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I guess if we can't find much to say about it, it's 'not successful' from a 'lets talk about books' standpoint.
Since the amount and quality of discussion doesn't usually ride on how much we like a book, we probably shouldn't worry too much about whether people like it when picking a book. But I think the deeper a book is (like Isle of Doctor Moreau seemed to have a lot of depth) then the more we can mine the text for things to talk about. And if people have different opinions, there tends to be more back and forth discussion. Of course, if a book is too deep, everyone just gets lost in the confusion!
Despite knowing this, I still find myself trying to pick books I think everyone will like. Human nature, I guess.
It also hurt that we all basically agreed. No differences in opinion means little discussion. There have been books we all liked that had little discussion as well.
All: here's a monthly selection update!
First, we are nearly at the end of October so looking forward to discussion on The Wager to be led by @Ray_Otus
In November we then have Tripoint by CS Cherryh, to be led by @clash_bowley
The schedule then has @Apocryphal in December, @NeilNjae in January and me in February. If you know what you want to pick for those months please let me know and I'll set it up (I've already got an idea for Feb but am finishing the book in question before actually deciding).
As usual if @BarnerCobblewood or @Michael_S_Miller want to pitch in just shout.
I'm thinking maybe Nettle and Bone, the most recent Hugo winner, or A Psalm for the Wild-Built (and maybe the sequel, as they're both novellas), or The Windup Girl as a solarpunk-type novel.
Huh! I love Becky Chambers. I didn't remember you being so anti when we read Small Planet...
I don't have strong views on any of those, though I suppose if as a club we read The Windup Girl a while back that excludes it? (It was before my time, though I have read the book quite a few years ago now and don't remember it well)
And, by all means, if everyone wants to do Becky Chambers cept me, I can just skip a month - I have a gazillion other books anyway.
For Becky Chambers, I thought Small Planet was rubbish. Her second book, Closed and Common Orbit, was really good though. I've read a couple of Vernon aka Kingfisher books, but the lighthearted ones, and really enjoyed them.
As lots of people have read Windup Girl, let's avoid that.
@Apocryphal Why do you think Hugo winners are books to avoid?
Look at the latest slate of Hugo nominees - how many of them are thought experiments about our future?
I must admit to sharing this view in large measure. The local-to-Grasmere book club that I'm part of routinely chooses prize-winning books for its titles - not usually Hugo or Nebula as SFF is low on their priority list, but Booker or whatever (the one for this month won the Women's prize for fiction). And although I enjoy the experience of meeting and talking about the books, I very rarely actually like the books themselves. Often the motive for giving the prize seems to be political or social rather than for the content - or maybe my taste in books is so far removed from prize committees that it's never going to make a good fit
The reason for suggesting prize winners is because I don't have any other books I'm keen to read! But if the consensus that that being a Hugo winner isn't sufficient to make a book a candidate for here, let's go with that.
So, a few alternatives. One is another prize winner: Arboriality (Rebecca Campbell), winner of the le Guin prize. Or Witch King (Martha Wells), a dense fantasy that's had good reviews. Or The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (SA Chakraborty), a fantasy about a pirate in the Islamic Indian Ocean. I've read Adventures and it's a fun romp.
Any thoughts on those?
I don't have a problem with award winning books just because they won awards, so while I may be in the minority, it's not one sided.
I like Martha Wells, and the other two sound very interesting as well!
I've read some Martha Wells but not that one. The Chakraborty one sounds fun - didn't she write City of Brass (which I've heard of but also never read)
That's as good a reason as any. Maybe we should make more of an effort as club members to share interesting finds with each other - it can be hard to find good new books.
A Hugo winner might be a good book, but the fact that it won a Hugo (or any other popularity contest) doesn't guarantee it'll be a good book. Winning a Hugo actually means it's less likely to be a good book, actually.
However, as discussed before, I don't think we necessarily need books we all like as club picks - we really want books that are chock full of ideas, and/or books that generate controversy.
Arboriality sounds pretty interesting. It sounds like a literary book, which I generally like. Will it inspire gaming content? I somehow doubt it. Does that really matter? I don't think so - we kind of pay lip service to the gaming aspects anyway, don't we?
Amina al-Sirafi sounds the most interesting to me - a tale of high adventure ought to be really inspiring to Adventure Gaming. I've been curious about the author. I'd probably lean toward this one, even though it's the first in a trilogy or series.
It seems to be a novella comprised of connected short stories / vignettes. That would fit into some of the less mainstream games (Microscope?)
It's obviously set up for a series of books, but she's not written the rest yet! And it's very Adventure Gaming, with crew being a collection of oddballs from all over roaming from place to place, getting into trouble.
It's not high literature. It's a good fun romp, but with enough drama and pathos to give it some substance.
If not, I’ll suggest something else…
Which world?
That was a pun!
I like Witch World - it won't be new to me but I'm happy to reread it. It obviously gripped her imagination as she went on to write a total of 18 books in a loose series (https://www.fictiondb.com/series/witch-world-andre-norton~10743.htm) of which I've read maybe 5 at different times. It was a stage in her career when she felt able to write with central women characters, as opposed to her earlier SF work which was dominated by male characters. I'd find it interesting to reread in the club context and see what we all thought of it
hoho
I haven’t checked kindle availability, but I assume it’s well enough known to have a kindle edition - better confirm that before deciding.
Another possibility is Ice, by Anna Kavan, which was recently given a Penguin Classics 50th anniversary edition. It’s supposed to be beautifully written, dark and cold themes I think, and maybe a bit boring through the middle. So I’m on the fence. It might make a better January read.
I didn't say it was a clever pun...
It certainly is available in kindle at least in the UK and probably elsewhere.
I have regular Andre-Norton-reading-fests - she was so enormously prolific that I have still nowhere near exhausted her repertoire
They hold a particular memory value for me as the town library where I grew up had a good selection of her books so I devoured them at a fairly young age, and have stayed with them ever since. The one I especially remember from those long-ago days is Star Rangers along with the two Janus books.
I read a couple Norton books when I was a teen, and that was it. Didn't make any particular impression on me, one way or the other. Never sought her out or avoided her. Other people sing her praises, so I welcome a chance to see if I missed something grand.
I don't think I've read any Norton, so now is a good time to start!
I'll set up the discussion area for Witch World in the next day or so.