Exploring the Continents

[John]

Welcome to our new dicussion thread, where the aim is to help us enjoy authors from cultures other than our own, by reading authors from across the continents. The pace is more sedate than our monthly challenges, and its a shared discussion rather than a competitive challenge. Read at whatever pace you choose, and space opera, fantasy, and SF books are all acceptable.

No 'record of achievements' will be maintained but we'd love to hear what you are reading, and your opinion of it, so please join in the thread and share your thoughts.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

I’ve been playing with Google and a search string such as “Mexican science fiction authors” (or other country) gives me a list. I’ve spotted some names of authors that I’ve read before. I’m trying to decide whether to go for the recognized authors or look for someone new. I’ll likely end up with a mix.

[John]

That's an excellent approach Teresa, and I'm looking at something similar, and also trying to include at least a couple that I already have in my TBR pile. I've drawn up a short list...but sticking to it will be a different matter.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Okay are we supposed to post here when starting a book, or just when finishing it? I give up on books easily.

[John]

Comment as much or as little as you are comfortable with, Teresa.

Personally, I'll almost certainly comment when I start, comment as I read, and comment when either I finish or give up. I'll say whether or not I liked the book - and the reasons.

For me, this thread is about widening my horizons - its not uncommon for SF readers to stick to genres/authors from our own cultures, and whose books we are "comfortable" with. Its why some authors can be successful with long series of books - Craig Alanson with a 20 book Expeditionary Force series over 10 years? And all too often when I start a series and the first one or two are half-way good, I plough through the rest of the series - which rarely justify the effort - then get annoyed with myself at the end.

So on this challenge - no matter how good the author - I will not read more than one of their books, as I will move on to either the next continent or a different author and genre on the same continent.

But this one is deliberately "loose" to let each of us approach it as we prefer - as Fleetwood Mac sung - "Go Your Own Way"...and I've just depressed myself by realising that was 49 years ago!

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

It’s going to be tough to decide which continent some authors are. For example, Joelle Presby grew up in west Africa but lives in Ohio. Nit picking I know, but it’s annoying me.

[John]

Teresa wrote: "It’s going to be tough to decide which continent some authors are. For example, Joelle Presby grew up in west Africa but lives in Ohio. Nit picking I know, but it’s annoying me."

She has apparently also lived in Cameroon, France and Japan - but I'd definitely class her as American, Teresa. Giving the number of Americans serving overseas, there must be a high number of their children who have grown up outside the States, but are quite clearly American. (I've no idea if this applies to Presby, but America had a large presence in West Africa at one point).

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Heh my dad was in the USAF. I’ve lived in both France and the Philippines, although I wouldn’t claim to have grown up there. We moved a LOT.

[John]

France and the Philippines must have been quite a contrast.

There seem to be a fair number of SF authors who are ex-US military, writing military SF understandably enough.

[John]

My "African" choice is planned as American War by Omar El Akkad. Coincidentally, I've just collected from the library this morning a book I ordered several months ago - One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, by the same author - which I hadn't realised. This is a non-fiction book about Israel's genocide in Palestine so I hadn't made the connection - it will be interesting to see how two such totally different books compare.

[John]

Omar El Akkad is also an example of the point you raised Teresa. His name came up when I googled African SF authors. He is an author and journalist who was born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada as a teenager and now lives in the United States.

[John]

I also collected from the library this morning The Best of World SF, Volume 2 - surely I'll be able to get some ideas on authors from its 649 pages?

[John]

My first book is going to be Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy. The author is American, and the book is described as a feminist, dystopian novel - so not my normal comfort zone. I have it on order from the library, and hope to start reading it in September.

[John]

Woman on the Edge of Time is taking too long to come from the library, so my first book is going to be Spring Festival, a collection of short stories by Chinese SF and Fantasy author Xia Jia.

[John]

Finished reading Spring Festival by Xia Jia. It was a lot shorter than I had realised, but the only problem with that is that its so well-written that you really don't want it to end. After a couple of SF books recently that were disappointing (and thats being kind), it was wonderful to read this one. I'll be reading more from this author before the year's out.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

52 pages is short indeed. Available on KU, so I’ve added it to my TBR for the next time I buy a month if KU.

[John]

I hope you enjoy it when you get a copy Teresa.

She seems to have written only short stories so far; she has another collection available. On Amazon UK its £6 on kindle, or £31 for a second-hand paperback.

[Caitlin]

Wow, from the description this looks so interesting! I’ve added it to my TBR, hopefully I can get to it before year’s end when I’m in the mood for some short fiction.

[John]

For this thread I'm planning to read the SF novel Little Eyes by Argentinian author Samanta Schweblin, but this is another one that is taking its time in arriving.

So I've just re-read the wonderful novella Fever Dream by the same author (not SF, but impossible to put down once you've started). And I'm currently reading her collection of short stories Seven Empty Houses (also not SF, but with writing this good and this original the genre becomes almost irrelevant.)

[John]

I completed Seven Empty Houses last night and just in time, as the library now has the copy of her SF novel Little Eyes. I'm looking forward to reading this next week.

[John]

So far I've covered North America and Asia. My local library has finally received the books I'd ordered, so I'm hoping that South America can be added to the list next week.

