Poll

Links to the choices:

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke

Are results supposed to be visible immediately upon voting? V usually keeps that secret/hidden.

Shhhh!

At least it's not showing what we voted for this time, that may have been embarrassing for someone last time.

Tamahome wrote: "Shhhh!"

Hah! Tom made this post. I fixed it.

no i fixed it! lol

player of games looks pretty interesting, also im hoping we choose redshirts when it comes out, so im afraid that if we read old mans war ppl might not be up for another scalzi so soon.

also how can someone be embarassed of a pick. they are all good!

Veronica wrote: "Tamahome wrote: "Shhhh!"

Hah! Tom made this post. I fixed it."

Belmont! Foiled again.

Hidden results... so annoying. How are we supposed to cheer on our pick if we can't see how the vote is progressing? Although I suppose it's pretty obvious that I should start badmouthing Old Man's War asap.

Who wants to read a book about senior citizens flying space ships? Boooring!

The Left Hand of Darkness on the other hand, I hear is action-packed.

Picked Hyperion, mostly because I already have that stack of Dan Simmons books a colleague gave me after cleaning out his book shelves.

I *also* hear that it's very good, so there.

Old Man's War.

At least I know it will make one forum member happy if it wins :-)

Mike wrote: The Left Hand of Darkness on the other hand, I hear is action-packed. [book:Ol..."

Mmm... with the description I never thought it would be "action-packed", but I'm looking forward to reading it.

Old Man's War, sounds interesting, but the idea of a 75 year old protagonist is boring. And the idea that only old people can go to the new colonies sounds odd, how can a 77 year old can terraform and populate a planet? If you tell me that their sons/daughters or grandchildren gain the right to colonize the new planets, it might make sense, to me.

After writing this, now I want to read it, I'm curious what explanation the give...

The one vote for Arthur C. Clarke - that'd be me.

Didn't mean originally to go so gung-ho over Old Man's War. Tom had asked for suggestions for a short and fun laser book and OMW popped into mind. Its a book with a interesting premise as well as other interesting plot aspects and lots of action that is fairly short as far as most fiction goes. I think the reason I kept pushing it was because
1) it felt dismissed a bit too quickly since we'd read Fuzzy Nation (alternate pick) and
2) its just a good read.

Old Man's War is awesome but since I am middle aged myself, maybe its just wishful thinking.

I want a BrainPal™.

Tamahome wrote: "I want a BrainPal™."

What would you call your BrainPal?

I'd call mine Harvey.

Frank.

Went for Hyperion. I've been wanting to read it for ages.

Once again, I won't be able to read along with the rest, so I had to vote for something that I've already read so that I can actually be part of the conversation. (I won't say which I chose, though.)

Tamahome wrote: "Frank.

"

Creepy. Just creepy. If that's the incarnation of a BrainPal then I no longer want one.

Brad T. wrote: "Old Man's War is awesome but since I am middle aged myself, maybe its just wishful thinking."

Maybe that is why I voted for it! At 46, the idea of having a 22 year old body (even just 22 year old knees!) is appealing!

I didn't like OMW when I read it, so I voted Player of Games. Been meaning to get to that for ages. Plus, if OMW wins it'll be the fourth pick in a row of a book I'd already read outside of S&L.

Having read "Old Man's War" (and loved it) I can say it's not about a bunch of old f^%ts fighting a war. Whether it gets voted in or not I would recommend you read it.

Also, since I've already read it, I voted for something else that I've intended to read for a while. That way, if it wins, I'll actually have incentive to move it to the top of the stack.

having just read the "Left Hand of Darkness" description it sounds very similar to "Player of Games", which I have read previously. At least it seems to deal with many of the same themes.

I lose my 22 year old body when I turn 46? At least I have 3 more years. I went with a classic because a.) I like classics, b.) I haven't read it, and c.) I've read the others. Looking forward to what the group selects.

Vance wrote: "At 46, the idea of having a 22 year old body is appealing..."

There are websites for that.

I vote The Left hand of Darkness, Hyperion would be okay though

While looking at the description of each book each kind of reminded me of something I didn't want to read or something to explore later. The two most interesting to me were Player of Games, because the story sort of reminds me of the Japanese drama liar games for some reason even though the plot just goes a more Scifi way. The other was Hyperion, because it reminded me of a storyline that would be in an RPG game. I did choose one of these two but I will wait to see how the results turn out. :-)

Tamahome wrote: "Frank."

