I read 79 novels or author collections in 2014.

Of those, 31 were written by woman and 48 were written by men.  49 of the novels were “core” genre in that they were recognisably written or published by someone involved in the SF/F scene.  The other 39 would be classified as literary novels.  I’m insane if I think I’m going to be able to read over 130 books in 2015 (as part of discussing and considering more than 25 award shortlists).  But who needs sleep anyway.

The best novel I read this year was a toss-up between three remarkable books  –

And here are ten others novels I thought were fantastic and highly recommend –

  • Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
  • Bearded Woman by Teresa Milbrodt
  • Hild by Nicola Griffiths
  • The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
  • Dust Devil on a Quiet Street by Richard Bowes
  • The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
  • The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
  • A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray
  • Redeployment by Phil Klay