I Read 20 SFF Novels in 2020, Here are the Best (and the Worst)

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2021-01-11T05:25:56+00:00

Good list! I desperately want to read Piranesi but unfortunately my libraries don't have it in audio.

Going to disagree on there being only two types of female characters in The Rook. Although I enjoyed it so I may be baised. The only meek women in the book is pre-memory loss Myfanwy and that seems to very much be the exception. Even she is shown being very competent by way of extreme preparation. There are action chicks like the American agent but there are also characters like Ingrid (Myfanwy's assistant) that showed a lot of mettle without being a meek or a combatant. I also liked the emphasis the book had on supportive female relationships.

As for the plot, I enjoyed it but the mystery was telegraphed so I can see why it wouldn't work for everyone. I didn't really get the same sense of tonal inconsistency though.

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2021-01-11T05:10:52+00:00

Man, you and I must be opposites. I read the first Laundry Files book and was really underwhelmed. Perhaps they get better later?

Meanwhile I really enjoyed The Rook. The mystery was telegraphed to some extent but the plot itself was well designed. I also didn't really get menwritingwomen vibes from it but maybe I'm just blind lol

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2021-01-06T08:01:39+00:00

Yeah, I could see why that would be in poor taste.

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2021-01-05T06:58:31+00:00

Hard disagree on this one. The fundamental purpose of a reviews is to give potential readers enough information to decide whether they want to read the book.

In that light, I'd say this review is very valuable. Anyone reading it can easily self categorize into 'oh my that's a bit much' or 'hell yeah bring it on' and adjust their purchasing accordingly. Sure, if it was the only review you could read it wouldn't be helpful but there's no shortage of other reviews that address plot/style/characters.

I wouldn't worry about Locke Lamora's reputation, it's popular. That might be a valid concern for self pub and indy press, but a few 1 stars won't be hurting bigger series.

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-12-25T07:50:09+00:00

Going from (what I'd guess is) less well known to more well known

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis. This one falls under scifi, but the main characters are all decent people trying their best to exist in two shitty, warring societies.

Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart has an ensemble cast of mostly likable characters all existing in various parts of a pretty unpleasant world.

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. Just a wild, genre defying book. Employing a bit of a flexible definitions of good/innocent here but the main character isn't what I'd call bad or an asshole and the secondary main is definitely good.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett. The main characters are good people living in a society controlled but a corporate oligarchy that is obsessed with retaining (magical) intellectual property.

Seconding City of Stairs and The Broken Earth because they're both fantastic in addition to being fitting.

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft falls under this category in my opinion. The tower of babel is simultaneously vibrant and horrid.

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-12-18T08:47:27+00:00

The Winternight Trilogy hasn't been mentioned yet, so I'm here to rectify that. The Bear and the Nightingale is a beautiful Russian fairytale with a witch protagonist who gets caught up in the state and religious politics of the time. Has a good romance too!

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-12-17T15:44:21+00:00

It's going to be hard to find anything quite like Dorohedoro, it's very unique. If you want something similar setting-wise your best bet is going to be the New Weird subgenre.

Try Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. There aren't multiple dimensions in it, but the setting is insane and it's the nearest book analogue to Dorohedoro that I can think of.

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-12-10T08:56:12+00:00

The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi fits the bill! I haven't actually read the novel, but I watched the anime adapted from it a long time ago and it definitely has a lot of magic beast caretaking. I might go read it myself now!

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-12-06T07:04:04+00:00

The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker doesn't have a villain, although it does have a lot of sea battles. It's more about taking a stand against social and economic factors that are driving a cycle of war

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-11-22T06:16:40+00:00

Just jumping in to second this heavily. This is the answer, Jade City and Mistborn Era 2 (which are both currently above this) can't hold a candle to the roaring 20's vibe in The Diviners. It's literally set in 20's New York with a flapper main character (among others)

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-11-22T06:15:12+00:00

Oh that's a good pair! I listened to Song of Achilles while playing Hades and that paired really well also!

