SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Inspired by a group read and more specifically by Lowell who suggested this topic, what books were different from your expectations (for better or worse)? How did you come by your expectations? Were you able to re-calibrate and appreciate the book for what it was?

China Mountain Zhang was one that was a pleasant surprise. I expected a western outlook on Chinese communism in a gruesome dystopia that read like a campfire horror story for capitalists. Instead I got a powerful story about gay rights and the human condition.

Most recently Future Home of the Living God really muddled me up. I read the blurb, which was my first mistake. The blurb makes it sound like it's going to be a biological sci-fi horror type deal. I was expecting more thriller or at least more looming fear, like Spin perhaps. Instead it read like a pregnancy journal that took a brief trip through Gilead. I couldn't get my feet on that one.

I think blurbs throw me off. Either they tell me everything and I'm not excited to read it anymore, or it sounds amazing but the book isn't really related to the selling points, and then I get cranky. I'm much happier when I go in totally blind. Happy here usually means bawling my eyes out because I read something too sad for me, but that's okay because there's beauty in being utterly devastated, too.

One of the most difficult books for me in the Expectation vs. Reality aspect was The Troll Hunter. I was recommended the book by someone who knew I love (LOVE!!) David Edding's Belgariad and Mallorean series (which is pretty standard magic adventure Fantasy - get the thing and win the day- with an orphan farmboy).

The Troll Hunter is nothing (NOTHING) like Eddings. It's actually more "heroic" fantasy and there's no magic and no thing and NO saving the day.

I was super upset - especially the ending - but per my review I was able to re-calibrate somewhat. I rated the book high but my review drips with disappointment.

Oh man, this was A Study in Honor for me. Based on the blurb I was expecting the Sherlock Holmes style mystery and the exploration of the "New Civil War" to take the lead. Instead I got a book where I spent so much time inside Watson's head and exploring her PTSD and everything else kind of took a backseat to that. The book gave me only vague glimpses of the future USA and the civil war it was involved in, and the mystery was really only background right up until the end. I'm still not even really sure what areas of the USA were on which side in this civil war. I wasn't really able to appreciate that book, but I am willing to give the second book a chance in the hopes that it moves on to more external matters.

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus was the one for me. I guess I was pre-conditioned by the movies made from the book.

I'd put Harry Potter in this camp. I was a very late arrival; I think it was just before the fourth book came out that I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about. And I hadn't even been paying much attention, I just noticed a lot of displays and such at local stores and I was like "why is this kid's book getting promoted so heavily?"

I got the first book fully expecting not to dig it very much. I may have even intended it as a hate-read (see also: Twilight). (I was a snotty college student at the time...dear god I sucked.)

Suffice it to say, it was a revelation. So good in its own right, but the nostalgia it made me feel for the books I read as a kid was a bonus.

(And for the record, I ended up liking Twilight more than I expected as well, though obviously it's nowhere close to Potter, and not quite enough to compel me to finish the series.)

Ancillary Justice was one of those for me. Everyone kept saying “It’s a Space Opera, it’s a Space Opera!” but it isn’t. I did recalibrate, but when you’re expecting one thing and you get something else, it does have a negative effect.

One that I *wasn’t* able to overcome was David Weber’s alien invasion novel Out of the Dark, where an alien federation is horrified by humanity’s propensity toward violence so they let their most violent member race off the chain to subdue Earth. They basically crush our civilization in less than a month but humans never surrender, never submit. So the aliens decide to wipe out humanity with a biotech plague... except their test bases are attacked and all the aliens are killed. So they just decide to take off and nuke us from orbit, but then they lose control of their battleships! Turns out they woke up Dracula and he created a bunch of vampires to fight back. Dracula! I was like, “What. The. Actual. F*********ck?!?!”

Lol. That was my experience with The Invisible Library. Mechanical alligators still make me angry to think about.

Lol went to the Out of the Dark page.....so many one-star reviews.

So far I was lucky in this aspect. I never read blurbs, but the first line to have a vague idea, what the book could be about. So I go into every book with nearly no expectation at all. I can be disappointed cause I don't like the story, but so far never cause it didn't meet my expectations.

Joon wrote: "Lol went to the Out of the Dark page.....so many one-star reviews."

