Peter's First Annual Book of the Year Awards

The Nominees are:

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• This book is simply brilliant. Rarely does social satire ring this true-to-life, nor is it usually so readable as in the context of a zombie apocalypse. Brooks has his finger on the pulse of our materialistic culture and extrapolates our doom with wit and savage grace.
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• This is undoubtedly the best fantasy novel of the year. Patrick Rothfuss has earned himself a place in the pantheon of writers that I re-read every year. His story is beautifully written. It is emotionally stirring, rich in action, and steeped in mystery. The world building is not as realized as a more veteran writer would achieve, but the characterizations are what keeps the pages turning.
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• Weber’s latest foray from the Honor Harrington universe is a masterpice of science fiction, combining disparate narrative elements that evoke the greatness of Frank Herbert. Weber’s comments on religion and social responsibility are set on the stage of a page-turning thriller that shows his obvious love for all things nautical. The protagonist of this story is probably Weber’s best characterization to date, surpassing even Honor Harrington with the complexity (and the contraints) placed on him by this universe.
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• Complicated, dark, brutal, and scientifically rigorous, Watts is one of the most ingenious (and grim) writers of hard science fiction. He is completely under-rated (missing the Hugo this year). His prose is tight, his plotting is full of both dread and wonder, and his narrative-based comments on the nature of mankind leave one lying awake long into the night with unanswered questions. This is the best kind of science fiction–one that makes us ask difficult questions of ourselves.
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• Stirling is a perennial favorite of mine, and in this “post-change” novel, he is finally free to use fantasy elements to shape a world where quantum physics has gone terribly awry. Combustion engines no longer work, steam doesn’t build enough pressure to power locomotives, and gunpowder fizzles without intensity. Stirling’s coven of Wiccans form the nexus of a group of survivors in a world gone mad, spreading civilization and peace to warlords, cannibals, and power-hungry religious zealots…sometimes at the point of a sword or a longbow.