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Been a rough week in the science fiction and fantasy genre. Heck, a rough year everywhere. To put forward some SF/F positivity, here are the genre books I’ve read in 2020 which wowed me. There are so many authors creating great SF/F these days that the genre truly gives me hope.
First up is A Song for a New Day by @SarahPinsker, which won this year’s Nebula Award for Best Novel. This amazing story about musicians in a world where pandemics and attacks makes public events illegal seemed to almost predict our current mess of a year. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/598452/a-song-for-a-new-day-by-sarah-pinsker/
If there's a SF/F book which captures the spirit of our times, it's The City We Became by @nkjemisin. Featuring sentient cities, great characters, and an unflinching look at today’s social issues, this novel's gripping story and deep insight blew my mind. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/n-k-jemisin/the-city-we-became/9780316509855/
To sum up the novella Finna by @ninocipri, imagine Time Bandits but with dimensional travel and the bandits are low-paid IKEA workers plus the only true bandits in the story are our cursed corporate overlords. Loved this fun story so much. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250245724
Some science fiction books create disturbing warnings of the future — @KMSzpara 's Docile is one such parable. This novel about the powerful and rich controlling those under them through abuse, debt, and drugs is a must-read portrait of a future to avoid. https://publishing.tor.com/docile-kmszpara/9781250216151/
There’s more power in the novella Riot Baby by @TochiTrueStory that you’ll find in most SF trilogies. The tale of two Black siblings with superpowers, this story is SF doing what it does best, exposing the truths of our world for all to see. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250214751
I’m still reading Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang (translated by @kyliu99) but so far this dream of a novel about conflicts between people growing up on Earth and Mars defies definitions. Is it space opera? Literature of ideas? Allegory? All I know is I love it. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Vagabonds/Hao-Jingfang/9781534422087
I haven’t yet read A Peculiar Peril by @jeffvandermeer b/c it comes out next month, but I can’t wait to dive into this “head-spinning epic about three friends on a quest to protect the world from a threat as unknowable as it is terrifying." https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374308865
Feel free to add new SF/F books you’ve read and loved to this thread, or books you’re looking forward to reading. I know I’m missing other recently published SF/F novels which give people hope for our genre — there's a limit to how much I can read — so please share your own picks
Someone suggested Annihilation Aria by @MikeRUnderwood, which comes out next month and is a mix of classic space opera from the 1980s with modern SF sensibilities. I just added this book to my TBR list. https://parvuspress.com/aria/
Continuing thread of SF/F books giving me hope. Yesterday received Big Book of Modern Fantasy, edited by @AnnVanderMeer & @jeffvandermeer. This companion to earlier Big Book of Classic Fantasy even contains 5 stories never before translated into English. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/580444/the-big-book-of-modern-fantasy-by-edited-by-ann-and-jeff-vandermeer/
Beneath the Rising by @premeesaurus is a gripping genre-bending novel about a supergenius and her ordinary best friend. This novel came out at the start of the pandemic so was tragically overlooked by many people, so go read it. One of the year's best. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Beneath-The-Rising/Premee-Mohamed/Beneath-the-Rising/9781781087862
The Four Profound Weaves @RB_Lemberg is the fantasy I so needed to read right now in my life. A joy of a book and a joy of a reading experience. This lyrical novella will be among my nominations for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. @TachyonPub http://www.jasonsanford.com/blog/2020/10/review-of-the-four-profound-weaves-r-b-lemberg
