Space Opera Fans discussion

Greetings Space Opera Fans!

It's that time of the month where we'll nominate what books we wish to read as a group in February. Up this month you can nominate in the following categories:

READER PICK: This is for a widely available mass market book that a community member can walk into any major bookstore or library and find, that is also available on at least (3) major distribution platforms in e-book form as well (i.e., no Kindle-only).

INDIE PICK: This category is for those nifty, edgy new books, a chance to root for the little guy who doesn't have a big publishing house budget behind him (or her) to help them get discovered. Because we use Random.org to pick a winner, authors are allowed to nominate their own books.

YOUNG ADULT-FRIENDLY PICK: This is for a contemporary (i.e., less than 15 years old) Space Opera-ish science fiction book (must have a space element, can't just be dystopia) specifically written to appeal to young people aged 12-17 with a 12-17 year old protagonist. Our goal is to find awesome space opera books we can then hand our kids/grandkids/neices/nephews etc to read and DISCUSS and make them realize both we and space opera are massively cool! Nominations must be available in both ebook and paperback and rated at least 3.5 stars.

SERIES PICK: Yay! It's time for a brand new series! Rules are the same as they are with the READER PICK, only it doesn't have to be mass-market print run. Small-press titles are fine -so long as- the book and ebook are both available on all platforms worldwide, including the library Overdrive catalog, and the series starter has a minimum of 100 reviews with a minimum 3.80 rating. There must be at least three (3) books currently released in the series.

MOD PICK: -IF- for some reason the Random.org randomizer leaves us lopsided, your Borg Queen will select something at her discretion to balance it out. Our goal here is to have something interesting for everybody to read. If the selections are balanced, however, then no MOD PICK.

Leave your nominations in the thread below (please link the book cover if you know how as it helps me ... a lot) and on the 1st of the month we'll use Random.org to pick a winner from each category.

Be epic!
Anna Erishkigal
SOF MOD

READER PICK: Leviathan Wakes
YOUNG ADULT-FRIENDLY PICK: Ender's Game
SERIES PICK: Ancillary Justice
So excited to try out new space opera!

Since there seems to be an Expanse tv show out soon, I'll second Leviathan Wakes.

I tend not to nominate as I get a MOD PICK if the pickings are unbalanced, but I've got Leviathan Wakes sitting on my bookshelf, waiting for me to find time to read it, so I won't be disappointed if it wins :-)

Okay ... cover bling so far:

READER PICK:




YOUNG-ADULT FRIENDLY PICK:




SERIES PICK:




INDIE PICK:

?

INDIE PICK:
That Which is Human by Bruce Davis.

I've read it once and it would be nice to have an excuse to read it again.

Adding this so my cover bling has an INDIE PICK :-)


READER PICK:




YOUNG-ADULT FRIENDLY PICK:




SERIES PICK:




INDIE PICK:

Wouldn't it be easier to just edit one post?

Indie Pick: Beneath the Sky I have read this author's other book and enjoyed it very much. I just started reading this one. I'd like to encourage other readers to discover him, because I think he's not very good at marketing himself.

Series Pick: Quarter Share One of my favorite series. Not as heroic as some SO, but I think it's a good down-to earth (space?) adventure.

Series Pick

Earth Unaware by Orson Scott Card

I tried to make sure this one fits the rules, but I'm not 100% certain. I thought I'd nominate it anyway to see if it sticks. Even if not, others should know about it b/c it's a great series.

Here's an excerpt from my review of Book #8...
"Reading this series is like watching a really sequential sci-fi show (Battlestar Galactica (new), Firefly, and Farscape come to mind). I'm very glad I found these, and I encourage anyone who enjoys a good space opera to jump aboard for a fracking shiny holy frell kinda ride!"

Series Pick (could also be an Indie Pick )

Aurora: CV-01 (Frontiers Saga #1) by Ryk Brown

Okay ... updated cover bling!

