February UN-official SFF/SFFF Kit: Something New

This month, read a SF/F book that was published in the last 5 years.

My goal in proposing this topic, besides pandering to my own reading list, is to help us discover the new writers in SF and Fantasy today. Here are some suggestions.

If you haven't read The Martian yet, that's a good pick if you like space adventure and survival stories with some humor. Ready Player One is a fun adventure about video games and virtual reality. I have not read any of John Scalzi's books, although I follow his blog. He seems to write SF thrillers and humor, according to the tags. Recent books are Lock In and Redshirts.

Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy is a terrific read for space opera fans, starting with Ancillary Justice. Another choice for space opera is The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey, starting with Leviathan Wakes.

Long-time authors who have recent books out include 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson, Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds, Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, and The Peripheral by William Gibson.

Recent award winners include The Three-Body Problem by Chinese author Cixin Liu, Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar, and Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson.

Jo Walton writes fantasy in a contemporary setting. Recent books are Among Others and My Real Children. Neil Gaiman is always a favorite for dark fantasy. Newer books are Trigger Warning and The Ocean at the End of the Lane. If you like historical fantasy, you might enjoy The Golem and the Jinni. The Goblin Emperor is recent high fantasy.

There are a lot of choices in the apocalypse/dystopia sub-genre. Try Parasite, Wool, The Water Knife or Station Eleven. If you like mysteries, you might enjoy The Last Policeman trilogy.

I don't read a lot of YA myself, but I'm sure there's plenty that fits. Some "hot" books seem to be Uprooted, The 5th Wave, Cinder, Legend and Throne of Glass.

Well, I hope I suggested something for everyone, although I know you all have some great ideas as well. Post your picks in this thread and also on the wiki: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/2016_Unofficial_SF/SFFKIT#February

I have a lot of books that will fit on my TBR. I am most definitely reading The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood, a dystopia, and possibly also Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins, which is apocalyptic.

>1 sturlington: thanks for the suggestions. I have added a "hold" at the public library for Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey. It is checked out, but due back on 1/31/16. That should work out well IF it is returned in time.

>1 sturlington: and >3 fuzzi: I agree - lots of great suggestions. I have The Martian cued up for sure.

I looked through my catalog for my books tagged science fiction published 2011 or later and came up with the following:
Press Start to Play - an anthology of stories based on games or gaming
Starters
Robopocalypse
Earthfall
Extinction Point
Wool
Lord of Mountains: A Novel of the Change
Tears of the Sun: A Novel of the Change

I think I'll save Wool and Extinction Point for August, series month. And I have some other books to read in the Stirling series before I get to these.

Glad we have the extra day in February!
:)

>1 sturlington: Great suggestions in that post! Station Eleven and The Peripheral were among my favourites from last year.

>3 fuzzi: In the general thread, you'd mentioned that you'd like to read some space opera but you weren't far enough in the Vorkosigan series to consider the recent ones. Might I recommend Captain Vorpatril's Alliance? It's a recent Vorkosigan book but it works very well as a standalone novel, as it is focused on Ivan, one of the secondary characters, and does not refer much to events earlier in the series. Also, since you've read the first two Cordelia stories, you could consider the next Cordelia book that's coming out in February, Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen. I don't know, however, if this book relies on knowledge from the middle (Miles-centric) Vorkosigan books.

>5 mathgirl40: thanks for the suggestions. I started reading the description for the new Cordelia book, and realized I didn't want to read any further, being SO far behind in the series. For those who have read most of the Vorkosigan series, does Aral (or Cordelia) make any significant appearance in the books after Barrayar and The Warrior's Apprentice?

Oops! It's only the seventeenth, and two other books are ready for me at the library: The Engines of God and Pandora's Star...but Fortress of Dragons has not yet become available, and I anticipate finishing Fortress of Owls today...argh! It's either feast or famine here...

I will probably be reading the new Vorkosigan book, Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen -- I have an ebook ARC :)

>6 fuzzi: asked: "For those who have read most of the Vorkosigan series, does Aral (or Cordelia) make any significant appearance in the books after Barrayar and The Warrior's Apprentice?"

Short answer is not really. The rest of the books focus on their son Miles (except Captain Vorpatril's Alliance which is about Miles' cousin Ivan); as his parents, Aral & Cordelia are important figures but they only make brief appearances. I agree with >5 mathgirl40:'s assessment that Captain Vorpatril's Alliance would work fine as a stand-alone.

