SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I want to know:

1. Which books THAT CAME OUT in 2017 were your favorites?

and

2. Which books THAT YOU READ in 2017 (published any year) were your favorites?

I'm probably forgetting other great ones, but let's start with these.


The best 2017 releases I read were novellas:

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Extracurricular Activities by Yoon Ha Lee
Mira's Last Dance (everything Penric) by Lois McMaster Bujold
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

As for older favorites, there were so many!

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

Not many of the books I read this year came out this year. None of them were five-stars, but my favorites were probably the Penric novellas Mira's Last Dance and Penric's Fox (I haven't finished The Prisoner of Limnos yet).

My favorite non-2017 books this year were:

The Left Hand of Darkness
Grass
Doomsday Book
Ninefox Gambit
We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

But I haven’t finished reading my 2017 books yet!

Me neither! I'm just starting things up ;-)

How did I forget Ninefox! That definitely belongs on my list. I need to remedy that immediately. But in general I agree with everything on David's list, except the two that I haven't read (Doomsday and Bob).

Aside from the excellent graphic novel Manifest Destiny, Vol. 5: Mnemophobia & Chronophobia, the only SFF book from 2017 that hit 5 stars for me was Bookburners by Max Gladstone et al. I loved that book and I'm eagerly waiting for the next installment.

On the nonfiction front, I thought Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI was terrific. That era and landscape is so foreign to us it might as well be another world.

The absolute best book I read this year was A Book of American Martyrs. Absolutely phenomenal, both the text and the narration.

Other faves:
Night Train
The Satanic Verses
Ceremony
True Grit
Jane Steele
Underground Airlines
Lincoln in the Bardo

True Grit, Lincoln in the Bardo, and Underground Airlines were excellent audios.

Faves published this year:

The Collapsing Empire - light and funny!
The Stone Sky - dark and mind blowing!
Seven Surrenders - twisty!
Oathbringer - EPIC!

I think they may also be some of the best books I read this year full stop.

Others include:
A Wizard of Earthsea - I mean, it's classic.
Deathless - stunning retelling.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Moving and evocative.
The Night Circus - just gorgeous.

Still reading a few more, so I hope to have to update!

Oh, Book of American Martyrs and Lincoln in the Bardo were from this year :)

I haven't read PERSEPOLIS RISING by Kaner SA Corey but I expect it will be one of my fave 2017 books.

I only had four 5 star reviews in 2017.

The only one published in 2017 is Saints for All Occasions which is definitely not genre, but rather a drama about the trials and tribulations of an Irish family moving to Boston in the 1950’s following them all the way to the present day. I read it based on it making the Washington Post’s top 10 and the subject matter being relevant to my heritage.

Only one book club read from 2017 makes the list, The Night Circus. One of our first assigned reads for 2018, Ninefox Gambit also makes the list, so I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s comments (I read that both because of its Hugo nomination and Jemisin’s review in the NYT).

Finally, the autobiography Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE was a fascinating read and a reminder that both hard work and good timing/luck are critical to success. I read that based on Bill Gates’ recommendation.

Overall, in 2017 I’ve read 27 books, 17 of which were club reads or re-reads. I averaged rating books 3.6 stars. Also read a fair amount of graphic novels, but didn’t count those here.

Here’s to a happy rest of 2017 and a great year of reading ahead in 2018!

I had seven 5 stars this year so not too bad but only one made it on to my favourites shelf The Collapsing Empire.
Rotherweird almost made it.
Both were published this year.

Thanks to Net Galley I read 6 books published in 2017 which is unusual for me as I almost always prefer paperbacks. Unfortunately most weren't 5 stars.

My other 5 stars were:
The Eyre Affair - reread
1984 - reread
The Murder on the Links - reread
'Tis the Season - short story
Lock In - another Scalzi

I read way too many books this year (haha), in part because of post-exam-induced spunky princess binges... none of which are really my favorites of the year because they're really guilty pleasures.

