First, I would like to thank Ashley R for pointing me to worldswithoutend.com. I was curious about the state of the SF novel market, and this website lists the SF books published per year (331 in 2019, as of today). This site provides a small synopsis for each book, a brief bio of the author, and a list of their other books in the database. I found it quite useful.
I decided to look over the first page of books listed for 2019 over a few lunch breaks, and jot down some notes. How in tune am I with the SF market today? As it turns out, not much.... But then I do consider myself a casual SF reader, so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
I thought I would try and spot some of the authors that I recognize, maybe vaguely, then pick one book at random from each row and read the synopsis, and see what other books the author has written.
Heh heh, so here we go.
First Row. Hmmm. Eric Flint and his alternate histories. His 163x series is up to 26 books? Aside from him, I don't recognize any other author on this row. Well, let's pick Alien: Echo by Mira Grant. Looks like the author's first novel. Ah, I get the title. Alien book. Those Aliens. I don't mind a good bug hunt, but the characters have to make reasonable decisions. No going down dark corridors to check out a suspicious noise while leaving your blaster in the locker.
Second Row. Alliance Rising by C.J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher. Book 1. Looks like the start of a series. And Harry Turtledove is here with Alpha and Omega. He is one prolific writer, yet I don't think I've read a single book of his. And scanning the titles, I'm not sure that I will. I'm not into alternate histories, yet Turtledove and Flint seem to have done very well writing them. And our first Star Wars novel appears. I'm going to look up Alita Battle Angel - Dr. Ido's Journal. Cyborgs in a dystopian future. Nick Aires. This is the only book listed in this database although his bio shows him as writing in numerous genres.
Third Row. First Star Trek novel. A couple of anthologies. Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear. Another very popular author and yet, as I gaze upon all of the book covers and titles, nothing really jumps out at me. I have the impression that her SF is what I would call "Literary SF" (Oh oh. Is that provocative?) As a row selection, I picked The Horus Heresy Primarchs by Ian St. Martin. Must be a tie in to a gaming franchise as I'm not familiar with the terms used in the synopsis. Maybe WarHammer 40 000? This is his only book listed.
Fourth Row. First row where I don't recognize a single author. So I'll pick Arkad's World by James L Cambias. Looks like his third novel. Seeking a treasure, the protagonists go on a journey across a planet.
Fifth Row. James Corey is here with Auberon, a novella in his Expanse series. And his Expanse novels are up to 8 with Tiamat's Wrath (also 2019 but listed elsewhere). I read the first two novels, both on long-distance flights, but haven't picked up any more. Then there is another Star Trek. But, man, I don't know any of these other authors. Let's look at Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff ("James Corey" is a shared pen name too. So how do two people write a book anyway? How does that work? ). Ok, another book One in a series, this time about a team of misfits as cadets, and a mission. Both authors have multiple novels to their credit.
Sixth Row. Five anthologies on this row, including ones on Greg Egan and R.A. Lafferty. I'll have a quick peek at Beneath the World, a Sea by Chris Beckett. A mystery about aliens in the 1990's Amazon jungle, and their effect on the human subconscious. Not quite my cup of tea.
Seventh Row. Second Star Wars novel. And again another row of unknown (to me) authors. Let's try Bright Morning Star by Simon Morden. This looks a little different. An alien probe lands in a warzone and collects info about humans. It probably doesn't jot down "Mostly Harmless" in its notebook.
Eighth Row. The third Star Trek novel. For a row selection, let's go with Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Hmmm. Lost planet with something sinister hidden away. Probably a mixture of SF/Horror? It is a sequel to Children of Time. Not that I know that novel either. Looking at the author's books (and there are a few), fantasy seems to dominate.
Ninth Row. I picked Cold Storage by David Koepp. A biochemical organism is on the loose. Now, after reading the synopsis, I have a bit of difficulty categorizing this as SF and not as horror. Oh, and the third Star Wars novel is on this row. And the fourth Star Trek.
Tenth Row. Another Star Trek novel. Let's have a look at The Cruel Stars by John Birmingham. A space opera on a galactic scale with five leading heroes. This novel looks like a slight change of genre for this author; his previous three books dealt with alternate variations of WW2.
Eleventh Row. Elizabeth Bear pops up again with Deriving Life. Synopsis is very brief "Love has no time limits, but life does." And this row has the first Doctor Who book, written by Tom Baker. I always liked him as Doctor Who back in the seventies. I chose Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi to check. Ah. Part of a New York Times bestseller series called Shatter Me. And Defy Me is the fifth book. I'm really in the boondocks; I've never heard of this.
Twelve Row. One anthology and the fourth Star Wars novel. That makes five Star Treks and four Star Wars books in the first ninety-six. And there is a title here that catches my attention: Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee. Wow, this is interesting. He writes a lot of short stories. His Hexarchate stories look intriguing. And he's a New York Times bestselling author too. I'm not in the boondocks, I'm out in the muskeg. I've never heard of him. Anyway, back to the book. A space opera with a protagonist that can use fox-magic. Different.
That was an interesting little exercise. I learned that I don't know much about the modern SF market nor the more recent writers. Maybe I'll have to do something about that. And I didn't see any SF that hit the sweet spot for me: space opera with good characters (regular Janes and Joes) along with an interesting plot. But boy, with over 1300 SF novels written in the last 3 years, that is a lot to go through. That's why I like getting recommendations here at SFF Chronicles!
I decided to look over the first page of books listed for 2019 over a few lunch breaks, and jot down some notes. How in tune am I with the SF market today? As it turns out, not much.... But then I do consider myself a casual SF reader, so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
I thought I would try and spot some of the authors that I recognize, maybe vaguely, then pick one book at random from each row and read the synopsis, and see what other books the author has written.
Heh heh, so here we go.
First Row. Hmmm. Eric Flint and his alternate histories. His 163x series is up to 26 books? Aside from him, I don't recognize any other author on this row. Well, let's pick Alien: Echo by Mira Grant. Looks like the author's first novel. Ah, I get the title. Alien book. Those Aliens. I don't mind a good bug hunt, but the characters have to make reasonable decisions. No going down dark corridors to check out a suspicious noise while leaving your blaster in the locker.
Second Row. Alliance Rising by C.J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher. Book 1. Looks like the start of a series. And Harry Turtledove is here with Alpha and Omega. He is one prolific writer, yet I don't think I've read a single book of his. And scanning the titles, I'm not sure that I will. I'm not into alternate histories, yet Turtledove and Flint seem to have done very well writing them. And our first Star Wars novel appears. I'm going to look up Alita Battle Angel - Dr. Ido's Journal. Cyborgs in a dystopian future. Nick Aires. This is the only book listed in this database although his bio shows him as writing in numerous genres.
Third Row. First Star Trek novel. A couple of anthologies. Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear. Another very popular author and yet, as I gaze upon all of the book covers and titles, nothing really jumps out at me. I have the impression that her SF is what I would call "Literary SF" (Oh oh. Is that provocative?) As a row selection, I picked The Horus Heresy Primarchs by Ian St. Martin. Must be a tie in to a gaming franchise as I'm not familiar with the terms used in the synopsis. Maybe WarHammer 40 000? This is his only book listed.
Fourth Row. First row where I don't recognize a single author. So I'll pick Arkad's World by James L Cambias. Looks like his third novel. Seeking a treasure, the protagonists go on a journey across a planet.
Fifth Row. James Corey is here with Auberon, a novella in his Expanse series. And his Expanse novels are up to 8 with Tiamat's Wrath (also 2019 but listed elsewhere). I read the first two novels, both on long-distance flights, but haven't picked up any more. Then there is another Star Trek. But, man, I don't know any of these other authors. Let's look at Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff ("James Corey" is a shared pen name too. So how do two people write a book anyway? How does that work? ). Ok, another book One in a series, this time about a team of misfits as cadets, and a mission. Both authors have multiple novels to their credit.
Sixth Row. Five anthologies on this row, including ones on Greg Egan and R.A. Lafferty. I'll have a quick peek at Beneath the World, a Sea by Chris Beckett. A mystery about aliens in the 1990's Amazon jungle, and their effect on the human subconscious. Not quite my cup of tea.
Seventh Row. Second Star Wars novel. And again another row of unknown (to me) authors. Let's try Bright Morning Star by Simon Morden. This looks a little different. An alien probe lands in a warzone and collects info about humans. It probably doesn't jot down "Mostly Harmless" in its notebook.
Eighth Row. The third Star Trek novel. For a row selection, let's go with Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Hmmm. Lost planet with something sinister hidden away. Probably a mixture of SF/Horror? It is a sequel to Children of Time. Not that I know that novel either. Looking at the author's books (and there are a few), fantasy seems to dominate.
Ninth Row. I picked Cold Storage by David Koepp. A biochemical organism is on the loose. Now, after reading the synopsis, I have a bit of difficulty categorizing this as SF and not as horror. Oh, and the third Star Wars novel is on this row. And the fourth Star Trek.
Tenth Row. Another Star Trek novel. Let's have a look at The Cruel Stars by John Birmingham. A space opera on a galactic scale with five leading heroes. This novel looks like a slight change of genre for this author; his previous three books dealt with alternate variations of WW2.
Eleventh Row. Elizabeth Bear pops up again with Deriving Life. Synopsis is very brief "Love has no time limits, but life does." And this row has the first Doctor Who book, written by Tom Baker. I always liked him as Doctor Who back in the seventies. I chose Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi to check. Ah. Part of a New York Times bestseller series called Shatter Me. And Defy Me is the fifth book. I'm really in the boondocks; I've never heard of this.
Twelve Row. One anthology and the fourth Star Wars novel. That makes five Star Treks and four Star Wars books in the first ninety-six. And there is a title here that catches my attention: Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee. Wow, this is interesting. He writes a lot of short stories. His Hexarchate stories look intriguing. And he's a New York Times bestselling author too. I'm not in the boondocks, I'm out in the muskeg. I've never heard of him. Anyway, back to the book. A space opera with a protagonist that can use fox-magic. Different.
That was an interesting little exercise. I learned that I don't know much about the modern SF market nor the more recent writers. Maybe I'll have to do something about that. And I didn't see any SF that hit the sweet spot for me: space opera with good characters (regular Janes and Joes) along with an interesting plot. But boy, with over 1300 SF novels written in the last 3 years, that is a lot to go through. That's why I like getting recommendations here at SFF Chronicles!
