Best Novels you've read 2008

[Elliot Kane]

Close enough to the end of the year for this one, I think

What were the best novels you read in 2008?

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For me, this was a good year, with two excellent new authors (Important as the old ones keep dying!) and some great reading.

Not that too many make a genuine 'best of' list, but even so ;D

1. Best debut novel I've read in... maybe ever, and best book of the year is definitely Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. This one even has its own thread, so I won't rave about it too much, here. But it's really great.

2. In any normal year, the runaway winner would have been the utterly superb Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. It's the tale of the rise of a young guttersnipe from the depths of extreme poverty as an orphan on the streets to become the greatest 'Wetboy' of his age. "Assassins have targets, because they sometimes miss. Wetboys have deaders, because they don't." Think 'magically powered assassin'. Completely absorbing, utterly superb, and with a whole host of genuinely interesting characters. And plot twists. Plenty of plot twists. Not a good read for the faint of heart, however, be warned...

[Elliot Kane]

After consideration, I'm cutting my list to the above. While I read plenty of other novels this year, most don't really deserve to make this list - certainly not when compared to the ones that do.

[Cat]

Twilight, which thanks to the awareness made by the film, I daresay you have all heard of it, if not, it is a typical teenage romance, between a girl with very feminine qualities and a vampire. In the later books, which I also read this year, it extends to werewolves and all sorts. The finale in Bella's part of the story was released in August, Breaking Dawn was not my favourite of the series, whilst very good, it seemed to me a little more rushed than the other books, and it was the end of a story, and I hate when good things come to a close.

If, however, that can be considered a novel, then the final Harry Potter, an amazing, tear jerking story, which finishes a lot of years of writing, I'm sure you've all heard of the tale of the boy wizards, and his various victories over the dark Lord Voldemort.

Of course, both could be considered ''Trashy fiction'' by the English Literature teacher and cannot possibly account for a novel at all. In which case I must chose a very old novel, yet always one of my favourite, I re read it this year, and am reading it again now. It's Jane Austen's Emma. Another classic story of love and romance, a young Emma likes to play matchmaker, but seems completely oblivious to how her own heart has been stolen.

I also recommend Regeneration by Pat Barker, it's my English Literature text for coursework, it's a story set in 1917 in Craig Lockhart War Hospital in Scotland. In the beginning it follows Seigfried Sassoon as the main character, but as the reader becomes more familiar with the characters they all are given an equal attention.

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And that's all I have to say about that

[Nero the Glorious]

I really enjoyed Brisingr (Eragon III)

[Lews]

Do these have to be books that came out in 2008 or books we read in 2008?

Best books I've read:

Brave New World
The Lathe of Heaven
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
Panzer Commander

Best books that came out this year I've read:

Making Money (I think that came out this year)
Harry Potter 7
The Billionaires Vinegar

Looking at my bookshelves lol. Probably my favorite books I read would be The Billionaires Vinegar, Panzer Commander, and Brave New World.

[Elliot Kane]

Release dates for novels are as hard to pin down as release dates for albums and for pretty much the same reasons, Lews, so whatever you read this year is fine

[Lews]

K then I'd say my 3 favorite books of the year that I read would be these.

The Billionaires Vinegar

A fascinating story into the biggest scam of the wine industry, netting the perpetrator millions of dollars and causing many people (including the Forbes family) quite a lot of embarassment. Great if you love wine, mysteries, or need to be a stuck up elitist.

Panzer Commander

The memoris of German Colonel Von Luck, his recounting of WWII from his perspective. Shows another side of the story that we often see, the time with the honor and bravery of the German soldiers fighting for honor and their country. A great book.

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley. Classic of the Science Fiction genre. Had to read it for a class, loved it. Pure classic, if you haven't read it you simply must.

[killerzzz]

Thats a tuff one. I can think of three though.

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
The sixth and latest book in the Artemis Fowl series, its sci-fi fantasy taking place in the present, that is about Artemis, a rich Irish child-geneous criminal mastermind, and his encounters with the "fairy" people, who are magical races that live underground with advanced techonology. The secret of their existance, among other things that would shatter the world as we know it, are at stake. IMHO, the series is much more fun and interesting than Harry Potter (which I did like, btw).

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal by Aaron Allston
The first book in a nine-book Star Wars series, I think it was the best done of the set. Luke is Grand Master of the Jedi Order, his son is the apprentice of Han and Leia's son, and trouble is brewing between the GA and Coreillia (Han's homeworld). And dark, unknown forces are pushing chaos and corruption into motion. Right and wrong, family ties, and friendships are being troubled. Very intersting for any Star Wars fan, even if you don't read the rest of the series.

Orphans of Chaos by John C. Wright
The first book of a Trilogy. Five orphans at a private orphanage know that they are not normal, and slowly discover that a horrible plot is taking place and their safety is threatened. It is very interesting, and involves magic, Greek Mythology, and five different complexe ways to see and understand reality and the universe. This book is aimed at older readers, because it may be too complexe for most young teens and many references to Greek mythos might be lost on them.


I think those are my three best reads of 2008. Very good ones, very interesting.

Killerzzz

[Alrik]

At least one of my favourite books was "Going Postal" by Mr. Terry Pratchett.

Or did I read that in 2007 already ?

[Flix]

George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice novels win hands down for me. (Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings, Storm of Swords, Feast for Crows). They were a grim and gritty change from all the high fantasy I'd been gorging myself on since middle school. Left me dying for Book 5, which will apparently be published sometime in late 2035.