The Top 10 Books for 2002

The Return of the Sword by Roger Taylor

return o the sword Not many people know about Roger Taylor the author. Roger Taylor the drummer is pretty well know, but that's another story. Back to Roger the author. This man is without a doubt one of the great unsung voices of the fantasy genre today. His stories are tight, fantastic, and a lot of fun. The Return of the Sword is a climax of sorts to all of his interrelated work. It's an ambitious undertaking - in my mind it wasn't completely successful, but it was still a solid story.

(Review)

1	The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein It's been a few years since I've read this series. Like a lot of people I reread them after seeing the first movie. How do I not give these top marks for the year? They pretty bloody good. (Review)
2	The Starbridge Chronicles by Paul Park The first two books in the series sat on my shelf for years while I hunted for the third book, which oddly enough could have stood alone, oh well. An engrossing and disturbing series that examines religion and the society. (Review)
3	Dragondoom by Dennis L. McKiernan On the whole this is pretty standard fantasy stuff, but dang if Mr. McKiernan didn't push all the right buttons in all the right places. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and even shed a tear at one point. (Review)
4	Shadow of the Hegemon / Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card I know I'm cheating here by post two books in the series, but it's my site and I'll do what ever I feel like. Sure they're flawed, and hard to believe, but if you can suspend your baggage and go along for the ride this is good clean fun. (Review)
5	All Tomorrow's Parties by William Gibson Another in a long line of wickedly cool books by William Gibson. This guy take the ordinary and twists it into the most extraordinary shapes. (Review)
6	A Familiar Dragon by Daniel Hood Sometimes you pick something up just because it sounded interesting on the jacket. This omnibus collection was a wonderful surprise. It was a Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC) exclusive, and is likely out of print (bastards!) but is well worth seeking out. (Review)
7	The Return of the Sword by Roger Taylor Not many people know about Roger Taylor the author. Roger Taylor the drummer is pretty well know, but that's another story. Back to Roger the author. This man is without a doubt one of the great unsung voices of the fantasy genre today. His stories are tight, fantastic, and a lot of fun. The Return of the Sword is a climax of sorts to all of his interrelated work. It's an ambitious undertaking - in my mind it wasn't completely successful, but it was still a solid story. (Review)
8	Flying Dutch by Tom Holt Tom Holt is a funny guy. I'm not kidding, this really is some funny stuff. I know a lot of books say they're funny, and seldom get past being cute. Tom Holt when he's on is funny. Flying Dutch is one of his best, which is pretty hot considering he writes pretty consistently funny stuff. (Review)
9	Yor's Revenge by Roy V. Young The last book published in the series by Roy Young. There's a third book that will probably never see the light of day, which is a shame. Roy Young was cursed with poor marketing and terrible cover art. You see, Roy is a funny writer, but what makes this novel, and the one before it so good is that his actual story behind the humour, and the elements of magic and dragons are quite unique. Perhaps if Roy had toned down the puns and written a straight fantasy this might have gone big time. Such a shame he never caught on. Easily better than most of the so called humourous fantasy out there. (Review)
10	The Planet Pirates by Anne McCaffrey with Elizabeth Moon & Jody Nye And finally a big ass omnibus that collects the Planet Pirates books. These aren't necessarily great books, but they were pulpy, cliched, full of little plot holes, but overall an enjoyable romp that took a while to plow through. (Review)