Task 12: A Sci-Fi Novel

[Lara]

"The Girl With All the Gifts" should fit this requirement, yes? Dystopian/SF/Horror???

[Gretchen]

I just finished Slaughterhouse-Five and if you have not read it I would put it on my to do list. I wanted to find something that wasn't literary trash. It is really a great read with so much going on at one time. Part Sci-fi and part war story. I see why it is a classic.

[Alli]

To Carol, I'd say sci-fi/fantasy overlaps so much it could definitely count.
I'm debating whether I want to read Royal Airs by Sharon Shinn (second book after Troubled Waters), which is both amazing and falls into that category. Or the Rowan by Anne McCaffrey!

[Laura]

I'm currently counting Station Eleven for this task. I hope that works for it. Also, this book was AMAZING.

[Paula]

For this task, read Seraphina. Eagerly awaiting the second title in this series.

[Heidi]

Just finished for this task. I know it's a classic but somehow I didn't read this one in high school. Thought provoking to say the least.

[Brianna Graham]

For this topic, I chose Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson as this is the next in the line after The Way of Kings and I was NOT disappointed. Boy oh boy did this book deliver on everything a book is supposed to be. Love and betrayal, magic and murder, trust and compassion. So much awesomeness, as soon as I finished I wanted to turn around and start all over. Warning: anyone wanting to undertake this should know this book exceeds 1,000 pages and is an extensive read (well worth it though!)

[Katie]

I read The Sparrow for this task, but I plan to read The Martian later in the year as well. I'm considering Red Rising for task 1.

[Mary Sue]

I just finished reading by George Orwell I am not a huge Sci-Fi fan, but I really liked this book - 4 stars!

[Krista]

I read The Martian by Andy Weir for this task. Excellent book! I enjoyed the pacing, the characterizations, and the writing. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for an alternative to space opera scifi.

[Mark]

I'm reading The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters - a choice straight from the BookRiot list in the OP, Sci-Fi isn't my bag in general - I don't even watch much in the way of Sci-Fi movies... never even considered watching Star Wars, for example.

I'm going to follow up The Last Policeman with Lock In by John Scalzi later and see if reading them both make me look at giving Sci-Fi further scope in my reading in the future

[Denise]

I read "The Invisible Man". It was a great story and had a good science fiction element to it.

[Christina]

I also read The Martian for this one and liked it more than I thought I would. The humorous tone really made it for me, and distinguished it from most other sci-fi I've read.
I also read Red Rising (and Golden Son), which I'm counting towards Task 6. I enjoyed these, but I thought the series was pretty overhyped. It got really difficult to keep track of everything that was happening, and most of the elements were too similar to The Hunger Games for my liking.

[Loreen ☕️]

I'm reading The Left Hand of Darkness for this task. Le Guin's writing is beautiful.

[Linda]

I am also reading The Martian for this category and am really enjoying it...I don't usually read sci-fi books but that is what is great about a book challenge!

[Sarah]

I read Kindred by Octavia Butler, I'm not much of a sci-fi fan so this was a great compromise.

[Martha]

I loved Kindred! I may need to reread it.

I read two novels in the category:

Bird Box by Josh Malerman
The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

I loved both of them.

[Tara]

I've been thinking 1984 or something by Kurt Vonnegut, but I also noticed that The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake popped up on a couple of Sci-Fi lists in listopia. Do you guys think either of those would count??

[Tara]

Terri wrote: "They both count."

Thanks:) I'm about halfway through Handmaid's Tale right now. Glad I'll be able to use it :)

[Tatiana]

I read both Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes but I'm not sure they count as Sci-Fi, maybe SE more than TSG? If not, I have The Three Body Problem, Solaris, and The Handmaid's Tale in my TBR pile.

[Danielle]

I did The Martian for this task! It is my favorite book of the year so far! I loved everything about it, and I am not a sci-fi person! READ IT (for this task or just because)!

[Tom]

Going with A Canticle for Leibowitzfor this one.

[Lea]

Would Ready Player One count for this?

[Robin P]

Lea wrote: "Would Ready Player One count for this?"

Yes, it's definitely sic-fi, no spaceships but lots of techie advances

[Heikemarie]

I never ended up finishing The Martian, I had just started getting into it when I had to give it away as it was bought intended as a gift!

