The Best of 2006

Now we're coming to the end of the year, it's time to look over the best releases of the year. Most of these are quite predictable - the solid continuations of major series, the hugely publicised new authors etc. But there were a few surprises, and all, whether expected or not, are impressive.

First, of course, The Lies of Locke Lamora has to be mentioned. With a single book, Scott Lynch managed to propel himself into the lofty sphere of epic fantasy alongside Bakker, Erikson and Martin. TLOLL has everything in it - great characters, an unpredictable, twisting plot, a brilliant setting with the city of Camorr, contrasts in tone between dark and brooding and hilarious with ease... And most of all, it lived up to the hype, which was its greatest challenge.

Keeping to epic fantasy, there were numerous other notable releases - Bakker concluded his Prince of Nothing trilogy with the excellent The Thousandfold Thought (with a good ending, though perhaps lacking not as conclusive as some readers may have hoped) while Erikson gave another solid effort with the sixth instalment of his Malazan series, the Bonehunters (disappointing given his brilliance in the past, but nonetheless a good book) and Greg Keyes' The Blood Knight was another competent instalment. There was another notable debut this year, from Joe Abercromie with the Blade Itself, a dark, gritty epic fantasy with a varied cast of characters including a barbarian losing his edge, a crippled torturer and an effete noble.

Outside of epic fantasy, there were also some notable developments - Alan Campbell's Scar Night displayed a huge level of originality, Jeffrey Ford's The Empire of Ice Cream and the anthology Feeling Very Strange showed that the short form was still alive and well, while Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End, Dave Kalstein's Prodigy and Tim Powers' Three Days to Never demonstrated the versatility and strength of science fiction today.