2011 was a big year for doorstopper-sized fantasy novels, particularly A Dance of Dragons by George R.R. Martin, which is a whopping 1,040 pages. It sold 298,000 copies on its first day alone, which included 170,000 hardcovers, 110,000 eBooks, and 18,000 audiobooks, proving that although ebook sales are catching up, print is still ahead for big releases like this.

Another major series that got a hugely anticipated sequel came in the form of Patrick Rothfuss’ The Wise Man’s Fear, which continues the events of The Name of the Wind and propels Kvothe into an even more compelling situations. Canadian horror also got a few notable entries with Enter, Night and Dead of Winter, both historical fiction novels and both superbly written. Small and mid-sized presses continue to produce some of the best genre fiction out there, and this year proved no exception.

Here’s my picks for the Top 10 Fantasy and Horror Books of 2011.

Fans of George R.R. Martin‘s fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire have reason to celebrate today, as an official release date has finally been set for the fifth book in the saga, A Dance with Dragons.

According to EW, July 12, 2011 will see the release of the next book in the series, whose last book, A Feast for Crows, was released more than 5 years ago. The new book is reported to be almost 900 pages in hardcover, and will focus on characters from the series who were mostly absent in the previous book. The timing for the release of the new book will be perfect (assuming Martin is finished in time) as it will be coming out just after the HBO adaptation of A Game of Thrones, the first book in the series, wraps up.

The Song of Ice and Fire started in 1996 with the release of A Game of Thrones. The series revolves around the Stark family, and their roles in political intrigue and war in a fantasy land under threat of human and supernatural forces.