May SFFFKit: International Sci-Fi and Fantasy

International Sci-Fi and Fantasy for the Month of May!



I discovered some great new authors when this topic came up a few years ago, so I volunteered to revive it this year. I don't want to repeat what was in the 2016 thread hosted by inge87, but my hope is definitely that we'll all chime in with favorites/recommendations, and grow from there. If you do want to take a look back at the 2016 thread, you can find it at: http://www.librarything.com/topic/229179

Meanwhile, here are some various suggestions...

Andreas Eschbach is a fantastic German author who's works blend different genres together into fantasy and sci-fi, and I was absolutely blown away by his Lord of All Things. His The Carpet Makers is another one that I'd 100% recommend.

Juliet Marillier is a New Zealand author whose sprawling fantasy I discovered back in 2016, and who I now adore. I'm reading one of her books even now. I haven't read nearly all she's written, but she's fantastic, and well worth l looking into for lovers of epic or historical fantasy.

Blindness by Portuguese author Jose Saramago might be considered either speculative or science fiction, but it's fantastic. If you haven't gotten around to it, I highly recommend it, though it is a difficult read at times, and is definitely more on the literary side of things--plus, the style of this book takes some getting used to. It's worth the effort.

Haruki Murakami also has some books that fit into speculative territory, blending various genres in much the same way as Andreas Eschbach. If you haven't explored Japanese speculative fiction, he's a good window in. I loved Kafka on the Shore, but his writing is pretty fantastic in every way.

On the magical realism side of things, it's worth thinking about Salman Rushdie (Have you read The Satanic Verses yet? That's kind of a fantastic book) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose short stories especially I never tire of.

An author I really want to try...

Silvia Moreno-Garcia was born in Mexico and now lives in Canada. Her brand of sci-fi/fantasy has been recommended to me a few times. I've heard great things about both Signal to Noise and Certain Dark Things.

So, what's your plan for the month?

>1 whitewavedarling: so an author from any country is fine except USA and UK?

>2 fuzzi: I'm hoping Canada counts, because I want to read The Handmaid's Tale for other challenges.

>2 fuzzi: and >3 Robertgreaves:, That's the plan--apologies for not clarifying!

I'd only add the tentative suggestion that anyone should, in the spirit of things, read something from outside of their own home country. So, for instance, if you're from Venezuela, read something that's not by a Venezuelan.

(FYI, by the way, Venezuela is my most recent non-US heritage, hence it being close to mind. I'm going to visit my grandmother next week, and have every intention of seeing whether or not she knows of any Venezuelan writers of sci-fi or fantasy. If she does, I'll report back!)

Assuming that I don't learn of any Venezuelan authors whose works I can hunt down, I'll likely plan to read the next book on my list from Juliet Marillier.

I am planning on reading The Blood of Elves by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.

I do have a few options for this but likliest at the moment would be All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka which was adapted into the movie Edge of Tomorrow.

My candidates were both French originals:
Aurora, by Michel Leiris. Apparently one of the early surrealist books, from 1930.
The Hearing Trumpet, by Leonora Carrington. Many people really like this book, including my husband, so this is probably what I will read.

Both of these are relatively short, a good thing since my time will be somewhat limited this month.

My author is Australian...


Cicada by Shaun Tan

Another thought-provoking fun book by this author and artist.

I wish I was able to recommend some French authors to the non French among you but the only recent author that comes to mind, Alain Damasio, apparently hasn't been translated into English. Same thing for Pierre Bordage.
Michel Houellebecq is not a SF writer but his book The possibility of an island definitely belongs to the genre IMO and I really liked it (warning about extremely unlikable characters with diminitive views of women, as in all of Houellebecq's books)
I really recommend The Athenian murders and Zig zag by Spanish author José Carlos Somoza.

For this month's theme I'll read something written by a non French author of course, but I'll also avoid the US, UK and Canada as most of my SFF reading material comes from these countries. I'll probably either read The Carpet Makers or Amatka by Swedish author Karin Tidbeck (FWIW I was advised to read the English translation rather than the French one).

So . . . would Charles de Lint (Canadian author) count? I live in Atlanta and there are a whole lotta miles between our City among the trees and Toronto.

Plus, I'm about half-way through his book Eyes Like Leaves and I might be able to finish it in the next few weeks.

>10 threadnsong: Well, since my local airport, The Medford International Airport can call themselves that, but they only flyover a corner of Canada en route to/from Alaska/Southern Oregon, I think you're good with Charles deLint! :-D

>10 threadnsong:, Why not?

