Beyond Reality discussion

Hi everyone,

Because Beyond Reality is forward-thinking and pro time-travel, it's 2015 now as far as our BotM nominations go!

It's time to open nominations for our January 2015 Books of the Month. Each group member can 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.

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 2012-Present
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 Monday, October 20.
• The first round of polls will open Tuesday, October 21, and will run through 11:59PM PST, Saturday, October 25 (closing Midnight PST October 26.)
• The run-off polls go up Sunday, October 26, and will be open through 11:59PM PST Thursday, October 30 (closing Midnight PST October 31.)

Thanks!


NOMINATIONS SO FAR:

FANTASY:
Homunculus by James P. Blaylock (Kurt)
The Incrementalists by Steven Brust (Ken)
Lovecraft Unbound ed. by Ellen Datlow (Nick)
The Element of Fire by Martha Wells (Helen)
California Bones by Greg Van Eekhout (Carol.)
The Bell at Sealey Head by Patricia A. McKillip (Mary)

SCIENCE FICTION:
A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt (Kurt)
Burning Paradise by Robert Charles Wilson (Ken)
The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters (Carol.)
The January Dancer by Michael Flynn (Mary)

For Fantasy I'll nominate Homunculus by James P. Blaylock. It's a steampunk novel from one of the pioneers of Steampunk.

For science Fiction I'll nominate A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt. It's the first book in the Alex Benedict series. The main character is Indiana Jones and Han Solo put together but is female.

I will nominate a couple
Burning Paradise for SF
The Incrementalists for Fanatasy

Both are stand alone and both by some pretty good authors

In Halloween spirit, and knowing that by the time the book is actually up for discussion Halloween will be long gone, I am going to nominate for Fantasy Lovecraft Unbound, a collection of Cthulhu inspired stories by, as the GR blurb says, some of today's most prominent writers. It's an Ellen Datlow collection.

In the interest of giving us a bigger choice I'm adding The Element of Fire. I haven't read it but I have enjoyed other works by her.

For fantasy, I'll nominate California Bones, which I really enjoyed. It's an alternate-world California, so there's magic, as well as lots of water. It's also a heist story, so it moves quite fast.

For sci-fi--and this might be debatable--I offer a pre-apocalyptic mystery: The Last Policeman. I'm always a little confused how I categorize post-apocalyptic stuff, but in this case, it's modern society that is about to be impacted by an asteroid in 6 months, so the question becomes about society, values and the like if the world is ending.

I nominate

Michael Flynn's The January Dancer for SF, far-future Space Opera with fantastic, elaborate world-building and intriguing politics.

and Patricia A. McKillip's The Bell at Sealey Head for fantasy -- her worlds of marvels and wonders

Carol. [All cynic, all the time] wrote: "For sci-fi--and this might be debatable--I offer a pre-apocalyptic mystery: The Last Policeman.."

I'm good with "The Last Policeman" for sci-fi. It's exactly the kind of thought-provoking "what if" scenario that good sci-fi ought to be. And since it does not have "Fantasy" listed ahead of "Sci Fi" on its GR main page, it's good to go, IMO.

Nick wrote: "I'm good with "The Last Policeman" for sci-fi. It's exactly..."

Sounds good to me. I was thinking along the same lines--a classic sci-fi scenario updated.

Nominations are closed, and the first polls are up.

Vote here:

Fantasy: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Science Fiction: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

The run-off polls are up:

Science Fiction: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Fantasy: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...