Poll

I'm really hoping for Shades of Milk and Honey to pull ahead. I've wanted to try the series since I first heard about it. I'm sure Blackbirds is a fine novel, and I loved the Chuck Wendig interview, but I'm not certain I want to return to something dark so quickly.

I'm afraid I've already lemmed Blackbirds and at the end of the opening scene, no less. It was a neat concept but I found the execution unpalatable.

Even the synopsis for "Shades of Milk and Honey" has me dreading it winning.
I'm not saying it's a bad book but it just sounds like it is aimed at a female audience and more suited to Veronica's other book club.

None of the choices really grab me but I'll give "Moth and Spark" a vote because dragons.

I mean iirc the club loved the Memoirs of Lady Trent, and further back Among Others. from their covers to their blurbs both were pretty clearly marketed for Ladies, but many of us dude-men ended up enjoying them because they were great books.

Rob wrote: "I mean iirc the club loved the Memoirs of Lady Trent, and further back Among Others. from their covers to their blurbs both were pretty clearly marketed for Ladies, but many of us dude-men ended up enjoying them because they were great books. "

I liked both those books. I'm not trying to stir up debate. Am I wrong in thinking that it sounds like a Jane Austenesque Regency period romance novel? (For me personally those are bad things)

Yes I am a bit of a dude man. 30 years as a miner will do that ;-)

But hey if it wins I'll give it a fair go.

Ok, full disclosure: I love Jane Austen. And I also don't think Austen's novels are as romance-centric as people make them out to be. So that's a bias.

But when I read the description, what I get is this: alternate Regency where a Lady has been rejected by society due to inability to get hitched, ends up being some kind of badass lady wizard and has to go in a quest to restore honor to her family-- also somewhere along the way she picks up a love interest. The love story seems like what it is in a lot of Jane Austen novels-- not what makes up the story, but something that grows with it eventually once the plot has got going.

Also my first response does read a bit more confrontationally than I'd intended. So sorry about that.

Tough choice.

Going by the summaries, I chose Hounded, as it sounded more up my alley, though I'd be happy to read any of these. Great list.

I bought a copy of Hounded after the interview, so I vote for that.

This is tough. I'm sure all the books are fine, but none of them are jumping up and down squawking, "Me me me me, pick me!"

But when I read the description, what I get is this:..."

That's a little more exciting than the book turned out to be. Except for maybe the dramatic ending, which was way more exciting than the balls and parlor magic that the rest mostly was. I like the magic in it. I enjoyed it but I'm also an Austen fan.

Chuck got my vote because I liked his interview the best. If he wins I guess I need to read the pick.

I've read Hounded (enjoyed it) and Blackbirds (hated it--way too violent for me). So I voted for Promise of Blood though would be equally happy with Moth and Spark. Promise of Blood is on my to-read list already, so it makes it edge Moth and Spark.

Shades of Milk and Honey looks really interesting but I think I'd need more time than the club uses...

No Elizabeth Bear? Range of Ghosts (Eternal Sky #1)

Voting Moth & Spark even though Shades and Promise have both been collecting e-dust on my kindle.

Oh, and on her podcast's most recent episode Mary robinette Kowal mentions that the fourth book in the series is a heist novel, basically "Jane Austen writing oceans eleven set in Venice, with lord Byron," and that the series' novels are all written to be stand alone. I think all the others here are part 1 of some ongoing story.

Kaleb wrote: "although it looks like Promise of Blood is going to win."

The poll has only been up a day. We still have just under three weeks before voting is done. I wouldn't count any of them out yet.

Since I need an extra month to finish The Martian (now only 14th in line to get it from the library!), I'll vote for something I've already read. Of the books listed, I most highly recommend Shades of Milk and Honey. Of the books not listed, I second the nomination for Range of Ghosts. Shades of Milk & Honey was good, but Range of Ghosts was kind of awesome.

I voted for Blackbirds but I also would like Hounded to win. Shades of Milk and Honey is also in my wheelhouse.

I don't like that the results are displayed, though. We watched this get totally gamified the last time, with people changing votes as the deadline neared.

Maybe next time there's a poll the results will be hidden.

Voted for "Moth and Spark" cause of dragons too! ^_^v

Actually, I hope we get to vote for next month's pick too. My laser pick will totally be House of Suns.

I was kind of underwhelmed by the descriptions of all these books. I picked Shades of Milk and Honey because it sounded like it might be the most fun to read.

Phil wrote: "I was kind of underwhelmed by the descriptions of all these books. I picked Shades of Milk and Honey because it sounded like it might be the most fun to read."

Exactly!