My five star books this year were:
Twelfth Night - I think this knocked out Much Ado About Nothing as my favorite Shakespearean comedy
Challenger Deep - a beautifully written book about mental illness
Two Brandon Sandersons: The Rithmatist and The Hero of Ages which was a great conclusion to my favorite Sanderson series (sorry Stormlight).
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn which is on my growing list of "how did I not read this as a child". Loosely based on Betty Smith's real life, it's the story of a poor Irish family in Brooklyn at the turn of the century - and about the power of books and education!
My Cousin Rachel - I think one of the best unreliable narrator books I've ever read, and firmly placed du Maurier in my list of favorite authors.
The Martian
The Princess and the Goblin which is just a sweet fairytale (also on my list of "how did I miss this?") and apparently one of the inspirations for CS Lewis, Tolkein, & co.
And two books in Portuguese: Meu Pé de Laranja Lima and As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor

And my favorite read (and the only five star published in 2017) Strange the Dreamer

I also had a few five star rereads:
Emma - unabashedly my favorite Austen
Bach at Leipzig - a laugh-out-loud funny play about music and life
The Count of Monte Cristo
Howl's Moving Castle - tied as my favorite DWJ and a book I like to come back to every once in awhile

Also special mention goes to the Queen's Thief series which I zoomed through this year and only gave four stars to (though now that I'm thinking about it, I'm reconsidering that...). All of them are brilliant, and increasingly so - I hope she doesn't take another six years to write the next one!

Great question!

My favorite published in 2017 reads were:
Francis Spufford, Golden Hill
Édouard Louis, The End of Eddy
Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing
N. K. Jemisin, The Stone Sky
Octavia Butler, Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer

And my favorite 2017 reads not published in 2017 were:
Anne Carson, Red Doc>
Christina Sharpe, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being
Ursula Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness
Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric
Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings

I just realized that I haven't read anything published in 2017 except One of Us Is Lying, which was a 3star airplane read...
My favorite books in 2017 are:
A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson - amazing book, history of science written in such understandable way
Elantris and The Emperor's Soul, Brandon Sanderson
The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels, Ágota Kristóf
Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke

Favorite SFF books published in 2017:
Provenance by Ann Leckie
Landscape with Invisible Hand by M.T. Anderson
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Favorite SFF books read in 2017:
Amatka by Karin Tidbeck
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older
Bookburners by Max Gladstone and others

Huh, I actually read a lot of things I really liked this year, both SFF and otherwise. Looks like it's been a pretty good reading year for me. My average rating in general seems to be up too.

Or you've gone soft just before the apocalypse. Six of one, half dozen of the other.

Trike wrote: "Or you've gone soft just before the apocalypse. Six of one, half dozen of the other."

This seems like a reasonable explanation.

Many of you have me very excited to read next month's pick, Ninefox Gambit.

Red Sister
Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It
The Crimson Campaign
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

Were my top books, only Red Sister was published in 2017

Came out in 2017:
Northern Lights by Debra Dunbar - fantasy
Phantom Pains by Mishell Baker - fantasy
Fury's Bridge by Brey Willows - fantasy
Dragonoak: Gall & Wormwood by Sam Ferran - fantasy
Once Bitten by Kate Owen - fantasy

Lost & Found by J. Holland - short story - fantasy
Puss in Prada by Marie Jacquelyn - short story - fantasy
Humanity for Beginners by Faith Mudge - fantasy short story
River Tale by Jau N. - fantasy short

Read in 2017:
Borderline by Mishell Baker - fantasy
Breaking Legacies by Zoe Reed - fantasy
Exodus by Debra Dunbar - fantasy
Kingdom of Lies by Debra Dunbar - fantasy
Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir by Sam Farren - fantasy

Rereads:
Second Nature by Jae - fantasy
Natural Family Disasters by Jae - fantasy short story collection
Engaging the Enemy by Elizabeth Moon - reread - Science Fiction (3rd in Vatta's War series)
Good Enough to Eat by Alison Grey and Jae - fantasy

The Day the Dead Came to Show & Tell by Mira Grant - short
Manhattan Moon by Jae - short fantasy

Released in 2017

Outcaste by Fletcher DeLancey - sci-fi & fantasy
Mother of Souls by Heather Rose Jones - fantasy
Tengoku by Rae D. Magdon - fantasy/samurai

Re-reads

The Caphenon by Fletcher DeLancey - sci-fi
Paladins of the Storm Lord by Barbara Ann-Wright - sci-fi

The best thing I read this year was Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames. I also finished up Robin Hobb's Fitz books, the last of which was this year's.