I have only just now realized that Frank is Harvey's drugged-out step-brother.

I'm fine with any of the choices (I've read Left Hand of Darkness before and wouldn't mind re-reading), but I voted for Hyperion since I've wanted to read it for a long time *and* it's conveniently on my to-read-in-2012 challenge list.

Scott wrote: "I lose my 22 year old body when I turn 46?"

Yes, on the very day . . . :0)

and LOL, Tamahome!

Sliding further off-topic on the subject of aging (relating back to Old Man's War), a little story:

I play basketball a few days a week and often against "kids" half my age (early 20's). One day we had picked teams and were about to start the game when one of the opposing side pointed at me and said "I'll take the old guy". (!!!!) Wellllll, that was enough motivation, and I cleaned his clock, scoring nearly all of our points. His friends were ribbing him, "hey, who has the old guy?!"

Experience and "tricks of the trade" can beat athleticism and youth. At least for one game. :0)

Has the group read an Iain M Banks book before. I am a huge fan,for far too long with almost a whole shelf on one of the book shelfs taken up with his work (well both Banks really). I would enjoy digging this old book out again after so many years.

Tamahome wrote: "Frank.

"

That Frank picture is awesome!

Lizzy wrote: "Went for Hyperion. I've been wanting to read it for ages."

Me too.

I have been acking for space war. and as long as Old Man's War was some of that i will be a happy man :). The left Hand Darkness looked interesting tho. I look forward to reading any of theas.

I voted for Left Hand of Darkness because i have been curious about Le Guin since Carmen Sandiego listed her as her favourite sci-fi author.

Old mans war is really reminded me more of Starship Troopers, but with enhanced, lab grown bodies instead of exo-skeletons.

Old Man's War - Re-read it very recently. Excellent book. Really enjoyed it.

The Left Hand of Darkness - I've read a lot of Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea rules!) but never tried this one, so would be very happy to give it a go.

Hyperion - This still qualifies as my favourite (all 4-parts), and gets my vote this time.

The Player of Games - This is the 1st Iain M. Banks I ever read. I have now read all of his "Iain M." work. This is one of his best.

The City and the Stars - I read this so long ago, I forget what it is about... Must re-read it, but seem to have lost my copy :(

All in all, excellent choices and I will be happy with any one of them.

Steve wrote: "Old Man's War - Re-read it very recently. Excellent book. Really enjoyed it.

The Left Hand of Darkness - I've read a lot of Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea rules!) but never tried this one, so would b..."

Agreed. I would be happy reading any of these.

I wish we could rank them instead of voting for only one of em. There are multiple books I wouldn't mind reading. I'd rather have voted for the book I don't want to read :)

Still... good choices. Thanks!

The Player of Games was hard for me to find over here in Asia. Dunno why, since most of the other books were available.

Sean wrote: "I wish we could rank them instead of voting for only one of em. There are multiple books I wouldn't mind reading. I'd rather have voted for the book I don't want to read :)

Still... good choices..."

I would love it if we could do ranked choice voting.

Iain M. Banks' culture books are fun, fun, fun. They get better and better. Player of Games was the first so I read it a long time ago -- I've read them all and it stands out as the least interesting in the series because his skills have improved. At the time it blew me away. It is a great introduction to his world.

In the interests of making S&L attractive to the Great Unwashed, I'm backing Old Man's War. I'd go for the Banks but Ready Player One and Reamde are too fresh in the mind to want another book about gaming so soon.

P. Aaron wrote: "In the interests of making S&L attractive to the Great Unwashed, I'm backing Old Man's War. I'd go for the Banks but Ready Player One and Reamde are too fresh in the mind to want another book abou..."

Remember when the Banks book was written -- it is not at all about modern gaming.

Still seems a thematic tie-in. And I disliked Left Hand the first time I read it. Bloody slow.

I've not read any of these, and I have to say.. this is very hard to choose from. Which I always think is a good thing when doing a poll, means that whatever eventually wins, I'm not going to be disappointed. :)

Paul wrote: "The one vote for Arthur C. Clarke - that'd be me."

the other one, was me.

Voted for The Left Hand of Darkness, because I was going to re-read it anyhow.

Wow, tough choice this time around!
I have read three of the 5 so I went ahead and voted for one of the other two. Depending on which one wins, I might do a reread, or read something else by the same author.

@ P.Aaron - Player of Games is NOTHING like Ready Player One or Reamde.