Your mileage may vary, but if you’re looking for last minute Xmas presents, I’d confidently make a gift of any of these books.

Let the Right One in, John Ajvide Lindqvist – See, vampire authors of the world? Vampires don’t have to be recycled clones of the same old classics! They can be used to tell powerful, fresh new stories! You don’t have to bludgeon the genre over the head with the same tired old tropes we’ve read a thousand times before! Lindqvist’s debut novel, fusing gritty social realism with vampire fiction, is an extraordinary debut, powerful, moving, and engrossing. Set in a declining housing estate in Sweden, it explores the darkness beneath ordinary life, touching on alcoholism, paedophilia, bullying, and much more, through a cast of credible characters stumbling blindly through their own lives. When a vampire starts to walk among them, it’s one more weave in the fabric of Lindqvist’s incredibly convincing world, one which fits perfectly rather than clashing. Like the best horror writers, the author clearly understands that a story about a vampire is doomed to silliness, while a story that includes a vampire, and draws horror from it, has a real potential to be more than the sum of its parts. Highly, highly recommended.

The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins - In which Dawkins eviscerates God (all of them, actually, though being from a Christian society, Christianity is his example of choice, as he is most able to refer to the detail of it in an informed way). The first half, where he relegates God to the realms of extreme probability contains little I hadn’t already understood, although his illustrations and arguments are often witty, frequently disturbing, and more ably expressed than I could ever hope to manage. The second half, examining the harm religion does to individuals and society, where the hell it came from once you’ve demonstrated that it almost certainly isn’t God, and what sits in God’s place if you take Him away (and whether anything is actually needed at all), was mostly knew to me, and mind-broadening. The book has turned me from a half-assed atheist with agnostic tendencies, into a full-fledged atheist, a little embarrassed about his former lack of intellectual rigour. It’s also made me want to read the bible for the first time since I was young, in the interests of both fairness and literature (he makes a wonderful case for the bible being required reading for any student of literature, as it is so often referred to, and a beautifully written text in many places). The saddest thing is that the people who would most benefit from reading this book are the least likely to do so, through simple fear. If you think about religion at all, and what it means to you and the world, you should give this a try. You may still disagree with the arguments Dawkins makes, but you’ll have taken the time to really think about it, and surely that will only make whatever position you hold stronger.

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman -An early contender for my favourite book of the year, this gorgeous coming-of-age tale is bittersweet, witty, dark, and at the end, fantastically touching. For me, it’s Gaiman’s best book, speaking as clearly to adults as children, and leaving me with both a strange, frustrated sense of longing, and a fresh appreciation of possibilities. You can’t really ask for more from a book.

Watchmen, Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons - I’ve never read this before. I’ve heard about it, of course, and how good it is, but never actually read it. What do I think? I think it shouldn’t be possible to tell a story this dense and sophisticated, with so many interweaving themes and characters, in a comic book format. I’ve read brilliant graphic novels in the past, but Watchmen is on a completely different level. It’s one of the best books I’ve read, graphic or not. The heights of psychological realism it reaches in its brutal dissection of the characters, superheroes defined by their failings rather than their achievements, are incredible. This book took my breath away, and left me shaking my head in stunned wonder.

The Terror, Dan Simmons – Almost a thousand pages in paperback, this novel is an extraordinary achievement in too many ways for my short review to do justice. Based loosely on the tale of the Franklin expedition, two real vessels that set out to discover the North West Passage in 1845 and went missing, there isn’t a single wasted page in the whole damn thing. It sucks you into an incredibly well researched and realised tale of brutal days of semi-survival, plays with a vast cast of characters, and doesn’t lose its way once. Heart-stopping, suspenseful, often chilling, it’s an exciting journey, never sinking into boys own adventure cliches, never patronising, always moving forward. I don’t even know how a writer keeps a story this big and complex in his head for the time it takes to write it. Just jaw-dropping.  I also read Drood this year, by the same author, and it was a tough call which of the two to put in this top five (on principle, I won’t put two by the same author up here, though if any two books merited it, these are they).  The Terror pips it by the narrowest of margins.

Bubbling under: In The Midnight Museum, The Lovers, Fallen, Under The Dome, We Fade To Grey, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Red Riding Quartet.

All very good stuff indeed.  Feel free to compare and contrast with my top five from 2008 and 2007, if you’re looking for more.

This morning, to clear my head, I went tramping through the snow, mostly so I can feel like a five year old again. I have all day to wait until my actual five year old gets home from school, and snowmen can be constructed. I will spend this time mostly writing and editing. At the moment, I’m fifty thousand words into a new novel, and there’s a short story I need to write this week as well, if I can. Needless to say after recent news, I feel particularly invigorated at the moment, so may as well use it.

Must… focus…

Did I mention I’m on Goodreads these days? I meant to, and am fly-by-blogging, so apologies if I already told you this. For those of you who need to know what I’m reading, what I think of it, and can’t wait for my 2009 summary in December, feel free to join me, especially if you’re on the site too.

I’ve been using the site since January, and am into my ninth book of the year (The Zombie Survival Guide, which is bizarre and compelling). I really need to up my reading this year – partly because I have a hundred or so books in my TBR pile, and really don’t want to have to ship them halfway around the world…

As ever, the year starts slowly, but that’s what the 1st of January is for, right? Recharging. That’s why it’s a public holiday. Of course, I’m in Scotland, where so much alcohol is consumed over Hogmanay that the nation also requires for the 2ndof January to be a public holiday, and has made it so. Possibly the only national holiday in the world based solely on the additional recovery time required after true excess. I, on the hand, will hopefully put the time to good use. As it happens, I don’t have much recovering to do – while I stayed up until about four in the morning, what booze I drank didn’t affect me particularly badly, and I was more or less sober when I hit the hay.