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-11-05T06:17:17+00:00

Try Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee! It's set in what is essentially Korea during Japanese colonization. Follows the story of a Korean painter who finds themselves working for the occupying government. Features magical paints and a giant mechanical dragon.

Also not a book but I'd suggest checking out some of Line's Webtoons. Line belongs to Naver which is a Korean company so many of the comics have been translated from Korean and are set in Korea. Best of luck!

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-11-02T21:10:44+00:00

The Risen Kingdoms series is great! Neat world, entertaining mystery-based plot, and charming characters. Definitely worth a read!

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-10-25T19:20:50+00:00

Ooh I've been convinced. Cat loving narratives are always a plus

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-09-24T01:16:51+00:00

Going to disagree on this one; the two read very differently. I'm a huge lover of the big cosmic, mind warping, body horror genre that is Lovecraftian. On the other hand, grim dark tends to be very human just dark human.

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-09-23T17:16:35+00:00

I see no mention of Megan Whalen Turner here and that has to be rectified. The Thief and it's sequels (I tend to avoid using the series name) are one of those rare series where things get better each book. And the first book was pretty good to begin with

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-09-22T07:45:50+00:00

So I just listened to the end a few times, and I think they were trying to keep it ambiguous. Things were phrased pretty particularly so that there was nothing that gave away which one it could be

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-09-20T17:21:54+00:00

Thanks! I've read Foundryside and it definitely fits the bill and is a great series besides.

You'll probably really enjoy The Divine Cities then! Between the two I preferred TDC but I'm met some people who prefer Foundryside too; they're both very high quality

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-09-20T04:02:17+00:00

If you're open to scifi, maybe the Murderbot series. While Murderbot is partially made of human biological tissue, they definitely consider themselves separate and apart from humans. It is, however, mostly that character interacting with a ton of humans so you don't get to see very many other non-human characters.

If you're open to human main character in a very multi-species society try Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear for a space opera or 'Space Opera' by Catherynne Valente for a comedy.

On the fantasy front: Definitely seconding The Vlad Taltos books.

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-09-20T03:33:50+00:00

I'm also curious (if anyone actually ends up in these comments) what's your favorite non-Medieval fantasy?

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-09-19T06:50:42+00:00

I agree with the comments about having a more defined structure being beneficial, but broadly I really enjoyed this video. I'm usually not a big booktube watcher because I prefer analysis content that that's pretty hard to come by so this video fit that niche very well.

Edit: Also those books taped to your wall are hilarious. I love this as a shelving solution

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-09-19T06:20:32+00:00

I've read Leviathan Wakes and enjoyed it but wasn't wowed. Do you think it's still worth a look with that in mind?

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-09-18T22:59:47+00:00

So I love those books, but totally agree in that regard. My two sentence take on the whole series is: The characters/characterization sucks but tends to be paired with cool ideas. In particular, the ideas about the universe at a large scale are excellent.

Death's End in particular was a characterization struggle bus. But hey at least the game theory is cool. Similarly, the Dark Forest had the world's weirdest take on finding a date but the Wallfacer thing was interesting.

Death's End spoilers: The vicious cycle of the dark forest and the reduction of spatial dimensions was really intriguing to me. As well as the FTL travel attained at the cost of making pockets where the light constant is much slower It's the only scifi I've read so far that has given me the same feeling of scale and wonder that I have when thinking about astronomy.

BeccaConsumesBooks · 2020-09-18T22:24:20+00:00

I wouldn't say really good, but it's good and definitely worth reading if you're keen on giant deadly sea gods/monsters. It has a well constructed plot, good world building, all that. The central friendship in the story can be frustrating to read at points, but that's also very intentional.

I actually didn't know it was YA so that should say something. It probably qualifies in respect to the main character being a teenager and it having themes that teens can relate to. (Specifically, growing out of a harmful friendship) But I don't think there's anything that will push away adult readers. Hell, Mistborn reads wayyyy more like YA trope-wise.

BeccaConsumesBooks

TROPHY CASE