Which makes me in turn wonder about how so many other readers could still give it five stars, despite the horrible and ludicrous plot twist at the end of it. It makes me shake my head.

seems to me a lot of people equate 5 stars with "I liked it". To me, that rates 3 stars. I think I've only ever rated a few books as 5 star as, to me, 4 stars is excellent and 5 stars means extraordinary and destined to be a classic like The Name of the Wind, The Lord of the Rings, The First Law Trilogy, and a few others

Allison wrote: "China Mountain Zhang was one that was a pleasant surprise. I expected a western outlook on Chinese communism in a gruesome dystopia that read like a campfire horror story for capitalists. Instead I..."

blurbs throw me off, too. Especially the ones that aren't written by the author. I have this one author who has the BEST blurbs. THE BEST...but (without fail) the stories always disappoint.

Jordan wrote: "Oh man, this was A Study in Honor for me. Based on the blurb I was expecting the Sherlock Holmes style mystery and the exploration of the "New Civil War" to take the lead. Instead I..."

YOu're better than me, lol.

In third grade, a few friends and I noticed “The Westing Game” in the school library and all decided to take out a copy (there were several) in order to play the game (we assumed it was some sort of rulebook?). It turns out it wasn’t a game you could actually play, but was still a fantastic read (for a 3rd grader at least!)

The Lies of Locke Lamora was a massive disappointment for me. It took so damn long to start being interesting that I could not "bond" to the characters or their cause and by the time something actually started to happen, it was far too late for a change.

Tomas wrote: "The Lies of Locke Lamora was a massive disappointment for me. It took so damn long to start being interesting that I could not "bond" to the characters or their cause and by the tim..."

Oooh, same here! Everyone kept saying what a fun romp/lark it was...but I was mostly bored and hating Locke.

MrsJoseph wrote: "Tomas wrote: "The Lies of Locke Lamora was a massive disappointment for me. It took so damn long to start being interesting that I could not "bond" to the characters or their cause and by the tim..."

Oooh, same here! Everyone kept saying what a fun romp/lark it was...but I was mostly bored and hating Locke. "


Same, except I wouldn't say I hated Locke, but I was annoyed that we kept being told how clever he was, but I didn't feel like we actually saw his cleverness...

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Same, except I wouldn't say I hated Locke, but I was annoyed that we kept being told how clever he was, but I didn't feel like we actually saw his cleverness... "

That, too.

Thought "hate" may be a strong word... I really dislike smarmy. And that's what he gave me. Did you ever watch The Mentalist? I hated that dude and always wanted someone to punch him in his smarmy face. Felt the same way about Locke. And Eli Monpress. The Legend of Eli Monpress

I never finished Locke ... I think I must have come to it too late or something b/c I really DGAF about clever heists.....at all...

MrsJoseph wrote: "The Mentalist? I hated that dude and always wanted someone to punch him in his smarmy face."

I still can't see him and the lady detective ending up together, they had zero chemistry :D

Also, thank you all, I don't feel so bad about not having read Locke now!

Anna wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "The Mentalist? I hated that dude and always wanted someone to punch him in his smarmy face."

I still can't see him and the lady detective ending up together, they had zero chemis..."

I loved the hell out of that show but yeah, they were a weird match.

Anna wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "The Mentalist? I hated that dude and always wanted someone to punch him in his smarmy face."

I still can't see him and the lady detective ending up together, they had zero chemis..."

NO. Is that how they finally ended it??! I stopped watching like right before the last season because hubby was FINALLY over it (I'd been over it).

And you're right: no chemistry. Except I would have bet she wanted to punch him in the nose, too.

Yeah sorry, spoiler! I never saw it coming, I thought there's no way they'll try to force it, but I guess it's the only way these shows can end.

MrsJoseph wrote: "And Eli Monpress. The Legend of Eli Monpress "


Speaking of Eli Monpress, that fits this thread pretty well. That's another book where I went in expecting a caper book, and it ended up being a pretty standard fantasy pseudo-epic instead.

Rachel wrote: "I never finished Locke ... I think I must have come to it too late or something b/c I really DGAF about clever heists.....at all..."

lol

I'm having that problem with The Quantum Thief. I don't remember looking at the blurb, but from the buzz and from previewing the first chapter's interesting start, I expected something with a lot more ideas per page story-wise.

But it's turned out that most of the innovation has gone into window dressing ... it's kind of like a movie that relies 90% on CGI whiz-bang but slides on the actual story.

I stopped reading it a while ago but haven't entirely given up on it. I'm having a lot better luck with The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken. The weird quantum stuff is always there but it's not the focus. The story is the focus, it's not obfuscated by clever visuals and confusing description for weirdness's sake. It's readable and interesting.

Probably sac religious but Dune by Frank Herbert was a much slower read than I had anticipated after seeing the movie.