I'd heartily recommend John Scalzi. Read his Old Man's War last year and am planning to continue with the series this year.

>8 IrishHolger: I agree. If you're looking for a recently published standalone book, then I'd recommend Lock In. I really enjoyed it.

>9 mathgirl40: I put Lock In on my TBR. I've been looking for a Scalzi book to try. Thanks for the recommendation.

I have a couple of books lined up for next month that were published in the last 5 years - The Twelve by Justin Cronin (2013) and The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan (2014). Looking forward to both.

I'll be reading Unseemly Science book 2 in the Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire trilogy, which I got for Christmas. Book 1, the excellent The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter, would also work for the challenge if you are looking for something for February's challenge.

I will also be reading the first book in J. Kathleen Cheney's new series, Dreaming Death, which is due out on February 2. As a bonus, it also works for DeweyCAT. If you like historical fantasy set at the turn of the century and haven't read her Golden City trilogy, you should.

Other than that I've got a few more possibilities, such as Dark Orbit, Magonia, or Winterwood (also due out in Feb.), but we'll see how many I can get to.

>9 mathgirl40:

Thanks for the recommendation. Will definitely check it out.

I was already planning on reading The Book of Beasts by John and Carole Barrowman, so that works perfectly. I may add another, but we'll see what happens...

Do I read The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu as a new book or keep it for the non UK/US authors? Decisions, decisions.

Finished The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood. Disappointing, I'm sorry to say. Review is posted.

Starting Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey. Would also like to say I am LOVING the SyFy series The Expanse!

>17 majkia: That's great to hear about The Expanse - I've been recording the shows but haven't started watching yet.

I'm going to start with The Martian today.

I will read The Martian for this month.

>17 majkia: >18 LisaMorr: Count me in as another fan of "The Expanse"! I'm really enjoying it...will have to check out the books as well!

There are so many great choices for this month - I hope to get to several! For starters, though, I think I'll break down and give Leviathan Wakes a shot.

>21 Dejah_Thoris: YAY! I'm loving the books as well as the TV series. Good characterization as well as the usual SciFi trappings.

>21 Dejah_Thoris: it's on my list, and the Wiki, we can do a shared read!

Starting The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber (first published in 2014)

Finished Armada by Ernest Cline (2015). Fun romp revisiting video games, movies, TV shows dealing with alien encounters (ET, Flight of the Navigator, ALF, etc.).

I've got quite a few on my wish list that will fit for this month. I'm currently working on Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon by Mark Hodder which is book 3 in the Burton & Swinburne series published in 2012.

>26 staci426: I thought I was the only one who loved Mark Hodder. Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon is a bit sloggier than the first two but it picks up near the end. Can't wait to hear your opinion on it!

>27 Jacksonian: Yeah, I really enjoyed the first two in the series. I was just thinking that this third one was moving a bit slow and a bit confusing with all of the jumping around between time periods. I'm not that far in yet though. Glad to hear it picks up.

I just started reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik.

>29 nrmay: Good choice!

I just finished Jackaby (2014), a YA historical fantasy set in New England that features a detective pair who investigate supernatural crime. He is a seer who may be mad, and she is fresh off a Romanian dinosaur hunt—what could possibly go wrong?

Finished The Martian by Andy Weir; wow, what a book. I laughed, I cried.

>32 Kristelh: Cool! I'm starting it on the flight home tonight.

I'm hoping to finish Night Study by Maria V. Snyder, which was just released a few weeks ago. It's the latest book in her Study series, which I enjoy very much. I'm also reading Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan, which I'm enjoying so far.

Later this month I plan to start Death of Dulgath by Michael J. Sullivan, his latest Riyria book. If you are a fantasy fan and haven't yet tried Sullivan's novels I highly recommend you do so - I think his books are fantastic.

COMPLETED The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

My review:
A multi-national company called USIC selects Peter Leigh as a Christian missionary to a planet called Oasis but he must go alone and leave his wife behind. Once he arrives, he finds that as he gets closer to the Oasans, he gets further away from his wife.

A wonderful book that works as a SF story and also takes the main characters' faith and their emotional interactions seriously. It left me wanting to know what happened next for the characters on Earth, the Earthlings on Oasis, and the Oasans but I suspect a sequel would only spoil it. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would.