Anyway, I’m mostly dropping by because you have book tokens to spend. You can buy my books with them, by clicking the helpful Books link at the top of the page, selecting the tomes of your choice, and following the links to Amazon, Waterstones, etc. However, if you’re in the enviable position of already owning every piece of fiction I’ve ever written, can I point you in the direction of George Mann’s The Affinity Bridge? Steampunk Victoriana, gentlemen investigators for the Crown, clockwork robots, zombies, and more – it’s a very fun read, that I don’t want to wait until the end of the year to recommend to you. If you’re unconvinced, there’s a free short story / ebook available from the publisher, that should be enough to convince you. Look for The Shattered Teacup, and enjoy.

Dawn, Tim Lebbon – The first part of this dark fantasy duology, Dusk, was fantastic. Startling, original characters travelled a unique landscape, driven by a lean engine of a plot that ended in a truly shocking ending that left me reeling. Unfortunately, it left the first two thirds of Dawn reeling too. The writing is still superb, as are the characters and setting, but everything spends too much time reeling from the end of book one, and for me it’s only in the final third that things come alive again. I found the reading hard-going due to this, and by the time I reached the impressive conclusion, my interest had dipped too much for me to re-engage. On the other hand, this won the British Fantasy Award for best novel last year, so a lot of people disagree with me.

Dead Sea, Brian Keene – Keene goes back to zombies in a story unrelated to his previously created worlds. Here we have a bunch of traditional walking corpses hounding a handful of well drawn characters onto the ocean waves. A fast and likeable little book which, while unconnected to Romero’s world, nevertheless feels as though it could be. Do you absolutely need another zombie book in your life? Not at this point. Will this one work for you if you want to snack down on one anyway? Probably, because it’s a well done, if overfamiliar, tale.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay - I loved the television series Dexter from the very first episode, and really struggled not to go out and buy the book it was based on at that point (a rare occasion where I enjoyed an adaptation so much, I didn’t want to abandon it for the source material). Now I’ve read the novel as well, I’m surprised at how unique each is. The book is a far leaner, meaner beast, rotating more tightly around Dexter, and featuring a cast of characters less sympathetic than the television series. The route to the conclusion is different too, so while the stories are generally the same, the details vary hugely. The constant between them is Dexter himself, the wittiest of monsters, and entirely consistent across the novel and the series. I loved both.

20th Century Ghosts, Joe Hill - One of my top five, and reviewed as such over here.

Broken Angel, Brian Knight – Brian Knight was my first new discovery of the year, and he’s a good one. This story, of a mysterious girl who pitches up in a small town with no memory, is heartbreaking in its honesty, and expertly delivered. The characters are true, almost Stephen King good, and the weirdness that swamps them with fragile Angel’s arrival is disconcerting and tragic. Knight paints a story which has no villains beyond the insecurities and demons of those living in Clearwater, but that’s enough to destroy the serenity of the town, and drive the reader to an ending I really didn’t see coming. My only criticism is the rush with which that ending descends, as it’s perhaps a little abrupt, but I’m splitting hairs, because this is a great book.

Deeper, James A. Moore - Another beautiful book from Necessary Evil Press, and a pleasure to page through. The story entertains, and zips along at a fair old pace, but it’s not without flaws. For me, the plot relies an awful lot on the narrator making some extraordinarily foolish decisions along the way, the better to drive the drama forward perhaps, but at the same time not wholly credible. In fiction, characters can make lousy choices based on poor information, and that’s fine. In a first person narrative though, the reader has exactly the same information as the narrator, and can judge credibility even better. A fun, brain-off read, and it was nice to revisit Lovecraft’s Innsmouth, but weak in several places.

The Princess Bride, William Goldman – One of my top five, and reviewed as such over here.

Duma Key, Stephen King – While I found the first twenty pages of this slow going, it snorted rocket fuel after that, and for the next three hundred and fifty I thought it was going to be the best book I’d read in ten years. I wanted to live in it, it’s that good, and I find it hard to put to you how it made me feel about life, creation, recovery, and friendship. It is heartfelt, mature, and engaging – a song for the page. Alas, then comes the conclusion, which simply distracts. It isn’t bad, but it feels like an ending stuck on through genre convention, rather than need. It takes the story away from what it is, into areas it doesn’t quite fit. A strong, compelling book that tails away before it ends, but which I’m going to recommend for the journey.

Dearly Devoted Dexter, Jeff Lindsay – Back to Dexter Morgan, exquisite beast that he is, and this second installment in his story. Funnier than the first book, playing particularly on how alien we are to a sociopath, this book charts fascinating territory as a new serial killer turns up on Dexter’s patch. The plot revolves tightly around Sergeant Doakes, who has a new obsession with Dexter, and takes some deeply unpleasant twists to counterpoint the humour. There are some very funny scenes, including the one in which Dexter becomes accidentally engaged, and some interesting threads for future mining, including his relationship with his fiance’s children. A fast, witty book, well worth a look.

The Road, Cormac McCarthy - One of my top five, and reviewed as such over here.

The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells - One of many classic books that you’d probably assume I’ve read, where in fact I haven’t. I enjoyed it, though for such a short novel it took me way too long to get through. Some of the book’s impact has doubtless been lost thanks to the familiarity of the idea in the post Wells fictional landscape. It’s a beautifully constructed piece though, and I was surprised by the wit behind many of the scenarios the increasingly psychopathic Griffin finds himself in.

A Whisper of Southern Lights, Tim Lebbon – By the time you’re reading this review, you’re probably going to be stuck with ebay as the only source for getting a copy, as it’s another gorgeous Necessary Evil Press limited edition. That said, if you can find a copy of this gorgeous paperback novelette, illustrated beautifully throughout, grab it. It doesn’t matter that it’s the third such small book in the Assassins series, detailing the immortal struggle between the demon Temple, and the tortured immortal man Gabriel (nothing like the angel). We’ve previously seen them clash in the Wild West, and on pirate ships on the high seas, and there have been other off screen meetings teasingly hinted at. In this third volume, the reason for thier centuries long dance is broadened beyond Gabriel’s simple need to avenge his wife and child, but telling you how would ruin the ending. All you need to know is that the story, short though it is, packs more power, beauty, and brutality onto the page than most novels. It’s set in the Far East during World War II, depicted almost literally as hell on earth. It’s brilliant, and the thought that I might have a couple of years to wait for the next installment is maddening.

Dark Hollow, Brian Keene – A book of two halves, where there should probably be three. The characters are well shaped, and the premise of the goat thing in the wood, with all the potent sexual threat it carries, is developed through a promising set-up that informs and plays well off the narrator’s personal subplot (the loss of a child, and the affect this has on his marriage). And then, there is a dramatic conclusion. That’s my problem here – after a intriguing, unsettling premise like this, I was expecting a period of development and maturation, prior to an action-packed finale. Instead, the novel leapfrogs this, and I was left a little disappointed. A good read, that stops a little short of its potential.

Dominion, Greg F. Gifune - One of my top five, and reviewed as such over here.

God’s End: Blizzard of Souls, Michael McBride – Book two of McBride’s apocalyptic horror trilogy, picks up where The Fall left off. Humanity is all but wiped out, with the Four Horsemen and their Swarm of reptilian nightmares gathering to wipe out the handful of survivors. In the new novel, dissent brews among the living, many of whom choose to follow a man with near satanic delusions of grandeur, and the minority, our heroes, choose a simpler, vision-led path. The struggle as War and his army descend on all comers is blistering, and occasionally heart-rending. By the end of the book, those remaining can be counted on two hands, with a final novel to follow, and hope a dwindling light. It’s great stuff, and I can’t wait to see how it closes when the last book comes about. Fingers crossed that it delivers on the momentum of the first two.

The King in Yellow, Robert W. Chambers - Still determined to catch up with some classics this year, I found this (horrible looking) edition of The King In Yellow in Waterstones, and read through it while in Mallorca. A collection of short stories loosely linked by the idea of a play which brings supernatural and psychological disaster on those who read it, this was first published in 1895, but remains eminently readable. It’s wittier than I thought it would be, with a couple of genuine classics in among the tales (‘The Repairer of Reputations’ and ‘The Yellow Sign’ stand out for me). As for the rest, the stories are probably more notable for the ideas behind them than the tales themselves. At best, those ideas have a timelessness that puts this collection alongside Lovecraft’s work, though the execution is often less ambitious.

The Reapers, John Connolly – An interesting change of style to the Charlie Parker books, in which the assassin Louis and his partner Angel step to the fore. Louis, black, gay, and enigmatic, gets the most attention here. Previously a charming enigma, his past is explored without wholly demystifying him, and makes for gripping reading. Parker does appear throughout, this time as a third party player in Louis’s story, referred to most often simply as The Detective, and seeing this scarred, haunted man through the eyes of others refreshes him entirely. The surface plot itself, wherein the assassins find themselves the target as Parker races to help, isn’t the most involved of the series, but the novelty of the perspectives involved carry it through.

The Rising: Selected Scenes from the End of the World, Brian Keene – Thirty-two short stories, doing exactly what it says on the tin. Set during the undead armageddon unleashed in Keene’s The Rising and The City of the Dead duology, these stories function as snapshots of the world beyond that linear plot, stolen moments from humanity’s doom. The stories are chronological, starting on day one of the zombie uprising, and closing, literally, on the end of the world thirty-two days later. I enjoyed these tales, despite them being too short to develop individually into anything too fresh or developed. The true pleasure of the book is in the outlining of the calendar month, as the earth dies. In that, it becomes a fair companion to the two novels, and worth buying if you enjoyed those books, especially now that this can be found in trade paperback.

Daemon, Harry Shannon - My experience of this book changed halfway through, from moderate enjoyment, to boredom, which was a shame, because Harry Shannon writes very well, his crisp prose ideally suited to the fast pace he uses here. The problem, for me, is that this is a horror novel with no horror. There’s gore, don’t get me wrong, but no horror that the reader can be properly immersed in. The good guys are highly trained military types with vast budgets and a sophisticated weapons closet that seems effectively unlimited. The villain inhabits dead bodies, and for most of the novel stumbles around trying to bite its prey. It’s not a recipe for suspense, despite individual action scenes being well realised. Beyond that, by the time the halfway mark has been reached, you can take a reasonable stab at which characters have been developed sufficiently that they’re going to survive, and which ones are developed exactly well enough to be dispensable. As mentioned, Shannon can write, but this wasn’t for me.

Dexter In The Dark, Jeff Lindsay – A tonal departure for the Dexter series, which clumsily suggests that the protagonist may be the serial killer he is due mostly to his possession by a demon-thing. It just doesn’t work, especially after the care taken to establish Dexter’s sociopathic credentials in previous outings (and the aftermath notion that this is all part of his developing psychosis doesn’t work either – he’s too self-aware a narrator not to understand these issues when relating them). That said, the novel is still enjoyable, particularly as Dexter’s engagement progresses, and the supporting cast wander on and off stage. I liked it, just not as much as the previous books, or indeed, the television series.

Nation, Terry Pratchett – An entertaining enough story about society, how it forms and works, and the pressures on it as it develops. As ever, Pratchett has an incisive point of view, but the fact that this is the first book in years that he hasn’t set on his Discworld is somewhat distracting. I can’t think why not, as the novel gains nothing from the distinction, leaving me scratching my head about the intention. It’s still a clever, funny read (though he’s examined similar themes of culture, religion and society better elsewhere – you could argue that his whole Discworld series does just that, brilliantly), but you can safely bide your time for the paperback.

The Writer’s Tale, Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook - One of my top five, and reviewed as such over here.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J. K. Rowling – There’s not really much you can say about this endearing little hardback collection of fairytales for wizards and witches. It’s brief, charming, witty, and engaging. It’s utterly non-essential, but a pleasure to gobble up anyway (and the money goes to a cause so worthy, you couldn’t possibly feel aggrieved at spending it). An enjoyable way to pass a couple of short bus trips, that makes me hope Rowling doesn’t leave it too long before delivering something more substantial to her no doubt desperate publishers.

If that wasn’t enough for you, you could always compare and contrast with last year’s list.

Nevertheless, here are my top five reads of the year, not necessarily published in 2008, but read for the first time. As ever, it’s my opinion only, and your mileage may vary. If you still have some Christmas shopping to do though, I would happily give these books to anybody, safe in the knowledge that they will take the reader somewhere special.

The Road, Cormac McCarthy

Not just among the best five books I read this year, but perhaps the best I’ve read this decade, and a contender for the best book I’ve read in my life. There you go. Who says I’m scared of bold opening statements? The novel is set at some point in the near future. The world is dying, civilisation is a devastated memory, the landscape is blasted. Amidst all this, a father and son travel America in search of a salvation they suspect does not exist, driven only by their own love. It’s a bleak, shocking, ultimately heartbreaking novel about the innate destructiveness of our species, and the ridiculous tenacity and capacity for tenderness that drives us through it. I finished the book on plane from Krakow to Glasgow, in tears, and still can’t fully revisit the book’s ending in my head without welling up uncontrollably. A movie is inevitable. However good that turns out to be, please read the book first. Read it soon. Everything a story should do, this does.

20th Century Ghosts, Joe Hill

This book contains what are now some of my favourite short stories in any genre, and it’s because Joe Hill understands particularly well that good stories are not about the things that happen, be they horrific, fantastical, strange, quirky or unsettling (all these things apply to tales in this book). Good stories are about the people they happen to. It shouldn’t be possible that a tale about a boy who wakes up as a six foot grasshopper is uniquely dangerous, or that another about an inflatable boy is among the sweetest, most mournful things I’ve read, yet they are. Special mention goes to My Father’s Mask, which is so surreal and off-key that it left me feeling nauseous and upset for reasons I can’t even put my finger on, the remarkably uplifting Bobby Conroy Comes Back From The Dead (not a genre story at all), and the mind blowing novella that caps the book, Voluntary Committal, which took my breath away. It’s remarkable to find a collection of short fiction so consistently excellent as this.

The Princess Bride, William Goldman

This is a bit of a cheat, as I owned and loved this book several years ago. In a fit of foolish generosity, I loaned it out and never got it back. When I saw it on the shelf this year, I had to have it, and fell in love all over again, having somehow forgotten that it’s one of my favourite novels.  You may have seen the movie. Unless you and I are worlds apart, you probably have a special place in you heart for it. The book is the movie, with all the good bits they had to leave out on celluloid.  It’s also, inconceivably, better. One of the finest sword fights in cinema history somehow comes even more alive on the page, and that shouldn’t be possible with such a visual creation. Look, just buy it and read it, okay? That it’s taken me so long to replace that lost copy makes me want to kick myself, because I’ll be reading it again, and again, and again. Whether you’re a cynic or a romantic, you’ll be thrilled by this tale of fencing, fighting, torture, poison, true love, hate, revenge, giants, hunters, bad men, good men, beautifulest ladies, snakes, spiders, beasts, chases, escapes, lies, truths, passion and miracles.

The Writer’s Tale, Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook

Russell T Davies, for those who don’t know is the executive producer and lead writer of Doctor Who, who spearheaded the whole relaunch of the franchise, as well as spin off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Benjamin Cook is a journalist. This books is a year’s worth of correspondence between them, as Davies tries to catalogue his thoughts, feelings, and writing process while working on season four of Doctor Who(as well as bits of the other two series mentioned). It’s all kinds of book in once, and incredibly frank. Interested in writing? Here it is, in all it’s paranoid, obsessive glory. Want to know about television, and see behind the scenes of one of the UK’s biggest shows? Yep, this is pretty no holds barred on that too. Fan of Doctor Who, or Davies himself? There’s more here for you than you can possibly imagine. It’s probably best to describe this book as one man’s often bleak, frequently funny look at what it is to be creative, and all the things you have to give up to succeed. A daunting read, but a splendid, truthful thing, and utterly unique.

Dominion, Greg F. Gifune

After The Bleeding Season hit my top five reads in 2007, I had high hopes for Dominion, and I wasn’t disappointed. A beautifully rich, complex, character driven novel, with some brain-twisting imagery and concepts underlying it. Gifune likes to challenge his reader, and seems to work most efficiently when playing in the realms of grief and struggle. Dominion illustrates this perfectly, and as with the previous book, it requires you to take a breath and step up to the plate. It’s proves to be worth the effort, making some wonderful statements about humanity and evil along the way. Haunting, hurtful, and quite beautiful.

Bubbling under: The Reapers, Duma Key, Darkly Dreaming Dexter, A Whisper of Southern Lights, Blizzard of Souls…

There you go. If you’re interested in more, here were my top books of 2007 – plenty to check out there too.

I mean, buy my stuff first, obviously, but save the change for Tim…

Updated to add: I’ve just checked, and to my astonishment, found that there still seem to be copies of the limited edition available from Necessary Evil Press. Here’s the link, if you’re a collector. The book sits with the rest of my NEP collection as the most attractive volumes I own. If that does it for you, fire on in while there are copies left.