Dune was slow, I agree. I wanted to love it, because it's one of hubby's favorites, but we both agreed that it was, dare I say, a dry read.

(Feel the pun. Love the pun.)

(I also got annoyed to distraction by the constant references to Gurney's inkvine scar. It was mentioned every. single. time. he was on page... )

I thought Annihilation by Jeff V. was going to be the bee's knees. It was already in theaters, and I wanted to read the book before I watched the film in movies. The book's plot, the narrator, and lack of action bored me.

When I got to the middle of the book, which is a very short read, I was crushed to learn that there was little in the way of discoveries and the mystery in the novel was starting to feel like a bunch of words stringed together just to keep the reader going.

By the end of the book, I didn't even want to keep it in my house, and no longer had interest watching the movie. To this day, I have yet to watch the film, even though I heard the reviews went well. I know there are more books in the series, maybe, I'll give it another go. It could just be my youth and lack of experience. Or maybe, I've been brainwashed by Urban Fantasy, and Sci-Fi wasn't doing it for me.

I think the only redeeming characteristic the book had was the fact that it resembled a H.P. Lovecraft horror, and that the scenery in the world was beautiful. That's about it.

This is SO sacrilegious, but I've never been able to get through A CANTICLE FOR LIEBOWITZ.

I've tried numerous times--it's on my bookshelf--but I just find it so dry.

Same with LORD OF THE RINGS. (Though I loved the movies!)

John wrote: "Probably sac religious but Dune by Frank Herbert was a much slower read than I had anticipated after seeing the movie."

Setting one's expectations of a book by your reaction to a movie based on that book is a recipe for failure.

Dune the book is about politics, religion, environment, and the inability of institutions to control people and events in the wild. It's complex and cerebral. Dune the movie is about action and revenge, essentially a "man wronged" movie where against all odds the underdog utterly defeats his enemies and rises supreme.

Similarly, Lord of the Rings the book is about a journey and a coming of age for both the hobbit characters and the race of Man. It's about an ancient and more grand age sacrificing itself for a safer, but more banal future. Lord of the Rings the movie is about action-packed adventure, whiz-bang blurry screen fights and stupid dwarf jokes topped off by a love story.

They are different things.

I am pretty disciplined about not reading blurbs and trying to know as little about a book as I can before I read it. I rely heavily on friends ratings.

I have two examples that stick out in my head
1. Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness. Just from the title I was hoping for a book about Octopus consciousness, I got pseudo scientific babel about consciousness in general. I was not able to recalibrate and enjoy it.

2. A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe. The title says sci-fi and I get the whole, most of sci-fi is indistinguishable from magic, but the magic is not meshing well in my head. I honestly don't know why this is an issue, why would a force field that is generated by a pocket nuclear generator be better than one generated by a magic spell?

I think it is all about believability, I want to believe that a pocket nuclear generator is not only possible but likely, I can't get myself to believe in magic spells. I like magic spell fantasy books but they don't blend well in my head with space ships.

D. A. wrote: "I thought Annihilation by Jeff V. was going to be the bee's knees. It was already in theaters, and I wanted to read the book before I watched the film in movies. The book's plot, the narrator, and ..."

The movie is the same as the book. You aren’t missing anything.

Watch Upgrade instead.

Neither of these recent on my "read" list: The Isle of Glass and Daggerspell. Since they were from the '80s, I kind of expected action-y good-vs-evil things*, but both were surprisingly introspective. I ought to go back and finish those series!

*note: I don't read blurbs either

Oooh! I forgot Beguilement. This...excrement was NOTHING of what I was expecting. I was expecting action and fantasy and a good story about beating bad guys.

I GOT a long ass book about an 18 y/o girl who gets marries a 55 y/o man and the various dramas surrounding that relationship.

Could NOT recover.

Bujold really likes her spring/autumn romances (with the guy being the "autumn") and usually I'm okay with it, but that one went too far with the age disparity, imo. Also Beguilement read like a bad, boring pastiche of Mercedes Lackey's stuff.

Beth wrote: "Bujold really likes her spring/autumn romances (with the guy being the "autumn") and usually I'm okay with it, but that one went too far with the age disparity, imo. Also Beguilement read like a ba..."

Oh gosh, you're so right. Exactly that.

Starship Troopers

I expected rip roaring sci-fi action with all the fighting and explosions. (movie)

I received a wonderfully introspective novel about war and citizenship and self. I quite enjoy the book - and the movie...but they are nothing alike.