Science Fiction/Fantasy book club list


.	Author	Title	Year/Month	Genre	Annotation	Comments from members/Notes


.	Goodkind, Terry	Wizard’s First Rule	1996/08	Fantasy	Learning of his father's murder, Richard Cypher seeks solace in his beloved woods. There he rescues Kahlan Amnell, who is fleeing from Darken Rahl's assassins. Rahl wants to destroy the lands and people of Westland, but if Cypher, empowered by the wizard Zedd as the Seeker of Truth, can find one of the three Boxes of Orden, he will have the power to stop Rahl.
.	Butler, Octavia	Parable of the Sower	1996/09	SF	In 2024, most well-to-do families live in walled enclaves to protect themselves from the roaming drug addicts who live in sqaulor and are prone to stealing, rape, and murder. Lauren Olamina, eighteen, suffers from hyperempathy, which means that she feels not only her own pain but that of others. When the addicts overrun Lauren's community, she and others are forced to seek refuge outside the walls.
.	Simmons, Dan	Hyperion	1996/10		On Hyperion, home of the Hegemony, also dwells the Shrike, a creature who lives in the valley of the Time Tombs. Seven people who have suffered at the hands of the Shrike go to Hyperion to confront the beast and to uncover the Time Tombs' secrets. But a battle brews on Hyperion, between the Hegemony and their enemy, the Ousers. Prequel to "The Fall of Hyperion
.	Schmitz, James	Witches of Karres	1996/11	SF	Captain Pausert, a commercial space trader, rescues what he thinks are three slave girls on the planet of Porlumma. But Maleen, Goth, and the Leewit are actually witches with special powers. The authorities are after all of them.
.	Lint, Charles de	Little Country	1996/12	Fantasy	Musician Janey Little discovers an unknown fantasy novel, entitled "The Little Country", in her grandfather's Cornwall home. She finds that the book contains a magic that somehow connects her real-world life with the action of the story itself. A chain of events is unleashed in both the actual world and in the book that bring the forces of good and evil into sharp conflict
.	Sullivan, Tricia	Lethe	1997/01
.	Barker, Clive	Weaveworld	1997/02	Horror	In this horrific fantasy the Seerkind, a race of magicians, have woven themselves and their world into a carpet to escape impending genocide from the Scourge. A fierce struggle for possession of the carpet threatens a catastrophic end to the entire world.
.	Kalogridis, Jeanne	Covenant with the Vampire: The Diaries Of the Family Dracula	1997/03	Vampire	In 1845, Arkady Tsepesh and his pregnant wife, Mary, travel from England to his ancestral home in Transylvania on the occasion of his father's death. It is destined that Arkady, as eldest son, will assume his father's duties as aide to his great-uncle, Vlad Dracula. The family's blood ties dictate that Arkady must do his uncle's bidding, but it soon becomes apparent that Arkady's allegiance could destroy his wife and unborn child.
.	Dick, Philip K	Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep	1997/08	Classic	In the year 2021 Rick Deckard is employed on a dying Earth as a bounty hunter. He seeks androids that look like humans and destroys them. Basis for the 1982 movie Blade Runner.
.	Simmons, Dan	Summer of Night	1997/09	Horror	In the summer of 1960, someone or something is stalking the young people of Elm Haven, Illinois. Something ancient and festering holds the key to the evil lurking in Elm Haven, and its rebirth is heralded by the tolling of a long-silent bell that peals an end to innocence.
.	Bester, Alfred	Stars My Destination	1997/10	Classic	In a grotesque future where men have acquired the ability of instant teleportation, Gully Foyle, a common rogue, vows to track down the men who left him to die in a wrecked space ship. In doing so, he becomes the pathfinder of man's destiny among the stars
.	Jones, J.V.	Baker’s Boy	1997/11	Fantasy	In typical epic fantasy fashion, this first book in the Book of Words series sets a princess and a kitchen boy running for their lives from an evil sorcerer, while in another country a young knight sets off on a quest for truth.
