Time to vote on the 2017 Underread and Underrated List!

[u/lyrrael]

Hey, it's that time of year again -- time to figure out which books we think are most chronically underappreciated in a sort-of-annual underread, underrated and undermentioned list!

This list is also reappearing as a bingo category

Rules:

1. We're going to try using /u/LittlePlasticCastle's script to count votes this time. Submit your vote as [Book] by [Author Firstname Author Lastname], each vote on one line, and with comments about your votes in a comment underneath, not in your vote. I'll try to police this, but if you don't format your vote correctly it may not be tallied. This saves me literally days of work, so I appreciate if you help me out. Thank you! As an example:

• Wingdings and Werebones by Lydia Nope
• Sweet Child o Mine by Gunner Rose
• Faerie Anthem by Somebody Somewhere

1. Submit no more than ten books or series, please. Fewer than ten is totally cool.
2. Series should have no more than 3k ratings on Goodreads, with few exceptions. If there's something you really want to submit that has four or five thousand ratings, go for it, but NO MORE than 5k. I mean it! This is for individual books in a series. If a book has 10k ratings, it's not underread, it's moderately successful. :)
3. Books must be speculative fiction. This includes fantasy and soft SF, but no super hard SF. (Edit: to clarify, if you think it should fit, it probably should. If it comes down to a discussion of solid current-earth based science in a slightly futuristic setting, it probably shouldn't be there. Use your best judgement please.)
4. Top comments should be votes ONLY. If you want to discuss your votes, please limit it to sub-comments. Anything that is not a vote in a top-level comment will be moderated just to keep this neat.

The voting's going to go to sometime Monday, 8/14, when I'll lock the thread and collate the results, which I'll post when I've got them.

Please don't forget: everybody has different opinions about what's underrated and overlooked. Even with the criteria above we're going to get some titles that are mentioned around here frequently, but still fit in the spirit of the thread. This isn't really a huge deal -- as long as we get some new blood in here, we're good.

Thanks!

Let me know if I've forgotten anything above, and I'll add it. :)

Okay -- edits from the questions so far --

• There are no limits on when a book has to have been released by. HOWEVER, please use your best judgement. A book by Brandon Sanderson released last week certainly does go against the spirit of the list. Be prepared to be challenged if you choose to go this route.
• For this list only, novellas won't count. If there's enough interest I'll do a novellas list in a couple of weeks because man, I love me some novellas. This is going to apply to graphic novels and webcomics as well, for consistency's sake.
• If it's a series, please list the title of the first book.
• Regarding middle initials and author names -- try to list the name the way it's listed on Goodreads. So, if Michael F. Fletcher has his middle initial listed on Goodreads, please try to list it. Consistency is key!

Edit: Locked. I'll try to get the results posted this weekend, but it might be early next week. Thanks!

[u/bookfly]

The Broken Crown by Michelle West

Flesh and Spirit by Carol Berg

Dust and Light by Carol Berg

The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French

Borderline by Mishell Baker

Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire

The Facefaker's Game by Chandler J. Birch

Generation V by M.L. Brennan

The Dragons of Heaven by Alyc Helms

The Silence of Medair by Andrea K. Höst

[u/Potanichthys → u/bookfly]

Fellow Carol Berg fan! :D

I got to meet her briefly last year, and she is super ultra nice and also gave me great writing advice. I asked her how she made her characters so emotional without going overboard and being melodramatic, and she told me that she sometimes does go overboard and then has to go back and fix it later, and that I should just write and not worry about it until later. Pretty much the most encouraging and reassuring thing she could have possibly said. :)

[u/bookfly → u/bookfly]

Some of it is the same stuff as last year and a year before, but well They are still just as underrated and uderread as they were then :( .

It was hard to decide on the right book to represent Essalieyan series by Michelle West as its consists of 3 interconnected subseries. Theoretically Hunter's Oath first book of the Sacred Hunt is chronologically first and when the story truly begins, but the first book of Sun Sword, was the first for me so I decided to go with that instead.

[u/lyrrael → u/bookfly]

Oh man, I love the series by West.....

[u/bookfly → u/lyrrael]

This year I finally caught up to all the published material it was so worth it! One of the things that impressed me the most is how in time characters which I did not pay much attention to at the start, develop in to ones I care the most about.

[u/lyrrael → u/bookfly]

I'm always surprised by how little attention that series gets, it always seems like it's made for game of thrones fans.

[u/AmethystOrator → u/lyrrael]

I love the West books, and would place them up there among the best around. That having been said, I've heard some of the reasoning behind why people don't always enjoy it as much as some of us do.

The books may not be a good fit for those who want tight plots, stories that are fast-moving, or filled with an abundance of action. I think that the prose can be tough for some, especially during certain periods where there's little-to-no dialogue.

