SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I just finished writing the third installment in my series, and I'm taking a little break to do some reading and recharge.

But I'm struggling to find decent resources for intelligent science fiction. Everywhere I go, books are pushed, rated, or ranked on popularity over quality. It's pretty frustrating.

So I'm curious where others are going to sift the wheat from the chaff?

I started doing the Australian Women Writers Challenge last year and just went off the blurbs. It's a read and review challenge, so I tried not read other people's reviews, and just tried some authors out.

I also have a look at the bookshelves in places like this group and a couple of others. And sometimes have a look at what's on the shelves of people whose books compare fairly well with mine, or whose opinions I enjoy reading in threads on Goodreads. (But I'm a bit remiss and don't always stick books I've read onto my own shelf!)

It's a bit of a maze out there though. Reading the first few chapters on online bookstores has been helpful as well.

The annual YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION collections edited by Gardner Dozois have been my go-to sources for the past twenty years. They're absolutely massive volumes and always open with a lengthy 'the year that was' overview by Dozois. I've yet to read one that didn't easily have a half-dozen or more excellent stories.

I don't have one source. If forced, I'd probable say Goodreads, but I really just see what sticks out to me from my blog reading (Tor.com [RSS], SF Signal [RSS], Scalzi's blog [RSS], Chuck Wendig's blog [RSS], and maybe a few others), twitter (various authors and editors), and podcasts (Dead Robots' Society [feed], I Should Be Writing [feed], Rocket Talk [feed], SF Signal podcasts [feed], Sword & Laser [feed], The Functional Nerds [feed], Writing Excuses [feed]).

I'll second the year's best anthologies. In addition to the collection from Dozois, I'd check out the ones from Jonathan Strahan, David G. Hartwell, and Rich Horton. For fantasy, Strahan's anthologies are a combination of SF & F, Hartwell used to edit one with Katherine Kramer (not sure if they're still publishing those), and Rich Horton has one. If you're into horror, I know Ellen Datlow edits one.

You can also look up small awards. The big ones (Hugo and Nebula, especially) are pretty general, but if you look into smaller awards, they often have a specific focus. There are awards out there for libertarian science fiction (Prometheus), best original paperback (Philip K. Dick), works of fiction created by a person of color and dealing with issues of race and ethnicity (Parallax and Kindred, respectively, from the Carl Brandon Society), "progressive, intelligent and entertaining" works that "elevate the tone of genre literature" (The Kitschies, sponsored by Kraken Rum), to name just a few. There's a great database for all these awards over at scienc fiction awards database.

Actually......I go to a used bookstore ;)

Great place to discover stuff...if you can see the books. The aisles are too narrow, the shelves too tall (and at my age bending down to see the bottom row is getting more and more difficult!).

Used bookstores are great to find books...frusterating to buy in.

The sheer number of times you find what appears to be a cool series only to realize they don't have the first book is staggering. Not to mention how little respect the average person has for books.

I like to look at books that other users here at Goodreads are reading. I also go to bookstores and see what new books have come out and look through the sections. It usually takes hours to peruse through the shelves, and I love every minute of it.

Actually the one near me is pretty good because they maintain a huge warehouse for their online store so they're not as limited as most. My problem is that I have to buy books there that match my wife's standards of excellence. That means now "stinky old books with yellowed pages"...limits the acceptable titles quite a lot! ;D

I like to ask people that I know personally. I also like to look at reviews. I don't just look at the good reviews - I look at the bad ones to try and see what people didn't like.

I started a book blog at wordpress this year, and I often read other users' blogs. I've been surprised how many bloggers review classic sci-fi books, and how few seem to review indie sci-fi.

If you search wordpress use the tag 'science fiction', which is more common for book bloggers. 'sci-fi' is used more by film and tv blogs.

Aaron wrote: "Used bookstores are great to find books...frusterating to buy in.

