SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

What books do you think might get shortlisted for awards in 2020?
What books do you think we'll hear have been completed or optioned in 2020?
Any other bookish or GR-related guesses about next year? (Teaser: Anna and I have some fun stuff planned!)

Do you mean of books already released (late 2018-mid 2019)?

Or do you mean upcoming books (late 2019 - mid 2020)?

What books published in 2019 will be up for awards in 2020, and what books do we think will be finished or optioned in 2020.

(I clarified my original post :) )

Think or hope …? I so badly want The Rhythm of War to be released in 2020!

The authors of The Expanse have said that the last book is tentatively scheduled to come out in 2020.

I think it sounds like The Ten Thousand Doors of January will be on an award list.

Gabi, that would be awesome! I do expect it will be *written* in 2020, at least :)

fingers crossed for a Rothfuss or a GRRM books to be on an award list for books released in 2020

Chris wrote: "The authors of The Expanse have said that the last book is tentatively scheduled to come out in 2020."

Ooh good, that way I can just slam through the rest of them. :D

My two predictions:

I would put money on To Be Taught, If Fortunate winning the Hugo for Best Novella.
Gideon the Ninth will be up for Best Novel (not sure if it'll win).

And my pie in the sky hope is that The Thousand and One might be out in 2020, but we'll see about that.

My guess is that The Deep gets on to some novella lists.

Of the books that I've read from this year I'd guess that A Memory Called Empire is the most likely to end up on an awards list.

I'd like to see the last of The Expanse books next year. I'm currently in a "waiting until I know that I can finish it" hold on that series. I'm hoping to see the sequel to A Memory Called Empire as well.

Since the first installment of the Wormwood Trilogy, Rosewater, won this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award, maybe one of its sequels, both of which were published this year, could get some Nebula or Hugo attention?

I wasn’t a big fan of Trail of Lightning, but Rebecca Roanhorse is popular with various award nominators, so perhaps Storm of Locusts will show up on some lists?

I imagine The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie, another author who’s an awards favorite, is a likely contender.

I don't think I've read a single thing published in 2019 O_O

I agree with Anthony, those seem likely choices - but maybe they'll surprise us by choosing A Brightness Long Ago, The Gutter Prayer, Middlegame, Atlas Alone, or The Burning White? I'd actually like to read all of them before the awards.

How about Black Leopard Red Wolf? I don’t think it agreed with most of us, but I can see how critics might love it.

Erin Morgenstern is also releasing a new one this year, The Starless Sea. Haven’t read it yet but I’d expect it to be big.

I think Ten Thousand Doors will be big as Allison mentioned. Reviews were mixed on Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons but I’d expect to see that somewhere.

And while I was less impressed with Memory Called Empire, The Gutter Prayer and The Raven Tower I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they showed up too as others have said. And I’m agreeing with Anthony’s assessment that while I didn’t think Trail of Lightning belonged on any lists I wouldn’t be surprised if Storm of Locusts makes an appearance somewhere.

Feel like I’m missing some...

Gah! I forgot Fate of the Fallen by Kel Kade. It also seems to be getting mixed reviews, but it was my favorite this year.

And the sequel to Witchmark released this year didn’t it? That might show up somewhere.

There's a Hugo 2020 eligibility spreadsheet that could be useful:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Have not read many 2019 publications but I wish Glass Cannon by Yoon Ha Lee got nominated!

CBRetriever wrote: "fingers crossed for a Rothfuss or a GRRM books to be on an award list for books released in 2020"

And Scott Lynch! Though I think he already has a publication date next year.

@Sarah no the sequel to Witchmark won’t be out till next year. Awards in 2020 are only for books published in 2019.

I think Middlegame will be on awards lists, also The City in the Middle of the Night.

There's a bunch of other exciting 2019 releases just sitting on my TBR pile. Gotta get to them...

@Anthony I see that now. For some reason I thought it was due out May of this year. I really don’t have any intention of reading it so I wasn’t paying much attention.

Ah yes, I agree that The City in the Middle of the Night has a good chance. I forgot it came out this year.

Oh, and Children of Ruin has a shot.

A couple I haven't seen mentioned (and I haven't read) but they have had lots of good noise around them and are likely nominees:

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

MrsJoseph *grouchy* wrote: "I don't think I've read a single thing published in 2019 O_O"

I've read a big two so far! A Memory Called Empire and Jade War. If I were on a nominating committee neither would get the nod, but AMCE certainly was hyped enough to get a seat at the table.

I’m in the middle of Semiosis by Sue Burke and one thing I’m sure of is that it’s already optioned. The generational story of a group of space pilgrims who settle on a planet they name Pax, tells the story that has sentient plants as well as animals that can communicate with each other.