Space Opera Fans discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Previous BOTM Threads
>
[BOTM] - August nominations
date
newest »
newest »
Reader Pick: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsIndie Pick: Stolen Time by J. M. Brink
And I'm feeling a little weird about being the first person to nominate books three months in a row. I guess Anna and I just are on goodreads about the same time on the 20th of every month so I see it first?
Shannon wrote: "And I'm feeling a little weird about being the first person to nominate books three months in a row..."I think that would make you and I the top 'Geek Queens' Shannon :-) SciFi tends to be a male-dominated fandom (though that is slowly changing) while on Goodreads the most active members socially tend to be women. The guys tend to jump online when they have something specific they need to do (i.e., I just finished my book, let's go scope out a new one) whereas women tend to go online at least once a day to see how everybody is doing socially. I think that's why indie science fiction as a genre has lagged behind romance ... the scifi authors are a hell of a lot more tech savvy ... but the ladies are better at 'rag-chewing.' It's one of the barriers I've been trying to coax down here!
Guys! Get off of Mass Effect and talk about your alien invasion obsession HERE once in a while!!! If you talk about it, some clever author will write about it!!!
Reader Pick: The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M BanksIndie Pick: The Navigator by Steve Merrick
I had to scratch my head a bit for the second, as indie space opera (as opposed to sci-fi in general) seems a bit thin on the ground. Where are all the planet-hopping swashbuckling adventures?
Wondering that is exactly what led me to writing space opera, instead of keeping my awesome setting (I'm feeling humble today) to myself and just using it for tabletop rpgs. There's actually a lot more than there was just a couple of years ago.
The good news is that, if things continue the way they are, pretty soon -we- will dominate the genre and will get to call all the shots. Mwah-hah-hah-hah-haah!!!
This is what I have so far:READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
Since I'm about to finish Consider Phlebas, I'll go with The Player of Games by Iain Banks.Not sure how much Indie this is or for that matter how much Space Opera but I'll put Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith out there.
Got both your nominations added to my spreadsheet Packi! Technically Norstrilia is that odd bird of an out-of-backlist formerly tradi-pubbed book that has been republished not by the author (who is now deceased) but by the New England Science Fiction Association, which is a non-profit largely fan-run association who republishes gems such as this so they won't be lost. So ... I'll allow it even though technically it has a 'publisher' as it doesn't have a 'promoter.' Being a long-standing attendee of BOSKONE, I'm well aware it's a handful of hard-working volunteers who brought the title back from the dead. -IF- Cordwainer Smith was still alive, he'd have his rights back and be re-releasing all his work as an Indie. So ... we'll let the Random.org randomizer decide :-)
[*yes ... I am making a lame excuse based on parochial concerns ... but what's the point of being Borg Queen if you can't exercise your godlike MOD powers 3:-) *]
Reader Pick: Crystal Soldier(Liaden Universe #1)by Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Been looking for a reason to start up this series. Most of the books in it seem to be very highly rated and reviewed here on goodreads. So far they have been pretty good indicators in helping me find some good works. As for indies: B.V.Larson was an indie author and I'm still reading his Star Force series but I think he might be considered a hybrid author now since he's been signed with Amazon’s 47North imprint I believe. If we decide to considered him I'd nominate the first book in that series Swarm. However since I'm already reading Larson, it might be better to nominate something else like Sword Into Darkness. Thomas A. Mays seems like an interesting new writer to check out.
Anna wrote: "Guys! Get off of Mass Effect and talk about your alien invasion obsession HERE once in a while!!! If you talk about it, some clever author will write about it!!!"Anna, I'll bite! I'm annoyed that EA/Bioware ripped off Peter F. Hamilton for Mass Effect. But since EA is the most hated company in America, this doesn't come as a surprise. Most sci-fi games will be derivative but Mass Effect was so blatantly ripped off from Hamilton I'm surprised he hasn't made a stink about it. He seems to keep a low profile, though.
On the topic of nominations, I am planning on reading the Foundation and Robot series again soon (after 25 years) so I nominate Asimov. It's been a long time. I'm eager to read Foundation and Earth again especially, but don't want to skip to it so I'll be reading them all again (skipping Forward and Prelude which don't further the story).
Rion... I'll second the Sword Into Darkness nomination. I just finished it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Clean writing, well defined plot and characters. It moves right along. It is one that I will probably read again at some point. My all time favorite is Peter F. Hamilton's Fallen Dragon. It's a standalone but has enough scope.
