The Tufted Shoot: 2002 Retrospective

A tree of immense girth grows from a tufted shoot; a terrace of nine levels rises from a clump of soil; a journey of a thousand miles begins under the first tread.

--Laozi, Dao De Jing, ch. 64

This is almost two and a half months late in coming, although I prefer to adopt the conceit that I was just taking a proper amount of time to reflect and ponder. Anyway, the end of 2002 also saw the conclusion of my first year maintaining a booklog, and on balance it's been quite a positive experience. It has sometimes been hard to know what to say about a particular book--some books just seem to elicit a desire to comment, while others, well, don't--and on many more than one occasion, laziness or writer's block has led to a delay in the posting schedule (yes, yes, look no further than the current dilatory lag for an example). On the other hand, it's been a lot of fun jotting down thoughts about the books I've read, it's quite nice to have a concrete record of what I've read, and I've really enjoyed sharing my comments with those who've been good enough to drop by the site and read my log, and on occasion share their own thoughts and reactions. On a particularly gratifying note, the booklog has been the genesis of unexpected e-mails from no less than three old friends whom I had not heard from in years. As it happens (makes one wonder about fate, just a bit), one of them has very recently shifted status from old friend to new fiancée. No, I most certainly didn't plan it that way when I started the booklog, but I'll take it, nonetheless.

I suppose any retrospective worth its salt makes some attempt to actually retrospect, which is to say, look back over the preceding period. My initial thought was to award a "best book" designation. When I realized I really couldn't narrow it down to one clearly superior (relative to all the others) book, I thought about doing a "best of such-and-such genre or category," until I realized I really didn't want to play the genre game, either. So in order to maintain some semblance of order, while preserving a bit of flexibility, I'm going to go with the old tried and true "ten best" list, with maybe a few honorable mentions thrown in for good measure.

One salutary effect of maintaining a book log has been that this year has consisted almost entirely of new reading. In years past, I have been much given to re-reading old favorites, but a glance at this year's list shows only three re-reads, all from near the beginning of the year. By my count, there are 110 entries in the log for the entire year, most of them novels, with several short story collections, novellas, and graphic novel/comic book compilations included in the mix. One reason for the tendency to turn to re-reads in past years has been a deficient filtering process--an inability to weed out the dross and get to the good stuff--such that I often reached a point of being too tired of crap to take a chance that the next new, unread book might actually be worth reading. Gradually, however, I've been able to put in a place a much more discriminating system for choosing what to read, mostly consisting of following advice from like-minded friends and sifting through comments on book-related fora such as rec.arts.sf.written. As a result, last year's list as a whole, although it contains some mediocrities, has almost no titles that I would consider actively bad. Enough blather. Without further ado, my ten best books of 2002 (just to be clear, that I read in 2002, not that were published in 2002)(also, simply alphabetical by title, not in any quality-based order):

Ten Best Books of 2002

The Crimson Petal and the White Complex characters in a meticulously re-created Victorian London setting. Young prostitute struggles to escape the squalor of her antecedants via a wealthy patron. Great prose, interesting social and historical milieu.

The Fox Woman Moving, beautifully written fable set in Heian Japan, about a love triangle between a husband, his wife, and the young fox who yearns to be human. Lovely, lyrical writing; powerful emotions.

High Fidelity Thirty-something London underachiever and record store owner slowly manages to get with the program and forge an enduring relationship. Humorous and insightful both.

The Iron Dragon's Daughter Multi-layered narrative revolving around a young human girl growing up in a harsh fantastic landscape. Symbolism abounds, as does complexity.

Joy in the Morning Jeeves and Wooster Forever! Wodehouse at the height of his powers. Bertie and Jeeves head off to the countryside, hijinks ensue. Dare you not to laugh out loud.

Last of the Amazons Theseus and his band of Athenian warriors visit the Amazonian tribe on the steppes of Central Asia; several years later, the Amazons return the favor with a siege of Athens. Vivid characters, muscular prose, powerful evocation of a semi-mythical age and events.

Lyonesse: The Green Pearl The middle book of the Lyonesse trilogy; I highlight this one because it was my favorite of the three, although the entire trilogy should be read. Written in a unique style, it's a picaresque fantasy adventure.

Sandman VI: Fables & Reflections The entire series of Sandman compilations is worthy of reading; I choose this one to highlight because taken as a whole, I like the stories in it the best.

Stories of Your Life and Others A collection of short stories and novellas by Ted Chiang; the least engaging are still interesting, while the best are completely mind-expanding (and the majority fall on the upper end of the scale).

The Years of Rice and Salt The plague wipes out the entire European populace in the 1300s, and the civilizations of Near and Far East grow to fill the void. Fascinating, technically accomplished exercise in alternate history.

Honorable Mentions

Across the Nightingale Floor Nifty little fantasy tale set in an ersatz traditional Japan. Nice scenery, strong characters, violent conflict.

Bones of the Earth Time travel, dinosaurs, the scientific quest for knowledge.

Briar Rose Very moving tale; a re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale set during the Holocaust.

The Chronoliths Massive monuments to a future conqueror begin appearing in the present. Intelligent science fiction.

Kushiel's Dart Debut novel with lush prose, complicated plotting, and a protagonist beloved by the author.

A Night in the Lonesome October A quirky tale about preparations for a mighty ritual at the end of the month, told by the dog of one of the participants.

Tides of War The rise and fall of Alcibiades, and with him, Athenian fortunes. Potent battle scenes.

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