Our borg Best of 2023 year-end round-up continues today with the Best Books of 2023.  If you missed them, check out our reviews of the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2023 here, the Best Movies of 2023 here, and the Best in TV 2023 here.  We wrap-up our annual awards with our additions to the borg Hall of Fame later this month.  We reviewed more books we recommended to our readers this year (and started or previewed even more), and some even made it onto our favorites shelf.  We don’t publish reviews of books that we read and don’t recommend, so this shortlist reflects only this year’s cream of the crop.  So let’s get going! 

Best Sci-Fi Novel, Best Tie-In Novel – Aliens: Bishop by T.R. Napper (Titan Books).  Thrilling storytelling.  The top of more than a decade of tie-in tales.  It harnesses all you loved about Alien and Aliens, while adding new characters and subplots to keep the Alien universe moving forward.  Runner-up: Enemy of My Enemy by Mary SanGiovanni (Titan Books).  A unique take on the franchise where all bets are off, stakes are high, and you have no chance of guessing who will make it to the end. 

Best Non-Fiction Read, Best on the History of Film/TV Industry – Muppets in Moscow by Natasha Lance Rogoff (Rowman & Littlefield).  Exciting, harrowing account of one woman’s breathless, Herculean effort, involving murdered executives, armed soldiers clearing out buildings, and learning the hard way, step-by-step, how to bridge the gap between Western culture and Russian culture–all to get Sesame Street into Russia.

Best Book on the Film Industry – Movies Go Fourth by Mark Edlitz.  A well-researched, one-of-a-kind look at a corner of moviedom you never would have guessed you wanted to know more about.  A clever idea and solid execution.

Best Fantasy Read – The Twelve Thefts of Christmas by Tim Major (Titan Books).  A solid addition to the canon of modern Holmes and Watson adventures.

Best Mystery Novel, Best Historical Novel – Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Hachette).  A great mystery in the vein of Kidnapped and a mash-up of Scooby-Doo, Clue, and And Then There Were None.  Explores Scotland in the 1890s with dense detail and research into the technology and world of the Victorian world. 

Best New Noir Crime Novel – The Big Bundle by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime).  Collins and his well-dressed hero are in prime form–this is one of those Collins novels that one-ups his own famous Road to Perdition, blending in some nasty villains straight out of Quentin Tarantino’s From Dusk Till Dawn.  

Best Retro Read (Fiction) – Fools Die on Friday, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Hard Case Crime).  The Gardner mystery with the most twists of all, with the most suspects and red herrings.  It’s also impossible to predict where it’s all going.  A satisfying resolution, and just when you think it’s all over, the surprises keep coming.

Best Horror Read (reprint/new edition) – Anno Dracula, by Kim Newman (Titan Books).  As horror novelists are concerned, nobody is better at the craft.  As alternate history novels go, nobody is more creative.  It’s the best vampire story since Bram Stoker penned his original novel of the bloodthirsty monster, from the master of mash-ups.  

Best Fandom Book – Dungeons & Dragons: Lore & Legends (Ten Speed Press).  An interesting look at this niche of fantasy, the tabletop game business, and nostalgia. 

 

Best Film Retrospective Book – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan–The Making of the Classic Film by John and Maria Tenuto (Titan).  Rare and previously unpublished archival material, behind-the-scenes photography, production art, cut scenes, script excerpts, and other content made this book the must-have Star Trek collectible of 2023.  Runner-up: Conan the Barbarian: The Official Story of the Film by John Walsh (Titan).  It’s all there: Costumes, art, props, swordbuilding, storyboards, clapboards, bodybuilding, stunts, development art, alternate/unused ideas, screenshots from unused scenes, all the key sets, makeup, special effects, model fx, matte paintings, body doubles, forced perspective, miniatures, and more.

Best Book for Gamers – 50 Years of Text Games: From Oregon Trail to AI Dungeon, by Aaron A. Reed.  We called it the year’s best non-fiction book for gamers, programmers, and anyone looking for their next Retro Fix.  The book is like no other, chronicling a big niche of the rich–and heretofore untold–history of computer and roleplaying games.

Best Art Book – H.R. Giger: Debbie Harry–Metamorphosis, by Chris Stein (Titan).  A rare and incredible find, a coffee table art book for fans of sci-fi and rock-and-roll history.

Best Retro Read (Non-Fiction) – The House of the Future by David A. Bossert (The Old Mill Press).  A joy to read, a refreshing look at the future from visionaries of the past.

