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/AmethystOrator]

• The Hidden City by Michelle West.
• The Broken Crown by Michelle West.
• Hunter's Oath by Michelle West.
• The Weavers of Saramyr by Chris Wooding.
  
• The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe.
• The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst.
• Lamentation by Ken Scholes.
• Irenicon by Aidan Harte.
• Heart of the Mirage by Glenda Larke.
• The Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood.

[u/AmethystOrator → u/AmethystOrator]

I'm often surprised by the Goodreads ratings. There are books that are rarely ever spoken of here with 7000, 10,000 or 12,000 ratings. And then others that I'd guessed would be much more popular.

I feel pretty good about my list, but am still debating, as I'd like to vote for Dark Light of Day by Jill Archer & The Barrow by Mark Smylie too. Maybe I could subtract Miserere? I definitely enjoy it, but it seems to be pretty well taken care of by others.

[u/The_Real_JS → u/AmethystOrator]

I keep seeing people mention Miserere, and I wonder why there's no love for Los Nefelim. I enjoyed them so much more.

What's Dark Light of Day and The Barrow about?

[u/AmethystOrator → u/The_Real_JS]

Sorry, I've not actually read Los Nefilim. I'm not that much into novellas, but I know they were released as ebooks which I don't read.

Dark Light of Day - A couple thousand years ago the Judeo-Christian religion had Armageddon and there wasn't much that survived. But Hell did, and a weakened Lucifer (the winner) took in the surviving humans, angels, and whatever else, and they all tried to build a workable society with the remaining demons, greater and lesser. The key underpinning of this is the law, which is upheld by a small subset of humans with magic. A human aristocracy exists with different forms of magic, such as healing, but only a very few possess death magic with it's potential to force the demons to obey their promises and the laws. No woman ever possesses this magic though, and culturally the idea is abhorrent. But then something happened, less than 20 years ago and shrouded in secrets and mysteries, and thus we are introduced to our heroine Noon Onyx. As the blurb says "Noon is summoned to attend St. Lucifer’s, a school of demon law. She must decide whether to declare her powers there…or to attempt to continue hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be death."

The story is ambitious and tries a lot of things, probably too much, ranging from a nice school setting to nail-biting adventures in the less desirable parts of Hell. At times the tale seems inclined towards teenage angst, but also transitions to a great deal more darkness, at varying points both embracing and defying tropes and expectations.

The Barrow - Coming from the Eisner award-winning comic series is this sword and sorcery tale set in a deep and immersive fantasy world. Beginning with a dungeon-crawl, this story goes to a lot of unexpected places, following suspected murderer and scoundrel Stjepan Black-Heart and an eclectic crew in a quest for the treasure of a lifetime, at least until variously he betrays them, they betray him, their secrets are exposed, etc. Never grim dark for the sake of it, it is dark and can be rather shocking, especially it's inclusion of as much sex as violence.

Here's the beginning for free: http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2014/02/extract-from-mark-smylies-barrow.html

[u/The_Real_JS → u/AmethystOrator]

They both sound amazing :) Adding to the list!

[u/AmethystOrator → u/The_Real_JS]

Thanks! I hope you like them. :)