The other I read and adored was Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. That was published last year but the sequel Godsgrave was also fantastic, and was 2017.

Lexxi Kitty wrote: "Came out in 2017:
Northern Lights by Debra Dunbar - fantasy
Phantom Pains by Mishell Baker - fantasy
Fury's Bridge by Brey Willows - fantasy
Dragonoak: Gall & Wormwood by Sam Ferran - fantasy
Once ..."

OMG you’re ruining the curve for us. Stop making the rest of us look bad, jeez.

Apparently all of my top reads this year, were also published this year:

Assassin's Fate
Oathbringer
Sins of Empire
Persepolis Rising

Rob wrote: "Apparently all of my top reads this year, were also published this year:

Assassin's Fate
"

I haven't read any Robin Hobb. Is this trilogy where you recommend starting?

Rob wrote: "Apparently all of my top reads this year, were also published this year:

Assassin's Fate
Oathbringer
Sins of Empire
Persepolis Rising"

I won Sins of Empire in a giveaway (the only one I have won) and am now looking forward to reading it even more.

Published 2017 (5 Stars from me):
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky
The Refugees
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body

Read in 2017 favorites:
Children of Time
Welcome to Braggsville
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

Francisca wrote: "I read way too many books this year (haha), in part because of post-exam-induced spunky princess binges... none of which are really my favorites of the year because they're really guilty pleasures...."

Not sure if this was your inspiration or not, but My Cousin Rachel was adapted into a film that was released in June of this year. I thought the film was well done, but would be curious to know how it compares to the novel itself.

A random fact about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is that it was included as one of the wartime edition novels sent to US soldiers during WW2. Oddly enough it was one of the most popular titles of the troops despite being about a young girl growing up (one might have guessed the young male audience might have gone for more stereotypical genres such as sports, superhero comics, or action/adventure, all of which were also included in the wartime distribution). Not sure how this gels with the self-promotion ban, but as it’s relevant, I’ll say that this topic is covered more in depth in When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II (written by my spouse)

Published in 2017
I didn’t read a single book published in 2017; I’m usually at least a couple years behind. According to my database, 22% of the books I read this year were published in the current decade. 42%, were from the previous decade.

Read in 2017
I usually have trouble pinpointing a "favorite" read, but this year there was one book that stood out for me above the rest: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. It had a great story that kept me anxious to learn more, and a main character who stuck with me long after I finished the book. I also really liked the sequel, Children of God, although not quite to the same level.

A few other books I read this year and particularly enjoyed:
* The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay – satisfied my epic fantasy cravings within a single book.

* In the Night Garden by Catherynne M Valente, and its sequel In the Cities of Coin and Spice – I liked the unqiue style and all the nuances.

* The entire Temeraire series by Naomi Novik – light and fluffy, but entertaining.

I’m currently about a third of the way through The Wheel of Time and enjoying that a great deal so far also.

Travis wrote: "I haven't read any Robin Hobb. Is this trilogy where you recommend starting?"


No. It would be the worst place to start. The Elderlings books are a huge commitment, but really worth it IMHO. In total there are 16 books, across 5 series (4 trilogies and 1 quartet).

They are:

Farseer (3) starting with Assassin's Apprentice
Liveship Traders (3) starting with Ship of Magic
Tawny Man (3) starting with Fool's Errand
Rainwild (4) starting with The Dragon Keeper
Fitz & Fool (3) starting with Fool's Assassin

Many people often skip 2 of the series (Liveship and Rainwild), or read them later because they aren't Fitz books, but I think they do themselves a disservice, especially in the final trilogy.

