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[Fbh]

Just finished City of Miracles (really fun and probably my favourite one from the trilogy) and am looking for something new to read. And I realised that I don't know where to look.
There's just so many books and it's hard to even get an idea of which ones might be good or bad. I'm into Science Fiction and non generic fantasy (or other weird stuff)

I've been using Goodreads for a while but don't really know how trustworthy it is since all the scores and awards are user based and I don't trust user scores. I've discovered some good books through it but then I see stuff like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child winning fantasy book of the year in 2016 by a landslide (with 128k votes vs 38k from the second place) and The Wise Mans Fear (probably the worst sequel I've ever read) with a 4.6/5 rating and I start to worry that the highly rated stuff are the COD's and Assassins Creeds of books

So where do you guys get book recommendations from? Where do you go to decide what to read next?



Bonus question: Good Omens any good? I don't know Terry Pratchett but I liked American Gods from Gaiman

 

[yet_another_alt]

I usually don't tend to go to reading lists to check out what to read. Mostly I grab anthologies and if I like something there then I look at that author's other works.
Good Omens feels more Pratchett than Gaiman, it's tone is close to Pratchett's playful one.

 

[TheShadowLord]

reddit/r/books

 

[ilfait]

I start to worry that the highly rated stuff are the COD's and Assassins Creeds of books.

In my experience your worry's warranted.

I know this sounds unlikely, but 4chan's /lit/ is a good source for recommendations. I saw one of their best novels of all time lists posted on reddit, thought it was excellent, and found some other great things to read that way.

Here's their 2016 list, and here's 2017.

They have pretty extensive lists and charts for particular genres and eras too, so if you're looking for sci-fi/fantasy/weird recs, you'll find those there. They have a wiki. Let me know if you need help.

And here's a giant flowchart for NPR's top 100 sci-fi and fantasy that may be helpful.

The Wonderful 101 rocks.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I actually don't have a good answer for one place. I spent quite a lot of time looking into various books, reading reviews, asking friends to recommend me stuff, and I've actually avoided quite a lot of crappy books over the past 5 years. Goodreads can be helpful. Top 100 lists can be helpful too. At some point, you just have to dive in and try to triangulate where in the genre you landed to find similar authors. And along the way, you end up reading crappy books when you miscalculate.

I've been a voracious reader since childhood. And I've honed my "bad book" sense pretty well (which is just a snobby way of saying I'm self-aware about my own tastes). Sometimes it's not about making a wishlist of books to read, but rather about reading one, pausing, evaluating what you liked about it, and chasing down a similar author.

My recommendations based on nothing more than a gut feeling: read Hannu Rajaniemi's 'The Quantum Thief' trilogy. It's good sci-fi and I can tell you it's good because I'm re-reading it. Any book that I enjoy upon a re-read is at least "good" in my eyes. It is the next leap forward for cyberpunk and post-human sci-fi. Nobody is writing cyberpunk like Rajaniemi is.

The other one I'll recommend is A.A. Attanasio. I've read 'Radix' and 'In Other Worlds' and then bought all his other stuff (or most of it). He's super weird but fascinating at the same time, kinda like album cover-art for Asia mashed together with some Foss.

What are some other sci-fi books you have your eye on?

 

[Papa]

Sounds like we need to start our own.

It’s not sci fi but I’ll take any chance I can get to plug The North Water by Ian McGuire. Like Moby Dick meets Blood Meridian. Best book I’ve read in a very long time.