SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases discussion

Here's where you can share all your reading experiences with brand-new releases!

Have you just finished a 2020 release that could be eligible for future awards? Tell us about it, share your thoughts, link your review.

(Please don't post here as an author or if you are acquainted/affiliated with the author. Also no spoilers, please.)

I'm looking forward to hearing from people who read more recent releases than I do!

I have just read the ARC of At the End of the World by Charles E. Gannon.
It was amazingly good. A 5 star read. Publication Date 7 July.

I would also recommend VanWest The Past by Kenneth Thomas. That has just been published.
I thought it was so good that when my netgalley copy expired I bought it as an ebook from Amazon. It wasn't too expensive - about $3.50 US.

Also Red Dust by Yoss I loved it, but it may be an acquired taste.

This topic is a good idea, Eva.

For 2020 SFF releases not read with the group I have so far:

Eden by Tim Lebbon: starts very promising in an 'Annihilation' vibe, but turns into generic horror halfway down the road and lost my interest there.

Firewalkers by Adrian Tchaikovsky: a novella about a team of young misfits who do repairs in zones too hot for humans to survive in a future Earth nearly destroyed by climatic change and divided into the rich and the poor.
For a Tchaikovsky it is an average work, compared to the rest out there it is good.

Finna byNino Cipri: Portals opening up in the labyrinthian structure of IKEA like warehouses is such a cool concept, but unfortunately the author had no idea to handle it properly, imho. I was dissappointed.

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu: a story collection with some outstanding stories. High quality SF writing. As a whole there are too many stories of the same type with repetitive topics to give it 5 stars.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher: an utterly cute, but not childish novel about a young girl who works in a bakery and can do magic as long as it concerns dough. The idea is wonderfully new (at least to me), the non-human sidekicks are hilarious and the story itself has enough moments of seriousness and depth that it is more than your average MG book. I loved it.

The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey: The first part of a trilogy about a coming-of-age past apocalypse story. The topic is nothing new, but the way it is written and created is masterful. And the next two parts are due in September and March.
This is my first 2020 read that I would consider for nomination.

Dark River by Rym Kechacha: an interesting concept of two timelines (Stoneage and dystopian England) where two rather similar stories with rather similar characters are told (a mother goes on a journey to try to save her child and find her partner). Something didn't quite work for me here. I have read a similar concept way better with Maja Lunde's "Klimakvartetten".

The New Wilderness by Diane Cook: same as with the above mentioned book. The concept is interesting (here it is a community of people trying to get back to a life in the wilderness and flee the poisoned cities of a dystopian future), but it left me untouched. It was compared to "Station Eleven" - but it can't compete in the least with Emily St. John Mandel's prose and structure.

Before You Go by Tommy Butler: here I was hoping for my first 5 star read of this year's releases. It didn't quite make it, but I can't exactly detemine what I was missing. It is a story about people looking for meaning in their lives, told in a playful yet deeply understanding prose. It tackles the issue of suicide and has some supernatural elements and thus probably counts for the SFF sector (in the same way Harukami does)

The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky: - and here it is! I had the highest of expectations for this book, which of course can easily lead to dissappointment. But nope! The book is a fantastic, crazy X-Files meets James Bond - meets multi dimensional theory - meets evolutionary biology - meets social awareness - meets philosophical musings ride peppered with a lot of pop culture references and led by a lesbian couple and a transgender scientist off to save the world. And everything within this context just works.
I have my nomination for the Hugo awards.

Drowned Country by Emily Tesh, the second part of a duology started with "Silver in the Woods". I re-read the first novella, cause I forgot the details, and this time liked it more than the first time. Atmospheric audiobook narration. But the second part fell quite flat for me, somehow nearly unnecessary. It's more about your tropey do-they-don't-they relationship and the mythological parts felt just thrown in to get the two mcs together.
Not my cup of tea.

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi is listed both as Fantasy and SF, but it has very little supernatural elements. (on the same level as the ACC award nominee "The Old Drift", if somebody has read that one). An angry, fast paced, stream of consciousness piece about race discrimination and class system. I literally felt the rage while reading.

