Beyond Reality discussion

Hi everyone,

It's time to start taking nominations for our December Books of the Month! As always, you can make 1 SF and/or 1 fantasy nomination, by posting a reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s). Adding a note about why you're nominating the book will help people decide whether they want to read it. Please feel free to re-nominate a book from previous months if it didn't win the polls.

I'll take nominations until September 19th and set up the first round of polls on September 20th.

Stefan

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:

FANTASY:
Tea with the Black Dragon, by R.A. MacAvoy (kerry)
Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski (random)
The Bell at Sealey Head, by Patricia A. McKillip (sandi)
Shadowbred, by Paul S. Kemp (anomander)
The Native Star, by M.K. Hobson (shel)
Night Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko (candiss)
The Once and Future King, by T.H. White (richard)
The Third Bear, by Jeff Vandermeer (karin)
Under Heaven, by Guy Gavriel Kay (sandra)

SCIENCE FICTION:
Archangel, by Sharon Shinn (kerry)
Dragon's Egg, by Robert L. Forward (random)
The Blue World, by Jack Vance (anomander)
Genetic Soldier, by George Turner (nick)
The Dosadi Experiment, by Frank Herbert (shel)
The Mote in God's Eye, by Larry Niven (richard)
Warchild, by Karin Lowachee (sandra)

I'm going to renominate Archangel by Sharon Shinn for SF as I still need a push to get on and read it.

For fantasy I'm going to go with an oldie but a goodie with Tea With the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy (which Amazon shows as available both in paper and for the Kindle, so it shouldn't be hard to find).

Kerry wrote: "For fantasy I'm going to go with an oldie but a goodie with Tea With the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy"

I read that recently. It was a fun, unusual little book that I think a lot of folks would enjoy but few are aware of. Good suggestion!

(I'm still thinking on what I might nominate.)

I second Archangel (for SF) - selfishly I had it on my TBR list and would love to re-read it :)

For fantasy - no laughing - I'd like to nominate The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss), although if it's a recent read then I completely understand everyone not wanting to read it :) I just figure as the second book will be out in March...although come to think of it perhaps this book would be a better suggestion for January or February? Thoughts?

May as well toss Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward out again for Science Fiction.

I'm going to skip fantasy. I am so sick of fantasy at the moment. Sick of "we call it science fiction because it happens in the future" SF as well. :)

(Ok, I admit it has not been a good Monday to be at work) :D

EDIT --
OK, bad day aside, I have been reminded of a fantasy book I've been meaning to try for over a year now.
Blood of Elves - by Andrzej Sapkowski

First published in Poland, the series is supposed to be extremely popular.

orannia wrote: "For fantasy - no laughing - I'd like to nominate The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss), although if it's a recent read then I completely understand everyone not wanting to read it :) I just figure as the second book will be out in March...although come to think of it perhaps this book would be a better suggestion for January or February? Thoughts? "

Looks like it was read by the group in August of 2008. I personally wouldn't be against a reread, but would tend to prefer February for it. :)

For fantasy, I'm going to nominate The Bell at Sealey Head by Patricia A. McKillip again. It looks pretty good.

I just took a look at the bookshelf and see that we haven't read Anathem by Neal Stephenson yet. I'd like to nominate it for SF.

For SF: Renominating a Jack Vance classic, The Blue World.

Fantasy: Shadowbred by Paul S. Kemp
The first book in a really well written trilogy set in the Forgotten Realms.

For fantasy, I'd like to nominate
The Native Star by M.K. Hobson - just read a review of it that sounded really interesting - a paranormal fantasy set in the US Western frontier.

SF, I'll put out Herbert's The Dosadi Experiment again just because I haven't gotten around to reading it yet and it seemed to get some interest when I'd nominated it before.

Sandi wrote: "I just took a look at the bookshelf and see that we haven't read Anathem by Neal Stephenson yet. I'd like to nominate it for SF. ."

Sandi, its October's book
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show_b...

I don't have a nominee for science fiction this month. I have mostly fantasy (and non-speculative fiction) queued up for the next few months.

For fantasy, I'd like to nominate Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. It's one of my favorites, which I'm currently re-reading. I apologize ahead of time, but I'm no good at being succinct in my descriptions...

It isn't very well-known, it seems, but it's the first in a really wonderful modern fantasy tetrology that exemplifies for me the urban fantasy sub-genre. (This is not paranormal romance.) Each volume functions as a stand-alone, so one need not commit to a new series to "get" the story, although you wouldn't want to jump in in the middle. Mages are the central characters - urban mages in Moscow, Light ones and Dark ones whose organizations are locked in a complicated truce designed to keep the balance of power while not destroying the mundane world and who are responsible for policing the actions of their other-side counterparts - although there are vampires and shape-shifters in the mix, who are thankfully not romanticized. The story is gritty yet slick, full of ethical dilemmas and philosophical quandries, political maneuvering, an interesting sympathetic magic system, and facing consequences of one's actions. This is not a simple story of good vs evil, black-and-white. Everything is gray, and the "good guys" are often responsible for terrible evil, while the "bad guys" often do things to relieve the pain of others. (Light mages are dedicated to advancing the cause of group-humanity, good of all over good of the individual, etc., and Dark mages are for personal freedom and individual choice. Both groups have their own hidden agendas, as well, and humans are often mere pawns, despite everyone's pretty words to the contrary.) It's all very subtly handled, entertaining and thought-provoking, and darkly humorous. The English translation is excellent and feels natural. (The movie version, by the way, covers only 1/3 of the first book, with the sequel loosely covering the second 2/3, and while fun and stylish and action-packed, was beautiful in parts and cheesy in others...worth seeing, but the book is far, far superior.)

