SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

There are classics, books with cult followings, polls where inexplicably the book that "should" have won didn't... what books or authors are you still surprised aren't on the shelf, and have there been any polls that really amazed you with their results?

Note: this is meant to be a fun topic where we talk about things we'd like to see or blew our minds. The reason things "are the way they are" are handled in the Everything You Need to Know and Questions About SFFBC threads.

Wow, what happened to the layout - it's really squirrelly in Firefox now (stretches clear across the page).

I'll post my surprised they're not on the shelf author: Steven Brust

ETA: All the stuff on the right of the page is missing

CBRetriever wrote: "Wow, what happened to the layout - it's really squirrelly in Firefox now (stretches clear across the page)

I'll post my surprised they're not on the shelf author: Steven Brust"

I'm rereading Hawk right now, CBR 😉

Two books that I think ought to be on our shelves that aren’t, by former husband and wife (but separately):

The Snow Queen, by Joan D. Vinge

A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge

Both of these books blew my mind when I read them for very different reasons.

DivaDiane wrote: "Two books that I think ought to be on our shelves that aren’t, by former husband and wife (but separately):

The Snow Queen, by Joan D. Vinge

A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge

Both of these b..."

Both of those books are on the SFFBC shelf.

Amatka - tried so many times

Anything and Everything. by T Kingfisher

There are some books where I could have sworn I've read them because of the group shelf and then I get really confused when they come up in the poll suggestions ^^'. Vita Nostra being one of them for sure.

CBRetriever wrote: "Wow, what happened to the layout - it's really squirrelly in Firefox now (stretches clear across the page). "

Looks like I accidentally (or my cat did) switched to mobile view. Whew, I'm back to normal

What about Luck in the Shadows?

I've seen Luck in the Shadows come through so many times I'd have sworn it won at some point. :D

Tanith Lee is a notable absence for me. She definitely has her shortcomings from a 21st-century standpoint, but that's true of a lot of the stuff we've got on the shelf, and we could use more decadent prose, imo

Charles de Lint: one of the pioneers of the urban fantasy genre. I think his setting is secondary world, which makes it not-quite fit into what we think of as UF, and it has a bit more literary feel.

Sherwood Smith: I would love to see more women writers of big chonky fantasies on the shelf, but maybe I'm the only one? :D Inda or Banner of the Damned

I could go on about this all day but I'll stop there. I'll have to depend on others for the less-loved and well-deserved SF.

I loved her Inda series- I must've read it a dozen times.

yes, yes, yes to Charles de Lint

I was surprised that nothing by Ben Bova is on this group's bookshelf, Grand Tour or not. I suppose there are reasons why the Star Trek books are not on this group's shelf, and the Doctor Who Books, though. Thanks to those 3 categories, most of what I am reading this year that is sci-fi, to make room on my overstuffed booksehlves, is not included here.

There is a Doctor Who book on the shelf, maybe... (gets yanked offstage by the big hook)

Beth wrote: "There is a Doctor Who book on the shelf, maybe... (gets yanked offstage by the big hook)"

Yep, you're right. I'd forgotted that the one by Moorcock is on the list, The Coming of the Terraphiles.

Yall need to throw a tantrum or something to get your beloved sff books on the shelf. Shame the membership into voting for them.

Remember, it's the noisy wheel that gets the grease!

(I can't think of an author or book that should be on the shelf that isn't already on it, but I'm no fan of the classics so...)

Ryan wrote: "Yall need to throw a tantrum or something to get your beloved sff books on the shelf. Shame the membership into voting for them.

Remember, it's the noisy wheel that gets the grease!"

I've tried whinging about it...

Ryan wrote: "Yall need to throw a tantrum or something to get your beloved sff books on the shelf. Shame the membership into voting for them.

Remember, it's the noisy wheel that gets the grease!"

I thought you just had to nominate it and get it voted on. Seems a lot less stressful than throwing a tantrum. Besides at my age, I mostly can only throw a tant.

I know I'm too old for tantrums myself. I prefer the silent treatment until I'm over my snit 😉

Michelle wrote: "I know I'm too old for tantrums myself. I prefer the silent treatment until I'm over my snit 😉"

Ice Cream helps with that. Well, that and a good book. LOL

Dj wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I know I'm too old for tantrums myself. I prefer the silent treatment until I'm over my snit 😉"

Ice Cream helps with that. Well, that and a good book. LOL"

And chocolate!

But none of those things helps [X] win a SFFBC poll!

Vita Nostra is definitely a book I'm surprised annoyed isn't on the shelf yet. I may have to create an army of bots to put that right.

There are a few translated works I think are worthy of getting on the shelf but I'm neither surprised or notably aggravated by their absence. For now.

It seems as if the new, shiny and heavily-hyped tend to win the polls more often than not. Translated works wouldn't be as well-known or hyped, so maybe that explains those. Beats me :)

I was a little surprised that Anne Rice wasn't on the shelf...
It's not enough to bother me or make me complain because I've already read the books by her that I wanted to read, but she wrote about golems, werewolves, witches, druids, body thieves, and vampires which all fall into the darker parts of the fantasy realm. She's frequently tagged under horror despite the lack of scary moments in her stories so maybe she's just not fantasy enough...

I just looked--7 of the 16 books added to the shelf this year are more than a decade old. We must be doing all right internally hyping or balancing the polls! :D

Allison wrote: "I just looked--7 of the 16 books added to the shelf this year are more than a decade old. We must be doing all right internally hyping or balancing the polls! :D"

it has been getting better :)

Ryan wrote: "But none of those things helps [X] win a SFFBC poll!

Vita Nostra is definitely a book I'm surprised annoyed isn't on the shelf yet. I may have to create an army of bots to put that right.

There a..."

I hope you won't have to go to the effort to code an Army of Bots to get your wish to have it on the reading list. Although I just read the blurb for it and I can say that it isn't a book I would look for under normal circumstances. I am not much for dark and gloomy books by preference, but that is the plus side of a list like this. Getting to know books that are outside the norm.

Michelle wrote: "It seems as if the new, shiny and heavily-hyped tend to win the polls more often than not. Translated works wouldn't be as well-known or hyped, so maybe that explains those. Beats me :)"

I can say that two of the four most recent group reads aren't really new and for the most part I don't think I would include them in the shiny category either. And one is a translation. Gate to Women's Country has been around for quite some time and doesn't generally get as much hype as I believe it deserves. And Solaris is pretty old as well and I believe it would have been written in Polish (and possibly Russian) but at the time it was written would have been almost unknown in the Western World.

Dj wrote: "Gate to Women's Country has been around for quite some time and doesn't generally get as much hype as I believe it deserves"

it's been nominated a few times

and

Both the original Polish version of the novel (published in 1961) and its English translation are titled Solaris.

I'm surprised that Janny Wurts's books aren't on the group bookshelf - from the search I just did. I'm not sure whether hers have been in any of the polls. She's a very good writer; she has a unique written style, which is most heavily used in the long series she just finished, but she has standalone books and trilogies as well, where it's a bit easier to read.

To Ride Hell’s Chasm is one of my favourites, as are her trilogies (or maybe just one of them; it's been a long time). I know some members of this group enjoy her books, and probably have nominated them in the past. I'd say they'd appeal to a good chunk of the group.

Also Stephen Lawhead. He writes very readable, well-researched, unique stories, mostly Celtic fantasy. Almost all of his books are part of a series, so perhaps that's why they're not on the shelf. Although these type do also get chosen for polls and reading, so it's certainly a possibility.

Fiona MacIntosh is another author who's written some good, unique fantasy - she's been writing romance novels instead for about a decade, though, strangely. So different from her past things! She's Australian, which might explain it (not being known in the group or on the shelf).

Each of these writes interesting, sometimes marvellous, not run-of-the-mill things. I suppose they don't really answer the original question, though, because they're not cult classics. I'm not surprised they're not on there because they're so well-known, but because they're good and would appeal to group members. So I've really just made some suggestions, which there's probably a thread for....

(you may have sussed out part of my sneaky reason for this thread, Tamara!)

Tamara wrote: "I'm surprised that Janny Wurts's books aren't on the group bookshelf - from the search I just did. I'm not sure whether hers have been in any of the polls. She's a very good writer; s..."

I love all three of these writers myself! Tamara, did you hear that Janny Wurts has finished her draft of " Song of the Mysteries" ? I'm so excited!!

I could have sworn that Wurts' The Curse of the Mistwraith was on the shelf, but that must have been another group. She answered a Q&A for whatever group that was, so if at some point she gets selected here, maybe she could be approached for another. 🤔

There's also the trilogy she coauthored with Feist that starts with Daughter of the Empire (whose early editions have delightfully pulp covers by Wurts' partner Don Maitz), but it would be cooler to have a book just by her on the shelf. :)

Dj wrote: "Ryan wrote: "But none of those things helps [X] win a SFFBC poll!

Vita Nostra is definitely a book I'm surprised annoyed isn't on the shelf yet. I may have to create an army of bots to put that ri..."


