SciFiChick’s Best of 09
The SciFiChick has posted her Best of 09 list, and out of 143 books read, Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Diving into the Wreck
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Best of
SF Reviews.net chooses its Publisher of the Decade 2000-2009
SF Reviews.net chooses its Publisher of the Decade 2000-2009. Thomas M. Wagner writes:
…if I had to boil it all down to one, there has been an imprint whose output and dedication has impressed me — not necessarily more than all the others, but in a way that has made them stand out boldly in a publishing field often marked by conservative (if not outright craven), bottom-line-driven choices. And that would be these folks.
Some of the many nice things Thomas M Wagner says about us are…
Pyr has risen in about 5 years to becoming one of the genre’s true successful stories.
And most commendably, Anders has done this by bucking conventional wisdom at every turn, choosing a merit-based strategy for the books he adds to Pyr’s catalog that has skirted the easy paths to bestsellerdom that bigger publishers, with their higher overhead, find it hard to ignore. If Lou thinks the book is really really good, it’s in, pretty much….
…I have no end of admiration for what he’s doing with Pyr instead. It’s all down to writers and their original works. He’s making it Pyr’s business to import talented names from outside the US, who have until now found it hard to get a toehold in the US market. He’s kept the careers of hard SF writers like Paul McAuley
and humanist SF writers like Kay Kenyon
afloat, publishing some of their career-best work. He’s revived the occasional lost nugget of obscure genius, like Jack Dann’s The Man Who Melted
…. And the quality bar has been uniformly high in a way that most publishers can only dream of.
So with all of my love for all my other publishers out there in the open, and without taking anything away from them, allow me to anoint with my mighty +4 sword of critical mightiness… Pyr SF, Publisher of the Decade 2000-2009! Now all of you out there start buying their stuff. And Pyr, once your victory lap is out of the way, do kindly get back to work! Think you can rest on your laurels now? Oh no you don’t. The pressure’s on. We all want more! We’re geeky that way.
Deeply humbled and appreciative of this. Love my +4 sword. Working ass off to make our five year anniversary year the best yet. Pretty confident it will be! Thanks!
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Even Even More Best of 2009
Fantasy Book Critic has posted Cindy’s Top 2009 Book List. James Barclay comes in at number five with the entire Chronicles of the Raven series of Dawnthief,
Meanwhile SFFWorld has posted their SF Review of 2009 and their Fantasy Review of 2009. Ian McDonald’s Cyberabad Days,
Keep ’em coming!
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Even More Best of 2009
The Best of the Year lists keep pouring in, and Pyr keeps placing on them.
Fantasy Literature has posted FanLit’s Favorite Books of 2009, and I’m thrilled to see Joel Shepherd’s Sasha
Meanwhile, Grasping for the Wind has posted their Best Reads of 2009, and in the category of “Best Adventure Novel,” a category “designed to be broad, focusing on the adventure aspect of a story, not its setting per se…. to highlight the book that had a similar effect to the watching of an action movie,” they select Diving into the Wreck
Meanwhile, Rob Will Review… has posted The 10 Best Books I Read in 2009. These aren’t necessarily books published in 2009, so he includes (and we are pleased to see) Chris Roberson’s 2005 novel, Here, There & Everywhere,
On the surface, Here, There & Everywhere is actually a joyous romp through time and space–the life story of a singularly unique woman, Roxanne Bonaventure, who, from a young age, is gifted with a very special bracelet, which she dubs “the Sofia,” that allows her to spend her life zigzagging through time and space…Underneath the larksome exterior, however, Roberson’s novel has a rather serious subtext. Although most of the time, Roxanne has a ball traipsing across the universe, she can also be a deeply lonely individual…Here, There & Everywhere captures the alienation of a time traveler’s life in a profound yet subtle manner that never overwhelms the story with pathos but which keeps the novel–even in its most thrillingly pulpy of moments–cushioned in a layer of emotional reality that beautifully complements its jaunty surface…
Happy New Year!
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More Best of 2009
Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews have published their Awards for 2009. The UK edition of Jasper Kent’s Twelve, which we’ll be releasing in 2010, comes in #4 in their Top Ten Reads. Meanwhile, Stephan Martiniere’s illustration for Ian McDonald’s Desolation Road
While over at Book Chick City, they list their Top Ten Most Anticipated Reads 2010, and George Mann’s Ghosts of Manhattan
Rock on.
Bookgasm: 5 Best Sci-Fi Books of 2009
Ryun Patterson of Bookgasm has posted his 5 Best Sci-Fi Books of 2009, and, as in past years, we’re very pleased with the number of Pyr books in (and in this case around) the list. Paul McAuley’s The Quiet War
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Non-Stop Action and the Return of S&S
The Silver Skull
“An old-fashioned sword-and-sorcery novel, complete with two staples of that long-lost and much-lamented sub-genre: non-stop action and a hero whose very perfection ought to make him annoying, but doesn’t. You’ll be mighty entertained.”
Meanwhile, author and reviewer Paul Witcover has included it in his Best of the Year list as well.
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Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist: 2009 Year-End Awards
Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist has posted their 2009 Year-End Awards. Ian McDonald’s Cyberabad Days
The heart and soul behind the Pyr imprint, this man is pretty damn close to being a genius. Though he’s the head of a smaller publishing house and hence cannot compete financially with the genre powerhouses, Lou Anders always managed to put out a wide array of quality speculative fiction titles every year. He’s like the general manager of a small-market team who always finds a way to get the players he needs for the team to make the playoffs. And with what he and the Pyr crew has in store for 2009 as they celebrate the imprint’s 5th anniversary, this could be Pyr’s biggest year yet! Long live!=)
Probably not a genius. But smart enough not to argue with this.
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Mind Meld: Best of 2008
SF Signal asks, “Q: What were the best genre-related books, movies and/or shows you consumed in 2008?” Their panel of experts include Mary Robinette Kowal, Ted Kosmatka, John Picacio, Paul McAuley, Marc Gascoigne, and Bob Eggelton.
Very happy to see several Pyr books get a mention: Fast Forward 2, Brasyl, River of Gods (even though it wasn’t a 2008 book) and even the forthcoming Age of Misrule trilogy.
And of course, in the film category, I’m always happy to see The Dark Knight get mentioned.
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Ian McDonald’s Brasyl: Amazon’s Best Books of the Year, 2007
Amazon has posted their Best Books of 2007 – Top 10 Editors’ Picks: Science Fiction & Fantasy list. And Ian McDonald’s Brasyl
Why, one might be forced to conclude that Brasyl is one of the best books of the year period, in and out of genre, wouldn’t one? Certainly Amazon agrees, as they wrote that “with Brasyl he has proven once again that he should be reckoned as one of the finest of all our novelists.” Whereas the Washington Post said, “Ian McDonald’s Brasyl, with its three storylines, is as close to perfect as any novel in recent memory.” Then there’s the Quill Award nomination, and, of course, Salon.com’s Recommended Summer Reading List. And, at this point, I would be remiss not to mention the sample chapters online, wouldn’t I?
A very big congratulations to Ian from everyone at Pyr/Prometheus!
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