Beyond Reality discussion

Hi everyone,

It's time to make your nominations for our April 2010 Books of the Month. As always, every member may nominate one SF and/or one fantasy novel, by posting a reply to this message with the title and author of the novel. Please also let us know why you're nominating the novel - it may help motivate people to vote for it! Almost any SFF novel is eligible: an old favorite, something you've just read and would like to discuss, something on your to-read shelf. You can also re-nominate any book that was nominated before but didn't win. We'll take nominations until Jan. 20th.

Stefan



NOMINATIONS SO FAR:

Fantasy:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (brad)
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko (chris)
Moonheart by Charles de Lint (kerry)
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (cliff)
In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente (beth)
Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde (candiss)
Archangel by Sharon Shinn (stuart)
Songs of Earth and Power by Greg Bear (anomander)

Science Fiction:

Three Days to Never: A Novel by Tim Powers (nick)
The Breach by Patrick Lee (brad)
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (kerry)
Transition by Iain M. Banks (cliff)
Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky (candiss)
The Man Who Never Missed by Steve Perry (anomander)
One Second After by William R. Forstchen (sandi)

I'd like to nominate for science fiction Three Days to Never: A Novel by Tim Powers. I've never read a Powers kaleidescopic adventure, but I understand that is what his books are. And this book lost out as the BOTM last summer by only one vote. According to the blurb, it's "about" Albert Einstein's secrets which he kept hidden, but which turn into some hard science/supernatural kind of craziness. This sounds like the type of story which questions the definition of science fiction.

My Science Fiction nomination is "The Breach" ~ Patrick Lee.

I just bought this book yesterday (01/13/10) on the Kindle after work and finished it at midnight I just couldn't put it down. Patrick Lee does a superb job of writing a good mystery/thriller in a Sci-Fi background.

My Fantasy Nomination: Leviathan ~ Scott Westerfeld.

Its WWI Steampunk ... how can you go wrong? To be honest I'm only half way through the book but I read very little fantasy anymore due to my personal belief that the quality has degraded as my favorite authors have gotten older so finding a youngish new author is a pleasant surprise and it's well written to boot.

- Brad

I'll nominate Night Watch once again for fantasy bySergei Lukyanenko

I'll nominate The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness for SF. It's a YA book I really, really enjoyed when I read it earlier this month.

For fantasy, and oldie but a goodie: Moonheart by Charles de Lint.

For Fantasy I'd like to nominate Boneshaker by Cherie Priest.

For Sci-Fi I'd like to nominate Transition by Iain M. Banks.

Cliff wrote: "For Fantasy I'd like to nominate Boneshaker by Cherie Priest.

For Sci-Fi I'd like to nominate Transition by Iain M. Banks."

I just got a copy of Boneshaker, so I won't nominate a fantasy novel. Cliff's nomination works for me.

For science fiction, I'd like to nominate One Second After by William Forstchen.

Isn't Boneshaker science fiction? I want to read it no matter what category it is.

Sandi wrote: "Isn't Boneshaker science fiction? I want to read it no matter what category it is."

I guess that depends on whether you consider steampunk to be sci-fi or fantasy. From the link it is on 31 people's shelves as fantasy and 23 people's shelves as sci-fi. I think its one of the genre bending novels that can only be properly categorized as speculative fiction, but when faced with just 2 options I leaned toward nominating it under fantasy.

For that matter, I've seen 'Leviathan' listed as sci-fi, as well. It even won the Goodreads Award for Science Fiction for 2009.

That said, I always tend to think most steampunk has more a fantasy 'feel' to it, so it could work either way.

I'm going to keep the books in the categories they were nominated in - so both fantasy for now - unless someone who's familiar with the books can convincingly argue that they're SF. (And if that argument includes spoilers, please put the appropriate warnings, or send it to me and/or Sisimka in a private message).

I just updated the list of nominations in the top post - keep them coming!

I think In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente should be up for consideration again, if that's allowed. It's too fantastic to miss.

For Fantasy, I'd like to nominate Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde. I'm a fan of Fforde's "Thursday Next" series, and this story - set in a different world than that series - fascinates me with its concept of a dystopia in which people are classed and limited be the colors they can see.

For Science Fiction, I'll suggest a sadly-overlooked classic: Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky. I have heard many good things about it, and it seems like it would make for some good discussion. (The Wikipedia entry for this book lists multiple links for reading this free online or downloading this for free in the external links at the end of the article. I know lesser-known works aren't always easy to find.)

Can I nominate for the fantasy section Archangel by Sharon Shinn it is covered in plaudits and is on my to read list.

Got it. I thought Archangel was more SF than fantasy - it's been several years, but I swear I remember a space ship... I'll add it to fantasy because I'm not entirely sure.

Tomorrow's the last day to add more nominations, so if you have any, add them soon!

Stefan wrote: "Got it. I thought Archangel was more SF than fantasy - it's been several years, but I swear I remember a space ship... I'll add it to fantasy because I'm not entirely sure.

Tomorrow..."

"Archangel" is a romance. Seriously, it's a romance novel that seems to be in a fantasy setting, but the fantasy setting is really a science fiction setting because everything that seems like fantasy is explained with science. It's thoroughly a cross-genre novel. (I really loved all the Samaria books by Sharon Shinn.)

My nominations:

Fantasy: Songs of Earth and Power by Greg Bear

SF: The Man Who Never Missed by Steve Perry

On Leviathan, having read it I'd say it falls more in the SF spectrum with it's technological themes.

Stefan, you are near perfect in how you organize things in this group. I appreciate that so much, I hesitate to ask about message 7, Sandi's nomination of "One Second After" for sci fi -- it hasn't made it to the master list yet. Even though it's up against my own nomination, I wouldn't want it to go unnoticed. Thanks!!!

Oops, I missed that one. Correcting it now. Thanks for pointing it out!

Thank you for all your nominations! I just set up the first round of polls. As always, the top 2 (or in case of a tie, 3) will move on to the run-off polls, starting on Jan. 25th.