Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

The gop couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Biden: Oh no. We’ve upset Big Pharma again.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

The Supreme Court is corrupt. Democrats must win in November and force court reform.

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

You are here: Home / Books / Sci-fi/Fantasy Book Club, Anyone? (Open Thread)

Sci-fi/Fantasy Book Club, Anyone? (Open Thread)

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Hey all! Some friends and I have been organizing a book club over on Bluesky, and I thought it would be fun to invite the folks here who want to join, and maybe do a parallel one here, if there’s enough interest. Our previous selections were Neuromancer and A Wizard of Earthsea; this time we’re going for something more modern. We’re picking the book with a bracket, and the voting is happening over there, so if you want a say, please participate! The brackets are vaguely based on subgenre/vibe. Here are the selections:

The polls to vote in are linked below that post, starting here. There are a lot of good options, and a lot that I haven’t read, so I’m hoping one of those wins. Or at least that Foundryside loses because I do not want to read that again. I think that you should be able to vote once without a Bluesky account, but I’m not 100% on that.

And with that out of the way, this can be an open thread. One possible topic: read any good books lately? I’m reading Authority by Jeff VanderMeer, the sequel to Annihilation, which was incredible. It’s… fine so far. Much more normal. I think I’d be enjoying it more if not for the comparison. Next I’ll be rereading Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination, in the original American serialization–my dad got me the 1956-57 back issues of Galaxy for Christmas.

Reader Interactions

68Comments

  1. 1.

    Mag

    The first four Murderbot diaries by Martha Wells are excellent, contemporary scifi.

    • All Systems Red
    • Artificial Condition
    • Rouge Protocol
    • Exit Strategy 
  2. 2.

    dmsilev

    Hmmm. I’ve read about half of the entries in that poll, and liked most of them. “Project Hail Mary” was the exception; thought it was ‘meh’ at best. “Children of Time”, “Memory of Empire” and “The Fifth Season” are all excellent.

  6. 6.

    wmd

    I’m in the midst of a winnowing of my home library – the books will get cataloged and then dropped off 4-6 at a time at little free libraries.

    Pournelle and Turtledove are being purged, and others from that era of my reading/collecting. It’s hard to part with books, but it will happen. My bookshelves will be single book deep this year!

  8. 8.

    Frankensteinbeck

    This is an appropriate place to mention – I had a Fan In The Wild moment, and those are SO awesome.  A friend of my mother’s met a patient at the VA who said I’m his favorite science fiction author.

    ETA – I should reread Wizard of Earthsea.

  9. 9.

    Jimbales

    Two of my favorite books of the last few years are by Aaron Morgan Stern:

    Two of my favorite books of the last few years are by Erin Morganstern:

    The Night Circus

    The Starless Sea

    They different, and each is captivating. I’m happy to say more about either of them if someone would like me to

    Best

    Jim

  13. 13.

    cain

    Sara Carpenter’s Crow Investigations is excellent.  It’s like a combination of Sam Spade, the GodFather, and subtle kinds of magic that isn’t in your face. All takes place in London and talks about magical families that have powers.

    But you get a strong vibe of mobster type of thing because each of the way the families do business. Lydia ends up being the head of the family and so there are machinations but she’s also a private investigator.

    I found it very unique.

    I love vampire and werewolf type of urban fantasy stuff. But I also love detective urban fantasy. I have a lot of suggestions, just ask. :)

    I’ve been reading SciFi/Fantasy books since I was 11 years old and I got to meet a fair amount of old school authors back when I went to scifi book conventions.

    ETA link to the series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S97YF3K?binding=kindle_edition&searchxofy=true&ref_=dbs_s_aps_series_rwt_tkin&qid=1709064306&sr=8-1

  16. 16.

    narya

    I just read Freya Marske’s The Last Binding trilogy and I really liked it a lot; I’ve continued to think about it, weeks after I finished the third one. I’ll note that most of the main characters are queer, and that was fun as well.

    As to the book club . . . I might be interested! I’m a bit overwhelmed right now so will stay out of the voting, though I will note that I could NOT get into “Too Like the Lightning.” I wanted to, very much, and I even finished it, but. YMMV!

    I very much liked Leckie’s trilogy, too, and Jemison’s.

  17. 17.

    glc

    With regard to Vandermeer: There’s also the movie which manages to translate something of the text into visual form. And the novel “Borne” will continue that experience, but wiith a much lighter touch.  There is also the (big, fat) Ambergris series, kind of a warm-up for the Southern Reach. Less successful (a bit heavy) but the tone has something in common.

