Fantasy Book Club discussion

It's that time again already!

Please submit your nominations for the fantasy book you'd like to read in August and discuss in September. Limit is two noms per person, and again, please make sure to give us a short blurb about why you chose it and how it fits the genre.

Nominating will end on the 16th!

I'm going to nominate Sabriel by Garth Nix, since it didn't win last time and I read it recently and enjoyed it. I also don't think we've done a dark fantasy yet.

Elise wrote: "I'm going to nominate Sabriel by Garth Nix, since it didn't win last time and I read it recently and enjoyed it. I also don't think we've done a dark fantasy yet."

Good choice! :)

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson ... Brandon is signing and numbering my copy this afternoon and it will be in the mail to me first thing Monday morning. :)

Thalia, we can only do one... Can you list the book title please?

I'm nominating:
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. I have heard a lot of good things about this book, and I have it on my shelf at home...

Also nominating The Amulet of Samarkand, which I have been wanting to read for a while now and finally have acquired!

Becky, I think you will really enjoy Amulet of Samarakand - I did ;-)

I'm also interested in Book of Lost things - so sounds like two good recommendations.

Cool! :)

ditto that Becky, I wanna read both those too...good noms :)

Becky,

The first book in that series Thalia mentioned is

Running with the Demon

Thank you Chris. No nominations for yourself?

Gardens of the Moon

David, Can you elaborate on why you chose that book? :)

The Flame in the Bowl Unbinding the Stone, because it's written by me, and meant to be as different as I can make it from every other fantasy novel I'd read. Where else will you find Triple Distilled Elixir of Warrior?

Summon the Keeper is another of my favorites by Tanya Huff.

I definitely second Running with the Demon.

I'm also interested in reading Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks.

I'll once again nominate The Book of Joby because I already own it and haven't read it yet.

David's welcome to elaborate, but I'll second Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. It's the first book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, a really excellent epic fantasy series going right now. It's a fairly self-contained story that fits into a larger tapestry. Good, intricate plotting, great characters (though we're really only getting introduced to the large cast here, but he still infuses a wide variety of characters with a sense of depth, which not only will pay off in future volumes, but pays off pretty well here too), rich world. It frequently garners comparison with George R.R. Martin's and R. Scott Bakker's work, to put it in some context. Even if it does't win the poll, I recommend it to all lovers of epic fantasy.

I'd like to second Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson is an awesome writer, as I'm sure much of you are aware, and Warbreaker just sounds it'll be a great read.

I chose Garden's of the Moon because it appears to be a new popular fantasy novel that is often rated highly which I, unfortunately, have sitting on my shelf unread due to lack of time. But John's reasons are good too!

i'll nominate these two, really only because there on my shelf ready to go and i love the authors other works.
The Steel Remains and Furies of Calderon

Wow... Busy day here today! Thanks for the clarification David.
This should be an interesting poll, we've already got some good noms!

Becky wrote: "Thank you Chris. No nominations for yourself? "

I had to give this some thought, as there are already good ones on here that I might vote for. But here are my nominations, to liven things up a bit:

A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
I have this coming in the mail, and was so intrigued by Tigana that I thought I'd nominate another Kay.

The Briar King by Greg Keyes
This one has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years and I need an excuse to take it down. I've heard good things about this series, which has been completed in only 4 books.

I'll second A Song for Arbonne as I read that last month and loved it just about as much as Tigana.

Great choices Chris... Both look good. :)

John wrote: "David's welcome to elaborate, but I'll second Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. It's the first book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, a really excellent epi..."

I've been wanting to try this series - such great reviews!

I'll definetely second Furies of Calderon: intro to an absolutely mind blowing series.

As an avid fantasy reader who has been so used to authors trying to re-create the works of Anne MccAffrey, J.R.R Tolkein, and/or J.K Rowling, Jim Butcher's Codex of Alera series has been suprisingly refreshing. So far, all who have read the series on my reccommendation have enjoyed it.

Leslie wrote: "I'm also interested in reading Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks.

I'll once again nominate The Book of Joby because I already own it and haven't read it yet."

Running with the Demon was such a cool book. I loved Nest and the Knight of the word. I wish I had Brook's facility with contemporary fantasy.

-Maurice.

Inda by Sherwood Smith - this is book one of a very huge series. It has a complex start, which throws the reader into an extremely comlex political powerplay, seen through the eyes of a very young character. Once I got into this story, it utterly blew me away. The intensity was gorgeous. This writer did many titles in this world for younger readers - this is not a book for young readers at all, as the machinations and mistakes of the generation in power fall onto the shoulders of the sons. I laughed aloud and cried, with this one, which was a complete surprise.

I would second (or is it third or fourth) Gardens of the Moon since I want a deeper look at this title, anyway. The nuance and complexity of this title is too much to absorb, with one take.

Ooooh, yes, Inda...It's been on my shelf for quite some time. but then again, so has Gardens of the Moon....

I'm curious to read Indaas well. Read (and re-read)Crown Duel many years ago and would love to read something else by this author.

Wow! Took some time to wade through the list and dig out the actual nominations, but here they are in recap mode:

(If I missed anything, please let me know!)

Sabriel by Garth Nix
Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
The Flame in the Bowl Unbinding the Stone by Marc Vun Kannon
Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff
The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari
The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan
Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Briar King by Greg Keyes
Inda by Sherwood Smith

Becky wrote: "Wow! Took some time to wade through the list and dig out the actual nominations, but here they are in recap mode:

(If I missed anything, please let me know!)

Sabriel by [author:Gar..."

There are just too many wonderful titles on this list!
Imagine the hair pulling when it comes time to vote...I predict there will be bald spots. (devilish grin)

It's a good thing we have one of these every month, huh? ;)

OK, so since we haven't had any new nominations after my recap, I'm closing the nominations and creating the poll. Stay tuned! :)

Voting closes in a couple days, make sure to get your votes in!

Current leaders are:
Sabriel with 24 votes
The Amulet of Samarkand with 21 votes

Oh shoot. Looks like I'm going to have to buy another book! Like I don't already have 260 books in my shelf to read.

Haha! That makes two of us David! Luckily I do own both of the front runners, so that's good!

OK, so the results are in, and it looks like SABRIEL is our winner. I have to admit I am thrilled by this, because I've wanted to read this book for a while now. :)

Don't forget, in September, we'll be reading both a GR author fantasy book as well as a general fantasy book. Start thinking of your nominations now!