.	Datlow, Ellen, ed.	Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex	1997/12	Short stories	From Susan Wade's hypnotic tale of a tattoo artist's strangest client ("The Tattooist") to Bruce McAllister's disturbing story of a captive child's dream of freedom ("Captain China"), the 18 selections (including four previously published titles) in this anthology explore the alien dimensions of exotic sexuality
.	Brin, Davis	Postman	1998/01	Dystopia	In the aftermath of a nuclear war that has devastated the nation, a traveling storyteller borrows the jacket of a longdead postal worker and is transformed unwittingly into a symbol of hope for America's future.
.	Griffith, Nicola	Slow River	1998/02		Lore, a young kidnap victim whose identity implant was removed, chooses to depend on a stranger rather than return to her wealthy home. She describes Spanner, the woman who becomes her lover and draws her into illegal activities, intermingled with flashbacks to her family and the ordeal that took her from them.	Nebula Award 1996
.	Modesitt, L.E.	Soprano Sorceress	1998/03	Fantasy	Anna, an Iowa State University music instructor, is magically transported to the medieval world of Erde, where songs create spells and music is the source of power. Her vocal talents make her a powerful sorceress and a villain's target.
.	Baxter, Stephen	Time Ships	1998/04	SF		Sequel to H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine
.	McAuley, Paul	Fairyland	1998/05			Arthur C. Clarke Award, 1995
.	Heinlein, Robert	Moon is a Harsh Mistress	1998/06	Classic	Luna in the twenty-first century is a penal colony, but since no one can stand earth gravity after being on the moon for a few weeks, all who are sent must stay. When the liberated people rise against The Authority, they receive help from a computer with a personality.
.	various	short stories	1998/07	Short stories		each member brought in a story


.	various	short stories	1998/08	Short stories		continuation from prior month
.	McCaffrey, Anne and Margaret Ball	Acornia	1998/09	Fantasy	Three prospectors find a baby alien traveling through space in a pod. She has a little horn in her forehead and possesses abilities to heal and to purify water and air. Her caretakers name her Acorna. To flee scientists who want to experiment on her, they travel to the outlaw planet Kezdet where more evil awaits.
.	Anthony, Piers	On a Pale Horse	1998/10	Fantasy	Cheated out of his chance for romance and wealth, Zane should have been a miserable failure. Instead, he is given the power and the symbols of Death. He soon discovers that Satan is drawing him inescapably into an evil war against God
.	Gaiman, Neil and Terry Pritchett	Good Omens	1998/11	Satire	Armageddon is scheduled for next Saturday! But demon Crowley and angel Aziraphale are not looking forward to it. In order to prevent this, they must kill the Antichrist, who lives on earth as a young child. However, there is a problem--three children were switched at birth, and no one knows which one is the Antichrist.
.	Grubb, Jeff	Brothers' War	1998/12	Fantasy
.	Lovecraft, H.P.	Case of Charles Dexter Ward	1999/01	Horror	Driven by the spirit of an evil ancestor, a young man delves into the art of black magic and resurrects the darkest evil from beyond the grave.
.	Tepper, Sheri S.	Family Tree	1999/02	SF		jbs - got too ridiculous mid-way
.	King, Stephen	Eyes of the Dragon	1999/03	Fantasy	Fantastic tale of sorcery, poison brews, and adventure set in a mythical kingdom threatened by chaos at the hands of an evil magician. Noble and heroic, Prince Peter is the elder son of King Roland the Good, and heir to the throne. But the demonic wizard Flagg has other ideas.
.	Russell, Mary Doria	Sparrow	1999/04	SF	It is the year 2059 when Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz returns as the sole survivor of a forty-year space voyage to Alpha Centauri. Broken in body and spirit, Sandoz describes his horrific captivity by aliens and life in a depraved civilization.	jbs- powerful book - a must-read
.	Card, Orson Scott	Ender's Game	1999/05	SF	In a future Earth engaged in an interstellar war against insectoid aliens, Ender Wiggin is chosen at the age of six to be trained as the military genius who will carry his people to victory. Along with his brother Peter and his sister Valentine, he not only brings the conflict to an end, but also affects the evolution of human society.
