Beyond Reality discussion

Hi folks,

It’s time to open nominations for our April 2011 Books of the Month. Each group member can make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination in this thread. If you would like to make a nomination, please reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s) you would like to put forward for the group’s consideration.

Telling us a little about the book and why you think it would be a good group read can help get other members interested in reading (and voting for) your nomination. You can also check the group bookshelves for previous Books of the Month to see if your nomination has already been read by the group. (Being chosen as a past BotM does not necessarily disqualify a book from current consideration, but be aware that it may hinder your nomination’s chances at the polls.) Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!

Nominations will remain open through Wednesday, January 19th, and the first round of polls will go up on Thursday, January 20th.


~ Candiss


NOMINATIONS SO FAR:

FANTASY:

The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Dawn)
Black Sun Rising: The Coldfire Trilogy #1 by C.S. Friedman (Shel)
Cold Magic by Kate Elliott (Kerry)
Lamentation by Ken Scholes (Sandi)
Vellum: The Book of All Hours by Hal Duncan (Phoenixfalls)
A Sorcerer's Treason by Sarah Zettel (Nick)
Song of the Beast by Carol Berg (Random)
The Etched City by K.J. Bishop (Paul)


SCIENCE FICTION:

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (Shel)
Archangel by Sharon Shinn (Kerry)
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (Hirondelle)
Path of the Fury by David Weber (Kate Mc.)
Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton (Sandi)
When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger (Phoenixfalls)
White Devils by Paul J. McAuley (Paul)
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany (Kernos)

For fantasy I'll nominate The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Why? Because if I nominate it enough times eventually it will win! :D

Dawn wrote: "For fantasy I'll nominate The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Why? Because if I nominate it enough times eventually it will win! :D"

LOL, and by the same logic I will again nominate Black Sun Rising: The Coldfire Trilogy #1 by C.S. Friedman for fantasy.

For SF, I'd like to nominate The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson; it's YA science fiction that I've been hearing rave reviews about.

I would like to nominate, in the fantasy category, Against All Things Ending by Stephen Donaldson. It is the third book in the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, a famous and much beloved series.

For me Donaldson is an impeccable writer. Plot, characters, story, world building, all are truly excellent.

I'm also going with the "if I nominate it enough times" theory and trying again for Archangel by Sharon Shinn for SF.

And for fantasy, Cold Magic by Kate Elliott, which I may have nominated before, but I can't remember.

Hi Charles,

One of our very few rules (which you can find in the FAQ) is that you can only nominate a later book in a series if we've read the previous books, so that book is not eligible. In this case, we apparently did read Lord Foul's Bane (back in 2002), so you could technically nominate the second book if you want, or since it's been so long, the first book again.

Thanks, Stephan

Charles - Did you want to go ahead and nominate the 1st or 2nd book in that series? Until I hear from you, I'll just leave your nomination off the list and will update as you decide.

science fiction, Lord of Light ?

I have been meaning to read that for ages. Supposedly a classic, I am curious.

Thank you very much, Candiss -- you are a considerate mod. No, I've read the first 6 Covenants several times, and that was ages ago. I only nominated Against All Things Ending because I have it and have not read it yet, and I thought it might be fun to read and hear others' reactions in real time. Thanks, though.

Charles wrote: "Thank you very much, Candiss -- you are a considerate mod. No, I've read the first 6 Covenants several times, and that was ages ago. I only nominated Against All Things Ending because I have it a..."

Okay, then. Let us know if you think of a different book you'd like to nominate. :)

Path of the Fury for science fiction. Really enjoyable space opera.

For fantasy, I'll nominate Lamentation by Ken Scholes. I've heard a lot of good things about it, but I have no idea what it's about.

For science fiction, I'd like to nominate
Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton. I did look at the bookshelves and saw that it was BOTM back in 2006 (or was it 2003?), so I think that's long enough to re-nominate.

For fantasy, I'll nominate Vellum: The Book of All Hours, by Hal Duncan. Mostly because it apparently has Christian, Greek, and Sumerian mythology all mixed together, but also because it was nominated for the World Fantasy Award. :)

For science fiction, I'll nominate When Gravity Fails, by George Alec Effinger. Mostly because it's set in the Middle East in the future, but also because it was nominated for both the Hugo AND the Nebula. Though if I'm being completely honest, a lot of it is because I just love that title. ;)

I'll nominate for fantasy A Sorcerer's Treason by Sarah Zettel. Zettel's name is not yet in this group's bookshelf, and that's a shame. Her books have been nominated several times in both fantasy and sci-fi and she appears to appeal to interests across the board.

Nick wrote: "I'll nominate for fantasy A Sorcerer's Treason by Sarah Zettel. Zettel's name is not yet in this group's bookshelf, and that's a shame. Her books have been nominated s..."

Zettel is a fantastic author, both her SF and her fantasy are outstanding.

Nick wrote: "I'll nominate for fantasy A Sorcerer's Treason by Sarah Zettel. Zettel's name is not yet in this group's bookshelf, and that's a shame. Her books have been nominated s..."

I second this nomination. Loved this book!

Just a reminder: This is the last day to nominate selections for April, 2011, so if anyone has any last minute nominations they'd like to make, please post them ASAP. Nominations will remain open through the rest of today, and I will post the first round of polls tomorrow, Thursday, January 20, 2011.

Lets try something I've been wanting to try for a while now and not managed to hit yet

For Fantasy
Song of the Beast by Carol Berg

Nothing for SF. When Gravity Fails has been on my list for a while now as well.

Lord of Light please.

I'll second Path of Fury for SF (I'm in the mood for space opera) and Lamentation by Scholes for Fantasy(it has been waiting on my TBR shelf for eons).

hey

may i nominate The Etched City by KJ Bishop for fantasy

and White Devils by Paul McAuley for sci fi

I'd second Berg's Song of the Beast, and also Zelazny's Lord of Light.

Gonna be another tough vote coming. This group is fiendishly good at that...

I would like to nominate Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany. It is a great book; I would like to read it again; and, I have never discussed it in a forum before.

"Once established in memory, it comes to have the feel of a climate, a season. ... It is a literary singularity." —William Gibson

Paul wrote: "hey

may i nominate The Etched City by KJ Bishop for fantasy

and White Devils by Paul McAuley for sci fi"

I'll second The Etched City.

I came to nominate a book or two, but have to say there are already some great choices on here that I've been wanting to read for a while, so I think I'll just wait for the voting to start. = )

Janny wrote: "Gonna be another tough vote coming. This group is fiendishly good at that..."

I agree completely. There are half a dozen books nominated this month I very much want to vote for and read.

Kernos wrote: "I would like to nominate Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany. It is a great book; I would like to read it again; and, I have never discussed it in a forum before.
"Once established in memory..."

Kernos - You didn't specify if you were nominating for SF or F, and Dhalgren is something of a genre-defying entity, but I'm listing it with SF because that's the way most Goodreaders have it shelved, and my own knowledge of the book skews it that direction.

Nominations for April 2011 are now closed. The polls are going up!

and they're going to take some good solid thinking about, some excellent nominations!

When Gravity Fails is a fantastic book, and I'd love to read it again. It's been years. :)

Charles wrote: "I would like to nominate, in the fantasy category, Against All Things Ending by Stephen Donaldson. It is the third book in the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, a famous and much beloved series...."

I'd like to second that - love the Covenant series

Mike and Lurple - I just wanted to make sure you realize that these nominations - and the associated voting polls - have been closed for a couple of weeks. Black Sun Rising: The Coldfire Trilogy #1 won for Fantasy, and Lord of Light won for Science Fiction.

But please nominate and vote later this month for the next selections!