The Sword and Laser discussion

I've seen a few people talking about how many books their going to read next year and for many its seems to be in the hundreds. I don't think I could read that many books in a year. But it did get me thinking that it would be a fun challenge to do an A-Z of science fiction and fantasy authors. The goal to read 26 books each by a different author and aiming to be authors you've never read before.

I've started creating a list for myself but if anyone wants to throw out suggestions of their own or jump on the band wagon then feel free.


Margaret Atwood - Oryx and Crake
Holly Black - The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Gail Carriger - Soulless
James Dashner - The Eye of Minds
Susan Ee - Angelfall
Sherry D. Ficklin - Extracted
Lev Grossman - The Magicians

Sounds like fun! If I get my "to read and already bought" pile down in 2014, maybe I'll try something like that in 2015. :D

This is an excellent suggestion. I did an A-Z challenge last year, but I think this year I'll do it this way. Thanks!

Hmm, maybe I can combine this with my unread pile...
Rachel Aaron The Spirit Thief
Max Barry Jennifer Government
Hal Clement Mission of Gravity
David Anthony Durham Acacia
Andreas Eschback The Carpet Makers
Robert Forward Flight of the Dragonfly

Soulless and The Magicians are both excellent books. This seems like an interesting challenge. I'll have to keep this in mind for the future.

Interesting idea. You might have trouble when you get to the letter X, though.

Bryan wrote: "Interesting idea. You might have trouble when you get to the letter X, though."

X is wildcard!

Sounds awesome, I would love some suggestions to get started. The Magicians has been on my bookshelf begging for attention for a while now.

Well after a bit of random searching on goodreads over the Christmas break I've come up a list of 26 books for my author A-Z challenge. Some letters were definitely tough and I had to make Q and X wildcards. But I've put together a collection of 26 books that I hope are going to be good. If anyone has suggestions for better books than I'd be happy to hear them. Has anyone else managed an initial list?




So far i'm about 60% through Oryx and Crake and I'm enjoying it so the challenge is starting well.

Fun challenge! Do you need a V? I suggest Jeff Vandermeer.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Fun challenge! Do you need a V? I suggest Jeff Vandermeer."

..and skip Kurt Vonnegut... say it's not so :)

Sounds like fun:)

Alexander wrote: "Well after a bit of random searching on goodreads over the Christmas break I've come up a list of 26 books for my author A-Z challenge. Some letters were definitely tough and I had to make Q and X ..."

Amanda Quick wrote some Fantasy. No idea about the quality.

Xiaolu Guo (surname, first name) wrote an ambiguous SF novel called The UFO in Her Eyes. John Xero has a collection of short stories which are F/SF.

Ohh a battle over the V's.

I've heard of Kurt Vonnegut's book Slaughter House 5. But is it the sort of book you can enjoy if you haven't read Slaughter House 1-4? ;)

Anyone know any good Y authors?

You don't need to read 1-4, but you really should catch up on Kilgore Trouts writing first. You don't have to, but Vonnegut was a big fan and used his work as a basis for his in the Slaughter House series. ;)

Alexander wrote: "Ohh a battle over the V's.

Anyone know any good Y authors?"

Also for V - Catherynne M. Valente

For Y and sci-fi, so far I've only read the book you've listed by Charles Yu.

I have 2 book clubs and another challenge on paperback swap but maybe I'll try and squeeze this one in too! The challenge for me is the reading new authors.

John wrote: "You don't need to read 1-4, but you really should catch up on Kilgore Trouts writing first. You don't have to, but Vonnegut was a big fan and used his work as a basis for his in the Slaughter Hous..."

I read some of those and found them about as boring as Morganstern's original Princess Bride ;)

AndrewP wrote: "John wrote: "You don't need to read 1-4, but you really should catch up on Kilgore Trouts writing first. You don't have to, but Vonnegut was a big fan and used his work as a basis for his in the S..."

If you liked that then you need to read the dr seuss book that A song of ice and fire is based on.

Well, there's Laurence Yep, Jane Yolen, Charles Yu, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro for Y. If you count it as a double last name, you might count Yarbro as Q for Quinn, too.

I did an author and a title A-Z last year for my goal of 52. It was a lot of fun.

Alexander wrote: "Anyone know any good Y authors?"

Hiroshi Yamamoto wrote the kaiju book MM9, which I enjoyed.

I have Charles Yu's How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe in my to-read pile.

Jane Yolen's name springs to mind, but I have no idea what she writes.

A couple months ago the bookstores were positively plastered with Rick Yancey's book The 5th Wave. I never heard another word about it, so I kind of suspect this was a big marketing push trying to make fetch happen.

Chelsea Quinn Yarboro -- but my brains tells me she's Fantasy rather than SF.

Lawrence Yep for Fantasy.

J. Steven York for media tie-in novels. (Marvel, Battletech, etc.)

Alexander wrote: "If you liked that then you need to read the dr seuss book that A song of ice and fire is based on.
"

You mean "One Fish Two Fish Blackfish Red Wedding"

John wrote: "You mean "One Fish Two Fish Blackfish Red Wedding""

Wasn't it Green eggs and Zombies and Dragons? Or John Snow Hears a Walker

For Y there's William Butler Yeats. He edited some collections of Irish folk and fairy tales. Fun reads. I may have to revisit some of the stories.