Chris’s
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(group member since Feb 25, 2011)
Chris’s
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from the Beyond Reality group.
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Preliminary polls are now open! What would you like to read in February 2025?Please vote! Polls close Sunday November 24.
Preliminary Fantasy Poll
Preliminary SF Poll
I propose How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler for Fantasy. His books are generally quite entertaining, and this one looks like a lot of fun.I propose The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei. A multiple-genre book that promises an engaging plot.
Hello everyone, and happy holidays! It's time to open nominations for our February 2025 Books of the Month. What do you want to be reading then?
Each group member may 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. A couple of suggestions to keep in mind:
1. 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. If possible, please use a link to the book and author in your nomination post. Click on “add book/author" for an easy way to do that.
2. To see if your nomination has already been read by the group, you can check:
a. the group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month
and/or
b. these threads:
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2018 - Present
Master list of Previous Books of the Month (Apr-Dec 2017)
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2012 - 2017
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2006 - 2011
Books the group has read in the past 2 years are not eligible for current consideration. Being chosen as a past BotM prior to that time is not an automatic disqualification, 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, self-nomination and various rules for nominations, 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 Sunday November 17.
• The first (preliminary) round of polls will open Monday November 18 and will run through Sunday November 24.
• The final run-off polls go up Monday November 25 and will be open through Saturday November 30.
Thanks!
Chris, Moderator
NOMINATIONS SO FAR:
SCIENCE FICTION:
Empress of Eternity
Orbital
The Stardust Grail
Carnival
FANTASY:
The Serpent Bride
The Spear Cuts Through Water
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
I will nominate The Dead Cat Tail Assassins for fantasy, and Navigational Entanglements for science fiction.
I like books with some political intrigue, so this was a book for me. I enjoyed following along as Ingray worked through the ramifications of everyone's motives and actions as she learned more about herself and her own strengths. I appreciated that she became a hero on her own terms -- not by being the strongest or most authoritative person in the room, but by staying true to herself.As an archivist, I was particularly charmed by the idea of vestiges. We might not call them by that name, but I find them analogous to saving ticket stubs or concert programs, or taking selfies or snapshots. These mementos bring back memories and connect us to important moments of our own history, even though they have no extrinsic value of their own. It was even more interesting to think that two of the most important vestiges of their culture, the scroll and the bowl, are probably fakes -- but remain important cultural symbols nonetheless.
Wilson's writing style reminded me of Patricia McKillip; I thought she had a lyrical voice and delicate hand in creating the magical world. I also found the story reminded me very much of Guy Gavriel Kay, in that it took the historical siege of Granada and added fantastical elements to it, rather than creating a brand new fantastical world. What imagination: a story revolving around a concubine, a mapmaker, a djinn, a would-be nun leading Spanish inquisition (and possessed by a demon) and a magical island! I really enjoyed this.
Welcome to October! There's a bit of a nip in the air, and spooky decorations are beginning to appear. While you're carving the pumpkins, I hope that your schedule allows you to carve out some time for a good book. Let’s see what’s on tap for our group this month!Books of the Month - For October, you selected:
—October 2024 Science Fiction: Provenance by Ann Leckie
—October Fantasy: The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
There are (or soon will be) a couple of starter topics up for each book, but please feel free to start more.
We also have our schedule set for the next couple of months:
—November 2024 Science Fiction: The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
—November Fantasy: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
—December 2024 Science Fiction: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
—December Fantasy: [[book:Somewhere Beyond the Sea|199347538] by T.J. Klune
Series news - we are continuing the Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky and are currently reading & discussing the sixth book, The Sea Watch. Mid-month, we will move on to the seventh book, Heirs of the Blade. Please join in!
Lastly - Don't forget to check out the Question of the Week (a new one posts each Sunday) and drop by the “What are you reading in October 2024?” topic to share your picks, pans, and progress for the month! All genres welcome in this topic!
Enjoy!
Post here if you are reading or planning to read The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson. No spoilers please!
Sep 29, 2024 06:40PM
So many characters! So many factions! If you thought the landscape was complex and politically challenging before this, it is nothing to the undersea civilization.I have become more and more impressed with Tchaikovsky's ability to take creatures of our natural world and envision them as "kinden". This book, in particular, is the most creative so far in envisioning a wide variety of undersea lifestyles.
I found the differences between the land and sea kinden very well drawn. There were so many small details -- almost forgetting that Stenwold might need breathing assistance to leave the palace, the idea that hand thrown spears are not effective underwater weapons, the failure of the sea kinden to understand the size and scope of land civilization. Overall, I thought this was well done.
There were a couple of things that fell flat for me, though. We learn very early that the sea kinden have been attacking and sinking merchant vessels --- but why, really? I must have missed what they gained by that. And I didn't care for Cleaon as a villain - he's just an evil, sadistic bully, plausible but not really very interesting.
I nominate these:Sci Fi: Substrate Phantoms - this was a recommendation from a recent convention, a panel on "what you should be reading this year"
Fantasy: A Court of Thorns and Roses - I haven't read this, but I might be the only one. It's YA, and so popular that a local pub is holding a COTAR trivia night. I need to find out what's so popular!
I loved this! Such deft writing.... the characters are so believable and sympathetic, even the minor characters. Simme, for example -- proud of his warrior father, fully Ald in his beliefs -- yet secretly just longing to return home. And the small observations -- the stories tell about the warriors who had to fend for themselves in the mountains, but no one tells stories about how the women and children left behind had to scrounge to survive. Oh, I loved Memer and the other main characters (and a half-lion -- who invents a half lion!?), but it's the small touches that really brought this book home. I am definitely going to read the other two books.
I've read this before, but I appreciated it even more this time. If you're new to the Culture, there's a lot to absorb here. But one of the best things about the Culture are the ships! The ships with their wonderful, sarcastic names and temperamental dispositions. And in this case, there are almost no Culture citizens involved, just the ships themselves. I appreciated the absurdity of lugging the eleven-string around through all the shenanigans. The description of the sonata itself and Vyr's decision to master it as a life task was a thread that carried throughout. I really felt devastated for Vyr when the ship avatar mastered the instrument almost without a thought.
But the whole story centers around finding a truth that may or may not actually matter. Yet more absurdity! But at its heart, a purely genius reflection of the Culture itself.
Welcome to September! This is the month to get back to a regular routine after (hopefully) a bit of summer vacation and relaxation. I hope that your schedule allows you to carve out some time for a good book. Let’s see what’s on tap for our group this month!Books of the Month - For September, you selected:
—September 2024 Science Fiction: The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks
—September Fantasy: Voices by Ursula K. Le Guin
There are (or soon will be) a couple of starter topics up for each book, but please feel free to start more.
We also have our schedule set for the next couple of months:
—October 2024 Science Fiction: Provenance by Ann Leckie
—October Fantasy: The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
—November 2024 Science Fiction: The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
—November Fantasy: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Series news - we are continuing the Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky and are currently reading & discussing the fifth book, The Scarab Path. Mid-month, we will move on to the sixth book, The Sea Watch. Please join in!
Lastly - Don't forget to check out the Question of the Week (a new one posts each Sunday) and drop by the “What are you reading in September2024?” topic to share your picks, pans, and progress for the month! All genres welcome in this topic!
Enjoy!
Aug 31, 2024 09:08AM
Post here if you are reading or planning to read The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks. No spoilers please!