20th Century Ghosts, Joe Hill - This book contains what are now some of my favourite short stories in any genre, and it’s because Joe Hill understands particularly well that good stories are not about the things that happen, be they horrific, fantastical, strange, quirky or unsettling (all these things apply to tales in this book). Good stories are about the people they happen to. It shouldn’t be possible that a tale about a boy who wakes up as a six foot grasshopper is uniquely dangerous, or that another about an inflatable boy is among the sweetest, most mournful things I’ve read, yet they are. Special mention goes to My Father’s Mask, which is so surreal and off-key that it left me feeling nauseous and upset for reasons I can’t even put my finger on, the remarkably uplifting Bobby Conroy Comes Back From The Dead (not a genre story at all), and the mind blowing novella that caps the book, Voluntary Committal, which took my breath away.

All I can say is give it a try, and let me know what you think. For me, this book is even better than his novel Heart-Shaped Box, which I read and loved last year. As a reader, it takes a lot to knock me sideways with short fiction – I am very demanding of it – but this book has everything it takes, and more.

Tricks of the Mind, Derren Brown- I’m a huge fan of Derren Brown’s television work, and this book from the devil-bearded mind twiddler (or devil minded beard twiddler, dependent on your point of view), is charming, extremely funny, and deeply insightful. Learn how to control your friends with the power of your mind! Well, not quite – this is just an informal walk through the areas Brown specialises in as an entertainer. His section on debunkery, pulling the rug on exploitative psychics and their ilk, is intelligent, clear, and funny without (I think) attacking those who get drawn into their webs.

The Infinite, Douglas Clegg- Clegg’s series of Harrow House books have been entertaining me on and off for a few years now, and this one is a solid read. Harrow isn’t quite the definitive haunted house in modern literature, but it draws widely from the tradition of such stories, and adds enough originality to avoid feeling stale. Clegg’s characters are also notably enjoyable here, pulling you right into his world.

The Philosopher at the End of the Universe, Mark Rowlands - Using well known sci-fi and fantasy films to illustrate the most common philosophical conundrums sounds bonkers, but it works rather well, and entertains as much as it informs. Is there really is an absolute Good or Evil beyond subjective interpretation? Is your mind is a floaty cloud around your head instead of the wet fleshy stuff inside? Do you have free will? What is reality, really? Give your brainbox some exercise.

A Feast for Crows, George R.R. Martin – The fourth book (fifth in paperback) of Martin’s epic A Song of Fire and Ice sequence, featuring the most vividly drawn characters (hundreds of them, all distinct, and painted in shades of grey), interacting in the most convincing world. Immersive and deeply satisfying, but make sure you read the others in the series first.

Lisey’s Story, Stephen King – There’s a perpetual backlash against King that I always find rather odd. It runs something like “I liked his early stuff – why doesn’t he go back to that sort of thing?” The answer is most probably that he already wrote them, and moved on. And thank goodness, because there’s little chance he could have offered something as emotionally redolent as this book back in the day. This story of a bestselling author’s bereaved wife having to find new strength to survive is unsettling in subtler ways, a story about grief and love that genuinely moves.

Every Dead Thing, John Connolly- With vast piles of books on my TBR pile, the last thing I really needed to do was become fascinated with a new series of novels, guaranteeing I would add to that pile rather than fire into it. Alas Charlie Parker, the traumatised first person narrator of the story, is an incredibly compelling narrator. He is also intriguingly unreliable, believing that he sees the shades of the murdered, including his family – the reader doesn’t know whether this is a symptom of his stress, or something otherworldly. The writing is beautiful, and though ostensibly a crime thriller, the influence of the supernatural layers a compelling mystery over the whole thing.

The Wicked, James Newman – Oh, this was an absolute blast, a distillation of everything that was enjoyable about eighties small town horror, with none of the bad. Ancient evil, city folk moving to the sticks to rebuild their lives after a tragedy, the two meeting head to head in struggle and tragedy… read the book cover to cover in a day, which is rare these days. Alas, you probably can’t share this one with me, as I grabbed the gorgeous Necessary Evil Press limited edition, which sold out quickly. If you do see a copy somewhere though, or if it goes to to a mass market edition, don’t hesitate to grab it.

Dark Hollow, John Connolly – So, having been gripped by Every Dead Thing, I had to know what happened to Parker next. As well as Parker himself, still in a very dark place, this novel brings back two characters who will recur throughout the series, the partially reformed burglar and fashion victim Angel, and his lethally enigmatic gay lover, the semi-retired hitman Louis. Connolly again demonstrates that he can write some of the most disturbing villains in crime fiction, and delivers a story tht merges the hunt for a modern day monster with events in the early life of Parker’s own grandfather (and secret histories will go on to be another signature of this series).

Stains, Paul Finch - I read this heartbreakingly good collection of short stories and novellas while I was stuck in Reading for a couple of weeks, rationing them out to one each evening. Finch writes the sort of stories that you want to hunker over, and I did just that. It is an accepted fact of publishing that collections do not sell as well as novels or authors, but if I could overturn that law for jut one book, it would be this, which deserves to be read and enjoyed by every single one of you.

The Killing Kind, John Connolly - I mentioned genuinely disturbing villains earlier, but in the third Parker novel we meet the demonic arachnophile Mr Pudd, whose weapon of choice has eight legs and fangs… truly memorable. The story here, which travels across the Maine landscape where Parker has rooted himself, covers cults, anti-abortionism, and the ghosts of the dead. The supernatural overtones deepen further, without becoming fully explicit, and the mystery of Charlie Parker broadens with them.

An Occupation of Angels, Lavie Tidhar- A punchy little novella from the UK’s Pendragon Press, in which Archangels materialised above the battlefields of world war two and ushered in a new Cold War by becoming the superweapons of the age. Now somebody is slaughtering them. Killarney, female agent of the Shadow Executive, travels the world in search of a culprit. The premise is interesting, and the depiction of archangels is novel, but the book is most interesting for Killarney herself, a very promising character indeed.

