melita66: (maiko)
Italic = read it. Underlined = not this, but something by the same author. Strikethrough = did not finish. asterix = on to-read list

The list is from a post that James did on Tor.com: https://www.tor.com/2018/12/27/100-sf-f-books-you-should-consider-reading-in-the-new-year/


48 read; 15 I've read something else by the author; only a few that I've bounced off of.






The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (2014)
The Stolen Lake by Joan Aiken (1981)
Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa (2001-2010)
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō by Hitoshi Ashinano (1994-2006) [partial] The translation I looked at was...not good.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
Stinz: Charger: The War Stories by Donna Barr (1987)
The Sword and the Satchel by Elizabeth Boyer (1980)
Galactic Sibyl Sue Blue by Rosel George Brown (1968)
The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold (1989)
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull (1987)
Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler (1980)
Naamah’s Curse by Jacqueline Carey (2010)
The Fortunate Fall by Raphael Carter (1996)
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (2015)
Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant (1970)
The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas (1980)
Gate of Ivrel by C.J. Cherryh (1976)
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho (2015)
Diadem from the Stars by Jo Clayton (1977)
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973)
*Genpei by Kara Dalkey (2000)
Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard (2010)
The Secret Country by Pamela Dean (1985)
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany (1975)
The Door into Fire by Diane Duane (1979)
On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (2016)
Spirit Gate by Kate Elliott (2006)
Enchantress From the Stars by Sylvia Louise Engdahl (1970)
Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle (1983)
The Dazzle of Day by Molly Gloss (1997)
A Mask for the General by Lisa Goldstein (1987)
Slow River by Nicola Griffith (1995)
Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly (1988)
Winterlong by Elizabeth Hand (1990)
Ingathering by Zenna Henderson (1995)
The Interior Life by Dorothy Heydt (writing as Katherine Blake, 1990)
God Stalk by P. C. Hodgell (1982)
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson (1998)
*Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang (2014)
Blood Price by Tanya Huff (1991)
The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes (1980)
God’s War by Kameron Hurley (2011)
Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta (2014)
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (2015)
Cart and Cwidder by Diane Wynne Jones (1975)
Daughter of Mystery by Heather Rose Jones (2014)
Hellspark by Janet Kagan (1988)
A Voice Out of Ramah by Lee Killough (1979)
St Ailbe’s Hall by Naomi Kritzer (2004)
Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz (1970)
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner (1987)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962)
Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier (2005)
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1974)
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2013)
Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee (Also titled Drinking Sapphire Wine, 1979)
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (2016)
Wizard of the Pigeons by Megan Lindholm (1986)
Adaptation by Malinda Lo (2012)
Watchtower by Elizabeth A. Lynn (1979)
Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy (1983)
The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald (2007)
China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh (1992)
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (1978)
The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip (1976)
Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees (1926)
Pennterra by Judith Moffett (1987)
The ArchAndroid by Janelle Monáe (2010)
Jirel of Joiry by C. L. Moore (1969)
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2016)
The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy (1989)
Vast by Linda Nagata (1998)
Galactic Derelict by Andre Norton (1959)
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik (2006)
Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara (1993)
Outlaw School by Rebecca Ore (2000)
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (2014)
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce (1983)
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy (1976)
Godmother Night by Rachel Pollack (1996)
Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti (1859)
My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland (2011)
The Female Man by Joanna Russ (1975)
Stay Crazy by Erika L. Satifka (2016)
The Healer’s War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (1988)
Five-Twelfths of Heaven by Melissa Scott (1985)
Everfair by Nisi Shawl (2016)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
A Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski (1986)
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart (1970)
Up the Walls of the World by James Tiptree, Jr. (1978)
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1996)
The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (1980)
All Systems Red by Martha Wells (2017)
The Well-Favored Man by Elizabeth Willey (1993)
Banner of Souls by Liz Williams (2004)
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson (2012)
Ariosto by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1980)
Ooku by Fumi Yoshinaga (2005-present) (vol. 1 only)

melita66: (ship)
By Damien Broderick and Paul Di Filippo

A friend wanted me to review it and recommend some books for him. I don't know if this will help as I've read less than half the list.

