[Issue #60] 🪐 Sci-Fi and Fantasy!
#SoInSeptember & First Lines From begin
When the New York Times announced its 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list, I went a little feral.
It was so much fun to check the updated titles every day, ticking off the ones I’d read and getting other reader’s opinions. Like most Big Publications, the list was somewhat predictable. There was diversity in authorship, but not enough (there were no Native American authors featured), and very few genre novels were included (only one traditional sci-fi book). Interestingly, however, when fellow readers shared their personal choices for best books, few of them went back the 20+ years the list allowed, reminding me just how many readers in their twenties were children when most of these eligible books were pubbed.
Dating myself even further, I can’t lie and say this list didn’t evoke the same feelings MySpace surveys used to. The pre-Facebookish website MySpace was known for passing around literal surveys users would fill out and repost on message boards and I LOVED to fill them out. (They featured questions like what’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Which band do you hate the most? Real titillating stuff.) Being asked hich of these books have you read? scratched a similar itch. Here’s a list of our top ten titles.
Yet mostly I kept coming back to the genre thing. If you read the weekly NYT book review and take a gander at the bestseller list, it’s a weird mix of genre fiction and whatever literary fiction or non-fiction title that received the most publicity (for instance David Grann’s new one or an award-winner like Jesmyn Ward). Inevitably, the bestsellers week after week are genre novels: romance or romantasy favorites and mysteries or thrillers. Often by authors whose names have long become pen names for a team of people crafting in their stead like Agatha Christie or Danielle Steel (tbqh I don’t know if Steel still writes her own stuff…?)
I’ve written a lot in the RONAREADer about my trouble with genres like thrillers or romance, or how I have high standards for their entertainment factors to overcome mediocre prose. But like most hypocrites, I was shocked to learn that genres I do enjoy such as historical fiction or fantasy are ones other readers tend to dislike or stay away from. And I noticed how on a Best Of list, only the most literary in these genres were included. The list was tasked with The Best, not the Most Influential, so in a way I understand why WOLF HALL and THE FIFTH SEASON were genre novels chosen over say, THE NIGHTINGALE or HAIL MARY. But there are way more readers who have read the latter two, I surmise, based solely on how many reader’s Best lists these titles were featured on. (Do not ask me about my opinion on Kristin Hannah so we can keep moving along, lol.)
So in September, I decided to feature a new genre every week. I don’t think it’s fair that genre novels tend to get branded “less literary.” And sure, the prose quality is somewhat uneven, I get that. But often genre novels with quality prose are described as “ascending genre” which feels like such a backhanded compliment to a great book or to readers who should enjoy their genre fiction guilt-free. I also hope to expand everyone’s reading interests and tempt you to try out a title that would otherwise fall into a category you avoid.
#SoInSeptember week one, we’re excited to dive into science fiction and fantasy!
#SoInSeptember Sci-Fi and Fantasy // September 5, 2024
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
I first noticed this one on the shelf at the LaQuinta Public Library because of the last name “Gwynne.” Whenever I see a Wynne in the wild, especially one with an E on the end, I investigate. However, the cover made me hesitate since it’s clearly High Fantasy. Yet with the final book in the series set to publish on October 22, I’ve been reading more on these books (and have read more fantasy since I first saw this at the library) and my judgments have changed! Even better? This one is free on Kindle Unlimited.
In this first installment, three stories weave together across the land of Vigrid to tell of impending glory (or doom). A huntress on a dangerous mission, a noblewoman intent on battlefield fame, and the revenge-seeking brethren known as the Bloodsworn; all must fight for survival as the once-dead gods rise again.
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
What if in the middle of the Civil War, the dead began to rise again? This is the reality for Jane McKeene, a young woman born just two days after the dead rose from the Gettysburg battlefield. To survive, the United States has passed desegregation laws to educate white and Black children at combat schools, forcing integration to try and preserve the nation, while holding fast to racist policies the country never abolished when the dead came back to life.
Jane is immersed in her combat academy in Baltimore when several well-known families start to go missing. It turns out the dead may not be the worst thing haunting the city…
The Will of the Many James Islington
This one has been the darling of the sci-fi world this year, everywhere I go I see this one over and over. It’s giving modern FOUNDATION vibes, it seems a little bit like DUNE, and it has a bunch of cool covers. Here’s the description straight from Bookshop.org:
“The Catenan Republic--the Hierarchy--may rule the world now, but they do not know everything. I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of [civilized] society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus--what they call Will--to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.
I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.
But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart. And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family…And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.”
…📚First Lines From…Sci-fi and Fantasy
Another fun little thing we’re doing to celebrate the end of summer is First Lines From…
Each week, I’ll feature the first lines from classic and modern titles within our chosen genre. Can you guess which books each first line is from? Answers will follow in the next week’s issue, with all First Lines From…and their answers featured in the end of the month recap. Resist Googling for the answers!
💡 Here’s a hint: This novel set in the future is now happening in our current year.
Line 1: “I had my recurring dream last night.”
Line 2: “In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul.”
Line 3: “You ever seen a Klan march?”
Line 4: “When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.”
Get the answers in next week’s issue!
…A solid FOUNDATION
When my partner, Erik, started at Apple last year he did some press work for the second season of the Apple TV original series FOUNDATION, based on the science fiction novels by Isaac Asimov.
The story follows a scientist named Hari Seldon (pronounced “harry” but spelled Hari because this is sci-fi lol) whose study of pyschohistory proves the Galactic Empire that has ruled the cosmos for centuries is about to die out.
Psychohistory is sort of like math, so it should say a lot to those of you who know me that I found myself entertained by a story that centers around using mathematics to predict the future.
You would be correct in assuming the Galactic Empire (led by one Emperor who clones himself as an old man, young man and a child in order to never lose power) aren’t chill about Hari’s predictions. A young woman from a faraway planet solves one of Hari’s equations and is brought to the Galactic city under false pretenses to help preserve humanity…shennanigans ensue. Like the adaptations of DUNE, FOUNDATION modernizes its source material through gender and racial lines with a diverse, talented cast and an impressive budget. I’ll admit, this series is a hard binge because it requires your full attention, but if you’re willing to get lost in it, you’ll definitely be swept along.
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Wynne + Fezziwig