Best Book Design – Star Trek: Lower Decks Crew Handbook by Chris Farnell (Titan).  A great in-universe handbook that mimics the real thing.  So smartly designed it’s like a real studio prop.

Best Non-Fiction Educational Book – The Many Faces of Art Forgery (Rowman & Littlefield), by William Casement.  A great investigation blending art, history, and crime.

Best Science Non-Fiction Work – Practicing Archaeology (Rowman & Littlefield).  The latest word on one of the world’s most fascinating areas of science.

Best Cookbook – Heroes’ Feast: Flavors of the Multiverse: An Official D&D Cookbook by Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson et al (Ten Speed Press).  A cookbook that doesn’t skimp on content, featuring D&D storytelling detailed enough for gamers to want this as part of their RPG resource arsenal.

Best Roleplaying Game – Dungeons & Dragons: Keys from the Golden Vault (Wizards of the Coast).  Whether your favorite heist story is from Mission: Impossible, The Italian Job, Sneakers, The Bank Job, Pink Panther, 21, To Catch a Thief, Army of Thieves, or Leverage, this RPG is great fun.

Best Tie-In Roleplaying Game – Cowboy Bebop (Don’t Panic Games and Mana Project Studio). Complete with its own engine and layers of gameplay you won’t find anyplace else.  The first tie-in RPG to fully incorporate copyrighted elements of the franchise, and it does it on every page.  Runners-up: Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game (Free League) and The Crow: A Cinematic Adventure (Evil Genius Games).   

Best New Comic Book Series – Maleficent (Dynamite).  A worthy addition to nearly a century of Disney comics.  Gorgeous and well-written.   

Best Science Fiction Comic – Star Wars Hyperspace Stories (Dark Horse).  The best space fantasy stories and Star Wars comics since Marvel took over the brand.

Best Fantasy Comic Series – Saturday Morning Adventures – Dungeons & Dragons (IDW Publishing).  A great return to beloved fantasy characters and a fan-favorite TV series.

Best Retro Read Comic – Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Echoes (IDW Publishing).  A great choice niche of the franchise canon, finally getting mined for some of the great costumes and set design elements, plus characters at a point where we haven’t seen many expansion stories before.

Best Manga Book – Star Wars: The Legends of Luke Skywalker–The Manga (VIZ Media).   Consistent in quality and feels and looks more like vintage Star Wars than any comics in decades.

Best Manga Book Reprint (new edition of previously published book) – Alpi the Soul Sender (Titan).  A brilliant new world about a young heroine on a dramatic journey like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Red Sonja.  The rare fantasy that creates a new spirit realm so rich and detailed that it sucks you in with only a few pages.

Best Anthology Comic Book – Tales for a HalloweeNight Volume 9 (Storm King).  It delivered a spine-tingling collection of stories worthy of the best night of the year.

Best Graphic Novel (Fiction), Best Interior Comic Art – Noir Burlesque (Hard Case Crime), by Enrico Marini.  A vivid, gritty crime story, and a fascinating flashback to the bygone era of film noir.

Best Graphic Novel (Non-Fiction) – We Are Not Strangers (Abrams), by Josh Tuininga.  A powerful look into the past that rivals Art Spiegelman’s World War II graphic novel Maus.

Best Translated Edition – The Three Ghosts of Tesla (Statix Press).  A great supernatural mash-up of alternate history tropes.

Best One-Shot – Death Mask (Storm King).  In the spirit of Bosch, Harrow, Luther, and L.A.’s Finest, the graphic novel introduces all the great crime tropes into a fun read.

Best Horror Comic – Welcome to the ITO-Verse (VIZ Media).  The most intriguing dose of fears and frights on paper this year.

Best Collected Edition – Ian Fleming’s James Bond: Himeros (Dynamite).  A great James Bond, adapted for today, with all the familiar tropes, and great cover art.

Best Kids Comic – Stanley and the Haunted House (Storm King).  Mix Donald Duck, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Scooby Doo, and a dose of Beetlejuice, and you’ll find the perfect spooky tale to read along with your kids here.

Best Book on Comics – Funny Things (Top Shelf), by Luca Debus and Francesco Matteuzzi.  A smart, well-researched look at the influential 20th century writer-artist from the vantage of the medium he mastered.

Thanks for reading our reviews in 2023!

Come back later this month as we add several new members to the borg Hall of Fame.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg