Going through 51 weeks’ worth of reviews, one thought struck me above all others: “Geez, we covered a ton of books this year.” You’d think that’d make it difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, but no. These books below stuck out for a reason – click any of the links to read our original reviews.
Best in Fiction
For those of you among the BOOKGASM faithful, this should come as no surprise: Paul Malmont’s THE CHINATOWN DEATH CLOUD PERIL made our summer, and nothing else came close before or since. Paying tribute to pulp fiction in a literary style, Malmont excites while eliciting emotion – no easy task – and emerges with the year’s best made-up read, ironically about real-life writers most would think unworthy of such a showcase. Their loss, your gain. We simply cannot wait for Malmont’s next.
Runners-up: James Morrow’s criminally ignored bizarro fantasy THE LAST WITCHFINDER, Hard Case Crime’s one-two punch of Seymour Shubin’s WITNESS TO MYSELF and Max Allan Collins’ THE LAST QUARRY, David L. Robbins’ inexplicably overlooked thriller THE ASSASSINS GALLERY, Joseph Wambaugh’s welcome return with HOLLYWOOD STATION, Christopher Fowler’s addictive whodunit TEN SECOND STAIRCASE and Scott Smith’s horrific (in a bloody good way) THE RUINS.
{ 3 comments }
Because that pesky thing known as “making a living” prevents me from reading all day long, I can’t always get to everything I want. Such as these unlucky 13 novels, in no particular order other than their left-to-right position on my shelf, on which they sit, mocking me with their uncracked spines:
In this – 2006’s final monthly round-up of search terms that bring new 
2006 was a solid year for science fiction. The biggest story of the year, in my opinion, is Pyr’s rise to prominence as a high-quality sci-fi imprint. Pyr has managed to round up a stable of authors and titles that represents the cutting edge of sci-fi and backs it up with promotion and marketing that pretty much outdoes the other imprints out there. Bravo, Pyr. Here’s hoping for an even greater 2007. With that groveling out of the way, here’s the rundown of the five best sci-fi books I read this year:
