Fantasy Book Club discussion

Jeanne did suggest having a book reading each month. Maybe it could be the first book in a series each month, and then those who enjoy the series can continue discussions on the thread for that series as they progress thru the series. That way at least you get the know different series and can find what you may enjoy.

Please add your nominations to the new listing (allows 100 novels to be voted on per member):

New Nominations listing

If you would be interested in reading a book together and then discussing it, post in this thread your suggestions of what to read. If we get enough suggestions, I'll put up a poll.

I'll get things started with a few suggestions from my own "To Read" list of books I already have that I'm planning on reading:

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis

The Pillow Friend by Lisa Tuttle (this is a single title Fantasy)

The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, Leviathan by Robert Shea

Odalisque by Fiona McIntosh

One thing I've been trying...with pretty good luck is to find new authors. I make it a policy to read one new author a month any help in finding "fresh new talent" would be a great help to me personally.

I like the idea of reading only the first in any series as part of the official monthly read. That way we are not getting bogged down reading one series, or reading book two when some might not have liked book one.

Finding a new author every month is also a good idea, though we shouldn't limit ourselves solely to new authors. Bringing in new authors frequently will keep it fresh, and reading old authors (different works) will allow us to revisit favorites and discuss development.

As for posting suggestions, we should setup a designated thread for it. Also, before suggesting a book you should make sure it hasn't already been suggested. Whoever it is that does our bookkeeping will probably be receiving suggestions multiple times each day. It will be easier if they do not need to hunt through every book we have each time they get a suggestion to make sure we have no repeats.

And finally, each book should have a discussion leader. In the SF&F Club, they alternate based on volunteers, which I thought was a good idea. So we might want to start a Volunteer thread, where you can put your name and the books you would like to lead on.

To help Jeanne, here's a list of books I would like to discuss here. I've actually read them all, but others may not have. Oddly enough my "To read" list is full of books further along in a series, lol!

Mistborn by Brian Sanderson
Dragonkeeper by Donita K. Paul
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold
The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind

Would it be inappropriate to suggest my own novel? It did win an award. Plus, I'm right here to take all your hits and answer questions.

Leslie Ann




Griffin's Daughter

No problem suggesting your own novel Leslie. I look forward to reading it to see what it is like and am just awaiting it to arrive at my local library. It would great to ask you questions about it and get replies from you. I have read numerous reviews already and they vary so am interested to get my own thoughts on your work. Hopefully we will have it as a reading soon.

Elizabeth,

I'm curious as to what put E.R. Eddison on your To-Read list. He's not the most commonly known author (though I've read and liked The Worm Ouroboros immensely).

As to suggested reading, I could exhaust several post-a-comment character limits but I've just finished rereading Lloyd Alexander's The Prydain Chronicles, the Book Club omnibus edition, and found it to be at least as good as I remember it from 6th grade.

I don't have a problem with you suggesting your book either Leslie! The synopsis looks interesting and it is certainly within our genre.

J.J.,

Whaaaaat? There are some people WHO DON'T LIKE MY BOOK?!!! I say LASH THEM WITH WET NOODLES!!!(LMAO!)
Seriously, though...
No writer can expect universal praise. I'm just pleased that so many people have enjoyed it enough to ask when the sequel will be out.

I'd recommend adding Mythago Wood as one that's a bit obscure.

Also, Nine Princes In Amber which I'm sure most people have read, but damn, is it good.

And how about The Magic Goes Away and The Black Company: The First Chronicle of The Black Company. Jut love that one. I reread it every few years.

My husband liked the Nine Princes of Amber but I was unable to get into it. I like some fantasy but really I am a fan of Norah Lofts mostly. Her book Jassy might fit here. (not sure)

Well from "poking around" here and the things I have on my TBR List...

The Crown Conspiracy
DragonSpell
Assasin's Apprentice
Dragons of Autum Twilight

Elizabeth,

There are two "hurdles" to enjoying The Worm Ouroboros:

1. A fairly lame framing device where a human, Lessingham, is transported to Mercury (where the Demons, Goblins, etc., live) to witness the ensuing events. Fortunately, he disappears well before page 50 (as I recall, it's been a while), and never appears again.

2. Eddison's prose is extraordinarily ornate, and not for the faint of heart :-) It's reminiscent of Lord Dunsany, Clark Ashton Smith and James Branch Cabell, if you're familiar with any of them.

However, if you (and anyone else who's interested) can get past the hurdles, I think you'll enjoy him. He's certainly not like anyone I can think of writing today.

