SciFiMonth 2021 TBR

ARTWORK by Liu Zishan from 123RF.com

It’s November, which means it’s SciFiMonth, the brilliant blogging event organised and hosted by imyril at One More and Lisa at Dear Geek Place to celebrate all things Sci Fi. I hadn’t really been a sci-fi fan until recently – towards the end of last year I picked up The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky and since then I’ve started to include more and more sci-fi into my TBR. I’d read a few things here and there – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy, and various dystopias in school, but to me science fiction always seemed like an inaccessible genre with too much jargon I could never understand and slow-moving plots to nowhere. I was very wrong and I have loved discovering all these new worlds and stories I would never have tried before, so having a whole month dedicated to it and seeing what everyone else will read and recommend is very exciting.

Now, as well as participating in SciFiMonth, I’m also doing a bit of Norsevember organised by Alex at Spells and Spaceships, and attempting to do NaNoWriMo to try and get back into my writing so I’m not setting myself too much to read – though, I’m probably going to give myself more than what I can handle, so I’m looking at this TBR as my option pile, and if I don’t get through it this month I’ll still know that those adventures are there for me when I’m ready. So, after that long preamble, what are my plans for SciFiMonth?

Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky – probably my most mentioned author on this blog, but I simply love his writing. I started Cage of Souls back in September and then paused it because I had a few too many books on the go, so no better time to finish it off than SciFiMonth!

To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers – I have never read any of Chambers’ works before, though I keep hearing very good things, and I found this novella of hers in the staff room at work a while ago – it’s the perfect size for an introduction into her universe and writing style! I’m also quite unfamiliar with novellas, and it’s something I’ve been wanting to explore more, so I’m excited for this one.

Winter’s Orbit by Evarina Maxwell – well, I know for a fact that I’ll be reading this one, since it’s the chosen book for the readalong and I offered to host one of the weeks! I’d seen it on a lot of people’s blogs and had read the first chapter of it at the back of another book, so when everyone voted for it to be the readalong book I was glad to have an excuse to pick it up sooner.

Golden Son by Pierce Brown – my husband isn’t a big reader, but he absolutely loves the Red Rising series, and has read it a few times. He’s been asking me for ages to read it, and so in February I read the first book, and am going to use SciFiMonth to carry on the series. I can’t say I see the appeal as greatly as he and others do, but it might grow on me.

To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars by Christopher Paolini – when I heard that Paolini was writing a new book I got very excited, then when I read the plot summary I was disappointed, because it didn’t sound amazing and – at the time – I was not into sci-fi at all. Working in a bookshop, though, meant we got copies in when it was released and I decided to get it, thinking maybe my husband might even enjoy it, and wanting to support an author who had given me so much joy in my teenage years. Well, my husband got a few chapters in and stopped indefinitely (it’s a hefty book) so now it’s down to me. This is probably the one, out of all of them, that I may not get to, or may not finish within the month, but I am still keen to get to it at some point.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir – everyone I’ve seen who has read this book has hailed it (hah) as their book of the year, or at least one of the top ones, so I was curious and read a preview of it on my iPad. I loved the first few chapters so I bought a physical copy and then let it sit on my shelf. Typical! But I do want to read it before the year is out so I’ll probably prioritise this one.

I do realise, looking at my little list, that it’s not incredibly diverse – heavily male and white – but I’m a bit of a newbie and these are the things I have on hand at the moment, but I am really hoping this month will properly launch me into the weird and wonderful world of science fiction and introduce me to plenty of other authors for all sorts of backgrounds. Bring it on!

Update

Since writing this last week I have a few additions: I’ve been listening to the Welcome to Nightvale podcast recently, so I’m going to count that as part of my SciFiMonth extravaganza, cause there are definitely some sci-fi elements in there. Also, I started watching The Expanse and it is blowing my mind a little. I bought a very pretty 10th anniversary edition of Leviathan Wakes a couple of weeks ago, though I don’t think I’ll get to it in November, and I think I’ll appreciate coming to the book with some knowledge of the story, even though it’s very unlike me to watch something before reading it! And lastly, I requested Seven Mercies by Elizabeth May and Laura Lam on NetGalley, so that probably means that I should actually read Seven Devils, the first book, which has been patiently sitting on my shelf. Very excited for it all!

Let me know if you, too, are embarking on this journey, I would love to follow along!