I finished Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins, published last year. It is set in the near future, in which the Southwest has been decimated by drought and large portions of it obliterated by what amounts to a giant sand dune. I haven't written my review yet--this is a book I'll have to process for a while first--but it gets a solid 4 stars from me.

I finished The Martian yesterday - awesome!

>37 LisaMorr:, glad you enjoyed it.

Starting The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher.

I've read the first of Chuck Wendig's Miriam Black series, Blackbirds. Quite enjoyed it too and will definitely carry on to the sequels at some point.

I finished Beastly Bones (2015), which was not quite as good as Jackaby, but still worth picking up if you liked the first book. This time our duo gets involved shape shifting predators, who may have been responsible for wiping out the Dodos, and dinosaur bones that may be provoking murder.

>40 AHS-Wolfy: I was really impressed with Blackbirds. I need to get back to that series soonish.

I finished Winter by Marissa Meyer, the 4th and final book in the Lunar Chronicle series. This is a fun young adult series with each book loosely based on a fairy tale--this one is Snow White. I read all four via audio and enjoyed Rebecca Soler's narration.

I enjoyed the most recent of the Iron Druid Chronicles, Staked by Kevin Hearne.

I read Driftmetal by J.C. Straudt yesterday. Published in 2015, this is part one in a serialized fun adventure story filled with airships, pirateers, a territorial police/militia to dodge and shady dealers in commerce. Overall, an enjoyable sci-fi/fantasy read that I think will appeal to readers who enjoy stories like Chris Wooding's Retribution Falls.

I read Shovel ready published in 2014, which sadly did not quite live up to expectations.

I finished The Aeronaut's Windlass and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

I finally got to the 2nd book of the Passage Trilogy. The Twelve was good but not as exceptional as the first book in the trilogy.

I finished Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen.

I finished two so far this month and was disappointed in both of them: Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon by Mark Hodder, book 3 in the Burton and Swinburne series and Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi, book 2 in the Shatter Me series.

I just finished Pelquin's Comet by Ian Whates. I loved this fast, action packed story. It is the first in a series, although book 2 isn't out yet so I am now impatiently waiting.

Just finished The Book of Beasts by John and Carole E. Barrowman. It was wonderful. I really think any fantasy-lover or YA-reader should enjoy the Hollow Earth series. My only complaint is that this was the last book in the trilogy.

I started (finally!) reading Leviathan Wakes last night, and got about 80 pages done before I had to go to bed. It started a little slow, but it seems to be picking up. So far, I'm enjoying it.

I have just read Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan, the second volume in Lady Trent's Adventures.

I'm ready to start a new book today and I'm debating between The Road, Robopocalypse, Starters and Press Start to Play - choices, choices, choices!

I've finished and reviewed my first two 2016 books of the year: Dreaming Death by J. Kathleen Cheney, which was really good, and Winterwood by Jacey Bedford, which was a bit of a disappointment.

I'm still working on Leviathan Wakes, reading about 80 or so pages every night after work/before bed.

I should be able to finish it by the weekend, which would be great!

I just finished an terrific mashup of dysfunctional family/World War II survival/fantasy called The Emperor of Any Place by Tim Wynne-Jones.

Argh. I got too close to the end of Leviathan Wakes, and could not go to sleep until I found out how it ended.

My review:

An "I-can't-put-it-down" story. It may be huge, but not a drag. Good characters, intriguing situations, recommended.

Thank you, @majkia.

>59 fuzzi: Glad to hear you liked it! The rest are as good.

Earlier this month, I read Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen which I really liked.

>60 majkia: my hold request at the public library has arrived for Caliban's War...oh dear.

Now when am I ever going to continue the Lois McMaster Bujold series...???

Just finished a re-read of Embassytown by China Mieville published in 2011.

>63 Jacksonian: That book blew my mind and started me on his books.

I finished The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss, a novella which is part of his Kingkiller series published in 2014. I also read and enjoyed Jackaby by William Ritter.

I read a couple of graphic novels - Rivers of London: Body Work and Saga, Volume 2. I also read The Aeronaut's Windlass which was really good, and The Force Awakens, the official novelization of the movie that helped fill in some of the details that were left out of the movie itself.

I finished several books for this challenge: The New World by Chris Adrian and Eli Horowitz, The Circle by Sara Elfgren and Mats Strandberg, The Just City by Jo Walton and The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood.

Everyone, don't forget to update the Wiki for February!