SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases discussion

Yes, folks that's this time of year and nominations has been started. In SF there was no The Doors of Eden, but there is a write in at the bottom, so if you like it - go and add, for this can increase its chances in Hugo next year.

The same goes for other books - post here what to add/vote in each category (and maybe why) - let's promote our favorites!

I already voted for the Doors of Eden!

Ah, they are playing the next round 'lets ignore Tchaikovsky' ... Write in done! (more and more the British awards are the ones I trust)

And for Fantasy I did a thing I usually never would do ... vote for a book that won't even be released before the first voting round ends ^^'. Let's hope it lives up to the expectations.

Write-ins never win, sadly. :-(

Each round is cumulative, meaning that each rounds adds votes to the books. So anything missing in round 1 usually has no chance of catching up. That said, we can put on list and promote it that way (I won't because that would mean not being able to vote for my favorite in this round).

I'm flabbergasted that they are demanding we vote within 13 days and then put books on the list that won't even be released until that date (Rhythm of War) - how is that giving them a fair chance? Nobody can read it until then! (Okay, you can read the first 16 chapters on Tor.com or listen to them in audio form on Sanderson's youtube channel, but still: it's not fair, they should have limited it to books released before round 1 and included Rhythm next year.)

And the categories, as always, are unfathomable. What disqualifies Hilary Mantel from the Fiction category, even though the novel was nominated for a Booker? How much more literary can you get? And what in the world makes Magic Lessons historical instead of fantasy? But perhaps the publisher is given a choice of category and then they go for the one they believe they have the best chance in.

Anyway, here are my predictions for who will win this year, based on my observation that the winner is always, always the book with the highest *number* of ratings regardless of how high those ratings were (please feel free to prove me wrong, I'd love to be wrong):

Fiction: American Dirt
Mystery: The Guest List
Historical: The Vanishing Half
Fantasy: House of Earth and Blood
Romance: Beach Read
SF: Network Effect
Horror: Mexican Gothic
Humor: Strange Planet (yay!)
Debut: Such a Fun Age
YA: One of Us Is Next
YA SFF: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
MG: The One and Only Bob

Lol, I wish it was different, but this is how this works every time. 😄 And I can still show my love for my own favorites by giving them a vote, I just won't expect any of them to win.

Eva wrote: "Write-ins never win, sadly. :-( "

I can see why - the number of votes in voting round is in thousands - unless the book is already on a brink of entering the list, it is hard to organize say a thousand write-ins. However, this should not prevent us from trying.

As for winners being from max-ratings - this suggests a hope that people actually read what they vote for and a greater number of readers means both high number of ratings and high number of votes. This is better than an alternative, where people vote for a hyped book they haven't read

^^' From Eva's supposed winner list I haven't read a single one.

I can very much recommend Strange Planet, it's one of the cutest, funniest, most heart-warming books ever.

But that's the only book on the list I've read, although I've sampled some of the others and plan to read House of Earth and Blood soon (I didn't like Throne of Glass much, but then she wrote that one when she was 16, so I don't think I should hold it against her.

I’m so disappointed. What a disingenuous process. How did books even make this list? I assumed there would be a nomination phase. I looked it up and it seems that it isn’t 2020 books exactly but actually November 2019 - November 2020 books. But it isn’t November yet. How are we supposed to fairly judge?

I also read that it is for books published in the US. Maybe that is why Tchaikovsky isn’t included? Was he officially published in the UK?

Kristen wrote: "I also read that it is for books published in the US. Maybe that is why Tchaikovsky isn’t included? Was he officially published in the UK?"

Nope, his book was officially released in the US last month. But he has less than 1000 ratings so far, so if Eva's theory about the rating numbers is correct he has little chance of recognition here.

😞

Do any of you know how books are nominated? I can’t seem to find this info anywhere. Is it based on number of reviews or something?

Kristen wrote: "😞

Do any of you know how books are nominated? I can’t seem to find this info anywhere. Is it based on number of reviews or something?"

That's something I'm quite curious about myself. I just checked the nominations and I have no idea under which algorithm "The Mother Code" made it in this list.

As far as I've been able to learn, Goodreads chooses them based on 1) the author has to be active on Goodreads (a "Goodreads author"), 2) the book needs to have a good number of ratings, 3) ratings need to be over 3.5 average, and 4) nebulous "algorithms" analyze the data further, and 5) unknown other factors.

