The Sword and Laser discussion
March Madness 2022 - Round 1 (Voting Ended March 1st)
date
newest »
newest »
Ruth wrote: "Yeah, I don’t care how cheap the kindle book is, I’ll be voting against Lord Foul’s Bane at every opportunity and if it wins I will not be reading it. I don’t like Donaldson’s style and I don’t wan..."Thanks for the warning, Ruth, as I didn’t know about it. I have no desire to read it either.
Ruth wrote: "Yeah, I don’t care how cheap the kindle book is, I’ll be voting against Lord Foul’s Bane at every opportunity and if it wins I will not be reading it. I don’t like Donaldson’s style and I don’t wan..."Hard same. I'm really not interested in re-reading this book. So it doesn't really matter what gets pitted against it, I'm voting against it. I've heard a lot of people's defense of this book, and I get where they're coming from, but at the same time... no I don't think I need to re-read it to know it's not for me.
Mod
View the full bracket: https://challonge.com/swordandlaser2022
Round 1 Statistics
Total Votes Cast: 2,123
Average Votes Cast: 265
Book With Most Votes: The Library at Mount Char - (195 Votes)
Match-up With Most Votes: Rivers of London vs. The Girl with All the Gifts (284 Votes)
Largest Win: The Library at Mount Char (122 Votes)
Smallest Win: Way Station - (4 Votes)
Average Win: 63 votes
Sword Bracket
---------------------------------
Match 1:
(1) Rivers of London / Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch - 179 Votes
vs.
(16) The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey (Wild Card) - 105 Votes
Winner: Rivers of London
Total Votes: 284
Margin of Victory: 74
Match 2:
(8) Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson - 73 Votes
vs.
(9) The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins - 195 Votes
Winner: The Library at Mount Char
Total Votes: 268
Margin of Victory: 122
Match 3:
(4) Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor - 100 Votes
vs.
(13) The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - 150 Votes
Winner: The Jasmine Throne
Total Votes: 250
Margin of Victory: 50
Match 4:
(5) A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark - 161 Votes
vs.
(12) A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik - 116 Votes
Winner: A Master of Djinn
Total Votes: 277
Margin of Victory: 45
---------------------------------
Laser Bracket
---------------------------------
Match 1:
(2) A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - 155 Votes
vs.
(15) Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (Wild Card) - 105 Votes
Winner: A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Total Votes: 260
Margin of Victory: 50
Match 2:
(7) The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach - 91 Votes
vs.
(10) Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 174 Votes
Winner: Project Hail Mary
Total Votes: 265
Margin of Victory: 83
Match 3:
(3) Way Station by Clifford D. Simak - 129 Votes
vs.
(14) Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - 125 Votes
Winner: Way Station
Total Votes: 254
Margin of Victory: 4
Match 4:
(6) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - 172 Votes
vs.
(11) Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis - 93 Votes
Winner: Children of Time
Total Votes: 265
Margin of Victory: 79
Mod
I have no idea why I thought Becky Chambers would lose in the first round. I think I was just trying to avoid picking pure chalk.
I’m puzzled that people don’t vote in every match-up. I wonder if it’s a case of not having strong feelings for either book?
Mod
I've asked that question before. I've gotten answers of "I don't like either book" and "I don't care which wins"
That's always been the case though, we never get the same number in any vote/round.
Some years I've seen like round 1 get a lot of votes per poll, but round 2 has far less, only to see the participation in round 3 or 4 spike back up.
People may forget to vote in a certain round, or be disappointed their pick lost in a previous round.
I just always vote for every poll, but to each their own.
If I don't care for either book, I don't vote. Also if I don't know anything about either book I'm likely to skip. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised with the pick from people who know more about it than I do. Some authors I avoid for reasons sufficient to me, and assume others do the same. I'm fine with letting people have their fun with those books.
Oh man, my fav option out in round one. :(Well, it will be fun how to see how this all ends up. Happily, some books I didn’t want to read were also knocked out.
I assume that the large number of votes for The Library at Mount Char was to defeat Lord Foul's Bane since it's triggering to so many.I hope that's why because I want Rivers of London!
Mod
Personally, I want to read Mount Char more than Rivers of London, but I still want the group to do Rivers, so that's what I voted for.
Rob wrote: "I've been meaning to read Library on Mount Char since the last time it was in the tournament. But I definitely was voting against Lord Foul's Bane no matter who it was up against.Personally, I wa..."
Mount Char is awesome. Weird, beautiful and well worth the read. I've read both it and Rivers, so I'm abstaining. Both would be very good choices. Honestly, aside from one matchup where I had a fave, I'd be fine with either book in a matchup advancing.
Mount Char is a great book but so is Rivers of London. They're just very different from each other. Either would be a great choice.Even though I've read both, I voted for Rivers because that's the one I want to reread. Plus Aaronovitch has a new title in the series coming out: Amongst Our Weapons.
Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth wrote: "Oh man, my fav option out in round one. :(Well, it will be fun how to see how this all ends up. Happily, some books I didn’t want to read were also knocked out."
Maybe next year! After all, Rob was advocating for Theft of Swords since like 1978 and it finally won a couple years ago.
Oooh! And me not on the wait list for that book. Helllloooo, LAPL recommend list...
Chris wrote: "Mount Char is a great book but so is Rivers of London. They're just very different from each other. Either would be a great choice.Even though I've read both, I voted for Rivers
Plus Aaronovitch has a new title in the series coming out: Amongst Our Weapons ..."
A new Rivers of London book? I thought. I must go and preorder it!
Amazon: “our records show that you have already preordered this audiobook”
Ruth wrote: "A new Rivers of London book? I thought. I must go and preorder it!Amazon: “our records show that you have already preordered this audiobook”"
Good work! The series is easily available at LA Public Library & I have gotten them there, but on looking I found I had not Recommended it. So I joined its many recommenders.
John (Taloni) wrote: "Ruth wrote: "A new Rivers of London book? I thought. I must go and preorder it!Amazon: “our records show that you have already preordered this audiobook”"
Good work! The series is easily availabl..."
Snort! Some one nobody expects. Snort! Love the blurb.
Fun bracket. Missed the first vote by a few days. I've got 8/16 on my read list, but 2 were DNF's (Library at Mount Char and Lord Foul's Bane) but I honestly don't remember if I disliked them or they didn't grab me or the library recalled them before I got finished wit them and I wasn't motivated to get them again. Several of my favorites from last year are on here, but I'm hoping for Rivers of London as I've been meaning to read that for a good while.
The Sword and Laser
Books mentioned in this topic
Theft of Swords (other topics)Amongst Our Weapons (other topics)
Midnight Riot (other topics)
Way Station (other topics)
Rivers of London (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Scott Hawkins (other topics)Stephen R. Donaldson (other topics)
M.R. Carey (other topics)
Lindsay Ellis (other topics)
Ben Aaronovitch (other topics)
More...
Some of us teenage boys had the same problem. When someone gave it to my girlfriend I tried to dissuade her from reading it but she ignored me and read it anyway. She really liked it. We were clearly not meant to last.