SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I was curious about which authors have the most selections on our group’s shelf, so I tallied them, and here are the results of the authors who had 3 or more books on our shelf:

Ursula K. Le Guin — 7
(The fact that she stands alone at the top pleases me to no end.)

Neil Gaiman — 6

Terry Pratchett — 5
Brandon Sanderson — 5

Octavia E. Butler — 4
Philip K. Dick — 4
N.K. Jemisin — 4
Guy Gavriel Kay — 4
John Scalzi — 4
Neal Stephenson — 4

Isaac Asimov — 3
Iain M. Banks — 3
Jim Butcher — 3
Robert A. Heinlein — 3
Ann Leckie — 3
China Miéville — 3
Naomi Novik — 3
S.M. Stirling — 3
H.G. Wells — 3
Connie Willis — 3
Roger Zelazny — 3

Do any of these names surprise you? Do you feel any major authors should be represented as fully as these authors are?

For myself, I’ve read works by most of these authors. Of those few whose work I haven’t read, I’m most surprised by the presence of S.M. Stirling in these ranks.

Curious to hear your thoughts.

Scalzi surprises me

Not in the high numbers authors that I would have expected: George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Ray Bradbury, Tad Williams and C.J. Cherryh

CBRetriever wrote: "Scalzi surprises me

Not in the high numbers authors that I would have expected: George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Ray Bradbury, Tad Williams and C.J. Cherryh"

Yes, I agree--this wasn't what I expected, either.

and Robert Heinlein. The list actually seems to skew to newer authors, so maybe a past masters theme would be a good idea

Thank you for making this list, that must have taken some effort! :-)

Like you, I'm also surprised to see Stirling . I've never read him since he seems to write near future post-apocalyptic stuff which isn't my favorite sub-genre.

But everyone on this list seems to deserve their spot and I should read more of them all!

First of all, in terms of female representation: 6 out of 21 is the current number, and we could easily increase it e. g. by continuing started series.

But I think we actually do read a lot of female authors and just tend to spread it around, trying out as many as possible, which is also a very good thing - perhaps better than repeating the same author again and again, which sucks for people who don't enjoy their style and sucks for other authors who may remain undiscovered by readers who'd love them. I personally really enjoy variety in the group reads which lets me discover new favorites I can then continue reading on my own.

To answer your question on authors I'd love to read more from/see represented more: Alastair Reynolds, Lois McMaster Bujold, Robin Hobb, Ada Palmer, Madeline Miller (once she has actually written more), Yoon Ha Lee, Leigh Bardugo, Andre Norton, C. J. Cherryh, Martha Wells, and Haruki Murakami.

Edited to say: yes, Tad Williams! How come he's so under-represented?

I too, am very pleased to find UKL at the top. I’ve read most of the older authors on the list and not many of the newer ones. I suspect that the way we select group reads might favor new books/authors, so I think the ban on authors we’ve read in the past 2 years is a wise measure.

Stirling has three because that was the only time the group has read a complete series, in the summer of 2012. It was an extra side read project in addition to the normal two BOTMs.

I’m on my phone so I don’t have the numbers, but I can assure everyone wondering that looking at overall statistics, the group definitely does not read a lot of women authors. I think it’s around 30%.

There are also lots of groups who focus entirely on classics, including SFF classics up to 1970, so people who are in those groups will tend to vote for new stuff in this one so that they don't have to exclusively read old books (especially considering that often they have problematic portrayals of women and a lack of representation). Or they have already read them, anyway.

Anna wrote: "Stirling has three because that was the only time the group has read a complete series, in the summer of 2012. It was an extra side read project in addition to the normal two BOTMs.

I’m on my phon..."

Really? Wow, that's a very low percentage!! But I think we must be catching up: among the past 12 authors voted as BotM, only 1 is male. And among the past 30 selections, only 6 were male authors.

we have tried to make sure the group is aware of what voices we raise. since we started mentioning it, we've seen great strides towards broader demographics. this has been about the past 2 or so years.

Allison wrote: "we have tried to make sure the group is aware of what voices we raise. since we started mentioning it, we've seen great strides towards broader demographics. this has been about the past 2 or so ye..."

Yeah, I've definitely seen the difference in the more recent picks.

I was not at all surprised to see Le Guin at the top, though. When I was updating my sixth sense challenge list to finally dive into her work I had quite a few options.

Simak and Bradbury should have more representation imo. I'll have to think on more after I read others' responses.

