The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

For the September discussion we are looking for nominations from the era of SF inclusive of the years 2000 to 2019.

Sci-fi novels or collections of short stories that have not previously been read by the group are eligible, so long as we've not read the author too many times already. Please check the bookshelf (https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...) & the nomination rules (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...) for further clarification before nominating a book.

Please also add your nominated book title as a clickable link directly to the goodreads' book page, with author and year, so it looks like this:

Around the World in Eighty Days
Jules Verne
1873

We'd appreciate it if you tell everyone a bit about why you chose the book that you're nominating, but we don't require that.

Bear in mind, too, that we'll mostly likely be closing this nomination thread on the 15th, in order to have plenty of time for polls and then for acquisitions of the winner(s).

Everything you can do to help the moderators' tasks will help the group flourish, so thank you!

Aren't we at 2001-2019? 1980s and 90s is the current poll if I'm not mistaken.

Dagnabbit. I told Jim and Ed they should fire me. Fixing now. Thank you.

Hah! I'm just glad I'm not the only one that makes the mistake.
;)

And I'm late doing my share. Getting to it...

I nominate Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. It came out in 2013.

It won so many awards.

I nominate The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, from 2015. Lots of awards, very high community rating on GR, already being labeled a 'touchstone.' I'll never read it on my own, but with this group to support me I'll try (if it wins).

And, yes, AJ could be supported with almost exactly the same words.

The Fifth Season
Ancillary Justice
We Are Legion (Bob)
Hull Zero Three
The Gone World

Ain't The Fifth Season Epic Fantasy?

According to some, yes, but it also has been called SF by plenty of ppl and it does take place, according to my understanding of the blurb, in the far future or some such. See Oleksandr's review.

Do we fret about distinctions like that in this group?
We read Lovecraft, after all....
I'll withdraw if Ed and Jim tell me to, but then we need to establish a very clear def. of the kind of SF that's acceptable.

We do. I joined the group cause it was sf only. Maybe we should gave two monthly reads. One sf and one fantasy.

Lovecraft's tale was judged to be sf.

I'll take this discussion to a more apt thread. Thanks for bringing it up.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

This is one of those borderline cases. Looks like 7K+ shelve it as fantasy, but 1.3K as SF. Lord of Light has 1100 shelving it as SF & 766 as fantasy. IMO, it's SF that's written like a fantasy.

We discussed this several times when trying to list the influential authors & their major works. There's no decent definition of what SF is that satisfies us all. We finally decided that the GR shelving was our guide since we were split on several such as Lovecraft & Zelazny.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I haven't read "The Fifth Season", so I'm not qualified to judge one way or the other. I say let it stand. If the group thinks it is fantasy, they likely won't vote for it. If it wins, maybe we'll find out for sure.

I'll nominate We Are Legion by Dennis E. Taylor (2016). It's a short, fun first book with 2 other books already published to complete the trilogy. The first one ends well enough, though. Bob is a human today who becomes an AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets & more. It never bogs down, but gets into what it means to be human, thoughts on cloning (sort of), & some alien ways.

Cheryl wrote: "Do we fret about distinctions like that in this group? ..."

I do not fret. Nominate whatever you want and the voters will decide. If you nominate something that is obviously not anywhere near SF we will mock you.

I am interested in Fifth Season, by the way, but don't know what I'll vote for.

We don't have a large enough group or large enough participation for two monthly reads every month.

How about
Hull Zero Three
Greg Bear
First published 2010

Why, well I enjoy “generation ship” stories and I’ve never read this one !

Adrian, I like that sub-genre myself, I'm off to check out your shelves....

The Gone World
Tom Sweterlitsch
published 2018

Ryan wrote: "The Gone World
Tom Sweterlitsch
published 2018"

The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch (2018)

Cheryl wrote: "Adrian, I like that sub-genre myself, I'm off to check out your shelves...."

Thanks Cheryl, my shelves do not reflect everything I've read as I have never updated GR with everything I read over the years pre GR.
Must check out your shelves as well now :)

We have five choices, but could handle more if anyone has any more nominations! I'm planning to close this thread tomorrow or the next day so get them in. Thanks!

Ok, here's the poll:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Time to start campaigning for your choice!

Remember to vote by Aug. 6th as it will close then to allow time for a possible run-off.

We Are Legion is the winner this time! See you in September for something that promises to be a little lighter. I look forward to tracking down a copy myself.

Cheryl wrote: "We Are Legion is the winner this time! "

It is good easy read

Cheryl wrote: "We Are Legion is the winner this time! See you in September for something that promises to be a little lighter. I look forward to tracking down a copy myself."

It is a trilogy, but the first book stands well alone. Still, you might want to be prepared to read the entire trilogy. It's a bit like chips - hard to stop after one. The Bobs are a hoot.