Dragons & Jetpacks discussion

Wow, it's time again already.

– Books must be published by the first, be available internationally, and available in print form.
– After 24-48 hours, 8 books from each genre will be chosen at random from the selection, using a random generator online.
– Only ONE nomination per person (EITHER sci-fi OR fantasy).
– If books are part of a series, they must be the first, unless the group has already read the previous book(s). (you can see our previous group reads here)
– No authors nominating their own works.
– No self-published or ebook-only books — we want our BotM to be accessible to as many members as possible!


SCI FI
1. Braking Day
2. Infinite
3. A Psalm for the Wild-Built
4. The Obelisk Gate
5. Stringers
6. Cytonic
7. Aurora's End
8.



FANTASY
1. The Light Fantastic
2. An Echo of Things to Come
3. The Traitor God
4. The Last Sun
5. The Gutter Prayer
6. The Stardust Thief
7. The Ruin of Kings
8. Nolyn
9. Master Assassins

The Light Fantastic for fantasy.

Braking Day for SF, please.

Infinite by Jeremy Robinson for SF.

An Echo of Things to Come for fantasy please

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

For SF, that is!

The Traitor God for fantasy, please 😊

The Obelisk Gate for sf.

The Last Sun by K.D. Edward for fantasy.

Stringers for Sci-Fi please.

I'm going to nominate Cytonic for SF.

The Gutter Prayer for fantasy please.

Really good nominations again. If you're ever in need of book recs, go back and browse the nomination lists. :)

The Stardust Thief for fantasy please

Aurora's End by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Sin in Space by Cyril Judd for scifi

Spacecrow wrote: "Sin in Space by Cyril Judd for scifi"

This is no longer in print, so I'm going to say no; sorry.

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons for fantasy, please.

Audrey wrote: "Spacecrow wrote: "Sin in Space by Cyril Judd for scifi"

This is no longer in print, so I'm going to say no; sorry."

According to the Internet Archive, Beacon Books is in the public domain:
https://archive.org/details/arthusger...

Spacecrow wrote: "Audrey wrote: "Spacecrow wrote: "Sin in Space by Cyril Judd for scifi"

This is no longer in print, so I'm going to say no; sorry."

According to the Internet Archiv..."

Audrey isn't saying this to be mean. For other people to follow along for a book of the month read, if they don't already own it, the lowest price for a print book on Amazon is $50. There doesn't appear to be an ebook format. When books are not easily accessible for everyone, then no one else tends to participate.

Lulu.com has paperback copies of Sin in Space for $22 CAD (~$17 US).

I can’t seem to get hold of it in the uk…

I just did a quick google search of “Sin in Space UK” and found copies in Amazon.co.uk and Abebooks.co.uk.

But when I click on the link for amazon it’s unavailable, and from Abe books it’s £22 (without shipping) coming from Canada. That puts me out of the running for this one. Sorry

I see this one being £6.74 plus shipping (https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Se...).
I thought the book was being nominated only. Did I miss the poll & the book was selected?

Can I nominate Farilane by Michael J Sullivan for Fantasy please.

Dawn wrote: "Can I nominate Farilane by Michael J Sullivan for Fantasy please."

Do we need to read Nolyn first? Great nomination, I really want to get back to these books!

Eric, no point it being in the poll if its out of print, with copies too expensive for second hand versions in most markets. We use discretion when this is the case and exclude the book. No point having a book where we would have no readers .

Paul wrote: "Eric, no point it being in the poll if its out of print, with copies too expensive for second hand versions in most markets. We use discretion when this is the case and exclude the book. No point h..."

What are the price limits of the book? What is considered too expensive?

Availability is the issue Eric. a single copy here or there for over 20 pounds doesn't lend well to a group read as once they are gone the next available are 40 pound plus.

If you are really enthusiastic about a book ineligible for a Book of the Month you can seek to set up a read along with others interested

Paul wrote: "Availability is the issue Eric. a single copy here or there for over 20 pounds doesn't lend well to a group read as once they are gone the next available are 40 pound plus."

New books already nominated are also those prices.

The book isn't currently in print, isn't easily available internationally so on both it falls out of the rules above.

Paul wrote: "If you are really enthusiastic about a book ineligible for a Book of the Month you can seek to set up a read along with others interested"

I'm not. I'm just trying to figure out the established rules. You mentioned that it was too expensive even though the book is freely available and a print copy in the UK is £6.74.
To me, £6.74 is standard prices, even cheap for a paperback.

That copy is 6.74 plus 25 pound delivery so over 30 pound all in. And thats a single copy , the prices go up from there. Rules are in the first post. Being out of print severely limits availability.

I would also add the 6.74 copy is in Canada so would be a long trip to the UK or other countries for a group read

Again you have to think of the end purpose . The moderators have to make a call on a number of books , common sense has to come into it.

There is no price limit listed in the 1st post as you say.
I’m familiar of the out of print policy. You mentioned there’s a too expensive rule but I don’t see it listed nor the amount.

Eric, I never said there was a rule on price , I said being out of print made it expensive. I have clarified this in several posts.

The out of print book has prices comparable to newly printed books. I checked with the other books nominated. So based on your views, they should all be ineligible.

I just find it a confusing matter considering you want 8 nominations per category & it looks we haven’t even reached that.

Eric , Avaialability is important , a single copy avaialable at that price for an out of print book isnt comparable to numerous copies and wide spread library avaialbility of new books . Simple

Paul wrote: "If you are really enthusiastic about a book ineligible for a Book of the Month you can seek to set up a read along with others interested"

Additionally, I'm not the one who nominated that book. I just saw it available at various places for prices that are similar to a new book. This was using a simple google search. Lulu.com indicates having to print new copies for ~$17 US which is prices of new books.

Print on demand in the US/Canada market isn't the same as readily available internationally. Again print and shipping times don't allow for a monthly read.

I will leave you with the last line of the rules above. We want our BoTM to be accessible to as many member as possible.

Yes, and there’s several BOTM books that have been voted in the past over the years which are not accessible.

And we the Moderators have done our best over the years.

Eric , in 5 years in the group you have nominated , and complained about nominations a lot, but even when you have nominated the winning book have never actually taken part so this all seems a bit pointless .

I'm just assuming it's trolling at this stage

Paul wrote: "Eric , in 5 years in the group you have nominated , and complained about nominations a lot, but even when you have nominated the winning book have never actually taken part so this all seems a bit ..."

I'm not sure what you mean by not participated since I've nominated, voted, and read the book, usually several months behind of when voted.
But proceed on.