2013 Worlds Without End Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge discussion

For those who have finished the challenge (not me, not yet). What books did you read? Which ones do you recommend to the rest of us?

I've actually read two more than the necessary twelve for a total of fourteen books.

Grimspace, Ann Aguirre(review)
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
Days of the Deer, Liliana Bodoc(review)
A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan(review)
Spirit Gate, Kate Elliott(review)
Fudoki, Kij Johnson(review)
Up Against It, M.J. Locke
Vampires in the Lemon Grove, Karen Russell(review)
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
A Stranger in Olondria, Sofia Samatar(review)
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Jagannath, Karin Tidbeck
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, Genevieve Valentine
The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker(review)

I had pretty good luck with these books. I'd strongly recommend all but the Aguirre, the Elliot, the Locke, and the Russell (Karen). The rest I rated four stars or above.

Spirit Gate, and Vampires in the Lemon Grove, and Up Against It were all okay, but they failed to grab me. I'd still recommend them though because I know there are other people who will enjoy them.

I did not like Grimspace at all. I don't mind romance when it's done right, but that doesn't excuse one from writing a sucky book.

23 of my 72 books read this year qualify, though a large reason that number is so high is debut authors. Ill get to linking tonight when I have more time, along with my favorites.

Wow, I feel like such a slacker. I've finished eight and had been feeling pretty good about being on pace.

:)

Don't worry, I only have 5! Do I win the biggest slacker award?

Re: Spirit Gate, I think it's a somewhat weak beginning to an overall excellent trilogy. Not that having better sequels excuses a book from not being great, but it's not Elliott's strongest work.

I have 4! THE SLACKER AWARD WILL BE MINE!

I edited my above post to add the reviews I did. Don't know why I didn't do it when I made the post. I'll admit I got lazy as time went on so I don't have reviews for all of them.

Emma wrote: "Re: Spirit Gate, I think it's a somewhat weak beginning to an overall excellent trilogy. Not that having better sequels excuses a book from not being great, but it's not Elliott's strongest work. "

I tried Shadow Gate, but I got bored almost immediately. I think Elliot just doesn't work for me personally, but I can certainly see that other people enjoy her.

Finished now, with a couple of reviews left to write though. For books I really liked!--which makes it harder. Nathan, I'm curious to see your list... ;)

I finished this week - with a very different set of books than I planned at the start of the year. (These aren't all the female-authored genre books I've read in 2013 - just the ones by authors new to me!)

I'm terrible at writing reviews, though. Shame!

Kelly Link - Magic for Beginners
Emma Bull - Finder
Diana Wynne Jones - Archer's Goon
C.J. Cherryh - Downbelow Station
Vonda N. McIntyre - Dreamsnake
Joan D. Vinge - The Snow Queen
Karen Lord - The Best of All Possible Worlds
Mur Lafferty - The Shambling Guide to New York City
Caitlín R. Kiernan - The Drowning Girl
Marie Lu - Legend
Robin Hobb - Assassin's Apprentice
Linda Nagata - The Bohr Maker

Of these, my favourites were Kelly Link, Diana Wynne Jones, Robin Hobb, and Mur Lafferty.

My least favourite picks were Marie Lu and Caitlin Kiernan.

Biggest did-not-live-up-to-expectations were Joan D. Vinge and C. J. Cherryh, though I'll probably read more Cherryh in the future anyway.

What did you think of Dreamsnake? I've had my eye on that one.

Hmmm...I really should read Kelly Link. I have two of her books from that Humble Bundle and haven't read either yet.

Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship wrote: "What did you think of Dreamsnake? I've had my eye on that one."

A while after reading it, I realised I liked it a lot better than I initially thought, which might be a bit odd. Sort of like a good B-movie, though no matter how good it is, it's still, without doubt, a B-movie. The book is heavy on characterization, female protagonists, minimal tech, sort of dystopian.

Man(woman? haha see what i did there) I'm going to be cutting this one down to thew wire, but that's how I do everything these days.

I completed my challenge. Let me tell you, between Benighted and The Sparrow I've been having DEEP THOUGHTS every night before bed.

All right, having admitted to myself that I'm not going to finish Daggerspell by the new year, here's my list:

Excellent:

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (review)
Elfland by Freda Warrington (review)
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik (review)
The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Barbara Hambly (review)
Life After Life* by Kate Atkinson (review)

Good:

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (review)
Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey (review)

Adequate:

Bird of the River by Kage Baker (review)
Except the Queen by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder (review)

Not Recommended:

Island of Eternal Love* by Daina Chaviano (review)
Lion of Senet by Jennifer Fallon (review)
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal (review)

* These are books you won't find in the fantasy section, but they have enough speculative elements that I'm counting them.

I also bounced off of The Golem and the Jinni and The Etched City, though I'm hoping to return to the latter someday when I'm in the right mood for it.

At any rate, this challenge has been great--it got me reading more fantasy than I otherwise would have this year, and I discovered some fantastic new books and authors! Thanks to Nathan for setting this group up.

So is anyone planning on doing this again this year?

I've thought about it, and I'd like to see this group continued in one form or another. But this challenge wound up accounting for the bulk of my fantasy reading in 2013--I only read 5 genre books that didn't count, one because it was written by a man and 4 by authors I'd already read (2 of those being sequels to a challenge book). In 2014 I suspect I'll be spending more time with repeat authors, including some of the ones I discovered this year.

How about you?

I can't believe I finished!

I'll follow Emma's scale here.

Excellent:
The Song of Achilles
The Oathbound

Good:
Tinker
Howl's Moving Castle
The Golem and the Jinni
Feed
Kindred
Assassin's Apprentice

Average:
The Ghost Bride
The Children of Men

Not Recommended:
In the Garden of Iden
Delirium

May as well keep the group, it is a loose challenge. I just suck at checking this board, hate Goodreads forum style.

I am not going to type this whole list, I got through five books and got tired. So here is my Goodreads shelf for it! 29 books, but a few debuts in there made it easier.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I'll probably continue the challenge. If only because some of the books are ones I was planning to read anyway. If no one else is interested, I can always just make the challenge a personal one.

I need to do a list later, but my god, The Sparrow. Just....I'm still thinking about it before bed.