    Staying in a surrealistic vein,  the novel Oh God, the Sun Goes by David Connor (2023) was one of my favorites for the year. In particular it takes some time to figure out what is going on. It’s an evocative work about loss, depression, acceptance, memory, perception, and consciousness. The sun has disappeared, and the protagonist is looking for it (perhaps). At the end, Appendix XVI, called “Suprachiasmatic Nucleus”, winds up talking about Merleau-Ponty’s view of consciousness (“the point from which one looks is a point that can never be seen, that remains invisible, by virtue of its own properties.”)

    My guess would be that if you enjoy the Southern Reach then Connor will appeal as well.

    Other things I liked from 2023 were mostly widely popular and effectively marketed: Terrace Story (games with time), The Circumference of the World (Lavie Tidhar, playfully meta), He Who Drowned the World (Chinese history as gender-bent fantasy, 2nd of a duology), Lords of Uncreation (Architect series, space opera on a broad scale), System Collapse (Murderbot), Translation State (Ann Leckie’s Raadchai universe from a different persepctive).

    And I would single out Aliette de Bodard’s A Fire Born of Exile (in her Xuya universe). I became a fan of hers with the Dominion of the Fallen series set in an alternate Paris with strong magical and Vietnamese elements. If one doesn’t know de Bodard, I would start with the Dominion of the Fallen series, which is fantasy – unless of course one has a strong preference for science fiction as such, in which case one would go directly to the Xuya universe. For Dominion of the Fallen, one takes the books in order, but for the Xuya universe I don’t think it matters.

  18. 18.

    Jeffg166

    Genevieve Cogman Cogman’s debut novel The Invisible Library was released in January 2015. The book was the first in an eponymous series, continued by The Masked City (December 2015), The Burning Page(December 2016), The Lost Plot (2017), The Mortal Word (2018), The Secret Chapter (2019), The Dark Archive (2020) and its final title, The Untold Story (2021).

    The series revolves around a team of secretive undercover librarians who travel to alternate realities to acquire works of fiction on behalf of a sprawling interdimensional library that exists outside of normal space and time. The main character is Irene, a Junior Librarian with a great British humor, and the adventures she has with her assistant and friend, the mysterious and charming Kai. The series incorporates numerous fantasy elements including steampunk, supernatural beings, and magic.

  19. 19.

    A Guy in Denver

    I’m interested in participating.  And have read most of the entries.  Piranesi, Memory of Empire, and Ninefox Gambit would be my personal favorites.  If you want books to provoke discussion, I’d take either Fifth Element or Too Like the Lightning.  Both are excellent.  They do address weighty themes and have “interesting” writing styles that some will dislike.

    The best thing I’ve read recently was The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera. A very inventive fantasy, surreal at times, with touches of humor, horror, and poetry.

  20. 20.

    Major Major Major Major

    @glc:

    With regard to Vandermeer: There’s also the movie which manages to translate something of the text into visual form.

    I adore the movie, but to call them the same story would be a bit of a stretch, and I think Garland and VanderMeer would agree on that point.

  24. 24.

    sab

    @wmd: We have vandals attacking our neighborhood little free library so people have given up on it. Don’t know if it is RWNJs or teenagers.

    But the humane society thrift shop  on the next block across the railroad shop does a big business in their used book section so I am dropping books off there.

  27. 27.

    TooTallTom

    Grumble Grumble Grumble.  I have always hated that Sci-Fi and Fantasy are grouped together.  To me, they are such a very different reader experience that they shouldn’t be compared together.  Grumble Grumble.  And get off my lawn, too!

  28. 28.

    MattF

    Just finished Kelly Link’s The Book of Love. Her previous writings have all been somewhat magical/surreal short stories. This is her first novel, and it’s a doozie— breaks many novelistic rules and conventions. For example, there’s no protagonist— there are four teenagers who have four different ways of being unreliable. It’s beautifully written, and I’m still thinking about it. Definitely in the Magical Fantasy genre.

  30. 30.

    Betty Cracker

    The Stars My Destination is the book that got my hubby hooked on sci-fi as a kid. He found his grandfather’s vintage copy in the basement. 😊 Not a sci-fi gal myself, but y’all have fun!

  32. 32.

    karen gail

    Last year I decided to pass along books that no longer interested me, though I do read sci-fi and fantasy; my “test” is will I read it again? If that is a no then it goes to grocery store free table where people can pick up books; there is a donation box for those who have the money to donate to a charity.
    I have long tended to stick to an author and read everything they write until they lose interest in characters or story line. I have “dumped” authors I followed for years when I realized I had no interest in rereading their books.
    I will admit to still having my “Lensman” series and “Stranger in a strange land.”
    I tried a number of book clubs in the 80′, 90’s and early 2000″s; discovered I rarely like the books people want to read or I just have no urge to talk about what I find interesting in any book.