The Mother Code by Carole Stivers is a great hard SF novel about biological warfare, robotics and genetic manipulation. It feels very realistical on the science side, down to some chilling experiments on human beings. It didn't came up to 5 stars for me, because the character side felt rather flat. The different POVs were lacking distinction, so that I sometimes forgot who was who on the side of the scientists. But that aside it was an enjoyable SF read.

The Oppenheimer Alternative is an alternate history novel in the spirit of "The Calculating Stars" following Oppenheimer and bis colleagues during the war years and beyond. Sawyer stays true to the facts (as far as I know them) and only adds a pending reaction in the sun that will affect the inner planets including Earth. His characters are all existing people from that times and he does a marvellous job in portraying them in a vivid was. The ending needs a bit of suspension of disbelief, but that doesn't take away from wonderful reading experience I had.
Another book I wouldn't be sad about seeing it on the Shirtliste (same goes for The Mothercode mentioned above)

Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine, is one of your rather typical dystopian novels where it's getting colder, resources get scarce, people have to leave their cities and encounter all kinds of fallen-back-to-primitive-ways communities on their way. It is well written and for me it stood out of the usual mold, because of its layered characters and their well done interaction. We even have to females that interact and work together without a) bitching or b) getting romantically involved with each other - I thought this extra mention-worthy.

A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen: I have to admit that I have a soft spot for the way Mike Chen writes characters, that feel so realistically flawed and behaving so stupidly at times - just like probably a lot of us would. So I enjoyed his band of 4 main characters (a father, his daughter, a sarcastic wedding planer and a run-away popstar) a lot. But I know from a group discussion of another book of his that I'm in the minority with my liking of his work.
The story itself isn't exactly gripping here. It is a past pandemic world on the verge of the second wave, the surviving people live in metros and try to get their lives from before back. The pandemic is more or less background for the personal stories of those 4 characters. In parts too sugar coated.
I liked reading it, but I don't think it is award worthy.

The Stone Wētā by Octavia Cade is definitely worthy of a novella nomination (if it is released in US?). The best novella I've read so far this year. A mosaic story/report of scientists all over the world who are only mentioned by their code names of species that are specially adapted to their respective environment. Each POV starts with a biological information about the particular species, and the chapter reveals how approbriate each name is.
Not really a story, more snapshots of how the scientists feel as they try to rescue climate data that is about to be edited by industries and governments.
I adored this narration about the brave, secretive science heroes.

Lakewood by Megan Giddings is very soft SF - could even be contemporary. A very disturbing story about a young black woman who plays guinea pig for medical (?) experiments. It is told from her POV, so the reader never ever gets the whole picture of what really is going on. The atmosphere created by this style is claustrophobic and dehumanizing as she more and more loses control and can't trust her memory anymore.

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez is literary SF of the highest quality. I was completely enamoured with the lyrical prose. So many phrases I wanted to underline (which wasn't possible, cause I was listening to it). As a debut novel this is simply awesome.
My third candidate for best novel nomination.

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey, which was the complete contrast to the above mentioned novel, and honestly only had me bored.

The 2084 Report: An Oral History of the Great Warming by James Lawrence Powell: I'm not sure if this counts as novel or is better placed into 'related works'. The author takes the facts of global warming and climate change known till end of 2019 and extrapolates a world scenario into the year 2084 where he lets people from various countries and professions talk about their experiences. The book is divided into several topics (drought, ice melting, flooding, fascism, climate refugees etc.) and every one is quite sobering.
The literary quality is meh, but the message feels extremely important and outweighs for me the mediocre style.

The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal is a solid thriller set on the moon with the great character interacting that was special in the first book (yet thankfully minus the embarrassing sex scenes). I love how women work together and form friendships in these books.
It is not a book I would nominate (because my taste is for more 'extravagant' style/plot), but I'd be quite content if it won.

