April 2015 Uniquely Skilled Lead Character Group Read Nominations

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

The April Group Read theme is Uniquely Skilled Lead Character. Let's select the group read and vote!


Considerations:

1. All nominations must be added using the 'add book/author' function above the text box (where you post comments or replies) with an official link to the book on Goodreads. If the book is not nominated with a Goodreads link, it will not be added to the poll.

2. Books from past group reads are not eligible for renomination. You can find a list of past reads here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

3. Books should be readily available, in other words, can be bought new in print or in the ebook format.

4. Books must either be the first in an ongoing series or able to be read as a standalone despite being part of a series.

The poll will go up on March 14th.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

I'm going to vote for Zero Sum Game by SL Huang.

Here is the synopsis:



Deadly. Mercenary. Superhuman. Not your ordinary math geek.

Cas Russell is good at math. Scary good.

The vector calculus blazing through her head lets her smash through armed men twice her size and dodge every bullet in a gunfight. She can take any job for the right price and shoot anyone who gets in her way.

As far as she knows, she’s the only person around with a superpower . . . but then Cas discovers someone with a power even more dangerous than her own. Someone who can reach directly into people’s minds and twist their brains into Moebius strips. Someone intent on becoming the world’s puppet master.

Someone who’s already warped Cas’s thoughts once before, with her none the wiser.

Cas should run. Going up against a psychic with a god complex isn’t exactly a rational move, and saving the world from a power-hungry telepath isn’t her responsibility. But she isn’t about to let anyone get away with violating her brain — and besides, she’s got a small arsenal and some deadly mathematics on her side. There’s only one problem . . .

She doesn’t know which of her thoughts are her own anymore.

It is available in ebook and in paperback, although the paperback is a bit pricey.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Let me think about it...

[Feliks]

Shibumi by Trevanian. Standalone novel.

Part WWII history, part historical fiction (war orphan); part coming-of-age story; part character-study; part family saga, part Oriental philosophical treatise, part adventure; part espionage, part romance, part thriller. Covering 4 decades. Highly unusual work for the genre, never to be repeated. Literate; historically accurate, psychologically real as far as genre permits. Book includes maps & diagrams by author. Setting: SE Asia, Spain.

Protagonist: Nicholai Hel, assassin. Skills: mystic. Multi-lingual. Spelunker and mountaineer, musician (hobbies). Always kills without a plan, using intuition, using ready-to-hand-objects. High threshold to pain. Impossible to photograph clearly. Advanced sixth-sense. Has no file anywhere. Works alone, via contract.

[Jim]

I'll nominate The 4 Phase Man by Richard Steinberg. It's readily available in all book formats save audio.

Relics of the Cold War, four-phase men are CIA legends. Experts in all four of the most critical, most specialized areas of black operations--intelligence gathering, counterintelligence, electronic warfare, and assassination--four-phase men are capable of carrying out the most complicated, dangerous, and deadly missions alone. And since the earliest stages of the O.S.S., there have been only seven of this special breed. Today, just two remain alive--Colin Meadows and Gerald Goldman. Trained from youth to do America's dirty work, Meadows and Goldman never came in from the cold and are now outsiders looking in. Meadows is a play-for-pay operative for the People's Republic of China, and Goldman is in self-imposed exile.

-----------

"Shibumi" is really good. I gave it 4 stars.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Surprisingly, so is Satori by Don Winslow which adds to Hel's story. I usually don't like add-ons by another author, but this was an exception. I gave it 4 stars as well, but had some reservations.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Michael]

Feliks wrote: "Shibumi by Trevanian. Standalone novel.

Part WWII history, part historical fiction (war orphan); part coming-of-age story; part character-study; part family saga, part Oriental philoso..."

This one sounds interesting.

[Feliks]

As per the Book Huntress' instructions I checked out the list of past reads and didn't see it listed. Nor even anything much like it.

I'm confident that it'd provide decent fodder for discussion. It is definitely a product of its time (the early 1970s) so there is much to compare/contrast in the depiction of the characters. There is some mild sexuality as well to pick apart.

The prose is polished--even if you dislike the story (or find it slow-moving), there's no faulting the prose. Very 'visual'-writing; with rich detail. No 'hurry' to set up action scenes; they simply unfold in their proper place in the storyline.

Lastly, the tale is simply chock-full of interesting content. Don't know much about Japanese strategy, or underground cavern-systems? Climbing equipment? Basque separatism? Cherry-blossoms? Zen asceticism? You will after this book. Trevanian was a hobbyist for all these topics and packs this book with the details of his several obsessions and his own personal pasttimes.

I myself have never done a group discussion but can certainly be on hand to pump some discussion questions into the mix.

[Lisa P, My weekend is all booked up!]

Feliks wrote: "As per the Book Huntress' instructions I checked out the list of past reads and didn't see it listed. Nor even anything much like it.

I'm confident that it'd provide decent fodder for discussion. ..."

I was thinking of nominating this book as well...nice choice! I've been wanting to read it for a while now.

