2018 is all but done, so it’s time once again for me to dig my judging hat out of storage and cast my beady eye over the last twelve months here at The Eloquent Page.
Before all the excitement and accolades, some thrilling numbers for all you stat fans out there. Since 1st January I’ve read fifty-eight books. Forty-one of those fall into the categories of either fantasy, sci fi or horror. Conversely, crime, action/adventure, and historical fiction were all pretty thin on the ground. I’ve written fifty-three thousand five hundred words of book-related review waffle and, most importantly, thoroughly enjoyed myself to boot.
Now time for the awards. As ever, what follows is a random assortment of plaudits, each of my own devising.
The “End of the World and I Feel Fine Award” for the Apocalypse in Fiction – Tough group this year. The Feed by Nick Clark Windo was brilliant. Zero Day by Ezekiel Boone was suitably bonkers (flesh eating spiders are wonderfully icky). Hunted by G X Todd continued The Defender series, and was both thoughtful and immersive. So many great books in one of my favourite categories. I do love the end of the world. My ultimate choice however was Shelter by Dave Hutchinson. It had the same deliciously bleak vibe as the BBC 1980s adaptation of The Day of the Triffids. Shelter gets extra kudos for being the perfect first book in the new Aftermath shared universe from Rebellion Books. I cannot wait to read more.
The “If Music Be The Food Of Love Award” for Best Accompanying Soundtrack – For a couple of years now, I have been pairing each book I read with a soundtrack. It adds an extra dimension to the whole experience in my opinion. This year, my favourite was reading Wyntertide by Andrew Caldecott while listening to the soundtrack for The Grand Budapest Hotel by Alexandre Desplat. Talk about a match made in heaven. Blissful reading and blissful music.
The “One That Got Away Award” for the Best Novel I’ve Not Read Yet – How in God’s name did I miss Europe at Dawn by Dave Hutchinson? All the other books in The Fractured Europe Sequence have been first class yet somehow this one managed to fly completely under my bookish radar. So many books so little time. Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to remedy this gross oversight soon.
The “They’re Good Dogs, Brent! Award” for Canines in Fiction – I’m going to bend the rules a little here. For transparencies sake, I should confirm that though I have read the book that won this award, I’ve not actually reviewed it yet. I would have done it by now, but I was ill last week. In The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz there is a dog who manages to steal every scene he is in. Read the book, and the sequel Last Chance, and you’ll be in for a rare treat. Cassius (and Zeus) will break your heart. As an aside, I’d to take this opportunity to say I was sad to hear of the passing of Pippin, the wonderful dog whose profile picture adorns the excellent twitter account, We Rate Dogs, that partially inspired this award category.
The “Genre Tourist’s Travel Guide and Towel Award” for Most Impressive Worldbuilding – In Thin Air, author Richard Morgan got his ass to Mars. Or a grubby, dystopian vision of it. It’s so very Total Recall, so very sleazy in a space Vegas type fashion. What happens on Mars definitely stays on Mars. Foundryside by Robert Bennett brought us a steampunk dystopia with danger round ever corner. Yes, of course I’d want to visit. The winner however, had to be the debut novel from Tade Thompson. Rosewater is a wonderfully evocative vision of future Nigeria that felt so real I was blown away. It is the perfect example of how important getting the right location is when it comes to enhancing a narrative. With each passing chapter you get more and more indication that Thompson knows his fictional city inside out. The first book of The Wormwood Trilogy is stunning and I reckon the setting has a heck of a lot to do with that.
The “We Hardly Knew Ye Award” for Series That Have Come And Gone in 2018 – Something Wicked by K T Davies rounded off The Breed Chronicles in epic fashion. Breed is one of my all-time favourite characters, a platinum rogue at every turn. I shall miss all that sweary, action-packed adventure.
The “Well, Hello New Book AwesomenessAward” for New Series – The flip side of a series finishing is a new series beginning. In 2018, we were real lucky, there were some absolute corkers. S A Sidor unleashed Fury from the Tomb, Josiah Bancroft delighted with Senlin Ascends, and Danie Ware dazzled with Children of Artifice. My number one pick was the first part of The Farian War trilogy. There Before The Chaos by K B Wagers expands on her earlier work bringing more depth and drama to the life of Empress Hail Bristol. I adored it.
The “Well, Will You Look At That Award” for A Book Cover Of Singular Visual Flair – Fury From The Tomb by S A Sidor gets a second mention on this list due to the sublime cover art by Daniel Strange. It tells you everything you need to know about what lies within, without saying a word. I would happily hang a poster sized copy of this cover on a wall in my house. It is a thing of beauty.
The “What A Splendid Fellow Award” for Character of the Year – My character of the year winner goes to Tomas Piety from Priest of Bones by Peter McLean. The book was damn close to being my ultimate pick of the year and I reckon a lot of that came down to the characters. Piety in particular is a complex soul and how he acts and reacts to the events that unfold around him was endlessly fascinating. Tomas Piety is a conflicted ex-soldier/gang boss making his own unique mark in a grimy working-class fantasy slum. Take my advice, you all should be reading this.
There also needs to be an honourable mention to pretty much every character in The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French (Orcs with full-on biker gang attitude can never be a bad thing. The ride proper hogs for god sake. I mean actual battle pigs breed for mayhem. How cool is that?).
Book of the Year 2018 – And so we reach the big one. I’ve ruminated over this final award long and hard. It’s the one you’ve all tuned in for, so without any further preamble my pick for my favourite book that I’ve read in 2018 is…. Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames. Its predecessor, King of the Wyld, was great but Bloody Rose turns things all the way up to eleven (which is one more than ten*). The characters are brilliant and the plot, from beginning to end, is executed flawlessly. It pleases me immensely that rock and roll fantasy is now a thing. The fact it is so bloomin’ entertaining is an added bonus. I demand more immediately, if not sooner.
So, there are just a few of my highlights of 2018. I just like to finish off by thanking a few people. All the authors, publishers, publicists and book related types I’ve come into contact with in the last twelve months, without exception, have been thoroughly splendid. All the book reviewers who I’ve interacted with are a great bunch. The sense of community that exists is very important to me (even though I’m not terribly vocal about it). What can I say, social anxiety and a natural shyness makes for a heady mix. My thanks also go out to you, the person who is reading this right now. It’s always nice when a book fan drops by the site. My endlessly positive twaddle is driven by an urge to share my appreciation of the written word with you. My final thank you, the most important of all, goes to @MadNad. It may not be entirely evident, but I am quite a shambolic human being. My better half keeps me on an even keel, points me in the right direction and corrects the most grievous of my crimes against book reviewing. Honestly you would not wish to visit this site if I was left to my own devices. The number of incorrectly placed commas alone would drive you to the brink of insanity.
I’ve already got the first couple of months of 2019 scheduled with a plethora of exciting new books I’ll be reviewing so feel free to swing back this way if you have the urge. As ever I hope you and yours are having whatever kind of festive season you desire. My advice – look after yourself, be nice to others and read a book or two.
*With apologies to Spinal Tap
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