Vita Nostra is as exciting and joyful as attending school is/was. It's weird, yet mundane. If we get it on the shelf you can let me know how it compares to your own experiences of attending higher education as a new adult trying to figure out who you are when everyone else has different ideas as to who you'll grow to be.

Vita Nostra is the only Dark Academia novel I've read that was even remotely relatable to me. Like, who the heck liked school enough that they'd be willing to go to war for it and stop it changing? That's easily the most fantastical aspect of the subgenre.
Vita Nostra is a fantasy novel for those of us who dragged their feet in the mornings and clock watched during lessons in anticipation of socialising with the other prisoners.

Carol Berg isn't on our shelf, and she is terrific. She's just not very well known at the moment. Her Lighthouse Duet is my favorite I think. I probably read that series at least a dozen times, too.

I can't believe Cloud Cuckoo Land is not on our shelf. It has strong fantasy and space opera elements and was a finalist for the National book award. I'm reading it at the moment and it's so gorgeous!

Eva wrote: "I can't believe Cloud Cuckoo Land is not on our shelf. It has strong fantasy and space opera elements and was a finalist for the National book award. I'm reading it at the moment an..."

sounds like it's a collection of stories and not a novel, and thus would be ineligible

Michelle wrote: "Carol Berg isn't on our shelf, and she is terrific. She's just not very well known at the moment. Her Lighthouse Duet is my favorite I think. I probably read that series at least a dozen times, too."

Maybe because I first came across her around the same time, your mentioning Berg reminded me of another fantasy author who hasn't had a star turn on our shelf: Sharon Shinn. (both are also among the many authors I haven't read anything of, yet, so it'd be cool to have either as a BOTM author)

From what I can tell so far, it's a novel spanning millennia of time, focused on characters who are all reading and contemplating the same story. It's similar to Cloud Atlas in a way. But even if you'd classify it as a short story collection: those are eligible, we don't have a rule against them. Valente's In the Night Garden is also on the shelf, for example.

AMG wrote: "I think, based on what I've heard about it and based on All the Light We Cannot See, that it's a collection of narratives that all form a single story but that aren't obviously related at first. It's the big thing to do in literature right now"

it's actually old school scifi as well as Ingathering: The Complete People Stories by Zenna Henderson from 1961 all link to each other and The Martian Chronicles is similar

Oh, you're right!

and I seem to remember several books nominated that were short story collections were ruled out as not eligible within the last couple of years even though the rules don't say that. We'll have to wait until the powers that be chime in on this, but you could be right as I remember that the Henderson book was in a poll once

Look at the first post of the nominations thread, rule 11. Short fiction is not allowed.

The rules were different in the early years so that's why you'll see books that couldn't get in these days. However, the mods can do special themes that allow exceptions.

(Thanks Chris!

I’m spending the weekend in a blanket fort, reading. Just checked GR for the first time since… whenever I last posted? Didn’t feel like explaining rules on the phone.

I’d add a link to all the ways to check what’s on the shelf, but still on my phone. They’re all in Current Events though, link on the group’s main page 🙂

Back to reading!)

Michelle: Is 'Song of the Mysteries' the last in the Mistwraith cycle? If so, I thought it was published already... I've been seeing her updates, but I'm probably a little confused.

Nice that we like these same authors!

Beth: Glad you like her things too! I'd say that her books like The Master of Whitestorm and similar, would be the best to group-read here. Although I'd really probably suggest 'To Ride Hell's Chasm', like above, since it's got lots to discuss and is a standalone. I'll have to look back through what she's published; most of them I read a long time ago.

Ryan wrote: "Dj wrote: "Ryan wrote: "But none of those things helps [X] win a SFFBC poll!

Vita Nostra is definitely a book I'm surprised annoyed isn't on the shelf yet. I may have to create an army of bots to ..."

Oh, gods, High School was probably the best time of my life but I would never want to do it again. LOL. Maybe I will have to reconsider the book.

Anna wrote: "(Thanks Chris!

I’m spending the weekend in a blanket fort, reading. Just checked GR for the first time since… whenever I last posted? Didn’t feel like explaining rules on the phone.

I’d add a lin..."


Yay, Blanket Forts. Cozy, toasty, and so comforting.

Tamara wrote: "Michelle: Is 'Song of the Mysteries' the last in the Mistwraith cycle? If so, I thought it was published already... I've been seeing her updates, but I'm probably a little confused.

Nice that we ..."

Yes, it's the last one, and it's not published yet. I regularly read her blog for updates.

Necroposting here since several folks have said "I'm shocked that...X hasn't won!"

come share what you'd thought would happen or would like to see added here!