This is all a long way of my saying you should start with Farseer/Assassin's Apprentice and if you finish/enjoy that trilogy, continue onto Liveship, etc through the 5 series.

The nice thing is you can do each series as pretty much stand alone, but each series build on the previous one, although that's less apparent about Liveship until you read Rainwild/Fitz & Fool.

Hank wrote: "I won Sins of Empire in a giveaway (the only one I have won) and am now looking forward to reading it even more. "

Have you read his Powder Mage trilogy (starts with Promise of Blood)? If not, I'd recommend checking those out first. Sins of Empire starts a new series and could probably be read without reading Powder Mage, but you'd be missing some important background.

I really enjoyed the series, especially the final book, but I though Sins of Empire was even better.

YouKneeK wrote: "
Published in 2017

I didn’t read a single book published in 2017; I’m usually at least a couple years behind. According to my database, 22% of the books I read this year were published in the cu..."

I absolutely loved the first 7 Wheel of Time books, but my interest level sputtered out somewhere in book 8 which I never finished. Part of it was that I was reading as they came out and there was enough time elapsed between books and so many characters that it was tough to keep track of everything, but also I think it started to feel like less and less happened each book. I’d be really curious to know if your experience reading them now that you can “binge” them is different. I might be tempted to go back and finish! Although the page count is high and my TBR pile is mountainous...

Similarly, I gave 5 stars to the first of the Termeraire books, but found the second to be a slower read that I didn’t finish before my library book was due and I haven’t gotten back to it. How would you rate book 2 wrt the rest of the series? That’s another one I could see myself giving another shot.

Allison wrote: "Faves published this year:

The Collapsing Empire - light and funny!
The Stone Sky - dark and mind blowing!
Seven Surrenders - twisty!
Oathbrin..."</i>

[book:A Wizard of Earthsea was a 5 Star read for me in 2015. I keep voting for The Tombs of Atuan for our group re-read as I picked up a cheap paperback copy, but it hasn’t garnered enough votes to date.

Christopher wrote: "Allison wrote: "Faves published this year:

The Collapsing Empire - light and funny!
The Stone Sky - dark and mind blowing!
Seven Surrenders - twisty..."

I have an old paperback for that! Maybe if it doesn't win the sequel vote this year, we can organize a little buddy read if you'd be interested?

Allison wrote: "Christopher wrote: "Allison wrote: "Faves published this year:

The Collapsing Empire - light and funny!
The Stone Sky - dark and mind blowing!
[book:Seven Surrender..."

Sounds good!

Christopher wrote: "I absolutely loved the first 7 Wheel of Time books, but my interest level sputtered out somewhere in book 8 which I never finished."

I’ve seen quite a few people say the series loses steam around the middle. I’m near the end of book 5 and approaching the middle of the series with some trepidation. :)

Regarding Temeraire, among the people I know who have read at least a few books, there were a lot of mixed reactions. My impression was that, if somebody lost interest early on, they never regained that interest if they tried to push through more of the books. I thought the series was very consistent in its style and, while I enjoyed it, I have to admit it was a bit formulaic at times. New and interesting things do happen, but the style and tone stay consistent. I’m not sure if there’s really anything in later books that would draw somebody back in if they had lost interest earlier on.

Rob wrote: "Have you read his Powder Mage trilogy (starts with Promise of Blood)? If not, I'd recommend checking those out first."

Just finished those last month and it was my favorite series I have read in a couple years.

Rob wrote: "This is all a long way of my saying you should start with Farseer/Assassin's Apprentice and if you finish/enjoy that trilogy, continue onto Liveship, etc through the 5 series. "

Very helpful! Thanks.

Hank wrote: "Rob wrote: "Have you read his Powder Mage trilogy (starts with Promise of Blood)? If not, I'd recommend checking those out first."

