What was Going to Be the Top Ten Best Selling Science Fiction Novels of 2010

Researching this annual piece was easy until 2009. In 2010, locating ten science fiction novels that were both new and sold reasonably well was practically impossible. After reviewing assorts lists from booksellers, it seems the genre of "science fiction and fantasy" has become overwhelmingly lopsided in favor of publishing fantasy.

And bad fantasy at that. Romance novels wrapped in the cloak of vampire stories seemed to top the list of what the publishing houses have been shoveling out, in the wake of the rabid success of the tween-oriented Twilight series of novels and movies.

One novel did turn up in the top 750 best selling list for 2010, The Wind Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi which won both the Nebula and Hugo Awards. A cyberpunk story that will surely become known as the first classic science fiction novel of the 21st Century, set in the not very distant future in post-Armageddon Thailand where biogineering has become the central focus of the entire world to stave off famine.

Oh, to be sure, there are other science fiction novels in the stats. H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds did well, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 continues to sell and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is still selling 10s of thousands of copies after almost 30 years. Phillip K. Dick continues to sell well. And L. Ron Hubbard somehow managed to publish another new book post-posthumously. But new science fiction seems to be evading publisher's minds.

I thought I had been imagining this dearth of new science fiction on the shelves this past year when I was visiting my favorite bookseller. Oh, Iain Banks published another book, Surface Detail, which is selling well but only amongst science fiction aficionados because of his very high concepts and meticulous detail in crafting a story. Larry Niven put out what is probably his final Known Space novel, Betrayer of Worlds, finishing (I think) the Ringworld saga he started in 1972.

But the shelves have been overwhelmed by fantasy novels. Dragons, zombies and of course vampires seem to be the central themes. It has become difficult for those of us who place the two genres in separate realms to locate amongst the dreck what we're looking for - science fiction.

Good luck out there.