E.g. among the SF titles there's one (The Mother Code) which has fewer ratings (and they are lower) than Doors of Eden, so if they simply selected based on sales and ratings, that would not entirely explain snubbing Tchaikovsky. Nor why they snubbed Chaos Rising, which has a great rating and more reviews than both taken together, or Critical Mass, or Ballistic, or The Relentless Moon, both of which have again twice as many very good ratings. It just doesn't make any sense, and they do not publish any information on what kinds of algorithms helped them decide that some books were more worthy than others regardless of reader opinions. 🤷‍♀️

Eva wrote: "As far as Ive been able to learn, Goodreads chooses them based on 1) the author has to be active on Goodreads (a "Goodreads author"), 2) the book needs to have a good number of ratings, 3) ratings ..."

It is very fishy. The fact that they don't openly publish their process alone is a bad sign.

I just can't express enough how disgusted I am. I had assumed that this award was a readers' choice award and that everyone could nominate books....or at the very least, that is was based on which books had the highest ratings.

Goodreads Choice Award is a joke, I wouldn't honour it with the energy of being disgusted (but that's just me).

I am with Kalin. It should be titled GR Hype Award. There are even works that have not been published yet. That's for the (adult) SFF categories.

Having said that, two of the books in the science and tech category did catch my eye. One is about fungi science, and I have been reading some fungi SFF lately. 😁

Wow, I am really surprised that this award means nothing! I thank you all for your research and input.

Still, if we don't vote on the ones we like the best, or at least write in, we all lose. Not voting is never an option. *smiles smugly as her vote in ANOTHER election is already in*

Haha, nice, Kateblue. ;) I still need to get my vote sent in. It’s on the docket though.

I’m mostly just disappointed about the goodreads choice awards. I was under the impression that they were based on reader nominations and I was looking forward to knowledgeably participating this year. I wish I had known that it is just voting on a curated list. And I’m disgusted because it isn’t portrayed that way. A lot of people view it differently. And I have no doubt that it impacts author success.

Kateblue wrote: "Still, if we don't vote on the ones we like the best, or at least write in, we all lose."

Yeah, that's why I'm happy with the write-in option: sure, it doesn't actually affect to the end result one jot, but it's a bit like leaving an empty ballot in an election. You show that you are not apathetic and passive but also that you are not happy with the choices you are given.

Ok, as Eva expected, The Doors of Eden hasn't made it. Now the semifinal has started and there are some works I cannot recall from the original cast, so either my memory trick me (more likely) or some books, not included originally, have passed.

Whom will we promote next? Post your suggestions!

Yup, I was quite surprised at the write ins that made it into SF. I haven't heard of any of them before. My vote went to Koli, cause I loved it. Other valid candidates for best SF for me would be Vanished Birds and Sleep in a Sea of Stars.

For Fantasy and YA SFF I'm being stubborn and stick with Sanderson, cause he is always overlooked when it comes to awards.

For Horror, I voted for Tender Is the Flesh - even though "Horror" isn't really the right category for it.

Gabi wrote: "Yup, I was quite surprised at the write ins that made it into SF. I haven't heard of any of them before. My vote went to Koli, cause I loved it. Other valid candidates for best SF for me would be V..."

Yeah, same. I don't recognize the new ones. Age of Deception has ridiculously high reviews. Color me intrigued.

I voted for The Hidden Girl and Other Stories last round. Not sure about this time, but I'll probably go with that again. I didn't vote on fantasy because I have barely read any of them. I had written in Sharks in the Time of Saviors for fiction, but alas I do not see it.

Kristenelle wrote: "I voted for The Hidden Girl and Other Stories last round"

I have it in my TBR pile. And a side question, why have you changed your nick?

Gabi wrote: "My vote went to Koli, cause I loved it."

Me too

Oleksandr wrote: "And a side question, why have you changed your nick?"

Yes, I kept running into other Kristens. Our name is too common, haha. I felt the need to differentiate myself. "L" is one of my initials so I used it craft a name that is hopefully less common.

