This is it, the week that breaks my heart. Both these books are very near and dear to me, both have changed my life in different ways. Neither is very traditional SF. These are not books that are commonly spoken of among the greats of the genre - in fact both commonly get shelved in the Literature section despite obvious SF elements. Why? I kinda hate to say this, but it's because they're both just that good, and the English teachers of the world don't want them relegated to the SF ghetto that they don't understand or appreciate. They both have obvious literary merit and (as I can attest) the power to change someone's life. But they are both also SF. I think Flowers is actually an especially pure Science Fiction story - taking one new development in science and following the implications. Cat's Cradle uses it's SF idea as more of a backdrop rather than a centerpiece - but Ice-9 is a classic science fiction idea and results in one of the most unique end-of-the-world scenarios ever written. And did I mention the book is damn funny as well? Not many authors can pull off post-apocalypse with obvious literary merit and still manage to make you laugh. Vonnegut can.
Anyway, just the fact that both these books are in the final 16 here says we've got some folks with taste. Shame that only one of them can go on. And if you haven't read both of these, you really owe it to yourself!
Last week's Martian challenge saw Stranger in a Strange Land barely win out over The Martian Chronicles. So Valentine Michael Smith will go on to grok his place in the quarterfinals.