Bold: Read and still own the book.
Italics: Read and do not own the book. Note: italics in the commentary is just to
mark book titles.
Underline: Have read other books by the author.

Commentary on unread authors is my personal impressions.

The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1985)
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card (1985)
Genius child is sent to a brutal wargame school. Ground-breaking, but author's
politics and tropes have turned me off of him. I won't read anything new by him.
Radio Free Albemuth, Philip K Dick (1985)
Always Coming Home, Ursula K Le Guin (1985)
More tangential work.
This Is the Way the World Ends, James Morrow (1985)
Galápagos, Kurt Vonnegut (1985)
The Falling Woman, Pat Murphy (1986)
Set in Central/South America about a archaeologist and her estranged daughter.
The Shore of Women, Pamela Sargent (1986)
Always seemed too literary/feminist for me.
A Door Into Ocean, Joan Slonczewski (1986)
Feminist colony novel where the culture has become nonviolent, consensus-driven,
complete with new language, etc.
Soldiers of Paradise, Paul Park (1987)
Life During Wartime, Lucius Shepard (1987)
The Sea and Summer, George Turner (1987)
Cyteen, CJ Cherryh (1988)
I love almost all of Cherryh's books. She specializes in dropping a character
into the deep end. They end up sleep-deprived, often confused, but somehow manage.
Cyteen is the story of the clone of a scientist. She is being raised by trying to
duplicate how her 'mother' was raised in order to create another genius.
Neverness, David Zindell (1988)
The Steerswoman, Rosemary Kirstein (1989)
Appears fantasy, but is actually a lost colony story. The world's magicians have access to advanced technology. Main character is from a group that asks and answers questions. If you refuse to answer a steerswoman's question, the group will never answer another of your questions.
Grass, Sheri S Tepper (1989)
Tepper often uses a hammer to drive home her messages which has turned me off of her later works. Grass is near the beginning of this trend. I'm not sure whether I do still have this book. I like her earlier Mavin Manyshaped books more.
Use of Weapons, Iain M Banks (1990)
A Culture novel. Far future space opera, more or less. The Culture is an enlightened, galaxy spanning group that tries to bring other planets into the pact.
Queen of Angels, Greg Bear (1990)
Bear has often tended more to the science fiction side, but is still character-driven. I couldn't finish one of his more recent books.
Barrayar, Lois McMaster Bujold (1991)
The sequel to Shards of Honor about a woman from a very liberal, technologically advanced world making her way on a patriarchial, war-loving world that's in the midst of revolution. Wonderful characters, fast plots are hallmarks of Bujold's work.
Synners, Pat Cadigan (1991)
One of the few female cyberpunk authors at the time. Very good writer.
Sarah Canary, Karen Joy Fowler (1991)
Seemed too literary.
White Queen, Gwyneth Jones (1991)
Eternal Light, Paul McAuley (1991)
British SF author. Four Hundred Billion Stars also excellent.
Stations of the Tide, Michael Swanwick (1991)
Timelike Infinity, Stephen Baxter (1992)
Not a fan of the other books I've read by him. Don't remember liking the characters which is usually a deal-killer for me.
Dead Girls, Richard Calder (1992)
Jumper, Steven Gould (1992)
Marvelous young adult novel about an abused teenager who finds he can teleport. Really tries to think through the consequences. Much, much better than the movie.
China Mountain Zhang, Maureen F McHugh (1992)
A near-future dominated by the Chinese. Main character is gay, but closeted due to societal pressures.
Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson (1992)
I get bored with his books sometimes although the writing quality is good.
A Fire Upon the Deep, Vernor Vinge (1992)
Aristoi, Walter Jon Williams (1992)
Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind are excellent, somewhat cyberpunkish.
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis (1992)
Great writer, but I don't always like her books. Not this book but others are more humorous for the genre.
Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler (1993)
Ammonite, Nicola Griffith (1993)
Lesbian, feminist writer.
Chimera, Mary Rosenblum (1993)
Can't really remember anything about it or the other books by her that I've read.
Nightside the Long Sun, Gene Wolfe (1993)
Lush, writer's writer. I find his books wonderfully written, but
don't like the characters, and got bored with this series.
Brittle Innings, Michael Bishop (1994)
Permutation City, Greg Egan (1994)
Blood, Michael Moorcock (1994)
Mother of Storms, John Barnes (1995)
There's excellent John Barnes and then there's squicky John Barnes.
This book leans towards squicky Barnes. Maybe try Orbital Resonance
Sailing Bright Eternity, Gregory Benford (1995)
