September 2014 Contemporary Novel selection complete

[[deleted user]]

This is the place to nominate a Contemporary Fantasy or Science Fiction novel for our September group read and discussion (beginning September 21.) A contemporary novel would typically have been first published in the 21st century.

You can review past nominees and selections in the Group's Bookshelf. (If you wish to continue a discussion of one of our past group selections, all those discussion topics are still open in our Book Discussions area.)

You need not have read the title you are nominating; after all, you'll be reading along. Feel free to say why you are making the nomination, if you care to.

Note that these are nominations for our September discussion topic. Hodder's The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack has already been selected as our August Contemporary Novel topic.

Nominations will be open through Tuesday, August 5, when I'll collect the nominees and post a poll so members can choose among them.

[[deleted user]]

This month I'm going to nominate:


Lock In by John Scalzi

Scalzi's latest SF novel, Lock In, goes on sale August 26, which is 4 weeks before our September discussion date. (Since it's a new release, it's on sale as hardcover or e-book, not paperback pricing.)

Tor has a prequel novel, Unlocked, available online for free, and also the first five chapters of the novel itself.

Audible also has an odd promotion for the audiobook: it's been recorded by two different narrators, Wil Wheaton and Amber Benson, and pre-orders of either gets the other for free (I wouldn't be surprised to see that extended after the on-sale date.) Somehow this "two narrators" is supposed to be significant to the story.

[Mike]

I would like to nominate The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

The extraordinary journey of one unforgettable character - a story of friendship and betrayal, loyalty and redemption, love and loneliness and the inevitable march of time.

[Mike]

I will 2nd your nomination as I want to read this book too!
G33z3r wrote: "This month I'm going to nominate:


Lock In by John Scalzi

Scalzi's latest SF novel, Lock In, goes on sale August 26, whi..."

[Hillary]

I'll nominate something that's out in paperback: Lexicon by Max Barry. The promotions I've seen for it caught my attention (although I've tried to avoid reading too far into the reviews in fear of spoilers), and I also thought it was interesting that it was nominated for both the fantasy and science fiction Australian Aurealis awards (and won for sci-fi).

To quote Amazon's quote of the Booklist review: "Streetwise teenager Emily ... is recruited to join a clandestine international organization that seems bent on taking over the world through the power of language ... In the meantime, a young man, Wil, is kidnapped from an airport by two mysterious men determined to unlock a secret buried deep in his brain."

[Mary]

Romulus Buckle & the City of the Founders by Richard Ellis Preston Jr.

Action! Adventure! In a post-apocalyptic steampunk California!

[Trine]

I would like to nominate Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente.

It is a surreal fantasy out a group of people and their adventures in a sexually transmitted city. I know it sounds weird but Valente is an extraordinary talented author with an elegant and almost hallucinatory prose as well as a strange and vivid imagination.

[[deleted user]]

Thank you for the nominations. I've now created a poll to choose September's Contemporary Novel discussion.

Please Click Here to Vote for the Contemporary Novel you want to discuss in the group in September. (Beginning September 21.) Please only vote if you plan to participate in a discussion of the book you're voting for.

Note that this selection is for our September discussion topic. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack has already been selected as our August Contemporary Novel topic.

This poll will be open through Tuesday, August 12.

[[deleted user]]

Reminder for those interested in participating in a discussion of one of our nominees: this is the final day for our September Contemporary Novel selection. Click Here if you want to Vote.

[[deleted user]]

Our choice for our September Contemporary novel discussion topic is:


Lock In by John Scalzi

The discussion will begin September 21.

[[deleted user]]

will the digital "prequel" story be included in the discussion?

[[deleted user]]

Spooky1947 wrote: "will the digital "prequel" story be included in the discussion?"

Sure, if you have something to say on it.

[[deleted user]]

FYI: Tor has put free samples of both audiobook versions of Lock-In on Soundcloud if you're interested in the audiobook. (Matches the free Text sample of Lock-in's first 5 chapters they previously promoted.

[[deleted user]]

Just a reminder that we have a contemporary novel discussion of Scalzi's latest, Lock In, scheduled to start in a couple of days (Sunday). It's one of the shorter novels we've tackled lately, but this'd be a good time to get started (especially if you need to buy a physical copy!)

Also a reminder that Tor has a prequel novella, Unlocked, available online for free. You don't need to read it to understand Lock In, but it's an extended history of events leading up to the future US of the novel. (If you're an audiobook listener, that novella is at the end of the Lock In audiobook (because where else would you hide a prequel?) It's not in the ebook. I don't know about the dead tree editions, but I suspect not.)

If you're undecided about reading, Tor has the first 5 chapters of the novel itself on line for free as well.