The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

Nominations for the February 2021 read are for books published from 1980-1999.

SF novels or short story collection/anthologies that have not previously been read by the group are eligible. Please check the bookshelf & the nomination rules for further clarification before nominating a book.

Previously nominated books are on this bookshelf. More qualifying authors & books can be found here.

Please add your nominated book title as a clickable link directly to the goodreads' book page, with author and year, so it looks like this:
Children of Time
Adrian Tchaikovsky
2015
(If you can't create book links, please include the URL to the book.)

Tell us why you chose the book that you're nominating. Remember that books require seconding now. We'll close this nomination thread on the 15th of December in order to have plenty of time for poll(s) and then for acquisitions of the winner(s).

Hold for nominations

Nominated:
Other Americas by Norman Spinrad, nom by Ronald
Hello America by J.G. Ballard, nom by Susan
Dawn for a Distant Earth by L.E. Modesitt Jr., nom by Mod Jim
The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May, nom by Leo

Nominated & Seconded so eligible for the poll:

I nominate Other Americas by Norman Spinrad.

The book is comprised of four novellas, each about a future America.

I'm getting a little concerned that there won't be a poll because thus far no book got Seconded nomination.

I nominate Hello America (1981) by J.G. Ballard.

Ronald wrote: "I'm getting a little concerned that there won't be a poll because thus far no book got Seconded nomination."

Don't worry! The nominations are open until the 15th of June! (Actually, December.) There is time. I may 2nd your book, or a different one. We'll see....

Whoops! I see I forgot to edit the end date in the first message. I've fixed it.

I'll nominate Dawn for a Distant Earth by L.E. Modesitt Jr.. It's the first of a trilogy, but stands alone well. The MC is a feral child of a ruined Earth that is civilized & takes on a mission to fix the ecosystem. There's a fair amount of action.

I nominate The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May. It is the first of a series of 4 books, looks like fantasy but in fact was nominated for hugo and nebula and won the Locus SF award.

I would second "Other Americas", but it has limited availability, so I think people wouldn't participate. A kindle version is cheap, and would work for me, but there is no audio version and used copies of the paperback start around $20.

No books were seconded, so we put them all on the poll. Vote for your pick here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

The poll has a 3 way tie going out of 4 books right now.