>11 Tanya-dogearedcopy:, That's hilarious :)

A few more ideas on international SFF:

Metro 2033 is a really interesting post-apocalyptic book by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. When I read it I didn't know it was part of a series, and it could be read as a stand-alone.

I read Inter Ice Age 4 in 2013 and found out more about the author, Kobe Abe - very fascinating. Abe wrote in the genres of absurdist fiction and surrealism.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is a great read - Ishiguro is considered an English author, but he was born in Japan (moved to the UK when he was 5) - maybe he would count?

If you like zombies, try Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End by Spanish author Manel Loureiro. Also the first book of what looks like a trilogy, I think it could be read by itself.

Another vote for Haruki Murakami - 1Q84 was a five-star read for me, so if you've got the time this month (it's a tome, but reads quickly), I highly recommend it.

I've picked out Loups-Garous by Matsihiko Kyogoku whigh looks like a near-future werewolf story.

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
I generally stay away from short stories. For some reason I tend not to enjoy them, but I made an exception here because I've heard so many fantastic things about this particular collection. I'm so very glad that I did. Borges combines fantasy with the world of books in a way that makes me absolutely giddy: reviews of books that don't actually exist, the discovery of an encyclopedia detailing a country that never was, the description of a(n) (possibly) infinite labyrinthine library that includes every possible book that could ever possibly be written,... And he does it all so beautifully. If heaven itself were a book, it would look something like this.

>13 LisaMorr: Ouch why did I not think of Metro 2033 that is on my wishlist and really interests me? :(
Instead I picked up The Carpet Makers and so far I am seriously underwhelmed (but I'm less than 50 pages in so I'll keep at it for a while, and it's short so I'll probably finish it).

>14 scaifea: So great to hear your positive thoughts on Ficciones - I recently picked this one up and I'm looking forward to it!

>15 chlorine: I gave it 5 stars - it was so atmospheric, with a great ending - I hope you have the opportunity to read it soon!

>16 LisaMorr: Oh, great! I hope you love it!

Put my review up of All You Need is Kill. A short military sci-fi novel from Japanese author Hiroshi Sakurazaka.

I was very disappointed by The Carpet Makers. It had been on my wishlist for so long and now that I finally got to it I found it shallow. The story is told from many characters' point of views, each contributing to our knowledge about this strange carpet makers world, but none of the characters really interested me.

The book is somewhat short so I kept reading to find out the explanation at the end, which was interesting but did not redeem the book in my eyes.

The June SFFKIT thread is now up:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/307014

I've just posted the June thread, but I've not started my May reading for the SFFKIT yet! However, I've got Michel Houellebecq's Submission on the top of my TBR stack and hope to start it soon.

I have completed Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski, the first in his Witcher series.

Finished Wolfskin, and absolutely adored it--Juliet Marillier really has become one of my favorite fantasy authors. This was the first in a series, and I can't wait to read the next...

I read Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier (a semi-book bullet, so many people keep suggesting her). I found it frustrating to read because in this particular book most of the conflict comes from an overbearing, sexist male character with too much power who does something outrageously sexist every few pages, and it went on like that for way too long. I liked the book apart from that (especially the folklore-inspired fantasy elements), so I will read one of Marillier's other books sometime and see if it has a different kind of plot.

I finished Submission by Michel Houllebecq, a dystopic political story set in the near future. I found it very thought-provoking, though I now understand >9 chlorine:'s comment about "extremely unlikable characters with diminutive views of women"!

I also finished Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I'm not sure if it counts for this theme. There are touches of magical realism, nothing overtly fantastical but just moments that seem "otherworldly".

I've also started The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse, but it'll be a while before I finish it, so I won't count it for this challenge. I thought I'd mention it anyhow, as it's been nominated for a Hugo Award. Worldcon has been offering Retro-Hugo awards alongside the regular Hugos, and this year, they're doing 1944. The Glass Bead Game, about a fictional society set in the 25th century, is a finalist for Best Novel.

I finished back in May (it's been a busy few weeks!) Eyes Like Leaves by Charles de Lint. It was a good book, and one of his earliest writings. He chose to go the urban fantasy route instead of the otherworld fantasy based on his conversation with his publisher because of this book. And also, it was only recently published because of the amount of writing in his genre that he does. I gave it 3 stars; it's definitely an early book where he's getting his writing feet under him, but his style is also clearly in these pages.

>23 whitewavedarling: I loved Wolfskin and re-read it last year. It gave me a good excuse to read the sequel, Foxmask. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it, too.

>27 threadnsong:, I'm anxious to read it :) I'm going on vacation next month, and have Foxmask marked to make it into my suitcase :) So, it should be soon...