READER PICK:




YOUNG-ADULT FRIENDLY PICK:




SERIES PICK:




INDIE PICK:



@Zapjohnny - it makes it easier for me to see which nominations I have already logged onto my .xls spreadsheet if I delineate what I've already gotten by moving the post down each time I update it. Make sense? Yes, to just post it once would be easier initially, but this way the people doing the nominating can see if I made a mistake and missed one of the nominations. :-)

[*they be like, 'YO!' Why my nomination not make it onto your spreadsheet, girl?*]

Yep. I've jumped up and down and screamed at you myself. ;)

I also think The reader pick should be in honor of the sci-fi TV channel announcement of The Expanse.

For young adult I am picking since I loved the first one and have been looking forward to it.

For a series The Expanse series.

Oh yea my indie pick is

So, young adult pick:

Indie pick:

Hi,

Been working my way through Jack McDevitt's "Alex Benedict" series - there are 7 in the series so far and each has a focus around missing space ships, new distant planets, missing objects, advanced alien technology, lots of puzzles & intrigue ....

So as my suggestion for the Series pick - start working through this series.


Cheers
Philby

For the Feb. Indie Pick: I'd love to nominate The Trader - Man With No Face


It relatively new, but it has a 5 star rating on Amazon and it's a fast read.

My suggestion for Reader Pick:



The Trilisk Ruins (Parker Interstellar Travels #1) by Michael McCloskey.

This one (and the other books in the series) get some okay reviews, and it's yet another one that I've been meaning to check out.

Les wrote: "My suggestion for Reader Pick:

The Trilisk Ruins (Parker Interstellar Travels #1) by Michael McCloskey.

This one (and the other books in the series) get some okay reviews, and it's yet another on..."

It's a really good story. I didn't realize it was a series. I'll just go add those to my 'to read' pile now. :)

I know we read Dakiti recently but have we read Leviathan Wakes? If not I want to add my nomination for reader pick as Leviathan Wakes as well.

I'd like to recommend my book, Overload Flux, for the Indie Pick. It currently has 33 reviews and an average 4.5-star rating on Amazon.

Overload Flux by Carol Van Natta

It's the first in the new Central Galactic Concordance series.

MorningLightMountain wrote: "Oh yea my indie pick is "

*is flattered* But Dakiti did just get picked in December so that should probably be taken off the list.

I'd love to nominate Dakiti's sequel Nexus as the indie pick, but I have no idea how many people have read the first one so it might be pointless to nominate a sequel

If we'd rather not do that, how about Starshine by G.S. Jennsen?

And ugh I never know what to nominate for the reader pick because I really haven't read that much sci fi, let alone space opera. Still got a lot of catching up to do!

Sorry. I am new to this group and didn't realize Dakiti had already been nominated. I'll wait and see some other suggestions before chiming in with a new one.

MorningLightMountain wrote: "Sorry. I am new to this group and didn't realize Dakiti had already been nominated. I'll wait and see some other suggestions before chiming in with a new one."

No worries. It's cool that you're interested in it enough to nominate it :) The discussion threads from when it was chosen can be found here and here if you want to catch up. The second thread does involve some in-depth character discussion, but it's still pretty spoiler-free.

Leviathan Wakes as a series read maybe?

Carol wrote: "I'd like to recommend my book, Overload Flux, for the Indie Pick. It currently has 33 reviews and an average 4.5-star rating on Amazon.

[book:Overload Flux|233925..."

I'd like to second that nomination. I have already read the book myself but highly recommend it for those who haven't. I was one of those 33 reviews and this book was filled with several of the things that I think make a great read.

MorningLightMountain wrote: "Oh yea my indie pick is "

Hi MorningLightMountain ... we actually just finished up reading Dakiti as a group read a few months ago. E.J. Fisch was nice enough to grant us an SOF Author Interview which you can read right here:

HERE: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

If you want to pick another Indie Pick, I'd love to add one to my spreadhseet :-)

Also UPDATE: I just checked up on Scott Brown's book and Golden Son doesn't qualify as a Young Adult pick ... it's not rated young adult or kidlit on either Amazon or Goodreads and the book description says it stars an 18-year-old protagonist. The point of the YA read is to raise awareness of books people can safely hand their kids/grandkids. Sorry to be a pain :-(

If you want to swap your Leviathan's Wake nomination out for Golden Son, just let me know? Sorry ... I loved Book 1 of the series ... it's just not Young Adult (or an Indie) and there are no more books yet released after Golden Son so I can't count it as a series pick (yet ... maybe he'll write more :-).