Interesting to me that people are conflating sci fi and fantasy, and even saying fantasy is a subgenre of sci fi! Even though I don't agree with that, I do agree with whoever said that if you don't read much of either, the distinction's not too important for this challenge. The point is to expand reading horizons, after all!

For this challenge, I read Authority, after reading its predecessor late in 2014. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series! They're short and compelling reads and I appreciated that in the winter slog.

[Britany]

Finished by Emily St. John Mandel-- 3 Stars!!

Hmmm... this one was a little strange for me- Not really a fan of science fiction. Brilliant writing, but didn't love it.

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Liz]

Going back to the classics with Frank Herbert's Dune.

[Sendusia]

Just finished 1984 by George Orwell. I can now understand the hype surrounding this novel.

[Alison]

I am confused by this genre also. I didn't really think of Station Eleven as Sci-Fi at all though it is an interesting book. I started reading Bone Clocks for this challenge because I saw it listed above but it doesn't seem like sci-fi to me either....plain old fantasy to me. I am not particularly enjoying it but I think I am going to go ahead and finish it because I have been curious about it and the author for a while. Code Name Verity, Ender's Game, The Martian and Ready Player One are all on my endless TBR list so maybe I will bump this one if I actually read something more sci-fi later-LOL. Sci-Fi is a strange category, I think.

[Elizabeth]

I am reading 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson for this task. I had downloaded this a year or so ago and am enjoying it so far.

[Mrs. Y.]

I am reading The Fire Sermon

[Sophie]

I guess I could count The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey as my sci-fi read? It has futuristic technology and aliens.

[Grace]

Reading Frank Herbert's famous Dune for this task. Just started. We'll see how it goes!

[Grace]

Reading Frank Herbert's famous Dune for this task. Just started. We'll see how it goes!

[Heikemarie]

Grace, I hope you love it! It's truly great, though I don't like the parts of the series written by his son.

[Brandyn]

This genre is definitely a stretch for me.

I'm reading "The Only Ones" by Carola Dibbell and I was wondering if it would count as sci-fy.

It also counts as an indie press, but I already have one of those.

[Jennifer]

I chose Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien for this task, but only because I had it on my waiting list, and it finally became available. Prized is book two of the Birthmarked series. The series is a pleasant read, though the characters aren't very developed. The main character in Prized arrives at a new place, and basically takes over control of the people and draws the admiration of every male simply by existing. But, I gave it 4 stars nevertheless.

[Jennifer]

Nicole wrote: "Would Neil Gaiman's American Gods be considered sci-fi?"

I would say absolutely yes.

[Jennifer]

Alison wrote: "I am confused by this genre also. I didn't really think of Station Eleven as Sci-Fi at all though it is an interesting book. I started reading Bone Clocks for this challenge because I saw it list..."

I didn't really think that the book I chose for this category was "sci-fi" either, but it was marked as such on GoodReads, so.....score! One more task ticked off the list!

[Samantha]

Jennifer wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Would Neil Gaiman's American Gods be considered sci-fi?"

I would say absolutely yes."

I would consider it more fantasy than sci-fi. However, book riot has been pretty clear that you can define tasks as you want, and American Gods is an fantastic read!

[Bonnie G.]

I really liked The Bone Clocks.
This book was mind-bendingly beautiful until the last 100 pages. For me, that is where much of this fell apart. Must every current novel contort itself to provide a post-apocalyptic future? I had a similar issue with Station Eleven. These books developed these rich stories that had paranormal elements which enhanced the book but which played in the background. Then, when everything suddenly drove over the cliff to dystopia, suddenly everything had to do with the paranormal. It felt clunky to me, and over-complicated. There was an easier ending (not a happier one) available which would have better honored all the characters, and which would have loped off about 75 pages of this rather lengthy book. Still this book is highly recommended. I flat out loved most of it. Also, I listened to the audio and read this book intermittently, and I loved the audio so much. I usually listen to audio in the car, and read when at home, but with this book I found myself listening to the book at home rather than reading. The audio is highly recommended.

[Bobby]

I just finished Perelandra and enjoyed it, but now that I know what it's about I don't think I should have chosen it for this challenge. It's really more of a theological/philosophical fantasy without a lot of science, although it does take place on Venus and includes alien creatures and landscapes. It definitely fits the "retelling" category, though.

I will probably read another science fiction novel in addition to this one, maybe Red Rising, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Live, or something by Jules Verne.