Authors who've written sequential series are at a severe disadvantage on our shelves, as we only do the first book in a series these days. We used to do sequels every year, but we got practically no participation since by the time it rolled around, those who wanted to continue the series had already done so, those who didn't like the first book didn't continue, and those who were behind were not really incentivized to catch up. So George R. R. Martin is probably going to remain in the low numbers, unless he starts an entirely new series, I guess? That isn't short stories or a graphic novel?

I am surprised at some of the classics that aren't much on the shelves, but I think as I mentioned elsewhere it's because most folks who are interested have already read it and don't feel the need to read it again (or did read it again and it doesn't hold up--I've definitely done that a few times before recommending something I remembered loving!) See: Harry Potter. Everyone's read it or heard about it, and our group reads so broadly we don't see quite as much of the fandom aspect one might see in more niche groups. So things popular 30+ years ago just aren't carrying forward as frequently as the new hot thing. (Don't get me started on the new hot things!)

I have an infographic Anna and I are working on of stats we've compiled for you. We'll be "gifting" that shortly to the group :-)

I can also say that while we do try to keep our noses out of the nomination pool, Anna and I have had a pretty strong focus on getting authors who are not yet on the shelf a chance to shine. We already had that somewhat with the 2 year moratorium, but we've really amped it up. If I can continue giving you wayyy too much information in one post, we sort of see the mod curation as a way to introduce new genres, authors, points of view and so on. So hopefully these numbers won't grow too much more over our tenure.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. (And thanks Anthony for the data :D)

I would prefer variety over more selections from the 5+ (or even 4+) authors. If anyone has read 5+ club selections by an author, they should be able to decide whether to pursue more works on their own. There are also Buddy Reads, which are very active and a great way to follow up in the company of fellow enthusiasts.

I guess there is no hope in ever getting Theodore Sturgeon on our shelf, but more Adrian Tchaikovsky would be terrific. He's not read by many, but in terms of quality he can easily keep up with the best.

I agree with you, @Chris, I’d rather have a broader representation than clusters by certain authors.

Chris wrote: "I would prefer variety over more selections from the 5+ (or even 4+) authors. If anyone has read 5+ club selections by an author, they should be able to decide whether to pursue more works on their..."

Diane wrote: "I agree with you, @Chris, I’d rather have a broader representation than clusters by certain authors."

Same.

I like most of the authors with multiple entries, but I prefer variety over completionism. There are many books and authors I never would have heard of if it weren’t for book groups.

Yes, me too, I also prefer variety for group reads. Once I've discovered a new favorite, I can read their other books alone or in a buddy read.

Jules Verne, Arthur C Clarke, and Tolkien are noticeably missing, but as someone said, there’s apparently a group that focuses on classics. Also, Tolkien’s work was primarily the Middle Earth series.

Isn’t The Fellowship if the Ring in the list? I thought it was.

OK, I'm at my laptop, so here's an interesting stats blast for you. (Don't worry Allison, it's not the same stuff you're working on!)

During 2008-2016 the group read:

Men 76%
Women 24%
Trans/Non-binary 0%

White straight authors 95%
Authors of color 4%
LGBTQIA+ authors 1%
POC & LGBT authors 0%

Starting 2017 we've managed to turn all of these tides! :) Some more than others, but we're getting there! There's still a long way to go for a 50/50 split on men/women, but if we only read women authors every single month, we'll catch up in September 2023!

Anthony wrote: "Ursula K. Le Guin — 7
(The fact that she stands alone at the top pleases me to no end.)

Neil Gaiman — 6"

I'm sorry to break your heart, but Neil also has 7 books on the shelf! He is the co-author of Good Omens, which is only credited to Pratchett everywhere else except the book page. So whether you looked at the group spreadsheet or the group bookshelf, you wouldn't have seen that. There is another book that has two authors, but it wouldn't change the top of the list.

Anna, regarding LGBTQIA+ authors, are you including Arthur C. Clarke in that stat? If not, he does belong in that category.

Anna wrote: "Anthony wrote: "Ursula K. Le Guin — 7
(The fact that she stands alone at the top pleases me to no end.)

Neil Gaiman — 6"

I'm sorry to break your heart, but Neil also has 7 books on the shelf! He ..."