The final round has started. Honestly I don't see much good in SF selection (among those few I've read). If any book in any category needs votes, just ask here - I'll rely on your taste in the case I haven't read

:D it is so funny that "Rhythm of War" made it into the final albeit being released only today (not that I'm complaining, cause Sanderson made the impossible possible: that I fell in love with a Fantasy series)

For SF only "Hidden Girl" and "Sleep in Sea of Stars" are on my radar as award worthy. In terms of quality SF Ken Liu certainly is the better one, Paolini wrote a fannish love letter to the genre (more in direction of TV series/movies) and is great fun for those who grew up with SF like I did.

I'm still voting "Hidden Girl" for scifi. "Harrow" is probably my second choice and "Axiom" my third. The only other one I read (part of) is "Sea of Stars" and I really disliked it and found it poorly written.(Sorry, don't mean to rain on your parade, Gabi. 😬)

ETA: I forgot that "Network Effect" is also on the list. I liked it, but I don't think it is good enough for an award. I would rank it fourth or maybe tied for third.

Fantasy, I wish I had read more of the selections. I voted "City We Became," but might change it as I try to read more of the books. I really liked "Cerulean Sea," but it feels sacrilegious to put it next to Jemisin. The only other one I've read (and only about 25% at this point) is "Piranesi." I could see it turning into an amazing book, but I'm not there yet and can't judge. What are you all voting for fantasy?

@Kristenelle: LOL, no problem. I'm the one who found "Gideon the Ninth" a waste of my time and money so we're even :D.

Gabi wrote: "@Kristenelle: LOL, no problem. I'm the one who found "Gideon the Ninth" a waste of my time and money so we're even :D."

Haha, cool, cool ;-D

Gabi wrote: "For SF only "Hidden Girl" and "Sleep in Sea of Stars" are on my radar as award worthy.."

I'm reading the latter now and so far it is a fine space opera, but I hoped for more. The Hidden Girl and Other Stories -- I've seen good reviews, added to my TBR pile

Kristenelle wrote: "What are you all voting for fantasy?"

I voted for Piranesi, not sure what others have chosen.

Oleksandr wrote: "The Hidden Girl and Other Stories -- I've seen good reviews, added to my TBR pile"

Last week I finished Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology with stories of 15 different authors.
The story of Ken Liu was one of my favourites!
In my review you can find a link to it: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Although his books were already on my TBR-list, now I'm really looking forward to discover them!

I'm team Harrow all the way! 🤭😄

For the finals, I voted for the Murderbot book because it was the one I had read. Usually I do better. (I had kinda read/skimmed Harrow, but didn't like it much-Sorry Eva!)

And Piranesi, of course, though I really liked the Jemisin book, too

Also I voted for these basically because I had only read them in their categories and I liked them OK:
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel (fiction)
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James (category=Mystery/Thriller?!)

I refused to vote in the Horror because I had only read two and didn't like them much.
Everything else--had not read any

Eva wrote: "Write-ins never win, sadly. :-(

Each round is cumulative, meaning that each rounds adds votes to the books. So anything missing in round 1 usually has no chance of catching up. That said, we can ..."

Commenting on your predictions:


Fantasy: House of Earth and Blood (Another Maas series that I think will be a letdown)!

SF: Network Effect: a Good book, not sure is the best SF of 2020 but a 5 stars for me.
Horror: Mexican Gothic a Good book, not sure is really Horror but a 5 stars for me.
YA SFF: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Yikes, I heard of no one liking this and won't read it.

Leticia wrote: "SF: Network Effect: a Good book, not sure is the best SF of 2020 but a 5 stars for me."

Agreed, novellas were great but greater size (novel) hasn't been a plus for the series. Still quite nice but I want more from my SF

*Tau* wrote: "Oleksandr wrote: "The Hidden Girl and Other Stories -- I've seen good reviews, added to my TBR pile"

Last week I finished Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology with stories of ..."

I'm so impressed by Ken Liu as an author and translator! He is very good with words. I've only read his short stories though. I need to check out some of novels still.

Kristenelle wrote: "I'm so impressed by Ken Liu as an author and translator! He is very good with words."

I fully agree with you, Kristen!

The Awards are finally out https://www.goodreads.com/choiceaward...

Is it strange that it took them a weak to announce the results? The voting stopped Nov 30th

It is weird. I have to imagine that the counting is automized and immediate.

Let's talk about the winners! Were you all satisfied with the winner and runners up?