  33. 33.

    Ann Marie

    I am so envious of the opportunity to read The Stars My Destination in the original serialization. It’s one of my favorite science fiction novels, along with The Demolished Man. I would love to see both as movies, but the telepathy part of The Demolished Man would be hard to capture well on screen.

  34. 34.

    glc

    @Major Major Major Major: To expand on that thought …

    As critics like Algis Budrys liked to point out, genre mainly serves a marketing function, notably telling bookstore owners how to shelve things.

    Various people have tried to define SF as “Speculative Fiction” with some (some!) degree of success, to evade the issue. That goes way back!

    In any case, the two fandoms merged and cross-genre writing is pretty common, so the old gatekeeping functions simply don’t operate at, say, the Nebula or Hugo level, and haven’t for some time. But it’s easy to identify a dozen more or less different fandoms. And the horror genre exists as its own thing, at least in marketing terms, but tends to gravitate toward one or both of the others.

    (I remember the folk/rock wars. Then Dylan went electric and that was, to a large extent, that. With one memorable cry of “Judas!” and a disturbance in the force at the Newport Folk Festival.)

  35. 35.

    sempronia

    I really enjoyed KJ Parker’s Sixteen Ways to Defend A Walled City – not strictly fantasy or science fiction, but it is in a vaguely Byzantine alternative universe. There are two more, each of which can be read as a stand-alone, but I thought the first book was the best.

    Also, anything by HG Parry, most recently her “The Magician’s Daughter”, which is straight-up magic and folklore. Her other books are also wonderfully inventive.

    I tried Alan Garner’s Treacle Walker, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize. I can understand why it was listed, but I did not really enjoy reading it. But those of you who like enigmatic classic folk stories from the British Isles might enjoy it.

    Poppy Wars by RF Kuang was depressing, and I’m trying to steel myself to read the second book.

  37. 37.

    Major Major Major Major

    @glc: sci-fi horror is probably my favorite movie genre, by which I mean fantasy horror like Alien, The Thing, and Annihilation​. Blindsight is an interesting book of actual sci-fi horror, but it doesn’t resonate with me the same.

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    Wow. Neuromancer isn’t modern. Guess it’s time to take to my bed.

    It’s as modern as hair metal :)

  43. 43.

    glc

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: Cherryh’ s Defiance came out in 2023 and was well received.

    There’s plenty of activity in that line. Meanwhile the market has expanded a couple of orders of magnitude and there is a wider variety now.

    But look at Rocket Stack Rank or Baen books I suppose.

    Or just read all of the Expanse novels and watch the series, which should keep you pleasantly occupied for a while!

    I’d add in Tchaikowsky’s “Final Architecture” series. Paolini, perhpas. The Luna series. Three Body Problem, I imagine.  Maybe Alastair Reynolds?

    Making some stabs in the dark.

  44. 44.

    WaterGirl

    @Maxim: Hi there, I have sent you at least 2 email messages, possibly three, saying that you won a quilt block in the Ukraine raffle.

    Consider this “last call” on the opportunity to request one of the quilt blocks as you prize.

  45. 45.

    karen gail

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: As much as I enjoy some of the new writers I am old enough to remember haunting book stores for “new” books from Heilen, Norton, and Steinbeck.

    I remember reading “Dune” when it first came out.

  48. 48.

    Hob

    M^4: I don’t see any way to vote in these polls without a Bluesky account. If anyone else has managed to do so, please let me know how you did it.

    I probably wouldn’t have voted in most of these brackets anyway since there are so many books I’m unfamiliar with, but I suspect they’re all good options. I did scratch my head a little, though, at seeing Too Like the Lightning and The Fifth Season both listed under “dystopia.” I realize it’s a very broad label and I try to avoid thinking too hard about subgenre labels in general, but… Ada Palmer has been pretty up-front about saying Lightning isn’t intended as a dystopia, or at least, not any more so than it is a utopia. And The Fifth Season seems to me much more like epic fantasy in a setting that’s sort of post-apocalyptic but also intra-apocalyptic; awful things are happening, but there’s not exactly any kind of settled social order, and it’s not clear that the world shares any history with our world. At any rate they’re two extremely different types of stories.

  49. 49.

    Capri

    Loved Piranesi, one of the few books I read (actually listened to) twice.