[Katie]

I read "The Eyre Affair" for this task :) I was quite surprised by it. Here is my review:
https://bookmouseblog.wordpress.com/2...

[Erin]

I have kind of a lot of SF/F on my to-read list right now. I think I'll probably go with Blackout by Connie Willis for this challenge, as it's been on my shelf for ages.

And to that, for everyone who has a hard time with Sci-Fi, try either Doomsday Book by Connie Willis or In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker. They are both time-travel books in which the main characters strive to fit in to the historical period they have traveled to, so it's almost more historical fiction than sci-fi, but with that spin that it's from a modern perspective. Kind of like Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

[Tiamat_the_red]

Heikemarie wrote: "I never ended up finishing The Martian, I had just started getting into it when I had to give it away as it was bought intended as a gift!

Interesting to me that people are conflat..."

I would say that fantasy and sci-fi are inseparable. For example, Jo Walton's Among Others is probably fantasy, but won the Hugo. There's a reason people gave up on SF as "Science fiction" and changed it to "Speculative fiction." I mean, how can you draw a line? Star Wars is a classic example of sci-fi, but The Force is basically magic. Is telekinesis magic or sci-fi? Someone mentioned Anne McCaffery's The Rowan earier and it's all about psychics in space. It could go either way, depending on how you feel about psychics. What about steampunk? It's not fantasy with elves and orcs, for sure, and it's definitely got it's own technology, but is it really science fiction?

I would argue that the extremes of sci-fi (think military space stories, or something like The Martian) and fantasy (why, hello, there, Tolkien) are really easy to say they're one or the other, but it's much, much harder when you drift towards the middle. Star Wars is an easy example. The Dragonriders of Pern is another one. It looks like fantasy, but it's ultimately revealed to be sci-fi.

Anyway, I wouldn't separate the two genres. Pick something you think would be fun and interesting and read the heck out of it!

Books I recommend to my friends who insist they don't like SF:

Any of the Discworld series. Hilarious but still a very pointed critique of our world. I especially like Small Gods.

Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrel - long, kind of slow, but completely amazing. It reads similarly to late 1800s fiction with some really delightful asides in the footnotes (pick up a physical copy unless your e-reader handles footnotes really well.)

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - this is a wonderful book and it never talks down to its audience. It feels old, even though it was written only a few years back.

There are others, but if you're really stuck, go check out Jo Walton's blog "What Makes This Books So Great." She has excellent taste that appears to run primarily to sci-fi. I bought the book they made of it and am regretting it; now I have a novel length to-read list.

[Robin P]

Erin wrote: "I have kind of a lot of SF/F on my to-read list right now. I think I'll probably go with Blackout by Connie Willis for this challenge, as it's been on my shelf for ag..."

I agree, Connie Willis is terrific. But bear in mind that Blackout is only half a story. it continues in All Clear, which isn't a sequel in the usual manner but actually the rest of the story. Otherwise you'll be left totally in the middle of WWII London just like the characters!

[Elizabeth]

This year I read a sci-fi novel that has been on my to-read list for quite some time, Philip K. Dick's [Book: Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep]. I enjoyed it a fair bit, well worth the wait.

[Nancy]

I recently read Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh, which I discovered on a list of a critic's best sci-fi picks for 2013. Set a couple of hundred years in the future, it depicts a society saturated with social media (I wondered as I read it we hadn't already reached that point!). But what sets this book apart is the concept of "bridesicles." That's the author's word and the title of a short story that grew into the novel. A private company has somehow gained the power to cryogenically preserve attractive young women who die suddenly, then wake them for "dates" with wealthy men. If a suitor decides to marry one of them, she can be awakened permanently but locked into a long-term, binding marriage contract. In the novel we meet two of these brides as well as a circle of friends and acquaintances who become involved with trying to change this practice. I think I could safely say that this is a love story as well as thought-provoking sci-fi.

[Andrea]

I just finished Old Man's War for this task. It was phenomenal! Highly recommend.

[Bonnie G.]

Nancy wrote: "I recently read Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh, which I discovered on a list of a critic's best sci-fi picks for 2013. Set a couple of hundred years in the future, it depicts a society saturate..."

Thanks. Putting this on my to read list. I don't read a lot of sci-fi, but have recently loved Station Eleven and The Bone Clocks. This sounds right up my alley.