The Original by Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal: a novella in audiobook version only (not sure it it is eligible for the Hugos in this case?). A woman awakes with memory loss only to find out that she isn't exactly who she thought she was and apparently has done something she never thought she was capable of. I was glad that the story avoided the obvious direction, but I have to listen to it a second time to form a final opinion. I think, it is good ... ^^'
And I would love to know more about the writing process of those two authors and how they interacted.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini is described by the author himself as a love letter to the SF genre - and this is exactly what it is. It hasn't got the lyrical beauty of "The Vanished Birds" or the mindboggling ideas of "The Doors of Eden", but it has such a lot of heart, a really likeable crew and nearly everything the average SF fan loves in a story. I enjoyed reading this space opera about a different kind of first contact a lot.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: a great atmospheric story told by an unreliable narrator where saying anything about the story would already be spoiling. Nothing like Strange&Norrell, which I welcomed. Don't expect much of a plot or character development. This is more like thought experiment - in a successful way.

The ones I liked and might be nominated:

Novel
The Vanished Birds - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Relentless Moon- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The City We Became- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Vagabonds - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mexican Gothic - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Novella
"Lone Puppeteer of a Sleeping City" by Arula Ratnakar
The Empress of Salt and Fortune
The Stone Wētā

The ones that were just okay/meh to me but could be award nominees:
Network Effect - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Upright Women Wanted - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Phoenix Extravagant - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The House in the Cerulean Sea
The Bone Shard Daughter
Black Sun

The ones I liked but won't be nominated/not the usual award books:
The Shadow of Kyoshi
The Trouble with Peace
Sharks in the Time of Saviors

I'll update this post as soon as I read new ones.

Eva wrote: "Here's where you can share all your reading experiences with brand-new releases! ."

Thanks you Eva for starting this thread and everyone for filling it! You're great!

Thank you so much for participating, everyone! It's already very helpful.

I've just read the brand-new release A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking:


Here's my 4.5 star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Eva wrote: "Thank you so much for participating, everyone! It's already very helpful.

I've just read the brand-new release A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking:
[bookcover:A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking..."

That sounds intriguing. Does it do the baking for you??

No, sadly it only provides ample motivation. Thankfully I live right next to a bakery! :-D

I added short comments to my new reads to msg#5:

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
The Book of Koli
Dark River
The New Wilderness

Gabi wrote: "I added short comments to my new reads to msg#5:
"

Thanks!

Thank you all for your updates!

Not my own reads, but a list of some 2019 and 2020 from the Guardian (UK) https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

Oleksandr wrote: "Not my own reads, but a list of some 2019 and 2020 from the Guardian (UK) https://www.theguardian.com/books/202......"

The Space Between Worlds sounds interesting. It was only € 3.99 on amazon.de, so I went and bought it.

I've just finished The Empress of Salt and Fortune and really liked it, here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

@Eva, you can talk about it here

Thank you, I've added a few comments there.

I read Seven Devils and my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Leticia wrote: "I read Seven Devils and my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Thanks Leticia! I'm usually wary of the YA books even while some are quite good

I wonder if the mods could create a shelf of these new releases that members read and mentioned in this thread, so not just the ones selected in as BOTMs.

The 'activity' feature is very helpful to know how the members feel about new releases (rating and reviews), but only when the books are included in one of the group's shelves.

Silvana wrote: "I wonder if the mods could create a shelf of these new releases that members read and mentioned in this thread, so not just the ones selected in as BOTMs. "

A nice idea, Silvana, we'll think about it. And a nice new avatar :)

All hail Catra!

I updated my msg #5

with the good Before You Go
and the glorious The Doors of Eden

Gabi wrote: "I updated my msg #5

with the good Before You Go
and the glorious The Doors of Eden"

Oh, you're so fast! I'm planning to squeeze in the book you're recommended - The Book of Koli before month's end but not sure I'll be able to. No new Tchaikovsky in libraries :(

Oleksandr wrote: "Oh, you're so fast! I'm planning to squeeze in the book you're recommended - The Book of Koli before month's end but not sure I'll be able to. No new Tchaikovsky in libraries :(..."

Tchaikovsky was an exception - I had to read his new one the moment I could get my hands on it. I listened to it on the streaming service storytel, but I will buy he book itself as well, cause I want to own it.

At the moment I'm only fast with audiobooks, cause I have pretty little time for eye-reading.

The Relentless Moon, which, though flawed, and though I almost stopped reading at one point, kept me reading and I did not want to stop.

I think it must just be that I like her writing, because a couple of things aggravated me about it. Mostly, why do all her women heroes have to have some sort of nervous condition? But still, it drew me in and made me keep reading.

Kateblue wrote: "The Relentless Moon, which, though flawed, and though I almost stopped reading at one point, kept me reading and I did not want to stop. "

Have you read the second volume? Or are they separate enough?

Kateblue wrote: "Mostly, why do all her women heroes have to have some sort of nervous condition?"

To show that they still can overcome not only external barriers but internal ones as well.

I don't think you have to read the other two Lady Astronaut books in order to read this one, except for maybe the background information about the meteor strike. But you'd be ok without it.

Updated msg #5 with more 2020 releases I've read (well rather listened to - I have nearly no time for eye-reading at the moment)

Drowned Country
Riot Baby
The Mother Code

Hi, everybody. I do not know why (since I hated Gideon the Ninth, but I skipped around in, and partially read Harrow the Ninth. Guess what? Just as bad as the last one or worse because time skips, which I hate. Plus, there are too many characters that I will never sort out.

The beginning really annoyed me. Non-sequential. And apparently that continued. So start with the second chapter, but I can't help you after that. That's when I stopped reading it in order and started skipping around. I figure, if an author gonna screw up the whole story for me by telling me what's going to happen later, then I'm gonna do it back. So I finally got interested when I skipped into the middle of chapter 49, then skipped all the battle paragraphs. I actually wanted to know what was going to happen next, after chapter 49 ended. Guess what! Another time skip. that was it for me.

You really can skip lots of paragraphs in her writing. Battle, battle, fight, fight, bored now. I'm not going to give it stars, but I am going to count it as "read" because I spent too much time on it.

I have a favorite new word that I got from chapter 49, though . . . Collocation . . . (from the field of lingusics) The habitual juxtaposition of a particular word with another word or words with a frequency greater than chance.

Ooooh, I'm really curious how it introduces that concept of collocation. :) I expect I'll enjoy Harrow a hell of a lot more than you, Kate, since I really enjoyed the first.

LOL, Kateblue, why did you pick it up? I hope it won't show up on the award shortlists so that I can avoid reading it.

Lots of people LOVED the first in this series, Gideon the Ninth, but to me, it's a bunch of settings and descriptions looking for a plot. (Actually, the plot is there, but just buried.) So we shall see if a lot of people loved Harrow the Ninth, as well.

I am guaranteed to dislike a book if the second chapter starts "Six months previously" I really really HATE that! Not sure why I picked it up. Maybe because Gideon was so hard to read that I wanted redemption. :-)

Gideon was a Nebula nominee this year. On our list. So we shall see if Harrow makes it. By way of comparison, Rebecca Roanhorse's first Trail of Lightning got a nomination last year, and I think even won the Nebula, but her second, Storm of Locusts, eligible this year, did not do anything.

It's funny how it's the new authors who do better sometimes.

Usually, only first books in a series get nominated.

I adored Gideon and am very excited to read Harrow. :-)

Eva wrote: "Usually, only first books in a series get nominated."

True, esp. for Nebula. For Hugo there are many cases when later volumes get there too - see series by N.K. Jemisin, Ann Leckie, Becky Chambers in recent years

And bearing in mind that Gideon the Ninth was Hugo nominated, I expect Harrow the Ninth will be in the list next year

Yes, and think about all the times one of the Vorkosigan books ended up in the nominations.

------------------

I added another 2020 release to my msg #5

The Oppenheimer Alternative

Gabi wrote: "The Oppenheimer Alternative"

I've added it to my TBR when it was just published, for I read a bit of non-fic about the project and want to see how the author used those real people

Aaaand, since I'm on a slightly manic quest at the moment, here are my next 2020 release reads (comments in msg #5 )

Road Out of Winter is a decent postapocalyptic story with good character writing
A Beginning at the End is a bit of a slice of life narration against the backdrop of a pandemic (yes, very familiar)

The Stone Wētā will get on my novella nomination list - terrific structure and scientific statement -

Do folks know if it is available in the US? (is this requirement for Hugo nomination?)

Gabi, The Stone Weta is available in the US, at least in ebook form. I haven't checked for print availability. I don't know if US availability is required for Hugo eligibility - I remember there was something complicated with Children of Time because it was released in the US in a different year than in Europe.

The Stone Wētā seems eligible - it is in US Amazon. Overall the eligibility is one year in published in the US and 2 if published in English elsewhere

Thank you Kaa and Oleksandr for the information. Then The Stone Weta goes on my nomination list :).

Publication in the US isn't a technical requirement for eligibility, but it's a practical one for reaching a critical mass of nominations...

I'm turning my reading focus to nearly exclusively 2020 releases. So hopefully I'll have more to add soon. So far I've read:

The City We Became

Jemisin is a master writer and I love her. This was my least favorite that she has written so far though. It was anvillicious at times, but ultimately brought up a lot of issues that are very timely.

Upright Women Wanted

This was mega anvillicious and just not all that great. I wanted more from it. There were some nice moments though.

:D Kristen, I had to look up the word "anvilicious". Never heard it before - and had a fun time at a trope side with it. I learned something new!

I didn't buy "The City We Became" so far, cause it is still more than 10 Euro and I fear that I won't like it (I didn't like the short story it is based on). I guess I will read this one only if it is on the nomination short lists.

Gabi wrote: ":D Kristen, I had to look up the word "anvilicious". Never heard it before - and had a fun time at a trope side with it. I learned something new!

I didn't buy "The City We Became" so far, cause it..."

Haha, I find it to be an indispensable word. It is so perfect! :-D

If you didn't like the short story then you probably won't like the novel... I think the best thing about the novel is the characters. They are very well done. But I just didn't feel super invested in the idea of the city being alive. And there was just no subtlety about Jemisin's stance on "issues." Racism, gentrification, police brutality...they are all very prescient themes, but it felt heavy handed. And some of the villains were almost cartoonish. Maybe it is my white privilege to feel that some of the portrayal was over the top. Maybe it really is that bad?

I agree that Jamesin's latest novel is anvillicious, but I this is exactly why it'll bee in the next year Hugo ballot.

@Kristen, I also assumed that the portrayal was over the top even if quite talented.

Gabi wrote: "Kristen, I had to look up the word "anvilicious"."

Me too!
Though I already suspected it, because it made me think of 'vilain' and 'envy' :-)

Not all works will be easy to read if you're from a certain background. Maybe some more reflection is needed on why it makes people uncomfortable. Looking at the current situation, maybe this is the kind of novel that's needed.

As a POC, I was initially surprised about the-so-called 'anvillicious' nature of the book, as it was not often I came across similar unapologetic accounts. I ended up appreciating Jemisin for it.

Not a perfect novel, it has weaknesses, but I will consider it for my Hugo ballot.

Silvana wrote: "Not all works will be easy to read if you're from a certain background. Maybe some more reflection is needed on why it makes people uncomfortable. Looking at the current situation, maybe this is th..."

That makes sense. Thanks for sharing.

Personally, I'm trying my utmost to be anti-racist and am sympathetic of the issues raised in Jemisin's book. I just felt they lacked subtlety. Like, the police literally turning into monsters or the extreme grossness of man bun's art. But like I said, it may feel lacking in subtlety to me because these things are only subtly present in my real life. Perhaps for a poc the portrayal doesn't feel exaggerated and is validating.