I'm surprised that To Sleep in a Sea of Stars won scifi. I've mentioned that I wasn't a fan and didn't even finish it, but I know a lot of other people loved it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ No surprises seeing Harrow the Ninth and Network Effect as runners up. They are very popular and bound to do well just by virtue of being read by a lot of people. I am quite happy to see The Space Between Worlds come in fourth. I feel like I haven't heard very many people talking about it and it is a debut. So fourth is still impressive imo. What really surprised me was the huge difference in votes between first and second. I would have liked The Hidden Girl and Other Stories to have done better, but I think lots of people skip short story anthologies.

I don't know much about the fantasy winner. Moving it up on my tbr. I am surprised and a little disgruntled that The House in the Cerulean Sea came in third ahead of Piranesi and The City We Became which are both better books imo.

Oh, I'm excited to be wrong about a few of my predictions! I'm glad it's not always the one with the most ratings.

Here's the comparison:
Fiction: American Dirt -> ❌ The Midnight Library won by an incredibly narrow margin of 5 votes, American Dirt got 3rd place
Mystery: The Guest List -> ✔
Historical: The Vanishing Half -> ✔
Fantasy: House of Earth and Blood -> ✔
Romance: Beach Read -> ❌ (got second place)
SF: Network Effect -> ❌ Paolini's book won instead, since it has only 6k ratings this must be due to Eragon fans voting for it
Horror: Mexican Gothic -> ✔
Humor: Strange Planet -> ✔
Debut: Such a Fun Age -> ✔
YA: One of Us Is Next -> ❌ (very narrow margin, my guess got 3rd place)
YA SFF: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes -> ❌ (2nd place, narrow margin)
MG: The One and Only Bob -> ❌

So that's good news: books CAN win this even if they weren't the biggest bestsellers (but usually only if lots of people have read other books by that author).

Oh wow, I hadn't even looked at fiction yet. I'm glad American Dirt didn't win. I wonder what the impact of Myriam Gurba's essay was on that.

It is interesting looking at the difference in number of votes the different categories get.
(winners)
Fiction - 72k+
Fantasy - 95k
Scifi - 45K+
Horror - 85k+
Mystery/thriller - 73K+

Poor, scifi. It needs more love.

Eva wrote: "So that's good news: books CAN win this even if they weren't the biggest bestsellers (but usually only if lots of people have read other books by that author)...."

Yup, definitely - there are quite some books with like 10.000 + more votes than they have ratings. Either an awful lot of readers don't rate on GR or they just go for their fav authors without having read the book.

The winner in YA SFF was The Queen of Nothing. The author is very popular and I liked the book. Even though it would not be the best YA SFF of the year in my opinion.
I won't probably read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. I was completely bored by Eragon and have many other SF books I'm more interested at the moment. The Space Between Worlds and Axiom's End seem more interesting.

I also don't plan to read House of Earth and Blood so soon. The Bone Shard Daughter and, if I manage, to catch up with The Stormlight Archive are more of a priority for me at the moment.

Looks like I'll be skipping both the SF and fantasy winners simply because they're huge, and the opportunity cost of reading them is so high. They're things I can put off for another day.

MH wrote: "Looks like I'll be skipping both the SF and fantasy winners simply because they're huge, and the opportunity cost of reading them is so high. They're things I can put off for another day."

"The opportunity cost of reading them is so high." I LOVE that. Can I steal it?

Kateblue wrote: "MH wrote: "Looks like I'll be skipping both the SF and fantasy winners simply because they're huge, and the opportunity cost of reading them is so high. They're things I can put off for another day..."

Feel free.

(Obviously, opportunity costs vary. And if one of these starts looking like a likely contender for the Hugo field, a book I should consider when nominating, then I may have to pay it. But by then I should also have a better grasp of what I need to read anyway).

Well, for me the opportunity costs of books is established in the first two or three chapters, which is when I decide if I should continue. That doesn't mean that I always quit, but sometimes I wish I had!

Eva wrote: "So that's good news: books CAN win this even if they weren't the biggest bestsellers (but usually only if lots of people have read other books by that author).."

I guess it works both ways - allowing weak books to win based on the previous works (see Network Effect) and just published ones go quite high (see Rhythm of War). You are quite good at guessing winners - I haven't even tried except for SFF books