SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Alright folks, sorry this is going up so late.

So we'll just do a truncated nomination and voting process so that, hopefully, you can all grab a copy to read by December.

The theme which was voted on and won is "Martial Arts Fantasy".

I've no idea what that would entail, but my first thought is Avatar:The Last Airbender. So...yeah. Something like that.

First come, first served. First seven nominations that fit and meet the requirements get tossed on a poll.

Have at it!

The thing that immediately springs to mind in this is Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson, though it probably doesn't count as Martial Arts Fantasy. Other than that, I have no idea.

I'm sort of tempted to nominate Eon... but, no, I won't open up that particular can of worms. ;)

I vote for Steve Perry and the Matador series, the first book is the start but th emartial arts aspect really comes into the book called the "The 97th Step". The whole series revolves around a martial style that is 97 steps that can be walked that provide the basics of the martial arts. The first book introduces the style, but has more of the universe setup and the main characters origins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matador_...

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± wrote: "I'm sort of tempted to nominate Eon... but, no, I won't open up that particular can of worms. ;)"

Can't, we did it already.

Leah wrote: "Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn? It's supposed to take place in a fictional fuedal Japan-like place."

I might actually take part if we read that one, had it on my shelf for about a year and would imagine it'd fit!

Ala wrote: "± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± wrote: "I'm sort of tempted to nominate Eon... but, no, I won't open up that particular can of worms. ;)"

Can't, we did it already."

Was that this group? Derp on me.

Robert, that's a SciFi series. This is for Fantasy nominations, sorry.

Keep it in mind for future scifi nominations, though.

The Initiate Brother

I really want to nominate Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was but it's' not really about Martial Arts or Monks as much as it is set in Ancient China. There might be a secondary character or two but I think The Initiate Brother is a better nomination

That's three...

Yes! Mistborn! The description even says, "a saga of surprises and magical martial-arts action..." If Mistborn can be included, I have no other suggestion (not that I had anything else in mind once I saw that). Mistborn: The Final Empire

I'll nominate Tomoe Gozen by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. It takes place in an alternate-reality feudal Japan (called Naipon), where the various spirits and demons of traditional Japanese myth are all solidly real. The protagonist, the titular Tomoe Gozen, is a female samurai (which in this reality includes proficiency in magic in addition to skill with martial weapons), based on
the real-world historical figure of the same name.

I nominate Tomoe Gozenby Jessica Amanda Salmonson

It looks like Candiss and I were simultaneous. Consider that a second to the nomination, then.

We've actually already read the first Mistborn book as a group last year.

Does Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist count as martial arts? If so I nominate that.

All right, book two then. The Well of Ascension. I've been meaning to read the Mistborn series anyway, so I'd catch up to read the second book together.

Can't do seconds in a series unless that specific theme is chosen.

Craig, I've no idea if that counts. But I'll allow it unless someone else says no.

Alright, I'm gonna throw this out there, though I'm not expecting much to come of it:

The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven - a dark fantasy in the sense that it has some horror elements, but it has a lot of dark and wry humor as well. It has a fair bit of action - but only one of the characters (and her group) is martial artsy.

Also has some religious elements which might offend the sensitive...

I would like to nominate Magic Bites, if it qualifies as martial arts fantasy.

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± wrote: "I'm sort of tempted to nominate Eon... but, no, I won't open up that particular can of worms. ;)"

HA ha haa haaah haa haa Good one Colleen. I can't remember...was that this group or another one?

Anyone else want to weigh in on Magic Bites? Does it count?

If so, that's seven.

If not, we need one more.

Gosh, what a weird theme. My first thought was Ranma ½ but I doubt this group actually wants to read that. So, how about The Privilege of the Sword? It's a standalone with lots of sword-fighting related drama, though it's nominally not the first published or first in the internal chronology. If this is a disqualifier, then its predecessor, Swordspoint, would work too.

Also, I don't know if you all have another group where the Eon thing happened, but here's our folder for it: clicky

Ala wrote: "Alright folks, sorry this is going up so late.

So we'll just do a truncated nomination and voting process so that, hopefully, you can all grab a copy to read by December.

The theme which was ..."

I nominate The Dragon Scroll (Sugawara Akitada, #1)
by I.J. Parker

Despite the word "dragon" in the title, The Dragon Scroll is not a fantasy. It's the first book in a mystery series. So it doesn't qualify. I'm very aware of this because it's one of the books about to be discussed by the F2F mystery group that I attend.

1, I'd read Ranma 1/2.

2, Dragon Scroll does indeed seem to be mystery.

3, Toss up between Magic Bites and Swordspoint(Is that the first in that series?) I'm thinking of saying screw it and putting them both on the poll.

Can I second Swordspoint? I'd like to. Or The Privilege of the Sword?

I would say Swordspoint probably qualifies as the first, yeah.

Works for me.

Poll incoming.

Ala wrote: "1, I'd read Ranma 1/2.

2, Dragon Scroll does indeed seem to be mystery.

3, Toss up between Magic Bites and Swordspoint(Is that the first in that series?) I'm thinking of saying screw it and putti..."
I'll come up with one.

Thanks, Guys!

Stewart

I'd be very interested to see a discussion of Ranma 1/2 (I've seen a good bit of the anime).

On a side note, where is a rules list? It's not obvious that second books can't be chosen without an explicit category, only that there's a category where all the books chosen must be a continuation of a series. I did a search in the discussion posts for rules and for second books and found nothing aside from short lists for individual polls, where none that I saw mentioned second books.

I know you reserve the right to change the rules, but it'd be nice to know what the current set is up front... I bet there's something a few months back that's in a thread so buried that nobody will find it unless they know exactly where to look.

Ala wrote: "Can't do seconds in a series unless that specific theme is chosen.

Craig, I've no idea if that counts. But I'll allow it unless someone else says no."

While Daughter of the Empire is an absolutely fantastic book, I don't really think Martial Arts plays into it much at all.

The world is based very much in Asian culture and influences, but there's no Martial Arts element to it.

Not that everyone shouldn't read it though. Great great books.

Stewart wrote: "Ala wrote: "1, I'd read Ranma 1/2.

2, Dragon Scroll does indeed seem to be mystery.

3, Toss up between Magic Bites and Swordspoint(Is that the first in that series?) I'm thinking of saying screw ..."

Here's one...


The Black Company (The Chronicle of the Black Company #1)
by Glen Cook

Poll is Up