Beyond Reality discussion

Hi everyone,

It’s time to open nominations for our May 2014 Books of the Month. (Since February is a short month, I am posting a day early.) 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.)

General guidelines:
• Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!
• For questions regarding specifics such as book formats, books in series, etc., please see the group FAQ.
• Seconding isn't necessary in this group.
• Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
• Nominations will remain open through 11:59PM (PST) of Thursday, February 20.
• The first round of polls will open Friday, February 21, and will run through 11:59PM PST, Monday, February 24,
• The run-off polls go up Tuesday, February 25, and will be open through 11:59PM PST Friday, February 28.

Thanks!


NOMINATIONS SO FAR:

FANTASY:
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (Maggie)
Suldrun's Garden by Jack Vance (Antonis)
Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton (Tyler)
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Helen)
The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan (Daniel)
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (Sumant)
The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney (Bob)
The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman (Kevin)

SCIENCE FICTION:
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Maggie)
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke (Shel)
The Languages of Pao by Jack Vance (Richard)
Stealing Light by Gary Gibson (Tyler)
The Martian by Andy Weir (Banjaxed)
Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Daniel)

I would like to nominate Who Fears Death for fantasy, and The Dervish House for sci-fi

I really loved Who Fears Death. Great book.

I don't have a fantasy nom at the moment, but for SF I'll nominate Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, which I've been meaning to read for ages.

Well Maggie jumped straight in with two corking noms, but as I've fairly recently read The Dervish House (loved it!) I'll stick an SF nomination in as well.

I've just discovered a Fantastic back catalogue of classic SF called 'The SF Gateway', talk about kid in a candy store! One of my long time wish list books was just sitting there waiting to be downloaded so I'll throw it into the ring on the off chance that anyone else might be willing to give an interesting oldie a go.

So how about The Languages of Pao by Jack Vance for SF.

And since Jack Vance was just mentioned, I think I'd like to nominate Suldrun's Garden by Jack Vance for fantasy!
There are 2 reasons why I nominate this.

The first is that it simply is a Jack Vance book, and that can't be bad! His Dying Earth stories were all amazing, interesting and very special!

The second reason is a bit weirder but stick with me. Sometimes, when I want to pick a book to read, I often think about the "seasonal fit", like if a book matches the month and the weather and the whole atmosphere! For some reason, Suldrun's Garden feels very much like a late spring / early summer kind of book! Hahaha don't know why, maybe I'm wrong, but I can't find out until I read it! :p

For fantasy I'll renominate Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton.

And for sf I'll nominate Stealing Light by Gary Gibson. An under appreciated space opera.

Fantasy - The Way of Kings, be warned it's long.
Bargain price on kindle UK at the moment.

Richard wrote: "Well Maggie jumped straight in with two corking noms, but as I've fairly recently read The Dervish House (loved it!) I'll stick an SF nomination in as well.

I've just discovered a F..."

Richard, that's a great resource! However, I wanted to note that the site offers a different selection of books based on your country. You're in the UK, where you have access to the site's full catalog. People in the US, for example, do not. Languages of Pao is not in the database when I search for it, and the vast majority of titles return this message:

"Owing to territorial restrictions, we regret that we cannot make this title available for sale in the USA or Canada."

In fact, I have yet to find a title that they DO make available to me. So it may be safe to say this is a great resource for UK (and other European? Elsewhere?) readers. I'm jealous! :)

Helen wrote: "Fantasy - The Way of Kings, be warned it's long."

I'll second Helen's nomination - that Sanderson epic is on my TBR list!

Mine too. Having read Mistborn and then his parts of WOT, I realised he's under represented in my read list.

The Martian by Andy Weir
Picked it up in my local book store last week and the blurb immediately hooked me;
"Apollo 13 meets Cast Away in this grippingly detailed, brilliantly ingenious man-vs-nature survival thriller, set on the surface of Mars.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first man to die there."

I'll be voting for The Way of Kings for my fantasy selection as I've been meaning to read Brandon Sanderson for ages and picked it up cheap on Kindle.

Banjaxed wrote: "The Martian by Andy Weir
Picked it up in my local book store last week and the blurb immediately hooked me;
"Apollo 13 meets Cast Away in this grippingly detailed, ..."

That book has been getting a lot of press lately, was praised in Entertainment Weekly also.

Think I'm on a bit of space exploration kick atm. Read and really enjoyed The Explorer and The Echo by James Smythe. Then watched a fascinating Horizon doc on the work NASA is currently doing, investigating a possible mission to Mars.

