This year I read 111 books, novelettes,
graphic novels, or SF magazines, with a total of 29,784 pages. It was a
good year for new releases, and I intend to focus on retro reads next
year. Joining for the third annual Favorite Reads podcast is Judge Marc
Rothenberg. We finally got on board with reading some of the same books
so this is a long one.
Podcast about favorite reads 2023
Video of the same podcast
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There is an episode that I reviewed most
of the books I read: Podcast where I reviewed every book I read in 2023
Best reads
of 2023!!!
1. The
Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
Nayler’s
combination of SF fandom, knowledge of science, and intergovernmental
experience created a literary unicorn. One unbelievable alchemy of thought and
talent spit out this incredible masterpiece that shook me to my core. The
Mountain in the Sea was preaching to the choir with me, I already shared many
of the views that came across, but it was a beautiful feeling to read it. A
science fiction novel that had so much to say is not rare but one that does it
with skill, style, and heart in equal measure is a pretty special treat.
2. Infinity
Gate by MR Carey
A space
opera that never leaves earth. One of the things that makes a Dune, Thrones
Trek, or Wars franchise so vast and effective is the scope. MRC by creating this multiverse model and
with the Pandominion MRC has created a galaxy. For this novel and his
characters to encounter his version of Klingons, Borg, or The Empire his
characters never have to leave Earth. He can build a thousand worlds and
species all on earth.
It is an
absolute narrative magic trick to develop a universe in 500 pages that feels as
lived in as any franchise with decades of world-building.
3. Meru by
S.B. Divya
Meru is
more than just a science fiction story, Diviya has stated in interviews that is
wanted to point to a future where survival of species happened. She was resisting the many negative dystopias
that the genre is overflowing with. That doesn't mean she is blind to the risk
we face in the future. in Meru salvation comes in the form of humanity's
evolution into alloys something led by technology.
4. Neom by
Lavie Tidhar
In the
Golden Age this was a tactic that was required of authors, but it is a rare
tactic now. Neom is more interconnected but that golden age feeling filled me
with joy while reading. In the afterword, Lavie points to Cordwainer Smith as a
major influence but the Dickian vibe drips off the page. I want to point out I
don’t make PKD comparisons lightly, there are lots of works influenced by PKD
movies. The things that make his books Dickian are things only true Dickheads
will pick up. The half-step off reality that comes close to satire. The humor
is a key element of this. The themes of religion, and reality in the mirror
reflected from this future is what PKD did so well.
5.Whalefall
by Daniel Kraus
So the
first question I have to answer. Is the hype real? One hundred pages and I was hooked and having
the same problem putting it down. Whalefall keeps you engaged and turning pages
for a variety of reasons. As crazy as the set-up, Jay our hero's survival
minute to minute is so impossible that shutting the book gets harder as the
story goes. A preposterous concept so well executed it is Incredible. One of
the best horror novels of the year, and this year has had some great stuff.
6. The Future
is Female Vol 2 edited by Lisa Yaszek
These are
stories of second-wave feminism, they explore environmentalism, post-male
societies, first menstruation, and the nitty-gritty of being a woman. Common in
fiction now, to find fiction about the experience of women, but sadly
revolutionary in a genre that fairly or unfairly is painted as a boy's club at
the time. Yaszek's books make clear women were ALWAYS there.
7. Vertical
by Cody Goodfellow
this would
make an incredible movie, just like the scene of Tom Cruise hanging off the
building of Mission Impossible was nail-biting, a whole movie of it done right
could be crazy good. We don’t need to wait for it. We have to story already
playing out in this novel with the unlimited budget of your imagination. Cody
Goodfellow is a wordsmith hell-bent on giving you the literary feeling of
looking over the of high-up building. Now imagine that building starting to
crumble apart. Vertical is an action thriller that works on the page.
8. Boys in
the Valley by Philip Fracassi
Boys in
the Valley will be one of my top reads of the year. I respect Philip Fracassi's
work ethic on the page and in the world. The passion for writing and creation
shows up on his tour but most importantly it shows up in every page of his
work. Boys in the Valley has everything it needs to become a bonafide
historical horror classic
9. Suborbital7 by John Shirley
This novel
is Apollo 13 meets Blackhawk Down."
This description of Suborbital7 is an absolute go-order for me as a
movie. I can immediately see that concept working as a movie. As a novel, the
concept is all in the execution as a novelist has to get details, upon details
right. It has to be well-researched and written with a certain power.
10. Dreck by
Cliff Jones Jr.
Dreck
blurs the lines. “Dreck: Part Drug, part nanotech, part biological material…all
the taste and appearance of black strap molasses.” It may be that I know Cliff is a PKD fan but there sly easter egg-ish references
to a fictional Phil. I am not complaining this is a feature, not a bug. I would
say Dreck: Part Surreal, Part humor, part science fictional material… all the
taste and appearance of a PKD nightmare all wrapped into a unique and modern
voice. Is it dreampunk? If Cliff says so I can live with the label because I
was a big fan of this novel.
Honorable
mentions:
The
Terraformers by Annalee Newitz
Earthdivers
(Graphic novel) by Stephen Graham Jones
Juicy
Ghosts by Rudy Rucker
Head
Cleaner By David James Keaton
No Gods
for Drowning by Hailey Piper
Never
Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology Edited by Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Retro-Reads:
False Dawn
by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro One of the great
features of this novel is there is no sense ever that people are coming
together to rebuild, or even put together a small community. People are fucked,
they will stay fucked, and if you are lucky you might get a few weeks hiding in
a house eating canned foods or hunting skinny, dying animals who are fewer and
fewer in between. Hope is not a thing.
In the
bleakest Meet-cute in the history of stories, Thea runs into a former pirate
who is running away from his old gang with his gang-greening cut-off arm pinned
to his jacket.
The Word
for World Is Forest Ursula K. Le Guin
Demons by John Shirley
Homage to
Catalonia by George Orwell
Worst read
of the year:
Point
Ultimate by Jerry Sohl : Sohl didn’t think we were going to party like it was
1999, he thought we would be living plague ravaged communist dystopia. None the
less Bantam put on the cover “1999 - incredible and prophetic - the story of a
U.S.A. conquered and Freedom from the Stars.”
Yes, this novel about a communist dystopia is like a Q message board, or
a Fox news segment woven into a goofy 50 SF narrative featuring Robot waiters,
bartenders , flying cars, and motor vehicles called Turbos because the future.
PKD:
The Divine
Invasion
Non-fiction
reads
The Heat
Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell this
is the most important book of the year, maybe the century so far. Kim Stanley
Robinson’s Ministry of the Future made the same point. If you don’t want your
desperate pleas for action in your own self-interest to keep the world
sustainable for your children to have science-fictional aspects then here are
the facts. Told with personal stories of travels in the warming Arctic, the
story of the mother who baked to death in her apartment, and young families who
were fried to death on the hiking trails serve as a wake-up call that will not
get the attention that T-swift got for going to a football game.
After
Engulfment: Cosmicism and Neocosmicism in H. P. Lovecraft, Philip K. Dick,
Robert A. Heinlein, and Frank Herbert by Ellen J Greenham
The Milky
Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy Moiya McTier
Writers of
the 21st Century Philip K. Dick Edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Joseph D.
Olander
