SPSFC5- Best Sample Chapters
I was going to record reading the opening lines of the books which impressed me most, but I am rapidly losing interest in the project.
In case you have been following along and are curious, here are links to what I consider to be the strongest opening chapters in this year’s competition. I figured some value may as well come from reading all ~120 opening chapters.
The Germans Have a Word for It
Books which stood out for the title/cover, blurb and sample chapter were Echo of the Larkspur, Man with Gun, Offline God, The Triangle Age, We Don’t Start Fights and Who Nuked Silicon Valley? If I had to guess likely finalists I would pick Echo of the Larkspur, Offline God and Who Nuked Silicon Valley?
If I am to commit the many hours needed to read a novel I need a promise of learning or experiencing something I have never encountered before. Many of these books are highly polished variations on familiar sci-fi tropes, which is commendable since many readers are looking for exactly that. The only stand out by my personal criteria is “Operation Reboot”, so I might give that a go if I run out of non-fiction books to read and review for my other substack (Recombination Nation).
That might be the end of my interest in the SPSFC and in novel length writing in general. I still believe in the power of writing, but that isn’t synonymous with novels or even text in its final published form. I’ll have some more thoughts on that front in the near future.
Shane, I wrote "Who Nuked Silicon Valley?" I'm so thrilled you liked the start of it. There are so many great books in this year's SPSFC, but it is insightful what you say about the waning interest in novels. Did you see the survey that reported a 40% decline in reading for pleasure?