Yay! The guys have arrived!!! :-) I knew the threat of sci-fi estrogen-poisoning would get them to show up and scratch the dirt, pee on fire hydrants, and nominate a few galactic-kick-butt space opera tales 3:-)Okay guys ... here's what I've got so far:
READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
Jon ... did you also want to nominate an indie pick?
Rion ... I looked at R.V. Larson's line-up and think he would technically be a reader-pick because the 'Zon has him fully integrated into everything. The spirit of 'indie pick' is a book that doesn't have the weight of a publicity budget behind it (other than what an author can sneak out of the checkbook past the wife...) so I picked your second choice, A Sword Into Darkness.
Anna wrote: "Yay! The guys have arrived!!! :-) I knew the threat of sci-fi estrogen-poisoning would get them to show up and scratch the dirt, pee on fire hydrants, and nominate a few galactic-kick-butt space..."Anna, I haven't read an indie recently but do plan to read fellow member Paul's novels (both of them) since I like archaeology. My favorite Star Trek TNG episodes were the ones where Picard would explore ancient civilizations and of course I loved Stargate SG1 for the same reason, so he's on my short list.
[edit] Just remembered those are now a series. Well, then, I can suggest The End of Eternity or The Gods Themselves by Asimov.
Sorry It took so long for me to get over here this month, Anna. I've been busy setting up my new book
Quiet Post as a preorder, and the time just got away from me.Anyway, let's try these nominations:
READER PICK:
A Tale of Two Clocks by James H. SchmitzINDIE PICK:
Scavenger Hunt by yours truly. I should warn people that what I mean is not the Laser Books edition, which is only the first half of the full story, but the more recent indie edition that contains the full tale.
Okay guys ... here's what I've got so far:READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
Jon ... I grabbed the first thing you recommended. And I'm glad you found a new indie author you enjoyed ... the point of having an indie pick :-)
Stephen ... congratulations on the new book!
Reader Pick:
by Jerry Pournelle Larry NivenHaven't read this since I was a kid, but I think it might be worth a revisit--and if you somehow missed it, you're overdue!
Indie Pick:
by Robert Lee WolfeThrowing my own work into the ring for Indie Pick.
I loved Old Man's War and Starship Troopers. Sorry I don't know how to link to them. If you haven't already read them, you might want to consider picking up the sample to see if you would like them. I've made note of the to suggestions to the forum. I'm always looking for good space operas. :-). Thanks
Raggedyann ... we're currently into the Old Man's War series so I put you down for Starship Troopers if that's okay.Okay guys ... here's what I've got so far:
READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
Reader Pick: Embrace This one I could only find in ebook, but it is from a larger publisher.Indie pick: The Pattern Ship
Hi folks!Reader Pick: The Mote in God's Eye
Indie Pick: Tales from the 23rd Century: Children of Earth
Yes, that's mine in the Indie Pick - I just hope it tickles the discerning taste buds of the group :-)
Paul.
Mark ... urf! You threw something at me I haven't seen before with Embrace which is a digital-only ebook published by a subsidiary of Harlequin Romance. Reader Pick is so those of us who still like to walk into a local bookstore or library can easily buy/find dead trees the old-fashioned way, edited and marketed by a global team.
Indie Pick is for the newer, edgier stuff written by authors who self-publish and don't have a marketing team behind them (i.e., we give the little guys a chance to get their book noticed).
THIS category is something else entirely. eBook only by Harlequin, which is a multi-billion dollar imprint with a massive marketing machine, dabbling around with experimenting with ebooks and other genres. (Translation ... they suckered this poor guy into giving up all his rights to his work ... forever ... and aren't doing jack-crapadoodle to get his book into bookstores in this age of Print-On-Demand when it's ridiculously easy to add a print edition).
Urg! I'm going to have to make a command decision and disqualify your Reader Pick nomination as a group read as, unfortunately, it doesn't fit into either category. [*mutters expletives about how much I hate excluding nominations due to tradi-pub bullshit*]. Sorry :-( I can only juggle so many categories at once.
Do you want to nominate something else for your Reader Pick?
*************
Everybody else, I've got your books down.
Hi I'm new and was inhibited to nominate before I post but ---Grass by Sheri S. Tepper? For Reader's Pick.