.	Vonnegut, Kurt	Timequake	1999/06	SF	On February 13, 2001, the universe will revert back to February 17, 1991, and everyone will relive the next ten years exactly as they did in the past. A decade later, time will again move forward, but where will that leave people who, facing new experiences, have forgotten how to think for themselves?
.	LeGuin, Ursula	Lathe of Heaven	1999/07	Classic	A man who awakens to find his many dreams coming true turns to a doctor who begins to employ his dreams in solving problems of environment, population, and politics.
.	Halderman, Joe	Forever Peace	1999/08	SF	2043. The Ngumi War has been going on for over eight years, when burned-out "soldierboy" Julian Class and his older lover, Dr. Amelia Harding, make a scientific discovery that could set the universe back to square one. Violence, some descriptions of sex, and some strong language.	Nebula award 1997
.	McDowell, Ian	Mordred's Curse	1999/09	Fantasy
.	Gibson, William	Virtual Light	1999/10	Cyberpunk	Berry Rydell, an ex-cop recently arrived in San Francisco, now is the driver for a detective looking for a missing pair of sunglasses -- a special pair that lets the wearer see a secret plan for rebuilding San Francisco. When Berry crosses paths with Chevette Washington, a bike messenger who stole the glasses, they team up to prevent the return of the glasses to their rightful owner.
.	McCammon, Robert	Swan Song	1999/11	Dystopia	A horror novel set in a future world born of nuclear disaster where ancient evil roams a devastated America. The Man with the Scarlet Eye, the Man of Many Faces, gathers under his power the forces of human greed and madness while searching for the child named Swan who has the gift of life.
.	Chamas, Suzy McKee	Ruby Tear	1999/12	Vampire
.	Willis, Connie	To Say Nothing of the Dog	2000/01	Time travel	In 2057 Lady Schrapnell endows a time-travel project in return for help in rebuilding Coventry Cathedral. The only object she needs for the newly restored building is the bishop’s bird stump. Ned Henry is sent back to 1940 to retrieve it before the church burns, but he arrives a few hours too late--which is just the beginning of his problems.
.	Nitkin, Debbie, ed	Flying Cups and Saucers	2000/02	Short Stories
.	Kay, Guy Gavriel	Tigana	2000/03	Fantasy	The kingdom of Tigana defeated the forces of Brandin--a king and sorcerer--and killed his son. In retaliation Frandin casts a spell on the land, killing many and decreeing that Tigana’s name never again be spoken. Alessan, exiled heir to the Tigana throne, has gathered about him a small group of conspirators. The company travel as musicians and await the time they can reclaim their land.


.	Baxter, Stephen	Raft	2000/04	SF
.	Jacques, Brian	Redwall	2000/05	Fantasy	Fantasy about a community of mice defending their monastery against marauding rats led by the evil Cluny the Scourge. Matthias defers his peaceful ideals to follow his calling as successor to the renowned Martin, who long ago saved the monastery. With the help of old Methuselah, Matthias seeks to unravel a key riddle and recover Martin’s lost scabbard and sword.
.	Lucas, George and Chris Claremont	Shadow Moon	2000/06	Fantasy
.	Lee, Tanith	Silver Metal Lover	2000/07	SF
.	Gaiman, Neil	Stardust	2000/08	Fantasy	The town of Wall in rural England borders on a bewitched meadow inhabited by Faeries. At a festival, Dunstan Thorn, of Wall, mates with a Faerie lass and produces a son, Tristran. Years later, Tristran promises his intended to retrieve a fallen star and embarks on an arduous quest.
.	LaHaye, Tim	Left Behind	2000/09	Fantasy	As Captain Rayford Steele pilots a plane across the Atlantic, his senior flight attendant, Hattie Durham, gives him the shocking news that half the passengers have disappeared. Before long, he learns that people are missing all over the world. Rayford, his priest, and several others form the Tribulation Force to fight the Antichrist.
