SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

One that's been on my tbr is Greenwode by J. Tullos Hennig.

I'm also eager to read The Fire's Stone by Tanya Huff.

And I'm a huuuuge fan of Lynn Flewelling's Luck in the Shadows and Stalking Darkness, which always appears on the lists for fantasy with gay protagonists, but the main characters are bisexual not gay and the two books need to be read as one book...

So should we keep the Flewelling books for our bi square?

Allison wrote: "So should we keep the Flewelling books for our bi square?"

Sure!

Because I haven't read them yet, I'm also not sure if the Huff and Hennig are "gay" if by "gay" we mean someone with exclusively homosexually oriented desires.

Only so much research we can do before we're spoiling the book! If it involves MCs who are men and are romantically or sexually attracted to men or is by an author who identifies as gay, I vote we roll with it.

I’m on my phone about to go to sleep but can’t resist posting immediately. I had Triton tentatively picked but I’ll also read Dhalgren or anything else by SRD. So that’s a second for all SRD noms.

My other option was Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller. I’ve read short fiction by him and it’s been amazing. Unfortunately it will be published in April. I was trying to save the gay square because that’ll fill my first bingo row.

Also, I won’t second Nightrunner, but I love it and Seregil is the best <3

Anna wrote: "My other option was Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller.
..."

I've heard such amazing things about Art of Starving, and this new novel looks fantastic.

Side note re. Delany: One summer during college I was feeling lonely and sorry for myself, working a youth counseling job in the suburbs of Philly. On my one day off, I took a train to the city; of course went to Giovanni's Room, one of the best and last standing LGBTQ bookstores in the U.S.; and who should be there doing a reading but Samuel Delany himself. It was magical and the memory of listening to him lifted my spirit for weeks.

Travis wrote: "Side note re. Delany: One summer during college I was feeling lonely and sorry for myself, working a youth counseling job in the suburbs of Philly. On my one day off, I took a train to the city; of..."

<3 <3 !!! That's amazing! Jealous you had that opportunity but glad it came to you at a time it could mean so much for you.

Travis wrote: "One that's been on my tbr is Greenwode by J. Tullos Hennig"

Is that gay Robin Hood?! I may have to add that to my TBR.

I'll add a couple of suggestions to the list (two of which I might of mentioned before so sorry!)
Two by Patrick Ness: Release and More Than This
Two by Adam Silvera They Both Die at the Endand More Happy Than Not
Also I came across this website http://booklist.rassaku.net not all sci fi or fantasy but it still a helpful list and it has reviews on many of the books mentioned above - I found a couple of interesting ones I think no one has suggested yet:
Santa Olivia
Shadowdance
Imagica
These last two look super interesting
Bone Dance
A Book of Tongues

I seem to have Shadowdance on my kindle-freebies shelf, so I'll give that a second, even though it's not ownvoices.

Y'all, I do need you to say words like "second" or "I'll vote for..." because I can make this a list, but the point of the list is to then choose something ;-D

Anna wrote: "I seem to have Shadowdance on my kindle-freebies shelf, so I'll give that a second, even though it's not ownvoices."

Cross posted! Thanks, Anna.

To be clear, so far I've seconded anything by Samuel R. Delany and Shadowdance. I don't think I have any noms myself, since the one I'd like to nominate isn't published yet :D

edit: lol, yeah ok I guess it's all good

With seconds:

Dhalgren - 1
Shadowdance - 1
--------------------------------------------------
Without seconds:

Bone Dance
The Fire's Stone
A Book of Tongues
Santa Olivia
Imagica
More Than This
They Both Die at the End
More Happy Than Not
Greenwode
Release
Blackfish City
The Chosen
Triad Blood

Sorry! I thought we were just throwing out ideas. I'll second the fire's stone and a book of tongues.

Anna wrote: "To be clear, so far I've seconded anything by Samuel R. Delany and Shadowdance. I don't think I have any noms myself, since the one I'd like to nominate isn't published..."

Haha I like to imagine I'm fairly good at picking up clues. I am actively pretending that excitement isn't a vote because if I get the count wrong I'll become very confused. But any words indicating a selection will trigger a tally. :)

I will second The Chosen and They Both Die at the End

Carnival by Elizabeth Bear. Two main male characters are ambassador-spies. They used to be in a relationship but split up several years ago and now they've been sent on a diplomatic mission together. Cue the relationship tension. There's a lot of cool aspects to this book, but that's the element that ticks this bingo box.

I want to nominate The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse by Keith Hartman. Because it sounds both utterly wacky and like it might pose some very interesting questions.

I'll go with Sacrament by Clive Barker. Gay author and protagonist, and my favorite of his.

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner is a classic fantasy with a male couple as main characters.

I have Swordspoint as my bi pick.

Allison wrote: "With seconds:

Dhalgren - 1
Shadowdance - 1
--------------------------------------------------
Without seconds:

Bone Dance
The Fire's Stone
[b..."

Bone Dance and Imagica are two of my favorite books of all time. Highly recommended.

Edited to mention that Bone Dance does have some very dated tech but the story and characters are well worth overlooking it.

Liz, is that a vote?

Super busy this am but I see all of you and will update the tallies as soon as I'm able.

I'd like to second They Both Die at the End.

(Which I am going to just go ahead and buy anyway because it's on sale on kindle for $1.99 and I have a problem.) ;)

I'll also second They Both Die at the End.