Paul wrote: "Hi folks!Reader Pick: The Mote in God's Eye
Indie Pick: Tales from the 23rd Century: Children of Earth
Yes, that's mine in the Indie Pick - I just hope it tickles ..."
Loved The Mote In God's Eye! As a personal note, that is one of those books that my Dad "assigned" me. There were certain books that he thought my life would not be complete if I did not read it. (Right along with Lucifer's Hammer.)
Bryn ... got your book :-)Kirsten ... did you want to nominate Mote in God's eye?
Kirsten wrote: "Loved The Mote In God's Eye! As a personal note, that is one of those books that my Dad "assigned" me. There were certain books that he thought my life would not be complete if I did not read it. (Right along with Lucifer's Hammer..."
I think I read The Mote in God's Eye years ago, but I no longer remember it. I wanted to nominate Lucifer's Hammer, which I do remember reading, though I can't recall many of the details. I wanted to nominate the latter, but wasn't sure if it was space opera. If it's so considered, this is my nomination; if not, skip it.
I think I read The Mote in God's Eye years ago, but I no longer remember it. I wanted to nominate Lucifer's Hammer, which I do remember reading, though I can't recall many of the details. I wanted to nominate the latter, but wasn't sure if it was space opera. If it's so considered, this is my nomination; if not, skip it.
Ken wrote: "I wanted to nominate the latter, but wasn't sure if it was space opera. If it's so considered, this is my nomination..."Lucifer's Hammer is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi books! I think I've read it six times :-) I'm going to exercise some Borg Queen discretion and arbitrarily and capriciously declare it's space-opera-ish enough to nominate. After all, the asteroid -did- travel throughout the galaxy :-)
Black pepper ... and chocolate ... burning. What a post-apocalyptic waste :-)
Okay guys ... here's what I've got so far:READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
Is it bad that I'm finding this a bit exciting and am enjoying reading all the comments going along with the nominations?Hmm... maybe I need to get out a little more! ;-)
You Kiwi's are a good 17 hours ahead of me, John :-)Exciting, Paul? It's a lot of fun using the Random.org list randomizer to spit out a winner. Cut. Paste. Hit 'randomize'. That usually happens pretty quick. It's then changing over the threads that takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r. :-)
John wrote: "I know I'll be reading The Last Colony anyway but I want at least one other ..."John ... did you drop a nomination into the thread? I can't find it. I had somebody else complain a bunch of comments they posted were 'lost' on Goodreads this week. If so, it's still July here so drop your nomination(s) in if you have one.
Betsy wrote: "Isn't The Last Colony the series read? It's number three in Old Man's War, isn't it?"Oh ... duh... [*rubs eyes*] ... rather brain dead at the moment ... my imaginary friends have been talking to me again and they've been very rude about not letting me go to bed at a decent hour until I write down their latest angst :-)
Isn't it August yet? It's been August in Australia for half a day and night! Can't stand the suspense.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Space Opera Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
The Last Colony (other topics)The Last Colony (other topics)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (other topics)
Crystal Soldier (other topics)
Foundation (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Sheri S. Tepper (other topics)Jerry Pournelle (other topics)
Robert Lee Wolfe (other topics)
James H. Schmitz (other topics)
Emma Bull (other topics)
It's time to nominate what books we'd like to read as a group during the month of August. We have two categories up for grabs this month, including:
READER PICK: A traditionally published, mass-market book that a reader can walk into most bookstores and libraries to find.
INDIE PICK: An independently published book that may or may not be available in paperback. The indie author is his own marketer.
And then ... we have the other categories:
SERIES PICK: We will be continuing on with Book 3 of the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi, The Last Colony. Stick it on reserve through your inter-library loan or start hunting for a sale!
MOD PICK: This is where your MODS arm-wrestle and pick a book out of thin air. Sometimes it's something that caught our fancy and we're looking for an excuse to read it with friends. Other times it will be to balance out the offerings of the other three categories.
Remember, you're allowed to nominate ONE book in EACH open category (this month READER and INDIE pick). Since we use Random.org to pick a winner, authors are allowed to nominate their own books. Each nomination counts as a 'chance' to win, much like a raffle ticket.
So ... drop your link for READER PICK and INDIE PICK into the nomination thread below! Happy nominating!
Anna Erishkigal
SOF MOD-2