The Black Angel, John Connolly – Bugger, I was hooked through the nose on the Charlie Parker novels, but couldn’t find the next one, The White Road, anywhere. I panic, and do something out of character, picking up the fifth instead. The longest of the novels so far, this is the most overtly supernatural, as strange, possibly immortal creatures collide with Parker as they search for a fallen angel encased in stone. There are even suggestions that Parker himself may not be everything we have been led to believe. A brilliant, brilliant novel, that rewards the investment of the long term reader.

The White Road, John Connolly- And back to the fourth novel, just to plug the hole in the sequence. For various reasons, I thought I’d read the last of Mr Pudd in The Killing Kind, but that turns out not to be true. Pudd is in a very bad place indeed, but it turns out he has a long, long reach…

Retribution, Steven Savile- The final part of Savile’s Vampire Counts trilogy, in which Steve has fleshed the bones of the vampire wars that feature so strongly in the Warhammer mythology. I enjoy the best of the Warhammer stuff anyway, and seperately have always enjoyed Steve’s literate, emotive brand of dark fantasy. Was I originally convinced he could marry them together? No. Did he prove me wrong, fleshing out a rich world of tortured characters struggling to survive war upon war? Yes. Nice one.

The Everlasting, Tim Lebbon- Another beautiful, limited edition hardcover from Necessary Evil Press, but this one is already out in a mass market paperback, so I feel less guilty recommending it. Lebbon is a visionary writer, able to combine exquisite, literary prose with the sort of characterisation and credible world building that invites you to believe. He also has a unique vision – it simply isn’t possible to predict or anticipate his stories, which ooze with tragedy, beauty, and sacrifice.

The Unquiet, John Connolly – By necessity, my last Parker for a while, as it brings me up to date with this year’s release. The Unquiet takes a step back from the myth-building of The Black Angel, and tells a smaller story, the closest thing to a straightforward investigation that the series has presented. Child abuse and pornography are the core topic, and it makes uncomfortable reading (as it should). The supernatural overtones are not forgotten, and are represented by the terrifying Hollow Men lurking on the edges of Parker’s vision, controlled by a shadowy figure he has met before.

Hosts, F. Paul Wilson- While Charlie Parker is a new discovery, Repairman Jack is an old friend. A man with no official history, no social security number, nothing to tie him to society, Jack makes his money helping those who officialdom has failed. Whether he’s out-scamming scammers, or coming face to face with ancient evil, he’s one of those literary creations that you literally befriend. Hosts sees his long estranged sister pop unexpectedly into his life, with a cult hot on her heels. It’s been a couple of years since I last spent time with Jack, and I enjoyed finding out what was going down with him so much that when I finished the book, I immediately plunged into…

The Haunted Air, F. Paul Wilson – Following on closely enough from Hosts that Jack starts the novel still reeling from the previous one’s conclusion, The Haunted him throwing himself into a turf war between phoney psychics. At the same time, he is drawn into events surrounding what could be an actual haunted house, even though he doesn’t believe in such things. Another fabulous read, and in the background it’s becoming clearer that Jack has been noticed by unimaginable powers as both a threat and a target.

Gateways, F. Paul Wilson - I know, I know, variety is the spice of life, but sometimes comfort food has a place too. Jack’s father, who thinks his son is an applicance repairman, has moved into the Gateways retirement home in Florida, and soon finds himself targetted by unnatural forces. Rural Florida is far from Jack’s New York comfort zone, and watching him deal with that is a great deal of fun. It’s also becoming increasingly clear that Jack has inadvertently been recruited as a champion in a mysterious cosmic war between evil and… well… indifference. Another sharp, smart thriller from Wilson.

Until She Sleeps, Tim Lebbon- A charity bookshop in Cardiff is hardly the first place I would normally look for a signed, limited edition hardback from one of my favourite contemporary authors, so I was surprised to find this gorgeous book in Oxfam while waiting for a train in May. A short novel from Lebbon, in which ancient nightmares leach into a small Welsh village while a long dead witch begins to wake. Full of haunting images, most of them inspiringly original, the only thing that let the book down for me was the too-easy conclusion. A cut above most of the competition, but Lebbon’s already surpassed his work in this book several times.

Ghoul, Brian Keene- I wanted to like this more than I did, but although it contains some of Brian’s best writing, it falls short of being his best book. In the end, the story of the characters, children growing up in the eighties, runs alongside the horror of the ghoul itself, rather than meshing organically with it, so there are two seperate books here. The kids are extremely well written, and the trials and torments rained down on them by parents and guardians are compelling. The ghoul in the graveyard feels bizarrely like a bloke in a rubber suit to me, with very little motivation or drive. It’s simply there, and it’s mean – a troll underneath the bridge. I really enjoyed the first book, and my attention strayed whenever the second reared up.

The Children of Hurin, J.R.R. Tolkien -My expectations of this book, a new telling of one of the central stories from Tolkien’s Middle Earth, were high (The Lord of the Rings being the novel that has perhaps had the biggest influence on me – ever). It’s not a quick or easy read, but it’s an immensely satisfying one. And dear God, it’s bleak, a tragedy that would sit well alongside the likes of Hamlet or Oedipus. Set long before the events surrounding a certain ring (in that time’s distant history), it follows the family of doomed Hurin, who’s defiance of the dark lord Morgoth brings a curse on his progeny that they spend thier lives trying to escape. A dark tormented tale, where pride brings destruction, and nobody escapes unscathed.

Monster Island, David Wellington - A blistering pace, a zombie apocalypse, and some unusual ideas underpinning the plot (the war-torn places on earth, where civil warfare and atrocity are a daily part of existence, are the only places not overrun by the dead, as they had the skills to repel them – a neat idea). This book whizzed by, in a really good way. A group of female Somali child soldiers are led on a mission into zombie-populated New York in search of a stash of HIV drugs to treat thier warlord leader. As well as the mindless dead, there are worse surprises waiting for them… The book is the first of three, and I’m looking forward to the next one.