Straightforward hard sf writer.
Galatea 2.2, Richard Powers (1995)
The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson (1995)
Snow Crash is probably a better choice, although I loved
Cryptonomicon. REAMDE was a technothriller.
The Transmigration of Souls, William Barton (1996)
The Fortunate Fall, Raphael Carter (1996)
The Sparrow/Children of God, Mary Doria Russell (1996/1998)
Holy Fire, Bruce Sterling (1996)
I read and enjoyed Islands in the Net.
Night Lamp, Jack Vance (1996)
Writing style is intricate and lush.
In the Garden of Iden, Kage Baker (1997)
Mendoza is a young woman saved from death by The Company, a
time-traveling society from the future. They rescue artifacts that
they know do not survive in history.
Forever Peace, Joe Haldeman (1997)
Glimmering, Elizabeth Hand (1997)
As She Climbed Across the Table, Jonathan Lethem (1997)
The Cassini Division, Ken MacLeod (1998)
Hated. Hated the main character. Completely turned me off his books.
Bloom, Wil McCarthy (1998)
Can't remember anything about it; would recommend Aggressor Six. Hard SF.
Vast, Linda Nagata (1998)
The Golden Globe, John Varley (1998)
In some ways, a successor to Heinlein. I liked Titan but the sequels got a bit strange. More recently, Red Lightning, is about some youngsters who decide to build their own spaceship and travel to Mars.
Headlong, Simon Ings (1999)
Cave of Stars, George Zebrowski (1999)
Genesis, Poul Anderson (2000)
I'm afraid I've only read Avatar which I thought was good.
Super-Cannes, JG Ballard (2000)
Under the Skin, Michel Faber (2000)
Perdido Street Station, China Miéville (2000)
DNF (did not finish) after I skipped ahead to the end and found out what he'd done to my favorite character. Very gritty, grimy, disgusting world. A very powerful writer, I just don't want to deal with New Crobuzon.
Distance Haze, Jamil Nasir (2000)
Revelation Space trilogy, Alastair Reynolds (2000)
Salt, Adam Roberts (2000)
Ventus, Karl Schroeder (2001)
The Cassandra Complex, Brian Stableford (2001)
Light, M John Harrison (2002)
Altered Carbon, Richard Morgan (2002)
The Separation, Christopher Priest (2002)
The Golden Age, John C Wright (2002)
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger (2003)
Too commercial/literary.
Natural History, Justina Robson (2003)
The Labyrinth Key/Spears of God, Howard V Hendrix (2004/2006)
River of Gods, Ian McDonald (2004)
Irish writer. I've read some of his Ireland-set books. His recent books are
set in various places around the world in the nearish future. I started the
one set in Instanbul, but haven't finished it.
The Plot Against America, Philip Roth (2004)
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
The House of Storms, Ian R MacLeod (2005)
Counting Heads, David Marusek (2005)
Air (Or, Have Not Have), Geoff Ryman (2005)
Accelerando, Charles Stross (2005)
Read the Merchant Prince books about a family who has discovered how to cross
into alternate worlds and start smuggling. Main character is a lost member, now
found who has to negotiate the politics.
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson (2005)
My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time, Liz Jensen (2006)
The Road, Cormac McCarthy (2006)
Not a fan of post-apocalyptic novels usually.
Temeraire /His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik (2006)
Alternate history where dragons are real set in Napoleonic era. Just seems too
derivative.
Blindsight, Peter Watts (2006)
I've heard that this books tend to be dark, with squicky characters.
HARM, Brian Aldiss (2007)
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon (2007)
Wonderful writer with complex plots and finely drawn characters. In this one, a
Jewish state was founded in Alaska, but the lease is about up. Main character is a
police detective.
The Secret City, Carol Emshwiller (2007)
In War Times, Kathleen Ann Goonan (2007)
I've read Queen City Jazz, a post-apocalyptic story set along the Mississippi.
Postsingular, Rudy Rucker (2007)
Mathematician and computer scientist so I should be reading his books.
Shadow of the Scorpion, Neal Asher (2008)
The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins (2008-2010)
Uh, no.
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (2008)
The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia (2008)
The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (2009)
Technology now based on springs; James Nicoll did NOT like it IIRC.
Steal Across the Sky, Nancy Kress (2009)
Read earlier works by her and quite enjoyed them.
Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (2009)
Zoo City, Lauren Beukes (2010)
I'd like to read this. Near future South Africa where people convicted of a crime have animal familiars.
Zero History, William Gibson (2010)
Neuromancer really brought cyberpunk to the mainstream. Excellent novel.
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi (2010)
melita66: (icebert)