It was available as an audio download at my library and I'm 25% in. The premise is such a wonderful allegory for (a) what it felt like to come of age as a gay or bisexual man during the AIDS crisis, (b) the precariousness of all sorts of marginal existence, and (c) lots of other things that would be fun to discuss. I think I remember someone looking for an anxious protagonist earlier in this thread; one of the two in this novel experiences pretty profound anxiety and has for almost his entire life.

I was the one looking for anxiety, but in SFF. It's so easy to find in (YA) contemporary, but not in adult SFF. I keep going through Silvera's books because they have interesting themes, but I really don't like YA contemporary :/

Anna wrote: "I was the one looking for anxiety, but in SFF. It's so easy to find in (YA) contemporary, but not in adult SFF. I keep going through Silvera's books because they have interesting themes, but I real..."

That makes sense! I also typically avoid contemporary YA, though I'm enjoying this one and I really loved The Hate U Give. I'll keep my eyes open for anxiety in adult SFF, which I agree seems rarer than it should be.

Meredith wrote: "Carnival by Elizabeth Bear. Two main male characters are ambassador-spies. They used to be in a relationship but split up several years ago and now they've been sent o..."

Seconded. Sounds fun.

Allison wrote: "Liz, is that a vote?

Super busy this am but I see all of you and will update the tallies as soon as I'm able."


I'll cast a vote for Imagica since I don't think that Bone Dance fits the category so well.

Sorry to be a pain! ... I want to take back my seconding of They Both Die at the End. I'm around 70% in now and am not sure it would be the best pick for discussion.

With seconds:

Dhalgren - 1
Shadowdance - 1
The Fire's Stone -1
A Book of Tongues -1
The Chosen - 1
Carnival -1
Imagica -1
--------------------------------------------------
Without seconds:

Bone Dance
Santa Olivia
More Than This
Greenwode
Release
Blackfish City
Triad Blood
The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse
Sacrament
Swordspoint

I think that's where we stand! Please note I haven't reviewed to make sure these are SFF yet. Or voted yet. I'm a mess.

I have a couple more suggestions because you clearly don't have enough.

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps
Vellum

And some seconds. This is an amazing list.
Shadowdance
Book of Tongues
They Both Die at the End
Carnival
Santa Olivia
Greenwode

Travis wrote: "Sorry to be a pain! ... I want to take back my seconding of They Both Die at the End. I'm around 70% in now and am not sure it would be the best pick for discussion."

That sounds ominous.

Wildeeps was pretty cool, but I really liked the second one, A Taste of Honey, which I think maybe you could read without reading Wildeeps?

I haven't read They Both Die, but I'm not seconding specifically because I've read in reviews that it's YA contemporary with like 0.5% speculative. I'll read it if that's what ends up winning, but I thought the buddy read was supposed to be SFF?

I’m so behind in reading that I can’t in good faith do and nominating or seconding this month - I need to get through about 11 books.....

Yes, these must be sff. I noticed a couple that make me question. truly sorry everyone, real life is a bear right now. I'm going to clean this up hopefully tomorrow.

I'll second Greenwode after all. It sounds like so much fun, and I can do my super strict ownvoices read of Blackfish City or SRD later :)

Robin Hood was one of my childhood fictional crushes, and I always had a very strong opinion whenever someone new played him in an adaptation. Robin of Sherwood was my favorite show at some point, and I remember having extremely passionate discussions about Jason Connery vs. Michael Praed during overnight stays at my friend's house.

Aaand I just looked at some clips from the show and I might never stop laughing.

The intro and short clips - First Michael and then Jason

With seconds:

Shadowdance - 3
A Book of Tongues -3
Carnival -3
Imagica -2
Greenwode -2
Dhalgren - 1
The Fire's Stone -1
The Chosen - 1
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps -1
Bone Dance -1
Sacrament -1
Swordspoint -1
Triad Blood -1
Santa Olivia -1
--------------------------------------------------
Without seconds:

More Than This
Blackfish City
The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse
Vellum

OK, I've updated, removed the ones that didn't seem SFF enough, and voted for Shadowdance, Book of Tongues, Carnival, Imajica, Wildeeps, Bone Dance, Sacrament, Swordspoint and Triad Blood.

I have to book now, please review the new list and let me know of any updates.

Some more seconds:

Carnival
The Fire's Stone
Swordspoint

I'll second Sorcerer of the Wildeeps.

It looks like Wildeeps and Taste of Honey are set in the same world but it's not necessary to read Wildeeps before the other. I would really like to read Kai Ashante Wilson so I'd be happy to throw my second to Taste of Honey if there's a movement for it.

Meredith wrote: "It looks like Wildeeps and Taste of Honey are set in the same world but it's not necessary to read Wildeeps before the other. I would really like to read Kai Ashante Wilson so I'd be happy to throw my second to Taste of Honey if there's a movement for it."

I'm 95% sure you don't need to read Wildeeps first, but I read them back to back so it's possible there's something I can't remember now.

With seconds:

Carnival -4
Shadowdance - 3
A Book of Tongues -3
Imagica -2
Greenwode -2
The Fire's Stone -2
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps -2
Swordspoint -2
The Chosen - 1
Bone Dance -1
Dhalgren - 1
Sacrament -1
Triad Blood -1
Santa Olivia -1
--------------------------------------------------
Without seconds:

More Than This
Blackfish City
The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse
Vellum

oh I love Elizabeth Bear's stuff. I will 2nd Carnival

Seconding Vellum, Swordspoint, Bone Dance, and Dhalgren. They're all already on by tbr list and I think I own all of them.

I'll second Carnival.

Swordspoint is really good and I'd recommend it, but I've already read it twice!