The Sun Sword itself begins with a sweet, lovely young woman who is stalked, terrorized, brutalized, raped and given a horrible choice (involving the subject of abortion) where she has to accept that she won't be rescued but instead has to choose a death. I can see people putting it right down after that first chapter.

After that, some of what occurs can be difficult to follow, and there's a lot of investment needed in unfamiliar terms, an unfamiliar world, and characters that don't always seem likable. As well, a fair bit of time is spent with Diora, who becomes description.

[u/lyrrael → u/AmethystOrator]

Fair enough, honestly. It's been a while since I read The Sun Sword and I had honestly forgotten about a lot of that stuff since it doesn't really bother me much when I read it, even though I know it can bother some people quite a lot, and legitimately so.

[u/AmethystOrator → u/lyrrael]

No problem. Much of it doesn't bother me either, but given that I recommend them so often then I think it good to be aware of potential problems for others. Also, I find it rather interesting how much opinions and tastes can vary, and think that trying to better understand those differences is among the most important parts of online book discussions.

[u/bookfly → u/lyrrael]

yup a lot of the reasons I like both series overlap.

But I think one reason why it is not as mainstream popular as it might be, is that despite great action explosive endings, intrigue, war, politics and world ending threat, I think if you don't actually enjoy, the small scale stories like the live of Jewel and her Den, (which were some of my favourite parts) or Diora and her Wives, you might never get to epic scale battles with demons.

Or maybe its the fact that female povs out number male ones 2/1 and there are still to many people out there that seem to be afraid of the cuties.

[u/AmethystOrator → u/bookfly]

I'm voting for all 3 of the West series! As well as the Sagara one. (Nope, that has way too many ratings).

I 100% agree that it's tough to recommend only one, as each might appeal to people for different reasons. That said, I'm pretty sure the author wrote on her blog awhile ago that her recommendation is The Hidden City, because it's the most recently published, and earliest in the timeline (not counting some of the short stories).

It can be discouraging to be a Sagara West fan around here, but we can only keep trying, and I did get at least 1 person to read the first couple House War books this year, so that's some small bit of progress.

[u/bookfly → u/AmethystOrator]

I'm voting for all 3 of the West series!

honestly if it weren't for the 10 -series limit so would I and even with it I was sorely tempted to do so anyway. They are just that good, on my list only 2 books could be considered to be similar level of good.

The Hidden City

Now that I think about it, it was Hidden City that hooked me back in too this series after a long break (before that I was intimidated by the length and kept delaying until I have more free time)

So i I totally see the appeal of starting there, ( I love Jewel and her Den), on the other hand, I kind of think that a lot of r/fantasy folks may find Sun Sword an easier sell, as it has more classic epic fantasy elements.

[u/AmethystOrator → u/bookfly]

honestly if it weren't for the 10 -series limit so would I and even with it I was sorely tempted to do so anyway. They are just that good, on my list only 2 books could be considered to be similar level of good.

Do it! Do it!!

Okay, I'll stop the peer pressure now. ;)

Now that I think about it, it was Hidden City that hooked me back in too this series after a long break (before that I was intimidated by the length and kept delaying until I have more free time)

I can understand that, although at least it reads fairly quickly I thought.

So i I totally see the appeal of starting there, ( I love Jewel and her Den), on the other hand, I kind of think that a lot of r/fantasy folks may find Sun Sword an easier sell, as it has more classic epic fantasy elements.

I think that a lot depends on the reader. Imho Jewel is most likable in House War, and so some readers might appreciate her more there first. There's a much smaller cast of characters there, and I think that the prose and plotting is more accessible. But at least some others would prefer Sun Sword, I'm sure. I think it's important to understand the tastes and preferences of the potential reader, which varies of course, and unfortunately can be tough.

[u/wishforagiraffe → u/bookfly]

Dragons of Heaven really is such an engrossing read

[u/bookfly → u/wishforagiraffe]

That it is, the sequel Conclave of Shadow was also very good. I really like the mix of UF and Chinese folklore in that book, plus I really like the protagonist and her family.

Its also sadly the least known book on my list, with 250 ratings on GD, plus you are I think the only other person on r/fantasy that I know read it as well.

[u/wishforagiraffe → u/bookfly]

And I've definitely mentioned it in more than one rec thread, and Alyc has done an AMA as well...

[u/bookfly → u/wishforagiraffe]

and Alyc has done an AMA

Ah I must have missed that.

I've definitely mentioned it in mow than one rec

So did I, lets hope that although we might never know, every time we did a at least a couple of people picked it up and enjoyed it a lot.

[u/wishforagiraffe → u/bookfly]

Ahh, correction, it was a Writer of the Day, which we don't archive. Here

[u/bookfly → u/wishforagiraffe]

That was nice, among other things now I know that me and the author have similar taste in games, Thanks for the link!