I've made a little headway in my current book, but am still only halfway. The chances of finishing it before Renovation are probably not good. Meanwhile there's a meme going around for the new NPR 100 best SF/F books (not including young adult). I wasn't that thrilled with the list. Let's just say that I've read about half of them and don't have many of the other half on my want-to-read-someday list.

Currently trying to stay cool and decide which books to take to Renovation to get signed...
melita66: (icebert)
From James Nicoll's blog. As he found, once there's a systematic search for authors, there's a lot more that I've never heard of. Italicize if you've heard of them, bold if you've read them, underline if you own a work. I may have missed a few that I actually have heard of.

One of my favorite authors is here: Martha Wells, although I didn't read one of her books until several years later.

Alison Baird
Amanda Ashley
Athena Andreadis
Barbara Davies
Barbara Johnson-Haddad
Catherine Asaro
Catherine Jinks
Connie Hirsch
Cynthia Blair
Cynthia Soroka
Donna Jo Napoli
Elizabeth Counihan
Elizabeth Cunningham
Elizabeth E. Wein
Ellen Straw
Felicity Savage
Gayle Greeno
Gemma Files
Heather G. Wells
Helen Dunmore
Holly Wade Matter
Janice Lee Smith
Jewell Parker Rhodes
Julia S. Mandala
Kandis Elliot
Karawynn Long
Kate Orman
Katherine Harbour
L. Jagi Lamplighter
Laura Frankos
Laura Godwin
Linda J. Dunn
Lisa Smedman
Lisanne Norman
Lois H. Gresh
Lucy A. Snyder
Lynn Coulter
Maggie Shayne
Margaret Mayo
Marion Dane Bauer
Martha Wells !!!
Pati Nagle
Patricia Briggs
Penelope Love
Reina Delacroix
Shannah Jay (AKA Anna Jacobs)
Stephanie Bedwell-Grime
Sue Dyson
Susan Davis
Sylvia Waugh
Tamara Thorne
Wendy Corsi Staub
melita66: (Default)
From James Nicoll's blog. As he found, once there's a systematic search for authors, there's a lot more that I've never heard of. Italicize if you've heard of them, bold if you've read them, underline if you own a work. I may have missed a few that I actually have heard of.

Not a good year for me. The Heald book is Mistwalker and was marketed as a "Discovery." I don't remember by which publisher, Del Rey, maybe. I don't want to try to track it down on the shelves.

Amy Benesch
Barbara Bretton
Barbara G. Walker
Beth Webb
Bonnie Blake
Caroline Spector
Carrie Richerson
Catherine Mintz
Cecilia Tan
Charlee Jacob
Christine Harris
Claire Carmichael
Denise Lopes Heald
Denise Vitola
Eugenia Riley
Holly Lisle
Jane Toombs
Jean Stewart
Jennie Gray
Joanne Harris
Joy V. Smith
Karen Rose Cercone
Kate Daniel
Lee Martindale
Lela E. Buis
Leslie What
Lillian Csernica
Linda Smith
Lisa Deason
Malorie Blackman
Mary Ann Mitchell
Mary Soon Lee
Nancy Atherton
Pamela Briggs
Sandra Rector
Sarah Ash
Severna Park
Sonia Orin Lyris
Stephanie D. Shaver
Susan Sizemore
Syne Mitchell
Tippi N. Blevins
Wendi Lee

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