I voted for Hounded because everyone seems to like it. I've read Promise of Blood already, so if that gets up for the win I'll read The Crimson Campaign instead. Who am I kidding, I'll probably read that too, anyway. The others I am open to, except probably not Shades of Milk and Honey, I bought my girlfriend a copy of it after the interview thinking it would be right up her alley, but she didn't have many good things to say about it.

I've already read Promise of Blood. While I loved the premise, the execution didn't really impress me.

Not really interested in Hounded. Urban fantasy of this sort tends not to grab me.

Moth & Spark wasn't even on my radar. But I'll give it a shot if it's picked.

Both Wendig and Kowal are authors I've been meaning to read for a while now, so I'm hoping one of their books is chosen.

I came in wanting to vote for Promise of Blood, but after giving the other descriptions a fair read, Shades, Hounded, and Blackbird all sounded better. With those choices, though, it will be hard to be disappointed!

Moth and spark people: if you combine your vote with shades that will push it over the top! I think.

I read a sample of the top two. Promise of blood was interesting enough that I kept on reading.

I'm not one of those who liked Memoirs of Lady Trent but I'm enjoying Moth and Spark right now, which has a strong romance component (certainly more than in MoLT). That said, I'm getting the feeling from the pacing that M&S is VERY much the first of a longer series so I voted for Hounded.

I'd like to see the vote pared back to 2 to 3 books tops so we can get a more realistic final poll tally. probably should start out nice and big like this with 5 books to garner general interest, then narrowed down before decision time. Just a thought!

No matter what wins, I'll probably end up reading at least a couple of these.

Robert wrote: "I'd like to see the vote pared back to 2 to 3 books tops so we can get a more realistic final poll tally. probably should start out nice and big like this with 5 books to garner general interest, t..."

I think 5 books is pretty narrow to begin with, but we deserve the simplest of polls possible after the Altered Carbon write-in folks essentially broke the last one.

I'm rooting for Shades of Milk & Honey (I, sadly, have a knack for picking third place finishers), but I think starting a second poll just creates unnecessary confusion. People can always change their vote if/when it becomes clear their choice doesn't have a chance at winning (I know I did that last time around).

Yeah, I really wish there were more choices since I'm not super excited by any of these. Rooting for Shades of Milk and Honey, but my vote has never won a S&L poll.

Just correcting my earlier post - Moth and Spark is a stand-alone book; it just has very strange pacing.

Since my original vote is way down on the list I changed it to "Hounded" I like this one better than the one that is in the lead.

So I changed my vote from "Moth and Spark" to "Hounded". I'm actually reading "Moth and Spark" right now and I'm halfway through. It's pretty bad in my opinion and I wouldn't wish to force upon anyone. It's more than strange pacing. I feel like I'm reading one huge run-on sentence. So far shallow and one-note character development too and a very forced plot. And I've yet to get to the part about the dragons...

Last chance for anyone to rethink their votes!

Keidy wrote: "So I changed my vote from "Moth and Spark" to "Hounded". I'm actually reading "Moth and Spark" right now and I'm halfway through. It's pretty bad in my opinion and I wouldn't wish to force upon anyone. It's more than strange pacing..."
Keidy -- Yeah, you're right. I liked it less as it went on. I didn't notice the run-on sentences but the lack of character quirks or interpersonal conflicts in what was essentially a romance became a real issue.

Alan wrote: "Keidy -- Yeah, you're right. I liked it less as it went on. I didn't notice the run-on sentences but the lack of character quirks or interpersonal conflicts in what was essentially a romance became a real issue."

It's not the romance part that made me dislike it. I actually like romances when they're well done. This is pretty much like mediocre romance, complete with insta-love/love-at-first-sight/soul-mate logic and uncomplicated shallow characters. I have real problem with that kinda mentality. And it KILLS me that the author made this cool, independent, very intelligent young lady into a starred-eyed lovesick puppy with nothing more than a touch and a glance.

And the internal dialogue just goes on and on and on and on and not in a good way. I was often told about things instead of shown and that bugged me too. Nope, romance wasn't so much the issue as just plain bad writing. I felt like I was reading a draft of what the story was about. And I know Jane Austen was a huge influence but even Austen has a better grasp on character development AND story development than this book had. Believe me, it's not the romance that was the problem. It's just that it was a really BAD and shallow romance.

I was pretty disappointed and I'll post my review later. I really love stories about dragons. This one though was passable.

Edit: And re-reading what you just wrote you were actually agreeing with me. Sorry. I read that wrong. I pretty much just repeated what you said but with more words. I blame the frustration of the book. ^_^;