Chris’s Comments (group member since Feb 25, 2011)

Chris’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

Final polls are now open! What would you like to read in May 2026?

This was a close one! We had a tie in the preliminary Fantasy vote, so you an extra choice.

Please vote! Polls close Saturday February 28 2026.

Final Fantasy Poll

Final SF Poll

Kathi wrote: "Random wrote: "FYI - Looks like the fantasy poll was created twice."

Thanks for catching that, Random! Fortunately one of the 2 had no votes yet, so I deleted that one."

Thanks, Random and Kathi! No idea what happened there, but I'm glad you caught it!

Preliminary polls are now open! What would you like to read in May 2026?

Please vote! Polls close Saturday February 21 2026.

Preliminary Fantasy Poll

Preliminary SF Poll

Hello everyone!
It's time to open nominations for our May 2026 Books of the Month.

Each group member may make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination in this thread. If you would like to make a nomination, please reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s) you would like to put forward for the group’s consideration. A couple of suggestions to keep in mind:

1. Telling us a little about the book and why you think it would be a good group read can help get other members interested in reading (and voting for) your nomination. If possible, please use a link to the book and author in your nomination post. Click on “add book/author" for an easy way to do that.

2. To see if your nomination has already been read by the group, you can check:

a. the group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month

and/or

b. these threads:
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2018 - Present
Master list of Previous Books of the Month (Apr-Dec 2017)
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2012 - 2017
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2006 - 2011

Books the group has read in the past 2 years are not eligible for current consideration. Being chosen as a past BotM prior to that time is not an automatic disqualification, but be aware that it may hinder your nomination’s chances at the polls.

General guidelines:
• Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!
• For questions regarding specifics such as book formats, books in series, self-nomination and various rules for nominations, please see the group FAQ.
• Seconding isn't necessary in this group.
• Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
• Nominations will remain open through Saturday February 14.
• The first (preliminary) round of polls will open Sunday February 15 and will run through Saturday February 21.
• The final run-off polls go up Sunday February 22 and will be open through Saturday February 28.

Thanks!
Chris, Moderator

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:
SCIENCE FICTION:
Murder by Memory
Docile
Dying of the Light
Finder
Dark Universe

FANTASY:
Greenteeth
The Witchstone
The Malevolent Seven
The Thief's Gamble

I read this last month for another book club, so I'm also ready to jump in. I was a bit concerned at the beginning -- did we really need ANOTHER school-based fantasy??

But it was wonderful to have a teacher protagonist instead of a teen. It's so accurate -- teachers love to teach, but there's also a lot of administrative work, and never enough time to get it all done. There are some terrific passages about why people choose to teach -- those special moments to make a difference in a young person's life.

All of our characters have competences, but also flaws. Most of them felt very well-rounded, except perhaps for Mark.

I liked the demonology, too. I am convinced that all copiers are inhabited by imps that require periodic appeasement ....

Final polls are now open! We had a tie in the Fantasy choice, so you have more choices than usual. What would you like to read in April 2026?

Please vote! Polls close Saturday January 31 2026.

Final Fantasy Poll

Final SF Poll

Preliminary polls are now open! What would you like to read in April 2026?

Please vote! Polls close Saturday January 24 2026.

Preliminary Fantasy Poll

Preliminary SF Poll

I enjoyed Daughter of the Forest so much that I'll nominate the second book of the trilogy, Son of the Shadows for Fantasy.

Hello everyone!
It's time to open nominations for our April 2026 Books of the Month.

Each group member may make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination in this thread. If you would like to make a nomination, please reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s) you would like to put forward for the group’s consideration. A couple of suggestions to keep in mind:

1. Telling us a little about the book and why you think it would be a good group read can help get other members interested in reading (and voting for) your nomination. If possible, please use a link to the book and author in your nomination post. Click on “add book/author" for an easy way to do that.

2. To see if your nomination has already been read by the group, you can check:

a. the group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month

and/or

b. these threads:
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2018 - Present
Master list of Previous Books of the Month (Apr-Dec 2017)
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2012 - 2017
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2006 - 2011

Books the group has read in the past 2 years are not eligible for current consideration. Being chosen as a past BotM prior to that time is not an automatic disqualification, but be aware that it may hinder your nomination’s chances at the polls.

General guidelines:
• Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!
• For questions regarding specifics such as book formats, books in series, self-nomination and various rules for nominations, please see the group FAQ.
• Seconding isn't necessary in this group.
• Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
• Nominations will remain open through Saturday January 17.
• The first (preliminary) round of polls will open Sunday January 18 and will run through Saturday January 24.
• The final run-off polls go up Sunday January 25 and will be open through Saturday January 31.

Thanks!
Chris, Moderator

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:
SCIENCE FICTION:
Dying of the Light
The Book of Lost Hours
Dark Theory
Halcyon Years
The Merge

FANTASY:
Son of the Shadows
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
The Hanging City
Becoming a Druid
Echoes of the Great Song
Stone Blind

I agree with you, Shel. It was a quick and entertaining read. It's been a while since we read the other books in the series, but I think there was enough context given that this can be read as a standalone. A rescue mission was a good launching point for the story, and I found Ran's inadvertent dry humor enjoyable.

This was a great reimagining of Grimm's The Six Swans story. The characters were well imagined; Sorcha in particular was sympathetic yet fierce, and each of the six brothers had individual personalities. The conflict between the Irish and Britons made for a good backdrop. I enjoyed this very much.

Kathi, as you mentioned, this was a complete story, but there are other books in the series. Did you go on to read those?

I got about half way though, and I'm calling it quits. I just can't seem to care about any of these characters, and the plot is too slow for me to stay engaged. Maybe there will be a big payoff, but other books on the shelf are calling to me ....

Final polls are now open! What would you like to read in March 2026?

Please vote! Polls close Wednesday December 31 2025.

Final Fantasy Poll

Final SF Poll

Preliminary polls are now open! What would you like to read in March 2026?

Please vote! Polls close Tuesday December 23 2025.

Preliminary Fantasy Poll

Preliminary SF Poll

Dawn wrote: "Science Fiction:
Syncopation: A Novel in Verse by Whitney French

Dawn,
After review, the moderators have decided to disallow your nomination for Syncopation. It doesn't appear to be widely available. Most sellers have it marked as unavailable or waiting for stock, and we don't want a nominee that our members can't access. You are welcome to renominate in the future if it becomes more widely available.

Would you like to make another Scifi nomination for this month?

Hello everyone!
It's time to open nominations for our March 2026 Books of the Month.

Each group member may make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination in this thread. If you would like to make a nomination, please reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s) you would like to put forward for the group’s consideration. A couple of suggestions to keep in mind:

1. Telling us a little about the book and why you think it would be a good group read can help get other members interested in reading (and voting for) your nomination. If possible, please use a link to the book and author in your nomination post. Click on “add book/author" for an easy way to do that.

2. To see if your nomination has already been read by the group, you can check:

a. the group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month

and/or

b. these threads:
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2018 - Present
Master list of Previous Books of the Month (Apr-Dec 2017)
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2012 - 2017
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2006 - 2011

Books the group has read in the past 2 years are not eligible for current consideration. Being chosen as a past BotM prior to that time is not an automatic disqualification, but be aware that it may hinder your nomination’s chances at the polls.

General guidelines:
• Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!
• For questions regarding specifics such as book formats, books in series, self-nomination and various rules for nominations, please see the group FAQ.
• Seconding isn't necessary in this group.
• Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
• Nominations will remain open through Tuesday December 16.
• The first (preliminary) round of polls will open Wednesday December 17 and will run through Tuesday December 23.
• The final run-off polls go up Wednesday December 24 and will be open through Wednesday December 31.

Thanks!
Chris, Moderator

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:
SCIENCE FICTION:
Dying of the Light
Infomocracy
Esperance
Ancestral Night

FANTASY:
The Book of Doors
If Found, Return to Hell
Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit
The Bewitching

Whether you like it or not, Neuromancer is considered inspiration for quite a few other books and movies. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming Apple TV next year.

I notice that The Master of Whitestorm has been proposed for multiple months but has never been selected as a book of the month. Would anyone be interested in having the mods create a separate comments thread for people who would like to read that book on their own?

Final polls are now open! What would you like to read in February 2026?

Please vote! Polls close Sunday November 30 2025.

Final Fantasy Poll

Final SF Poll

Preliminary polls are now open! What would you like to read in February 2026?

Please vote! Polls close Saturday November 22 2025.

Preliminary Fantasy Poll

Preliminary SF Poll