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[BOTM] January Nomination Thread
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I'd like to nominate my book,
Overload Flux (A Central Galactic Concordance Novel)
, for the INDIE PICK.- - - - - - - - - -
Someone is stealing the vaccine for a galaxy-wide pandemic. Forensic investigator Luka Foxe and security specialist Mairwen Morganthur fight corrupt pharma corporations, murderous mercs, sabotage, and deadly space battles, and must trust each other with dark secrets if they hope to survive.
- - - - - - - - - -
BTW, it's marked it down from $3.99 to $.99 through 12/31/2014.
Overload Flux
Carol wrote: "I'd like to nominate my book, Overload Flux (A Central Galactic Concordance Novel), for the INDIE PICK"
I didn't know we could do that.
I have put this book on my Kindle Wish List. Unfortunately my book budget is exhausted for this month so I won't be able to take advantage of the lower price (unless of course I get an Amazon gift card for Christmas) but that's okay. $3.99 is not an outrageous sum for a Kindle book. I will get it next month when I get my new book budget for the month.
Gibson wrote: "I didn't know we could do that."You are allowed to nominate your own book as an INDIE PICK Gibson. We use Random.org to select the winners. It discourages the game of 'get 50 of your friends to join the community just to nominate your book, and then leave, never to be seen again' that happens in some communities. I'd rather people who COME here want to BE here as a genuine part of the community, and then give our author-members the same RANDOM CHANCE at being featured as everybody else. So go ahead and toss your book in Gibson! And make sure you pull up your pretty cover so people can see it.
And now ... here's the cover-bling lineup so far:
READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
YOUNG ADULT PICK:
Where is everybody this month? Everybody's busy going to parties and nobody is reading :-)
Jeffrey wrote: "I have put this book on my Kindle Wish List. Unfortunately my book budget is exhausted for this month so I won't be able to take advantage of the lower price (unless of course I get an Amazon gift ..."Hi Jeffrey! This is the NOMINATION thread for January, and then on January 1st we'll randomly select a group read from each category to read during the entire month of January, so there's still plenty of time to grab something that catches your eye. Also, sometimes the INDIE PICK authors will offer a discount to entice you to read and discuss their book if their book is picked to be the group read. So don't despair! INDIE PICKS are a budget-minded readers chance to get a quality book at a bargain price :-)
And as you can see, Carol went back and marked down her book from $3.99 to $.99 cents, so maybe you could snag it?
Actually, she was kind enough to e-mail me a mobi copy in exchange for a fair review. It is now on my Kindle waiting to be ready when I finish Alternate Hilarities (which I am almost done with). I loved the synopsis of the book and am looking forward to reading it soon.
Oooh! Jack McDevitt! He's always been one of my favorites. [*of course, space opera is like eating a candy sampler, they're ALL my favorite*]Updated cover-bling, all colorful and pretty like Christmas/Hanukkah presents!
READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
YOUNG ADULT PICK:
Happy Christmas to everybody!As I like to nominate a different book every time, I will go with Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds as reader pick this time.
Alastair Reynolds ... always a good choice :-)Updated cover-bling, all colorful and pretty like Christmas/Hanukkah presents!
READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
YOUNG ADULT PICK:
Indie Pick:
Hello, I'd like to nominate my new book: PARALLEL LINES, for Indie Pick. It's a sexy Sci-Fi/Fantasy Thriller. Let me know what you think. Thanks, David Monster
Okay ... new cover bling updates :-)READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
YOUNG ADULT PICK:
C'mon guys!!! Where are those YA sci-fi books?
I'd like to nominate 'A Beautiful Friendship' by David Weber - the first novel in The Star Kingdom' sequence which uses the same setting - 'Honorverse' - as Weber's adult Honor Harrington novels,
Ancillary Justice
I've read some great things about this book so I'll make it my reader pick.Y.A. pick? I don't read much young adult stuff unless it's manga unfortunately Anna. But I suppose we could try out some of Heinlein's. How about Orphans of the Sky
Since we're allowed, I'll nominate my Wreck of the Nebula Dream for the indie pick.
Best wishes and Happy New Year to all!
Thanks! More bling!READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
YOUNG ADULT PICK:
I think I'll have to send out another email blast about nominations. I think the original one got lost amongst all the Christmas well-wishes because we usually have twice this many nominations by now. Too much holiday cheer!
Mod
Hello. I'd like to nominate:Reader Pick - The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M Banks.