Wow Candiss, that sounds really good and the trailer is intense.

Ken wrote: "Sandi wrote: "I just took a look at the bookshelf and see that we haven't read Anathem by Neal Stephenson yet. I'd like to nominate it for SF. ."

Sandi, its October's book
http://www.goodreads.com..."

DOH! THAT'S WHY I'M READING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will slink to my corner now.

Sandi, I think I did something similar a few years back - and I run the group! So it's perfectly understandable.

Still funny though. :)

Candiss - that novel has been high on my to-be-checked-out list for a while, so I'm crossing my fingers for that one to win.

Orannia - I wouldn't be opposed to rereading The Name of the Wind, but like the others I'd prefer to do it closer to the release date of the sequel. Still, it'll go in the poll, so it has a chance to win!

Whoa! That's a scary trailer for Night Watch! Looks pretty good.

Stefan wrote: "Orannia - I wouldn't be opposed to rereading The Name of the Wind, but like the others I'd prefer to do it closer to the release date of the sequel. Still, it'll go in the poll, so it has a chance to win!"

Am happy to withdraw the nomination :) It does make way more sense to read it in February...

I'll nominate for sci fi Genetic Soldier by George Turner. It 's the story of an exploratory spaceship returned to earth to find its genetically modified crew on the outz with the contemporary earth society.

Turner has an interesting-looking biography,
George Turner: A Life by Judith Buckrich, and an autobiography, In the heart or in the head: An essay in time travel. He probably was lost in the shadow of Greg Egan in the world of 1990's Australian hard sf. I remember seeing both on the shelves in the stores, but I was not reading much sf then, so I haven't read either of 'em, and would like to. Turner gets the edge, interest-wise, for me only because he was a mainstream novelist who didn't start writing scifi until after he turned 60. Way to go.

Okay folks, I just added the nominations we have so far to the first post in the topic (not including the two that were withdrawn). I'll keep the topic open until Sunday and set up the first round of polls on that day, so if anyone else wants to add a nomination, please do so in the next few days.

Just had a look through my to-read shelf, and been shamed by all the good stuff I've got sitting there unread.

So how about:

SF The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven.

and

Fantasy The Once and Future King by T.H. White.

If these have already been read by the group please let me know, I've got plenty more up my sleeve.

I'm not going to nominate. Everything looks good, and I want Nightwatch to win. Love the book, love the movie.

Are allowed to nominate novella/short story collections by a single author?

Absolutely.

May I nominate Gunpowder by Joe Hill?

@Stefan

Then I nominate Jeff VanderMeer's "The Third Bear". :)

Karin wrote: "@Stefan

Then I nominate Jeff VanderMeer's "The Third Bear". :)"

Karin - I didn't realize VanderMeer had a new book of short stories out. It's been zapped onto my TBR list.

Ooo Laurel I've been wanting to read Gunpower for a long time. My only concern is that, as it was published as a limited release, it is extremely difficult to find. Most libraries don't carry it and big time sellers like Amazon only sell used copies which are going for about $40 and up. I recently bought a copy on ebay for $45 and that was the lowest I could find. :(

Candiss wrote: "Karin wrote: "@Stefan

Then I nominate Jeff VanderMeer's "The Third Bear". :)"

Karin - I didn't realize VanderMeer had a new book of short stories out. It's been zapped onto my TBR list."

It's an excellent collection. I was lucky enough to get an ARC for it, and read almost the entire thing twice, back to back. My review is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I'd like to nominate Guy Gavriel Kay's Under Heaven for the fantasy book. And for Science Fiction, Karin Lowachee's WARCHILD.

Wow - I won't nominate again, this time, because already the list contains several titles on my TBR heap - or titles I recall as favorites - so it's already heading for another conflicted vote, for me. This group is amazing. The choices are excellent so far.

I'll take back my Gunpowder nom - but if anyone has read it and wants to discuss it, drop me a line!

@Candiss @Stefan - I'm not done Jeff's collection yet but it's AMAZING. Thoroughly enjoying it and I actually don't normally enjoy short stories as much as I do novels. And, Stefan, that was a spot on review!

@Sandra - thanks for nominating Warchild. :)

Karin wrote: "@Candiss @Stefan - I'm not done Jeff's collection yet but it's AMAZING. Thoroughly enjoying it and I actually don't normally enjoy short stories as much as I do novels. And, Stefan, that was a spot..."

Well I just bought it and am dying to read it so it would be nice if it was a group read.

Last call for nominations! I'm setting up the first round of polls tomorrow.

Polls are up - please go vote!

@Sandra - So awesome! Jeff's on Goodreads, if we cover his book I'll drop him a line about it.

That would be great. He may remember Beyond Reality - he joined us on two separate occasions to discuss City of Saints and Madmen, back when we were on Yahoo Groups.

On the "What are you Reading in September" thread, several people have expressed praise of Carol Berg's writings. So, I'll nominate for fantasy her first novel of a 4-novel series:

Son of Avonar

Hi Deedee - the nominations for December are closed now, and the first round of polls is ending tomorrow, but please re-nominate this next month! I've heard lots of good things about Carol Berg too.

Stefan wrote: "Hi Deedee - the nominations for December are closed now, and the first round of polls is ending tomorrow, but please re-nominate this next month! I've heard lots of good things about Carol Berg too."

OK :)

The run-off polls are up - please go vote! Polls will end on September 30th.