Tournament of Books discussion

Space to discuss the 2026 TOB contender Metallic Realms.

Did anyone read this and actually enjoy it? The narrator is a Fandom internet troll that could live in his mom's basement. I get that this is the point, but I just need to fire up Facebook for 5 minutes and meet several of him - why do I want to read a 320 page book in his voice? I haven't given up yet because the side characters are a little interesting and the bad sci-fi stories are so bad that they're kind of entertaining. Not sure this enough to hold my interest, though.

Kat's wrote: "Did anyone read this and actually enjoy it? "

I did. Couldn't put it down.

Tim wrote: "Kat's wrote: "Did anyone read this and actually enjoy it? "

I did. Couldn't put it down."

I'm going to start it right now - now I really don't know what to expect!

FWIW, I DNF’d it twice, I found myself first bored and then getting so annoyed. I realize the narrator is supposed to be unlikable (and I usually like books with unlikable narrators), but I just didn’t want to spend any more time with him or the people around him and their bad stories. If I’d liked the writing I might have stuck with it, but the prose was nothing special and the book was just putting me in a dark place, which I really don’t need right now.

I have ~100 pages left. I still think the narrator is an absolute tool, but I'm finding that I'm at least a little invested in the other characters so I'm seeing it through. But unless something dramatic happens in this last stretch, it's at best as 2.5 star read for me. Given some of the other books on the long list, I really don't get why this one was chosen...

One thing that keeps coming up in the tournament books I've been reading is a whole bunch of exposition crammed into a character "thinking back." That, unless the author is, I dunno, Proust and the whole point is the thinking back, can be a slog to read; authors should use it sparingly. I don't want someone to tell me what I need to know in order to be able to read the book. I want the author to present that organically, in a way that makes sense in the story. Let me find out who the characters are by what they do, not by having them recount their backstory.

This is one of the books that doesn't suffer from that tic.

But I get that it may not be for everyone. If you aren't SF adjacent - if Trekkies and conventions and comically bad writing and ridiculous literary analysis and fandom and references to SF (and allusions to Nabokov) don't resonate for you, it's probably not the book for you. And if you don't like the plot to be in the subtext - you want it up front in the narrative - you may not like this one either. I get that. Nothing wrong with that.

Michael, like Ignatius, is not every one's taste in narrator. He happens to be mine, but I understand that a little can go a very long way if that's not your bag. I've got nearly infinite patience for well-drawn Michael-ish narrators, but very little for the ones who have to stop and keep explaining to me the story that they are a part of. It's my pet peeve this season.

This book didn't do that, or if it did, it was done smoothly enough that I didn't notice -- which is what I want. And I was getting a sufficient percentage of the references to be amused throughout.

This wouldn't be one of the books I would have traded out for the passed-over but deserving long-listers. So sharpen your blades and clean and oil your dueling pistols, I'll be defending this one in March.

Elizabeth wrote: "FWIW, I DNF’d it twice, I found myself first bored and then getting so annoyed. I realize the narrator is supposed to be unlikable (and I usually like books with unlikable narrators), but I just di..."

I had to DNF as well, after only about 30 pages. The narrator had a sad sack aura that I just can't bear. The last time this happened to me was with The Nix, and I'm glad I stuck with that because the protagonist grew out of it, but it just wasn't happening for me here. I don't have to like a character, but I have to be able to stand them ;)

Ugh. I stuck it out. But damn, what a terrible ending! And the book itself was just such a slog. The narrator might be my least favorite character of the 159 books I read this year...

I am squarely in the culture of this book. I am a gamer girl. I read comic books. I watch a lot of sci-fi movies/TV. Sci-fi and Fantasy books generally make me happy. Almost all my friends are nerds. And I've had more than a few versions of Michael in my life.

And that's why I had a hard time with the story. I don't mind an unlikable narrator. But of all the characters, he's the most one dimensional trope of the bunch. There's no movement with him. Very few redeeming qualities- even his loyalty to his friend is clouded by his own selfish interests. He represents the worst qualities of the Michaels I've known plus a few internet trolls thrown in for good measure.

I didn't mind the flow of the narrative and agree with Tim, that it struck a good balance between an organic flow and the back story. I really enjoyed the so-bad-it's-good Star Rot stories. I'm a sucker for cheesy sci-fi. The references were great - and Michael's disdain for Star Trek was hilarious.

There was a lot about this book that I wanted to love, but the lack of growth for Michael and that awful ending make this one a hard no for me.

I’m about a third into this one. I love the interplay between the “scholar” entries and the stories themselves. That said, it’s still a bit of a slog. The humor is nice, though. The jury is still out on this for me, but I’ll keep going. I may switch to the audiobook if I get bogged down.

I enjoyed it! There's maybe a few problems - the "poking a little fun at the nerd community" type satire is perhaps a little overdone these days - but it was a pretty fun little Pale Fire homage.

I did add pale fire to my TBR list. Maybe after reading it, I’ll have more of an appreciation for this book.

Yes, I haven’t read Pale Fire. Maybe that would help…

Can we shelve clueless straight white dude stories for a while?

Yes please.

As long as we also get rid of "take my marriage, please" books, I'm fine with that

I wouldn't miss those either.

Okay, I'm going to be the dissenting voice here. I just want good literature. Books that aspire to art - regardless of whether they are about WMFUs or bad marriages or Asian actors or troubled French girls or serial killers or runaway slaves or North Koreans.

Of the tournament books I read before I got disheartened, the only two I am rooting for are this "straight white dude" (although you don't think there's maybe something more behind Michael's obsession with Taras?) and the "take my marriage, please" book (in which the character is not, in fact, in a marriage).