Indie Pick - Belarus by Emily Devenport (already bought but not yet read).
Young Adult Pick - Can we pick indie titles? There's Reality Challenged by Ubiquitous Bubba, which I think is YA sci-fi. Also, my own Hollow Moon and its sequel are written as YA, though may be more middle grade.
As the nominator of A Beautiful Friendship I'd like to ask why it was omitted
David wrote: "As the nominator of A Beautiful Friendship I'd like to ask why it was omitted"Betsy wrote: "Anna, did you purposely omit David's nomination of A Beautiful Friendship for the YA Pick? If it's not disqualified for some reason, I'd like to second the nomination."
Thanks for pointing that out guys! If I ever miss your nomination, ASK.
@David - Sorry 'bout that! We have two different Davids making nominations on the thread this month and you didn't include a book cover/link to catch my old tired eyes (sorry, sometimes I don't get to check the threads until the wee hours).
If I ever disqualify a book for any reason, I will always -SAY- so and invite you to make another nomination. So if it's missing, ASK. Usually it's just because I forgot to add the cover, but in this case, your nomination never made it onto my spreadsheet. Now it's added!
@Betsy ... did you also want to nominate a YA pick? The same book can be nominated more than once as long as it's by different people.
@Steph ... I took your book as the YA pick. I've defined 'YA' fairly loosely to include any space-oriented sci-fi and 12+. This is more of a 'Yo sci-fi fans ... indoctrinate your kids into your geeky ways' kinda exercise than an expectation we'll suddenly draw a lot of YA readers into the community.
Okay ... here's the lineup so far!
READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
YOUNG ADULT PICK:
Thanks Anna. As a new member I gradually get into how things work here - I'll tackle adding a book cover today.
Mod
Only one more day to nominate!!! Get them in before the clock strikes midnight on 2015...READER PICK:
INDIE PICK:
YOUNG ADULT PICK:
Anna wrote: "...@Steph ... I took your book as the YA pick... This is more of a 'Yo sci-fi fans ... indoctrinate your kids into your geeky ways' kinda exercise..."Aww... thanks! And indoctrination was the aim when I wrote it...
Reader Pick: Revelation Space or Pandora's StarYoung Adult Pick. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress or Red Rising
Indie pick: I have no idea.
Series pick: the Expanse series , the first of which is
I have no idea if it is good or not, but it's in my queu.Indie Pick: I didn't know what to pick in my earlier post, but went through the other nominations.
was on my radar before and I'd like to try that one.
Hi I need some help in picking a few good space epics. Recently I read James SA Corey's "The Expanse" and whilst I enjoyed most of it I did get a bit sick of the tired and hackneyed battles between the good guys and the bad guys (usually the Russians & Americans in an undisguised rework of the cold war or Vietnam etc.), in space filling most of the pages and leaving little room for reading about the new planet, the lost civilisation, the underground metropolis etc. I have now moved on the EON by Greg Bear and it started of great - mysterious object in Earths orbit that reads a lot like Arthur C Clarkes Redezvous with Rama but halfway through the book the damn Russians decide to mount an all out offensive on the object already settled by the Americans with a globally chosen science team. And I am back to the good guys against the bad guys and lots of shooting again and no discussion of the wonders of the science fiction all around them. Just a little frustrating.So can anybody help me pick some authors that have written some great space operas about discovering new planets, plenty of science and no us against them situations.
Cheers
Philby
Morning Light Mountain wrote: "Series pick: the Expanse series , the first of which is I have no idea if it is good or not, but it's in my queu.Indie Pick: I didn't know what to pick in my ..."
The Expanse series (at least the first two books) are really good. Leviathan Wakes is $2.99 in kindle format as of this post so available cheap... by the way, cool user name.
Eon is a great book, and I still have an old paperback version of it. Ben Bova's Moonrise is a book that I found a bit slow, about the same pace as Rama, but it might be closer to what you're looking for. There is some conflict, but quite a lot of technical stuff about building and maintaining a colony is included.
Thanks Ken - i have not read any of Bova's books so I will search him out - Thanks for the tip.
Thanks Conal - However I have read the "Expanse" series and enjoyed all four novels written so far. Ideally I want something similar but without the clint Eastwood shoot em up components and much more Forbidden Planet focus if that makes sense.
