Beyond Reality discussion

Hi everyone,

It’s time to open nominations for our May 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 February 19th, and the first round of polls will go up on February 20th.


NOMINATIONS SO FAR:


FANTASY:
Son of Avonar by Carol Berg (christine)
Vellum: The Book of All Hours by Hal Duncan (phoenixfalls)
The Child Thief by Brom (mark)
Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh (jeff)
Little, Big by John Crowley (kevin)
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss (kara)
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (dawn)
Deerskin by Robin McKinley (kerry)
Transformation by Carol Berg (orannia)
The Etched City by K.J. Bishop (paul)

SCIENCE FICTION:
The Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley (tom)
When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger (phoenixfalls)
Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh (mark)
The Myriad by R.M. Meluch (jeff)
Archangel by Sharon Shinn (kerry)
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (marne)
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (kernos)
To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer (kevin)
Pacific Edge by Kim Stanley Robinson (paul)

I'd like to nominate Son of Avonar which I've just finished reading; the group has liked this author with a previous BotM. This is in the Fantasy category

I'd like to nominate The Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley for science fiction. It was nominated for Arthur C Clark award in 2009.

I'll try When Gravity Fails, by George Alec Effinger for SF and Vellum: The Book of All Hours, by Hal Duncan for Fantasy again this month. . .

for fantasy, i'd like to nominate:
The Child Thief by Brom

for scifi, i'd like to nominate:
Kesrith by CJ Cherryh

if i could, i'd second the nominations of Vellum and The Quiet War, both of which look fascinating.

For Fantasy: Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh

For Science Fiction: The Myriad by R.M. Meluch

I'll second Faded Sun: Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh.

For fantasy, I'll try something I've never nominated before... Hah! Just kidding, I'm going with The Magicians by Lev Grossman again. Millionth time is the charm? :)

I will second both of the C.J. Cherryh.

I will nominate for fantasy, Little, Big byJohn Crowley. This one of the most challenging book anyone will ever read. It knocked me down a couple of time over the summer in order to finished the book. This book is way to complex, like to hear others thought on the book.

Gonna go ahead and nominate for FANTASY
The Wise Man's Fear

An exciting debut for 2011... I think a lot of people may be wanting to discuss it about then.

I'll definitely second The Child Thief. Looks interesting!

I would happily second The Magicians! Amazing book!

I'll second Fortress in the Eye of Time, no question. Great book.

Kara wrote: "Gonna go ahead and nominate for FANTASY
The Wise Man's Fear

An exciting debut for 2011... I think a lot of people may be wanting to discuss it..."

I think a little too soon for The Wise Man's Fear.

It comes out in March, this is for a May read.. How is it too soon?

Kara wrote: "Gonna go ahead and nominate for FANTASY
The Wise Man's Fear

An exciting debut for 2011... I think a lot of people may be wanting to discuss it..."

This may leave out the people who have not read The Name of the Wind.

I'm pretty sure that NoTW is book of the month for March, so I believe that means that sequels apply :)

Dawn wrote: "I'm pretty sure that NoTW is book of the month for March, so I believe that means that sequels apply :)"

Did not realize that.

Kevin wrote: "I will nominate for fantasy, Little, Big byJohn Crowley. ..."

I think they read it back in November... it's shelved. It DOES sound like a good book though.

Kara wrote: "Kevin wrote: "I will nominate for fantasy, Little, Big byJohn Crowley. ..."

I think they read it back in November... it's shelved. It DOES sound like a good book though."

Oh, okay.

How about I Third Fortress in the Eye of Time? My favorite Cherryh book (at least so far.) :)

Okay, I think I got all of them so far. Keep them coming!

A few notes:

1. Yes, sequels may be nominated, as long as we've read the previous book(s) in the series.
2. Yes, books we've discussed before can be nominated again.
3. Both of these may not get as many votes as other books if (as with 1) they're only available in hardcover or not everyone has read the first book, or (as with 2) it's been discussed quite recently so people may want to read something new instead. But, the votes ultimately decide. If you want to withdraw a nomination for some reason, please do so explicitly - if not, we're leaving it in the list.
4. It's not necessary to second (or third or fourth) nominations in this group. You're more than welcome to do so, but it makes absolutely no difference at all :)

I think it's like campaigning...

Oh yes, I understand. I was just mentioning it because there are other groups on GoodReads where nominations do have to be seconded before they make it on the list, and I wanted to make sure everyone knows that's not the case here, at least at the moment.

I'm going to try again with Archangel by Sharon Shinn for SF again.

I'll suggest Deerskin by Robin McKinley for fantasy as I've never read it and keep meaning to do so.

I don't really want to split the vote, but I'd like to nominate Carol Berg's Transformation for fantasy please.

And I'll second Kerry's Archangel (Sharon Shinn) suggestion as I'd love to re-read that :)

Stefan wrote: "Okay, I think I got all of them so far. Keep them coming!

A few notes:

1. Yes, sequels may be nominated, as long as we've read the previous book(s) in the series.
2. Yes, books we've discuss..."

Thanks for the clarifications Stefan! =)

For SF how about The Dervish House by Ian McDonald. Its been getting fantastic reviews.

I'd like to nominate The Day of the Triffids by author John Wyndham for SF.

I read that years ago Kernos, good suggestion. I forget that a lot of the older science fiction may be new to newer readers.

I'll vote for both books by Cherryh. I liked Kesrith and would give another try for The fortress. I didn't really appreciate it when I read it - which is unusual with this author.

I'll abstain from nominating anything this month, as there are already several suggestions I'd like to read.

(Hey, Stefan - I just noticed you listed The Magicians twice.)

Shh! My nom was going to be on the poll twice! Double the chances! lol ;)

For science fiction I would like to nominate To Your Scattered Bodies Go, one of the best ideas in science fiction that I have ever read, one of my favorites of the genre.

i had several thoughts, but some possibles were similar to those already mentioned, so i decided on two that are a bit different.

for SF, Pacific Edge by Kim Stanley Robinson, the first of his books that i read. one of three books set in California in different versions of the late 21st century this is a utopian novel with some interesting things to say on the subject.

for fantasy, The Etched City by KJ Bishop, a wonderful industrial fantasy set in a superbly realised world. i was blown away when i read this and am disappointed that she has yet to release another book.

The Etched City looks interesting. I'd second it - if such things counted. ;)

Last day to vote in the first round of polls!

Here are the links:

Fantasy: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/44...

SF: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/44...

Tomorrow I'll set up the run-off polls with the top 2 books from each poll. (And again I'd like to emphasize that Little, Big, the book that's currently in second place in the Fantasy poll, was just read and discussed by this group in November 2010... so if anyone who voted for it wishes to change their vote, I'd be most grateful... If not, as things currently stand, it's going to the run-off poll and has a solid chance of becoming the Book of the Month again, barely 6 months after the last time...)

The run-off polls are up!

Fantasy: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/45...

SF: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/45...

Please take a moment to go vote!

Forgot to add: The Wise Man's Fear is book 2, but we're reading book 1 (The Name of the Wind) next month, so anyone who wants to participate can jump in with book 1 in a few days. Also, it's a new book (just coming out next week) and bound to be very popular, so if you're a library reader, you may want to reserve your copy well in advance.