Books of the Month nominations for June (themed read)

[Greg, Muad'Dib]

As per our poll for this month's quarterly themed read, the two winning themes (only just - the votes were very diverse!) are Apocalyptic/Post-apocalyptic and Horror in a sci-fi setting. Now is your opportunity to recommend books for either (or both) themed group reads. The various suggestions will be put into another poll in a few days' time to pick the books for the group read.

[Richard]

THE PREY OF GODS by Nicky Drayden! Robopocalyptic South Africa plus technomagic. What could be tastier?

[Greg, Muad'Dib]

Richard wrote: "THE PREY OF GODS by Nicky Drayden! Robopocalyptic South Africa plus technomagic. What could be tastier?"

Sounds like a good one, Richard!

[Thorkell]

I nominate Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I loved The Handmaid's Tale and would like to read another Apocalyptic/Post-apocalyptic book by her. Oryx and Crake is the first book in a trilogy called the MaddAddam Series.

As to horror sci fi. I'm torn between nominating Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky and one of my list of shame books (for not having read it), The Stand by Stephen King.

[Mel]

I nominate The Unseen World. It’s on my to read list, it looks interesting and has good reviews.

[Thorkell]

I would like to remind people that we are nominating books that "are Apocalyptic/Post-apocalyptic and Horror in a sci-fi setting."

[Karen]

I love all three suggestions above (o:
I've already ordered The Unseen World.
Already have several copies of O&C,
and will probably order a copy of Prey of Gods too!
This is a fantastic group for good suggestions - really appreciate it.

[David]

I'll nominate The Long Loud Silence by Wilson Tucker. It seems to be a classic of sorts of 1950s-era post-apocalyptic science fiction. Skimming through the reviews on Goodreads, people have either loved it or hated it, with little middle ground.

[Damon, ZARDOZ]

That one is out of print

[David]

Sorry, I didn't realize the Tucker book was out of print. I'll withdraw my nomination.

[Greg, Muad'Dib]

Damon wrote: "That one is out of print"

David wrote: "Sorry, I didn't realize the Tucker book was out of print. I'll withdraw my nomination."

There was a Gollancz S.F. Masterworks edition published in 2015. Is this version out of print as well?

[David]

I just checked Amazon and they only have used copies for sale through their website, so I am guessing all the versions are out of print. There do seem to be a lot of copies available from Abebooks, but only 8 are for under 10 dollars. Thriftbooks doesn't have any copies for under 10 dollars.

Again, my apologies for not looking into the book's availability before nominating it. I own a copy already, so it didn't occur to me to check to see what the costs would be for others to buy the book.

[Damon, ZARDOZ]

It looks like a good book. It is a pity it isn't on Kindle or at Gurenburg.

[Wekoslav]

I'll nominate Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

[Thorkell]

Векослав wrote: "I'll nominate Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle."

I have a copy of it so sounds great! :)

[Susan]

For Post-apocalyptic, I'll nominate Earth Abides by George R. Stewart.

[Greg, Muad'Dib]

I'm setting up the polls currently but I thought I would make a couple of nominations first. For apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic, I think Cormac McCarthy's The Road would make an interesting group read. I saw most of the film a couple of years ago and I've had a copy of the book for a while. It's about time I got around to reading it!

Also, we've only received two nominations for horror in science fiction, so I'm nominating an X-Files novel, which is available on Kindle: Whirlwind. I have a secondhand copy of the '90s paperback and had enjoyed another volume written by Charles Grant in the series (The X-Files: Goblins) previously.

[Greg, Muad'Dib]

And the polls are up! They will be open in under an hour and can be found at the following locations (click the hyperlinks):

Horror in science fiction
Apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic science fiction