Has anyone else started yet?

[Audrey]

I finished the anthology Baen Free Stories 2018 so I've got North America done. I meant to borrow a book by a particular Korean author when I stopped by the library this afternoon, but completely forgot. My library is sadly lacking in SF&F by authors outside of the U.S. - only two authors, one of whom I have no interest in based on their book blurb.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Unless I count either romances or US authors, I haven’t started. However, October’s Limited Pick is Frontier Incursion and the author is Australian, so that will count! I think I get more of a sense of Aussie culture reading romances by Aussie authors though.

Edit: oh and I recently read Kyron the Rescuer by Peter Rhodan. That author is also Australian. This is the latest book in a fantasy series that starts with Taroniah at School. I like the Taroniah books more than the Kyron books.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Going through my books read in September that aren’t pure romance I found one by a Canadian author: Moody as a Minotaur by Lori Ames. Fantasy/paranormal/romance. It’s technically the first book of a series but there are references to events in another of her series, so if the blurb appeals to you, look at Hellhounds Never Lie as a starting point without spoilers.

[Caitlin]

I’m partway through Death's End by Liu Cixin as my choice to represent Asia. I read the first two novels (The Three-Body Problem and The Dark Forest) a couple years ago, but was put off starting Death’s End by the sheer physical size of my paperback edition. I like to take books to work and this one would be a pain to lug around.

Now though, I have vacation so I thought I’d dive in. I’m finding it very interesting so far!

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Just spotted another author for Australia: Jenny Schwartz. We discussed her Space Deputy a while back.

And Peter Grant is from South Africa, so if I reread Take the Star Road that will be another continent. I don’t recall anything about African culture in that series, just a lot of details about a particular Asian thing (Tong).

Peter Damon is from Peru which is South America. His The Cambridge Annex: The Trilogy series has more British culture, going by memory.

[John]

I'm counting Frontier Incursion, which I've just finished, as my "entry" for the Oceania continent.

[Audrey]

I found Mad Sisters of Esi at my library. The author Tashan Mehta appears to be from India. I'm going to give it a try.

[John]

Audrey wrote: "I found Mad Sisters of Esi at my library. The author Tashan Mehta appears to be from India. I'm going to give it a try."

Looks intriguing Audrey - let us know your opinion of it.

[Caitlin]

That looks quite unique, Audrey. I'll be interested to know what you think of it.

[John]

I've just started reading Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin - an Argentinian living in Germany. (I'm regarding this as my "South American" read.) It's looking promising so far, but that's not surprising based on what I've read by this author while waiting for the library to tranfer a copy of this book.

The description on Amazon reads - "A visionary novel about our interconnected world, about the collision of horror and humanity, from the Man Booker-shortlisted master of the spine-tingling tale

A Guardian & Observer Best Fiction Book of 2020 * A Sunday Times Best Science Fiction Book of the Year * The Times Best Science Fiction Books of the Year * NPR Best Books of the Year

World Literature Today's 75 Notable Translations of 2020 * Ebook Travel Guides Best 5 Books of 2020 * A New York Times Notable Book of 2020

They’re not pets. Not ghosts or robots. These are kentukis, and they are in your home. You can trust them. They care about you...

They've infiltrated apartments in Hong Kong, shops in Vancouver, the streets of Sierra Leone, town squares of Oaxaca, schools in Tel Aviv, bedrooms in Indiana. Anonymous and untraceable, these seemingly cute cuddly toys reveal the beauty of connection between far-flung souls – but they also expose the ugly truth of our interconnected society.

Samanta Schweblin's wildly imaginative new novel pulls us into a dark and complex world of unexpected love, playful encounters and marvellous adventures. But beneath the cuddly exterior, kentukis conceal a truth that is unsettlingly familiar and exhilaratingly real. This is our present and we’re living it – we just don’t know it yet."

[Caitlin]

Was there a consensus about how to decide if an author “counts” for a certain continent? I’m reading Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor but am unsure whether it should be my choice for Africa or North America—the author was born in the States to Nigerian parents and visited Nigeria frequently growing up (and has family there), but lives in Buffalo, New York.

Lagoon itself is about an alien spaceship landing in Lagos, Nigeria and how the populace copes (or doesn’t) with their new neighbors.

[Audrey]

The stated goal is to read authors from a variety of cultures. My take on this is that it is our own reading list, so count it as you want as long as in the end you meet the goal. People move around so much (born here, family moved there, author moved somewhere else as an adult, etc.) that I believe trying to make hard rules could be crazymaking.

[John]

Caitlin, I agree with Audrey - in many cases authors have multiple potential nationalities, so we should use our own judgement in which continent we regard as theirs.

The point is to have fun and to actively seek out authors we might not otherwise have read - and to share with each other what our reading experiences have been.

[Caitlin]

That makes sense, John and Audrey. Given that Okorafor’s works (at least that I’ve read) are steeped in Nigerian culture, I’ll consider this book my read for Africa.

[John]

Caitlin, I am in a similar position with Samanta Schweblin, the author of Little Eyes. She is an Argentinian, but living in Germany.

I'm about a third of the way through the book at the moment, and its entertaining and original.

I wonder if the multi-cultural background of a number of SF authors is an asset for their creativity/imagination?