     

    A series of books I recommend are the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire, particularly the first Every Heart a Doorway

  50. 50.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Hob: yeah, that was the category we had the most trouble with. We played with a post apocalypse category but the others didn’t shake out right. I would characterize it as quite dystopian though, especially the parts before the eruption, which is like 2/3 of the book iirc. The rest is set during the apocalypse in a dystopian society.

    And I just tested it and voting without an account worked fine. You just click the link.

  51. 51.

    xephyr

    @Expletive Deleted: I’d definitely second Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series. Compelling enough that I started reading his Shadows of the Apt series, which I’m thoroughly enjoying. Ten books in this series, so you can get lost in it for quite awhile.

  53. 53.

    Thistle313

    Gladstone’s Three Parts Dead is great, as are all the rest of the books in his Craft Sequence.

  54. 54.

    brantl

    Next I’ll be rereading Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination,

     

    Try The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, one of my favorite classic science fiction books.

  55. 55.

    dnfree

    If you go back to oldies, I recently reread Ursula K Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, and I thought it held up quite well.  It’s the only plausible presentation of an anarchist society I’ve ever read, as contrasted with societies resembling the US and the USSR from the viewpoint of a physicist based on Oppenheimer.

  57. 57.

    karen gail

    @brantl: I was a hard core Herbert fan; I think I have read everything he ever wrote. I loved “The Green Brain” and with the high use of pesticides I could see this becoming a reality.

  58. 58.

    karen gail

    I remember reading something Heinlen wrote when he first started writing fiction; he had been a lecturer of philosophy and had complained to his good friend Issac Asimov that his lectures were not being filled nor were they always well received.  Asimov told him to put his philosophy lectures into the “language of fiction” to turn his ideas into stories, he was the one who suggested that he write his beliefs as alternative worlds and ideas. So Heinlen went from a philosophy lecturer to a fiction writer whose works are still read today.

  60. 60.

    Tehanu

    Fonda Lee’s Jade City trilogy.  Daniel Abraham’s — well, anything by Daniel Abraham.  The Goblin Emperor and The Witness for the Dead.  All of Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London books.  From N.K. Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and the two Dreamblood books — the 2nd one is a terrific romance of the they-hate-each-other-until-they-realize-they-love-each-other type.  Guy Gavriel Kay’s Children of Earth and Sky.

  61. 61.

    glc

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I haven’t seen a lot of horror movies, just a few classics (Psycho and so on). I was fine with Alien and didn’t even recognize Annihilation as horror. The first “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was, for me, in the sweet spot of both horrifying and entertaining.  The first really frightening film I saw involved  Jerry Lewis, and a doctor with a very large needle. I dived under the seat but came out afterward.

    At the level of short stories the boundaries now seem very fluid and I wind up enjoying a lot of so-called horror without really registering it as horror. I’m reading a new collection of short stories by Bennett Sims who is billed as “a master of psychological horror”. I noticed two stories that are closely parallel psychologically, one of which entertained me while the other left me wondering if I really want to read this collection to the end. The first, “Unknown” deals ostensibly with the  trauma resulting from not being sure that one’s phone’s settings are as one would wish them to be, while the second deals with the trauma resulting from  being uncertain what the best way to slaughter a chicken might be. Both uncertainties become entangled, in similar ways, with other issues. The first story is written as an artful narrative exercise with a touch of Polanski, the second as a (comparatively) realistic experience.  I’m curious about the rest, and will keep going.

  62. 62.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    I love N.K. Jemisin’s work. I just checked the tallies and perhaps the Fifth Season has a chance. I listened to the audio book, but I’d be happy to [re- ?] read it.

    Alfred Bester’s anthology the Dark Side of the Earth was the very first SF I read.

    When can we expect a decision?

  66. 66.

    Hob

    @brantl: I found The Dosadi Experiment intermittently interesting, but I felt like the very hard-boiled/grimdark atmosphere wasn’t a great fit for the Jorj McKie tales, which I enjoy more when they’re weird and whimsical. My favorite of those is Whipping Star, where even though there’s dark stuff and a cosmic threat, the basic goofiness of that universe comes through better and the characters are more distinctive.

    Of Herbert’s non-outer-space stuff, I especially like The Santaroga Barrier. It takes his interest in psychedelics in a different direction and also makes great use of California’s unique cultural spectrum, in which “tripped-out cosmic hippies who are also old-fashioned small-town conformists and also collectivists and also paranoid libertarians and also artisan cheesemakers” is a somewhat plausible premise. It’s also just an effective tight little horror novel.

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