.	Thomson, Amy	Through Alien Eyes	2000/10	SF
.	Stackpole, Michael	Talion: Revenant	2000/11	Fantasy
.	Wyndam, John	Day of the Triffids	2000/12	SF	A blinding blast from meteors causes earth to be overrun by great flesh-eating plants which almost exterminate mankind. The survivors are not only fighting against hostile forms of life, but also against each other.
.	King, Stephen	Dark Tower: The Gunslinger	2001/01	Fantasy	gunslinger travels through time seeking vengeance for the death of his father and the dishonoring of his mother.
.	Cormier, Robert	Fade	2001/02	SF	The year is 1938 and Paul Moreaux, thirteen, thinks he and his family are quite ordinary. Then Uncle Adelard comes to explain that Paul has inherited the ability to "fade"--to become invisible. This gift/curse passes from uncle to nephew. Paul is at first bewildered, then thrilled by his power. But soon he begins to see things better left unseen, and to learn things better left unknown.
.	Bear, Greg	Darwin's Radio	2001/03	SF	Disgraced archaeologist Mitch Rafelson, geneticist Kaye Lang, and government epidemiologist Christopher Dicken are embroiled in researching a miscarriage-producing virus named SHEVA, which spontaneously generates replacement pregnancies of new evolutionary humans. The ensuing panic spreads worldwide. Then Kaye becomes pregnant.
.	Weber, David	War God's Own	2001/04	Fantasy	Bahzell Bahnakson, a horse stealer of the rage-prone hradani people, is the unlikely new champion of the war god Tomanak. Bahzell must prove himself to the human knights of the Order of Tomanak to unite the Empire against the Dark Gods.	Sequel to Oath of Swords
.	Sawyer, Robert	Factoring Humanity	2001/05	SF
.	LeGuin, Ursula	Always Coming Home	2001/06	SF	A rich and diffuse portrait of the ethnology and the sexual roles and relationships in a future, vaguely Amerindian society in northern California. Based on human values, the group shuns the use of most high technology. The novel chronicles the life of a woman, Stone Telling, and includes folk tales, poems, descriptions of rituals and beliefs, and plays.
.	McKillip, Patricia	Tower at Stony Wood	2001/07	Fantasy	As the king of Yves prepares to marry the woman he believes is his beloved, the bard of Skye implores an impoverished knight, Cyan Dag, to find the true bride, who is trapped in a tower in Skye. Cyan undertakes the quest into dangerous magical realms
.	Hodgell, P.C.	God Stalk	2001/08	Fantasy	Jaime, a young Kencyr, is the heroine of this brilliant young adult allegorical fantasy by a professor at UW-eau Claire.
.	Blish, James	Case of Conscience	2001/09
.	Winding, Terri	Wood Wife	2001/10
.	Simmons, Dan	Children of the Night	2001/11		An ancient vampire returns to post-Ceausescu Romania to await the birth of his successor and then to die. Meanwhile, American hematologist Kate Neuman is sent to Bucharest to advise and assist orphanages. Unable to help one orphan without better technology, Neuman adopts him. Back in Colorado she is shocked to learn that the infant is absorbing blood transfusions. And someone is trying to take him back.


.	Mason, Lisa	Cyberweb	2001/12		While Carly Nolan attempts to regain her reputation as a telespace attorney, she goes to work for a mainframe artificial intelligence called Cognatus. Carly learns that Cognatus, a silicon supremacist, intends to seize control of telespace.	Sequel to Arachne
.	Rowling, J.K.	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	2002/01	Fantasy	On Harry Potter’s eleventh birthday, he learns that he is more than an unwanted orphan. The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry recruits him because he has inherent magical abilities. As he purchases his school supplies--robes, wand, and messenger owl--Harry looks forward to attending his new boarding school.
.	Varley, John	Titan	2002/02
.	Pullman, Philip	Golden Compass	2002/03	Fantasy	A tale set in Victorian England on an alternate Earth. Young Lyra Belacqua and her daemon enjoy an idyllic life among the scholars at Jordan College. Then her friend Roger and other children are abducted by the Gobblers. Venturing north in pursuit, Lyra encounters an alien and sinister world.
