenant fans, nor should it force newcomers to the “Land” to read the first two trilogies before reading this book. Best of all, there are three more coming!

T. A. Barron’s first installment in his new trilogy, The Great Tree of Avalon (reviewed in Wolf Moon this month), is a fine, smooth fantasy. If you love the Arthurian legends, or are looking for a great book to read aloud as a family on cold winter nights, look no further, and remember to read the The Lost Years of Merlin series once you are done.

David Gemmell’s works came to my attention when my brother-in-law gave me a big box of paperbacks. As I was browsing through them, I noticed several by this British author whose photo looked like something right out of a 50s pulp fiction novel.

I started reading one, and, before I knew it, I had devoured everything in the box and was borrowing other titles through interlibrary loan. I now preorder anything Gemmell writes as soon as I know about it.

Swords of Night and Day came out earlier this year and is a perfect example of Gemmell’s work: a big bruising protagonist, adept at swordplay and unafraid to die, but with a refreshingly sardonic way of looking at his own mortality.

David Gemmell’s books are “same old, same old” in the way that your favorite baseball team or restaurant is familiar—welcoming and comfortable. They are all set in quasi postapocalyptic worlds where much of the magic seems to come from crystals that may or may not be remnants of a nuclear holocaust. They aren’t for everyone, but I find them to be deceptively well written.

In 1997, I won three books from Virgin Publishing as part of their promotion to introduce a new line of fantasy/science fiction paperbacks. Two of them were barely worth reading, but the third, Havenstar, by an Australian named Glenda Noramly, was one of the neatest fantasy novels I read in the 1990s. After finishing it, I contacted her and inquired whether any more books were forthcoming. She replied that Virgin was ceasing their publishing venture and her agent wasn’t having any luck placing new work with other publishers. I expressed my condolences and life went on.

Earlier this year, I remembered Havenstar and did an online search. Much to my delight, I discovered that Glenda Larke, as she now calls herself, had two books out in the Australian market: The Aware and Gilfeather, which were parts one and two in a series called The Isles of Glory. I ordered them from her Scottish distributor and read them all. They are extremely well written, even better than Havenstar.

Blaze, the protagonist in both books, is a half-breed. Ineligible for citizenship because of the circumstances of her birth, she has been chasing that particular carrot for nearly twenty years in service to a rather unsavory fellow who is high up in the ruling race.

The books use a very effective introductory tool—a series of letters between researcher Iso Fabold, a cultural anthropologist, and his uncle. In the letters, Iso attempts to explain the culture and history of the Glory Isles, ostensibly through Blaze as she reminisces about her experiences on Gorthan Spit, her bittersweet love affair with Tor, a Menod priest, and her tortuous friendship with Flame, the kidnapped daughter of a noble who rules an isle rich in something the evil one in the book very much wants.

Blaze is one of the strongest and fully formed female characters in recent memory. The physical description of the realms, the action in both books, and the way magic, particularly dunmagik, is used all make for captivating reading. The third book in the series, The Tainted, was released in Australia last month. I’ve ordered a copy and can’t wait. The trilogy is scheduled for U.S. publication by the Penguin subsidiary Ace Books in late March.

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child began writing cooperatively with the publication of Relic in 1995. When I read it, I kept waiting for it to fall apart because I couldn’t imagine two writers collaborating on a thriller. I’ve long since ceased expecting their work to disintegrate. While this year’s effort, Brimstone, is a bit over the top, it still made my best of the year list as did Death Match, a separate book by Lincoln Child that is a terrific “what if” about the ultimate computer dating service.

Brimstone is the third book that features one of the oddest characters in the thriller genre—FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast. Before you read it, I strongly suggest you go back and start with Relic and read through the lot. Local readers will particularly like Riptide, which takes the legend of the Oak Island, Nova Scotia, money pit and moves it off the Maine Coast.

Finally, William Kent Krueger’s The Devil’s Bed, reviewed earlier this year was a dandy, tightly written thriller. If you didn’t read it after my review, there’s still time.

The best book I didn’t read in 2004 has to be Beautiful Ghosts by Eliot Pattison. This is the fourth book featuring Shan Tao Yun, former Red Chinese official, sent to a Tibetan prison camp for being too honest. I bought it back in April when it came out but haven’t decided to burrow in. My reluctance has nothing to do with the quality of the book. All of Pattison’s work is excellent but extremely complex. I’m saving it for a three-day blizzard with downed phone lines.

 

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