Heart-Shaped Box, Joe Hill -This novel blew me away – a brilliant, thrilling, creepy as hell read. The characters, while not always likeable, are utterly true, and the menace is unrelenting. An aging rock legend buys a ghost over the internet, but discovers that the sale is less innocent than it seems, and the spirit has a horrific, and very personal, agenda. I’ve somehow failed to pick up any of Hill’s fiction until now, even when I discovered that his father is one of my favourite living auhors, but this brilliant debut novel has left me antsy to track down his short fiction.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling – Okay, it’s impossible to talk about this book without giving stuff away. I really enjoyed it, and was all the more gratified for it being the end of a long journey. The resolution was satisfying, made sense, and confirms the whole seven book sequence as a fabulous example of the Heroic Quest. And yes, I was sad when it ended. I now live in a world where there are no more tales of Harry Potter to be told, and that’s a little bit of magic gone…

Monster Nation, David Wellington - After Monster Island, I seem to have developed a taste for Wellington’s brand of zombie apocalypse. This prequel, shooting back in time to show how the zombies rose and America fell before them, has all the energy of the first, though it’s a little less focused. It’s a grand exercise in world-building and expansion though, and as the plot threads unravels and time catches up with the previous novel, the threads that bind them become all the more clear.

Short Trips: The Centenarian, Ian Farrington, ed. – A themed anthology of Doctor Who short stories, from Big Finish (licenced by the BBC for these books, obviously). Some great stories, some good, some passable, but an intriguing collection thanks to the premise. There is nothing special about Edward Grainger, but for the fact that, throughout his life, at critical moments, he keeps bumping into a selection of gentlemen called the Doctor. The book starts on the day of Edward’s birth, and ends on the day of his death, aged one hundred years. The intriguing opening story, actually a clever double bluff that doesn’t become clear until the final tale, frames a smart selection of fiction.

Berserk, Tim Lebbon – Another breathless, textured nightmare from Tim Lebbon. For the most part, this is a chase book, and suffers slightly in the lack of fixed locations, which Lebbon ordinarily builds and characterises to tremendous effect. Other than that, it’s a fast, gripping plot, as the pursued descends into a personal hell that began ten years ago when his son allegedly died during military exercises, and spirals out of control when the lie of this is is uncovered (along with chained bodies beneath a moor, some of which are more talkative than others). At the heart of the book is a reworking of a particular horror trope which is refreshing and effective. I have the beautiful limited edition hardback from Necessary Evil Press, which is probably long sold out, but you can easily track down the mass market paperback.

Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett- Pratchett’s fourth entry in his young adult Discworld books, but as usual, this is as readable and sophisticated as any of the ‘adult’ books. The only difference seems to be the length, and the slight reduction in complexity from the reduced word count. Charming, intelligent, and amusing. The winter (yes, all of it) falls in love (sort of) with Tiffany Aching, aged 13. Luckily, Tiffany is a witch in training, with hundreds of fierce, if tiny, warriors to back her up. It’s worth reading the first two Tiffany Aching books before diving in here (Wee Free Men and A Hat Full Of Sky), but that shouldn’t be too painful a chore.

Monster Planet, David Wellington – And so concludes Wellington’s apocalyptic zombie trilogy, and it goes out in grand style. Plot threads dropped innocuously into books one and two tied up ten years later in the the timeline, and there are several reintroductions of characters and ideas gone before. Where Monster Island put you in the middle of the end of the world, and Monster Nation flashed you back to its beginning, her it’s twelve years on, in an almost unrecognisable world where the dead have plans and the living are ever more scarce. Buy and read the other two first, and then marvel at how this conclusion binds everything together with wild creativeness.

God’s End: The Fall, Michael McBride - Apocalypses are among my favourite themes in horror fiction, as you can see from this year’s reading. Here we have Michael McBride’s very christian end of days. It’s the first book of two I think, with Blizzard of Souls to follow next year, and it’s bloody brilliant stuff. Mixing real world politics into the mix of religious imagery, McBride spends half of the book putting the pieces into place for the destruction of the world (including the inventive creation of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse), and the second half making good on the promise in spectacular, visually inventive style. In the midst of this, disparate groups superbly realised survivors fight and flee thier way to the desert, searching for a young boy who may be the saviour of the species. I hope the second book concludes the tale as well as this one opens it.

Dead Men’s Boots, Mike Carey - Felix Castor is a down and out exorcist living in London, with a supporting cast of demons, werewolves, zombies, and sometimes even clients. I read the first two books in the series last year, and loved them. Fix Castor is a self-interested bastard, but a basically decent one, and a great narrator. In Castor’s world, ghosts and demons are now a fact of life, though nobody knows why except the demons, and they aren’t telling. In Dead Men’s Shoes there are the first signs of the arc plot the novels are developing in the backdrop, and it looks very promising indeed.

Making Money, Terry Pratchett - Pratchett writes two types of novel. Some are eye-wateringly brilliant, funny, insightful, and humanist. Others are merely very good books indeed. Not a bad track record. Making Money is in the latter camp. Moist von Lipwig, an only partially reformed con artist last seen reinventing the post office in Going Postal, is hoodwinked into pulling the same trick on the ailing Discworld banking system. The plot is the problem here, as it’s a little too lightweight to be really interesting, despite some sharp writing and memorable scenes. What saves the novel is Moist himself, an amiable, put upon trickster who lives on his wits and the power of words. Watching him convince an incredulous city that paper notes can have the same value as lumps of shiny stuff is the real fun of the novel.

Placeholders, John R. Little – A short, sharp novelette, the third in Necessary Evil Press’s extremely affordable series of same, and plenty powerful. It starts of a little like a macabre version of Quantum Leap, where a person who does not yet know who he is jumps from scenario to scenario. The difference is that each scenario is the final moments of somebody’s life, and he suffers the death-agonies on their behalf. For such a short story, it unfolds without a hurry, and conveys vast emotive power, though a series of neat narrative twists. The denouement is a genuine shock, and the story has left me with a genuine sense of delight at discovering an author I knew little about to be hugely talented.