.	Hand, Elizabeth	Winterlong	2002/04		In the far future, a post-holocaust civilization has created a nightmarish, sensuous world populated by bizarre, genetically altered humans. Wendy, a young, neurologically augmented empath, finds herself drawn to a young man trained from birth as a sacred prostitute. Together they attempt to foil an insane dictator who plots a final revolution that would signal the end of humanity.
.	Noon, Jeff	Automated Alice	2002/05
.	Hopkinson, Nalo	Midnight Robber	2002/06		Sixteen-year-old Tan-Tan is forced to leave her planet, Toussaint, and the other Caribbean descendants to live in a prison world with her abusive father, a criminal. But Tan-Tan murders him and escapes to make her way among the indigenous species.
.	Vinge, Vernor	Fire Upon the Deep	2002/07	SF	Space is divided into zones of intelligence from the Unthinking Depths to the Slow Zone, where Earth resides, to the Beyond, and finally to the Transcend, where the inhabitants are intelligent but survive for only a brief time. When a colony within the Beyond releases a predator, known as the Blight, all zones are endangered. One ship escapes to the Unthinking Depths, but when it lands, the only survivors are two children.
.	Vinge, Joan D.	Snow Queen	2002/08	Fantasy	Arienrhod, the ancient but beautiful Winter Queen of the planet Tiamant, creates a secret clone of herself. She seeks to ensure her survival through the harsh 150-year summer when the technologically advanced offworlders will abandon the planet, letting her artificially maintained life come to an end.
.	Haydon, Elizabeth	Rhapsody	2002/09
.	Martin, George R.R.	Fevre Dream	2002/10	Vampire	A chilling tale of terror evokes the picturesque years and grand legends of the steamboat era. The story involves a noble vampire, his corrupt and powerful blood-master, a talkative steamboat captain, and the haunting power of the Mississippi River.
.	Baxter, Stephen	Manifold Time	2002/11	SF
.	Willis, Connie	Bellwether	2002/12		Sandra Foster studies fads and their meanings for the HiTek corporation. Bennet O’Reilly works with monkey group behavior and chaos theory for the same company. When the two are thrust together due to a misdelivered package and a run of seemingly bad luck, they find a joint project in a flock of sheep. But a series of setbacks and disappointments arise before they are able to find answers to their questions.
.	Gaiman, Neil	Neverwhere	2003/01		En route to a formal dinner, London businessman Richard Mayhew spots a young woman lying wounded in the street. He takes the victim to his home and awakes the next day to find that he has lost his identity in the real world. Mayhew joins the now-healed woman in a perilous quest through an eerie subterranean realm.
.	Simak, Clifford D.	Way Station	2003/02	SF	Enoch Wallace looks like any other man on Earth except that he is more than one hundred years old and shows no signs of aging. As keeper of Earth’s only way station, he is the only human allowed to communicate with intergalactic beings.	Hugo award
.	Koontz, Dean	Lightning	2003/03	Horror	Throughout her thirty years, Laura Shane has been trailed by a tall, blonde, blue-eyed stranger who mysteriously appears with a bolt of lightning and rescues her from injury or death. She silently accepts him as her guardian angel until one snowy day, after saving her family from a fatal car crash, he reveals his true identity and his desperate need for her help.
.	Brunner, John	Stand on Zanzibar	2003/04		Manhattan, 2010. Roommates Norman House and Donald Hogan must find their way in an overpopulated world of megabrain computers, mass-market psychedelics, and eugenics. One is a junior vice president, the other a mild-mannered student and programmed assassin.	Hugo award
.	Wilhelm, Kate	Where Late the Sweet Birds Sing	2003/05
.	Bujold, Lois McMaster	Curse of Chalion	2003/06	Fantasy	Lupe dy Cazaril, once betrayed and sold into slavery, returns to the royal household he once served, hoping to find a menial job. Instead he is favored with the position of secretary-tutor to the royal princess. But a curse lies over the House of Chalion, endangering Cazaril and all within the royal circle.
