This will be the final entry as I think anything less than a decade
is insufficient time to consider a career.

Best First Novel

1 The Great Wheel                    Ian R. MacLeod  

        I missed this.

        MacLeod's books are well received. His career is the opposite
of many detailed in this series, with one novel in the 1990s and three
since 2003.

2 Expendable                         James Alan Gardner  

        It's always hard on morale when explorers die. This society
has tried to limit that problem by using people with off-putting
disfigurements as explorers because nobody misses the ugly. Oddly,
this is not a particularly nice society.

        Jim had seven books in the League of Peoples series, one
Lara Croft tie-in and one collection. I am unaware of anything at
book length since 2005's GRAVITY WELLS.

3 Black Wine                         Candas Jane Dorsey  

        I missed this.

        I am having a hard time reconciling her being on this list with
the records I can find for her career and so will leave commentary to the
better informed.

4 An Exchange of Hostages            Susan R. Matthews  

        Our tragic hero discovers that he really, really enjoys torturing
people for the State but since he feels guilty it is OK.

        I hated the two books of hers that I read.

        She had at least seven novels before 2002 and one in 2006.

5 Mars Underground                   William K. Hartmann  

        I don't remember the particulars well enough to describe this,
although it is set on Mars and I think people are looking for something.

        I remember being very disappointed that Hartmann's novel was
not as good as his astronomical non-fiction.

        As far as I know, this is his only novel.

6 The Art of Arrow-Cutting           Stephen Dedman  

        An act of charity lands a tough Brooklyne artist in deep
kinchee, with everything from tough guys to monsters coming after
him.

        I see three novels from Tor, all between 1997 and 2001, and
a more recent Shadowrun novel. He also has two collections and seems
to be fairly prolific at short lengths.

7 The Merro Tree                     Katie Waitman  

        I missed this.

        I think she has had just two novels to date, both in the
1990s.

8 Lightpaths                         Howard V. Hendrix  

        I missed this.

        Hendrix has had seven novels and a collection so far but in my
circles he is better known for the luddite rant that gave the world the
"International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day."

http://community.livejournal.com/sfwa/10039.html

9 A Thousand Words for Stranger      Julie E. Czerneda  

        I don't think I read this.

        Czerneda appears to average about one novel per year.

10 Waking Beauty                     Paul Witcover  

        I missed this.

        Witcover appears to have had three novels to date, as well
as shorter works.

11 The Troika                        Stepan Chapman  

        I missed this.

        I think this was his lone novel.

12 The Stone Prince                  Fiona Patton  

        I did not read this.

        Patton had four novels between 1997 and 2001, one in 2005 and
one is forthcoming (For some reason I thought she had a lot more books).

13 Lives of the Monster Dogs         Kirsten Bakis  

        I missed this.

        This appears to be their only book.

14 Iron Dawn                         Matthew Woodring Stover  

        I missed this.

        I believe that Stover has at least a dozen books out, many
of which are STAR WARS tie-in novels.

15 The Seventh Heart                 Marina Fitch  

        I missed this.

        She appears to have had two novels, both in the late 1990s.
Her short story career appears to begin in the mid-1980s and run
until the late 1990s.

16 The Seraphim Rising               Elisabeth DeVos  

        And to round things out nicely, I missed this as well.

        As far as I can tell, this was their only novel.

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