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@Philby - Jack McDevitt ... he always hit my military sci-fi funny bone just right :-) Haven't read the Alex Benedict series but wouldn't mind!

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@E.J. - we had enough interest in Dakiti that I put -your- book in for your nomination. You're as entitled as any other Indie author to toss your chip into the hat and take your chance with the Random.org randomizer :-)

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@Les - hi Les! I just checked up on Trilisk and moved your nomination to the INDIE PICK category because Trilisk isn't available to our general library readers ... okay? [*not something I'd expect you to know*] I want to make sure we keep at least ONE category dedicated for people who like to borrow books from the library. Trilisk is still nominated ... just in Indie Pick now.

******

Okay ... here's the cover bling lineup that I've transposed onto my .xls spreadsheet so far:

READER PICK:




YOUNG-ADULT FRIENDLY PICK:




SERIES PICK:




INDIE PICK:



As always ... holler if you think I missed something. I will never disqualify a book without openly stating WHY ... so if it didn't show up either I forgot to add the cover or I forgot to add it to my spreadsheet. Not adding the cover won't change anything, but not adding a book to my spreadsheet is very bad as that's what I use to plug nominations into the Random.org Randomizer.

So far I think Leviathan Wakes has an excellent chance of winning the reader pick...

Is the monthly read just Leviathan Awakes or the complete set of four novels in the series. I have read them all and like chocolate you just can't stop at one !

Is the monthly read just Leviathan Awakes or the complete set of four novels in the series. I have read them all and like chocolate you just can't stop at one !

The Reader Pick is just the one novel. The series pick would be for the entire series, one per month. I haven't read any of them but I've heard good things :)

Ender's Game could also be a series pick.

For series I nominate both Sundiver by David Brin and Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh Foreigner might be too long of a series because it has I think 15 books so far in the series.

Also Spin by Robert Charles Wilson could be either a series and reader pick. It is also going to be a Syfy channel show, but don't know when. Also the second book is different from the first book.

Kevin wrote: "Ender's Game could also be a series pick."

Ender's Game is also a good Young Adult Novel! One of my favorite books.

I'll replace my young adult pick with Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein.

Anna wrote: "@Les - hi Les! I just checked up on Trilisk and moved your nomination to the INDIE PICK category because Trilisk isn't available to our general library readers ... okay? [*not something I'd expect you to know*] I want to make sure we keep at least ONE category dedicated for people who like to borrow books from the library. Trilisk is still nominated ... just in Indie Pick now.

No prob Anna. You're right, I had no idea. I did check to see that it was available as a print book and just went with that. Nice to see (once again) that you have your finger on the pulse!

READER PICK: The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter

INDIE PICK: The Kinsmen: Between Gods and Mortals by Pete Cruickshank

SERIES PICK: The Butlerian Jihad (Legends of Dune #1) by Brian Herbert

Thanks Anna

Young Adult: Is it bad that I read Dune while in High school? Again blame dad. But really my nomination would have to be Earth Girl. Or if that's not feasible: Saving Mars by Cidney Swanson

Reader Pick: I'm bad, still waiting for the 3rd Expanse book to go on sale. Got the other 3. So throwing in the hat for Leviathan.

Indie: Ill have to 2ed Nexus. I know I have it bad when I don't want it to end. Kinda reading other books in my challenge so I can make it last longer.

Series: Dad just bought me the Skyway Series John DeChancie. Not the usual space opera fare but it is interesting so far.

Okay ... will try to get this all right and holler if I didn't...