Just finished those last month and it was my favorite series I ha..."

Cool. I hope you enjoy Sins as much as I did then.

Christopher wrote: "I absolutely loved the first 7 Wheel of Time books, but my interest level sputtered out somewhere in book 8 which I never finished.."

Christopher, I'd recommend reading through a recap of the remaining Jordon books (Tor.com has a great one) and then reading the finishing novels written by Brandon Sanderson. While I loved every single book of the series, they do bog wayyyy down in the middle, and lose a lot of people. Sanderson nails the ending though, such a vibrant and worthy ending of the series.

Travis wrote: "Very helpful! Thanks."

You're welcome.

I just did a reread of Wheel of Time. I like the middle books a lot more during my reread than my original read.

For me personally it was:

5 stars: 1, 12, 14
4 stars: 2-5, 7, 11, 13
3 stars: 6, 8, 9
2 stars: 10

Not even a reread could save book 10 for me. That's the only one I'd recommend skipping in favor of a recap.

Also, I would warn that my recollection of the Tor stuff is that it has spoilers for the whole series not just the book it's about. Although that was a Tor Reread. Maybe there is another version that's just recap?

Favorites Published in 2017
Fantasy
Kings of the Wyld- a light, funny epic fantasy, especially for anyone who plays D&D
It Devours!- a spin-off book from the Night Vales podcast which delves into the science vs. religion debate in an enjoyably satirical way. (I also re-read Angels & Demons and read Origin fulfilling the three books in a row and the same theme imaginary challenge)
The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures- a book version of the Lore podcast/ well-researched compilation of folk tales and real-life unexplained weird occurances

Sci-Fi
Run Program- satirical AI goes mad book from a relatively new (to me) author that fills the Terry Pratchett sized whole in my book, loving heart
Dogs of War- 9th book in a series I have been following for a while with out-of-control robots/nanobots and a countdown to avoid the apocalypse (again)/ great series and a good book from the series

YA SFF (because some like to be warned in advance)
All the Crooked Saints- ensemble, character-driven book built around a theme of miracles and self-discovery/ Maggie Stiefvater is quickly becoming my favorite author; her writing seems to get better with each new world she invents.

Other
The Hate U Give- exceptional realistic fiction book that explores race-relations in America

Melanie wrote: "Run Program- satirical AI goes mad book from a relatively new (to me) author that fills the Terry Pratchett sized whole in my book, loving heart"

I thought Run Program was decent, but personally I like his Magic 2.0 books better, starting with Off to Be the Wizard. If you like his humor that may be a good one to check out next.

Rob wrote: "Melanie wrote: "Run Program- satirical AI goes mad book from a relatively new (to me) author that fills the Terry Pratchett sized whole in my book, loving heart"

I thought Run Program was decent, ..."

I've read them all too, but I liked the satire in Run Program. I felt his writing was a little better, more mature, in this latest book. I definitely like comedic SFF books....you know to balance out reality.

Since Sep/Oct I've had a run of books I rate 3 or 4 stars. But, earlier in the year there were quite a few I enjoyed enough to merit 5 stars.

Night Shift
Day Shift
Midnight Crossroad

Grave Visions
Grave Ransom

City of the Lost
A Darkness Absolute

The Drafter
The Operator
Waylaid
Sideswiped

and although I gave these 4 stars instead of 5 - I have been recommending them to friends.
Broken Homes
Foxglove Summer
The Hanging Tree
Moon Over Soho
Whispers Under Ground
The Furthest Station

So far for 2017, I have only given two books a five-star rating.

On Seas Contested: The Seven Great Navies Of The Second World War

Which was by far one of the most informative books on the Navies involved in WWII I have ever read.

And: Ready Player One

A book that overwhelmed me with how well it was done and the memories it brought up. Even though some of what was talked about in the book were things that I didn't play growing up, being a bit older than that, but it was still a monumental read.

Battle Mage was really pleasant surprise
And if there was something that had me hooked, it was the teralin sword series of which the fifth book came out today.