Favorite Novel 2016 Edition: Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman

Each year, I try to read between 100 and 150 books - and usually end up somewhere between those two points. I rarely review a book, and I never post about books I didn't care for - there's little point to an author essentially saying to another author, "Hey, your book sucked and here's why." Not nice, right? And while I read a number of books this past year that I really enjoyed, picking my favorite of 2016 was actually pretty easy.

It's almost always a book that leaves me wanting more, waiting for the next one in the series (if it's part of one), and silently urging the author to write faster, damn it.

So, for 2016, my favorite novel is SILVER ON THE ROAD by Laura Anne Gilman. (Full disclosure: I've known Laura Anne for many years, and consider her a friend.) I'm going to steal the short blurb from Goodreads:

On her sixteenth birthday, Isobel makes the choice to work for the devil in his territory west of the Mississippi. But this is not the devil you know. This is a being who deals fairly with immense—but not unlimited—power, who offers opportunities to people who want to make a deal, and makes sure they always get what they deserve. But his land is a wild west that needs a human touch, and that’s where Izzy comes in. Inadvertently trained by him to see the clues in and manipulations of human desire, Izzy is raised to be his left hand and travel the circuitous road through the territory. As we all know, where there is magic there is power and chaos…and death.

Laura Anne's writing just gets better and better. She conveys story and character with grace, power, and originality in a way that makes me just a little bit jealous. The next book in the series, THE COLD EYE, is due out in just a couple of weeks, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. I love westerns, love fantasy, and this one combines them in a way that no one else is doing. If you haven't read it, check it out - this one will knock your socks off.

What did you read this past year that you really loved? 

Read on,

Russell