The sheer number of times you find what appears to be a cool series only to realize they don't have the first book is staggering. ..."

OH MY GOD THIS!

I love Half Price Books, even as an author knowing they aren't that good for me, but man... I couldn't even wager a guess as to how many times I've gone into one, and found a book two and three, but no book one.

As for where I find my new stuff, I ask other authors what they've read and liked.

I can't go to the local used bookstore since I essentially stocked it in the beginning. I do go to B&N to scan the shelves and read the back covers. I also look there and here (Goodreads) under my favorite authors to see what they have out that I haven't seen on the B&N shelves.

I go anywhere. Barnes and Noble, my library, amazon, etc.

I normally don't go looking for it per se. The mainstream-ity of a sci-fi novel usually captures my attention. But hey, that's why I joined this shindig :-), to try and find one that suits me I suppose.

In all honesty, I get them from charity shops. At times if I know a new book is out by someone I know for sure that I like to read, I will buy that from the local supermarket. Few new writers seem to be published by the mainstream, unless they are already well known by many methods.
I am not at all sure if people bother searching for new writers to read, if they did then perhaps I would sell more books! I don't have the massive clout and money behind me that 'traditional' publishers throw at what they take on, all I have is this >> kevinlomas.net

Other than checking out recs from Goodreads or the blogosphere, I do much of my browsing for new books on Amazon (esp. for a niche like "new, intelligent sci fi"). If I'm in the mood for something in particular, I look up a book that I've read that fits the category (ideally, one that's not so super-popular that the recs will end up as just a list of all moderately popular new releases) and then I scroll through the list of "people who bought this also bought" books.

I get e-newsletters from all the main publishers of Science Fiction (and Fantasy) and that keeps me up to date. I also follow SF author-websites b/c they often support their fellow authors, as well as newcomers.

Other than that, I troll Amazon, B&N, and book-bloggers, always looking for something new and interesting.

BTW I have my own used Book Store which I stocked with all my books collected over years and years :) but it's nice to meet and talk with fellow SF readers who usually pass on to me their unwanted stuff :)

BAEN Books.

Whatever my friends are reading on Goodreads. Lists on Goodreads.

Anything by an author I already read on http://www.locusmag.com/Resources/For...

Anything that looks good on io9 http://io9.com/tag/books

Whatever is on the just-out shelf at Powell's

Locus recommended books are usually pretty reasonable bets as well - https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...

Hugo and Nebula winners and nominees and other books by authors that are winners and nominees.

The books I routinely buy as soon as they are published are those by half a dozen authors I know I like based on reading their books or series for many years.

New to me authors are occasionally from recommendations of readers here on Goodreads who have similar tastes to mine but most often my 'new" books come from the free download lists on Amazon.

I like sci-fi and fantasy but I have a lot of disliikes within those two genres so I tend to start buying new authors only after a minimum of one or two books I really like ... like well enough to keep and re-read.

Fantasy is especially bad for me in many ways ... I've gotten to the point where I will not even look at anything with zombies, vampires or anything that starts with 'It was her 16th birthday when she discovered ...'

I played Eve for many years with Goonswarm. Their leader Mittani developed a gaming site called Mittani (go figure) http://themittani.com/ which has a book review section. I highly recommend it.

An hour from where I live is a wonderfulnew and used science fiction and fantasy book store Flights of Fantasy. When Lois McMaster Bujold came to town last to sell Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, she was reading with and answering questions and signing books with Catherynne M. Valente, I've only read her The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making so far, but plan to read lots more!

Micah wrote: "Actually......I go to a used bookstore ;)"

i love the randomness of buying out a 2nd hand bookshop. Ive came away with a few id never have bought if it wasnt for that one off chance.

I used to spend hours at local used bookshops but unfortunately there is only one small on (mostly CDs now) in the town where I shop and the books are fairly limited and tend to be more expensive. I do check Goodwill occasionally, but this is pretty obviously not an area with a big population of readers.