[Feliks]

Would be very fun to hear how modern women readers 'take to' Hel's supreme, manly, confidence-in-himself. Arrogant? Cocky? Smug? Attractive? Unrealistic? He's not as objectionable as Bond but he is over-the-top.

[Feliks]

If anyone's daunted by the length of Shibumi I can suggest a short, lightweight (perhaps more fun) alternative: The Domino Principle. Was made into a not-so-great Gene Hackman movie; but the neat thing about this little work is is pacing. Super fast. And has some interesting undertones of Kafka. The lead character is just a stumblebum, a convict in the pen doing time for murder. No-account, shiftless, country-boy redneck like thousands of others but he just happens to be a crack shot with a rifle; (sorta like Alvin York). This makes him interesting to a shadowy government group who needs a 'stock' of completely anonymous assassins. Men with no pasts. Similar to 'Parallax View' in a way (another fine book/film combo).

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

We can only take one nomination per member, so we'll stick with Shibumi for now, Feliks, unless you specifically want to change to The Domino Principle.

[Feliks]

Oh aye? Then, I shall stay with my original. Thanks for informing me of this point-of-procedure.

[The Pirate Ghost, Long John Silvers Wanna-be]

For uniquely qualified, how about, Black Cross by Greg Iles. A good World War II story.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Okay... There's a duology I read back in the '80s that has been re-released in print and E-book. It's Shike. The first volume is Shike:Time of Dragons though it has been released now with both books in one volume.

It's about a fictional group of warrior monks during the Japanese Shogunate wars. It has a lot of action and an involving romance for those who like that (I had to grit my teeth you know). The monks are masters of all things war and skilled beyond normal warriors.

This book is somewhat atypical for me as it not only has a long romance but is also what I'd characterize as a tragedy, but it's excellent.

So again I'll nominateShike.

[Lisa P, My weekend is all booked up!]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Okay... There's a duology I read back in the '80s that has been re-released in print and E-book. It's Shike. The first volume is Shike:Time of Dragons though it has been released now ..."

Sounds good Mike...have added it to my TBR pile.
I can only find the 2 separate single volumes on kindle though (not the combined one)...am I missing something? Definitely a possibility, lol!

[Lisa P, My weekend is all booked up!]

Whispers from the Pirate's Ghost wrote: "For uniquely qualified, how about, Black Cross by Greg Iles. A good World War II story."

Oooh, this is on my TBR too...this will be a tough choice!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Amazon probably doesn't offer a double on Kindle...let's face it they can sell 2 books that way. I have the ancient paperbacks from the '80s.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

@ Mike, we'd probably just add the first book to the poll, but if folks want to continue the series as a buddy read if it wins, that's cool!

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

Okay, the poll is up. Sorry we cut it so close to the end of the month. It will close on 21st of March.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

Shibumi won the poll. See you on April 1st for the read and discussion!

[Feliks]

Hurrah. I don't know who is leading the discussion but I hope no one minds if I pose some questions to those reading it for the first time. Is that allowed? I'm sure I can generate some thoughtful discussion. Could rattle off probably twenty questions off-the-top-of-my-head.

[Eileen]

Ask away, Feliks!

[Feliks]

I certainly will! But is this the discussion thread? And who is discussion leader? I don't want to step on any toes...also, what are the rules on spoilers? Should I only ask questions when everyone passes the stage in the book where a spoiler can safely be interjected?

I don't want to be shot by one of the arrows in the quiver of..Book Huntress! :)

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

Hello, Feliks.

1. We will create a discussion thread for the book when it's the 1st day of April. It stays open from then on to discuss about the books.

2. The book discussion thread is marked for spoilers. You can discuss book content freely. However, if you are wanting to be considerate, you can always use spoiler tags.

3. Any member is welcome to pose discussion questions. We haven't had very regimented discussions for books on this group. Typically, I end up being the discussion leader because no one volunteers.

4. I only shoot when people are violating the rules. :)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Ducks and combat rolls out door!

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Ducks and combat rolls out door!"

:)

[Feliks]

Thanks! Okay well what I think I will do --because I detest spoilers with every fiber of my being--is this. Once the read actually begins, I will monitor people's progress and tailor my questions accordingly.

Example:
Question 5: If you have read up to the point where Nicolai meets X, open this question below! (may contain spoiler)
(view spoiler)[Did Trevanian make it clear that X is going to ....etc etc etc? (hide spoiler)]

That should keep me on the side of the angels around here...

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

Keep in mind that other members may not and aren't required to use spoiler spaces, and they shouldn't be lectured about it, either.

[Feliks]

I'm just saying what I will do, in order to have the least chance of ruining someone's reading enjoyment

[Feliks]

So, has the read started for Shibumi?

[Lisa P, My weekend is all booked up!]

Feliks wrote: "So, has the read started for Shibumi?"

Danielle will start a separate thread for it soon. I started reading it last night.

[Graeme]

Mike wrote: "Feliks wrote: "Shibumi by Trevanian. Standalone novel.

Part WWII history, part historical fiction (war orphan); part coming-of-age story; part character-study; part family saga, part O..."

Is this man who wrote the 'The Eiger Sanction' ?

[Feliks]

yes indeed. he sure did.