@Jeffrey ... were you nominating Ender's Game as a Young Adult Pick? Or just commenting (don't want to miss it if you were)

@MorningLightMountain - I added the Heinlein book to the Young Adult Friendly list because I like the book description. However, for future reference, with the Young Adult Friendly pick I'm looking for more contemporary books as it's tough getting kids to read a book that's 60 years old (it was originally published in 1955). We are, alas, or so my tween-aged kids tell me, old fashioned, boring and stratified. I'm trying to lure them away from the vampires and the werewolves, and shamelessly tapping into my aweswome Space Opera Fans readers collective knowledge to scope out great modern teen reads which will keep them engaged :-)

@Les - my husband is a hopeless 'if it's not free at the library in hardcover, than I'm not interested in reading it' type of person, so I like to make sure at least one group read is available for people who prefer to read dead trees :-)

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Urf! For some reason Goodreads isn't putting in the bookcovers when I try to add them. Okay ... I'm going to list these analog and then I'll come back and try again later when Goodreads isn't being buggy:


READER PICK:




YOUNG-ADULT FRIENDLY PICK:




SERIES PICK:




INDIE PICK:





I hate it when bugs mess up my pretty cover bling!!! A girl's gotta have her bling! Whaah!!!

UPDATE: yeah ... manual .html ... royal pain-in-the-butt to code ... but a girl's gotta have her standards :-) Pretty cover bling ... here y'all go!

If Leviathan Wakes wins, an author interview is guaranteed!

Anna wrote: "Okay ... will try to get this all right and holler if I didn't...

@Jeffrey ... were you nominating Ender's Game as a Young Adult Pick? Or just commenting (don't want to miss it if you were)

@Mor..."

Yep! I want to nominate Ender's Game as a YA pick!

I'll put in another vote for Ender's Game as the young adult pick - really enjoyed that one when I was younger.

I'll also second the vote for Nexus as the indie pick. It's the epitome of a sequel!

For the series pick, I'd like to nominate the Spectras Arise trilogy https://www.goodreads.com/series/1259... by Tammy Salyer. I haven't had a chance to read them yet but I've heard they're good!

So I'm getting in on the YA pick action with

A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber

Because I just bought it and I need an excuse to read it :)

The Skyway series...how cool is that! I remember a friend reading Starrigger when we were teens in the '80s, and he reckoned it was cool. I've just checked and all three books in the series have reviewed fairly well. I'd be keen to throw my vote behind these too for a laugh. They sound like fun.

Okay ... hopefully I just got everybody.

@Sarah - we're reading A Beautiful Friendship right now and if you go on a reading binge, maybe you could nominate Book #2 of that series, Fire Season, as a candidate for the February YA-Friendly group read? I bought all three books since I knew they'd appeal to my tween/teen :-)

@Jeffrey ... got it ... another Ender's Game.

Everybody else ... make sure I got your covers.


READER PICK:




YOUNG-ADULT FRIENDLY PICK:




SERIES PICK:




INDIE PICK:

Hey ... where are our Space Opera Fans Young Adult Authors? Get your butts in here and nominate your own books :-) Steph? Leonie? Don't be shy. Throw your book into the crap-shoot that is Random.org, and if it doesn't win this month, throw it into the crap-shoot until it does.

Anna wrote: "Hey ... where are our Space Opera Fans Young Adult Authors? Get your butts in here and nominate your own books :-) Steph? Leonie? Don't be shy. Throw your book into the crap-shoot that is Rando..."

This would be my second nomination for this category though, as I nominated "And All the Stars," but if you insist :)

for the YA category.

Fiannawolf wrote: "Young Adult: Is it bad that I read Dune while in High school? Again blame dad. But really my nomination would have to be Earth Girl. Or if that's not feasible: Saving Mars by Cidney Swanson

Reader..."

I read Dune, when I was fifteen. I wanted something that was deep, epic and challenging in every way. I think YA reading shouldn't just be about teen protagonists. Teenagers should try stuff like Dune. I found it tough going at times, but incredibly rewarding.

Pete wrote: "I read Dune, when I was fifteen. I wanted something that was deep, epic and challenging in every way. I think YA reading shouldn't just be about teen protagonists. Teenagers should try stuff like Dune. I found it tough going at times, but incredibly rewarding. "

I read it in my teens as well, started my interest in Space Opera

I am officially going to nominate for YA...toss it at the wall, see if it sticks :)