.	Feist, Raymond	Magician	2003/07	Fantasy	Orphan Pug becomes apprentice to master magician Kulgan in the Kingdom of the Isles, earning a place in court and the heart of the princess. When he encounters dark beings from another world, Pug realizes he has much to learn about wizardry.


.	Turner, George	Drowning Towers	2003/08	Dystopia
.	Little, Bentley	Store	2003/09	Horror		jbs - glad I was introduced to Bentley Little, the stories start off so very plausible, makes for great horror
.	Schmitz, James	Witches of Karres	2003/10	Classic	A space-fantasy in which young Captain Pausert is about to settle down to the life of a commercial trader with his spaceship when he meets the three wackiest witches in the galaxy. In no time, the witches involve him in a war spanning the entire universe.
.	Scott, Melissa	Jazz	2003/11	Cyberpunk
.	Tepper, Sheri	True Game: Kings Blood Four	2003/12	Fantasy
.	Leiber, Fritz	Swords and Deviltry	2004/01	Fantasy
.	Carroll, Jonathan	Wooden Sea	2004/02	Fantasy	For small-town police chief Frannie McCabe, the death of his recently adopted three-legged dog is a dubious omen. Frannie’s surreal adventures include a visit from his teenage self, time travel, and extraterrestrials, who inform him that he has just one week to understand his role in the cosmic puzzle
.	Ford, John M.	Dragon Waiting	2004/03	Fantasy	A historical fantasy. In 1478, at the time of the Renaissance, a Welsh wizard, a noble Greek mercenary, a woman doctor from the court of the Medici, and a German vampire who is a munitions expert, join forces to bring Richard III to the throne.
.	McKillip, Patricia	Riddle Master of Hed	2004/04	Fantasy	Morgon, Prince of Hed, seeks the answer to the riddle of the three stars on his forehead and on the enchanted harp and sword that only he can use.
.	Gaiman, Neil	American Gods	2004/05	Fantasy	On his way to his wife’s funeral, ex-convict Shadow meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who has an uncanny knowledge of Shadow’s life. Accepting Wednesday’s job offer throws Shadow into a supernatural world where ancient gods abound.	jbs - couldn't get into this book, stopped after 100 pages
.	Lethem, Jonathan	Gun with Occasional Music	2004/06	SF	Conrad Metcalf, a private inquisitor, works in a near-future Oakland, California. He is listening to a musical version of the news when he is approached by Orton Angwine. Orton has been accused of the murder of a prominent doctor, and he is totally out of karmic points. The next step for Orton is the deep freeze--unless Metcalf can help him.
.	Gerrold, David	Matter for Men	2004/07	SF	The Ultimate Attack...A Mysterious Alien Predator...The Omnivorous Chtorr!
.	Bujold, Lois McMaster	Paladin of Souls	2004/08	Fantasy	Free of the madness that imprisoned her in The Curse of Chalion (BR 13712), dowager Royina Ista undertakes a pilgrimage of atonement. With her followers, Ista contends with gods, demons, and soldier-bandits until she is rescued by the hero of her visions.
.	Cherryh, C.J.	Foreigner	2004/09	SF	More than 500 years ago, the Phoenix set out from Earth for a carefully chosen planet in another solar system. The ship never arrives. It ends up in a world where those on board trade human technology for peace and refuge on the island of Mospheira. For 200 years the humans work through a "paidhi" (translator) to sell their secrets. But now their "paidhi" has become the target of an assassin.
.	Lowachee, Karin	Warchild	2004/10
.	Datlow, E., ed.	Dark: New Ghost Stories	2004/11	Short Stories, Horror
.	Black, Holly	Tithe: a Modern Faerie Tale	2004/12	Fantasy	Sixteen-year-old Kaye, the daughter of a wannabe rock singer now living at the Jersey shore, has been visited by faeries all her life. She discovers that she is a changeling with a special destiny that includes a handsome knight and a war.