The Bleeding Season, Greg F. Gifune – Another author new to me, and another grand discovery. It’s been a long time since I’ve read such a bleak, moving, unrelentingly grim piece of fiction. When one of four lifelong friends wasting thier lives in the town where they grew up hangs himself, his farewell note opens some dangerous doors. Could Bernard really be behind the bodies of women being discovered across town? Beautifully written, and achingly moving, though I found its grim hopelessness hardgoing sometimes. Recommended despite this, as possibly one of the best new novels I read in 2007.

All the Rage, F. Paul Wilson – Somehow, during my ongoing Repairman Jack odyssey (see earlier reading), I missed the fourth episode in the saga, All the Rage. Time to catch up, and it’s another blistering ride, as Jack deals with a new designer drug called Berzerk which is somehow connected to a familiar creature hooked up at Ozymandius Prather’s travelling oddity emporium. They call it the sharkman, but it looks an awful lot like the thing that left Jack scarred across the chest in his first novel The Tomb. Not the best in the series, but you can’t really go wrong with Jack.

Infernal, F. Paul Wilson - The ninth in the series, and the most recent I’ve read, and finally, a disappointment (hurrah – Wilson isn’t infallible!). This remains an easy read, but lacks a certain spark that made the other Repairman Jack novels so vibrant. For the most part, the lack of an antagonist – a villain, basically – pulls something away from the book. Jack’s problems are largely force of nature and supernature stuff, and his solutions are handed to him on a plate rather than being worked for. Additionally, there’s a remarkable lack of repair work happening – Jack’s an urban mercenary, but you wouldn’t know it from this book. There are some hints about the series arc of the novels, and there’s nothing bad about the book, but it won’t jump to the front of my mind when future me thinks back on this year’s reading.

Mister B Gone, Clive Barker - After so long a wait for new horror from Barker, this lightweight effort is a neat idea, that suffers for me in the execution. A demon is trapped in the pages, and talks relates its life in an effort to convince you the reader to burn the book and kill him. There’s a lazy lack of research which means the period setting fails to convince, and the novelty of the book talking to you wears off fast. I struggled to finish it.

There you go. Your mileage may vary.

Every Dead Thing, John Connolly

I’d heard a lot about the Charlie Parker novels before picking this up, and finally relented earlier this year. I’m glad I did, even though I was subsequently forced to buy the next five novels featuring the character. A beautifully written first person narrative, the novel intriduces Charlie Parker, an obsessive ex-cop determined to track down the serial killer who slaughtered his wife and daughter. The book is labelled crime, but that’s only half of the story, as Parker is increasingly convinced that the dead appear to him to beg his help (except they might not, and he might just be having an extended nervous breakdown following the trauma of his loss). The potentially supernatural elements develop as the series continue, but they’re subtle here at the start, and all the more chilling for it, enhancing an already compelling serial killer piece in strange and haunting ways. I’m torn as to whether I enjoyed this book or the fifth, Black Angel, the most, but as this is the first, and I read all six this year, consider it to be representing the whole series.

The Bleeding Season, Greg F. Gifune

Gifune is new to me, but after an introduction like this, I’ll be hunting down everything he writes. This unrelenting, perfectly painted tale of disappointment and wasted lives follows three friends in a dying American town who discover that the fourth member of their childhood gang has killed himself. In the aftermath, the evidence builds that they may not have known him at all, and that in his own depraved way, he may have been the only one among them who fulfilled his dark dreams. The characters are wonderfully drawn, warts and all, and as the story sucks you along, it shares stark, gaunt horrors with you.

The Children of Hurin, J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings remains the piece of literature that most influenced me when I first read it, and so the publication of this new telling of one of the central stories in the Middle-Earth cycle left me almost weak with anticipation. Sweet mercy though, it’s a bleak, brutal read, a tragedy in the Greek sense. Set long before LOTR, the book follows the family of cursed Hurin as a variety of tragic, desperate events overtake them with a crushing, sometimes heartbreaking, inevitability.

A Feast for Crows, George R.R. Martin

A Song of Fire and Ice, George R.R. Martin’s sweeping fantasy saga, is well on the way to being the most extraordinary work of fantasy written in the modern age, and this fourth book took my breath away just as effectively as the first three. The scale of the thing is terrifying, with dozens of detailed, credible, well rounded characters running about a world that feels more historical than fantastical. It’s my favourite book of the year, well worth getting lost in. The only warning I’d offer is that this is not a ‘jumping in’ book. Go back to the first in the sequence, A Game of Thrones, abandon any tacky preconceptions you might have about fantasy fiction, and work from there.

The Everlasting, Tim Lebbon

I read a couple of books by Tim Lebbon this year, and this was my favourite. Tim’s work is pure quality, and I plashed out on the beautiful limited edition hardback from Necessary Evil Press. You don’t have to though, and the links below will take you to the mass market paperback. This unique tale of Eternals at war, and the regular humans who get sucked into it, is as fine an example of his exquisite blending of horror, language, and originality as I can think of. In September this year, Tim’s latest novel Dusk (which I’m reading right now) won the British Fantasy Award for best novel, despite only being published in America, and whatever of his books you pick up, you’ll see for yourself why that was.

Bubbling under: Tricks of the Mind, The Black Angel, Stains, Lisey’s Story, Monster Island, Heart-Shaped Box…

I was wrong.

I currently own exactly seven hundred books, with a total estimated cover value of £5500. The average cover price is £7.94.

I like statistics, but that one surprised me.

And yes, I know all this because my book audit was sadly thorough. Everybody has to have a hobby though…