Everybody encounters literary works differently, so no shade if you don't feel the same, but for me, the subject matter is the least of it - and that attitude has been informed in large measure by being part of the Tournament commentariat and reading books which (when I first encountered the ToB, anyhow) would not otherwise have been on my radar.

YMMV

I just finished Metallica Realms. I don’t really have strong feelings about it. Good comparison tho to Ignatius. The Pale Fire thing went right by me. Must read that. It was a funny book and I like sci fi alot. I got all those references. And The Hold Steady make an appearance! IYKYK.

I’m with Tim on the subject matter. I don’t care what a book is about as long as it’s well done and that’s hard to define.

Wait what’s the take my marriage please book?

I want good lit too, this isn't it for me.

Bryn wrote: "Wait what’s the take my marriage please book?"

If You Love It, Let It Kill You -or, at least, that's the one I'm referring to. Maybe other people had different books in mind. I'm way off a completist's pace this year....

I was more talking about the general tendency of literary books to fall into certain topics... white male fuck-ups, disintegrating marriages, etc.

I honestly thought this one was good, though. The narrator has an over-inflated sense of self, but the book wasn't trying to show us how he grew up and changed and got better. He was a douche throughout - way closer to a character in last year's "Rejection" than a WMFU in something like, say, The Book of George. And he wasn't the center of the story, either- the fact that the book spent more time on the Orb 4 group and their stories than his awful self was also a point in its favor.

Kyle wrote: "I was more talking about the general tendency of literary books to fall into certain topics... white male fuck-ups, disintegrating marriages, etc.

I honestly thought this one was good, though. The..."

My ability to handle white male fuck-ups improves significantly if the wmfu is full of self-deprecating deadpan humor. Example: Early Sobrieties was one of my favorite books of 2025. But I steer clear of disintegrating marriages and dating woes.

Nadine in California wrote: " Early Sobrieties was one of my favorite books of 2025..."

Seconding =Early Sobrieties= (I had hoped it would make the 2024 ToB, but for some reason, my taste is still not universally accepted as authoritative....)

Michael reminded me of Stephen Florida, “he was a douche throughout.” Count me as someone that was glad this was included on the shortlist.

Erica wrote: "Ugh. I stuck it out. But damn, what a terrible ending! And the book itself was just such a slog. The narrator might be my least favorite character of the 159 books I read this year..."

I'm totally with you.

Quoting Tim: "If you aren't SF adjacent - if Trekkies and conventions and comically bad writing and ridiculous literary analysis and fandom and references to SF (and allusions to Nabokov) don't resonate for you..."

Yup, that would be me.

I also found this book deeply reminiscent of last year's Rejection, although I found that to be a much better book.

I'm glad you will be defending this one in March, Tim! I made sure to read 'Pale Fire' before reading 'Metallic Realms' which I am definitely not regretting... I can see where the ending wouldn't hit as well without that...

Add Michael to the Stephen Florida, Ignatius, and dare I say Zebra pile.

Stephen Florida 4 ever.

Audra wrote: "Stephen Florida 4 ever."

Here here!

Bryn wrote: "I just finished Metallica Realms. I don’t really have strong feelings about it. Good comparison tho to Ignatius. The Pale Fire thing went right by me. Must read that. It was a funny book and I like..."

Sigh - I was checked out and power-skimming through the middle too fast and missed the Hold Steady reference. Can you help me out of a Positive Jam and enlighten me with what I missed or where to look?

Sorry. The copy I read is back at the library. It’s toward the end. He’s sitting at his desk.. I love The Hold Steady!

I just finished this and am so frustrated at the ending. I was already annoyed by the book but was hoping it would redeem itself in the end. In a way the ending did sort of explain some things for me, but not in a satisfying way.

Bretnie wrote: "I just finished this and am so frustrated at the ending. ..."

What was frustrating about the ending?

Tim wrote: "What was frustrating about the ending?"

(view spoiler)[That he killed off Taras. I get how that ties the book together, that it gives the reason for Michael writing the book as a tribute to Taras. And that it gives more explanation for Michael's obsession with Taras and the Orb 4 and the stories. But I wanted more growth from Michael. I don't think writing the compilation absolved him from being a bad friend, bad roommate, bad son. (hide spoiler)] Should I have gotten more from the ending?

Bretnie wrote: "Should I have gotten more from the ending?"

Nope, but I think the (view spoiler)[reader's expectation that Michael would grow and reform and turn out to learn from it all is exactly what the author set out to defy. I think we are meant to discover that clownish, awkward, apparently harmless buffoon turns out to be a dangerously narcissistic individual - the buffoonishness and the fact that his narcissism seems focused on making Taras to be the hero and not himself is what fools us about him. Also - Pale Fire. (hide spoiler)]

Ah that's interesting Tim! Doesn't necessarily make me like it any more, but that is an interesting choice for an author to make. I haven't read Pale Fire, so not sure the analogies I'm missing there.

Bretnie I've been a a part of the nerd crowd my entire teen and adult life. I've met a few Michaels along the way that I think if given the right circumstances, would have done exactly what he did in the book. I never expected him to change... also this is why I hated the book as much as I did. (I haven't read Pale Fire).

I keep saying how much I hated this book and yet it still takes up space rent free in my brain. 🫤

Pale Fire is, for anyone wondering, about a critic who reads way more into a poem than is really there, revealing much more about the critic's obsession with the poet than it reveals about the poet himself.

Kyle wrote: "Pale Fire is, for anyone wondering, about a critic who reads way more into a poem than is really there, revealing much more about the critic's obsession with the poet than it reveals about the poet..."

All true, but it doesn't really prepare you for the crazy.

After I finished The Wilderness, I promised myself I was done reading millennial friendship novels. At the last minute I decided to cram this one in, so now this will be my last millennial friendship novel😆. I’m having so much fun listening to this one though.