Ahhhhh yes. Well, it doesn’t break my heart, because in my head I can make it count as 6 1/2 books. 😜😜😜

Anthony, he's not included. It's very possible there are other stats missing, too. We've only added the ones where we know for sure, meaning the author's website/Twitter/etc states it clearly. But, if we did include him, the stats would be:

White straight authors 94%
Authors of color 4%
LGBTQIA+ authors 2%
POC & LGBT authors 0%

You should include him. He was of a different era In that he was closeted publicly but affirmed it to his close circle.

Anthony wrote: "Well, it doesn’t break my heart, because in my head I can make it count as 6 1/2 books."

And one of them is a graphic novel, so really it's back to 6! :D

Anthony wrote: "You should include him. He was of a different era In that he was closeted publicly but affirmed it to his close circle."

Yes I just took another look, I think there's enough evidence that we could add him to our list. This isn't a very official list after all.

Cool, good to have more information, thanks!!

Anna wrote: "Anthony wrote: "Well, it doesn’t break my heart, because in my head I can make it count as 6 1/2 books."

And one of them is a graphic novel, so really it's back to 6! :D"

Are you saying that graphic novels don't count as books?
I know; that's a whole 'nother discussion, but here I just want to make sure that I understand what you're saying.

Cheryl not at all! I was just joking :D

Whew. Thank you.

I updated the spreadsheet to include this info (most read authors). I'm hoping the top won't ever change, but if it does, you will know by looking at the AuthorStats sheet!

Gabi wrote: "I guess there is no hope in ever getting Theodore Sturgeon on our shelf, but more Adrian Tchaikovsky would be terrific. He's not read by many, but in terms of quality he can easily keep up with the..."

Gabi's mentioned Sturgeon enough times that I'm intrigued! Tchaikovsky has been much more prolific than I would have expected before I peeked at his "Books by" page--including a ten-book series, so maybe?

Anna wrote: "There's still a long way to go for a 50/50 split on men/women, but if we only read women authors every single month, we'll catch up in September 2023!"

If that isn't hella depressing! :| I wouldn't mind if this group became "all women/NB all the time" for almost four years, but I'm just one among many thousands. :)

I would love Sturgeon on our shelf! Just have to find a way to get him there :)

Beth, I like the way you think ^^ But before anyone panics, our goal is still to find as of yet un-discussed, interesting books by as of yet unheard (by us), interesting voices. So hopefully sometime in the future we'll see more parity and in the interim, we'll have glorious discoveries!

Haha, I know that Anna's "if" was "if we were to read only women" and not "if we did this thing we are actually considering." Didn't mean to cause a group-wide panic. :D

Haha you saboteur you! =P Nah, just wanted to clarify so we weren't accused of misandry at some point.

(Anna, scrap the plans, they're onto us!)

(Damn, we're going to have to come up with a new, better plan!)

Allison wrote: "I would love Sturgeon on our shelf! Just have to find a way to get him there :)."

Also would like to see Sturgeon and would add John Varley (Titan )and Spider Robinson (Callahan's Crosstime Saloon )

And if ppl are willing to read as far back as Asimov or Sturgeon, why have we not read Way Station or anything else by Clifford D. Simak, I wonder.

Granted, most of the classics were written by white males. But there are females like James Tiptree Jr. available to those of us who don't always want the shiny new books... ;)

C.L. Moore too as well as Leigh Brackett

Oh, yes! And Joanna Russ, Pamela Sargent, Eleanor Arneson, Octavia Butler, Pat Cadigan, Suzy McKee Charnas, Angela Carter, DianeDuane, Tanith Lee, Suzette Haden Elgin, Carol Ermshwiller, Charlotte Lerkin Gilman, Nancy Springer, Sheri Tepper and a lot of others that aren’t “new and shiny”!

I just bought the Nancy Springer The Book of Isle: The Complete Series for my Kindle. I'll see how it holds up.

Diane, so many of them have been in polls, but people often vote for the newer and shinier. But Butler is one of our most read authors, and Tepper is also on the shelf with the excellent (in my opinion) Grass.

Whoops! I didn’t check my list against the bookshelf and my memory = sieve, so that’s how Butler and Tepper got in there. Personally, I’m not all that interested in the new and shiny until many people I know have read it and liked it. I much prefer the fried and true, historically important books which tend to be brittle and dog-eared.

I like a mix of both :)

CBRetriever wrote: "I just bought the Nancy Springer The Book of Isle: The Complete Series for my Kindle. I'll see how it holds up."

5 books, still shorter than one Sanderson novel. 😛