Fantasy: The Steel Remains

SciFi: Anathem

Richard wrote: "Helen wrote: "Fantasy - The Way of Kings, be warned it's long."

I'll second Helen's nomination - that Sanderson epic is on my TBR list!"

I am reading this one this month, as I cant get steelheart from the library for the life of me (too many sanderson fans :P)

I would like make a nomination for Mistborn: The Final Empire i have heard a lot of good reviews for this book and basically they have been on my shelves for too long.

Daniel wrote: "Fantasy: The Steel Remains"

The fantasy nominations list is choke-full of excellent choices this month, but I think I might end up voting for this one instead of my own nomination!!

Banjaxed wrote: "The Martian by Andy Weir
Picked it up in my local book store last week and the blurb immediately hooked me;
"Apollo 13 meets Cast Away in this grippingly detailed, ..."

I second this nomination. It's an absorbing book with a lot of potential discussion points. My review is spoiler free.

Fantasy: The Ten Thousand https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

SF: I was going to suggest The Martain, but I see a couple of people beat me to it.

Have not read either one. The Ten Thousand has been on my TBR list for some time and I enjoyed Kearney's Monarchies of God series. The Martain looks interesting.

How about the other Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon for science fiction, and The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman for fantasy.

I think Altered Carbon is the April sci-fi read (which I'm excited about!)

I did have a couple of noms in mind, but plenty of good uns already so think I'll just settle with a vote this time.

Carol. [All cynic, all the time] wrote: "I think Altered Carbon is the April sci-fi read (which I'm excited about!)"

It is! It will be a reread for me, I loved it the first time.

Banjaxed wrote: "The Martian by Andy Weir
Picked it up in my local book store last week and the blurb immediately hooked me;
"Apollo 13 meets Cast Away in this grippingly detailed, ..."

The Martian is, according to its homepage, not yet available in paperback. I remember Stefan expressing concerns about this in the past. In truth, several members will probably not be able to gain access to a copy because of this. It doesn't discount it, unless I hear differently from my fellow mods, but it is something to be aware of...though there does appear to be quite a bit of excitement about it from the members who have responded.

Daniel wrote: "Fantasy: The Steel Remains

SciFi: Anathem"

Anathem is on our bookshelves, read in 2010. This doesn't discount it from nomination, but please be aware that folks may not vote as readily for a former BOTM.

It's a great, though time consuming, read.

Carol. [All cynic, all the time] wrote: "I think Altered Carbon is the April sci-fi read (which I'm excited about!)"

Good catch there, Carol. It can't be nominated if it's already in the lineup.

As far as I know, a book only has to be available in print form, not necessarily in paperback. We've "done" several books within a few months of them coming out. Personally, I'd say let the nomination stand (due to precedent) and let the voters decide if they want to get a hardback (or ebook) or a library copy or vote against the book with their votes. :)

Here's the relevant section from the FAQ:

"6 Q. Are there any Books that can't be Nominated for Book-of-the-month?
A. Yes.
1- Sequels may only be nominated if the first book of that series has already been a previous Book-of-the-Month (and e.g. book 3 only if we've read books 1 and 2, and so on), so group members will be more likely to have already started that series, and are therefore more likely to be able to join in on a discussion of that series.
2- A full omnibus (a book with more than one novel in it) may only be nominated if the novels are individually out of print -OR- if the total number of pages is no more than 500 pages.
3- Horror is fine for nomination so long as it could be considered SF or Fantasy as well.
4- Out of print books can be nominated, but please take a moment to check if the book can easily be found second-hand (on Amazon, Alibris...).
5- Books must be available in print format. If a book is ALSO available in electronic format, that's fine, but books that are ONLY available in electronic formats are not eligible.
6- Please take a moment to see if the book you're planning to nominate has been our Book of the Month before. While it's not against our rules for a book to be nominated if it was our BotM before, we'd usually rather read something new! You can find a complete list of our past Books of the Month in the Previous Books of the Month folder, or by checking the group's bookshelf."

Candiss wrote: "As far as I know, a book only has to be available in print form, not necessarily in paperback. We've "done" several books within a few months of them coming out. Personally, I'd say let the nomin..."

Thanks Candiss!

Sumant wrote: "I would like make a nomination for Mistborn: The Final Empire i have heard a lot of good reviews for this book and basically they have been on my shelves for too long."

Again, the nomination is fine, but be aware Mistborn: The Final Empire was a BOTM in 2009.

Nominations are now closed and the first round of polls are up. Go vote!

The Final round of Polls are up through 11:59PM (PST) February 28.

Go to the polls link (upper RH corner of this page) and vote!