Philby you might like the Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars series. I think it was by Kim Stanley Robinson about the first 100 colonists on Mars and those that followed. Heavy focus on world terraforming, civilization building, and inter-personal relationships. It wasn't quite my cup of tea because it didn't involve post humans or super advanced technological society, but it had all the elements you mentioned and I enjoyed it.
Philby wrote: "Thanks Conal - However I have read the "Expanse" series and enjoyed all four novels written so far. Ideally I want something similar but without the clint Eastwood shoot em up components and much m..."I was actually replying to MLM's post, sorry for the confusion. Have you tried any of the Jack McDevitt Academy Series starting with The Engines of God?
I know I'm cutting it fine, but I want to nominate another Resnick title for Reader Pick: A Miracle of Rare Design.
BTW - Happy New Year everyone:-)
Yep, happy new year!Philby: I'm not sure it’s what you're looking for, but you might want to have a look at Blindsight.
Indie Pick: Why,
me
, of course.
This is my first, (and aside from actually self-publishing) likely to be my only feeble attempt at self-promotion for this work.
So, any tips re the self-promoting lifestyle would be much appreciated. As would reading my book, of course.
Meanwhile, happy 2015, and enjoy!
http://www.amazon.com/Subject-Human-B...
This is my first, (and aside from actually self-publishing) likely to be my only feeble attempt at self-promotion for this work.
So, any tips re the self-promoting lifestyle would be much appreciated. As would reading my book, of course.
Meanwhile, happy 2015, and enjoy!
http://www.amazon.com/Subject-Human-B...
***************************************************Thanks everybody! I am out of my New Year's Eve late-night coma, have added the last few stragglers, and the thread is now CLOSED!
I'll be posting the winners shortly.
****************************************************
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Space Opera Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
Blindsight (other topics)Hyperion (other topics)
The Martian (other topics)
Sundiver (other topics)
The Engines of God (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Alastair Reynolds (other topics)Vernor Vinge (other topics)
It's that time of the month when we nominate what books we want to start the New Year reading as a group. Up for nomination we have the following categories:
READER PICK: This is for a mass market book that a community member can walk into any major bookstore or library and find, that is also available on at least (3) major distribution platforms in e-book form as well (i.e., no Kindle-only).
INDIE PICK: This category is for those nifty, edgy new books, a chance to root for the little guy who doesn't have a big publishing house budget behind him (or her) to help them get discovered. Because we use Random.org to pick a winner, authors are allowed to nominate their own books.
YOUNG ADULT PICK: This is NEW!!! I know we tend to be an older crowd here, but we have within our power the ability to shape the young people in our lives interest in science by what we encourage them to read. Therefore, each month starting in 2015, we will highlight a Space Opera-ish science fiction book (must have a space element, can't just be dystopia) that will appeal to young people aged 12-17 in 2015. Nominations must be available in both ebook and paperback and rated at least 3.5 stars.
SERIES PICK: We will be continuing on with Book 3 of the Zones of Thought series by Vernor Vinge, The Children of the Sky, so put that puppy on reserve via your inter-library loan!
MOD PICK: This one is for your Borg Queen to select. Maybe it will be a book that caught my eye? Maybe it will be a book that didn't win the Random.org randomizer, but might have? This one is up to me, but it will always be something to balance out the other pickings so everybody can find at least one group read they enjoy, and it will NEVER be Kindle-only because your Borg Queen hates things-with-strings!
[*Sorry Papa Bezos ... there can only be one true sci-fi lovin' collective 3:-) *]
On January 1st (or as soon thereafter as your Borg Queen comes out of her New Years Eve induced post-party coma), the nominations thread will close and we'll use Random.org to select winners in each open category (READER and INDIE pick). Because the drawing is random, authors are allowed to nominate their own book.
And for those of you who live in the Greater Boston area, your Borg Queen will be doing a live reading from one of her books at the ARISIA Science Fiction & Fantasy conference January 16-19 with Broad Universe, along with working her @$$ off as an ARISIA Events Liason putting together most of those sword fight demonstrations. Come geek out with me as I also do a Sci-Fi panel on dolphin communication for the So Long And Thanks For All The Fish panel; as well as a Self-Publishing 101 panel (along with Outlander, The Hobbit, Fortune Telling, and Villians: The Path to Perdition). So come join me at ARISIA, but if you want to come on Saturday, you'd better grab your weekend pass quick because they're almost sold out. www.arisia.org
Be epic!
Anna Erishkigal
SOF MOD