And this reminds me of another suggestion: The book that got me on to Eddison in the first place, J.B. Post's The Atlas of Fantasy. This nifty little volume is a compendium of maps from a number of fantasy authors, well known and not so well known.

It appears that Griffin's Daughter won the poll for book to read. I looked at my Barnes and Noble tonight and they don't have it so I may have to order it and am not sure if I'll get that done in time to read it in December so how would everyone like to read it in January to give everyone time to get it?

Maybe a good idea, but as the 2 other books came in at second with the same votes not sure which you would choose ?

I guess it would depend if folks have those? I have both. If anyone else has either The Light-Bearer or Mistborn and want to read them now to discuss in January, post here. Or we can just wait to start with Griffin's Daughter reading in January and discussing in February?

I just finished Mistborn, and would love to discuss it!

Same here, if anyone else wants to discuss it.

Guess I'd better get reading Mistborn then!

I think I have Mistborn on my shelf--I'd better go check.

I look forward to discussing my book with you all in January.

Leslie wrote: "I think I have Mistborn on my shelf--I'd better go check.

I look forward to discussing my book with you all in January.
"

It'll be really cool to have the author's perspective in the discussions! I think that we as readers will get a unique insight into the book we otherwise would not get, and you as an author will really get a good chance to see how the readers interpret what you have written. I think it'll be great!

I started it yesterday and am already hooked. I'll look forward to discussing this in January too!

I'll post the discussion schedule in the Group heading as follows:

January: Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
February: Griffin's Daughter by Leslie Ann Moore

Shall we have another poll for March? or since we picked one of the two tied for second place books for January, should we put The Light Bearer's Daughter by O.R. Melling in for March and then do another poll for April?

For those of you who haven't already obtained a copy of my book, I have copies for sale for $15 US plus shipping. This is cheaper than buying it new from Amazon. I'll also sign the book and personalize it, if you like.

Please contact me at [email protected] if you are interested.

Thanks to J.J. for this nifty idea!

Leslie Ann

One of the books I recommend most to others is The Curse of Chalion, which I believe is the best fantasy novel written in the last decade. Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind is another. And of course my own novels.

I have now made a list of nominated books and will use a random number selector to list 10 for the voting poll. To avoid having members adding too many books (eg every book on their 'To Read List') i will limit nominations to 4 nominations per member.

Here's my nominations. I haven't read any of them, but they look interesting.

Blue Moon Rising by Simon R. Green
The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle
The Mabinogion Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton
The Hound and the Falcon by Judith Tarr

I'm going to list books that I've heard of but have not read yet...The top on that list is "Name of the Wind" I also of course would like to add my husband's book to the list: The Crown Conspiracy

Wife of GR Author Michael J. Sullivan | The Crown Conspiracy | Avempartha
Sample Chapters: Crown Conspiracy | Avempartha

Here are some of my recent favorites. They aren't all series.

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A McKillip
The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton
Waterborn by Greg Keyes
and I second the Curse of Chalion.

I finished reading the Crown Conspiracy over the holiday and I must say that I HIGHLY recommend this book !! I'll write a more formal review later.

Jane wrote: "I finished reading the Crown Conspiracy over the holiday and I must say that I HIGHLY recommend this book !! I'll write a more formal review later."

Glad you liked it Jane!!

New nominations now added to listing.

JJ, I love the list you've begun. However, I'm having a difficult time getting over the fact that all of the books beginning with "The" are filed under T.

Ya I had the problem too - wondering if we could get them moved to where they would be without "The"? Though not wanting to put more work on ya.

I'll bring it up... It's a locked thread, so JJ will have to change it. :)

No worries, that problem has been fixed now.

I am trialing a new way of listing and nominating novels for the monthly readings. It is using Listopia and will allow members to add novels themselves and vote for listed novels. Up to 100 books can be added by each member. Add the novels you wish to nominate and vote for here:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13...

I added some books to the list. :)

JJ wrote: "I am trialing a new way of listing and nominating novels for the monthly readings. It is using Listopia and will allow members to add novels themselves and vote for listed novels. Up to 100 books c..."

Sounds good - but I would still do the "run off thing" - maybe take the top 10 then pit them in a poll. Because I can think of a lot of novels to "nominate" but once I had a choice of a few then I could pick from that smaller list more easily.

Yes i agree, the Poll is still the best way to select the final novel for the monthly reading. The Listopia listing is just a better way of allowing members to add novels they wish to read themselves and to see scores and who voted for which novels.

It maybe the Top 10 or a Random 10 like we do now, so the novels selected for the Poll change randomly each month. I just find Listopia is a easier way of making a list of novels, but it does have its problems, such as non members being able to vote on that list.

I am closing this thread to new comments. :)