Beyond Reality discussion

Hi everyone,

It’s time to open nominations for our August 2012 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!
• Seconding isn't necessary in this group, but feel free to assert your enthusiasm for any nomination all the same.
• Friendly discussion/debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Nominations will remain open through Saturday, May 19th, and the first round of polls will go up on Sunday, May 20th.

Thanks!
Candiss


NOMINATIONS SO FAR:


SCIENCE FICTION:
Blind Lake - Robert Charles Wilson (Random)
Surface Detail - Iain M. Banks (Paul)
Sundiver - David Brin (Tom)
The Quiet Invasion - Sarah Zettel (Janny)
Steal Across the Sky - Nancy Kress (Marty)
City of Golden Shadow - Tad Williams (Kevin)

FANTASY:
Redemption in Indigo - Karen Lord (Random)
The Etched City - K.J. Bishop (Paul)
A Sorcerer's Treason - Sarah Zettel (Nick)
Deathless - Catherynne M. Valente (Ysmalan)
Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was - Barry Hughart (Kevin)
Shadowmarch - Tad Williams (Helen)

Is it that time already?

For Fantasy
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord. I just finished it not too long ago and I was highly impressed. It had a wonderful feel to it.

For Science Fiction
Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson because it looks interesting and its been sitting on my wishlist for ages :)

hey everyone

I'll nominate The Etched city by KJ Bishop for fantasy. It might win eventually.

For SF, Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks is released in paperback at the end of May, so this would be a perfect time to read it. Banks' Culture novels are some of the finest Space Opera around, both grand in scale and relevant to the 21st century. I'll be perfectly honest, I count two of the previous in the series - Use of Weapons and Look To Windward - amongst my all time favourites.

I renominate last months SF runner up Sundiver by David Brin

For fantasy,

A Sorcerer's Treason by Sarah Zettel -- Victorian era Gothic (of sorts -- stormy windswept coast, mysterious shipewrecked stranger) leading to a magic fantasy city -- or so I'm told. Sounds good, and I've read the author before -- she should be on our bookshelves.

I re-nominate Deathless by Catherynne Valente. I'm not giving up yet. :p

I'll second Sundiver.

A Sorcerer's Treason by Zettel is wonderful.

I will also nominate one of her SF titles, badly overlooked - she's a tremendous SF writer, up to any of the idea books out there, and her aliens are extremely well drawn.

For SF,

Sarah Zettel, The Quiet Invasion, which was awesome.

Wow! Two Sarah Zettel nominations in one month. When it rains, it certainly pours. :)

Paul - I added Surface Detail to the list, even though it is #9 in the series. (The group has read at least #s 1-3 that I can see but certainly not all 8 previous books.) I included it because I am under the impression that the Culture series, much like with Pratchett's Discworld, isn't sequential and can be read as standalone works, and there is group precedent for such. If Stefan decides otherwise, or anyone else who has read the book has concerns that this particular selection requires prerequisite reads, we'll remove the book from the noms, and you'll have another nomination opportunity. But for now, we'll let things stand as they are. :)

Having read the series, I'd say you can read it out of order, although I always recommend reading Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games, and ideally Use of Weapons (the first 3 books) before skipping around. We've had the first 2 of those as BotM here in the past, so I'd say Surface Detail works. I'm still a big fan of reading any series in order of publication though.

Thanks, Stefan!

(When I looked at the group bookshelves, I saw #1 and #2, plus The Algebraist. I don't know why I thought that was #3 in the Culture series!)

Candiss wrote: "Paul - I added Surface Detail to the list, even though it is #9 in the series. (The group has read at least #s 1-3 that I can see but certainly not all 8 previous books.) I included it because I ..."

Aye, they're all stand alone, although reading earlier books will probably give you more knowledge of the background.

Paul 'Pezski' wrote: "Aye, they're all stand alone, although reading earlier books will probably give you more knowledge of the background..."

I don't think it is essential to read any of the Culture novels in any particular order. My first, just because I had a copy handy, was Excession. I enjoyed it immensely and went on to read the rest and any new ones as they came out. But I have to admit that reading The Player of Games might be a good first exercise for anyone not familiar with Banksies' work. But, on balance, I see Surface Detail as an excellent nomination.

Janny wrote: "I will also nominate one of her SF titles, badly overlooked - she's a tremendous SF writer, up to any of the idea books out there, and her aliens are extremely well drawn.

For SF,

Sarah Zettel, The Quiet Invasion, which was awesome. "

I almost nominated that one myself. Another one which has been sitting on my wishlist for far too long. :)

I'd like to nominate Steal across the Sky by Nancy Kress for SF. I keep hoping it will win.

I would like to nominate City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams for Science Fiction because I found the idea in the book interesting, and for fantasy I would like to nominate Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was by Barry Hughart, which I just found out this month. It looks like a interesting book that is a little different than your typical fantasy.

I would like to try Kim Robinson's new book 2312

Kevin - I'll add both of your nominations, but I just wanted to point out that Bridge of Birds (which I love, incidentally) was just read and discussed by the group in 2010. We have a lot of new members, but there is also a sizable portion of the membership who were here for the last discussion, so it may do very poorly in the polls. If you'd like to substitute a different fantasy nomination, please let me know. (I loved City of Golden Shadow, too, and I'm a bit surprised the group has never read it!)

Banner wrote: "I would like to try Kim Robinson's new book 2312"

Banner, as interesting as this book looks, I'm going to have to ask you to make a different nomination, as the book isn't released yet. I know that by the time we would actually read the book (were it to win) it would certainly have been released, but I asked Stefan for input, and as he pointed out the group FAQ states a book must be available in print format to be considered. We have to draw the line somewhere, or things become (even more) chaotic. :)

So - do you have a different book you would like to nominate this month? If the Robinson book is released when it's expected to, you can certainly nominate it next month.

Any more nominations? Today is the final day to get them in.

Hey Candiss I understand the rule. There are several good ones already listed, I'll chose one if them. Tks

Banner wrote: "Hey Candiss I understand the rule. There are several good ones already listed, I'll chose one if them. Tks"

Ok, then. :)

Can I add a fantasy, Shadowmarch. I haven't read it yet but it does stare at me from the shelf.

Nominations are closed, and the first round of polls are up. Please go vote!

It would be nice if August could be a Tad Williams month like last August, which was a C.J. Cherryh month.

Was it that long ago?